The Apostles Paul and James reconciled in the Point of Justification, and the Controversies about it among Christians amicably composed.  
1. 

Solâ side nos justificari Doctri●a est saluberrima, ac consolationis plenissima. Anglic. Confess. art. 11.  
Verum & id tamen non imus inficias, justificari nos etiam ex operibus, ut D. Jacobus dixit, rependit enim Deus unicuique secundum sua opera. Et non qui legem audiunt, sed qui faciunt, justificabuntur, Rom. 2. Sed ista nostri justificatio, id est, ultima vitae aeternae adjudicatio & exhibitio, nascitur & pendet ex justificatione fidei, ex qua. & ipsa opera bona proveniunt, & habent id, ut licet ex se nihil minus valeant, vitam aeternam nobis mereantur. Ind sane, quod per fidem jam Deus nos inter filios suos habet, nostra ex ejus Spiritu patrata opera ipsi tanti sunt, tantaque compensare mercede dignatur. Bucer Cont. Episcop. Abrinceus, pag. 54.   EVangelical Justification is considerable two ways; as a Gift, and as a Reward. Considered as a Gift, so it is absolutely free, and freely given of God in Christ by the Gospel; and we thro' Faith, and through Faith only, do thankfully, siducially, obediently and constantly receive it, and so from the nature of the thing it becomes ours. This I think is Paul's meaning, Rom. 3.28. & 11.6. Ephes. 2.8, 9  
2. Considered as a Reward; so also it is absolutely free, of Grace and not of Debt; yet it is conferred upon none but the penitent, the faithful, the regenerate, the Lovers of God and his Saints, the fruitful in good Works, the godly in Christ Jesus; and these are evangelically worthy of it, because of God's Promise in Christ. This I think is James' meaning, Rom. 4.4. Jam. 2.21, 24. Rom. 2.6, 11, 16.  
3. Both Apostles mean Justification before God, and by it they understand the Absolution of one who hath sinned, from all his Sins, and from eternal Curse and Damnation for the same. In this only they differ; Paul considers God as a Donor, as infinitely good and gracious to some and not to others; to Abel and Peter, and not to Cain and Judas. And so the sum of his Doctrine is plainly this, That the whole of a Sinner's Justification, Pardon, Adoption and Salvation, from first to last, is from the mere Grace and Mercy of God in Christ by the Gospel through Faith, and through Faith only, as distinct from, precedent to the cause of, and inseparably connexed with Sanctification and good Works. Mat. 13.11. Joh. 10.28. Ephes. 1.3, 4.  
4. James considers God as a Judge, infinitely just and righteous, and passing Sentence upon Men by Jesus Christ, according to the Gospel, without out respect of Persons. And so the sum of his Doctrine is clearly this: That God, as he is the Judge of all the World by Jesus Christ, cannot but 〈…〉, for ever difference between the righteous and the wicked, the penitent and the impenitent, the faithful and the faithless, the Lovers and Haters of God and his Saints, the fruitful in good Works and the fruitless, the obedient and disobedient, by loving, delighting in, approving, pardoning, and glorifying the one of his mere Grace and Goodness, because of his own holy Oath and Covenant in Christ; by hating, abhorring, disapproving, cursing and damning the other, of Debt and due Desert, because of their Sins persisted in, and never truly repent of; by rendering to both according to their Works. Gen. 18.25.  
5. According to Paul, Justification and Pardon of Sin, as a free Gift in Christ, received by Faith, is antecedent to, and by gracious necessity the cause of all our holy Love; and therefore the more is forgiven us, the more we love; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little: Luk. 7.47.  
6. According to James, not only Faith, but also Love, hope in God's Mercy, filial Fear, hatred of Sin, heavenly Knowledge, forgiving others their Trespasses against us, and the like Evangelical Virtues and Graces, these are antecedent to, and by gracious necessity prepare and make us meet for, and capable of pardon of Sin, Justification before God, Adoption, and right to eternal Salvation, as a Reward of Grace assured by God's holy Oath and Covenant in Christ to Persons so and so qualified. Of a Truth I perceive that God is no Respecter of Persons: But in every Nation, he that feareth him, and worketh Righteousness, is accepted with him. Act. 10.34, 35.  
7. According to Paul, no Sinner, while unpardoned and liable to eternal Damnation, 
A holy Sin-hating God, engaged in Justice to damn the Sinner, is not such an Object as a guilty Soul can love. Mr. Baxter's Life of Faith, p. 218.  can sincerely love God: Fear and flee from him, as his righteous and terrible Judge, he may, and needs must; but love and draw nigh to him with filial Reverence, as his gracious God and reconciled Father in Christ, he cannot. But as soon as we are by God's Grace and Mercy in Christ through Faith freely pardoned all our Sins, and by the same Faith perceive that so we are, than we cannot but by sweet and blessed necessity love God, resign ourselves to his Will, and be sincerely obedient to him in all things. In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of Promise, which is the Earnest of our Inheritance. Ephes. 1.13, 14. That is, as I conceive, Pardon of Sin, and Justification through Faith in Christ, is antecedent; and feeling with his holy Spirit (whereby is meant Assurance and Sanctification) is by gracious necessity consequent, and so they are related; and as related, they are by nature together without all possible Priority.  
8. According to James, no ungodly and impenitent Person, while such, is capable of Pardon of Sin and Evangelical Justification; it is a Contradiction to the eternal Nature of the holy, just and good God, to pardon and justify a Sinner in his Ungodliness, and set his Conscience free from eternal Gild and Condemnation before and without heavenly Repentance; and there cannot be heavenly Repentance without Faith, Hope, Love, and Participation of the Divine and Godly Nature. For what Fellowship hath Righteousness with unrighteousness? And what Communion hath Light with Darkness? And what Concord hath Christ with Belial? 2 Cor. 6.14, 15. The penitent Thief upon the Cross who was pardoned, justified and saved, as at the last Gasp, yet was he not without good Works in the sight of God: For together with Faith, he had Hope, Love, filial Fear, hatred of Sin, godly Sorrow for it, penitent Confession, earnest Prayer, giving Glory to Christ, Meekness, Patience, holy Submission to God's Will, compassionate, wise and faithful Reproof towards the other Thief, wise care for his own Soul, and all other heavenly Graces and Virtues necessarily comprised in Regeneration, and being a new Creature.  
9 According to Paul, we must first receive from God before we can return any thing to him worthy his Acceptance: For all things come of him, and of his own it is that we give him; 1 Chron. 29.14. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? 1 Cor. 4.7. Now there are two sorts of Blessings, which we need, and God hath to bestow, temporal and eternal. Temporal, worldly and corporal Blessings are common to all, both good and bad Persons, and by themselves cannot cause in any Sinner holy Love to God. For if we love God, 

All true Love unto God, and (consequently) all true Godliness and Uprightness of Heart springeth from a lively Faith, even such a Faith as maketh known to a Man God's Love to him in Christ, and maketh him able to receive Christ, and to rest upon him. Mr. Hildersham on Psal. 51. pag. 366.  
It is certainly, either the want of Faith, and assurance of God's Love, or a false and carnal assurance of it, that is the true cause of all that Licentiousness and Lewdness that reigneth in the World. Id. ib. p. 576.   only or chief because of Worldly, Temporal and Corporal Blessings, such Love is not chaste and sincere, but adulterous and false: Eternal, Heavenly and Spiritual Blessings cannot be had save by God's free Gift in Christ, this free Gift in Christ we cannot have save by receiving it, (for giving and receiving are relative) and receive it we cannot save only by Divine Faith; this being the substance of things hoped for, the Evidence of things not seen, Heb. 11.1. Being made partakers of Pardon of Sin, Justification, Adoption, and right to eternal Salvation, by God's free Gift in Christ through Faith, and by the same Faith inwardly perceiving this our blessed and happy State, we cannot but by gracious necessity love God, and live unto him, and be fruitful in all good Works in some measure. We love him, because he first loved us; 1 Joh. 4.19. That is, God's electing, eternal, and distinguishing Love to our lost Souls in the free and full forgiveness of our Sins, for the sake of Christ through Faith, is the Spring and powerful cause of all our holy Love to him; Articulus stantis aut cadentis Ecclesiae.  
10. According to James, God doth first make us sincere Converts, he gives us Faith, Hope, Love, heavenly Repentance and Regeneration, and thereby makes us amiable and lovely in his sight, 
Rev. 3.4. 1 Joh. 1.9. Acts 3.19. Rom. 2.2, 6. Acts 5.31. Eph. 2.8. Gal. 2.16. Rev. 22.14.  and evangelically worthy of Pardon of Sin, Justification, Adoption, and right to eternal Glory, for the sake of his gracious Covenant in Christ; and then he, as sitting upon his Throne of Grace and Mercy, doth judge his Servants to be what really by his Grace they are, not absolutely sinless, but sincerely penitent, truly just and upright in Heart before him, real Saints, and evangelically worthy; and accordingly he doth instantly pardon their Sins, justify them from the Curse of the Law, adopt them for his Children, and give them right to the Kingdom of Heaven. Herein God is supreme Judge, renewed Conscience is his Agent, the Person justified is a penitent Sinner, the Heart or inward Man is the Court, the Gospel is the Rule of Judicature, 

Fagi Enchirid. Disp. 61. Thes. 24. Bucer de vera Ecclesiar. reconcil. p. 145.  
Dr. Goodwin of the Punishment of Sin in Hell, p. 85. Mr. Flavel of the Soul, p. 21. Mr. Downam's Guide to Godliness, p. 66.   Faith is the Organ, Instrument, or Mean whereby renewed Conscience doth act, heavenly Repentance and Regeneration is the Evidence and Testimony of the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ is Advocate, and Justification is the Sentence whereby God doth graciously acquit and absolve the penitent Person from all his Sins and from eternal Curse and Damnation for the same, and gives him right to eternal Glory as a Reward of Grace. As when the Minister doth fondly preach the Gospel, the Word in his Mouth is not the Word of Man, but the Word of God by Man his Ambassador; so what renewed Conscience in the Sinner's Bosom, shall, by Authority and Commission from God, according to his Word, by Faith rightly and truly pronounce, sentence, and decide touching his spiritual and eternal State, this is not the sentence, Judgement, and Decision of Man, but of God by Conscience, his Agent and Minister inwardly through Faith; and therefore it must needs be supreme and infallible, we may most safely rely on it, it is a sure Rock, and fills the Soul with found Joy. For our rejoicing is this, the Testimony of our Conscience, etc. 2 Cor. 1.12. If our Heart condemn us not, then have we Confidence towards God: 1 Joh. 3.21.  
11. 
Bradsha. de Justis. cap. 3. Mr. Baxter's Call to the Unconverted, p. 105. And his Consideration of the Substance of Mr. Cartwright's Exceptions, p. 5.  There is a kind of Justification in the Conscience of the Devil: For once he was a good and holy Angel; for so long as he continued Good and Holy, God, by Conscience his Agent in Satan's Bosom, will for ever justify and acquit him, and lay nothing to his Charge. But because he wilfully forsook God, and became his most implacable Enemy; therefore the same Conscience in Satan's Bosom cannot, but against his Will, for ever justify and acquit God, and silence and condemn himself. This is proper legal Justification for ever in the Conscience of the Devil, of Debt, and not of Grace, without all favour and compassion to him.  
12. 
Mr. Jer. Dyke of Scandals, p. 99 Deut. 29.19, 20, 21. Psal. 50.21. Rev. 2.9.  There is a Justification of a Sinner in his Ungodliness, and there is a Justification of a Sinner from his Ungodliness. The former is no Mercy, but a dreadful Judgement, a dismal Justification, of which Satan is Author; it is the chief Pillar of his Kingdom, whereby wicked Ones bless themselves in their Wickedness, and promise to themselves Impunity, Pardon, Peace with God and Eternal Salvation, without Heavenly Repentance and Regeneration. Luther (as Cassander relates, Consult. Art. 4.) thought this a worse Error than any in Popery.  
13. The latter is a most sweet Mercy and precious Privilege the principal Pillar of Christ's Kingdom. For whom he justified, them he also glorified, Rom. 8.30. Of this Justification we thus read; But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the , his Faith is counted for Righteousness, Rom. 4.5. That is, as I conceive, Abraham once was Ungodly, and by Nature a Child of Wrath, even as others. God of his mere Grace and Mercy in Christ, gave him divine Belief of the Gospel, differing in kind from Belief in the Devils and all reprobate Men. By this divine Belief, Abraham did deny and go out of himself, renounce all Trust in his own Righteousness, see an utter emptiness and insufficiency in himself, see an all-sufficiency of Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption for his Soul in Christ, truly repent of his Sins, lay hold upon God's Promise of eternal Mercy in Christ, and became a new Man; and therefore God did graciously reckon, repute, and judge this his divine Belief to be what really it was, Heavenly, Supernatural, Evangelical, and Soulsaving Righteousness.  
14. 

Credimus totam nostram justitiam posit am esse in peccatorum nostrorum remissione, quae sit etiam, ut testatur David. uni●a nostra felicitas. Gallic. Confess. Art. 18.  
Cr●dim●s ●●st●●●am b●●titudinem sitam esse in pr●catorum nostrorum, propter J●●um Christum, remissione, atque in ea justitiam nostram coram Deo contineri, ut David & Paulus docent, etc. Belgic. Confess. Art. 23.   Dr. Owen in his Book of Justification, p. 478 supposeth, That the Pardon of Sin can in no tolerable sense be called the Gift of Righteousness. Pardon of Sin is one thing, and Righteousness another. As to which I grant, that Pardon of Sin can in no tolerable sense be counted the Righteousness of the Law as distinct from the Gospel, because that stands in perfect and perpetual Obedience; and the Law being once broken, can never by itself justify the Transgressor, but only curse and condemn him. But the Righteousness of the Gospel, as distinct from the Law, stands in perfect pardon of Sin for the sake of Christ, through Faith in his meritorious Cross and Passion, causing in us holy Love and sincere Obedience to all God's Commands, whereby we do Evangelically fulfil the Divine Law. This perfect pardon of Sin, is perfect Evangelical Righteousness, it hath no flaw or defect at all, it gives us boldness with God, and sure confidence at his Bar; it frees the Conscience from inward Gild, Terror, Curse and Condemnation; and these being abolished, in their room come Righteousness, Joy, Peace with God, spiritual Consolation, some degree of Victory over the World, the Flesh, the Devil, Death, and the Gates of Hell. Tho our Faith and Repentance be weak and imperfect, yet being genuine and sincere, they qualify and make us meet for, and worthy of perfect Pardon of Sin for the sake of Christ. And having this perfect Pardon of Sin, we are blessed, we need no other Righteousness for Justification and Admission into the Kingdom of Heaven; dying pardoned, we are most surely for ever happy and blessed. This perfect Pardon of Sin, is the Righteousness of God in Christ, he is the sole Author of it; it is not legal, but supra-legal Righteousness, a more Noble, Divine, Transcendent, Sublime, Glorious, Mysterious, Sure, Stable, Permanent, Sweet and Precious Righteousness, than that of the Law, such as Adam had before his Fall; for that was defectible, but so is not this; for, as I before noted of God, whom he justified, them he also glorified.  
15. Mr. Truman in his Great Propitiation, p. 258. holds, That there is no such thing as receiving Righteousness, or Justification, or Pardon. As this Assertion contradicteth many plain Scriptures, 
Ps. 24.5. Rom. 5.11, 17. Acts 10.43. & 26.18. 1 Cor. 4.7. Joh. 3.27.  so it is contrary to the Grounds of Religion: For if there be no such thing as receiving Righteousness, or Justification, or Pardon, than there is no such thing as giving them in Christ; and then we have these supreme Blessings of Debt, and not of Grace, and then we own no Thanks at all to God for them; but God is altogether beholden to us for our Merits, and not we to him for any special and differencing Grace. If it be said, that our Receiving is but Metaphorical, it will unavoidably follow, that God's giving heavenly good Things in Christ, is but Metaphorical, and so we can owe him but Metaphorical Thanks; which Doctrine Christian Ears cannot bear to hear.  
16. There are two kinds of Receiving, 
1 Cor. 4.7. Mat. 23.14. Rom. 13.2. Heb. 2.2. Jam. 3.1. Luke 23.41. Rom. 11.35, 36.  Voluntary and Involuntary. In the former sense, all Elect Angels and Men receive the first and the last Grace from God, the beginning, the middle, the end, even all: in this receiving they are free, and not forced, willing, and not unwilling; for no one can be Holy and Happy against his will. In the latter sense, all the Devils and Reprobates in Hell, receive Damnation as the due reward of their Deeds; in this Receiving, they are forced, and not free, unwilling, and not willing; though they love Sin, yet they do not love Hell; and though they are willingly wicked, yet they are unwillingly damned.  
17. 
Le Blanc. Thes. Theolog. de Remiss. peccator. num. 15.  God did from everlasting purpose and determine, in time, for the sake of Christ, and of his meritorious Cross and Intercession, to give Faith and Repentance, and consequent Pardon and Justification, to Peter and Paul, and the rest of the Elect, and to none other. This supposed, their Faith and Repentance, and consequent Pardon and Justification, are from Eternity infallibly future and sure to be; and things future are as present to God, who calleth those things which be not, as though they were, Rom. 4.17. But than it is plain, that till God give them Faith and Repentance, they remain faithless and impenitent, dead in Sin, and reprobate to every good Work; and till they do sincerely believe and repent, they remain unpardoned, unjustified, condemned already, under the Wrath of God, accursed, and liable to eternal Perdition. As God's purpose to create, is not Creation itself, 
John 3.18, 36. Ephes. 2.1, 2, 3. Tit. 1.15, 16. 1 Pet. 2.9, 10. Gal. 3.10. 1 Cor. 16.22.  and God's purpose to judge the World, is not judging it; so God's purpose to give Faith and Repentance, is not giving them, and his purpose to pardon and justify, is not Pardon and Justification; they truly differ as Cause and Effect, as Antecedent and Consequent; which two being confounded, there must needs be Error and Confusion throughout the whole Frame and Method of Practical Divinity.  
18. By Grace are ye saved, through Faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the Gift of God: not of Works, lest any Man should boast, Ephes. 2.8, 9 Therefore it is of Faith, that it might be by Grace, to the end the Promise might be sure to all the Seed, Rom. 4.16. It is by divine Belief of the Doctrine of Repentance, and Remission of Sins in Christ's Name, and by divine Belief only that we discern spiritual Things spiritually, choose the way of Truth, renounce the way of Sin, give Glory to God, trust wholly and only in him, and his eternal Grace and Mercy in Christ, for pardon of Sin and Life Eternal, receive Jesus Christ and all Spiritual Blessings in him; overcome Satan and the World, walk with God in Holiness and Comfort; and ending our Course in true Faith, we pass to Heaven, 
Dr. Preston of God's All-sufficiency, p. 12.  where Faith is turned into Vision, and Hope into Fruition. And therefore it is that this same divine Belief is in the Scripture so frequently said to be reckoned, counted; and imputed to us for Righteousness, Jam. 2.23. Gal. 3.6. Gen. 15.6. Rom. 4.3, 5, 9, 10, 22, 23.  
19 We read of the ancient Saints, who through Faith wrought Righteousness, Heb. 11.33.  
Here are three things clearly distinct, the Agents, the Instruments, and the Work wrought.  
(1.) The Agents; and those are real Saints, such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, God's Elect and peculiar Ones.  
(2.) The Instrument by which they did act and work, and that is Faith, and Faith only, the divine Belief of the Doctrine of Repentance and eternal Redemption to lost Mankind for the sake of Christ, the sole Mediator between God and Men.  
(3.) The Work wrought by them, and that is Righteousness, consisting in Piety towards God, in Justice and Charity towards our Brethren, in Sobriety, Temperance and Chastity towards ourselves.  
20. This I think is the true way of reconciling Paul and James, and the only sound Mean between the two pernicious Extremes of the Antinomians and Legalists. The Doctrine of the Antinomians subverteth Natural Religion, and sets up all Impiety, Licentiousness, and abominable living by Law, for that it teacheth Pardon of Sin, and evangelical Justification by an imaginary and unscriptural imputation of Christ's Righteousness, before and without Faith and Repentance. The Doctrine of the Legalists subverteth Supernatural Religion, and leadeth to despair, for that it confoundeth the Law and the Gospel, Moses and Christ, and makes Eternal Salvation to be of Debt, and not of Grace. Judas 3. It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.   
FINIS.