LIBRARY (Theological JSeminanL PRINCETON. N.^l xt r' Division No. Case,-~---- No. Shelf, _-c g___ -l -______ No. Book_- From the Rev. W. B. SPRAGUE, D.D. Sept. 1839. A \*V vQ - vfV »fl/ vlV v Ox vT> v(V x(V \.(V sCV vfU v (V vQ/ v/V /Sprague Collection. Vol . 454 V ■ '> . •* Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/doctrineofjustifOOmerc T M & °L D OCTRINE O F JUSTIFICATION, BY T HE RIGHTEOUSNESS of CHRIST* Stated and Maintained in an EXTRACT 7 . From the Reverend John Gill, D. D. By SILAS V MERCER, Author of Tyranny Exposed. As by one man's difobedience many were made fm- ners ; fo by the obedience of one, /hall many be made righteous. Rom. v. 19. CHARLESTON: * Printed by Markland-& MHver,' No. 47, Bay. 1 Mi>CCXCII. • t il A ft T i: v *q ? o .woman itl-l i S H T V ;; '•'•■L- . zo 223. -wUSTHOI '■•i. • '. bv.’.i'A ^; »• • - * 3 A K T X m ' Ci ,cr < JJ, ° KiI °l ^ t.il Li D rl £[ M' 2 A lI I Yvi . itual knowledge of himfelf, which, in other words, is faith ; by which they fhouldi have a comfortable apprehenfion of their judi¬ cation by his righteoufnefs. 3. [uftification ii not an infufion of righte- oufnels into perfons ; to juilify, is not to make men holy and righteous, who are unholy and unrighteous, by producing any phvfical or real change in them; for this is to confound jollifi¬ cation and lan&'fication together, which are very manileitiy dnhn or unholi* htfis, but to a Hate of condemnation. 4. Jollification is an aft ot God’s free grace* whereby he clears his people from fin, difeharges them from condemnation, and reckons and ac¬ counts them righteous for the fake of ChriH’s righteoufnefs, which he has accepted of, and imputes unto them. Some very excellent di¬ vines have diflinguifhed juflificatic n into aftive and paffive. Aftive juflification is God’s aft, it is God that jufiifies ; paffive juflification is the 'fame aft, terminating on the confidence of the believer; aftive juflification is flriftly and pro¬ perly juflification ; paffive juflification is impro¬ perly • fio; £aftive juflification precedes faith, paffive juflification is by fai h. Again, juilification may be confidered either in foro Dei, and fo it is an eternal,, immanent aft in God 5 or in foro confient'ux, and fo it is declarative to and upon the confcience of the believer; or in foro mundtj and fo it will be notified to men and angels at the general judge¬ ment^) Again, let it be farther obfierved, that the fcfiptures fometimes fpeak of the j ifl fication of God’s peo le, either of their perfbns or faith, or cauie, before men, and then it is afcribed to B their , [a) See Deut. xxv. 1. Prov. xvii. 15. Ifai. v. 23* Rom. v. 16. 18. and viii. 33. 340 i® The DOCTRINE of their works; and at other times, of their perfons before God, which is faid to be without works ; j it is now, not of the former, but of the latter our texc fpeaks, and which I am tonfidering; and fhall now proceed, II. To enquire into the author, or efficient eaufe of juftification, who is the great God of heaven and earth : It is God that juftifies (a)’” [ which msy well be wondered at, when , tis con- fidered that he is the fupreme judge of all, who will do right; that his law is the rule by which he adts in this affair ; that this law is broken by I the fin of man; that fin. Which is a breach of the law, is fpecially committed againft him, and is hateful unto him ; that he is a God that will not admit of an imperfedt righteoufnefs, in the room of a perfedf one ; and that he has power to condemn, and reafon fuffkient to do it; when, I fay, thefe things are confidered, , tis amazing that this God fhould juftify. For the farther illuftration of this head, I fhall endeavour to !i fhew the concern that all the three perfons, fa- | ther, fon, and fpirit, have in the juftification of f the eledt. i. God the fa'her is the contriver of the fcheme and method of our juftification } he was (bj in Chrift, reconciling the world to him- felf, not imputing their trefpaffeshe drew the model and platform of it, which is No'!us Deo vindice dignus. It would have remained a puzzlii g queftion to men and angels, “ How fhould man be juftified by Godf” had not hi* grace (fl) Rom. viii. 34. (£} Cor. v. 19, II JUSTIFICATION. grace employed his wifdom to find out a ranfom, whereby he has delivered his peop'e from goi» g down to the pit; which ranfom is no other than his own fon, whom he fent, in the fulnefs of time, to execute the fcheme he had fo wifely formed in his eternal mind; which he did by finifhing tranfgreflion, making an end of fin, making reconciliation for iniquity, and bringing in an everlafting righteoufnefs; which righte- oufnefs, being wrought out by Chrjft, God was well-pleafed with, becaufe, hereby his law was magnified and made honorable; and having gra- cioufly accepted of it, he imputes it freely to all hi ■ people, and reckons them; righteous on the account of it. 2. God the Son, as God, is the co-efficient caiife of it, with his father. As he has equal power with him to forgive fin, he has alfo to acquit, difcharge, and juftify from it. As me¬ diator, he is the head and reprefentative, “ in whom all the feed of lfrael are juftified as fuch, he has wrought out a righteoufnefs, an- fwerable to the demands of the law, by which they are juftified; and is the author and finilher of that faith, which looks unto, lays hold on, and apprehends that righteoufnefs for j unifi¬ cation. 3. God the Holy Ghoft convinces men of the weaknefs, imperfection, and infuffuiency of their own righteoufnefs to juftify them before God ; he brings near, and fets before them therighte- oul'nels of Chrift, and works faith in them to lay hold on it, and receive it; he intimates to their confidences the juftifying fentence of God, on i2 The DOCTRINE op on the account of Chrift’s righteoufnefs, ana bears a teftimony to and with their ipirits, that; they arejuftified perfons;; and hence the faints are faid to be “ juftified. (u), in the name ofj the Lord fefus, and by the fpirit of our God but “ this teftimony of the bpiric is not fo pro-; perly juihfication itfelf, as an aftu il perception oil it, before granted, by a kind of a reflex adl ol: f-iith, ,> as Dr. Ames fbj expreffes it. Nowthisl is the part which Father, Son, and Spirit, feve- raily bear in junification: The Father has con¬ trived it, the Son has procured it, and the Spirit 1 applies it. I go on, III. T o confider the matter of juftification, or what that is for the fake of which God’s deft' are ju tified- And, 1. Man’s obedience to the law of works isl not the matter of juftification, or that for the! fake of which he is juftified, for thb is imperfeft, and therefore riot juftifying ; and was man’s obedience his juftifying righteoufnefs, hi? jufti¬ fication would be by works, and not by grace which is contrary to the whole ftream and cur- 1 rent of fcripture. Befides, “ if righteoufnefs is by the law, then Chrift is dead in vain,” and his righteoufnefs ufelefs; w'hich mull: highly re- fledl both on the grace and wildom of God. 2 . Nor is man’s obedience to the gofpel, as to a new and milder law, his juftifying righteouf¬ nefs before God. The fcheme of fome, if I under- ftand it right, is this : That Jefus Chrift has pro¬ cured a relaxation of the old law, and has intro- duced ( а ) i Cor. vi. ii. (б) Amef< Medulla Theolog. 1 . i. c. 27. §. 9. I JUSTIFICATION. *3 duced a new law, a remedial law, a law of milder term. 1 ; which new law rs the gofpel, ard its terms, faith repentance, and new obedi¬ ence; which th( ugh imperfect, yet being bn- ! cere, will be accepted and death, whereby “ fin was condemned in t the fltlh,” and fo the whole “ righteoufnefs of t the law is fulfilled in us.”. I fhall now very briefly give lome reafons why, I think, Chrift’sl aft.ve obedience, in particular, as well as his t fuff rings and death, is imputed for juftification. 1 i Becaufe all that mufl be imputed for our juftification, which the law requires, and with¬ out which it cannot be fatisfied. Now, let it be: obferved, that the law, before man had finned, only obliged him to obedience ; fince his fall, it obliges him both to obedience and punilhment; 1 and, unlefs its precepts are perfectly obeyed, and its whole penalty endured, it cannot be fatisfied; and unlefs it is fatisfied, there can be ao juftification by it. If Jefus Chrift, there¬ fore, engages, as a furety, to make fatisfadtion to the law, in the room and ftead of his people, he mufl both obey the precept of the law, and fuflfer the penalty of it; his fubmitting to the I one, (a) i Cor. i. 30. JUSTIFICATION. a* id,;one, without conforming to the other, is not n,Sufficient; one debt is not paid by another ; his "baying off the debt of puniihment d : d not exempt i, from obedience, as the paying off the debt of jfpbedience did not exempt from puniihment. y Chrift did not fatisfy the whole law by either of i. them feparately, buc by both conjunftl} ; by . his fufferings and death he fatisfied the threat- * nings of the law, but not the precepts of it j 1 and, by his active obedience, he fatbfied the ; I preceptive part of the law, but not the penal part; but, by both, he fatisfied the whole law, ; and magnified it, and made it honorable, and therefore both muftbe imputed for our juftifica- ] tion. I 2. Becaufe we are juftified by a rigbteoufncfs, land that is the righteoufnefs of Chrift. Now | righteoufnefs, ftriftly fpeaking, confifts in aftual obedience ; “ it fhall be our righteoufnefs, if we obferve to do all thefe commandments.” Deut. vi. 25. Chrift’s righteoufnefs lay in doing, not in fuffering. “ All (a) righteoufnefs is either an habit or an aft; but fufferings are neither, and therefore notrighteoufnefs : No man is righteous becaufe he is punifhed ; if fo, the devils and damned in hell would be righteous, in proportion to their puniihment ; the morefevere their puniihment, and the more grievous their torments, the greater their righi eousnefs mull be ; if there is any righteoufnefs in puniihment, it muft be in the punifher, not in the punifhed ” If then we are juftified by the righteoufnefs of Chrift (a) Molinaeus contr. Tilen. in Maccov. Loc. Com- mun. c. 69. p. 6s3. 22 The DOCTRINE of Chr’ft imputed to us, it mud be by his attivi obedience, and not merely by his fufferings and death ; becaufe thefe, though they free us from death, yet they do not, ftridtly fpeaking, make us righteous. 3. Becaufe we are exprefsly faid fa) to be et made righteous by the obedience of one,” which is Chrift. Now by obedience, in this: place, cannot be meant the fufferings and death of Chrift; becaufe, ftri&ly fpeaking, they are not his obedience, but flow from it,- as has been obferved. Betides, the antithefis, in the text,! determines the fenfe of the words; for if, by one man’s adtual difobedience many were made fir/ners, fo, by the rule of oppofition, by one man’s aftual obedience, many are made right-: eous. 4. Becaufe the reward of life is promifechnot! to fuffering, but to doing; the law fays, do this and live ; it promifes life not to him that fuffers ! the penalty, but to him that obeys the precept. ) Chap, iv, 13, (e) Bhap. v. 15, 16, 17. a 6 Thz DOCTRINE of and faith is freely given to lay hold on it, and embrace it. 6. It is called, lt the bell robe, or, as in the i Greek text f a), the firft robefor though Adam’s \ robe of righteoufnefs in innocence, was firft in wear, this was firft provided in the covenant of grace; this was firft in defignation, though that was firft in ufe : and it may well be called the i beft robe, becaufe it is a better robe than ever ; finful fallen man had ; his being imperfeft, and polluted, and infufficient to juftify him before God, or fkreen him from divine juftice, or fe« cure turn from divine wrath ; yea, ’tis a better ' robe than ever Adam had in Eden, or the angels have in heaven ; for the righteoufnefs of either of thefe, is but the righteoufnefs of a creature, whereas this is the righteoufnefs of God ; be¬ tides, the righteoufnefs of Adam was a righte¬ oufnefs that might be loft, and which was aftually loft; for “ God made man upright, and he fought out many inventions,” whereby he loft his righteoufnefs; fo that now there is none of Adam's pofterity righteous in and of them- felres; no, notone; and as for the righteouf¬ nefs of the angels, it is plain, it vvas a lofeable j righteoufnefs, tor many of them left their firft eftale, and loft their righteoufnefs ; and the ! true reafon why the others Hand in theirs is, be- catile of confirming grace from Chrift; but Chrift’s righteoulnefs is an everlafting one, and ®flnnot, nor will it, ever be loft. Jt (a) Luke xv. 22. ten flolen ten pro ten, ftolam pri- YLat. Arias JHontan. See Hnjfey's Glory •f Chnft unveiled, p, 741, 742, 743, -44, *7 JUSTIFICATION. It is a righteoufnefs which juftice can find no fault wkb, but is entirely fatisfied with ; it juf- tifies “ from all things from which ye could not bejuftified by the law of Mofesit fecures from all wrath and condemnation, and filences allaccufations ; for “ who fhall lay any thing to the charge of God’s ele Now, if juflification is the caufe, and faith the effect; then, as every caufe is before its effedt, and every effedt follows its own caufe, juftifica- tion mull be before faith, and faith mult follow juflification. 2. Juflification is the objedt, and faith is the adt, which is converfant with it. Now the ob¬ jedt does not depend upon the adt, but the adt upon the objedt. Every objedt is prior to the adt, which is converfant with it ; unlefs it be when an adt gives being to the objedt, which cannot be the cafe here ; unlefs we make faith to be che caufe or matter cf our juflification, which has been already difproved. Faith is the evidence, not the caufe of juflification ; andif it is an evidence, that of which it is an evidence, mult exift before it. “ Faith is, indeed, the evi¬ dence of things not feen •” Lut it is not the evi¬ dence of things that are not : What the eye is in the body, that faith is in the foul. The eye b j virtue of itsvilive faculty beholds fenfible ob¬ jects, but does not produce them ; and did they n )t previcufly exift, could not behold them. We li e the fun fhining in its brightnefs, but did it not exift before, it could not be viiible to us; the fame observation will hold good in ten thou- fiand other inftances. Faith is the hand which receives the blefling cf juflification from the Lord, and righteoufnefs, by which the foul is juftified from the God of its falvation ; but then this blefiing muft exift before faith can receive it. If any fhould think, fit to diflin- guifh between the aft of juflification, and the righteoufnefs 33 JUSTIFICATION. righteoufnefs of Chrift, by which we are juf- tified; and objett, that not j unification, but the righteoufnefs of Chrift, is the objedfc of faith : I reply, either the righteoufnefs of Chrift, as juf¬ tifying, is the objecft of faith, or it is not ; if it is not, then ’tis ufelefs, and to be laid afide in the bufmefs of juftification ; if, as juftifying, it is the object of faith, what is it elfe but juftifica¬ tion ? Chrilt’s righteoufnefs juftifying me, is my juftification before God, and, as fuch, my faith confiders it, and fays, with the church (a), “ Surely, in the Lord have I righteoufnefs and ftrength.” 3. The eleft of God are juftified whilft un¬ godly, and therefore, before they believe ; the reafon of the confequence is plain, becaufe a believer is not an ungodly perl'on. That God’s eleift are, by nature, ungodly, will not be de¬ nied ; as fuch, Chrift died for them : “ While (b) we were yet without ftrength, in due time Chrift died for the ungodly.’’ And ’tis as evi¬ dent, that, as luch, God juftifies them : “ But (c) to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that juftifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteoufnefs.” Not that God juftifies the ungodly without a righteoufnefs ; but he im¬ putes and reckons to them the righteoufnefs of his fon ; for otherwife he would do that himfelf which he abhors in others : “ For (d) he that juftifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the juft, they both are an abomination to the Lord.” Nor does he juftify them in their ungodli- E nefs. (a) Ifai. mIv. 24. (c) Rom. iv. j. { b ) Rom. v. 6. ( d ) Prov. xvii. ie 34 The DOCTRINE of nefs, but from it; and, indeed, tc from all things, from which they could not be juftified by the law of Mo/ei and yet he juftifies them being ungodly. Now, if it can be proved that a be¬ liever is, or may be, called an ungodly perfon, then there is no ftrength in my argument ; but, I apprehend, it can’t be proved, from fcripture, th t a believer is fo called ; nor can any juft rea- fon be given why he fhould ; feeing an ungodly perfon is one that is without God, i. e. without the grace and fear of God; and withoutChrift, being deftitute of a true knowledge of him, faith in him, and love to him; all which is in¬ compatible with the character of a believer. I conclude then, that if God juftifies his eleft when they are ungodly, then he juftifies them before they believe, which is the thing I have undertaken to prove. 4. All the eleift of God were juftified in, and with Chrift, their head and reprelentative, when he arofe from the dead, and therefore before they believe. The Lord Jefus Chrift having from eternity engaged as a furety for his people, all their fins were laid upon him, imputed to him, and placed to his account ; for all which he was refponfiole to divine juftice, and, accordingly in the fulnels of time, gave full fatisfaiftion for them, by his fufferings and death ; and having done this, w'as acquitted and difcharged : For, as he was put to death in the flefli, he was jus¬ tified in the fpirit. Now as he fuffered and died not as a private perfon, but as a public one, fo he arofe again, and was juftified as fuch. Hence, when he was juftified, all thofe for w horn he 35 JUSTIFICATION. he made fatisfaclion, and brought in a righteouf- nefs, were juftified in him ; which Teems to be the meaning of that fcripture (a), “ Who was deli¬ vered for our offences, and was railed again for our juflification.” This juflification of the deft, at the refurredhon of Chrifl, and upon the foot of the oblation and facrifice already offered up, is acknowledged by many excellent and judicious divines ; fome of whom, tho’ they only allow a decretive juflification from eternity ; yet affert a real and compleat one at the refurredbon of Chrifl, on the account of his adlual oblation and facrifice. Dr. Ames fays fb), that “ The fen- tence of juflification was, i. As it were conceived in the mind of God, by the decree of juflifying. 2. Pronounced in Chrifl our head, when he rofe from the dead ” The learned Hoornbeck, fumming up the tenets of the people called Antinomians in England , takes notice of their fentiments concerning juflification ; andobferves, that the difference between them and others, “ May (c) eafily be reconciled, bv diftinguifh- ing juflification into adlive and paflive ; the for¬ mer, fays he, is the adl of God juflifying ; the latter the termination and application of it to the confciences of believers. The one was done at Chrift’s fatisfadlion ; the other is, when a perfon adlually believes.” And, a little after, he adds ; “ juflification was deftgned for us from all eternity, in the decree of predeflination $ promifed {a) Rom. iv. 25. ( b) Amef. Medull. Theolog. I. 1. c. 27. §■<)■ (c) Hoornbeck. Summ. Gontrov. lib. 10. de Broyy$= iftis, p. 705. 36 The DOCTRINE of promifed immediately after the fall ; wrought at the death and refurreftion of Chrift, (for thefe are to be joined together, Rom. viii. 34 ) being, at the one,*merited by Chrift, and, at the other, declared and ratified by God.” Wit- Jius , who engaged as a moderator in the dntino- mian and Neonomian controverfies, moved here in England, fays: “ Chrift verily (a) wasjufti- fied, when God raifed him from the dead, and gave an acquittance for the payment made by Chrift, and accepted by him : And the fame Chrift was raifed for our juftification, Rom. iv. 25. For when he was juttified, the eleft were juftified together in him ; forafmuch as he was their reprefentative.” And, not to forget our great Dr. Goodwin, who oblerves (bj , that *' At the inftant when he, i. e. Chrift, ^rofe, God then performed a farther aft of juftification towards him, and us in him ; admitting him, as our advocate, into the aftual pofleflion of jufti¬ fication of life, acquitting him from all thofe fins which he had charged upon him. Therefore, we read, that as Chrift was made fin in his life and death, fo that he was juftified alfo, 1 Tim. iii. 16. And that he fiiould be thus juftified, is not fpoken of him, abftraftly confidered in him- felf, but as he hath us conjoined in him, and as he connotates us.” And, a little after he fays : (t As when he alcended, we afcended with him, (and therefore we are faidnowto fit together with him in heavenly places, Epb. ii. 6.) fo, when he was juftified, we were juftified alfo in him. And, as (< 7 ) Witf Animad. Irenic. c. 10. §. 2. (b) Vol. IV. Par. 1. p. 105, 106. JUSTIFICATION. 37 as it may be faid, Adam condemned ns all, and corrupted us all when he fell, fordid Chrifl then perfect us all, and God juftified us all, when he died and rofe again.” The famous Parker (a) calls it an actual juflification, both of Chrifl and us. His words are thef^ : “ Chrifl is faid to be juftified whenhe arofe again, I Tim. iii. 16. and we to he then juftified in him, Rom. iv. 25. be¬ came the difcliarge, i. e. his father’s railing him up, was an affual jufiification of him from the fins of others, for which he had Tatisfied, and of us from our own fins, for which he became a furety.” Thofe who afiert there is nojuftifica- tion before faith, ought duly to confider this argument- fo well founded in fcripture, and fo agreeable to the fentiments of great and good men. But, 5. I fhall go a ftep higher, and endeavour to prove, that all the eledf of God are juftified from eternity. When, I fay, theeledlof God are juf¬ tified from eternity, I do not think, that they had an aftual perfonal exiftenre from eternity, though they had a reprefentalive one in Chrifl; or that an actual payment of their debts, or an adtual fatisfaftion for their fiv.s was then made by Chrifl, though he engaged to do it ; nor do I intend juflification from eternity, in fuch a fenfe as to let alide the imputation of Adam’s fin to the condemnation of the elect in him ; or to render Chrift’s bringing in an aflual righteoufnefs in time unneceffiry ; or to make faith utelefs in our juflification, in our own confidences, as, I hope, I (a) Parker, de defeenfu Chriffi sd inferos, 1 . 3, §■ 3 °- p- 59 - The DOCTRINE of 38 I Hi all fhortly make appear : Yet, on the other hand, I mean more by juftificadon from eter¬ nity, than merely God’s preference, or fore¬ knowledge of It, to whom all h s ( a ) works areknovn, from the beginning of the world, ap aionot , from eternity more than a mere reloiution and parpofe to jollify his eledin time, he “ calling ( b ) things that are not, as though they were or, in other words, more than a decretive juftificadon, as fotne divines call it; who apprehend that God’s eledcan, in no other fenfe, be faid to be juftified from eternity, than they may be faid to be faniftified or glorified from eternity, becaufe he had decreed to fandifv and glorify them : I fay, I mean more than this, and afif-rt, with Dr. Amts , that juftificadon “ Is a fentence conceived in the mind of God, by the decree of junification that this is an ad in God, all whofe .uft- in him are eternal ; that this is the grand original fentence of juftificadon; of which that pronounced on Chrift, as our re- prelentative, when he role from the dead, and that which is pronounced by the fpirit of God in the confciences of believers, as well as that which will be pronounced before men and an¬ gels, at the general judgment, are no other than fo many repetitions, or renewed declara¬ tions ; that this includes the whole compleat effe of juftificadon ; being, as Mr. Rutherford (c) obferv'es, “ An internal and immanent aeft in God, and not tranftent upon an external fubjed. In (a) Acts xv. 18. ( b ) Rom. iv. 17. (c) Rutherford. Apolog. Exercitat. exerc. 1. c. 2, §. 20. 39 JUSTIFICATION. In one word, I apprehend, that as God’s eternal decree of election of perl'ons to everlaftihg life, is the eternal eledicn of them ; fo God’s will, decree, or purpofe, to jultify his eled is the eternal juftificatior, of them; though his eternal will to fandify them is not an eternal fanctifica- tion of them ; becaufe landification b a wo/k of God’s grace upon us, and within us, and fo requires our perfonal exigence. Juftification is an ad: of God’s grace towards us, is wholly without us, entirely refides in the divii e mird, and lies in his ef imation, accounting and con- llituting us righteous, through the righteouf. nefs of his fon ; and fo required neither the adual exillence of Chrift’s righteoufnef, nor of our perfons, but only that both fhould cer¬ tainly exift in time. For the further confirma¬ tion and illuftration of this truth, let the fol¬ lowing things be obferved. (i.) That there is an eternal eledion of per¬ fons to everlafiing life, and that the objeds of judication are God’s eled: “ Who lhall (a) lay any thing to the charge ol God’s eled ? it is God that juftifieth.” Now, if God’s eled, asfuch, can have nothing laid to their charge, but are, by God, acquitted, difeharged, and juftified ; and, if they bore this charader of eied from eternity, or were chofen in Chrift before the world began, then they muft be acquitted, dif¬ eharged , andjultified by God from eternity, fo as nothing could be laid to their charge. Be- fides, eleding grace before the world began, put (u) Rom. viii. 33- 40 The DOCTRINE of put them in Chrift: <( He ( a ) hath chofen us in him, before the foundation of the'world.” And if eleding grace then put them in him, they mult be comfidered as righteous in him ; no man can be confidered in Chrift as an unrighteous perfon, or as an unjuftified, or as in a ftate of condem¬ nation. And, I think, we may be allowed to argue an eternal junification from an eternal eledion, fince eternal jullification is a branch of it; and, as fuch, as one ( b ) obferves, u Is the father’s eternal purpofe and agreement with the fon, that the eled fhould be everlaftingly righteous in his fight, in the righteoufnefs of this dear fon of his ; in which ad he conftitu- ted and ordained them fo to be And this ad, as the fame excellent perfon obferves (c), is no other than “ fetting apart the eled alone to be partakers of Chrift’s righteoufnefs, and fetting apart Chrift’s righteouinefs for the eled only.” I think, we may fafely conclude, that if there is an eternal eledion of perfons in Chrift, there mult be an eternal acceptance and juftificarion of them in him ; fince, as he always was the beloved of his father, in whom he is ever well pleafed, fo he always has gracioufly accepted cf and is well pleafed with all his eled in him. (2.) That there was, from all eternity, a covenant of grace and peace made between the father and the fon, oil the account of thefe eled perfons; when all the bleflings of grace, and {a) Eph. i. 4- (b ) Mr. Davis, in his letter to Mr. Beart , publiflied in Mr. Maurice's Monuments of Mercy, p. S3. (c) Ibid. p. 85. JUSTIFICATION. 4 t and promifes cf life, provided and fecured in that covenant, were put into the hands ol Jefus Chrift for his people ; and, though they had then no perfonal or actual ex'ftence, yet they had a reprefentative being in Chrift, in whcm they were then bleflfed (a) with a’l fpiritual bleflings.” And, if with all fpiritual bleflings, then with this of juftification ; which was no inconfiderable part of that “ grace ( b ) which was given us in Chrift Jefus, before the world began.” But I cannot exprefs this better than in the words of Dr. Gooawin , who, fpeaking of the date of juftification, fays (c) : “ The fir ft; progrefs, or ftep, was at the firft covenant- making and linking of the bargain from all eternity: We may fay, of a!! fpiritual bleflings in Chrift, what is faid of Chrift, that “ his goings forth are from everlafting.” Juftified then we were, when firft eletted, though not in our own perfons, yet in our head, as he had our perfons then given him, and we came to have a being and intereft in him : “ You are in Chrift,” (faith the apoftle) and fo we had the promife made of all fpiritual bleflings in him, and he took all the deeds of all in our name ; fo in Chrift we were b’.effed with all fpi- ritual bleflings, Eph. i. 3. As we are blelfed with all other, fo with this alfo, that we were juftified then in Chrift. To this purpofe is that place, Rom. viii. 30. where he fpeaks of all thofe bleflings which are applied to us after re¬ demption, as calling, juftification, glorification, F as (a) Eph. i. 3. ( b) 2 Tim. i, 9. (c) V0I.4. Par. i. p. 104, 105. 42 The DOCTRINE of as of things already paft and done, even then when he did predeftinate us : Whom he hath predeftinated, them he hath called, them he hath jufiified, them he hath glorified. He fpeaks it as in the time paft; neither fpeaks he thus of thefe blefiings as paft, {imply in regard of that prefence, in which all things ftand before him from eternity; all things paft, prefent and to come, being to him as prefent: Nor doth he fpeak it only in regard of a refolution, or pur- pofe, taken up to call and juftify, he calling j things that are not as though they were, Rom. iv. 17. For “ thus it may be faid of all his other works towards the creatures in common, that he hath created and preferved them from everlafting : Rut in a more fpecial relation are thefe blefiings decreed faid to have been be¬ llowed, becaufe, though they exifted not in themltlves, yet they exifted really in a head that reprefented them and us, who was by to anfwer for them, and to undertake for them, which other creatures could not do; and there was an a&ual donation and receiving all thefe for us (as truly as a feoffee in truft may take Ends for one unborn) by virtue of a covenant made with Chrift ; whereby Chrift had all our fins imputed to him, and fo taken off from 11s, ! Chrift having then covenanted to take all our fins upon him, when he took our perfons to be his ; and God having covenanted not to impute fin unto us, but to look at him for the payment of all, and at us as difcharged. Of this feems that place, 2 Cor. v. 19. evidently to fpeak, as importing that everlafting tranfaiftion : “ God was JUSTIFICATION. 43 was in Chrift, reconciling the world unto him- felf, not imputing their trefpaffes to them/' i. e. not imputing them then when he was re¬ conciling us unto himfelf in Chrift. So as then God told Chrift, as it were, (for it was a real covenant) that he would look for his debt and fatisfattion of him, and that he did let the fin- ners go free ; and fo they are, in this refpedt, juftified from all eternity. And, indeed, if the promife of lite was then given us, (as the apof- tle Paul fpeaks, Tit. i. 2.) then alfojuftification of life, without which we could not come to life. Yet this is but the inchoation, though it be an eftating us into the whole tenure of life.” (3.) Chrift was fet up from everlafting, as the mediator of this covenant : His goings forth, and a&ing therein, on the behalf of his people, were of old, from everlafting. He then en¬ gaged to be a furety for them, and v as accepted of by God the Father as fuch; who thencefor¬ ward, to ufe the dodtor’s words, juft now cited, looked for his debt, and expected fatisfa&ion of him, and let the finners go free, for whom he engaged. Looking at him for the payment, he looked at them as difcharged ; and they were fo in his eternal mind, and, in this rcfpedt, were juftified from eternity. And, indeed, ? tis a rule that will hold good, “ That as foon as any one (a) becomes a furety for another, the other is immediately freed, if the furety be accepted:” which is the cafe here. And it is certainly (a) Quia fimul ac vas aliquis fit pro alte ro, alter ftatim liberatur, fivasifte acceptatur. Maccov, Theol. Quaeft. loc. 31. Quaelt. 6, 44 The DOCTRINE or certainly moft prudential, when a man has a bad debt, and has good fecurity for it, to have his eye upon the bondfman or furety for payment, and not upon the principal debtor, who will never be able to pay him. (4 ) That as foon as Chrift became a furety, the lias of all thofe perfons, for whom he be¬ came a furety, were reckoned and accounted to him ; and, if accounted to him, then not to them; if they were laid to his charge, then not to theirs ; and if he was anfwerable for them, then they were difcharged from them. If there was an imputation of them to him, then there mud be a non-imputation of ’em to them; which the apoftle plainly intimates, when he fays (a), “ God was in Chrift, /. e, from everlafting, reconciling the world unto himfelf, not imputing their trefpafles unto them.” JVit('ius (bj , citing this text of fcrip- ture, fays : Cl God hath reconciled the whole world of his cleft together to himfelf, and hath declared, that he will not impute their tref¬ pafles to them, and thatbecaule of theconfum- mate fatisfaftion of Chrift, 2 Cor. v. 19. where¬ fore, fays he, I am of opinion, that this aft of God may be called the general juftification of the cleft.” Nor ought it to be thought ftrange, foreign, or far fetched, that the juftification of God’s people is inferred from the imputation of their fins to Chrift, and the non-imputation of them to them ; fince the apoftle Paul in Rorri. iv. 6, 7, 8, has fo manifeftly deduced, and ftrongly (a) 2 Cor. v, 19. lb) Witf. Animadv. Irenic. c. ro. §. 2. 45 JUSTIFICATION. ftrongly concluded the imputation of righteouf- nefs, which is the ra'io formalis ol juftification, f i om the non-imputation of fin, and remiflion of it. (5.) That God from eternity willed to punifh fin, not in the perfons of the eleft, but in the perfon of Chrift, their furety. That it is the will of God to punfh fin, not in his people but in his fon, it plain and manifcft, from his -wiffic makes the very quiddity, or offence, of juftifi¬ cation and remiflion of fins, which he takes to be the fame to lie in God’s will not to punifh. His Words are thefe : “ Forgivenefs (b) of fin, if (a) Rom Hi. 75. Proztheto, fore-ordained. (b) Twijf. Vindicia Gratiae, 1 . r. par. 2. §■ 25. p. 194. To -which Mr. Eyres agrees , in his Free Jufli- fication of a Sinner, &c. p. 89,91. -where he gives thefe two reafons for it. -1. Becauje it agrees wiih the definition the pfalmifi and apoftle give of juftification , a 6 The DOCTRINE of if you regard the quiddity of it, is r,o other than a negation of pumlhment, or a will not to pu- nilh : Be it therefore, that to forgive fin is no other than to will not te punifh ; why, this will not to punifh, as it is an immanent ad in God, was from eternity .” ( 6 .) That the faints under the Old Teflament were juftified by the fame righteoufnefs of Chriit, as the faints under the New ; and that before the oblation, or facrifice, wasadually offered up, or the everlafting righteoufnefs wasadually brought in ; before an adual payment of debts was made,or an adual fathfadion for fins given. For Chrift’s blood, when it was llied, was Hied (< for the remiflion of fins that were pad (a) And his death was “ for the redemption of tranfgreffions that were under the firft teftament.” Now if God could, and did, adually juffify fome, ha¬ ving taken his Ion’s word as th^ir furety, upon a view of his future righteoufnefs, three or four thoufand years before this righteoufnefs wasadually wrought out; why could he not, and why may it not be thought that he did, jurtify all his eled from eternity, viewing the fame future righteoufnefs of Cbrift, which he had engaged to work out for them, and which he knew full well he would work out; fince, tho’ they had not then an adual, yet they had a reprefentative Pfal. xxxii. r, 2. Rom. iv. 6, 7.-2. Becaufe by it God's eled are acquitted and difeharged from their Jins, and fecured from wrath and dejfrudion. Mr, Rutherford ferns to be of the Jame mind, Exerckat- Apolog. exerc. 1. c. 2. §. 20- (a) Rom. iii 25, 26. Heb. ix. ij. JUSTIFICATION. 47 renrefientative being in Chrift their head ? But I proceed, Secondly , To fhew that thejuhification, which is by, at, or upon believing, is not properly juflilica ion, but the manifehation of it. The phrafe we frequently meet with in fcripture, of being “ juhified by faith,” muff be underflood either in a proper or in an improper fenfe : 1 hofe who underhand it in a proper fenfe, make the credere, or the a« 5 l of faith, to be im¬ puted for juhification ; or, in other words, to be the maiter of it; or to be accepted of God in the room of a legal righteoufnefs : '1 his is the way the Papjts (a), Socinians (b), and Remon/tr ants take. On the other hand, found Protehant divines underhand the phrafe in an improper, tropical, or metonymical lenfe'; and fay, that faith intends neither the habit, nor the ad of faith ; becaitfe then our juftification would be placed in that which is a part, and a principal part of fandification ; nor would there be a proper antithefts, or oppofition, between faith and works, in thebufinel’s of juftification : Therefore by faith they underhand, and very rightly, the otjed of faith, as in G s rightly underftood, Perfons , rot things, mull bear the price of blood, And all thofe bleffings added, can’t but be The unfeign’d gift of the eternal Three. Is nothing certain till I leave my fin ? Will God not love me till I firfl begin ? And will that love decline as mine grows cold ? Or can he hate me young, and love me old ? Does man’s obedience happinefs obtain ? Then all’s of debt, and Chrift has died in vain, Then Saviour, furely, helper, facrifice. Are empty founds and mere abfurdities. Is this glad tidings? Where can I depend? If Ch ist be wanting, where have I a friend ? Sir, I fuppofe your meaning fhould be this ; To part with fin is not to do amifs : Then why this confidence, this fpite and pr ide, Thofe many facred texts thus villify’d ? And why this devil, with a fnare, to fay, Who wrongs my child, who takes its bread away ? Boaft not perfection, fince the cafe be thus, Except ’tis perfect blind, or fomething worfe. But, O ! how impious, how profoundly bafe ! To talk of fin in confequence of grace ! That thofe who live by faith, may as they pleafe, Trample on love and live in carnal eafe ; As tho’ the grace of God does not conftrain The hearts of thofe belev’d, to love again. This A POEM. 74 This is the dotdrine which the tempter brought; Read and confider, tremble at the thought ! ‘ If thou’rt the fon of God, then fear no ill,