Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n
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A23659
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The Christians justification stated shewing how the righteousness of Christ, the Gospel-Covenant, faith, and God himself, do operate to our justification / by W.A.
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Allen, William, d. 1686.
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1678
(1678)
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Wing A1057; ESTC R20597
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102,725
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303
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the words are these And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses To be Justified from sin sometimes signifies to be freed from the power and dominion of it Thus in Rom. 6.7 St. Paul having said in Verse 6. Knowing this that our old man is crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin adds in Verse 7. for he that is dead is Justified from sin For so it is according to the marginal reading and so the Dutch Translation Englished reads it though in our Translation it is rendred freed instead of Justified from sin And in this sense St. Austin understood this Acts 13.39 as I find him quoted And to this sence of the word Justifie agrees the reading of Revel 22.11 which some upon occasion use Let him that is filthy be filthy still and he that is Righteous let him be Justified still To the same sence of the word Justifie some alledg Rom. 8.30 Tit. 3.5 compared with Verse 7. and 1 Cor. 6.11 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 Where Justification seems to be ascribed unto the Spirit of God in one respect as to the Lord Jesus in another And doubtless Justification is the effect of the operation of all the Blessed Trinity though the manner of their operation be different Now that to be Justified from all things from which ye could not be Justified by the Law of Moses may be understood in this sense there are two things to be said to render it probable The one is the good agreement which this sence has with other places of Scripture which shew that men are freed from sin through Christ by his Gospel so as they could not be freed from it by the Law of Moses Thus Heb. 7.18 19. There is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof For the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did And again Rom. 8.2 3 4. For the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and of death For what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that the Righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit So likewise Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under grace By all which we see that the Law of Moses could not Justifie men from sin as Christ by the Gospel-dispensation does if by being Justified from sin we understand a being freed from sin it self as to its dominion The other thing which may incline us to understand the words under consideration in this sense is what may be observed from the context St. Paul had said in Verse 38. the words immediately before Be it known to you men and brethren that through this man Christ is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins Now then if in Verse 39. he should mean no more by being Justified than a being Pardoned he would seem but to say over the same thing again in other words which he had said before which is not usual with him But if this should not be the meaning of those words and should we suppose that by being Justified from all things from which they could not be Justified by the Law of Moses should be meant a being Justified from the guilt of sin as that signifies a being freed from the punishment deserved by it yet let us consider whether it will necessarily follow that the Apostle in those words defines Justification by Remission of sin or whether rather he does not thereby only set forth the subsequent benefits that would accrue to them by being Justified by believing which could not be obtained by their observing the Law of Moses And if so then the meaning would be only this That by their being Justified by their believing they should be delivered from or secured against the evil effects of their sin from which they could be not secured by observing the Law of Moses Now that to be Justified by believing by vertue of the blood of Christ and to be freed from the punishment of sin which is Pardon are two different things seems to be very plain from those words of St. Paul Rom. 5.9 where he saith much more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him He infers the certainty of their being Pardoned or saved from wrath from their being Justified and the inference and that from which it is made are doubtless two things We see then that men may be Pardoned by vertue of their being Justified and so be Justified from sin and yet not Justified by their being Pardoned It will no more follow that because by Justification we are Pardoned that therefore Pardon is our Justification than it will follow that because by believing we are Pardoned that therefore our Pardon is our believing and our believing our Pardon And now if we should understand the words Justified from all things from which ye could not be Justified by the Law of Moses in both the forementioned sences for a being delivered both from the guilt of sin and from the power and pollution of it I know no inconvenience in it both being true But if we do so yet we do not thereby necessarily conclude Pardon of sin to be Justification but only that Pardon of sin is by Justification as depending upon it For Gods adjudging of us to have performed the condition in believing on which he promised Pardon which is his Justifying of us together with his imputing that Faith to us for Righteousness intervenes comes between our believing and our being actually Pardoned and is that which gives the immediate right to it as I shewed before What hath been said then may suffice I suppose to shew that in all probability no such thing can be concluded from those words in Acts 13. as that we are Justified by being Pardoned The next Scripture I shall enquire into is Rom. 5.16 the words these Not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one or by one offence to condemnation but the free gift is of many offences unto Justification That which is first necessary to be done here is to consider the Translation because these words the free gift of many offences unto Justification seem as we have them in our Translation a little uncouth and somwhat unintelligible I have seen the matter in this part of the Verse Translated from the Original thus But the free gift is unto Justification from many offences not of many offences
transcendent worthiness of his person and the exceeding great interest he had in his Fathers love he did thereby sufficiently declare and manifest as well as by inflicting punishment on sinners themselves how odious a thing sin is in his sight how contrary to his nature and how irreconcilable he is to it Sin was condemned for as vile a thing as it is as well by our Saviour's suffering in the flesh for it in our stead as it would have been by our suffering for it our selves Rom. 8.3 he condemned sin in the flesh by being a Sacrifice for it 2. By the Son of God's thus suffering in the sinners stead for their transgressing the righteous Law of God the authority of this Law is as sufficiently maintained and the goodness of it as sufficiently vindicated as it would have been by punishing those sinners themselves that are now saved by his sufferings For when God would not so much as give any hopes of pardon to such as have transgress'd that law of his no not upon condition of their repentance without the suffering of such an one as his own dear Son no creature that knows this can have any occasion or place left to despise or slight that Law or the authority of the Law-giver and not to be awed by it nor to expect or hope for impunity in contemning of it 3. No creature can take any encouragement to commit sin or to continue in sin who considers how severely the Son of God himself was dealt with by his merciful and most loving Father in delivering him up to be crucified by wicked hands besides his other sufferings when he put himself in the sinners place to undergo whatever his Father would please to inflict upon him so that he might but thereby obtain a pardon for them and that too but upon condition of their reformation and reconciliation to God 4. As the end of inflicting punishment is either for the reformation of the persons themselves that suffer or of others by their example of suffering so this end of sinners suffering was much better attained by our Saviour's suffering for our sins than if we our selves that are saved by his death had suffered for them what we had deserved And the reason hereof is because those that are saved by our Saviours death are by his death first reconciled to God in their nature and life they are reformed and of rebels made loyal subjects which they never would have been if they had suffered themselves the desert of their sin And is it not much better that disloyal and disobedient subjects be made dutiful loyal obedient and useful than to be cut off for obstinacy in rebellion God had said concerning wicked men that he had much rather that they should return and live than that they should die in and for their iniquities and our Lord his Son hath answered him in the joy of his heart in that by his suffering for them in conjunction with other his performances on their behalf he hath fulfilled his Fathers wish and brought his desire to pass in reference to many such sinners And most certain it is that this is infinitely more pleasing and satisfactory to God than if all mankind had suffered the pains of eternal death for their iniquities This hath occasioned and will still cause infinitely more joy in Heaven and on Earth and more triumphant thanksgigiving unto God than there would have been if every sinner had born his own burden On this account our Saviour's giving himself for us was indeed emphatically an offering and a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour unto God as St. Paul calls it Ephes 5.1 All these things considered and put together it appears upon a very rational account that there was a very great aptitude in this act of our Saviour's mediatorial obedience to reconcile God to men when he delivered up himself to suffer for them on the terms he did and so to operate to our Justification 2. As there is an aptitude in our Blessed Saviour's Mediatorial Righteousness to reconcile God to men in order to their Justification so there is in another respect an aptitude in it likewise to reconcile men to God in order to the same end And that act of Obedience to the law of Mediation which hath an aptitude in it this way consists at least very much in a faithful discharge of his Prophetical Office as Mediator For by a faithful discharge of this trust and in obedience to this Law he persuades men by the great arguments and motives of the Gospel to be reconciled to God To this end he published the Gospel which he brought down from Heaven Prophetically called his declaring the decree Psal 2.7 And this was done in obedience to the Law of Mediation given by his Father as I have shewed from John 12.49 I have not spoken of my self saith he but the Father which sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak As the Law was given in the hand of a Mediator Moses so was the Gospel by Christ the Mediator of a better Testament And he confirmed it to be from God by many signs and wonders and mighty deeds which accompanied the publication of it by him and his Apostles having sealed it with his own Blood For after he had set it on foot himself while he was on earth and then sealed to it by his death he afterwards when he left the world and ascended up on high left behind him by way of gift to the world Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers to Minister the things of the Gospel in his name which Ministry is called the Ministry of Reconciliation and the Gospel committed to their trust the Word of Reconciliation and that which they were to do by it as his Ambassadors was to pray beseech persuade men in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20. This first done by our Saviour in his Ministry is continued by his Ministers in his name by persuading men to repentance and amendment of life and to become sincerely obedient unto God in which their being reconciled to him doth consist And the way and means used by our Saviour and his Embassadors to persuade men to be thus reconciled to God was by possessing them with a strong and vigorous Belief of three things especially as great parts of the Gospel our Saviour brought from Heaven with him 1. That God would certainly be reconciled to all sinners provided they would but be reconciled to him and not still persist in their rebellion that he will certainly pardon them and treat them as friends if they would desist from carrying it any longer as enemies to him He hath sent them word by his Messengers that he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance 2 Pet. 3.9 that he would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledg of the truth 1 Tim. 2.4 And because guilt