Shew you why such who are in Jesus Christ shall not cannot come into a state of Condemnation IV. Shew you what kind of Persons they are which are in Christ Jesus V. Apply it I. The first Proposition is this viz. That all Mankind even the Elect as well as others are under Condemnation before their actual Vnion with Jesus Christ 1. This I shall prove 2. Apply First Because the Elect as 〈◊〉 as others fell in the first Adam and by virtue of the fall they were brought under Condemnation Therefore as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation even so c. not one Soul of all his Posterity escaped the Sentence Judgment and Condemnation past not upon Adam for his first Sin as a single Person but as he was a common Head a publick Person or the Representative of all Mankind that proceed from his loins that Sentence that past upon Adam unto Condemnation as he was a publick Person passed upon all Men in him even the Elect as well as others but the Sentence passed upon Adam unto Condemnation as he was a publick Person therefore that Sentence passed upon all Men in him even upon the Elect as well as others Secondly All Men even the Elect as well as others before Faith or their actual Union with Jesus Christ are under Sin and horrid Guilt they are all gone out of the way they are together become unprofitable there is none that doeth good no not one Mind what the Apostle affirms ver 9. For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under Sin that is under the Power Guilt and Condemnation of Sin I am my Brethren but a doing of that which Paul laboured to do But further to prove and demonstrate that this is so 1st Evident it is that all are born in Sin all come into the World with the stain and guilt of Original Sin upon them Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me Moreover how doth Paul aggravate this Sin and bewail himself for it this is beloved the Fountain and Root of all Sin our corrupt Nature proceedeth from Original Sin the first transgression Can Man be clean that is born of a Woman Adam begat a Son in his own likeness i.e. a sinful Creature like guilty and unclean as himself not in God's likeness having his Image resembling him no but contrariwise was more like unto Satan and resembling him than God There are three things in this Sin as it is noted by a worthy Writer 1. A particular Act which he did namely the breaking the Law of the first Covenant 2. The legal Guilt that flowed from that Act both upon his own Person and upon all his Posterity by Imputation 3. That Natural pravity and corruption of our whole Nature in Soul and Body the whole Man being defiled And from hence comes Wrath and Condemnation upon all Men. Now Brethren let me here add one thing to your consideration viz. tho Adam fell by this Sin in his own Person under Condemnation as well as we in him yet afterwards when he believed and received by Faith the free promise of God in the Seed of the Woman he came into a Justified State Adam no doubt was an Elect Person the promise of Christ being directly made to him who was also a Figure of him that was to come But now it would follow that if the Elect were never under the Sentence of Wrath and Condemnation then Adam notwithstanding what I have said was not and if Adam was not in his own Person under it for his first Sin then none of his Seed or Posterity were But how absurd and contrary such a Notion is to Truth I leave to all Mens Consideration 2ly As all Men are under Sin and Guilt by Original Transgression so they are also by their own actual Sins the Wages of Sin is Death yea eternal Death for there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God Originally there is no difference in respect of Sin and Guilt nor actually neither between Jews and Gentiles the Elect and Reprobates in respect of their State before Grace 3ly This also further appears because the Elect before they are in Christ are by Nature the Children of Wrath as well as others Our sinful Nature is the proper object of God's Wrath every one having a natural aversness to God in them yea an antipathy to him and enmity in their Carnal Minds against him and hence also it is said that God hates and is angry with all the Workers of Iniquity Thirdly All Men before Grace and Union with Jesus Christ are in a State of Condemnation because they are all under the Covenant of Works and if all Unbelievers are under the Covenant of Works then they are under Guilt and Wrath. Now we know that whatsoever the Law saith it saith to them who are under Law that every mouth might be stopped and all the World may become guilty before God that is obnoxious to God's just Judgment and Condemnation Christ is the end of the Law to every one that believeth Not to any other not to any one that believeth not If Believers only are in the new Covenant or Covenant of Grace then all that are in a state of Unbelief are in the Covenant of Works and so under the Curse and Condemnation of the Law For all must be in one or the other Covenant and in the first or second Adam Brethren the Sentence of the Law lies upon the Elect before they are in Christ tho Christ hath received their Discharge for them yet in their own Persons they are not acquitted Sirs Christ came only to redeem them that were under the Law and the Curse thereof And now if the Elect were not under the Law and the Curse who were they that he came to redeem it appears they were not the Elect by this strange Notion nor indeed if it be as some hint the Elect had no need of Redemption for if not under Guilt Wrath and Condemnation what Redemption did they need But when the fulness of time came God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law to redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the adoption of Sons Fourthly That the Elect as well as others before Union c. are under the Curse of the Law and Condemnation appears because Christ bore the Curse of the Law and was condemned for them or in their stead if they were not under the Curse of the Law Why did God lay Jesus Christ our Surety under the Curse thereof Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us How redeemed from that which we were never under Now there is a twofold Curse of the Law 1. An Original Curse in Adam this
Faith was true and saving not a dead Faith good Works being the Fruits of saving Faith If this was not so how could he say in vers 23. that The Scripture was fulfilled which saith Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for Righteousness not his Act of Faith but the Object his Faith believed in or took hold of The Justification of a Sinner in a proper Sense is one thing and the Justification of a Believer as such a one is another thing How then can Mr. Clark say the Justification Paul speaks of and that which James speaks of is all one and the same thing This Man contends for a mild Law certainly the Moral Law remains a perpetual Rule of perfect Obedience let this Man shew us where and how he can prove that God in the Gospel only commands sincere imperfect Obedience to the Moral Law the Law surely loses no part of its sanction by the Gospel that is as holy just and good as ever Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect We are still to love the Lord our God with all our Hearts with all our Souls and with all our Strength Our Faith Love Patience c. ought to be perfect the Law or Commands of the Gospel know no bounds or limits tho the Law is abrogated as a Covenant of Works yet not as a rule of perfect Obedience See what Reverend Mr. Cross says i.e. Either the Gospel Law or Law of Faith must require perfection in those Duties or some other Divine Law or else God would become an indulger of Sin by Law if it be by another Law viz. the Moral that requires perfect Obedience and this sincere only then these Laws differ but in degree not in Specie or Kind because both require the same Duties or Works and so this Gospel Law would be no distinct Law but only the measure of sincere Obedience would receive a new Use of its giving right c. which we own it has to wit to be an index or mark of our Justification tho we can't own that use of giving right c. a distinct Law they must hold or quit their Cause or this Foundation of it for the Text sets the Law of Faith down as an opposite Law to that of Works and that they hold then if it be a perfect Law requiring perfect Obedience there is no possibility of Justification in this Life but this is not all the difficulty for it 's the adding a load to a burden Is this Gospel to a Man that is not able to perform the least part of the Moral Law to tell him that God or the Mediator requires perfect Obedience to it for the future and another too Or is this Gospel to say you shall perish eternally and have the Fire of Hell seven times heated if you obey not the Gospel it's indeed a conditional Hell but it is more dreadful than the Fire of Hell and the condition is more impossible because we have less Power to shun this difficulty of two perfect Laws Mr. Bull owns no other perfect Law but the Gospel since Man fell but by shunning one difficulty he falls into as great 1 Then the Moral Law is abrogated besides the falseness of the Doctrine it self for it is impossible that should cease to be our duty to love God with all our Hearts and Souls What advantage brings in Christ's Death to abrogate one perfecting Law and establish another here is little Gospel A second difficulty i. e. we must either say Christ has purchased to us pardon for Sins against the Gospel Law or none at all but that one Sin of Adam's if the Moral Law be abrogated after the fall we never sinned against any Law but the Gospel for we were under no other Law according to him c. Thus Mr. Cross Is not much of our Obedience under the Gospel Obedience to the Moral Law Nay is not the Moral Law the Rule of all our Obedience to God in all positive Gospel-precepts Reader This mild Law of theirs they say requires sincere Obedience as the condition of Justification now there is no sincere Obedience without it be universal c. how then may this fill a poor Christian with terror and slavish Fear I do all I hope sincerely but I may not obey universally some Precept through ignorance I may lie short of I can't tell when my Obedience is full Also according to them I can be but partially justified in this Life and therefore I am partially condemned and thus the Creature hangs till Death between Heaven and Hell Ah poor England poor Church of God where are thy brave old Heroes that stood up to maintain the Truths of Christ What Apostacy is here from the Orthodox Faith what decay of doctrinal and practical Christianity what dark Clouds spread over our Heavens How are many fallen from the Faith But I must leave Mr. Clark to an abler Pen I design'd no more than to make a few Remarks to provoke some others to reply to the Argumentative part of his Book which I see no great difficulty to answer Now that the Lord would scatter this Cloud and all other dangerous Errors let it be all our Prayers both Day and Night Yet I doubt not but the present opposition against this Fundamental Point of Faith will cause the Truth in the end to shine more clear and bright which the Lord grant in his Infinite Mercy to the praise of his own Glory Amen FINIS The Scope of the Epistle to the Romans Rom. 8.3 Rom. 3. Parts of the Text opened The Terms explained Rom. 8.33 1 Cor. 11.32 Eph. 2.3 Rom. 6.14 Rom. 13. ult The 2d and 3d Verses of Rom. 8. explained Rom. 7.12 1 Cor. 1.30 Joh. 1.16 The Method proposed 1st Proposition by way of premise The Elect fell in the first Adam and were brought under Condemnation All Men by Nature under Guilt of Original Sin Rom. 3.12 Psal 51.5 Job 25.4 Caryl on ob chap. 25. p. 706. Rom. 5.14 All Men naturally under the Guilt of actual Sins Rom. 6.23 All Men by nature Children of Wrath. Eph. 2.3 Rom. 8.7 Psal 7.11 Psal 5.5 Rom. 3.19 Rom. 10.4 Gal. 4.4 Vers 5. Heb. 9.15 The Elect were once under the Curse of the Law Gal. 3.13 Gal. 2.10 Rom. 6.17 Heb. 9.19 20 21. Rom. 5.10 Heb. 10.14 Vers 11. 2 Pet. 1.4 Sinners that believe not condemned already Joh. 3.18 and 36. Rom. 5.1 Rom. 3.28 Gal. 2.16 Gal. 3.24 Act. 13.35 Joh. 3.36 Rom. 4.5 Faith no procuring cause or condition of Justification Rom. 3.22 Fox p. 1659. The later Helvetian Confession Zanchy on Phil. 3. Assemblies large Catechism Rom. 5.11 Before God or in his sight all things were from Eternity Rom. 4.17 An Elect Sinner not pronounced justified before he is in Christ Rom. 5.17 When we receive Christ we receive his Righteousness and not till then Justification makes a relative Change Luk. 15.32 1 Cor. 6.9 10 11. There was a federal Vnion of the Elect with Christ The Elect virtually justified when Christ rose from the dead Dr. Tho. Goodwin Christ set forth p. 76. Pag. 77. Ministers preach to Sinners as under Wrath and Condemnation Joh. 8.33 35 36. See his Book Christ alone exalted p. 235. The Holy Spirit in Convictions represents to Sinners their state is bad Eph. 2.3 Rom. 3.22 1 Cor. 6.11 1 Joh. 3.14 Called Scripture-Justification In his Introduction Pag. 1 5. Pag. 62. Pag. 85. * Phrasis hac side justificamur metonymica est aquipollet huic merito Christi side apprehensio justificamur Welleb Compend pag. 163. Can. viii Pag. 18. Joh. 8.36 Cant. 4.7 Chap. 5.2 Gal. 2.21 * But certainly all may see it is in effect the same with the Papists 2 Vol. on Gal. pag. 210. Gal. 1.8 Rom. 3.27 Pag. 43. Pag. 100. Pag. 96. Pag. 97. Rom. 4.11 Rom. 5.19 Dr. Owen on Justification p. 307. Pag. 105. Pag. 85. Pag. 46. Rom. 8.3 Mr. Sam. Clark Pastor of the Church at Bennetfink his Medulla Theologiae or the Marrow of Divinity Pag. 280. Rom. 8.3 Rom. 3.31 Rom. 11.6 Pag. 71. See Pool's Annot. Jam. 2.23 Mat. 5.48 Serm. on Rom. 4.5
A Medium betwixt two Extremes Wherein it is proved that the whole First Adam was condemned and the whole Second Adam justified Being a SERMON lately preached on Rom. 8.1 and now published to prevent the further Controversy in one main Point about Justification To which are added Reflections on some Passages in Mr. Clark's new Book called Scripture-Justification By BENJAMIN KEACH Rom. 5.18 Therefore as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift came upon all Men to Justification of Life LONDON Printed for Andrew Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhill 1698. To the Reader MY preaching upon this Subject was occasioned by what I met with from a gracious Person 's mouth who is a Member of the Church under my charge who seemed very uneasy in her Communion because in my preaching she said tho I hold forth the Doctrine of free Grace and exalt Christ yet do positively maintain that the Elect are under Wrath or in a lamentable state before calling or before they are united to Christ by the Holy Spirit or are in a State of Vnion with him which might I fear be occasioned through a mistake of that Doctrine some in this City of late so much insist on viz. Justification and Vnion with Christ before the Spirit the bond of that Vnion is received not that any of our Brethren I hope that preach that Doctrine do believe that the Elect are not under the Sentence of Condemnation and Wrath while they abide in the first Adam tho I fear they do not so carefully distinguish as they ought between our Fundamental and Virtual Justification in Christ as our Head and Representative and our actual or Personal Justification when we are united to him And finding ill use made of that Doctrine I have been perswaded to publish the first Sermon I preached upon this occasion not knowing how far this Notion might spread amongst weak and unwary hearers and having some hope this may be through the Blessing of God a prevention of it One thing I cannot but bewail i.e. that because we may differ perhaps in some respect from that Doctrine before mentioned that we must therefore be charged with Arminianism which Error we abhor and any other that tends to becloud or darken the Doctrine of free Justification by Christ alone without Works or inherent Righteousness None have reason to think that I favour in the least the Arminian or Baxterian Errors considering what I have lately published on the great Doctrine of Justification in two Sermons on Rom. 4.5 which Doctrine I have farther confirmed in those Sermons preached from the Text this is grounded upon viz. Rom. 8.1 this being only the first in which the Nature of our mystical Vnion with Christ is opened and the sweet Consolation that flows therefrom to all Believers largly applied Reader just as this Sermon was going into the Press I met with Mr. Samuel Clark's new Book intituled Scripture-Justification and have made short Remarks on some things he hath said In a time of common Invasion every Man should take to his Arms they need not wait for Orders as one notes for by this Man's Doctrine all is struck at Some think the difference between us and others who are unjustly called Antinomians consists more in Words or Terms than otherwise and I hope it is so however if I differ from them in any thing I cannot help it I have here asserted what I in my Heart do believe and I shall leave it to the Censure of all my Brethren and others with my earnest Prayers that Love Vnion Humility and Charity may be more prest after which certainly is much wanting among us and remain thine to serve thee in the Gospel according to that small measure of Light and Ability received Horsly-down in Freemans-lane 〈…〉 Benja Keach SERMON I. ROM viii 1. There is now therefore no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit IN this Epistle to the Romans the great Apostle of the Gentiles labours chiefly in the general to do two things First To establish the Saints to whom he wrote in the Doctrine of Justification by Christ alone Secondly To excite or stir up all justified Persons to Sanctification or Holiness of Life And That he might effectually do the first he in the three first Chapters discovers the dismal state of all both Jews and Gentiles as considered in the First Adam or the condition of every Soul by Nature and the weakness and insufficiency of the Law by reason of Man's Pravity to obtain Justification and eternal Life thereby insomuch that the Jews were in no better state than the Gentiles all being gone out of the way and the whole World become guilty before God But to revive their sinking Hopes he then displays the white Flag of Peace through the Free-Grace of God in Jesus Christ that tho the Law pronounces nothing but Wrath and Condemnation to every Soul of Man and also the remainders of Sin or the Law in our Members doth distress and sorely afflict Believers themselves yet he shews us that through Jesus Christ we have a blessed Victory over the Law of Sin and Death so that Sin cannot expose a true Believer to eternal Wrath and that the Law of God which holds all Unbelievers down under Guilt can no more oblige Believers to eternal Condemnation because Jesus Christ in our Nature hath answered all the Demands and born the Penalty thereof And from hence he brings in the Words of our Text as the profitable Use or Application of that Doctrine he had so well proved There is now therefore no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit In my Text you have three Parts I. A Comfortable and Consolatory Proposition There is now no Condemnation c. II. A Description of the state of the Persons to whom this Cordial of Comfort belongs viz. To them which are in Christ Jesus III. The Character of the Persons or their Qualification or Property as to the frame of their Hearts and the course of their Lives viz. They walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Or you may consider the former part of the Text thus viz. I. The Subjects spoken of Them which are in Christ Jesus II. The Predicate or Privilege asserted viz. There is now no Condemnation We will consider the Terms There is no Condemnation i.e. no Sentence of Divine Wrath no eternal Punishment 1. God pronounceth them justified and acquitted and so for ever free from Condemnation 2. The Justice of God acquits them and hath nothing to lay to their charge they being in Christ Jesus 3. The Condemnation of the Law cannot reach them it can't hurt them because they are delivered from the Curse thereof None else have any Power Who shall lay any thing to
past upon him as I have proved and upon all Men in him 2. An actual Curse or a Curse for all actual Sin which remains upon all whilst they abide under the Law for as many as are for the Works of the Law are under the Curse for it is written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the Book of the Law to do them Thus by our actual Sins we were brought also under this Curse is evident Obj. But doth not Paul say Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law Ans 1. It appears such whom he hath redeemed c. were once under it and if they were delivered before they believed 't is necessary that such who assert that should assign the time when they were delivered Paul tells the Saints when they were delivered from Sin Guilt and the Curse being then made free from Sin Then when why when they believed and received Christ and his holy Doctrine and obeyed it from the Heart 2. It is evident that Paul speaks it of Believers even of such as had received the Spirit of Adoption and so could call God Father 3. The Price may be paid for the Redemption of Captives and yet they may not presently be delivered but may remain in Bondage in Slavery and lie in Chains A Surety may satisfy the Law for a Criminal or for a Debtor yea pay the utmost Farthing but he may notwithstanding lie under the Sentence of Death or remain in Prison for a time and not have his personal Discharge The Sacrifice may be offered up and an Atonement may be made but the Blood may not be sprinkled the slaying the Sacrifice is one thing and the sprinkling the Blood is another So the Atonement made for us by Jesus Christ which is the Price and meritorious Cause of our Redemption and Justification is one thing and our receiving the Atonement or the application of his Blood to our personal and actual discharge from Sin Guilt and Condemnation is another thing For if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life We grant God was not only made reconcilable by the death of his Son but by his Death God was fully reconciled that is he received a full Satisfaction by that one Offering Faith adds nothing to the Merits of Christ's Blood or meritorious Sacrifice but it is by his Life by his Intercession that it is made effectual or efficacious unto us who pleads with God for the Spirit which he purchased also for his Elect that so the saving Benefits and Blessings might be applied to them And therefore the Apostle adds in the next verse And not only so but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the Atonement God hath as if Paul should have said through Christ's Intercession given us a free and personal Discharge purchased for us he hath given us Faith to receive the Atonement The particle Now hath its Emphasis denoting the Privilege of all such as believe and hence it is that we glory in Tribulation we are now actually acquitted and for ever delivered from Condemnation Sirs since the strict time of the laying down the Price of our Redemption was not the time when many of the Elect were actually acquitted and justified why should it be asserted to be the time when any of them were For those Believers that lived and died from Adam till Christ came were justified and went to Heaven before the Sacrifice was offered and the Atonement actually made the Father trusted the Son according to that holy Compact that was between them Christ covenanting and engaging that he would die for them And now as Adam received the Atonement when he believed and not till then so we when we are in Christ believe do receive the Atonement also and not before for at the same time and upon the same terms they under the Law received it we under the Gospel-Dispensation do receive it by Time I mean when they had and we have actual Union with Christ and believe or do receive the Spirit the Bonds of this Union Brethren tho all in the first Adam were fundamentally and representatively condemned in him his Sin being imputed so to all his Off-spring yet none are actually condemned until they actually exist and partake of his corrupt Nature So in the second Adam all the Elect were fundamentally and representatively justified in him his Righteousness being imputed so to all his Spiritual Seed or Off-spring yet none of them are actually and personally justified until they are united to him and partake of his Divine Nature Fifthly All Men the Elect as well as others are under Condemnation before Grrce or actual Union with Christ because it is positively said that he that believeth not is condemned and the Wrath of God abideth upon him The Law condemns him let him be who he will even every Soul that believes not savingly in Jesus Christ and it remains upon him because he believes not or because he continues in the first Adam in condemned Adam and is not transplanted into the second Adam Jesus Christ Nay and his Unbelief binds all his Sins and the Sentence upon him not believing is not the first Disease but it is the refusing the Remedy Those stung with fiery Serpents were mortally wounded that was their Disease and if any would not did not look up to the Brazen Serpent that was the reason they died in respect of their refusing the Remedy but their being stung was that which kill'd them So 't is Sin that is the breach of the Law of God which is the Disease and the Cause why Sinners perish all are condemned already and their refusing of Christ offered in the Gospel for their Cure aggravates their Sin and Condemnation and it leaves such that finally persist in Unbelief incurable for ever Sixthly All before they are in Christ are under Condemnation because the Holy Ghost frequently ascribes our actual or personal Justification to Faith and can't we read those Scriptures without offence or do any think they understand this Point better than Paul or the other Apostles Being justified by Faith we have Peace with God c. Therefore we conclude that a Man is justified by Faith c. Knowing that a Man is not justified by the works of the Law but by the Faith of Jesus Christ even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the Faith of Christ c. And again he saith That we might be justified by Faith In him all that believe are justified from all things c. He that believeth hath the Son and he that believeth not hath not the Son but the Wrath of God abideth on him Brethren Where is it said in the Scripture that any Person was justified that believed
the World which until we do believe he could not do for according to the revealed Rules of his Word which he professeth to proceed by at the latter day there is a Curse and Sentence of Condemnation pronounced against us under which we stand till he shall take it off by giving us Faith unto which he hath in the same word made the promise of justifying us in our own Persons as before he had done in Christ Yet still notwithstanding so as altho when we first believe then only Justification is actually and personally applied to us c. Thus the Doctor which I agree with Eighthly All Men are in a State of Condemnation before they are in Christ or have actual Union with him doth appear because Ministers in preaching the Gospel are commanded and do preach it to lost undone and miserable Sinners or to such as are in a deplorable State even under Wrath and Condemnation and do declare this to be the State of all out of Christ without exception Not to offer Christ to justified Persons to such that are dâ—liver'd from Condemnation and so in a good State but to such who are in a lost state condemn'd to eternal Misery and under the Curse of the Law which is God's Curse and Children of Wrath. I am told lately that some there are who affirm the Elect did not fall in Adam but this I can't tell how to believe why then did Christ die Brethren must Christ be offered to righteous Persons to justified Persons or to Sinners condemned or do any of us preach that which we believe not do any preach thus or have they any Authority so to do viz. Sinners if you are elected you are in a good State and are actually justified whether you believe or not only you do not know it or have not the evidence of it in your own Consciences Or do we not all preach to all out of Christ as unto ungodly ones to such that are under Wrath and Condemnation in their own Persons and so remain until they believe or have Union with Christ Our Lord came not to call the Righteous as such neither self-righteous ones nor such who in a Gospel-Sense are righteous Persons but Sinners to Repentance to such that were really lost in the first Adam and under the Bondage of Sin and the Law True the Jews said indeed that they were free and never were in Bondage c. How saist thou ye shall be made free but what says our Blessed Lord he that committeth Sin is the Servant of Sin If the Son therefore shall make you free then are you free indeed And doth Christ make any free until they are united to him and so believe in him But to put the matter to an issue I find we are all agreed in this Point who preach free Grace Dr. Crisp who I think is abused both by his Friends and Enemies says All by Nature are under the Curse of the Law Cursed cursed cursed saith he every Moment every Hour But how actual Condemnation can consist with actual Justification I see not or how a Man can be under the curse of the Law and yet be blessed with the chiefest Gospel-blessing is strange to me Ninthly and Lastly All are under Condemnation c. before they are in Christ Jesus appears because the Holy Spirit by its Convictions represents this to be the state of every elect Soul by nature namely Children of Wrath even in a condemned state and not only so in their own Consciences but even as others And hence a Minister when he meets with a Person under Convictions on whom God hath begun a good work asketh him what do you judg your State is by Nature O Sir saith he a woful state and condition as in the first Adam and without Christ under God's fearful Wrath being condemned to Eternal Misery having originally and actually broken the Law of God which lays every Man obnoxious to everlasting Burning Now sure the Divine Spirit in Convictions would never hold forth or represent this to be the state of the Soul before it is in Jesus Christ if it was not really so because he is a faithful and true Witness and because he is God and cannot lie So much shall suffice to prove this premised Proposition Application Caution 1. Shall be a Use of Caution to such to take heed how they seek to render the state of the Elect to be good before Grace and actual Union with Jesus Christ 1. Because the holy Word of God declares their State to be very bad and as to the present State of their Persons whilst Unbelievers there is no difference 2. Because such a Notion cannot tend to the Glory of God nor the profit of any Person either before or after they do believe I challenge any to shew what Glory it can bring to God or benefit it can be to any Sinner to hear he is justified or discharged from Wrath and Condemnation before he is in Christ or that it can be of profit to him when he doth believe to be told that his State was good before he did believe in Christ Jesus tho he knew it not 3. But contrariwise it may tend to encourage Unbelievers to conclude that their State is good tho Swearers Drunkards and what not and so harden them in their Sins and to disbelieve or cast contempt upon what some faithful Ministers daily declare to the contrary 4. It also clearly tends to lessen or extenuate the rich Grace of God in giving his Spirit to regenerate the Soul and to work Faith in us if the relative and real change were not at one and the same time which the Scripture doth affirm it is But you are sanctified but ye are justified c. Also then Grace received could not be any sign of our being passed from a state of Death unto a state of Life which the Apostle asserts it is By this we know that we have passed from Death to Life because we love the Brethren he that loveth not his Brother abideth in Death The Apostle no doubt intends a state of Death 2ly It puts also a just rebuke upon such as cause trouble or divisions amongst Christians on such a Notion Brethren were it a Truth that the Elect were actually delivered from Condemnation and were personally justified before they are in Jesus Christ yet certainly it cannot be judged to be an Essential of Salvation nor of Church-communion Are all such Persons not to be communicated with that can't believe the Elect are acquitted or delivered from Condemnation or personally justified before they are in Christ Jesus Secondly This I hope may tend to clear up the matter and shew the present difference is but little and rises rather from mistaking of words than otherwise for according to what I have said and proved it appeareth 1. That God sees things even all his works from everlasting and calls things that are not as if
but the Notion of Mr. Clark and his Abettors certainly tends to raze and root out that antient Doctrine which the Apostles preached and those worthy Men laboured to restore about Justification Did Bellarmine ever deny that their good Works and inherent Holiness which they made the matter of their Justification before God were performed by the Grace of God and the Assistance of the Holy Spirit This Man only excludes legal Works from having any thing to do in our Justificâ—â—â—on but includes all Gospel-Works and sincere Oâ—edience he asserts these kind of Works and free â—â—ace are consistent and because not derogatory in point of Salvation therefore not in Justification He says that we must allow of Gospel-Works or Holiness to concur to Justification and this Doctrine will appear c. Answ Yet he would feign insinuate that this Doctrine of his is in effect the same with that of the old received Doctrine of our Divines who teach saith he That the sola fides solum yet not fides sola i.e. solitaria justificat tho Faith alone yet not that Faith which is alone does justify What 's the Purport of this Why because the Faith of God's Elect by which alone we apprehend or receive the Object Jesus Christ by whom we are justified is attended with good Fruits as Sanctification and Holiness by which it is known from a false and dead Faith therefore Faith good Works and Holiness is the matter or that which doth justify us before God or because Faith in respect of its own excellent Nature doth purify and sanctify us therefore God hath instituted and ordained Faith and inherent Holiness to justify us and because inherent Holiness and Sanctification tends to make us meet for Heaven therefore it is our only Title for Heaven Is it not said that God imputes Righteousness without Works and justifies him that works not How then do Works concur with or are included or joined with that Righteousness that is our Justification before God Take a Passage of Reverend Perkins viz. It is objected that true Faith is never alone I answer saith he thus Faith is never alone in the Person justified nor in Godly Conversation but is joined with all other Vertues yet in the act and office of Justification it is alone the Eye in the Body is not alone being joined with all other Parts Hand Foot c. nevertheless the Eye in seeing is alone for no part of the Body seeth but the Eye He shews that Faith alone is the Eye which sees the Object Jesus Christ and apprehends him and his Righteousness whose Righteousness only is the material cause of our Justification before God See the Assembly's Confession c. All whom God effectually calleth he freely justifieth not by infusing Righteousness into them but by pardoning their Sins and by accounting and accepting their Persons as righteous not for any thing wrought in them or done by them but for Christ's sake alone not by imputing Faith it self the act of believing nor any other Evangelical Obedience as their Righteousness but by imputing the Obedience and Satisfaction of Christ unto them they receiving and resting on him and his Righteousness by Faith which Faith they have not of themselves it is the Gift of God This agrees with that Doctrine Paul preached to the Romans and Galatians c. But from this Doctrine Mr. Clark and many more are departed what saith the Apostle If we or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than what you have received let him be accursed Paul as Mr. Perkins notes saw the Galatians to be corrupted in the point of Justification false Teachers being got among them who preached Justification by Christ and by the works of the Law they did not exclude Christ's Merits but brought in the works of the Law with Christ in Justification before God as some now do the works of a new Law i.e. Gospel Law But let them tremble Where 's Paul's Doctrine for it is palpable this new Doctrine excludes not boasting or ground of boasting I argue thus viz. That Law doth not exclude boasting that commands works of Obedience as the Condition of Acceptance and Justification But this new Law these Men speak of commands works of Obedience as the Condition of our Acceptance and Justification Ergo It doth not exclude boasting But Mr. Clark intimates That works of the Law performed by our own Strength or without special assistance only admit of boasting Answ The Papists say that all their Works and inherent Righteousness are performed by God's Grace or special Assistance yet how do they boast Let the Creature perform good Works c. by what Assistance he will yet the Works are his Works and if such by which he is justified they admit of boasting Reader The Righteousness this Man contends for by which we are justified is not the Righteousness of one but the Righteousness of many i.e. every Man 's own Faith and sincere Obedience contrary to what Paul affirms Rom. 5.17 18 19. Christ did not saith Mr. Clark obey the Law in Man's stead Answ Then say I he hath not fulfilled all Righteousness for us nor answered all the demands of the Law nor doth God's Holy Nature and Justice require a perfect Righteousness to our Justification in his sight Was not perfect Righteousness part of that Debt we owed to God If so who pays the Debt for us the Penalty was but one part of our Debt Then also it seems the Law of perfect Righteousness doth not result from the Purity and Holiness of God but only from the Sovereignty of his Will not from the rectitude of his Nature Moreover why then did not God give this mild Law of Faith and sincere Obedience at first and so have saved himself of buying it so dear i.e. with the Price of the Blood of his own Son Christ's active Obedience he affirms is not imputed to us nay he says that imputing Christ's Righteousness to us is not a Scripture Expression 't is not found in any place of Scripture tho he says he denies not the thing Answ Righteousness was imputed to Abraham and he was the Father of all Elect Gentiles That Righteousness might be imputed to them also Now it must be Abraham's own Righteousness and so our own Righteousness that is imputed or else the Righteousness of Christ Again He may as well say Adam's active Disobedience was not imputed to us For as by one Man's Disobedience many were made Sinners so by the Obedience of one shall many be made righteous As Adam's Disobedience in his first Sin was imputed to all his Seed so is the Obedience of Christ imputed to all his or to all in him This Text I find he knows not how to answer see pag. 97 98. but boggles with it Obj. They object if the Righteousness of Christ be made ours we may be said to be the Saviours of the World as he was or to
save others as he did c. Ans Take Dr. Owen's as to this viz. The Apostle declares that as Adam's actual Sin is imputed unto us to Condemnation so is the Obedience of Christ imputed unto us to the Justification of Life but Adam's Sin is not so imputed unto any Person as that he should then and thereby be the cause of Sin and Condemnation unto all other Persons in the World but only that he himself should become guilty before God thereon And so is it on the other side and as we are made guilty of Adam's actual Sin which is not inherent in us but only imputed unto us so are we made righteous by the Righteousness of Christ which is not inherent in us but only imputed unto us and with it not for himself but for us Object The Effects of Christ's Righteousness c. are imputed to us Answ Saith the Doctor In this Imputation the thing is first imputed unto us and not any of the Effects of it but they are ours by virtue of that Imputation To say that the Righteousness of Christ that is his Obedience and Sufferings are imputed to us only in their Effects is to say that we have the benefit of them and no more but Imputation it self is denied so say saith he the Socinians Again he saith The Righteousness of Christ is imputed unto us as unto its Effects hath this sound Sense in it viz. that the Effects of it are made ours by reason of that Imputation it is so imputed so reckoned unto us of God as that he readily communicates all the Effects of it unto us but to say the Righteousness of Christ is not imputed unto us but the Effects only is really to overthrow all Imputation But Mr. Clark says 'T is the Righteousness of God by which we are justified not the Righteousness of Christ He will not have it be the Righteousness of him that was God or take it in that Sense but that Righteousness that God hath ordained and instituted for our Justification viz. our Faith and sincere Obedience Answ We do not only say it was the Righteousness of him that was God as well as Man but also that Righteousness which God hath found out and approves of as agreeing with his Holy Nature and infinite Justice and Purity of his Law That he might be just not the essential Righteousness of God but the Righteousness of Christ as Mediator Who of God is made to us Wisdom and Righteousness c. Where pray hath God made our imperfect Righteousness a Righteousness to justify us at his Bar I am perswaded this Man would not willingly be found in his own Righteousness at Death let it be never so sincere Ay but we must take the Scripture in the plain literal Sense about Justification this he much harps at tho his Notion by thus doing brings in Justification by Works which the Apostle shews is inconsistent and directly contrary to Grace Rom. 11.6 Works are Works whether Law-Works or Gospel-Works He argues much as the Papists in another case and upon as grand a Point Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church I will appeal to all whether the Words in the Letter do not seem to run smoother for the Papists i.e. for the Church to be built upon Peter than upon Christ that Peter confessed And so this is my Body c. Mr. Clark cries out against puzling perplexing Distinctions and taking Faith Metonymically i. e. for the Object of Faith tho it is clearly imply'd and that way only it beareth a true Analogy of Faith I infer saith he that we are not justified by the active Righteousness of Christ or his Obedience to the Law of Works imputed to us for then a Man would be justified by the Law and by the Deeds and Works thereof as much to be reckon'd his own as if they were done personally by himself for that is their Sense of Justification then we are justified by the Law or Covenant of Works in a Legal and in an Evangelical way for then the Law is fully satisfied by Christ our Surety and we stand recti curiâ and the Law has nothing to say to us or charge us withal as if a Surety in Bond pay the full Debt the Creditor has no Action against the principal Debtor and there 's no Favour at all show'd him in his Discharge Answ In all Places where in the New Testament it is said a Man is not cannot be justified by the Works of the Law or by the Deeds of the Law 't is evident that the Apostle speaks of that Obedience to the Law that frail depraved and impotent Man is able to yield thereunto and the Reason why no Man can be justified hereby is 1. Because he hath both originally and actually broken it and as it admits of no pardon for what is past so also it affords no strength to keep it for time to come Hence what the Law could not do God sent his own Son What for Was it only to make God amends for our Breach of it and so to purchase a new a milder and better Law of Works c No sure Where is there the least shadow of proof for this See what this Gentleman 's Reverend Father saith speaking of Christ's fulfilling the Law for us he saith That it was not meerly Obedience but a meriting Obedience there was an intrinsick Worth and Excellency in Christ's Obedience answering to our Salvation Hence tho we have Justification of meer Grace yet in respect of Christ it was Justice and Debt so that in Christ the Covenant of Works was fulfilled tho in us the Covenant of Grace This Work Christ finished and compleated First In that he did it wholly and universally there was not one Tittle of the Law which he did not fulfil Secondly He finished it universally for Parts and not only so but fully for Degrees He did not only love God but loved him as much as the Law requires all that he did was so fully done that there wanted not the least Degree of Grace in any Duty Thirdly Because he had not only an Objective Perfection in Parts and Degrees but also a Subjective all within was throughly and perfectly holy So that as we are originally and actually polluted he was originally and actually holy so that the Law had no fault to find with him Fourthly He finished it in respect of Duration the Law requiring continuance tho there were Perfection of Parts and Degrees and subjective Perfection also Yet cursed is he that continueth not therein Again he saith For to obey the Law of God and to suffer all the Wrath that was due to our Sins was a bitter Cup to drink Thus Christ fulfilled the Law for us as our Surety and in him it was fulfilled in us there being a Legal or Law-Union between him and us Now since this perfect this compleat and constant Obedience to the Law was our