persons according to the tenor of the Gospel-Covenant and so qualifies them to be so adjudged by God against all accusations to the contrary by what or by whomsoever It is that which makes their cause good when they come to be tried and judged by the Law of Liberty because it is all which that Law requires to denominate them Righteous and to entitle them to the benefit of that Law This Righteousness of Faith is the essential matter or material cause of our Justification without which no such thing could be and supposing which it cannot but be so long as the Gospel-Covenant stands in force It makes those that have it the proper subjects of Justification for as God will condemn the wicked so he will most certainly Justifie the Righteous such as are made so by his own Grace without respect of persons he judgeth acocrding to every mans work and the nature of his cause In these and the like respects doth the Righteousness of Faith operate to our Justification These things stand proved in what hath been said before in opening the nature of the Covenant of Grace and the nature of Faith and the reason of its designation by God to its Office and work And may be yet further confirmed by those Scriptures where Faith is said to be counted and imputed to us for Righteousness as it was to Abraham Rom. 4.3 6 11 22 24. Gal. 3.6 Gen. 15.6 Jam. 2.23 For if God count it to us for Righteousness then it is our Righteousness for God accounts of things but as they are when they are what they are of his own making as this Righteousness of Faith is And if this Faith be our Righteousness in Gods account then they must needs be Righteous in his account that are Righteous with this Righteousness and be approved of and adjudged such by him And thus Faith operates to our Justification as it is the essential and intrinsical matter of our Justification CHAP. V. How God himself operates to our Justification I Come now in the last place to enquire in what respects Justification is attributed to God and what his operation is in producing this great effect of Justifying such as have been sinners That he doth Justifie believers by some acts proper to him is no Christians doubt It is one God which shall Justifie the Circumcision by Faith and the Vncircumcision through Faith Rom. 3.30 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth Rom. 8.33 Now God may be said to Justifie in several respects some more remote and some more proximate and immediate God is the Author Spring and Fountain and principal efficient cause of all other causes that any way concur or cooperate to our Justification Christ himself which is the foundation stone in this building by virtue of whose Mediatorial Righteousness we are Justified he is made to us of God Wisdom and Righteousness 1 Cor. 1.30 It is also God which hath given being to the new Covenant which is the Covenant of his Grace by virtue of which also we are Justified And the Righteousness of Faith which is the matter of our Justification is of Gods working in us by his Spirit Whence it is that both our Sanctification and Justification are attributed to the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God But that which we have now principally to consider is what that last act is or those last acts are by which God Justifies us And his operation herein is judicial for he Justifies as a Judg and therein proceeds by his own Law of Grace as the rule of judging of men and their cause And Gods judicial Justification of men doth stand I conceive in these two things principally 1. God in justifying of men approves of them for such as have performed the condition on which he in the Covenant of Grace promised pardon of sin and eternal Life That is he approves of them for true believers and such as have given up themselves to obey the Gospel to live according to the doctrine of their Saviour and adjudgeth them to be such 2. Those whom God approveth of as true and sincere observers of the new Law the Gospel or Covenant of Grace those he adjudgeth to be Righteous persons and that Faith of theirs by which they have fulfilled it to be their Righteousness True believers and such as have given up themselves to obey the Gospel they are Justified by the Gospel that is they are Righteous in the sense and meaning of that Law For that practical obediential Faith of theirs is their conformity to this Law of Christ the Gospel and therefore it must needs be their Evangelical Righteousness But there is this difference between being justified by the Gospel as it is the new Law of Grace and by being justified by God The Gospel-Covenant pronounceth all true believers in General to be Righteous persons but doth not determine whether this or that person in particular be a true believer and so a Righteous man or woman But God in justifying men determineth and adjudgeth this and that man in special to be a true believer and therefore a Righteous man in the sence of the Law of Grace It is the work of a Judg to apply the Law as a general rule to the special cases of particular men and to justifie or condemn men in particular in reference to their particular cases by and according to the general rule of the Law And so doth God the Judg of all in the case before us He knows and considers every man in particular whether he be a true believer or not And those whom he finds to be so those he adjudgeth to be Righteous according to the tenor of the Gospel which is his justifying of them Now that God justifieth men this way and after this manner does I conceive plainly and fully appear by those Scriptures which tell us that God doth justifie us by Faith and that he doth impute or account Faith to us for Righteousness One vein of Scriptures acquaints us that God justifieth us by Faith and through Faith Rom. 3.28 30. and 5.1 Gal. 2.16 and 3.8 By another vein of Texts we are told that God imputes accounts and reckons Faith to us for Righteousness Gen. 15.6 Rom. 4.3 5 11 22 24. Gal. 3.6 Jam. 2.23 Now these two veins of Scripture put together the sense that results out of them is I think plainly this That God justifies us by accounting our Faith to us for Righteousness This is so plain as that I know not what can well be plainer In the one vein it 's said that God justifieth us by Faith in the other that he imputes and reckons Faith to us for Righteousness And for God to account Faith to us for Righteousness and to reckon and adjudg us to be Righteous upon the account of our Faith signifies I think the same
more upon men when they heartily believe it by proclaiming pardon to all repentant sinners and immense rewards to such as shall with honest minds give up themselves to Christ to be his Disciples to learn of him by his Doctrine and Example how to live a sober righteous and a godly Life And by promising Divine assistance as well as vast rewards and acceptance of honest and sincere endeavours and by making allowances for such frailties and defects both in knowledg and practice as will consist with uprightness of heart towards God And thus I have shewn how the Gospel operates to our Justification as a great and effectual means of bringing us to become Evangelically Righteous without which we cannot be Justified by having that Righteousness imputed to us and by being approved of as Righteous upon the account of it CHAP. IV. Of Faith and how that operates to our Justification THat Faith doth operate to our Justification we are perfectly assured by the frequent and express notice thereof we have from the Scriptures such as Rom. 3.30 and 5.1 Gal. 2.16 and others And Faith operates to our Justification as it is the performance of that condition upon which the great and precious promises of the Gospel Covenant are made For the Covenant consists chiefly of two parts to wit the promises which God makes of bestowing benefits on us through Christ and of the condition upon which these promises are made which condition is summarily comprised in Faith or believing But before I proceed further to speak of Faith I think it not inconvenient here to premise to what is to be said about Faith as the condition of the Gospel-Covenant somwhat to shew that the promises of pardon and eternal Life are conditional The Gospel-Covenant is directly suited to that Mediatory undertaking of Christ by which the Covenant it self was obtained and on which it was founded Now I have shewed formerly that Christ died for all men indeed but yet it was but to obtain a conditional pardon for all men and other benefits consequent upon it He did not die to procure that God should be reconciled to them that should always refuse to be reconciled to him but to obtain their pardon and restauration to the favour of God upon condition of their being persuaded to be reconciled to him And truly the Covenant of Grace holds an exact proportion to the Covenant of Redemption or Law of Mediation by the fulfilling of which by Christ the Gospel Covenant as I said was obtained As our Saviour died for all to put all into a capacity of being pardoned and saved in case they should not persist finally in rebellion against God so the Covenant of Grace promiseth pardon and salvation just upon the same terms and not otherwise For the Gospel denounceth a being punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power against all those that know not God and which obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ So that when we compare the general promise and threatnings in the Gospel together we are put upon a necessity of understanding the promise in a conditional sense otherwise the promise and threatning would be inconsistent And indeed the promise of those great benefits seldom if ever are found without the condition annexed either expresly or by plain intimation The gracious declaration of the Gospel runs thus And you that were somtime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the Faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel Col. 1.21 22 23. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Rom. 8.13 If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses Mat. 6.14 15. If we walk in the light as he is in the light then have we fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 John 1.7 These conditional particles if plainly express the conditional nature of the promises yea and of the threatnings too The promises are not made to such or such men by name but to all men under such or such a qualification as to those that believe to those that repent to those that obey the truth Which qualification specifies the condition on which and so the persons to which such promises belong This is a thing so plain throughout the Scripture from end to end that more need not be said of it Having premised thus much I shall now proceed to shew how Faith operates to our Justification and in order to our better understanding what influence Faith hath in our Justification we will enquire into these particulars 1. How it appears that Faith is the condition of the promise of pardon and eternal Life 2. What that Faith is 3. Why it is made the condition of the promises 4. In what capacity men are to perform that condition 5. How more particularly it operates to our Justification 1. That Faith is the condition on which pardon of sin and eternal Life are promised in the Gospel is so plain that nothing more need to be said to make it evident than only to point to the express letter of the Scripture in this case For pardon of sin this is promised on condition of believing Acts 10.43 To him give all the Prophets witness that through his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins And so is eternal Life promised on the same terms John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlastiug Life If these promises are made to believers as such as we see they are then believing must needs be the condition on which they are made This is past contradiction Jo. 3.36 Acts 16.31 2. Consider we next then what that Faith or believing is which is the condition on which the promised benefits remission of sin and eternal Life are suspended And without all doubt it is not only a speculative but a practical belief It is a hearty assent of the mind to the truth of the Gospel and a sincere consent in the will to live according to the Laws and Precepts of it The same thing the same Faith for substance is in Scripture described by different Phrases Somtimes it is described by a believing the record of God concerning his Son Christ Jesus 1 John 5.10 11. Somtimes by a believing Jesus to be the Christ the Son of God John 20.31 1 John 5.1.5 And somtimes by a believing of the Gospel a believing of the truth a believing of the testimony of the Apostles of our Saviour
the circumstances of his case are altered upon the account of Christs performance for him We cannot say that the Natural Law was ever against the justification and pardoning of such repentant sinners for whom Christ undertook to suffer for if it had it would be so still now he hath suffered for that Law is intirely unalterable and inflexible Till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law saith our Saviour until all be fulfilled Mat. 5.18 Now if the Law were never against the justification and pardon of such penitents as aforesaid then there needed no alteration to be made in it to make way for their justification and pardon And as all this appears as we see from reasons taken from the nature of God and from the nature of the Law it self as reconciled by the death of Christ to penitent sinners So it appears also by express Testimony of Scripture St. Paul speaking of such repentant sinners as in whom were found the fruits of the Spirit saith that against such there is no Law Gal. 5.23 and if no Law then not the Natural Law And when in another place the question is put whether it may be said that the Law is against the promise of God He rejects it with a kind of indignation saying God forbid Gal. 3.21 To conclude then for God to justifie pardon and make men happy when in vouchsafing this favour to repentant persons upon account of the death of his Son his Authority Law and Government is not left unvindicated nor the ends of his Government unsecured nor any creature hurt by it it is doubtless agreeable to the highest reason and therefore congruous to the Law Natural and infinitely becoming so good a being as God is And it may very well be that upon this account God is said to be just in justifying him that believeth in Jesus Rom. 3.26 and faithful and just to forgive us our sins 1 John 1.9 And this doubtless is the satisfaction which God the Father receives by the suffering of his Son for our sins about which there have been so many disputes in the world It is doubtless infinitely satisfactory and well pleasing to Almighty God that by means of his Sons suffering he can now shew Mercy to repentant sinners in justifying pardoning and saving them without suffering the least dishonor or suspition of dishonor in reference either to his Nature Law or Government and in full compliance with the immutable Law of Righteousness and Reason Nor will it follow from what hath been discoursed as some perhaps may object that the Natural Law and the Law of Grace are all one For although the Natural Law is not against the favour exhibited by the Law of Grace upon the reason and the terms on which it is done yet the Revelation of that reason which is the Mediatorial performance of Christ is not made by the Natural Law but by the Gospel or Law of Grace For no man can merely by any natural light know it but is knowable only by the Gospel Revelation or Law of Grace The natural man cannot know the things of the spirit of God because they are spiritually discerned that is by means purely spiritual or supernatural 1 Cor. 2.14 For this reason and by reason of all the honor which redounds to the Eternal Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ and all the benefit which accrues to men by this Revelation which is exceeding great it was necessary that this Law of Grace should be constituted and published as a Law distinct from the Natural Law But whereas the Scripture in some places seems to represent the Law and the Promise as inconsistent so that if one take place upon a person the other must in some sort give way according as I my self have somtimes thought I shall now look a little more narrowly into those Texts In Rom. 4.14 i'ts said If they which are of the Law be heirs faith is made void and the promise made of none effect And again Gal. 3.18 If the inheritance be of the Law it is no more of Promise but God gave it unto Abraham by promise For a right understandnig of these and such like Scriptures we must consider that the Apostle doth not in them represent the inconsistency of the Law and the Promise as they are in themselves and in their proper use and rightly understood but he therein represents the erroneousness of their opinion against whom he disputes upon the account of the absurd consequence of it as rendring the Law and the Promise inconsistent For otherwise when St. Paul speaks his own sense of the Law and Promise he with great vehemency denies the Law to be against the Promises when he says Is the Law then against the Promises God forbid Gal. 3.21 The case was this the Pharisaical Jews held Righteousness or Justification to be by the Law in opposition to its being by Grace I do not frustrate the grace of God saith St. Paul meaning that he did not do it by his doctrine as they did by theirs for if righteousness come by the Law saith he then Christ is dead in vain Gal. 2.21 They held their legal performances were of themselves a Righteousness that would of themselves Justifie them before God But St. Paul taught that it was meerly by grace and by virtue of Christs death that the faith and sincere though otherwise imperfect obedience of such as have been once sinners is imputed or counted to them for Righteousness So that their opinion of Righteousness coming by the Law if admitted would have rendred the death of Christ to be in vain and the Promise of none effect or useless which yet proceeded from Grace and was in it self an act of Gods Grace And if righteousness had been by works in their sense then it would not have been of Grace otherwise Grrace would have no more Grace as St. Paul reasons But if it was of Grace as the Apostle affirmed that it was then it could not be of works in their sence otherwise work would be no more work Rom. 11.6 So that the drift of St. Paul in his writings was to shew that their opinion of Justification by the Law was pernicious for that it opposed the Law to the Promise as rendering the Promise useless But that his doctrine of Justification by Grace through Faith did not evacuate the Law nor make it useless in the matter of our Justification but rendered both very well consistent Do we then make void the Law through Faith saith he God forbid yea we establish the Law Rom. 3.31 The good men among the Jews under the Law were Justified by Grace even then when they were approved of for Righteous upon the account of their sincere obedience to the Law of Moses and accordingly they depended upon the Grace and Mercy of God for acceptation and approbation in their sincere observation of all his Laws And therefore they from time to time stiled
Grace to us in that it is bestowed on us through Christ or for his sake nor the less of Grace in God because the Righteousness of Christ his obedient suffering upon account whereof this gift or grant is made us was the effect of Gods gratious design of benefit unto us It was by the grace of God that he tasted death for every man as we are told Heb. 2.9 and consequently all the good that does accrue to us by it must be of Grace That the introduction of this Evangelical Righteousness we speak of was of meer Grace and free gift appears Rom. 5.17 where this effect of Gods Grace is called the gift of Righteousness And in that Verse and in the Verse before and after it is called the gift or free gift no less than four times Not as it was by one that sinned so is the gift for the judgment was by one unto condemnation but the free gift was of many offences unto justification For if by one mans offence death reigned by one much more they that receive abundance of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ 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 unto the justification of life And in vers 21. Grace is said to reign through Righteousness to life as sin had reigned unto death In these Verses St. Paul shews that if the offence of Adam were of force to involve his whole Race in condemnation that then the Grace of God and the gift by Grace through Christ the second Adam and upon account of his Righteousness will be much more available to the justification and pardon of all men upon supposition they receive this gift of being Righteous with that Righteousness And let it be noted that the free gift here mentioned and the Righteousness of one Jesus Christ are not the same but the one the effect of the other it is by the Righteousness of one Christ Jesus that the free gift of Righteousness came upon all men unto justification of life That is as I conceive this free gift of accounting men Righteous if they receive it upon the terms of the giver is granted unto all men otherwise sinners upon the account of the Righteousness of Christ Rom. 3.24 Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus Here also we see that it is of free Grace that God approves of men as Just and does adjudg them Righteous which is his Justifying of them it is freely of Grace though it be through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus or for the sake of his Mediatory obedience Tit. 3.6 Being justified by his Grace c. And when this Righteousness of Faith is said as it is to be a Righteousness imputed or a Righteousness that is accounted for such it implies nay argues that it is so in a way of grace and favour and not in stirctness of justice As on the contrary not to impute sin when sin hath been committed signifies to deal with such persons in a way of grace and favour and not according to the rigor of strict justice 2 Sam. 19.19 2 Cor. 5.19 As not to impute our trespasses to us when we repent of them and strive against them though otherwise we are not without all sin is purely an act of grace and of high favour in God even so for him to impute Righteousness to us when we sincerely endeavour to be Righteous though otherwise we be not without all sin is an act of the same grace likewise This Righteousness of Faith it is not a natural Righteousness as Adams was while he kept his integrity but it is so meerly in the account of grace and favour It is a Righteousness by Divine institution not otherwise of it self so its being so depends upon the grace and good will of God that hath appointed it so to be and to be accepted and to pass in account for such For which reason I conceive it is frequently called the Righteousness of God Rom. 1.17 and 3.21 2 Cor. 5.21 The Righteousness of God which is by Faith Rom. 3.22 Phil. 3.9 as noting it to be a Righteousness of his ordaining proceeding from his Grace in opposition to mens own Righteousness which is or is conceited to be a Righteousness Naturally and of it self as the Pharisaical Jews fancied their Righteousness of the Law to be By grace are ye saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the gift of God Eph. 2.8 That is it is by Grace and by virtue of the donation of God that we are saved by Faith or the Righteousness of Faith and that we have such a Faith or Righteousness of Faith to be saved by 2. It is by the Gospel or Covenant of Grace that this Righteousness of Faith is revealed and conveyed to us for such and stated and settled for such as by a Law This way of accounting men that have been and are sinners to be Righteous upon their believing is not known by any Natural Light because it is not a Natural Righteousness but is purely matter of supernatural Revelation as it is in it self supernatural Grace I am not ashamed of the Gospel saith St. Paul For therein is the Righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith as it is written the just shall live by Faith Rom. 1.17 And again Now is the Righteousness of God manifested without the Law to wit by the Gospel Rom. 3.21 It is by this Gospel or Covenant that Faith is ordained to be our Righteousness and settled for such as by a Law which therefore is called the Law of Faith Rom. 3.27 And the Gospel which conveys this Grace to us is frequently called the Grace of God the word of his Grace and the Gospel of the Grace of God Tit. 2.11 Acts 14.3 and 20.24 The Messias according to what was Prophesied hath brought in everlasting Righteousness by the everlasting Covenant the everlasting Gospel which was not in the world after the fall but by his bringing in Dan. 9.24 By all this it appears that the Covenant operates to our Justification as it gives being from God and our Lord Jesus Christ unto that Covenant Righteousness which is the matter of our Justification it is that by which God doth institute this Righteousness for it is a Righteousness by institution and not naturally such as I have shewed What it does in this kind it does it by virtue of Gods designation of it to that Office and not by its own innate virtue and intrinsick worth or merit When I say this Righteousness of Faith is not naturally and of it self such I do not mean that those fruits of the Spirit of which it doth consist have not in them the true nature of goodness and holiness for that they have but that these are not in Righteous men themselves that yet are Evangelically
Righteous without all mixture of that which deserves not the name of holiness and goodness nor they without unrighteousness antecedent to this and before they had repented and therefore is not such a compleat Righteousness as would hold measure according to the standard of the Law of innocency if we were to be tried by that to be Justified or Condemned by that In this regard the best of us have cause with the Psalmist to cry out and say If thou Lord shouldst work iniquity O Lord who shall stand Psal 130.3 It is indeed a growing Righteousness that is by degrees growing up towards a perfect state such in whom it is are perfecting holiness in the fear of God But before it is grown to this perfect state it is in the account of grace and by way of favour and for Christs sake accepted and approved by God for such Righteousness as unto which he hath promised the pardon of all past offences and of all such after infirmities as are consistent with this Covenant-Righteousness in its lower degree and also eternal Life it self So that in a word this thing we call everlasting Righteousness by which we are Justified owes it self its very being such a Righteousness as it is unto the Covenant of Grace or that Grace of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ which is put into a Covenant for us 3. The Covenant operates to our Justification as being the rule by which those are justified in judgment to be Righteous persons such as to whom the promise of pardon and eternal life is made that are justified at all Righteousness as I have formerly shewed receives its denomination as it doth its nature from its conformity to some Law And this Covenant-Righteousness the Righteousness of Faith receives its denomination from its Conformity to the Covenant of Grace as being that qualification in the person on condition of which the promises of the Covenant are made and therefore every man that is Justified is Justified by this Law to be such a person as to whom the promises are made It is by this Law that such a person is Justified in his cause if a man be not a Just and Righteous person in the sense of this Law he will not be Justified by God for he judgeth of men and their cause by this Law Jam. 2.12 So speak ye and so do as they that shall be judged by the Law of liberty that is the Gospel or Covenant of Grace And our Saviour saith The word that I have spoken the same shall judg you in the last day John 12.48 4. The Covenant operates to our Justification as an instrument of making us to become Righteous and so capable subjects of Justification And this it doth by way of motive or persuasion The great and precious promises made to men in this Covenant of pardon of sin and eternal Life on condition of the Righteousness of Faith Sobriety Righteousness and Godliness and not otherwise they out of a desire and love to the benefits promised are persuaded to imbrace the condition without which they cannot enjoy them that is to become Righteous The Gospel ministration is called the ministration of Righteousness 2 Cor. 3.9 And it is so both as it ministers to us the knowledg that there is another Righteousness than that which is of the Law and also as it ministers to us powerful motives and assistances to follow after Righteousness by which they become Righteous and so to be Justified St. Paul saith The Gospel is the power of God to Salvation in as much as therein the Righteousness of God is revealed from Faith to Faith Rom. 1.16 17. the terms on which God will account them Righteous and the motives to make them so these are revealed by the Gospel by which it becomes the power of God to Salvation to those that believe it The Gospel is a ministration of Righteousness and of Justification as it is the ministration of Reconciliation of reconciling us to God of reconciling our nature to the holy nature of God and to his holy Laws by making us partakers of a Divine Nature a God-like Nature in Holiness and Goodness which is done by the great and precious promises of the Gospel of pardon and eternal Life as powerful motives persuading men to become new creatures in order to the obtaining these great benefits promised and attainable only upon condition of such our reconciliation to God which puts us into a perfect capacity of Justification that is of being approved of as those who have performed the condition of the foresaid promised benefits Thus the Gospel is called the word of reconciliation which was committed to the Apostles and others and their Ministry the ministry of reconciliation 2 Cor. 5.18.19 And by a practical knowledg and belief of these things revealed by the Gospel men come to be justified that is approved of as those that have known believed and obeyed the Gospel By his knowledg saith God concerning Christ shall my righteous servant justifie many Isa 53.11 That is by the knowledg of him in what he is hath done and suffered revealed and taught What the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh as to free us from the Law of sin and to bring us to that Righteousness which it did design but could not effect that is now done by the Law of the spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus to wit the Gospel The Law without the Gospel could not give us that assurance of Gods willingness to be reconciled to us and of pardon upon repentance which the Gospel does much less of a glorious reward of new obedience For the promise of pardon for Christs sake upon our repentance the promise of the Resurrection of the Body and of the Celestial Glory are brought to light by the Gospel being matters of supernatural Revelation Now it is the great assurance which the Gospel gives us of these things upon the account of Christs death that is the powerful motive of prevailing with men to be reconciled to God and to become Evangelically Righteous that they may be Justified And therefore the preaching of the Cross is said to be to them that are saved the power of God and for wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.18 24. That is it contains and lays open Gods most wise contrivance of reconciling sinners to himself and by that means becomes his powerful motive of drawing men to it that so they may be Justified Pardoned and Glorified The Law made nothing perfect it is the bringing in of this better hope by the Gospel that doth it Heb. 7.19 The Law which laid a burden of strict obedience upon men backt with severe threatnings in case of transgression prevailed little upon men but to keep them under a spirit of bondage to fear while they were unacquainted with the rich grace and indulgence of the Gospel by which the Yoke of Christ is rendered easie and his burden light The Gospel prevails much
receive their strength from Faith in one respect as they do from the goodness of the nature of God and his veracity in another I have intimated before that it is from an apprehension which men have of Gods willingness to be reconciled to them that inclines them to be reconciled to him While men look upon God as a resolved irreconcileable enemy to them well they may dread him as the Devils do but cannot love him nor be reconciled to him no more perhaps than the Devils can All the good thoughts of God as of one that delights not in our destruction but concerns himself for our salvation and which any way incline us to be reconciled to him take their rise from those declarations which God hath made to us of his willingness and desire to be reconciled to us upon supposition of our willingness to be reconciled to him Hence it is that we are said to love God because he first loved us 1 John 4.19 and to be reconciled to God by the death of his Son because God thereby commended his love to us while we were yet sinners and gave us an ample and full proof of his willingness to be reconciled to us as making way thereby for it Rom. 5.8 9 10. And thus God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself by assuring us of a readiness in him to be reconciled to us and not to impute to us our trespasses supposing still that we refuse not to be reconciled to him 2 Cor. 5.19 By this declared willingness in God to be reconciled to us and by his declared resolution not only to pardon us but also to exalt us in immortal glory provided we refuse not to be reconciled to him but to punish us as obstinate rebels and irreconcileable enemies if we do I say it is by these motives that men are persuaded and prevailed withal to be reconciled to God or to his nature as when they become pleased with the same things which please him and displeased with what is displeasing to him and to his Law and Government as when they consent to the wisdom and goodness thereof and accordingly submit to it as best But then it is by means of Faith that these motives do affect us and operate to our reconciliation to God There is no other way to affect the soul with all the great things which God and Christ have done for us and conditionally promised to us but by means of this Faith For we do not know that Christ is the Son of God or for what end he died nor that God will both pardon and give eternal Life to sinners upon condition of their being reconciled to him but by Divine Revelation which Divine Revelation doth not affect us or operate upon us further than it is believed These motives not being sensible objects have no being in the soul and so no operation till Faith give them a being there by giving credit to that doctrine by which they are Revealed For Faith is the substance or confidence of things hoped for and the evidence or conviction of things not seen Heb. 11.1 We know and believe the love that God hath to us 1 John 4.16 Faith it is the great instrument of reconciling us to God both as it acts upon its object and as it acts upon its subject Divine Revelation is its object and by crediting that the foresaid motives are received into the soul as real things And then Faith acts upon its subject the soul it self in which Faith dwells by fixing the foresaid motives in the mind and working them into the will by which the work of reconciliation and conversion unto God is wrought and brought about In this way or in this respect love to God obedience to his Precepts and all divine virtues and holiness of Life flow from Faith And therefore it 's no marvel that Faith is mentioned in Scripture as the summary condition on which the Promises of the Gospel are made Hence we may see the reason why sanctification is attributed to Faith as it is Acts 26.18 and more particularly the purity of the heart love to God and men and victory over the world Acts 15.9 Gal. 5.6 1 John 5.4 Yea the whole of Evangelical Righteousness of Godly sincerity both in heart and life so often stiled the Righteousness of God is said to be by Faith as the next and immediate productive cause of it under the operation of the Spirit of God Phil. 3.9 Rom. 3.22 This Faith therefore having such an aptitude in it as I have shewed to reconcile us unto God by renewing our nature and conforming us to him without which Faith we could not by the great and precious promises themselves be made partakers of a divine nature we may see reason enough why it is made the condition of the promises of the Gospel 3. By affiance in God and in our Lord Jesus Christ which is one special act of Faith we give and ascribe unto God as much as in us lies the glory of his attributes and the perfections of his nature his truth and faithfulness power wisdom and goodness which may be another reason why this honour is by God put upon Faith so as to be accounted to us for Righteousness and to be made the condition of Gods making good to us the great promises of the Gospel forgiveness of sin and eternal Life By this affiance we venture our selves soul and body and our whole concern for all eternity upon the truth of Gods word and promise upon his faithfulness and power to perform it and upon the all-sufficiency of Christ Jesus to be our Saviour and Redeemer when we commit our selves and the conduct of our lives wholly to his Rule and Government out of a confident expectation of having Gods promise made good to us and of the sufficiency and prevalency of our Saviours performance for us This trust and confidence God is pleased to take as such a piece of honour done to him as that the Scripture calls our receiving Gods testimony a setting to our seal that God is true John 3.33 a justifying of God against the jealousies and suspitions of men and the reproach which their unbelief casts upon God Luke 7.29 For he that believeth not the record which God hath given of his Son hath made him a lier 1 John 5.10 Thus Abraham gave glory to God when he staggered not at his promise through unbelief but was fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform Rom. 4.20 21. And in that he did thus give glory to God in believing this in the next words is given as the reason why his Faith was imputed to him for Righteousness Therefore saith he it was imputed to him for Righteousness Ver. 22. And thus we see that God is pleased to honour that most in men to wit their Faith by which they most honour him 4. In what capacity those under the Gospel are to perform the condition of the promise by
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
prove Justification by Faith to be of Grace and not of debt as I have shewed from Rom. 4. but never throughout the whole Scripture stiled Righteousness that ever I could find And if any think it is implyed in such Scriptures where the reward of Righteousness is stiled Righteousness by a Figure yet if it should be so it would no more prove Remission of sin to be Justification than it will prove Glorification to be Justification which yet in St. Pauls account is quite different from it For he says Whom he justified them he also glorified Rom. 8.30 And now for these reasons I hope it will not be thought unnecessary nor unprofitable to have endeavoured to shew that there is a difference between Justification and Remission of sin however what hath been done herein is submitted to the consideration and judgment of the judicious Reader But there is another opinion which I but now mentioned of worse consequence as I apprehend it of which I have said but little And that is the opinion of those who place our Justification in the imputation of the Righteousness of Christ to us not only in its effects as we all hold but in it self as if it were so transferred to us that we were Righteous with the very same personal and numerical Righteousness wherewith he himself is Righteous and that it is so reckoned ours as if we had wrought it in our own persons yea that indeed we have wrought it in and by him The nakedness of which opinion hath been plentifully exposed by others and I shall not concern my self with it now further than what I have already done in these papers Wherein I have shewed that the Righteousness of Christ operates to our Justification in quite another way And likewise that it is the Christian Faith as operative and practical that is imputed to us for Righteousness and that by virtue of Christs Righteousness and Gods act of Grace upon the account of it But then this which yet is the plain doctrine of the Holy Scripture is quite another thing than the transferring of Christs Righteousness it self to us Indeed this opinion excludes and shoulders out the Christian Evangelical Righteousness from the office and use to which God hath designed it and is attended with several dangerous consequences and absurdities otherwise as hath been set forth at large in several Books which treat of this subject which I shall forbear to repeat For my design in these papers was not to treat of Justification in a way of controversie nor so much to detect what is to be avoided as what is to be imbraced and held fast in this matter For I reckon that if that which is the truth be received into the mind upon satisfactory grounds that which is its contrary will fall off of it self The Conclusion WE have now seen how much hath been done by the Eternal Father and his Holy Son our Blessed Saviour that we might be Justified Pardoned and Glorified all things on their part are prepared and made ready The Father hath made and the Son hath fulfilled the Law of Mediation to bring about a Reconciliation between an offended God and us Rebel-Creatures Christ hath now no more sorrows nor pains nor deaths to undergo and suffer for us There are no terms of Grace and Mercy of Pardon and Peace of deliverance from Hell and of obtaining the Glory of Heaven which are not already obtained for us and by the Gospel plainly made known and freely offered to us For it is as I have shew'd of Grace in God and obtained by the Mediatorial Righteousness of Christ that Faith or the Righteousness by Faith is made the condition of Pardon of sin and eternal Life as well as the conferring of Pardon and Life is on that condition Since then such terms of happiness are obtained for us it remains on our part that we receive not this Grace of God in vain but that we be as careful to observe those terms as we are desirous to enjoy the benefits annexed to them because we cannot enjoy the one without observing the other We cannot enjoy the benefits of the new Covenant but by becoming new creatures and by living new lives For this is the new Righteousness by Faith on condition of which the great promises of the new Covenant are made Whoever will come to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb must come in his Wedding garment or else he will be excluded And the Wedding garment in which the Bride the Lambs Wife is said to be arayed is said to be the Righteousness of Saints Revel 19.8 And now Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us we must keep the Feast on this Sacrifice not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth which is the Evangelical Righteousness I have been speaking so much of 1 Cor. 5.7 8. Old things are past away now and behold all things are become new Our old Righteousness in which man was first made is lost and a new Righteousness instituted In the room of the old terms of happiness perfect innocency now the new ones of Faith and godly Sincerity are introduced This new and living way into Heaven is now consecrated for us through the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ Nothing but a new man a new heart a new spirit and newness of life will correspond or suit with the new Covenant nor with the new Jerusalem which is above These are all of one piece there is no parting of them nor having an interest in the one without having the other And now considering that all this happiness of Pardon of sin and the Glory to come and the terms of obtaining both is brought about only by the Grace of our God and the Mediatorial Righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ what can we do less than to joyn with those Redeemed of the Lord mentioned in Rev. 5. who are said to have sung a new song to the everlasting honor of our Redeemer saying Thou art worthy to take the Book and to open the Seals thereof for thou wast slain and hast Redeemed us to God by thy bloud out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and hast made us unto our God kings and priests How much more cause have we to sound forth the praises of the Redeemer of the World than those Myriads of Holy Angels which have no such need of a Saviour as we have Who yet out of a grateful sense of it celebrate the memory of his most wonderful and worthy undertaking and performance for the Redemption of us poor miserable and lost men Saying with a loud voice worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing And well may we with those blessed spirits sing aloud of the riches wisdom and strength of the Lamb that was slain as most worthy to receive these because he useth them to so