unexpectedly without any labour or industry of theirs But will any man in hopes it may so fall out with him neglect to labour in his calling for a lively-hood To be sure no man worthy the name of a man will What folly then is to be compared with that which such men commit that despise their own souls in taking less care for them though of eternal duration than for this short and transitory life But yet although God hath not promised that any shall have but those that ask nor find except they seek nor have it opened to them unless they knock to the end that none might promise themselves an obtaining without so doing And although God vouchsafeth unto men the Gospel as a means sufficient of it self to persuade them to consider their eternal concerns and to look after them more than any thing that concerns only this present life and to learn them without all excuse if they do not Yet when I consider the exceeding riches of the goodness of God and how full of compassion he is and how unwilling he is that any should perish I cannot I confess but think that he does more to prevent the destruction even of those that do perish than what is absolutely necessary and barely sufficient to prevent it if men did not through their own obstinacy and wilfulness receive such Grace of God in vain I cannot but think that God does more to bring men to repentance both those that do and those that do not actually and eventually repent than what he ever promised or engaged himself to do by his spirits striving with them by many inward and secret motions and operations upon their minds and consciences until by long and obstinate resistance the good spirit is caused to withdraw his applications by which withdrawing that which they before had is taken from them according to what is threatned to such as will not improve their Talent and they delivered up to a reprobate mind to be hardened Why should we not think but that God is as ready by his Holy Spirit to excite and stir up men to that which tends to their happiness as evil spirits are to tempt them to that which tends to their destruction When all the methods whereby God seeketh to bring men to repentance are thwarted and withstood the Holy Ghost is in Scripture then said to be resisted Which shews that the Holy Ghost is much concerned in those methods I doubt not but that when the Scripture saith that God would have all men to be saved we may safely conclude that he useth all means both internal and external to effect it so far as is agreeable to his perfect and unerring wisdom when all circumstances in the case are weighed and considered and that it is really better and will appear so one day that such men should perish which do perish rather than any more should be done by God to prevent it than he hath done before destruction befal them And it is better not because God takes more pleasure in the damnation than in the salvation of such as perish simply and in it self considered For he himself hath told us and sworn it lest we should not firmly believe it That he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Ezek. 33.11 But it is better in reference to the publick good of his Creation in general the peace and good order whereof is thereby secured which otherwise was and still would be disquieted and put into confusion by them as it is now by the Devils while they are not shut up in Prison as hereafter they will be This reason of the punishment of such as have neglected their own Salvation as it refers to this publick good is implyed in those words of our Saviour Mat. 13.41 Where he says The Son of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend and in those likewise Ver. 49. where he says so shall it be at the end of the world the Angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just And another reason among others of such mens punishment referring to the publick good is That virtue and goodness on the one hand and wickedness and vice on the other might the better appear to be what they are in their own nature by their sensible effects and so be loved or hated accordingly which we cannot conceive they would ever be so effectually as now they are and will be if they were not attended with rewards and punishments by the wise ordering of the Author and Governor of all beings It was by the sensible effects of eating of the forbidden Tree that Adam had that knowledg of evil as differing from good which he had not before Now such knowledg of the the difference between good and evil by rewards and punishments is of great use in the universal Kingdom and Government of God And if it were not better in reference to the general good that men should perish for their wilful neglect and refusal to make use of such means to prevent their destruction as God hath vouchsafed them and by the use whereof they might have prevented it if they would we could not well conceive how there should be any such thing as the destruction of wicked men other than what lies in the very nature of their sin it self it putting the course of nature into disorder confusion and torture so long as God takes no pleasure in their destruction for their destruction sake So much may suffice to shew in what capacity men are of performing the condition on which the pardon of sin and eternal life are promised which performance is of absolute and indispensible necessity to their justification And if in doing this I have said more than was barely necessary to this end yet perhaps not more than was necessary to prevent mens misunderstanding misinterpretation and misimprovement of what was necessarily said on that head of discourse considering how apt some of weak minds are to suspect if not to cry out Pelagianism where any ability in men to work out their own salvation is mentioned though there be not the least ground for it 5. The last thing I proposed to inquire into concerning Faith is how we may conceive that Faith does more immediately operate to our justification And what hath been said already touching Faith in the forementioned particulars may with a little reflection upon them satisfie us in this enquiry For such a Faith as I have described a Faith that is a vital and vigorous principle of Regeneration and of a holy life does Operate to our Justification as it is our Covenant-Righteousness as it is the performance of the condition on which pardon of sin and eternal Life are promised For as it is such and as it comprehends in it its proper effects it doth constitute those in whomsoever it is found Righteous
him a God keeping Covenant and Mercy with them that love him and keep his Commandments or that walk before with all their hearts And though the hearers of the Law were not just before God yet the doers of Law were justified when they depended upon the Grace and Mercy of God for acceptation in doing their duty Rom. 2.13 Conclude we then that there is nothing in these Scriptures to prove the Natural Law and the Law of Grace not to consist without the one being altered by the other And thus we see how the Law of Grace operates to our Justification by reconciling the Original Law to us upon our repentance that was against us it is reconciled to us because we are reconciled to it by the Law of Grace By the way then it is remarkable how greatly it conduceth to the consolation of all truly repentant sinners and of how great a ground of their confidence towards God it is that the Natural Law as well as the Law of Grace is now on their side it is not only not against them but is made to be for them by the blessed undertaking and performance of our Saviour for them when once they are persuaded to be sincerely for it 2. The Covenant of Grace operates to our Justification as it is an act of Grace by which God doth institute and ordain that Faith as it is an operative principle of sincerity of repentance of love to God and man and of all holy obedience shall be accepted and accounted for Righteousness upon the account of our Saviours Mediatory Righteousness And for our better understanding and satisfaction in this matter I shall endeavour these three things 1. To shew that there is a Righteousness found among men which the Scripture calls so and calls those Righteous that have it their having sinned notwithstanding 2. To shew what it is and in what it consisteth 3. How it comes to be such 1. That there is a Righteousness found among men which the Scripture calls so and calls those Righteous which have it notwithstanding all the world stand guilty before God of unrighteousness and are concluded under sin according to the first Law we were under This is a thing so well known to those that read the Scriptures or hear them read that it 's needless to cite particular Texts to prove it We shall find that good men such as are justified are called the Righteous or the Just no less I think than fourscore times in the Books of Psalms and Proverbs besides so many other places as are not easily to be numbered 2. That which is more necessary is to shew what this Righteousness is and wherein it doth consist In general it consisteth in our conformity to the terms of the Gospel the new Covenant or Law of Grace As mans Natural and Original Righteousness stood in a conformity in his nature and actions to the Original Law of Righteousness from which we are fallen And as the Mediatorial Righteousness of Christ consisteth in his conformity to the Law of Mediation so doth the Evangelical Righteousness of a Christian stand in his conformity to the terms of the new Law of Grace And therefore as the Gospel it self is frequently called the Faith and somtimes the Law of Faith as being both the Object and the Rule of the Christian Faith so is a Christians conformity to it frequently stiled likewise the Righteousness of Faith and the Righteousness by Faith and the obedience of Faith Rom. 3.22 and 4.11 13. and 9.30 and 10.6 Gal. 5.5 Phil. 3.9 Rom. 16.26 Now this conformity to the Gospel which God counts to us for Righteousness doth consist in a hearty belief or firm persuasion that God upon the account of what Christ our Mediator hath suffered and done for sinners will receive such into his favour pardon and save them as upon such a belief do truly repent them of their sins and seriously resolve and sincerely endeavour to please God for the future in the whole course of their lives and in actual resolutions and endeavours suitable to this belief This belief or persuasion when it becomes thus practical in operations proper to the nature of such a persuasion as it is then the true Christian Faith so it is then also the Christians Righteousness for it is imputed reckoned and counted to them for Righteousness as the Scripture shews It 's true Abraham is said to have had this Righteousness Rom. 4.11 and Noah to be an heir of it Heb. 11.7 And yet we cannot say that they had any such explicite Faith in reference to Christ the Mediator as the meanest Christian has under the Gospel Revelation And yet their Faith in the general nature of it was the same then with the Christians now For they had such Revelations made by God one way or other by which they did believe him to be reconcileable and propitious to all such as fear and love him and sincerely endeavour to please him And upon this Principle doubtless it was that they and other good men in those elder times lived such holy and virtuous lives as hath procured them upon publick Record honour and renown for Righteous men unto all Generations For so saith that sacred Author speaking of them Heb. 11.39 These all received a good report through Faith Thus Abel obtained witness even from God himself that he was Righteous by reason of his Faith in God in conjunction with what he did by virtue of his Faith Heb. 11.4 And when the Scripture saith Jam. 2. of some of these that they were justified not only by their Faith but also by their Works the meaning I doubt not is that they were approved of by God as Righteous men upon the account of both It 's true indeed Righteous and Holy men are frequently described by their fear of God and by their love and obedience to him without mentioning their Faith as at other times they are described by their Faith without mentioning their fear love or obedience And the reason seems to be this because where any one of these is in truth there are the other also No man truly fears God or loves and obeys him but he that hath first Faith towards God that he is Gracious Merciful and ready to forgive the repenting and reforming sinner without which Faith it is impossible to love him or reverence him with an awful love There is forgiveness with him that he may be feared feared with a fear mixed with love as the right fear of God always is Psal 130.4 Now this their fear of God love to him and care to please him which grows out of their Faith is as I say their Righteousness as well as their Faith it self more strictly considered because their conformity to the Law of Grace which is their Righteousness consists in these as well as in that and the same promises are made to these as to that He that doth Righteousness is Righteoas 1 Joh. 3.7 All his transgressions which he hath
a precious corner-stone a sure foundateon saith God concerning Christ All manner of spiritual blessings are in Scripture said to be conferred on us through Jesus Christ or by Christ or in Christ God reconciles us to himself by Jesus Christ preacheth peace to us by Jesus Christ The riches of his grace in his kindness towards us is through Christ Jesus we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ The promise of life is said to be in Christ Jesus And eternal life the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord The adoption of Children is by Christ Jesus with many more the like in Scripture All which betokens that Spiritual benefits of all sorts are vouchsafed us upon the account of his Mediatorial performance The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Eph. 1.3 But these things I shall more fully open in that which follows to which I shall now proceed The second thing then which I proposed to be enquired into is upon what the efficacy and operative virtue of this Mediatorial righteousness of our Saviour doth depend in reference to our Justification and indeed of all other saving benefits And it seems to me to depend partly upon Gods Ordination and appointment to the end he and our Saviour designed it for and partly upon the Aptitude of it as a means to such an end 1. It depends upon Divine Ordination and appointment For our Lord Christ is made to us of God Wisdom Righteousness Sanctification and Redemption 1 Cor. 1.30 He is made Righteousness to us by God in the effects of his righteousness God ordering and appointing that so it should be For this way of making us righteous by virtue of the righteousness of another is wholly of Divine institution and is supernatural a way which the Law natural knows nothing of nor we by it When the Apostle had said speaking in the person of Christ Lo I come to do thy will O God Heb. 10.7 he presently adds ver 10. by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all It appears to be of Divine institution that the Mediatorial righteousness of Christ should operate to our Justification and other Spiritual benefits because the effect of it in the event is limited by God unto certain conditions otherwise when Christ gave himself a Ransom for all and tasted death for every man all would have been justified and saved thereby as well as some For the price of Redemption was sufficient for all as well as for some if it had been as agreeable to the wisdom of God that all should have been justified by his blood as it is that those only shall who shall be persuaded to be reconciled to him And the obedience of Christ is in it self as sufficient to deliver those who are reconciled to God from temporal death which is the less evil as it is to deliver them from eternal death which is the greater had not the wisdom of the Divine will made the difference And we may well conceive that it is by virtue of the divine will that Abel Enoch and other good men who lived towards the beginning of the world should be justified and saved by virtue of this obedience of our Saviour to the Law of Mediation thousands of years before he actuated that obedience in the humane nature The giving of Christ for us and the appointing him to the office and work of a Mediator was an act of pure Grace And in all donations it belongs to the doner to determine and appoint how far and to what ends the benefit of them shall extend and upon what terms they shall be conferred and enjoyed It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth mercy Rom. 9.16 That is the terms on which the mercies are to be received are not of the ordering and appointment of any other but of God whose the mercy is to bestow The wisdom of God governs in all acts of his Grace For he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will Eph. 1.11 2. The Operative virtue of the Mediatorial righteousness of our Blessed Saviour in reference to our Justification depends in great part at least upon the Aptitude of it as a means to such an end There is a blessed aptitude in what our Saviour hath done and suffered to reconcile God and men and so to procure mens Justification The proper business of a Mediator is to reconcile parties at difference And the Mediatorial acts of our Saviour conformable to the Law of Mediation in which his righteousness doth consist were most apt and proper to procure Reconciliation between God offended and men offending Some of them having in them a great fitness to reconcile God to men to atone him and to take off his displeasure against sinners for what is past provided they can be prevailed withal to lay down their arms of rebellion humble themselves beg forgiveness and return to their duty And some of them have on the other hand a great aptitude in them to reconcile men to God And by such acts of our Saviours Mediatorial obedience as these two sorts consist of is the great and happy business of reconciliation between God and men brought about and mens justification and pardon obtained God never thought it fit to be reconciled to men till they could be perswaded to be reconciled to him And men will never be persuaded to be reconciled to God till they have some good assurance that God will be reconciled to them upon their repentance submission and return Now the acts of our Saviour's Mediatorial obedience serve very happily to both these ends 1. They have an excellent aptness in them to reconcile God to men upon supposition of their compliance with those reasonable and easie terms upon which he hath declared himself willing to be reconciled to them Our Saviours putting himself in our stead and being content to suffer for us to die for us that we might not die eternally and thereby to make reparation for the affront we have put upon God his law and government is called making reconciliation for the sins of the people by the Apostle Heb. 2.17 and the making reconciliation for iniquity by the Prophet Dan. 9.24 And the reason of the aptness of this act of our Saviour's obedience to reconcile God unto us upon supposition still that we be brought thereby and by other means to be reconciled to God is two-fold 1. From the value of the ransome laid down not silver and gold but the precious blood of Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.19 the Blood of one who is God as well as man the Church of God is said to be purchased with his own Blood Acts 20.28 which according to the Scripture account is a valuable consideration for that which is designed to be obtained by it Hence it is called a price a
shew in what respects this Covenant operates to our Justification And this it doth 1. By reconciling the Natural Law to the terms of the Law of Grace in the behalf of Repentant sinners in virtue of the death of Christ for them whose Justification and Pardon the Natural Law was against while they remained impenitent By the Natural Law I mean that eternal reason or wisdom by which Almighty God does always that which is fit and becoming him towards his creatures and that by which his creatures do or ought to do what is fit and becoming them towards God towards themselves and one another And this is said to be the Natural Law because its determinations and awards are suited to the nature of things As when innocent creatures are used as such and obstinate sinners dealt with as such and repentant sinners treated as such and when creatures are more or less punished or rewarded according as they have been and done more or less wickedly or worthily or as when God does render to every one according to his works without respect of persons as the Scripture speaks Now to do according to the nature of things is to do according to right reason and to do so is always well becoming the Agent whether it be God or man and cannot be otherwise To this Law that of St. Paul refers when he saith Whatsoever things are true honest just pure lovely of good report if there be any virtue and praise think on these things Phil. 4.8 This then being the Natural Law it must needs be always against the Justification and Pardon of impenitent obstinate sinners and irreconcilable enemies for it would not be according to the nature of things not according to right reason and so not becoming the Agent if the bad should be treated as well as the good But then on the other hand the Natural Law cannot be against the justifying and pardoning of such repentant sinners for whom Christ died Because the case of such is quite different from theirs who continue in their rebellion and who have no share in the satisfaction which Christ hath made in the behalf of repentant sinners Now the case of such being thus different it would not be according to the nature and reason of things and so not according to the Natural Law if they should be no more pardoned than the impenitent Considering what our blessed Saviour hath done and suffered to atone God and to obtain pardon and happiness for repentant sinners such as are greatly displeased with themselves for having displeased God and that judg and condemn themselves as guilty of folly and worthy of death that deprecate Gods displeasure beg forgiveness and return to their duty it cannot but be agreeable to the nature and reason of the thing and very well becoming so good a being as God is for him for Christs sake to pardon such and to reward their future Faithfulness and sincere obedience with everlasting happiness And so much the rather it is so because by the death of Christ for such as return to God after their apostacy from him the great and wise ends of Gods Government over all intelligent beings which center in the publick good are secured as well yea better as I have shewed before than they would been by punishing repentant sinners themselves for their Offences By the securing of which ends of Gods Government the reason of the Natural Law is fully answered and satisfied The publick good in Gods Dominions is a great end of his Government and this publick good is promoted by Gods justifying and pardoning repentant sinners for Christs sake because by his doing so sinners are prevailed with and persuaded to repent amend and reform and of bad to become good and of unprofitable and disserviceable to become useful and profitable members in Gods Kingdom to the increasing and multiplying of such in it to the great joy and satisfaction of the whole For which cause it 's said There is joy in heaven over every one sinner that repenteth Luke 15. Again it must needs be agreeable to the Natural Law for God for Christs sake to justifie and pardon repentant and reformed sinners because it is agreeable to his own nature For that which is agreeable to the nature of God must needs agree to the Natural Law because the Natural Law is founded in the Nature of God Now for God to shew mercy to his creatures in all compassionable cases is as natural to him as to do justly mercy being as essential to God as justice or any other attribute of his is And there is no opportunity for mercy to shew it self but in compassionable cases And if the case of repenting and reformed sinners for whom Christ died being at first made but fallible be not a compassionable case I know not what is or where any will be found for God to exercise his mercy in Furthermore the Law of Grace does not nor indeed can Cancel or Relax the Natural Law in any part though I confess I with others have some time thought otherwise and the reason is because the Natural Law is naturally what it is and cannot be otherwise That which is in it self fitest to be done can never be otherwise under the same circumstances in which it is so The change or alteration is not in the Law when it favours the same persons at one time whom it disfavoured yea condemned before but the change is made in the persons themselves and in the change of the circumstances of their Case by reason of their interest in Christs performance for them and of their interest in the promise of the Law of Grace they having performed the condition on which their interest in the benefit of Christs death and in the promises of the Gospel were suspended The Law curseth all transgressors of it as such and they remain under it until they are redeemed from it and removed from under it by Christs having born it for them So that the Sanction of the Law is not Cancelled but undergon by our Redeemer for us He hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being made a curse for us not by altering the Law for us Gal. 3.13 Our Saviour hath told us that he which believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God because he hath not received the remedy by which he might have been delivered from that condemnation into which he was fallen John 3.18 He was under the condemnation of the Law Natural before as a transgressor of that and is now under the condemnation of the Gospel as a rejecter of the Grace offered by that But when such an one comes to believe he is no longer under the condemnation of either Law or Gospel but both are reconciled to him through Christ because by his believing he is reconciled to them not because they are in the least altered but because the man himself is altered and
committed they shall not be mentioned unto him in his Righteousness which he hath done he shall live Ezek. 18.22 And when I say that our conformity to the terms of the Law of Grace is our Righteousness it is to be understood of such a conformity as is hearty and sincere and in the inward man as well as the outward though otherwise it be not indefective in respect of extent and degree For therein lies the difference between the perfect Legal Righteousness and the Evangelical The Legal Righteousness stood in a perfect and indefective conformity to whatever God commanded or the Law of Nature required of man But the Evangelical Righteousness stands in a hearty and sincere desire resolution and endeavour in a man to conform to all that God requires in conjunction with repentance for defects and in affiance in Gods Mercy through Christ for forgiveness Although the best man living does not perhaps keep any one of Gods Commandments in a Legal sense yet the meanest sincere Christian keeps them all in an Evangelical sense that is in sincerity of resolution and endeavour He prepares him self to doe his Masters will as our Saviour speaks Luke 12.47 by resolving and endeavouring to do it as well as he can and by making use of all due means and helps to that end And in this sense good men are in Scripture said to keep Gods Charge his Commandments his Statutes and his Laws Gen. 26.5 2 Sam. 22.22 1 Kings 14.8 2 Kings 18.6 Job 23.11 Psal 119.22 55 56 67 68. Luk. 1.6 Not that they did so in the Legal sense For so there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not Eccles 7.10 But they are said to keep the Commandments in respect of the sincerity of their endeavour doing as well as they can They follow after Righteousness and by this good men are described in Scripture and God is said to love such as do so Pro. 15.9 and 21.21 Isa 51.1 They still labour to do and to grow better and better and this sincerity of endeavour proceeding from a Principle of Faith is it by which men in Scripture are denominated Righteous for more than this I cannot-say is found in any man and less than this I cannot say will denominate any man to be a good tnd Righteous man Our endeavours do not indeed of themselves and without the assistance of Gods Holy Spirit make us of unrighteous to become Righteous But when ever men are persuaded in their own minds to begin with honest endeavours to do their duty as well as they can and to make use of Gods appointed means to help them therein they will be sure of the assistance of Gods Holy Spirit to carry the work through For God will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him Luke 11.13 and will work in them to will and to do well while they are working out their own Salvation by their endeavours Phil. 2.12 13. To him that hath a heart thus to begin well in using his first Talents which he hath from God to him more shall be given by the Spirit of God and he shall have abundance Mat. 25.29 This kind of Righteousness which we call Evangelical is mentioned in Scripture under several forms of speech yet all signifying the same thing in the main to wit the truth and reality of Grace in the sight of God It is called unfeigned Faith godly Sincerity holiness of Truth a labouring to have always a Conscience void of offence toward God and toward men uprightness of Heart truth in the inward parts integrity perfectness of heart and the like And when we find in Scripture the promises of Pardon and Salvation made to Faith repentance and obedience indefinitely I think we may safely conclude they are made to such in whom these are realy and indeed though but in the lowest degree of sincerity and consequently sequently that such are in the number of Righteous persons But then though the truth and sincerity of Grace in the lowest degree will denominate those that have it Righteous men yet that which is truly such how weak soever it be in the beginning is of a growing nature And the reason hereof is evident because where men do their best endeavours from time to time use and exercise will make them more and more perfect in their way the repetition of acts first begetting and then increasing habits and both together tending to more and more perfection in the Christian course Just as it is with persons in their learning any Art or Trade though the beginning be but small yet the latter end will greatly increase to allude to that in Job The Divine Principle of Grace which is the seed of God in the Soul which brings forth the Harvest of a good Life being in the nature of it contrary to fleshly lusts will be still heaving at them to extirpate and drive them out and aspiring after a perfect state in holiness hungering and thirsting after Righteousness upon which account the way of the Just is as the shining light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day Prov. 4.18 By the way then let it be observed how easie the Yoke of Christ our Saviour is and how light his Burden when he hath made the condition of obtaining the pardon of sin and Eternal Life no harder than to repent that we have been in Rebellion against our Maker to our own undoing and seriously to resolve and sincerely to endeavour to desist from all acts of disobedience for the future and to do the best we can to please him in observing those reasonable Laws of his Kingdom and Government that are ordained for our own good for the peace and satisfaction of our own minds for the preservation of the health of our bodies and for the innocent injoyments of other the comforts of this life for the peace likewise order and concord of publick Communities of men both in Church and State while every one is thereby ordered to keep his own rank and to act in his own Sphere and to prepare us by observing them for the enjoyment of a blessed immortality after all this And likewise observe how unreasonable and void of all judgment and discretion it is for men to deprive themselves of all these advantages and wilfully and desperately to run upon their own ruin when all might so easily be prevented as by subjecting to the easie Yoke and gentle Government of Christ who reckons our hearty and sincere endeavours in obeying him for obedience 3. How this Righteousness comes to be such to be accounted and accepted for Righteousness and it is so upon a double account at least 1. It is of the Grace of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ that it is so it is by way of donation or free gift without consideration had of any thing in us that should render us worthy of such a favour but the contrary It doth not make the benefit the less of
more upon men when they heartily believe it by proclaiming pardon to all repentant sinners and immense rewards to such as shall with honest minds give up themselves to Christ to be his Disciples to learn of him by his Doctrine and Example how to live a sober righteous and a godly Life And by promising Divine assistance as well as vast rewards and acceptance of honest and sincere endeavours and by making allowances for such frailties and defects both in knowledg and practice as will consist with uprightness of heart towards God And thus I have shewn how the Gospel operates to our Justification as a great and effectual means of bringing us to become Evangelically Righteous without which we cannot be Justified by having that Righteousness imputed to us and by being approved of as Righteous upon the account of it CHAP. IV. Of Faith and how that operates to our Justification THat Faith doth operate to our Justification we are perfectly assured by the frequent and express notice thereof we have from the Scriptures such as Rom. 3.30 and 5.1 Gal. 2.16 and others And Faith operates to our Justification as it is the performance of that condition upon which the great and precious promises of the Gospel Covenant are made For the Covenant consists chiefly of two parts to wit the promises which God makes of bestowing benefits on us through Christ and of the condition upon which these promises are made which condition is summarily comprised in Faith or believing But before I proceed further to speak of Faith I think it not inconvenient here to premise to what is to be said about Faith as the condition of the Gospel-Covenant somwhat to shew that the promises of pardon and eternal Life are conditional The Gospel-Covenant is directly suited to that Mediatory undertaking of Christ by which the Covenant it self was obtained and on which it was founded Now I have shewed formerly that Christ died for all men indeed but yet it was but to obtain a conditional pardon for all men and other benefits consequent upon it He did not die to procure that God should be reconciled to them that should always refuse to be reconciled to him but to obtain their pardon and restauration to the favour of God upon condition of their being persuaded to be reconciled to him And truly the Covenant of Grace holds an exact proportion to the Covenant of Redemption or Law of Mediation by the fulfilling of which by Christ the Gospel Covenant as I said was obtained As our Saviour died for all to put all into a capacity of being pardoned and saved in case they should not persist finally in rebellion against God so the Covenant of Grace promiseth pardon and salvation just upon the same terms and not otherwise For the Gospel denounceth a being punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power against all those that know not God and which obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ So that when we compare the general promise and threatnings in the Gospel together we are put upon a necessity of understanding the promise in a conditional sense otherwise the promise and threatning would be inconsistent And indeed the promise of those great benefits seldom if ever are found without the condition annexed either expresly or by plain intimation The gracious declaration of the Gospel runs thus And you that were somtime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblamable and unreproveable in his sight if ye continue in the Faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel Col. 1.21 22 23. If ye live after the flesh ye shall die but if ye through spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live Rom. 8.13 If ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your heavenly Father forgive your trespasses Mat. 6.14 15. If we walk in the light as he is in the light then have we fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 John 1.7 These conditional particles if plainly express the conditional nature of the promises yea and of the threatnings too The promises are not made to such or such men by name but to all men under such or such a qualification as to those that believe to those that repent to those that obey the truth Which qualification specifies the condition on which and so the persons to which such promises belong This is a thing so plain throughout the Scripture from end to end that more need not be said of it Having premised thus much I shall now proceed to shew how Faith operates to our Justification and in order to our better understanding what influence Faith hath in our Justification we will enquire into these particulars 1. How it appears that Faith is the condition of the promise of pardon and eternal Life 2. What that Faith is 3. Why it is made the condition of the promises 4. In what capacity men are to perform that condition 5. How more particularly it operates to our Justification 1. That Faith is the condition on which pardon of sin and eternal Life are promised in the Gospel is so plain that nothing more need to be said to make it evident than only to point to the express letter of the Scripture in this case For pardon of sin this is promised on condition of believing Acts 10.43 To him give all the Prophets witness that through his name whosoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins And so is eternal Life promised on the same terms John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlastiug Life If these promises are made to believers as such as we see they are then believing must needs be the condition on which they are made This is past contradiction Jo. 3.36 Acts 16.31 2. Consider we next then what that Faith or believing is which is the condition on which the promised benefits remission of sin and eternal Life are suspended And without all doubt it is not only a speculative but a practical belief It is a hearty assent of the mind to the truth of the Gospel and a sincere consent in the will to live according to the Laws and Precepts of it The same thing the same Faith for substance is in Scripture described by different Phrases Somtimes it is described by a believing the record of God concerning his Son Christ Jesus 1 John 5.10 11. Somtimes by a believing Jesus to be the Christ the Son of God John 20.31 1 John 5.1.5 And somtimes by a believing of the Gospel a believing of the truth a believing of the testimony of the Apostles of our Saviour
believing For Faith is mans act what ever the assistances are by which he is enabled to perform it With the heart man believeth unto Righteousness saith St. Paul Rom. 10.10 For our better understanding in what capacity men are of believing it will be necessary to consider 1. What God hath done towards the working of Faith in men antedecent to the act of believing 2. What man himself can do through the antecedent Grace of God towards his believing 3. What subsequent Grace God does and will vouchsafe for the perfecting the work of Faith and carrying it quite through unto such as do not grosly neglect to do what they may and well can do towards their own believing by using and improving the antecedent Grace of God 1. That which God hath done towards the raising of Faith in men antecedent to any act of Faith in them or of any endeavours of theirs towards such a thing is his vouchsafing unto them the Gospel and the evidence of its Divinity and by it to reveal to them the things which are to be believed And this we call the objective Grace of God as well as the antecedent and is that also which we call preventive Grace And in these respects the Gospel is sometimes stiled the Grace of God and somtimes the Faith for it is both the object of Faith and a means to raise it in men For Faith comes by hearing it Rom. 10.17 In respect of this preventive antecedent Grace God is said to have offered Faith to all men so it is in the margent in that he hath raised Christ from the dead that is to all to whom this is revealed by the Gospel Acts 17.31 By this Revelation God hath vouchsafed unto all such as to whom it comes means by which they may come to believe if they be not greatly wanting to themselves 2. Consider we next what men themselves can do towards the raising of this Faith in them by means of this antecedent objective Grace of God 1. They can hear this Gospel as well as any other subject of discourse which is offered to their consideration and this is one step towards their believing of it for Faith comes by hearing Rom. 10.17 2. They can consider the things they hear from it and that 's another step towards believing Thus the Bereans by considering of and searching into the things they heard came to believe Acts 17.11 12. They can consider whether they have not immortal souls to take care of as well as mortal bodies and whether there be not a future state after this life for of such things as these the Gospel treats They can consider of such reasons when they hear them as tend to satisfie the mind and reason of man that there is such a future state For Heathens by the Light of Nature without the Revelation of the Gospel came so far as to be persuaded of such a thing And when by considering they come to be persuaded either that there is such a future state or that it 's far more probable that there is than that there is not then they can hardly forbear to consider and think more or less what is like to become of them in that future state And upon supposition that they are persuaded in their own minds that there is such a future state they can no more put off a desire of being happy in it than they can put off nature it self and cease to be men They can discern a difference between moral good and evil in very many things and the different tendency of them to their happiness or misery in the future state They cannot though they would think that evil tends to the happiness and good to the misery of that future state but the contrary They can consider and think on such things as by which the Holy Scripture directs to this happiness as well as they can the Contents of other Books Before men have debauched their natures by a custom of sinning there is hardly any but have some such thoughts as these spring up more or less in their minds And to what degree they do so they have a tendency to bring men to a belief of the Gospel and a good life as I shall further shew afterwards 3. The subsequent Grace of God and work of the Holy Spirit is that by which the former considerations which had some tendency to Faith are heightned improved and carried on until such a Faith is produced in the soul as is a believing unto Righteousness And this seems to be done chiefly in some such way as this First by presenting the objective Grace of God the Gospel more frequently to their consideration and by holding their thoughts more intently upon the great and concerning matters contained therein Secondly by assisting the intellective faculties of the soul by more frequent and repeated considerations to understand and discern the nature and import of the great doctrines of the Gospel as containing Gods design of wisdom and goodness for the recovery of lost men from sin and destruction for sin by Jesus Christ And by this means a greater light breaks into the soul by which the evidence of the truth of what the Gospel reports is better discerned than it was before and so are a mans own great concerns for eternity which are therein laid open And thereby also is the mind prevailed upon to assent to the truth of our Saviours doctrine in the Gospel and the will to consent to act according to the great concerns of a mans soul And therefore mens conversion is in Scripture described by their being turned from darkness to light by their being enlightned and having the eyes of their understanding opened and the like And somtimes this work of Faith or Grace in the soul is ascribed to the former work of God upon the mind viz. the holding the mind and thoughts unto a more close serious and intent consideration of the great things of the Gospel and a mans own great concerns therein Thus in Jam. 1.25 Whoso looketh into the perfect Law of liberty and continues therein i.e. continues looking into it he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed Here we see one that continues his looking into the doctrine of the Gospel which is meant by the Law of Liberty and a forgetful hearer are opposed to each other and so is a forgetful hearer and a doer of the work By which it plainly appears that the reason why the ones hearing ends in the doing of the work and in being blessed in his deed and the other does not is for that the one considers and continues from time to time seriously to consider the weight and importance of what he hears and of his own great concern in it but the other does not but is a forgetful hearer as little minds it as if he were not concerned in it The same thing is doubtless meant by another Metaphor which
persons according to the tenor of the Gospel-Covenant and so qualifies them to be so adjudged by God against all accusations to the contrary by what or by whomsoever It is that which makes their cause good when they come to be tried and judged by the Law of Liberty because it is all which that Law requires to denominate them Righteous and to entitle them to the benefit of that Law This Righteousness of Faith is the essential matter or material cause of our Justification without which no such thing could be and supposing which it cannot but be so long as the Gospel-Covenant stands in force It makes those that have it the proper subjects of Justification for as God will condemn the wicked so he will most certainly Justifie the Righteous such as are made so by his own Grace without respect of persons he judgeth acocrding to every mans work and the nature of his cause In these and the like respects doth the Righteousness of Faith operate to our Justification These things stand proved in what hath been said before in opening the nature of the Covenant of Grace and the nature of Faith and the reason of its designation by God to its Office and work And may be yet further confirmed by those Scriptures where Faith is said to be counted and imputed to us for Righteousness as it was to Abraham Rom. 4.3 6 11 22 24. Gal. 3.6 Gen. 15.6 Jam. 2.23 For if God count it to us for Righteousness then it is our Righteousness for God accounts of things but as they are when they are what they are of his own making as this Righteousness of Faith is And if this Faith be our Righteousness in Gods account then they must needs be Righteous in his account that are Righteous with this Righteousness and be approved of and adjudged such by him And thus Faith operates to our Justification as it is the essential and intrinsical matter of our Justification CHAP. V. How God himself operates to our Justification I Come now in the last place to enquire in what respects Justification is attributed to God and what his operation is in producing this great effect of Justifying such as have been sinners That he doth Justifie believers by some acts proper to him is no Christians doubt It is one God which shall Justifie the Circumcision by Faith and the Vncircumcision through Faith Rom. 3.30 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth Rom. 8.33 Now God may be said to Justifie in several respects some more remote and some more proximate and immediate God is the Author Spring and Fountain and principal efficient cause of all other causes that any way concur or cooperate to our Justification Christ himself which is the foundation stone in this building by virtue of whose Mediatorial Righteousness we are Justified he is made to us of God Wisdom and Righteousness 1 Cor. 1.30 It is also God which hath given being to the new Covenant which is the Covenant of his Grace by virtue of which also we are Justified And the Righteousness of Faith which is the matter of our Justification is of Gods working in us by his Spirit Whence it is that both our Sanctification and Justification are attributed to the Holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.11 But ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God But that which we have now principally to consider is what that last act is or those last acts are by which God Justifies us And his operation herein is judicial for he Justifies as a Judg and therein proceeds by his own Law of Grace as the rule of judging of men and their cause And Gods judicial Justification of men doth stand I conceive in these two things principally 1. God in justifying of men approves of them for such as have performed the condition on which he in the Covenant of Grace promised pardon of sin and eternal Life That is he approves of them for true believers and such as have given up themselves to obey the Gospel to live according to the doctrine of their Saviour and adjudgeth them to be such 2. Those whom God approveth of as true and sincere observers of the new Law the Gospel or Covenant of Grace those he adjudgeth to be Righteous persons and that Faith of theirs by which they have fulfilled it to be their Righteousness True believers and such as have given up themselves to obey the Gospel they are Justified by the Gospel that is they are Righteous in the sense and meaning of that Law For that practical obediential Faith of theirs is their conformity to this Law of Christ the Gospel and therefore it must needs be their Evangelical Righteousness But there is this difference between being justified by the Gospel as it is the new Law of Grace and by being justified by God The Gospel-Covenant pronounceth all true believers in General to be Righteous persons but doth not determine whether this or that person in particular be a true believer and so a Righteous man or woman But God in justifying men determineth and adjudgeth this and that man in special to be a true believer and therefore a Righteous man in the sence of the Law of Grace It is the work of a Judg to apply the Law as a general rule to the special cases of particular men and to justifie or condemn men in particular in reference to their particular cases by and according to the general rule of the Law And so doth God the Judg of all in the case before us He knows and considers every man in particular whether he be a true believer or not And those whom he finds to be so those he adjudgeth to be Righteous according to the tenor of the Gospel which is his justifying of them Now that God justifieth men this way and after this manner does I conceive plainly and fully appear by those Scriptures which tell us that God doth justifie us by Faith and that he doth impute or account Faith to us for Righteousness One vein of Scriptures acquaints us that God justifieth us by Faith and through Faith Rom. 3.28 30. and 5.1 Gal. 2.16 and 3.8 By another vein of Texts we are told that God imputes accounts and reckons Faith to us for Righteousness Gen. 15.6 Rom. 4.3 5 11 22 24. Gal. 3.6 Jam. 2.23 Now these two veins of Scripture put together the sense that results out of them is I think plainly this That God justifies us by accounting our Faith to us for Righteousness This is so plain as that I know not what can well be plainer In the one vein it 's said that God justifieth us by Faith in the other that he imputes and reckons Faith to us for Righteousness And for God to account Faith to us for Righteousness and to reckon and adjudg us to be Righteous upon the account of our Faith signifies I think the same