justified from the time of Christs death according to this Doctrine so that they were as much and as truly justified in their unbelief impiety unregeneracy and enmity as ever they were or came to be justified afterwards when they believed and embraced Christ which is most contrary to the Scriptures Acts 13.38 39 Rom. 4.23 Ephes. 2.11 12 13. and Rom. 8.30 Whom he called them be also justified Paul when Saul a Blasphemer Persecutor and Iniurious was as truly justified as Paul when called a Convert a Believer and a Preacher of Jesus Christ contrary to the Scriptures 1 Tim. 1.13 14 15 16. and Acts 22.16 For Saul continued Unconverted Uncalled a Blasphemer a Persecutor and Injurious Ignorant and an Unbeliever long after Christs Death and Resurrection and yet according to this Doctrine must be justified when he lived and continued in impenitency and unbelief and disobedience till that time yea and all those Corinthians mentioned 1 Cor. 6 11. And such were some of you But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Now look back into the 9. and 10. verses Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor efeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind nor thieves nor covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And such were some of you Plainly implying that when ye lived in these sins uncalled unconverted impenitent and unbelievers then you were not washed nor sanctified nor justified but now since you were called and converted 't is otherwise with you than it was before But ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God Ye were not justified before but now ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus i. e. since ye believed on that name then ye were not washed nor sanctified while ye wallowed in the mire of these sins but now ye are washed ye are sanctified by the Spirit of our God Therefore they were not justified from the time of Christs death and resurrection but from the time of their calling to Faith â—n Christ who dyed and rose again long before And that this must be the true sense of the Apostle appeareth in that he tells them but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus He thereby concludeth and that truly they were not justified before though the time of Christs Death and Resurrection was past before And thus have we finished also the tryal of this second Opinion or Doctrine of Justification from the time of Christs Death and Resurrection and find it not to be a true Doctrine a Doctrine not of God All therefore which now remaineth to be done is to shew and assign the true time and season of Gods Justifying his Elect and from whence the truly justified person may humbly date his own Justification according to the holy Scriptures and have the seal of God in the true witness of his holy Spirit in the word for the proof it Lastly therefore The due time and season of Gods justifying his Elect through Faith in his Son Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures is the time of their respective believing embracing receiving and entertaining Christ Christ in the promise or the promise in Christ for all the promises are yea and Amen in Christ 2 Cor. 1.20 Not a promise alone without Christ for that is to be suspected the promise when given by the Father and applyed by the Spirit is never alone or separate from Christ but always in Christ and together with him Even as Abraham is said to have received the promises when he offered up his only Son Heb. 11.17 But Abraham did not receive the promise or promises alone i. e. without Christ the substance of all the promises but he received the promise in Christ or Christ in and through the promises For as God made no promise of Eternal Life out of Christ but in Christ and through him so we can receive no promise or promises of Eternal Life and Salvation but in Christ and Christ in and together with the promise And therefore Abraham is said to have received the promise of God in Christ as God gave it to him so he received it in Christ as Gal. 3.16 17 18. He therefore that believeth with a justifying and saving Faith receiveth Christ in the promises and embraceth not the promises alone but Christ in the promise and therefore union with Christ and receiving Christ into the heart and promises and all things else together is the true Faith of Gods Elect and the Faith of the operation of God as 1 John 5.11 12. This is the reward that God hath given to us Eternal Life and this Life is in his Son He that hath the Son hath Life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not Life and Joh. 1.11 12. He came to his own and his own received him not But to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe on his name So that in short Faith is receiving Christ and without Christ be received there is no believing and where there is no believing there is no justification The true time therefore of God's justifying his Elect is the time of their believing i. e. of their receiving and embracing Christ then and not before and thence ever after God doth justifie his Elect And they may from thence date the time of their justification acccording to the Scriptures As it was with Abraham so it is with all the Children of Abraham as it is written again and again Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness Rom. 4.3 Now from the time that Abraham believed God from that time was he justified and ever after even so it is with all the Children of Abraham as Rom 4.23 24 25. Now it was not written for Abrahams sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom it shall be imputed If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the Dead who was delivered for our Offences and raised again for our Justification Now therefore Christian the time of Gods imputing Righteousness to thee and justifying thee in Christ is not the time of Christs dying and rising again but the time of thy beâ—ieving on him and embracing him by Faith in thy heart who was deliver'd for thy offences and raised again for thy justification And to produce this Faith in thee and this believing God as Abraham did these three things must necessarily concur all which did concur in the Faith of Abraham as namely 1. There must be hearing The word of God must be truly preached to thee and thou must hear it or there neither is nor can be thâ—s Faith that justifieth
because reconciliation supposeth a breach first made by sin now the breach made betwixt God and Man by sin was not from Eternity but in time and therefore reconciliation could not be from Eternity and without reconciliation by shedding of blood there is no remission as Heb. 9.22 i. e. No Justification to the Church of Gods Elect for Remission of sins is their Justification Part. 3. This Doctrine of Justification from Eternity destroyeth and overthroweth the true Doctrine of Justification it self also which is another fundamental point of the Christian Faith and therefore this Doctrine of Justification from Eternity cannot be true Now the true Doctrine of Justification is that Act of Gods Grace passed or put forth upon the person Elect whereby of a guilty ungodly and unrighteous person before he is really made and doth become a righteous person in Gods sight through Faith in his Son Jesus Christ given unto him I say he is made and doth become a righteous person in Gods sight and that really and not by opinion only as some would imagine and here are two things to be cleared as namely 1. That every man in this World is really made and doth become a guilâ—y and condemned person in Gods sight by the first sin of Adam justly imputed to him by the Law so Rom. 3.9 10 and again ver 19 20. which the Apostle plainly affirmeth by a comparison of the two Adam's Rom. 5.19 For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners c. ver 18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came or it came upon all men to condemnation in Gods sight So that 't is plain the many ver 19. is all men ver 18. even the Elect of God as well as others 2. That as in the first Adam all men did become and were really made sinners in Gods sight by the just imputation of Adam's sin to them by the Law even so in Christ many as v. 19. or all men as ver 18. i. e. all that believe are justified i. e. are made and do become righteous in Gods sight through Faith in Christ by the righteousness of one or by the obedience of one justly imputed to them by the Law of Faith and Grace So that as before Justification every man was really a guilty and unrighteous person in Gods sight So now that Faith in Christ is come every man that believeth is justified and doth become and is made a righteous person in Gods sight So that Justification maketh a real change of State from a state of sin and unrighteousness and death to a state of Grace Righteousness and Life Now therefore he that is Justified from Eternity was from Eternity in a state of Grace Righteousness and Life and never was in a state of Sin Unrighteousness and Death he never was a Sinner Ungodly and condemned in Gods sight and Sin had never raigned in him unto Death in whom Grace had raigned unto Life through Righteousness from all Eternity but the contrary is true in all them whom God Justifieth as Rom. 4.5 Now to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness and Rom. 5.6 For when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the Ungodly and v. 21. That as sin hath reigned unto death even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord So that we who are now Justified by Faith in Christ were without strength were ungodly were under the reign of Sin unto Death but he that was Justified from Eternity was never any of these and therefore no man was or could be Justified from Eternity there is a contradiction in the things themselves and therefore this Doctrine is inconsistent with the truth for Sin did not reign unto death in any from Eternity but in Time therefore Grace could not reign through Righteousness unto Life in any from Eternity but in time Part. 4. This Doctrine of Justification from Eternity destroyeth also the Doctrine of Adoption which inseparably followeth Justification and is another inseparable point of the Christian Faith I say Adoption followeth and is an inseparable companion of Justification by Faith in Christ he that is Justified by Faith in Christ is also adopted and taken into the number of Gods Sons or Children by the same Faith as Gal 3.24.25.26 That we might be justified by Faith v 24. But after that Faith is come v. 25. Ye are all the Children of God by Faith in Christ Jesus by the same faith by which any man is Justified by the same Faith also he is Adopted and made a Son or Child of God and so again Gal. 4 4 5 7. Now no man was Adopted from Eternity and therefore no man was Justified from Eternity And he that was Adopted from Eternity was never a Servant but a Son was never a Child of Disobedience a Child of Wrath as Ephes. 2.2 3. but a Child of God from eternity and then there never could be any Predestination to the Adoption of Children as Ephes. 1.5 that the Adoption of Children had been from eternity Part. 5. This Doctrine of Justification from Eternity denieth destroyeth and overthroweth by consequence the truth and doctrine of discrimination or making a difference betwixt the state of Nature and the state of Grace which the holy Scriptures do every where establish The state of Nature according the Scriptures is a state of Sin and so of Death and Condemnation as hath been already shewed But the state of Grace is a state of Righteousness and so of Life and Justification as hath also been declared through Faith in the Son of God Rom. 9.30 and Rom. 10.4 John 5.24 and 1 John 4.14 Now he that saith he was Justified from Eternity saith that he was in a state of Life from Eternity and by consequence never was in a state of Sin and Death for Justification is Life as Condemnation is Death Rom. 5.18 but most certain it is that all were dead and in a state of sin and condemnation before they believed on Christ even the Elect of God as well as others as 2 Cor. 5.14 And the death of Christ for all the Elect doth prove that they were all dead and in a state of Death Jews and Gentiles for else Christ needed not to have died for them and the love of Christ doth constrain all them to acknowledge that they were dead and therefore are debtors to Christ for their Life and Justification through Faith in him and so no more to live to themselves but to him that died for them and rose again The words are most plain and the sense most genuine For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them and rose again Therefore seeing they were once dead
therefore both Jews and Gentiles are all under Sin and Condemnation and that by the law The Gentiles by the light and law of nature and the work of it written in their Hearts Rom. 2.14 15 16. And the Jews by the law written in tables of Stone by Gods own hand and given unto them by Moses at mount Sinai which law was added by reason of Sin and Sin in the Jews taking occasion by the commandment became exceedingly more Sinful in them who were Jews by nature than in the Gentiles as being against more clear light and greater Obligations than the poor Gentiles were indulged with And thus is fulfilled the design of God by Moses in giving the law which was not that any Man should be justified and obtain righteousness and life thereby but that the offence against it might so much the more abound and be made to appear And Man be instructed from the desperateness of his case and the utter impossibility ever to get righteousness and life by works and the law to seek it only by Grace and Faith in Jesus Christ as Rom. 5.20 21. This position being already proved that Jews and Gentiles are all under Sin Rom. 3.9 the Apostle doth further confirm by a text out of the old Testament Rom. 3. 19. where he concludes that quotation Now we know that whatsoever the law saith it saith to them that are under the law intimating that the Jews must needs be concerned in this charge as well as the Gentiles And that the Prophets of the old Testament did plainly declare and confirm this truth that by the works of the law no flesh should be justified For both David and Esaias whose words these are if they would have understood them in saying there is none righteous no not one there is none that understandeth there is none that seeketh after God they are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that doth good no not one c. do both testifie from God by whose Spirit they speak that in the sight of God all Men are Sinners and transgressors by the law both Jews and Gentiles and that there is not one righteous Man by the works of the law in the whole World for Jew and Gentile comprehended the whole world And if so and this be true that Jews and Gentiles are all under Sin and that there is not one righteous Man by the works of the law in Gods sight then it follows as a necessary consequence that by the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified Therefore we conclude c. And thus I have done with the context In the text it self we have a great foundation truth or point of Doctrin ready prepared to our Hand in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth together with the reason of it And therefore we shall take the point as it lieth in the Text c. That by the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God The truth of this doctrin is expresly testified also Psal. 143.2 For in thy sight shall no Man living be justified i. e. by his own works and righteousness for otherwise there were then and are now many Men justified in Gods sight by the free Grace of God through Faith in Jesus Christ. And again Gal. 2.16 Knowing c. For the opening this position or point of Doctrin we shall take it into parts and Enquire 1 Who or what is meant by Flesh. 2 What is meant by Justified 3 What is mean by the works of the law 1 What is meant Or What we are to understand by Flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not any Flesh or as it is Translated no Flesh. In answer whereunto Flesh is sometimes taken in Scripture for the Human Nature separate from the sinfulness thereof so John 1.14 And the word was made flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Flesh is here put for the Human Nature seperate from Sin as Adam had it in the state of innocency And Christ the second Adam took it in the Womb of the Virgin Mary and Heb. 10.20 Through the vail i. e. his Flesh put for the whole Human Nature which was a vail to his Godhead and which he offered upon the Cross for our Sins and so consecrated a new and living way for us into the Holiest i. e. Heaven it self And though in propriety of Speech the Flesh or Body is but a part of the Human Nature the Spirit or Soul being the other and more noble part yet is by a figure Synechdoche put for the whole as 1 Peter 2.24 where Christ is said to have born our sins in his own body on the tree Body is there put for the whole Human Nature and so the Soul or Spirit is also sometimes put as Isa. 53.10 When thou shalt make his Soul an offering for Sin yet 't is manifest both Soul and Body were offered for Sin and the Soul of Christ is there put for both but in this sense of the Human Nature separate from Sin the word Flesh is not to be understood in this Text And therefore 2. Flesh is also and indeed most frequently put for the Human Nature as it is corrupt and depraved by Sin since the fall of the first Adam and so Rom. 8.3 where the law is said to become weak through the Flesh i. e. Mans Nature now corrupted by Sin and so not able to rise up unto that true and perfect holiness which the law doth require And in this sense the word Flesh is to be taken and understood in the text Shall not any flesh or shall no flesh be justified i. e. no Man that is a Sinner and corrupted by Sin as all Men now are by Nature And there is a kind of vehemency in the expression The Holy Ghost thereby casting a holy contempt upon Man that is called Flesh i. e. an unclean and a corrupt thing so Eliphas in Job 15.14 15 16. What is Man tha◠that he should be clean c. And thus shall n◠flesh be justified i. e. no Man no Person of Mankind Man Woman nor Child 2ly What it s meant And what i◠to be understood by the word justified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shall no Flesh be justified In answer hereto 1. To be justified in the proper significancy and notion thereof is to be made righteous to become righteous or to stand righteous before God justificari is justum fieri to be justified is to be made or to become righteous and so to stand a righteous Person in Gods sight It is a foreinsick term and here is an allusion to courts of Judicature amongst Men wherein the person arraigned is in the issue of the Plea either Condemned i. e. found Guilty and then we say such a Man is cast that is in his Plea or else is acquited and discharged and so justified in the sight of the Court as an Innocent and righteous person and so he is said to stand as
by the Spirit of our God So that the same holy Spirit of God which applieth Christ to our Faith for righteousness and justification doth also apply Christ to us as and for our sanctification And every person that is truly justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus is also as truly sanctified by the Spirit and 't is as impossible for a justified person to be distitute of inherent Grace and Sanctification as it is for a man living in the body to be so without the Soul James 2.26 Nevertheless Justification and Sanctification Righteousness imputed and inherent are distinct and different things and must fall under a distinct consideration and must not cannot be confounded They differ as the cause and effect as the antecedent and consequent and though inherent Grace and Sanctification doth always accompany the person justified yet inherent Grace and Sanctification is not that Righteousness by or upon which any person is or can be justified in the sight of God For inherent Grace and Sanctification is no more can rise no higher than the writing of the Law in a mans heart and so it is described and set out by God himself Heb. 8.10 Quoted out of Jer. 31.33 I will put my Laws into their mind and write them in their hearts The work of grace inherent is but the writing of the Law in the heart and all Sanctification and Holiness is but the outward expression of this Law internally written in the Heart Now if a man could be justified in Gods sight by inherent Grace and Sanctification he might be justified by the Deeds and Works of the Law and that by imperfect Deeds and Works too for such is sanctification but the imperfect writing of the Law in the Heart and such are all even the highest attainments of inherent righteousness and acts of new and holy obedience in the Saints but imperfect Phil. 3.12 And Rom. 7.22 23 24 25. Now forasmuch as No flesh can be justified in his sight by the Deeds of the Law it is manifest and followeth by necessary â—â—nsequence that no man can be justified by inherent sanctification and obedience seeing all inherent Sanctification and Obedience is but the writing of the Law in the Heart and the Deeds of that Law so written And that which some men have imagined and endeavoured to maintain that a believer is justified in the sight of God by Evangelical righteousness i. e. his sincere obedience or obedience of Faith And that having obtained remission of sins through Faith in Christs blood his Sincere or Evangelical obedience is accepted of God as if it were perfect will plainly appear to be a false and unsound assertion and most contrary to the truth of the Gospel for although both parts of this assertion be true in sensu divisio i. e. in their different sense and with respect to the different matters to which they do relate yet in sensu conjuncto as they are confounded and referred to one and the same matter they are utterly false and corrupt as namely That a believer is justified by Evangelical righteousness is a blessed truth if referred to the right subject and matter of justifying righteousness which the Gospel doth reveal But this righteousness then is no other than the righteousness of God i. e. the personal and perfect obedience and righteousness which Christ who is God Man hath performed for us and in our stead as the Second Adam and Head of the whole Church of the Elect And is therefore called The righteousness of God in opposition to all a mans own or inherent righteousness Rom. 10.3 4. Phil. 3.9 And that this is the only Evangelical righteousness i. e. that only Righteousness which the Gospel doth reveal For Justification is clear from Rom. 1.16 17. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto Salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith as it is written the just shall Live by Faith i. e. not in his own but in the righteousness or another which is Jesus Christ Who is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10.4 But if you will understand Evangelical righteousness of and refer it to inherent grace and sanctification then it is utterly false for then a man is justified by the Law and the Deeds of it Seeing inherent Grace and Sanctification is no other as hath been already shewed And again as to the other part of this Assertion namely that God doth accept the sincere Obedience of a Believer as if it were perfect is also a blessed truth if you refer it to Sanctification only but if you refer it to Justification it is utterly false for no Righteousness of Man is or can be accepted of God as the matter of his Justification in his sight as hath been already proved for that were for a Man to be justified by the Works of the Law or his own Righteousness which is contrary to the Scriptures Now therefore the sum of the matter is that no Righteousness can be mentioned or accepted of God in Justification but the Righteousness of Christ only and although Inherent Righteousness namely Sanctification of Heart and Holiness of Life in a Believer is accepted of God through Christ as if it were perfect yet 't is so accepted as the truth and matter of his Sanctification but not as the matter of his Justification wherein none but Christ and his Righteousness can or ought to be mentioned Use 2. Let the consideration of this truth caution and warn every man to beware and take heed how he goeth about directly or indirectly to establish his own Righteousness or to seek Righteousness in and of himself by the Deeds and Works of the Law i. e. by his own inherent qualifications and internal or external acts of Obedience and so become disobedient and not submit himself to the Righteousness of God by Faith in Christ. The carnal Jews of old called Israel fell under this woful mistake Rom. 9.31 32. But Israel which followed after the Law of Righteousness hath not attained to the Law of Righteousness wherefore because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the Works of the Law for they stumbled at that stumbling-stone they followed after the Law of Righteousness i. e. they served God instantly day and night as Acts 26.7 they attended to all the services of the Law in Sacrifices and costly Offerings and toilsom as well as chargeable observances in which they spared no cost nor pains but continued day and night and that with zeal and fervency for so was that Service carried on by Sacrifices and Offerings of divers sorts and kinds which were day and night made and some of them continually before the Lord and when the old were 〈◊〉 moved new were brought in and placed 〈◊〉 their room so that there was no vacancy
contempt of that which is or may be supposed or pretended to be his own Righteousness 4 Head And then Fourthly It is called the Righteousness of God as it is that Righteousness which only is and can be accepted of God in the matter of our Justification i. e. that Righteousness by which and upon the account whereof only a man may be Righteous and Justified in his sight For there is no other Righteousness by which a man may or can possibly be Justified in the sight of God Or that God accepts of and is well pleased with but this as the matter of our Justification as hath been already proved So that this only is the Righteousness of God as his Heart doth rest in it is well pleased with it and doth always accept it by Faith in his Son Jesus Christ and is not nor can be well-pleased without it And as a broken Heart is called the Sacrifice of God Psal. 51.17 The Sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit a broken and a contrite Heart O God thou wilt not despise Properly or in propriety of Speech a broken Heart or Spirit is no Sacrifice but it was that God expected with all the Sacrifices which the People offered according to Gods appointment For the Sacrifices for Sin were always slain and so were offered up to God by Death and shedding of their Blood The Holy Ghost hereby signifying that as the wages of Sin is Death so every person that sacrificed and brought his offering for Sin did deserve Death And therefore though this Death was transferred and laid upon the Sacrifices which Typically did look unto Christ and so required Faith in Christ the Lamb or Sacrifice of God Which taketh away the Sin of the World as John 1.29 Yet the very Nature and Import of all the Sacrifices did plainly declare and imply that Sin was a bitter and a very evil thing that could not be expiated with less than Death And whosoever did present his Sacrifice to be slain and offered up for Sin did ipso facto acknowledge himself a Sinner to have deserved Death and to be Consumed in the Fire of Hell as the Sacrifices were either wholly or in part burnt and consumed in the Fire after they were slain And so were offered up not by Death only but by Fire also till they were consumed Now for a man to bring his Sacrifice to be slain and burnt in the Fire and salted with Salt and yet to have no inward sense and feeling of his Sin no feeling of the wrath of God due to Sin and so no inward Repentance towards God This was most hateful and abominable in the sight of God and so the Sacrifice of that Person was not accepted but despised of God as a piece of meer Hypocrisie and outward Formality for in this Man there is neither Faith in Christ nor Repentance towards God And therefore all the Sacrifices that Men did or could offer signified nothing as to Divine acceptation without this inward sense of sin and brokenness of heart This one thing a broken heart did signifie more than all Sacrifices without it and so it is put for and by the Holy Ghost preferred to all Sacrifices whatsoever the Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and why was a broken spirit more than all Sacrifices and alone is called in the plural number not Sacrifice but Sacrifices the Sacrifices yea the Sacrifices of God but because of the Divine acceptation because God doth always accept this broken heart this contrite spirit A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise The words are a holy Meiosis there is more implied than is exprest thou wilt not despise i. e. thou wilt certainly accept thou wilt graciously accept and be well pleased with Now therefore the Mystery is opened the meaning of this expression The Sacrifices of God are a broken spirit is abundantly made clear and plain It is in this respect that a broken heart alone is called the Sacrifices of God that or upon the account thereof God is well pleased yea more pleased than with all outward Sacrifices without it Even so this Righteousness which is by the Faith of Christ unto all and upon all them that believe is called The Righteousness of God because that this Righteousness only and above all others is that which carrieth the glory of the Divine acceptation God will not despise but will certainly will graciously accept this Righteousness whenever it is presented unto him upon the Faith of a repenting believing Sinner upon the Faith of him that worketh not i. e. that hath no Works or Righteousness of his own which he dares to offer or bring unto God but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly as Rom. 4.5 His Faith is counted to him for Righteousness and God is well pleased with this Man for this Righteousness sake which is alone by Faith in his Son Jesus Christ. Now that God is well pleased with this Righteousness of his Son Jesus Christ is most clearly testified by the Voice from Heaven Mat. 3. ult This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased which Voice from Heaven was heard by John when Christ was baptized of him in Jordan and was now entred upon his work of fulfilling all Righteousness as v. 15. Then cometh this Voice from Heaven c. And again when Christ was transfigured upon the Mount a little before his Death and Translation into Heaven Now when he was about to finish his Obedience and whole Righteousness of the Law for us I say then again comes this Voice from Heaven Mat. 17.5 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased and this Voice was heard from the most excellent glory by Peter James and John as 2 Pet. 1.18 Which Voice from Heaven we heard when we were with him upon the holy Mount Yea this is also testified by the suâ—e Word of Prophecy Isa. 42.21 The Lord is well pleased for his Righteousness sake meaning Christ as is manifest verse 1 2 3 4 6 7. of that chap. And it is not Christ alone or as a single Person but Christ considered as the Head and Root of the whole Church and so Jehovah is well pleased for his Righteousness sake with all them that believe and do bear and present this Righteousness of Christ in the hand of their Faith before the Father as that wherein only they desire to be found and stand before him Now that God is well pleased with all such and doth graciously accept them as just and righteous before him upon the account of this Righteousness is also as clearly testified unto by the holy Scriptures Act. 13.39 And by him that is Christ all that believe are justified and accepted as such as Rom. 5.19 For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners or became sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous or become righteous in his sight And again Ephes. 1.6 To the praise of the
and in a state of Death and Condemnation they were not justified from Eternity no not one of them that Live and are Justified by Faith in Christ for they all and always thus judge that they were all dead i e. condemned and not justified before they believed in Christ and do freely confess the truth and therefore not one of them doth profess or can profess any such Faith that he was Justified from Eternity Part. 6. This Doctrine of Justification from Eternity denyeth and overthroweth the Doctrine of Regeneration or new Birth and the necessity thereof which Christ himself doth plainly affirm and urge upon every man in this World John 3.3 5 8. and so do all the holy Prophets and Apostles as may be easily proved if there were any so bold as to deny it Now he that is Justified by Faith in Christ and hath this power and priviledge given unto him to become a Son of God as every true believer hath John 1.11 12. he also is born of God as John 1.13 which were born not of blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God as James 1.18 Of his own Will begat he us by the Word of Truth not one Believer and so Justified person in this World but he is born of God and begotten of God and so is born again as 1 Pet. 1.23 being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever ver 25. And this is the Word which by the Gospel is Preached unto you so that not one person is or can be justified by Faith but at the same time and by the same word of Faith Preached to him and Believed by him he is also born again he therefore that saith he was justified from Eternity saith also that he was born of God from Eternity and he that was born of God from Eternity needeth not nor can be born again for Regeneration is but once and those that were born of God from Eternity are far from being new born Babes as all true Believers are after their first Conversion and Calling and as the Apostle Peter calleth and styleth them 1 Pet. 2.2 3. Part. 7. This Doctrine of Justification from Eternity denieth destroyeth and overthroweth the Doctrine of Repentance and Conversion to God by Christ and by consequence takes away the necessity thereof the holy Scriptures do every where establish both in the Old and New Testament the necessity of Repentance and Conversion to God as Isa. 55.6 7. Act. 3.19 Act. 26.17 18. Luke 24.45 46 47. But he that saith he was justified from Eternity by consequence saith that he had remission of Sins from Eternity and that his Sins were blotted out from Eternity for Justification is Remission of Sins as Psalm 32.1 2 3. And blotting out of Sins as Isa. 43.25 And so he needeth not to Repent and be Converted for asmuch as he had his sins blotted out from Eternity and was Righteous from Eternity and well it is if men of these notions and traditions which they have received to hold do not become as the Pharisees of old so Whole as they need no Physician and so Righteous in their own Eyes that like the 99 Just Persons they need no Repentance or Conversion as Luke 15.4 8. And if the name of Repentance and Conversion shall still be pretended to and boasted of amongst them it shall only consist in making Proselytes to this their Tradition of Justification from Eternity which they call the Gospel and a more glorious Light than former Ages have enjoyed And some have not blushed to affirm than perhaps the Apostles had But let them take heed lest that Wo come upon them spoken by the Mouth of Truth himself Mat. 23.15 Part. 8. This Doctrine doth frustrate and make void all the ends of Christ Death and Suffering which are the Justification and Salvation of Gods Elect for if they were Justified from Eternity what need was there of Christs dying to obtain that for them which they had from all Eternity So that if this Doctrine be true as they affirm then as the Apostle saith in another case Gal. 2.21 Christ is dead in vain Part 9. This Doctrine of Justification from Eternity destroyeth and overthroweth the Doctrine and Order of God's new Creation in Christ and making all things new in him which the Holy Scriptures do every where establish both in the Old and New Testament This is certain the Old Creation was first and before the New else it were not new Adam was before Christ or the first Adam before the Second as Rom. 4.12 and 1 Cor. 15.45 46 47. And so it is written the first man Adam was made a living Soul the last Adam was made a quickning Spirit howbeit that was not first which is Spiritual but that which is Natural and afterward that which is Spiritual The first or old Creation in Adam is the natural and the second or new Creation in Christ the Spiritual now that was not first which is Spiritual but that is first which was natural therefore the Workmanship of God in the natural or old creation was first And the workmanship of God in the new Creation in Christ is the Spirâ—tual and therefore last the second must be after the first or else 't is not second the new must be after the old or else the old is not old nor the other new Now Justification by Faith in Christ is Gods Workmanship in the new Creation as 2 Cor. 5.17 18. Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature old things i. e. the things of the first Creation in Adam are passed away behold all things are become new And all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. And therefore Reconciliation and Justification by Jesus Christ as ver 19. are parts of the new Creation in Christ as also is most manifest Eph. 2.8 9 10. 't is manifest I say that God at first setled all things So the first Adam and all men in him upon the foundation of the Law or Covenant of Works which settlement was broken or dissolved by the first transgression and Death entred upon all men by Sin and no hope or possibility of Righteousness or Life by that Law or Covenant any more therefore now God bringeth forth Christ the second Adam and settles all things again upon a new Covenant of Grace restoring Righteousness and Life by Jesus Christ to all that believe this is the new Creation that which is Spiritual Now therefore Justification and Salvation by Faith in Christ was not from Eternity because 't is Gods new Creation in Christ And forasmuch as the Old Creation and that which is Natural was not from Eternity but in Time 'T is manifest that Gods new Creation in Christ to any man in this World was not from Eternity but in Time for the first must be before the second and the old