occasions are they pester'd withal especially if not under the conduct of the same inlightning spirit that some will confidently condemn others unto eternal flames for those things whereon they place on infallible grounds their hopes of eternal blessedness and know that they love God and live unto him on their account But this wretched advantage of condemning all them of Hell who dissent from them is greedily laid hold of by all sorts of persons For they thereby secretly secure their own whole party in perswasion of eternal Salvation be they otherwise what they will For if the want of that Faith which they profess will certainly damn men whatever else they be and how good soever their lives be many will easily suffer themselves to be deceived with a foolish Sophisme that then that Faith which they profess will assuredly save them be their lives what they please considering how it falls in with their inclinations And hereby they may happen also to frighten poor simple people into a compliance with them whilest they peremptorily denounce Damnation against them unless they do so And none for the most part are more fierce in the denunciation of the condemnatory sentence against others for not believing as they do then those who so live as that if there be any truth in the Scripture it is not possible they should be saved themselves For my part I believe that as to Christians in outward profession all unregenerate unbelievers who obey not the Gospel shall be damned be they of what Religion they will and none else for all that are born again do truly believe and obey the Gospel shall be saved be they of what Religion they will as unto the differences that are at this day among Christians That way wherein these things are most effectually promoted is in the first place to be embraced by every one that takes care of his own Salvation If they are in any way or Church obstructed that Church or way is so far as it doth obstruct them to be forsaken And if there be any way of profession or any visible Church state wherein any thing or things absolutely destructive of or inconsistent with these things are made necessary unto the professors of it in that way and by vertue of it no Salvation is to be obtained In other things every man is to walk according unto the light of his own mind for whatever is not of Faith is sin But I return from this digression occasioned by the fierceness of him with whom we have to do For the Objection it self that hath fallen under so perverse a management so far as it hath any pretense of sobriety in it is this and no other If God justifie the ungodly merely by his Grace through Faith in Christ Jesus so as that works of Obedience are not antecedently necessary unto Justification before God nor are any part of that Righteousness whereon any are so justified then are they no way necessary but men may be justified and saved without them For it is said that there is no connexion between Faith unto Justification as by us asserted and the necessity of Holiness Righteousness or Obedience but that we are by Grace set at liberty to live as we list yea in all manner of sin and yet be secured of Salvation For if we are made Righteous with the Righteousness of another we have no need of any Righteousness of our own And it were well it many of those who make use of this Plea would endeavour by some other way also to evidence their esteem of these things for to dispute for the necessity of Holiness and live in the neglect of it is uncomely I shall be brief in the answer that here shall be returned unto this Objection for indeed it is sufficiently answered or obviated in what hath been before discoursed concerning the nature of that Faith whereby we are justified and the continuation of the moral Law in its force as a rule of Obedience unto all believers An unprejudiced consideration of what hath been proposed on these heads will evidently manifest the Iniquity of this charge and how not the least countenance is given unto it by the Doctrine pleaded for Besides I must acquaint the Reader that some while since I have published an entire Discourse concerning the nature and necessity of Gospel Holiness with the Grounds and Reasons thereof in compliance with the Doctrine of Justification that hath now been declared Nor do I see it necessary to add any thing thereunto nor do I doubt but that the perusal of it will abundantly detect the vanity of this charge Dispensat of the Holy Spirit Book 5. Some few things may be spoken on the present occasion 1. It is not pleaded that all who do profess or have in former ages professed this Doctrine have exemplified it in an holy and fruitful conversation Many it is to be feared have been found amongst them who have lived and dyed in sin Neither do I know but that some have abused this Doctrine to countenance themselves in their sins and neglect of duty The best of holy things or truths cannot be secured from abuse so long as the Sophistry of the old Serpent hath an influence on the lusts and depraved minds of men So was it with them of old who turned the grace of God into lasciviousness or from the Doctrine of it countenanced themselves in their ungodly deeds Even from the beginning the whole Doctrine of the Gospel with the grace of God declared therein was so abused Neither were all that made profession of it immediately rendered Holy and Righteous thereby Many from the first so walked as to make it evident that their Belly was their God and their end destruction It is one thing to have only the conviction of truth in our minds another to have the power of it in our hearts The former will produce an outward profession the later only effect an inward Renovation of our Souls However I must add three things unto this concession 1. I am not satisfied that any of those who at present oppose this Doctrine do in Holiness or Righteousness in the exercise of Faith Love Zeal Self-denial and all other Christian Graces surpass those who in the last ages both in this and other Nations firmly adhered unto it and who constantly testified unto that effectual influence which it had into their walking before God Nor do I know that any can be named amongst us in the former ages who were eminent in Holiness and many such there were who did not cordially assent unto that imputation of the Righteousness of Christ which we plead for I doubt not in the least but that many who greatly differ from others in the explication of this Doctrine may be and are eminently holy at least sincerely so which is as much as the best can pretend unto But it is not comely to find some others who give very little evidence of their diligent following after that
that Judgment being according unto Works answered and the Impertinency of it declared Pag. 211. CHAP. VII Imputation and the nature of it The first express Record of Justification determineth it to be by Imputation Gen. 15.6 Reasons of it The Doctrine of Imputation cleared by Paul the occasion of it Maligned and opposed by many Weight of the Doctrine concerning Imputation of Righteousness on all hands acknowledged Judgment of the Reformed Churches herein particularly of the Church of England By whom opposed and on what Grounds Signification of the Word Difference between reputare and imputare Imputation of two kinds 1. Of what was ours antecedently unto that Imputation whether good or evil Instances in both kinds Nature of this Imputation The thing imputed by it imputed for what it is and nothing else 2. Of what is not ours antecedently unto that Imputation but is made so by it General nature of this Imputation Not judging of others to have done what they have not done Several distinct Grounds and Reasons of this Imputation 1. Ex Justitia 1. Propter Relationem foederalem 2. Propter Relationem Naturalem 2. Ex voluntaria sponsione Instances Philem. 17. Gen. 43.9 Voluntary sponsion the Ground of the Imputation of Sin to Christ. 3. Ex injuria 1 King 1.21 4. Ex mera Gratia Rom. 4. Difference between the Imputation of any Works of ours and of the Righteousness of God Imputation of Inherent Righteousness is Ex Justitia Inconsistency of it with that which is Ex mera Gratia Rom. 11.6 Agreement of both kinds of Imputation The true nature of the Imputation of Righteousness unto Justification explained Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ. The thing it self imputed not the effect of it proved against the Socinians Pag. 226. CHAP. VIII Imputation of Sin unto Christ. Testimonies of the Antients unto that purpose Christ and the Church one Mystical Person Mistakes about that State and Relation Grounds and Reasons of the Vnion that is the foundation of this Imputation Christ the Surety of the New Covenant in what sense unto what ends Heb. 7.22 opened Mistakes about the Causes and Ends of the Death of Christ. The New Covenant in what sense alone procured and purchased thereby Inquiry whether the Guilt of our sins was imputed unto Christ. The meaning of the words Guilt and Guilty The Distinction of Reatus culpae and Reatus paenae examined Act of God in the Imputation of the Guilt of our Sins unto Christ. Objections against it answered The Truth confirmed Pag. 246. CHAP. IX Principal Controversies about Justification 1. Concerning the nature of Justification stated 2. Of the Formal Cause of it 3. Of the Way whereby we are made partakers of the Benefits of the Mediation of Christ. What intended by the Formal Cause of Justification declared The Righteousness on the account whereof Believers are justified before God alone inquired after under those Terms This the Righteousness of Christ imputed unto them Occasions of Exceptions and Objections against this Doctrine General Objections examined Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ consistent with the Free Pardon of Sin with the necessity of Evangelical Repentance Method of Gods Grace in our Justification Necessity of Faith unto Justification on supposition of the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ. Grounds of that Necessity Other Objections arising mostly from mistakes of the Truth asserted discussed and answered Pag. 289. CHAP. X. Arguments for Justification by the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ. Our own Personal Righteousness not that on the account whereof we are justified in the sight of God Disclaimed in the Scripture as to any such end The truth and reality of it granted Manifold Imperfections accompanying it rendering it unmeet to be a Righteousness unto the Justification of Life Pag. 315. CHAP. XI Nature of the Obedience or Righteousness required unto Justification Original and Causes of the Law of Creation The Substance and End of that Law The Immutability or unchangeableness of it considered absolutely and as it was the Instrument of the Covenant between God and Man Arguments to prove it unchangeable and its Obligation unto the Righteousness first required perpetually in force Therefore not abrogated not dispensed withal not derogated from but accomplished This alone by Christ and the Imputation of his Righteousness unto us Pag. 340. CHAP. XII Imputation of the Obedience of Christ no less necessary then that of his suffering on the same Ground Objections against it 1. That it is impossible Management hereof by Socinus Ground of this Objection That the Lord Christ was for himself obliged unto all the Obedience he yielded unto God and performed it for himself answered The Obedience inquired after the Obedience of the Person of Christ the Son of God In his whole Person Christ was not under the Law He designed the Obedience he performed for us not for himself This Actual Obedience not necessary as a qualification of his Person unto the discharge of his Office The Foundation of this Obedience in his being made Man and of the Posterity of Abraham not for himself but for us Right of the Humane Nature unto Glory by virtue of Vnion Obedience necessary unto the Humane Nature as Christ in it was made under the Law This Obediencs properly for us Instances of that nature among Men. Christ obeyed as a publick Person and so not for himself Humane Nature of Christ subject unto the Law as an Eternal Rule of dependance on God and subjection to him not as prescribed unto us whilest we are in this World in order unto our future Blessedness or Reward Second Objection that it is useless answered He that is pardoned all his sins is not thereon esteemed to have done all that is required of him Not to be unrighteous Negatively not the same with being righteous Positively The Law obligeth both unto punishment and obedience how and in what sense Pardon of Sin gives no title to Eternal Life The Righteousness of Christ who is one imputed unto many Arguments proving the Imputation of the Obedience of Christ unto the Justification of Life Pag. 361. CHAP. XIII The Difference between the two Covenants stated Arguments from thence Pag. 396. CHAP. XIV All Works whatever expresly excluded from any interst in our Justification before God What intended by the Works of the Law Not those of the Ceremonial Law only Not perfect Works only as required by the Law of our Creation Not the outward Works of the Law performed without a principle of Faith Not Works of the Jewish Law Not Works with a conceit of Merit Not Works only wrought before believing in the strength of our own wills Works excluded absolutely from our Justification without respect unto a Distinction of a First and Second Justification The true sense of the Law in the Apostolical Assertion that none are justified by the Works thereof What the Jews understood by the Law Distribution of the Law under the Old Testament The whole Law a perfect
use of and pressed at large by one among our selves but improved also by a dangerous comparison between the Writings of the Evangelists and the other Writings of the New Testament For to enforce this Argument that the Histories of the Gospel wherein the Sermons of Christ are recorded do make no mention of the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ as in his judgement they do not nor of his Satisfaction or Merit or Expiation of sin or of Redemption by his Death as they do not in the judgment of Socinus it is added by him that for his part he is apt to admire our Saviours Sermons who was the Author of our Religion before the Writings of the Apostles though inspired men Whereunto many dangerous insinuations and reflections on the Writings of St. Paul contrary to the Faith and Sense of the Church in all Ages are subjoined S. pag. 240 241. But this Boldness is not only unwarrantable but to be abhorred What place of Scripture what Ecclesiastical Tradition what single president of any one sober Christian Writer what Theological Reason will countenance a man in making the comparison mentioned and so determining thereon such juvenile boldness such want of a due apprehension and understanding of the Nature of divine Inspirations with the order and design of the writing of the New Testament which are the springs of this precipitate censure ought to be reflected on At present to remove this pretence out of our way it may be observed 1. That what the Lord Christ taught his Disciples in his Personal Ministry on the Earth was suited unto that Oeconomy of the Church which was antecedent unto his Death and Resurrection Nothing did he with-hold from them that was needful to their Faith Obedience and Consolation in that state Many things he instructed them in out of the Scripture many new Revelations he made unto them and many times did he occasionally instruct and rectifie their judgements Howbeit he made no clear distinct Revelation of those sacred mysteries unto them which are peculiar unto the Faith of the New Testament nor were to be distinctly apprehended before his Death and Resurrection 2. What the Lord Christ revealed afterwards by his Spirit unto the Apostles was no less immediately from himself then was the Truth which he spoke unto them with his own mouth in the days of his flesh An Apprehension to the contrary is destructive of Christian Religion The Epistles of the Apostles are no less Christs Sermons then that which he delivered on the Mount Wherefore 3. Neither in the things themselves nor in the way of their Delivery or Revelation is there any Advantage of the one sort of Writings above the other The things written in the Epistles proceed from the same Wisdom the same Grace the same Love with the things which he spoke with his own mouth in the days of his flesh and are of the same divine veracity Authority and Efficacy The Revelation which he made by his Spirit is no less divine and immediate from himself then what he spoke unto his Disciples on the Earth To distinguish between these things on any of these accounts is intolerable folly 4. The Writings of the Evangelists do not contain the whole of all the Instructions which the Lord Christ gave unto his Disciples personally on the Earth For he was seen of them after his Resurrection forty days and spoke with them of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Act. 1.3 And yet nothing hereof is recorded in their writings but only some few occasional speeches Nor had he given before unto them a clear and distinct understanding of those things which were delivered concerning his Death and Resurrection in the Old Testament as is plainly declared Luke 24.25 26 27. For it was not necessary for them in that state wherein they were Wherefore 5. As to the extent of Divine Revelations objectively those which he granted by his Spirit unto his Apostles after his Ascension were beyond those which he Personally taught them so far as they are recorded in the Writings of the Evangelists For he told them plainly not long before his death that he had many things to say unto them which then they could not bear Joh. 16.12 And for the knowledge of those things he refers them to the coming of the Spirit to make Revelation of them from himself in the next words Howbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all Truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will shew you things to come He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you ver 13 14. And on this account he had told them before that it was expedient for them that he should go away that the Holy Spirit might come unto them whom he would send from the Father ver 7. Hereunto he referred the full and clear manifestation of the mysteries of the Gospel So false as well as dangerous and scandalous are those insinuations of Socinus and his followers Secondly The Writings of the Evangelists are full unto their proper Ends and Purposes These were to record the Genealogy Conception Birth Acts Miracles and Teachings of our Saviour so far as to evince him to be the true only promised Messias So he testifieth who wrote the last of them Many other signs truly did Jesus which are not written in this Book But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God Joh. 20.30 31. Unto this End every thing is recorded by them that is needful unto the ingenerating and establishment of Faith Upon this confirmation all things declared in the Old Testament concerning him all that was taught in Types and Sacrifices became the object of Faith in that sense wherein they were interpreted in the Accomplishment And that in them this Doctrine was before revealed shall be proved afterwards It is therefore no wonder if some things and those of the highest importance should be declared more fully in other Writings of the New Testament then they are in those of the Evangelists Thirdly The Pretence it self is wholly false For there are as many pregnant Testimonies given unto this Truth in one alone of the Evangelists as in any other Book of the New Testament namely in the Book of John I shall refer to some of them which will be pleaded in their proper place chap. 1.12 17 19. chap. 3.14 15 16 17 18 36. chap. 5.24 But we may pass this by as one of those Inventions concerning which Socinus boasts in his Epistle to Michael Vajoditus that his Writings were esteemed by many for the singularity of the things asserted in them Fourthly The Difference that hath been among Protestant Writers about this Doctrine is pleaded in the prejudice of it Osiander in the entrance of the Reformation fell into a vain imagination that we were Justified or made Righteous with the Essential
only by works of Righteousness which men did themselves in Obedience unto the Commands of God but also by the strict observance of many Inventions of what they called the Church with an Ascription of a strange Efficacy to the same Ends unto missatical Sacrifices Sacramentals Absolutions Pennances Pilgrimages and other the like Superstitions Hereby they observed that the Consciences of men were kept in perpetual disquietments perplexities fears and bondage exclusive of that Rest Assurance and Peace with God through the Blood of Christ which the Gospel proclaims and tenders And when the Leaders of the People in that Church had observed this that indeed the ways and means which they proposed and presented would never bring the Souls of men to Rest nor give them the least Assurance of the pardon of sins they made it a part of their Doctrine that the belief of the pardon of our own sins and Assurance of the Love of God in Christ were false and pernicious For what should they else do when they knew well enough that in their way and by their propositions they were not to be attained Hence the principal Controversie in this matter which the Reformed Divines had with those of the Church of Rome was this whether there be according unto and by the Gospel a state of Rest and assured Peace with God to be attained in this life And having all Advantages imaginable for the proof hereof from the very nature use and end of the Gospel from the Grace Love and Design of God in Christ from the Efficacy of his Mediation in his Oblation and Intercession they assigned these things to be the especial Object of Justifying Faith and that Faith it self to be a fiduciary Trust in the especial Grace and Mercy of God through the blood of Christ as proposed in the Promises of the Gospel That is they directed the Souls of men to seek for peace with God the pardon of sin and a Right unto the Heavenly Inheritance by placing their sole Trust and Confidence in the mercy of God by Christ alone But yet withall I never read any of them I know not what others have done who affirmed that every true and sincere Believer always had a full Assurance of the Especial Love of God in Christ or of the pardon of his own sins though they plead that this the Scripture requires of them in a way of Duty and that this they ought to aim at the Attainment of And these things I shall leave as I find them unto the use of the Church For I shall not contend with any about the way and manner of expressing the Truth where the substance of it is retained That which in these things is aimed at is the Advancement and Glory of the Grace of God in Christ with the conduct of the Souls of men unto Rest and Peace with him Where this is attained or aimed at and that in the way of Truth for the substance of it variety of Apprehensions and Expressions concerning the same things may tend unto the useful exercise of the Faith and Edification of the Church Wherefore neither opposing nor rejecting what hath been delivered by others as their Judgments herein I shall propose my own thoughts concerning it not without some hopes that they may tend to communicate Light in the knowledge of the thing it self enquired into and the Reconciliation of some differences about it amongst Learned and Holy men I say therefore That the Lord Jesus Christ himself as the Ordinance of God in his work of Mediation for the Recovery and Salvation of lost sinners and as unto that End proposed in the Promise of the Gospel is the adequate proper Object of Justifying Faith or of saving Faith in its Work and Duty with respect unto our Justification The Reason why I thus state the Object of Justifying Faith is because it compleatly answers all that is ascribed unto it in the Scripture and all that the nature of it doth require What belongs unto it as Faith in general is here supposed and what is peculiar unto it as Justifying is fully expressed And a few things will serve for the Explication of the Thesis which shall afterwards be confirmed 1. The Lord Jesus Christ himself is asserted to be the proper Object of Justifying Faith For so it is required in all those Testimonies of Scripture where that Faith is declared to be our believing in him on his name our receiving of him or looking unto him whereunto the Promise of Justification and Eternal Life is annexed whereof afterwards See Joh. 1.12 chap. 3.16 36. chap. 6.29 47. chap. 7.38 chap. 15.25 Act. 10.41 Act. 13.38 39. Act. 16.31 Act. 26.18 c. 2. He is not proposed as the Object of our Faith unto the Justification of Life absolutely but as the Ordinance of God even the Father unto that end who therefore also is the immediate Object of Faith as Justifying in what respects we shall declare immediately So Justification is frequently ascribed unto Faith as peculiarly acted on him Joh. 5.24 He that believeth on him that sent me hath Everlasting Life and shall not come into Judgment but is passed from Death into Life And herein is comprized that Grace Love and Favour of God which is the principal moving cause of our Justification Rom. 3.23 24. Add hereunto Joh. 6.29 and the Object of Faith is compleat This is the Work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent God the Father as sending and the Son as sent that is Jesus Christ in the work of his Mediation as the Ordinance of God for the Recovery and Salvation of lost sinners is the Object of our Faith See 1 Pet. 1.21 3. That he may be the Object of our Faith whose general nature consisteth in Assent and which is the Foundation of all its other Acts He is proposed in the promises of the Gospel which I therefore place as concurring unto its compleat Object Yet do I not herein consider the Promises meerly as peculiar divine Revelations in which sense they belong unto the formal Object of Faith but as they contain propose and exhibit Christ as the Ordinance of God and the Benefits of his Mediation unto them that do believe There is an especial Assent unto the Promises of the Gospel wherein some place the nature and essence of Justifying Faith or of Faith in its Work and Duty with respect unto our Justification And so they make the Promises of the Gospel to be the proper Object of it And it cannot be but that in the Actings of Justifying Faith there is a peculiar Assent unto them Howbeit this being only an Act of the mind neither the whole nature nor the whole work of Faith can consist therein Wherefore so far as the Promises concur to the compleat Object of Faith they are considered materially also namely as they contain propose and exhibit Christ unto Believers And in that sense are they frequently affirmed in the Scripture to be the
unto the ultimate manifestation of Divine Glory in the Creation and Guidance of all things are sufficiently manifest And whence it appears how little force there is in that Argument which some pretend to be of so great weight in this cause As every one they say shall be judged of God at the last day in the same way and manner or on the same Ground is he justified of God in this life But by Works and not by Faith alone every one shall be judged at the last day Wherefore by Works and not by Faith alone every one is justified before God in this life For 1. It is no where said that we shall be judged at the last day ex operibus but only that God will render unto men secundum opera But God doth not justifie any in this life secundum opera Being justified freely by his Grace And not according to the Works of Righteousness which we have done And we are every where said to be justified in this life ex fide per fidem but no where propter fidem or that God justifieth us secundum fidem by Faith but not for our Faith nor according unto our Faith And we are not to depart from the expressions of the Scripture where such a difference is constantly observed 2. It is somewhat strange that a man should be judged at the last day and justified in this life just in the same way and manner that is with respect unto Faith and Works when the Scripture doth constantly ascribe our Justification before God unto Faith without Works and the Judgment at the last day is said to be according unto Works without any mention of Faith 3. If Justification and eternal Judgment proceed absolute-on the same Grounds Reasons and Causes then if men had not done what they shall be condemned for doing at the last day they should have been justified in this life But many shall be condemned only for sins against the light of nature Rom. 2.12 as never having the written Law or Gospel made known unto them Wherefore unto such persons to abstain from sins against the light of nature would be sufficient unto their Justification without any knowledge of Christ or the Gospel 4. This Proposition that God pardons men their Sins gives them the Adoption of Children with a right unto the Heavenly Inheritance according to their Works is not only foraign to the Gospel but contradictory unto it and destructive of it as contrary unto all express Testimonies of the Scripture both in the old Testament and the new where these things are spoken of But that God judgeth all men and rendreth unto all men at the last Judgment according unto their Works is true and affirmed in the Scripture 5. In our Justification in this life by Faith Christ is considered as our Propitiation and Advocate as he who hath made Atonement for sin and brought in everlasting Righteousness But at the last day and in the last Judgment he is considered only as the Judge 6. The end of God in our Justification is the Glory of his Grace Eph. 1.6 But the end of God in the last Judgment is the Glory of his remunerative Righteousness 2 Tim. 4.8 7. The Representation that is made of the final Judgment Math. 7. and Chap. 25. is only of the visible Church And therein the plea of Faith as to the profession of it is common unto all and is equally made by all Upon that plea of Faith it is put unto the trial whether it were sincere true Faith or no or only that which was dead and barren And this trial is made solely by the fruits and effects of it and otherwise in the publick declaration of things unto all it cannot be made Otherwise the Faith whereby we are justified comes not into Judgment at the last day See Joh. 5.24 with Mark 16.16 CHAP. VII Imputation and the Nature of it with the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ in particular THe first express Record of the Justification of any sinner is of Abraham Others were justified before him from the Beginning and there is that affirmed of them which sufficiently evidenceth them so to have been But this Prerogative was reserved for the Father of the Faithful that his Justification and the express way and manner of it should be first entered on the Sacred Record So it is Gen. 15.6 He believed in the Lord and it was counted unto him for Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was accounted unto him or imputed unto him for Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It was counted reckoned imputed And it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed unto him but for us also unto whom it shall be imputed if we believe Rom. 4.23 24. Wherefore the first express Declaration of the nature of Justification in the Scripture affirms it to be by Imputation The Imputation of somewhat unto Righteousness And this done in that place and instance which is Recorded on purpose as the president and example of all those that shall be justified As he was justified so are we and no otherwise Under the new Testament there was a necessity of a more full and clear Declaration of the Doctrine of it For it is among the first and most principal parts of that Heavenly mystery of Truth which was to be brought to light by the Gospel And besides there was from the first a strong and Dangerous Opposition made unto it For this matter of Justification the Doctrine of it and what necessarily belongs thereunto was that whereon the Jewish Church broke off from God refused Christ and the Gospel perishing in their sins as is expresly declared Rom. 9.31 10.3 4. And in like manner a dislike of it an Opposition unto it ever was and ever will be a principle and cause of the Apostasie of any professing Church from Christ and the Gospel that falls under the power and deceit of them as it fell out afterwards in the Churches of the Galatians But in this state the Doctrine of Justification was fully declared stated and vindicated by the Apostle Paul in a peculiar manner And he doth it especially by affirming and proving that we have the Righteousness whereby and wherewith we are justified by Imputation or that our Justification consists in the non-Imputation of sin and the Imputation of Righteousness But yet although the first Recorded instance of Justification and which was so recorded that it might be an example and represent the Justification of all that should be justified unto the end of the World is expressed by Imputation and Righteousness imputed and the Doctrine of it in that great case wherein the eternal welfare of the Church of the Jews or their ruine was concerned is so expressed by the Apostle yet is it so fallen out in our days that nothing in Religion is more maligned more reproached more despised then the Imputation of Righteousness unto us or an Imputed Righteousness A putative Righteousness the
is allowed unless we grant it self to be imputed nor can we have any Participation of the effects of it but on the supposition and foundation of that Imputation The impertinent Cavils that some of late have collected from the Papists and Socinians that if it be so then are we as Righteous as Christ himself that we have redeemed the World and satisfied for the sins of others that the pardon of sin is impossible and Personal Righteousness needless shall afterwards be spoken unto so far as they deserve All that we now aim to demonstrate is only that either the Righteousness of Christ it self is imputed unto us or there is no Imputation in the matter of our Justification which whether there be or no is another Question afterwards to be spoken unto For as was said the effects of the Righteousness of Christ cannot be said properly to be imputed unto us For Instance Pardon of sin is a great effect of the Righteousness of Christ. Our sins are pardoned on the account thereof God for Christs sake forgiveth us all our sins But the pardon of sin cannot be said to be imputed unto us nor is so Adoption Justification Peace with God all Grace and Glory are effects of the Righteousness of Christ. But that these things are not imputed unto us nor can be so is evident from their Nature But we are made Partakers of them all upon the account of the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ unto us and no otherwise Thus much may suffice to be spoken of the Nature of Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ the Grounds Reasons and Causes whereof we shall in the next place enquire into And I doubt not but we shall find in our Enquiry that it is no such figment as some Ignorant of these things do imagine but on the contrary an Important Truth immixed with the most fundamental Principles of the mystery of the Gospel and inseparable from the Grace of God in Christ Jesus CHAP. VIII Imputation of the sins of the Church unto Christ. Grounds of it The Nature of his Suretyship Causes of the New Covenant Christ and the Church one mystical Person Consequents thereof THose who believe the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ unto Believers for the Justification of Life do also unanimously profess that the sins of all Believers were imputed unto Christ. And this they do on many Testimonies of the Scripture directly witnessing thereunto some whereof shall be pleaded and vindicated afterwards At present we are only on the consideration of the general notion of these things and the Declaration of the nature of what shall be proved afterwards And in the first place we shall enquire into the foundation of this Dispensation of God and the Equity of it or the Grounds whereinto it is resolved without an understanding whereof the thing it self cannot be well apprehended The principal Foundation hereof is that Christ and the Church in this Design were one mystical Person which state they do actually coalesce in through the uniting Efficacy of the Holy Spirit He is the Head and Believers are the members of that one Person as the Apostle declares 1 Cor. 12.12 13. Hence as what he did is imputed unto them as if done by them so what they deserved on the Account of sin was charged upon him So is it expressed by a Learned Prelate Nostram causam sustinebat qui nostram sibi Carnem aduniverat ita nobis arctissimo vinculo conjunctus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quae erant nostra fecit sua And again Quid mirum si in nostra persona constitutus nostram carnem indutus c. Môntacut Origin Ecclesiast The Antients speak to the same purpose Leo. Serm. 17. Ideo se humanae infirmitati virtus divina conseruit ut dum Deus sua facit esse quae nostra sunt nostra faceret esse quae sua sunt And also Sermo 16. Caput nostrum Dominus Jesus Christus omnia in se corporis sui membra transformans quod olim in Psalmo eructaverat id in supplicio crucis sub Redemptorum suorum voce clamavit And so speaks Augustine to the same purpose Epist. 120. ad Honoratum Audimus vocem corporis ex ore capitis Ecclesia in illo patiebatur quando pro Ecclesia patiebatur c. We hear the voice of the Body from the mouth of the Head The Church suffered in him when he suffered for the Church as he suffers in the Church when the Church suffereth for him For as we have heard the voice of the Church in Christ-suffering my God my Lord why hast thou forsaken me look upon me so we have heard the voice of Christ in the Church-suffering Saul Saul why persecutest thou me But we may yet look a little backward and farther into the sense of the antient Church herein Christus saith Irenaeus omnes Gentes exinde ab Adam disper sas Generationem hominum in semet ipso recapitulatus est unde a Paulo Typus futuri dictus est ipse Adam lib. 3. cap. 33. And again Recapitulans universum hominum genus in se ab initio usque ad finem recapitulatus est mortem ejus In this of Recapitulation there is no doubt but he had respect unto the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned Ephes. 1.10 And it may be this was that which Origen intended aenigmatically by saying the Soul of the first Adam was the Soul of Christ as it is charged on him And Cyprian Epist. 63. on bearing about the Administration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist nos omnes portabat Christus qui peccata nostra portabat He bare us or suffered in our person when he bare our sins Whence Athanasius affirms of the voice he used on the Cross 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We suffered in him Eusebius speaks many things to this purpose Demonstrat Evangel lib. 10. cap. 1. Expounding those words of the Psalmist Heal my Soul for or as he would read them if I have sinned against thee and applying them unto our Saviour in his sufferings He saith thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because he took of our sins to himself communicated our sins to himself making them his own For so he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 making our sins his own And because in his following words he fully expresseth what I design to prove I shall transcribe them at large 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I have transcribed this passage at large because as I said what I intend to prove in the present discourse is declared fully therein Thus therefore he speaks How then did he make our sins to be his own and how did he bear our Iniquities Is it not from thence that we are said to be his Body as the Apostle speaks You are the Body of Christ and members for your part or of one another and as when one member suffers all the members do suffer so the many members sinning and suffering He according unto the Laws of
have proved and they were so in him who learned obedience by the things that he suffered Heb. 5.8 2. In this place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 19. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ver. 18. are the same Obedience and Righteousness By the Righteousness of One and by the Obedience of One are the same But suffering as suffering is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not Righteousness For if it were then every one that suffers what is due to him should be righteous and so be justified even the Devil himself 3 The Righteousness and Obedience here intended are opposed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the offence By the offence of One But the offence intended was an actual Transgression of the Law so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fall from or a fall in the Course of Obedience Wherefore the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Righteousness must be an actual Obedience unto the Commands of the Law or the force of the Apostles Reasoning and Antithesis cannot be understood 4. Particularly it is such an Obedience as is opposed unto the disobedience of Adam One man's Disobedience one man's Obedience But the disobedience of Adam was an actual Transgression of the Law and therefore the Obedience of Christ here intended was his active Obedience unto the Law which is that we plead for And I shall not at present farther pursue the Argument because the force of it in the confirmation of the Truth contended for will be included in those that follow CHAP. XIII The nature of Justification proved from the difference of the Covenants THat which we plead in the third place unto our Purpose is the Difference between the two Covenants And herein it may be observed 1. That by the two Covenants I understand those which were absolutely given unto the whole Church and were all to bring it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto a compleat and perfect State that is the Covenant of Works or the Law of our Creation as it was given unto us with Promises and Threatnings or Rewards and Punishments annexed unto it and the Covenant of Grace revealed and proposed in the first Promise As unto the Covenant of Sinai and the New Testament as actually confirmed in the Death of Christ with all the Spiritual Priviledges thence emerging and the differences between them they belong not unto our present Argument 2. The whole intire Nature of the Covenant of Works consisted in this That upon our personal obedience according unto the Law and Rule of it we should be accepted with God and rewarded with him Herein the essence of it did consist And whatever Covenant proceedeth on these terms or hath the nature of them in it however it may be varied with Additions or Alterations is the same Covenant still and not another As in the Renovation of the Promise wherein the Essence of the Covenant of Grace was contained God did oft-times make other Additions unto it as unto Abraham and David yet was it still the same Covenant for the substance of it and not another so whatever Variations may be made in or Additions unto the Dispensation of the first Covenant so long as this Rule is retained Do this and live it is still the same Covenant for the Substance and Essence of it 3. Hence two things belonged unto this Covenant 1. That all things were transacted immediately between God and Man There was no Mediator in it no one to undertake any thing either on the part of God or Man between them For the whole depending on every ones Personal obedience there was no place for a Mediator 2. That nothing but perfect sinless obedience would be accepted with God or preserve the Covenant in its Primitive state and condition There was nothing in it as to pardon of sin no provision for any defect in Personal obedience 4. Wherefore this Covenant being once established between God and Man there could be no new Covenant made unless the Essential Form of it were of another nature namely that our own Personal obedience be not the rule and cause of our Acceptation and Justification before God For whil'st this is so as was before observed the Covenant is still the same however the Dispensation of it may be reformed or reduced to suit unto our present state and condition What Grace soever might be introduced into it that could not be so which excluded all Works from being the cause of our Justification But if a new Covenant be made such Grace must be provided as is absolutely inconsistent with any Works of ours as unto the first ends of the Covenant as the Apostle declares Rom. 11.6 5. Wherefore the Covenant of Grace supposing it a new real absolute Covenant and not a Reformation of the Dispensation of the old or a Reduction of it unto the use of our present condition as some imagine it to be must differ in the Essence Substance and Nature of it from that first Covenant of Works And this it cannot do if we are to be justified before God on our Personal obedience wherein the essence of the first Covenant consisted If then the Righteousness wherewith we are justified before God be our own our own Personal Righteousness we are yet under the first Covenant and no other 6. But things in the new Covenant are indeed quite otherwise For 1. it is of Grace which wholly excludes Works that is so of Grace as that our own works are not the means of Justification before God as in the places before alledged 2. It hath a Mediator and Surety which is built alone on this Supposition That what we cannot do in our selves which was originally required of us and what the Law of the first Covenant cannot inable us to perform that should be performed for us by our Mediator and Surety And if this be not included in the very first notion of a Mediator and Surety yet it is in that of a Mediator or Surety that doth voluntarily interpose himself upon an open acknowledgment that those for whom he undertakes were utterly insufficient to perform what was required of them on which Supposition all the Truth of the Scripture doth depend It is one of the very first notions of Christian Religion that the Lord Christ was given to us born to us that he came as a Mediator to do for us what we could not do for our selves and not meerly to suffer what we had deserved And here instead of our own Righteousness we have the Righteousness of God instead of being righteous in our selves before God he is the Lord our Righteousness And nothing but a Righteousness of another kind and nature unto Justification before God could constitute another Covenant Wherefore the Righteousness whereby we are justified is the Righteousness of Christ imputed unto us or we are still under the Law under the Covenant of Works It will be said that our Personal obedience is by none asserted to be the Righteousness wherewith we are justified before God in the
He is utterly mistaken for the Apostle doth not ascribe Justification partly to Works and partly to Faith but he ascribes Justification in the sense by him intended wholly to Works in opposition to that Faith concerning which he treats For there is a plain Antithesis in the Words between Works and Faith as unto Justification in the sense by him intended A dead Faith a Faith without Works the Faith of Devils is excluded from having any influence into Justification Fourthly He adds that the Apostle compares this Faith without Works unto a rich man that gives nothing unto the poor ver 16. and a Body without a Spirit ver 26. wherefore as that knowledg whereby a rich man knows the wants of the poor is true and real and a dead body is a body so is Faith without Works true Faith also and as such is considered by Saint James Ans. These things do evidently destroy what they are produced in the confirmation of only the Cardinal helps them out with a little Sophistry For whereas the Apostle compares this Faith unto the charity of a man that gives nothing to the poor he suggests in the room thereof his knowledge of their poverty And his knowledge may be true and the more true and certain it is the more false and feigned is the charity which he pretends in these words Go and be fed or cloathed Such is the Faith the Apostle speaks of And although a dead body is a true body that is as unto the matter or substance of it a Carcass yet is it not an essential part of a living man A Carcass is not of the same nature or kind as is the body of a living man And we assert no other difference between the Faith spoken of by the Apostle and that which is justifying than what is between a dead breathless Carcass and a living animated body prepared and fitted for all vital acts Wherefore it is evident beyond all contradiction if we have not a mind to be contentious that what the Apostle James here derogates from Faith as unto our Justification it respects only a dead barren lifeless Faith such as is usually pretended by ungodly godly men to countenance themselves in their sins And herein the Faith asserted by Paul hath no concern The consideration of the present condition of the profession of Faith in the World will direct us unto the best exposition of this place Thirdly They speak not of Justification in the same sense nor unto the same end It is of our absolute Justification before God the Justification of our persons our acceptance with him and the grant of a right unto the Heavenly inheritance that the Apostle Paul doth treat and thereof alone This he declares in all the causes of it all that on the part of God or on our part concurreth thereunto The evidence the knowledge the sense the fruit the manifestation of it in our own Consciences in the Church unto others that profess the Faith he treats not of but speaks of them separately as they occur on other occasions The Justification he treats of is but one and at once accomplished before God changing the relative state of the person justified and is capable of being evidenced various ways unto the glory of God and the consolation of them that truly believe Hereof the Apostle James doth not treat at all for his whole enquiry is after the nature of that Faith whereby we are justified and the only way whereby it may be evidenced to be of the right kind such as a man may safely trust unto Wherefore he treats of Justification only as to the evidence and manifestation of it nor had he any occasion to do otherwise And this is apparent from both the instances whereby he confirms his purpose The first is that of Abraham ver 21.22 23. For he says that by Abrahams being justified by Works in the way and manner wherein he asserts him so to have been the Scripture was fulfilled which says that Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness And if his intention were to prove that we are justified before God by Works and not by Faith because Abraham was so the Testimony produced is contrary yea directly contradictory unto what should be proved by it and accordingly is alledged by Paul to prove that Abraham was justified by Faith without Works as the words do plainly import Nor can any man declare how the Truth of this proposition Abraham was justified by Works intending absolute Justification before God was that wherein that Scripture was fulfilled Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness especially considering the opposition that is made both here and elsewhere between Faith and Works in this matter Besides he asserts that Abraham was justified by Works then when he had offered his Son on the Altar the same we believe also but only enquire in what sense he was so justified For it was Thirty years or thereabout after it was testified concerning him that he believed God and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness and when Righteousness was imputed unto him he was justified And twice justified in the same sense in the same way with the same kind of Justification he was not How then was he Justified by Works when he offered his Son on the Altar He that can conceive it to be any otherwise but that he was by his Work in the offering of his Son evidenced and declared in the sight of God and man to be justified apprehends what I cannot attain unto seeing that he was really justified long before as is unquestionable and confessed by all He was I say then justified in the sight of God in the way declared Gen. 22.12 And gave a signal Testimony unto the sincerity of his Faith and trust in God manifesting the truth of that Scripture he believed God and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness And in the quotation of this Testimony the Apostle openly acknowledgeth that he was really accounted Righteous had Righteousness imputed unto him and was justified before God the reasons and causes whereof he therefore considereth not long before that Justification which he ascribes unto his Works which therefore can be nothing but the evidencing proving and manifestation of it whence also it appears of what nature that Faith is whereby we are justified the Declaration whereof is the principal design of the Apostle In brief the Scripture alledged that Abraham believed and it was imputed unto him for Righteousness was fulfilled when he was justified by Works on the offering of his Son on the Altar either by the Imputation of Righteousness unto him or by a real efficiency or working Righteousness in him or by the manifestation and evidence of his former Justification or some other way must be found out 1 That it was not by Imputation or that Righteousness unto the Justification of life was not then first imputed unto him is plain in the Text