〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR, JESUS CHRIST Given of God the Father FOR OUR Justification. Explained, Confirmed, and Applied (very briefly) in one Sermon to the Satisfaction of some judicious Hearers, for whose sake chief, and at whose earnest Request, it is made Public. Jeremy 23.6. And this is His Name, whereby he shall be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 2 Cor. 5.21. For he (that is, God the Father) hath made him (that is, Jesus Christ) to be sin for us (that is, a sacrifice for sin) that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. London, Printed for Thomas Passenger, at the Sign of the Bible on London-Bridge. 1667. 1 Cor. 1.30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption. — And Righteousness.— AT the Request of some serious Friends, I have Adventured to make this Discourse public, which otherwise (for aught I know) had never seen the light. If any Illumination, Satisfaction, Confirmation, Consolation, or any spiritual Good any way shall accrue to them that read it: I shall, and will rejoice, Bless, and praise the Father of Lights for it. This Argument of Justification is as substantial, necessary, comfortable, Ac primum quidem de justificatione peccatoris corum Deo: qui locus in Theologiâ facile primarius, nobisque maxime salutaris est: quo obscurato, adulterato, vel everso, fieri nequit, ut puritas doctrinae in aliis locis retineatur, aut vera Ecclesia Consistat. Synop. Pur. Theol. P. 434. and sweet a Doctrine, as any in the whole circuit of Divinity; for, whom he hath justified, them he hath also glorified, Rom. 8.30. that is, they are as sure and certain of Heaven, Christus factus est nobis sapientia, justitia, sanctificatio, & Redemptio, hoc est, sapientes, nos & justos, & sanctos, & liberos effecit. Theophylact. as though they were already in it; Justification being the next step, the next immediate link in that Golden Chain to Glorification. Who of God is made unto us Righteousness, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, righteousness in the Abstract, that is, (saith Theophylact), who hath made us righteous: who is made unto us righteousness, etc. He is made to us (saith Pareus) not by Creation, but by Ordination: for Christ is not created or made as to his divine Essence, as Heretics deprave this Scripture: but he is ordained, and bestowed upon us to confer these benefits; he is therefore said to be made to us, according to those expressions, Isa. 9.6. To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; And Luke 2, To you is born a Saviour, that is for our good. He is made of God to us, etc. that is, (saith * Factus est nobis, non creatione, sed ordinatione neque enim Christus creatus aut factus est, quoad Essentiam divinam, ut haeretici depravant scripturam hanc: sed ordinatus, & donatus nobis, ad haec bona conferenda, ideo discitur factus nobis: sicut Isaiah 9.6. puer natus est nobis, Luke 2. vobis natus est servator, id est, nostro bono. Pareus in loc. Beza) who is given to us of God, that we might obtain all wisdom, righteousness, holiness, etc. in him, and by him. All these interpretations, are significant and proper enough, but the last I best approve of, as the most genuine and consonant to the scope of the Text, and to the sense of the Apostle: only by the way note thus much, that by righteousness * Factus est nobis sapientia a Deo, etc. id est, qui datus est nobis a Deo, ut in ipso omnem sapientiam Consequeremur, etc. idem de justitiâ, & sanctificatione statuendum est. Beza in loc. here, is, and must be meant the righteousness of justification; for the Apostle immediately annexeth to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, importing the Righteousness of Sanctification, which is the very next word. My observation shall be this: Jesus Christ was given of God to be our Righteousness, (or for our justification.) In the prosecution of this precious and weighty Doctrine. I shall endeavour, 1. To prove the Point. 2. To open the meaning of the word Justify. 3. To show what the justification of a sinner before God, is. 4. What are the essential parts of our justification. 5. The several Causes of our justification. 6. The Fruits and Consequences of our justification. 7. And lastly, Close all with a brief Application for proof. 1. Jesus Christ was decreed, designed, ordained, and determined to be his people's righteousness, propitiation, and redemption: the justification and redemption of a sinner is according to God's purpose, and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 2 Tim. 1.9. which according to the immutability of his Counsel was in the fullness of time accomplished. That in Daniel is very emphatical, Dan. 9: 34. To bring in everlasting righteousness; 'tis in the original, a Righteousness of Eternity's: So in Heb. 9.12. it it said, that Christ obtained eternal Redemption for us. Our Redemption, Eternal a part ante, & a part post. or Righteousness may be called Eternal, upon a double account: 1. Eternal, in reference to the eternal Decree of God, and so a Righteousness from Eternity. 2. External, in reference to the everlasting duration of the virtue of it; the great and glorious Benefits that accrue to Believers by virtue of this Righteousness, extend their virtue, continue their influence throughout the endless duration of Eternity. 'Tis a Righteousness from all Eternity, and a Righteousness unto all Eternity, Rom. 3.25. Whom God hath set forth (from everlasting, or fore-appointed) to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. quem proposuit Deus propitiationem. Montan. to declare his righteousness, etc. Christ was A. Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, Rev. 13.8. (viz.) in the eternal purpose and Decree of God. 2. Consider Christ's glorious Name. This is his Name wherewith he shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness, Jer. 23.6. This is like his other Name Jesus, the same in substance with this, Matth. 1.21. by the Oracle of an Angel, his Name must be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins, (i. e.) from the power, guilt, and condemnation of sin. 3. 'Tis the office of Jesus Christ as our High Priest, to be our Righteousness. Jesus Christ was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: he was our Redeemer, the price of our Redemption, a Counterprice; our Redemption and revocation from Captivity, he was both the propitiatory and propitiation; he was Priest, he was Altar, he was Sacrifice, he was All in All, Jam fructum ostendit quem ex Christi sacrificio consecuti sumus, nimirum ut justi coram Deo essemus, qui naturâ impuri, & sumus. Marlorat. in 2 Cor. 5.21. to make us the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5. ult. that is, that we who are impure sinners by nature, through the sacrifice of Christ, might become righteous before God. He is our Advocate, 1 Joh. 2.2. and propitiation Jesus Christ the Righteous; yea, he is our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, our propitiatory, or placatory, Rom. 3.25. alluding to the Mercy-seat. 1 Cor. 5.7. He is our Passeover sacrificed for us; he is the Lamb of God slain for us, that the wrath of God might pass over, 1 Pet. 1.18. and pass away for ever from us, and not fall down upon our heads: if your hearts and Consciences are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, as the Door-posts of the Children of Israel were with the blood of the Paschal-lamb, Exod. 12.7 the wrath of God will for ever pass by you, and not pass upon you. Thus Jesus Christ is a merciful and faithful Highpriest, Heb. 2.17. merciful to us in misery, pitying us in our guilt and blood, faithful to God, and to us also in the faithful discharge of his Priestly Office for us; in being our Price, our Ransom, in discharging our Bond, in pacifying the Father's wrath, in satisfying divine Justice, in finishing Transgression, in making an end of sin, in bringing in everlasting Righteousness, and so in bringing us to God. 1 Pet. 3.18. Now as he is our merciful and faithful High Priest: Justitia, hoc est, justificator noster, donans nos vera justitiâ coram Deo per fidem. Ad sacerdotale munus Christi hoc pertinet. Pareus in 1 Cor. 1.30. so he is our Righteousness, (1) our Justifyer, endowing us with a perfect Righteousness before God through faith; this belongs to the Priestly Office of Christ. Jesus Christ is the Author, or the procuring cause of our justification, as he is the Author of our eternal Salvation. Heb. 5.9. And this he doth two ways: 1. By making an Atonement for us on Earth. 2. By making intercession for us in Heaven: He hath made reconciliation for us by his blood upon the Cross, Rom. 5. 1●. and he doth continue to make intercession for us by the prevalent and loud cries of the same blood in Heaven, Heb. 12.24. He is gone up to Heaven to appear in the presence of God for us; Heb. 9.24. just as Aaron (a type of Christ) Exod. 28.12, 29. and 30. verses, was to bear the name of the children of Israel (a figure of all the Elect of God) engraven in precious stones upon his Shoulders, and upon his Heart, when he went into the holy Place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. So our Lord Christ is entered into the Heavens, with red and glorious Garments, to appear in the presence of God for us: there is not the least Believer but his name is (as it were) engraven upon the Shoulders, Breastplate, and Heart of Christ. Of all cries the cries of blood are the strongest, the loudest, whether for, or against a guilty person. Abel's blood cried aloud to God for vengeance, Gen. 4.10. but this blood of sprinkling speaketh better things than that of Abel's: it pleads, sues, presses hard for a discharge from all thy sins, and enemies: it cries aloud for mercy, peace and pardon. Lord (saith Christ) here is my price, and my purchase, my Redemption, and my redeemed Ones; here is my Righteousness, and here are the persons justified by it: whatever charge or guilt lies upon them, here are the shoulders that have sustained the weight of thy wrath, which was their due, upon these shoulders, and in this heart, thou mayest behold all their names engraven, acquit and absolve th' m for my sake; Father, I will that they be righteous by my Righteousness, and glorious with my Glory; My tears, my stripes, my wounds, my groans, my anguish, my Blood, the tortures of my Body, the torments of my Soul do all pray, and plead prevailingly, that all believing sinners be justified, and saved. Thus Christ appears in Heaven, with red Garments, with Garments rolled in blood, and with the whites of peace, pardon, justification, and absolution upon the red: with all the names of his justified, sanctified one's engraven upon his shoulders, and upon his heart before the Lord continually, to present his everlasting Righteousness to the Father for us, to present our persons as righteous, and spotless, enwrapped in that glorious Robe of Righteousness, and to impropriate and apply his everlasting Righteousness. to us. Thus I have proved, that Christ is our Righteousness. Vox justificandi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & inde justificationis, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, propriè, & fere semper forinseca, & forensis actio est, judicis, & judicii, scilicet in rei absolutione, condemnationi opposita. Synop. Pur. Theol. p. 434. Justificare absolvere à est, morte, non condemnare. Syntag. Polan. p. 455. 2. We come in the next place to open the meaning of the word (justify.) Justification is a Law-state, and the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) are verba forensia, or judicial, or Court-Terms, taken from Courts of Justice: It imports the absolution of a guilty person, the word justification, is in holy Writ opposed to condemnation. To justify, saith Polanus, is to absolve from death, not to condemn. Though justificare sometimes may note as much as justum facere: if you respect the notation of the Latin word, as magnificare importeth to magnify, or make great; neither is it to be doubted, but that the Lord doth constitute, or make those just, whom he justifieth, they are just, both by the imputation of Christ's Righteousness, which is out of them in Christ, as being his personal righteousness, and by infusion of righteousness, as it were by influence into them from Christ their Head; to the faithful belongs a twofold Righteousness, the one of Justification, the other of Sanctification: Reverend Downam's Treatise of Justification. p. 2, 3. I shall make it evident (saith the learned Bishop Downame) that the Hebrew Hitsdiq, and the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is, verbum forense, a judicial word taken from Courts of justice, which being attributed to the Judge is opposed to Condemnation, and signifieth, to absolve, Justificare est justum reputare, justum pronunciare. or to give sentence with the party questioned. Thus far he. So that to justify both from Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers, is as much as to absolve, or acquit a believing sinner from guilt, and condemnation, and to accept him as righteous through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. To justify, is to repute, and pronounce a man just or righteous. Justification is opposed to Condemnation, Rom. 8.33. it is God that justifies, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not one condemnation to them that are in Christ I sus. Rom. 8.1. i. e. acquits, absolves, who shall condemn? so the word is taken, Deut. 25.1. The Judges are commanded to justify the righteous, and to condemn the wicked: likewise, Prov. 17.15. he that justifies the wicked, and condemns the righteous, they are both an abomination to the Lord. So also is this w●rd taken in a Law sense, Psalm 143.2. Lord enter not into judgement with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man be justified. Rom. 5.16. Judgement was by one to condemnation, but the free Gift is of many offences to justification. Now the Scripture speaks of a righteousness of the Cause, and of a righteousness of the Person. 1. Of the Cause, 1. Justitia Causae. When a man in other respects sinful, may be said in this, or that particular cause, or matter to be innocent, or just: as in the case of Abimelech, Gen. 20.5. touching the matter of Sarah; he pleads the integrity of his heart, and the innocency of his hands, etc. 2. Of the Person. 2. Justitia Personae. That is the universal conformity of the whole man, and of all his actions to the holy Law of God, and this twofold: 1. Legal. 2. Evangelical. 1. Legal, By the Law and the works thereof, Hac justificatione Angeli sancti fruuntur. Polan. Mat. 3.15. Rom. 8.3, 4. hereby the Man Christ Jesus, and none but he on earth, was in a strict sense legally just and righteous, he only fulfilled all righteousness, even the righteousness of the whole Law, and the Holy Angels are thus justified. 2. Evangelical, That (in short) is this: through faith in Christ's righteousness a believing sinner is justified before God, in foro coeli, in the Court of Heaven: Rom. 5.1. Finis perficiens non interficiens. And Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth, Rom. 10.4. we ought directly to go to Christ for justification, and not to go back to Moses; by him all that believe, are justified from all things, Acts 13.38, 39 from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses; a sense whereof a believer hath more or less, in foro Conscientiae, in his own conscience: Rom. 14.17. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost, Rom. 5. from the 12. to the end, proves at large our sole and whole justification by the righteousness of One, even Jesus Christ. In a word, the Lord accepteth, and reputeth a guilty unworthy sinner (yet believing) as righteous, by the free imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto him. Thus much for the Terms (Justify) and (Justification.) 3. We come in the third place to the definition of Justification. I am not ignorant, that the definitions thereof are many, but the most clear and comprehensive I take to be this: What is Justification? Answ. Justification is a most merciful and righteous Action of God as Judge, whereby, Definition of justification. imputing the righteousness of Christ to a believing sinner, he absolveth him from his sins, and accepteth of him as righteous in Christ, and as an heir of eternal life, to the praise and glory of his own mercy and justice. All which (at leastwise for the most part) is comprehended in, Rom. 3.23, 24, 25, 26. I do not intent at this time to prosecute the parts of this Definition at large, but only speak to two things in transitu: 1. The justification of a sinner is an Act of God, as Lord Lawgiver, and Judge, Rom. 8, 33. it is God that justifieth, the whole Trinity, Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa. Father, Son, and Spirit, Jam. 4.12. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: none but the offended Majesty can pardon man's offences; 'Tis the injured Deity that saith, I even, I am he, that blotteth out thy Transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins, Isa. 43.25. O glorious and gracious Word! He that will by no means clear the guilty, having received satisfaction in his Son, by the imputation of his Son's righteousness justifies the ungodly, acquits them from the guilt of sin, Rom. 4.5. and accepts them as righteous in his sight. 2. The righteousness of justification (quatenus justification) works not a real inherent change in us, which is done in sanctification, but makes a relative change without us, and upon us, as it is a judicial act of God, an act of God as Lawgiver and Judge, in opposition to Condemnation. Justification makes a relative change or mutation, in respect of a man's estate or condition: a guilty person is pronounced righteous, the sinful Debtor is discharged; an Enemy is now reconciled, a miserable captive is redeemed, a child of wrath is made a Son of God, and an unworthy worm an heir of Glory. These are relative mutations, though they that are justified, are also together sanctified; in order of Time these acts of grace are wrought together, but in order of Nature justification is the Antecedent, and sanctification is the Consequent; and mark it, where justification changeth a man's Relation (to God, and Eternity) there sanctification changeth a man's disposition, and renews the soul with inward holiness: both are the sacred effluxes from Christ's righteousness; the first is wrought by the righteousness of Christ imputed, the other by the righteousness of Christ imparted; one by Christ's personal righteousness, the other by way of influence, Christ is both caput eminentiae, & caput influentiae. and infusion from Christ as Head. We ought to take great heed lest we confound justification with sanctification, as Bellarmine, and the Papists do. 4. In the fourth place, we come to show the essential parts of our justification, and these are two: 1. Absolution from sin. 2. Acceptation as righteous in Christ. Both which, the Lord granteth by the plenary, and perfect satisfaction made to his Law and justice by Jesus Christ, both our Surety, and Mediator: by which he satisfied the Law in both parts: 1. He satisfied the Law in respect of the penalty, by his Passion, or passive righteousness, undergoing the Curse for us, Gal. 3.13. 2. He satisfied the Law in respect of the Precept by his perfect active righteousness, habitual and actual: but neither of these can be severed any where from the other: Rom 3.4. And these which God hath so indissolvably joined, let no man put asunder, each hath its proper interest in, and respective contribution toward the satisfying the injured honour of God's Law; for the honour of God's Law is the equity of both its parts, its Command, and its threatening. Christ's active righteousness, the obedience of the Great God-man, hath honoured the equity of the first, (viz.) repaired the honour of God's Commandments, broken by sinful man. And his passive righteousness in like manner, honours the equity of the Threatening; Christ himself dies, to justify that the sinner is worthy of Death; and by offering up himself as a sacrifice on the Cross, he proclaims to all the world, that sin is exceeding sinful, and that God is exceeding jealous. Again, Consider, See Wallebius his Body of Divinity, with the Notes of Mr. Rosse p. 109. Christ's active Righteousness was every where passive, (the distinction of active and passive is needless) and his passive righteousness every where active. 1. His active Righteousness was every where passive, because all of it was done in the form of a Servant: Christ's obedience is an active Passion, and a passive Action. ibid. in our nature he obeyed the Law, in his very incarnation he was passive, for therein he suffered an enclipse of the glory of his Godhead. 2. His Passive Righteousness was every where active; because what he suffered, was not by constraint, or against his will, it was his own voluntary act and deed, all along he eyed his Father's Glory, and the good of mankind; Ah! take that instance, the Greatest of his sufferings, his very dying was the product, both of the freeness of his love, and of the majesty of his power, John 10.17, 18. Revel. 1.5. Read those melting Texts, and chew the Cud upon them. But to return. The Law hath two branches: 1. The Commination, or the Curse. 2. The Precept, or Commandment: so there are two parts of justification. 1. Absolution from the Curse of the Law, this is done by Christ's sufferings: the Prince of Life died, the Lord of Glory became a Curse for us. 2. Acceptation as righteous in Christ, this is done by the imputation of Christ's perfect righteousness to us, Rom. 8 3, 4. Rom. 5.17, 18. both habitual and actual. Thus Jesus Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth, for to them that believe in him he hath fulfilled all righteousness: but I must confess, by reason of the most strict Connexion between these two, (viz.) imputation of righteousness and remission of sins, the one doth comprehend or conclude the other: Propter arctissimam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, una alteram Complectitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; quamvis, justificatio 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in peccatorum remissione Constituatur. Synop. Pur. Theol. p. 436. justificatio peccatoris, est remissio peccatorum, siguratè nimirum & metonimicè loquendo, quia remissio peccatorum est causa sormalis justificationis peccatoris, etc. Syntag. Polan. p. 445. as Rom. 4.22. and justifi-fication, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is oftentimes placed in the remission of sins: as Psalm 32.1. Rom. 4.7. We are justified by Christ's obedience, both active and passive: but I confess chief by the latter: The Scripture in many places seems to lay the stress principally (or at least synechdochically) upon the Blood, the Death, the Cross of Christ, Ephes. 1.7. Heb. 9.12, 14. Rom. 5.10 Ephes. 2.13. Col. 2.13, 14. Revel. 1.5, 6. Rom. 5.8, 9 Cum multis aliis, etc. Before I proceed to the fifth General propounded to be spoken to, I think it not unnecessary to inquire, Forma dat esse. what is the form of Christ's satisfaction, which renders it satisfactory to God, and justificatory to man? I answer, The infinite merit of what he did and suffered: which infinite Merit stands. 1. In the dignity of his Person, the fullness of the Godhead dwelled in him bodily, Col. 2.9, 14. Now for the work of a servant to be done by the Lord of all, renders his active; and for him to suffer as a Malefactor between Malefactors, who was God blessed for evermore, Renders his passive righteousness infinitely meritorious; Acts 20, 28. 1 Joh. 1.7. No wonder the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, for it is the blood of God, by the figure, called by the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Communication of properties: the blood of the Man Christ Jesus, is called the blood of God. And this is the reason, why the righteousness of one, redounds to all (the Elect) for the justification of life, Rom. 5.18, 19 The do and sufferings of this Glorious Person the Lord our righteousness, (though for a few years) were infinitely 〈◊〉 more value, than all, that all the creatures in Heaven or Earth could have done or suffered to eternity; Heb. 1.6. the very Man Christ Jesus is above all the Angels, for he is the Man God's fellow, an high Word. Zech. 13.7. And this infinite worthiness of the Redeemers Person ye have excellently described, as the irradiating and infinitely exalting all he did and suffered. Consult these Texts, Heb. 1.1, 2, 3. Phil. 2.6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 2. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is of infinite merit, and a mere supererogation of an infinitely Glorious Person. 1. His active Righteousness stood in his obedience to the Ceremonial and Moral Law. 1. His obedience to the ceremonial Law, was a mere supererogation; What? for the substance to comply with the shadows? for the Anti-type to do homage to its own Types? besides, he submitted to those Ordinances, the end and institution whereof supposeth Gild; what foreskin of iniquity had he to be cut off by Circumcision? what filth to be washed away in Baptism? Luke 1.21.22. Luk. 3.21. yet he was circumcised and baptised, and his Mother offered for her purification. 2. His obedience to the moral Laws, Although it must be granted as man, it was his duty, yet it was not his duty to become man; Gal. 4.4. his incarnation was a work of supererogation, the Law did never command that the eternal Son of the living God should take upon him the form of a Servant, keep the Law, suffer and die. This condescention of his was wholly free and arbitrary; what but his own infinite love could move the eternal Word to pitch his Tent in our Nature? What else could move the Lord of the World to become a servant? the Ancient of Days to become a Child? or the Son of God to be the Son of Mary? And as his Active, so also his passive righteousness was a meet supererogation. What had divine Justice to do with the holy Child Jesus? Had it not been for his own eternal compact with the Father: he was a sinless Person, the Lamb of God without spot; he suffered not for himself, Dan. 9.26. he that knew no sin was made sin for us, (i. e.) a sacrifice for our sins, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5.21. 3. The stamp of God's Appointment highly dignifies (as to us) Christ's righteousness, and renders it acceptable to God, and meritorious for our benefit. The Assignment and appointment of God the Father sets a great value on it; God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing to men their trespasses, a Cor. 5.19. the reconciliation, or justification of a sinner, is as much the Fathers as the Sons Act. Christ frequently declares in the Gospel of John, John 6. that he came into the world, to do the will of him that sent him. Christ received his mission and Commission from the Father for our justification. Mark that notable place, Heb. 10.6, 7, 9, 10. In burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure (the Lord did not delight in the blood of Bulls, Goats or Calves, those brutish sacrifices): vers. 7. then, said I, (the words of Christ) Lo I come, (in the Volume of the Book it is written of me) to do Thy Will, O God. Mark that, ver. 9 Then, said he, lo, I come to do thy will: (O God) He taketh away the first, the first sort of sacrifices, that he may establish the second, (viz.)— sacrifice of his Son, vers. 10. by the which Will, we are sanctified, (i. e.) saved, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Dr. Owen, in his Death of Deaths: and Mr. Caryl, in his Lectures on Job. Some of our Great Divines judiciously judge, that much of the merit of Christ's Passion doth arise from the eternal Compact, and assignment of the Father, (not excluding the other considerations). Now we pass on. 5. To the fifth Query, and that is this, what are the several causes concurring to our justification? A. I answer, The causes of our justification are these four chief: 1. The Efficient. 2. The Material. 3. The Formal. 4. The final Cause. 1. The Efficient cause, and that is twofold, either principal, or instrumental. 1. The principal. God, the whole Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit. Justification being an outward action, ad extra, respecting the creatures, is the common Act of the whole Trinity. God, (the whole Trinity) doth justify as Lawgiver, and Judge, Jam. 4.12. There is one Lawgiver able to save, and to destroy, he is the Judge of all the Earth; by sin we became God's Debtors, and owed him many thousand Talents, Christ our Surety pays our Debts, and God dischargeth us; by sin we were enemies and ungodly, Christ our Mediator reconciles us enemies, In summa, nemo ad fidei justitiam perveniet, nisi qui in se erit impius. Calv. in Rom. 4.5. and justifies us, by Nature ungodly, yea, God in Christ reconciles us to himself, not imputing to us our trespasses, a Cor. 5.19. And this is both a gracious, and a righteous Act of God; 1. A gracious act, Rom. 3.25. we are justified truly by his Grace, 2 Tim. 1.9. Ephes. 2.5. we are saved by Grace. 2. A righteous act of God: hereby he eminently declares his Righteousness, Rom. 3.26. the Apostle brings it in with an ingemination, to declare, I say, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus; the righteousness of Christ making plenary, yea redundant, and superabundant satisfaction to offended justice; his justice being satisfied, yea, honoured with Christ's righteousness. Now, he is not only merciful, but also faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 1 John 1.7. Now there is a blessed Harmony between the divine Attributes: righteousness and mercy do sweetly embrace and kiss each other, the Glory of both shine forth most illustriously in, and by the bloody passion of the Son of God. Now the Acts of God, the principal Efficient cause are to be distinguished according to the distinction of the three persons. 1. The Father justifies, as the primary Cause and Author: he gave his only begotten Son for our justification and salvation, John 3.16. 2. The Father justifies as Legislatour, enacting by his Sovereign Authority, that sweet Law of the New Covenant, by virtue whereof, every believing sinner is justified from the guilt of sin, from which he could not be justified by the Law of Moses. Acts 13.38.39. This Law of justification by Faith is Gods own act and Deed, the great Instrumentum pacis between God and man: the Tenor of the Gospel (our Magna Charta) runs, that he that believeth shall be saved. 3. The Father justifies as a Judge, in absolving those that believe, and in pronouncing them just in Christ, and that in three respects: 1 God justifies upon believing actually. 1. God justifies a believing sinner upon his believing actually: by Faith we are thus justified, Rom. 5.1. Gal. 3.8. By believing he hath a Title good in Law, an indefesible right to all the promises of the Covenant, God then owns, and approves of him as a person justified. 2. Particularly at Death. Heb. 12.23. 2. At the moment of dissolution God justifies a Believer particularly. (as the Judge of all, and the Judge of all the Earth); passing a particular private Sentence of everlasting life upon every believing Soul. 3. Eminently at the Day of Judgement, 3. Eminently at the day of judgement. God justifies at the last day, by the man Christ Jesus. Act. 17.31. when the Ancient of Days shall take the Throne, when the Son of Man appearing in power and great Glory, shall in open Court before all the world by public Sentence, for ever acquit and discharge Believers at that solemn and Great Day. Thus the Father justifies. 2. Jesus Christ the Son justifies, as the Mediator and meritorious Cause of our justification, and that in two respects: 1. As our Surety he paid our Debt, Christ is both: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Surety and a Mediator. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, redemptionis precium. and as our Redeemer he laid down the price of our Redemption, Rom. 3.23. we are justified freely by the Grace of God, and yet through the redemption that is in Christ. His blood was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the price of our redemption, Ephes. 1.7. in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his Grace; he is the Mediator of reconciliation between God and Man. 2. Christ justifies as our Advocate and Intercessor, presenting our persons, pleading our cause, prevailing with his Father by the speakings of his blood, that the virtue of his merits may be applied to us, Rom. 8.34. It is God that justifies, who shall condemn? 'tis Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who also maketh intercession for us: there is a rather put upon the resurrection, and ascension of Christ, 1 John 2.2. we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Thus Christ justifies. 3. The Spirit justifies as the Applicatory Cause, he doth reveal and apply to us the righteousness of Christ for our justification. 1. The Spirit, as the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation reveals, and discovers this Robe of Glory to us, this Garment of Salvation: Though the Father hath given the Son, and the Son hath given himself for our righteousness, yet 'tis the Spirit that applies this righteousness: Revelation and Application is his peculiar Office. 2. As the Spirit of Regeneration working in us the grace of Faith, Directly. which is one of the fruits of the Spirit, Causa Causae est ociam, causae Causati. whereby we receive and apprehend Christ the Lord our righteousness, unto our justification in the Court of Heaven: the Spirit justifieth as he is the cause of the cause the Author of Faith that justifies. Reflectively. 3. As a Spirit of Adoption, by confirming our Faith, by working in us the assurance of our justification, by sealing us up unto the day of Redemption, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits, that we are the children of God, Rom. 8.16, 17. Thus the righteousness of God by the revelation of the Spirit is revealed from Faith to Faith, Rom. 1.17. Thus much for the principal efficient cause. 2. The instrumental or ministering causes are the Word of God, and Faith. The Gospel is manus Dei offerentis. 1. The ministry of the Word, is the instrumental cause on God's part, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word, Rom. 10.17. and in Gal. 3.2. the Gospel is called the hearing of Faith. God in his Word by his Ministers, doth as it were beseech sinners to be reconciled to him, 2 Cor. 5.19, 20. The Word of God is the vehiculum spiritus, the Chariot of the Spirit, wherein he rides: the Word is the Wardrobe, Isa. 61.10. Matth. 14.44. wherein this glorious Robe of Righteousness is laid up, 'tis the goodly Field wherein this heavenly treasure is to be found. 2. The second instrumental cause is Faith: Faith is manus accipientis. Faith is the hand of the Soul, whereby we receive Christ, and apply his righteousness, * Non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 1. Primo, & per se, ut qualitas propriè aut motus, actio vel, vel passio, aut opus aliquod bonum, & eximii precii, quasi ipsa sit justitia, aut ejus pars, aut etiam justitiae loco, ex censu, & estimatione Dei, sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, secundario, & secundum aliud, nempe ut modus medium & instrumentum ceu oculus & manus qua Christi, ejusque participes reddimur, adeoque relatiuè ad objectum jesum ipsius justitiam, & promissiones gratiae. Synop. Pur. Theol. p. 442. John 1.12. Faith justifies, Rom. 5.1. But how doth faith justify? Faith justifies, as one expresseth it vi legis latae, as it is our evangelical righteousness, or our keeping the Gospel Law; Faith pretends to no merit, nor virtue of its own, but professedly avows its dependence upon the merit of Christ's satisfaction, as our legal righteousness, on which it layeth hold; its excellency ariseth from God's Sanction, who made choice of this act of Believing to the honour of Justification, because it lays the creature low, and so highly exalteth Christ. The Act of believing is as the Silver: God's Authority in the Gospel-Sanction, is as the King's Image stamped upon it; which gives it all its value as to justification, without this stamp, it could never have been currant. Faith doth not justify as an habit, act, work, or quality, (as the Papists say) but as an instrument or hand to receive Christ and his righteousness; * Undè fides imputatur ad justitiam, ut Paulus loquitur. Rom 4 5. Non quatenus est qualitas nobis inhaerens, nec quatenus est opus, multo minùs quatenus est meritum, sed metonymiâ adjuncti correlatiuè intellectâ per vocem fidei justitia Christi, quâm fides apprehendit, ut patet ex eodem. cap. 4. v. 11, 13. And again, nec quatenus est cultus Dei, & radi● omnium aliorum bonorum operum: sed quatenus nos Christo conglutina: & un●m cum illo facti, partic pati●ne justitiae ejus f●uamur. Polan. p. 456 Faith is an empty and a naked thing without its Object. Faith puts on this Robe of Glory, and wraps the Soul in it; but 'tis this glorious Robe, Christ's righteousness that justifies. 'Tis very certain, that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credere cannot, doth not justify, as Socinus, and Arminius teach, it doth: 'Tis true, it s said, Rom. 4.5. Faith is imputed for righteousness, and is accepted of God through Christ for the performance of the whole Law: but this is to be understood metonimically, and relatively in respect of Christ the object of faith, who is the end and perfection of the Law to them that believe, by fulfilling the righteousness of the Law for them. Faith invites a Soul to Christ, brings it into Union with his Person, and so into communion of his righteousness. And then for works: what shall we say of them? The Apostle is peremptory and absolute in his Conclusion Rom. 3.28. Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law. So also, Gal. 2.16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, etc. that is, by the works which Christ hath done in our stead, by the obedience of Christ, which we apply to ourselves by Faith alone: saith Polanus. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scripserit Paulus pro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sicut etiam accipitur. Matth. 12.4. 1 Cor 7.17. Beza in loc. sed tantum per fidem jesu Christi: hoc est per opera quae Christus loco nostro fecit, per obedientiam Christi quam solâ fide noble applicamus. Polan Faith justifies a sinner before God, and works justify Faith, and demonstrate to the world, and to our own consciences that our faith is not dead and barren, but (Jam. 2.4.) Living, because fruitful; faith as working, doth not justify, but found justifying faith is a working faith. 2. We come to consider the essential material cause of our justification, that very thing, which is our righteousness, which God imputeth to us, and accepteth on our behalf. To this I answer. 1. Negatively, 1. Negatively. what it is not. 1. It cannot be our own righteousness inherent in us, because inchoate and imperfect, Justitiam, qua-coram Tribunali Dei Consistimus, perfectam omnibus numeris partibus, & gradibus esse necesse est. Quid enim ex se agere poterat, ut semel amissam justitiam recuperaret, home servus peccati vinctus Diaboli? assignata est proinde aliena qui caruit suâ. Bernard. and the righteousness of justification, must be most absolute & perfect, by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified, (1) no mere man, Rom. 3.20. We may therefore cry out with Bernard; what is man that is a servant of sin, a Bondslave of the Devil, able of himself to do, for the recovery of righteousness once lost? there is therefore the righteousness of another assigned to him, who hath lost his own. 2. Nor secondly is it the righteousness of Christ, merely and solely (as man) considered: though that was pure and spotless, yet it was not infinite, and meritorious; for Christ taking upon him an humane nature, was bound to keep the the Law, being made of a woman, he was also made under the Law; under the Covenant of Works: Gal. 4.3, 4. the obedience of Christ merely as man, had been no work of supererogation as to us, it would have served to justify himself; but without the personal Union, there would have been no redundancy, or overflowing of merit in it, to justify those millions of guilty miscreants, Non propter scipsum, sed propter nostram salutem, & ●b demolitionem mortis, & Condemnationem, Christus Advenit. Athanas. Orat. Tertia contra Arrian. who through the infinite grace of the Father by the blood of the Son are justified. Wherefore Christ came not for himself, but for our salvation, etc. saith Athanasius. Non est essentialis justitia Dei, ut Andreas Osiander contendebat, cujus errorem refutavit. Calvin. Institut. tertio libro. 2. It is not the Essential Righteousness of the Godhead, not that righteousness wherewith God is righteous, 'tis not the righteousness of Christ as God solely, though it is called the righteousness of God, 2 Cor. 5.21. Rom. 1.17. and so called, because 'tis the righteousness of him, who is truly God, as well as truly man, in one person: and 'tis the righteousness which God appointeth, and accepteth for our justication. But it is not the Essential uncreated righteousness of God, which being the Essence of God, cannot be communicated to any creature, much less can it become the accidental righteousness of any creature. 2. Positively. 2. Positively, that which is our righteousness for justification. It is the most Adequate and perfect obedience of Jesus Christ the Mediator God-man to the whole Law of God. Consisting in a most exact conformity of his whole humane Nature with all its actions and passions thereunto: whereby, Justitia jesu Christi, per quam justificamur coram Deo, est perfectissima totius legis divinae obedientia, consistens in exactissimâ totius naturae Humanae Christi, omniumque Actionum, & passionum ejus internarum, & externarum conformitate, cum tota lege Dei, quam loco nostro persectissime implevit, ut nobis a morte aeternâ liberationem, & jus vitae aeternae acquireret. Syntag Polan. p. 457. both actively, and passively he fulfilled the Law most perfectly. For proof you may please to read, Rom. 8.3, 4. Gal. 4.3, 4. Rom. 5.16, 17, 18, 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous, vers. 19 O Believers, this Garment of Sunbeams wrought out for ye by the Sun of righteousness, must needs be glorious: if ye consider, 1. That Christ's humane Nature was never stained neither with original, nor actual sin: for by his divine Conception by the Holy Ghost, he received of his Virgin Mother, a pure un-deflowred, Virgin Nature, which all along he kept immaculate. 2. The Humane nature in him is dignified with Union to the Divine, to the second person in the Trinity, in which it doth subsist; as God descended to the lowest to become man, so now man, (viz.) the humane Nature ascendeth to the highest, to be personally one with God. 'Tis the righteousness of Christ the Mediator 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-man, in one person, though inherent in the Humane Nature, and performed by it. And this is that which, by communication of properties, gives infinite value, virtue, and eternal efficacy to the obedience of Jesus Christ; wherefore 'tis called the righteousness of God. This I must profess to be the chief stay of my faith, and the principal foundation of my comfort, that He is Jehovah our righteousness, Jer. 23.6. that he who is God blessed for ever, Rom. 9.5. is the root and off spring of David; that 'tis the Prince of Life that died, Acts 3.15. that the Lord of Glory was crucified, 1 Cor. 2.8. that, that blood, which is the price of my redemption and justification is the blood of God; that he that was in the form of God, Acts 20.28. and thought it no robbery to be equal with God did humble himself, and became obedient to the death of the Cross for me, Phil. 2.6, 8 Gal. 2.20. which whole humiliation of Jesus Christ God-man, from his conception to his crucifixion, Some say, it consists both in applicatione & pronunciatione ipsius Dei. Justitia Dei est non peccare: justitia bominis, est non imputari peccatum. Bernard Serm 23. ● Can●c. especially his bloody passion, is the material cause of our justification. Thus much for the essential material Cause of our justification. 3. What is the formal Cause of our justification? I answer, 'Tis the imputation of Christ's Righteousness, because by imputing and applying it to us, he is pleased to justify us, Rom. 4.11. Psalm 32.1. Rom. 4.8. 2 Cor. 5.19. Acts 10.43. Acts 13.28, 29. St. Ambrose, Bishop Downame and others do express it by this simile; When Rebecca clothed her son Jacob with the garments of her elder son Esau, the matter of the action, was the garment of Esau, which being applied to him did cover him; but the form of the action was the applying it to him, the indution, or putting it upon him; so the matter of our justification is Christ's righteousness, the formal cause of our justification, is the Father's imputing, or applying Christ's righteousness to us. The Apostle most clearly argues, by way of comparison between Adam and Christ; Rom. 5.17, 18, 19 how could the disobedience of Adam be made ours for condemnation? or the obedience of Christ be made ours for justification unto life? but only by imputation, seeing they are both transient Acts. A learned Philosopher tells us, Motus non est, nisi dum fit, postquam factus est. non est. Jul. Scaliger. That a motion, whether action, or passion, hath no being, but while it is in doing, or suffering, but after it is done, it hath no being: the disobedience of the one, and the obedience of the other; the transgression of Adam and the righteousness of Christ, can be no way conveyed to us, but by imputation: which term of imputation of Christ's righteousness, (notwithstanding the Papists scoffing at it, and calling it putative righteousness) is used ten times in Rom. 4. 4. The End or final Cause for which God doth justify a sinner by imputation of Christ's righteousness, and that is either supreme, or subordinate. Utriusque enim, & misericordiae, & justitiae admirabile hic temperamentum relucet. 1. The supreme End, is the manifestation of the Glory, both of his justice and mercy, as both which concur in all his works: so chief in this great work of Justification; The Lord is righteous in all his works, and holy in all his ways, Ps. 145.17. 1. That his Justice might be fully Glorified: God sent and set forth his own Son to be a propitiation for our sins, and hath punished them in his humane Nature; I say (saith the Apostle) to declare his righteousness, Rom. 3.25, 26. that he might be just, and the justifier of him that bélieveth in Jesus. 2. That his grace & mercy also might eminently be magnified; he hath sent his only begotten Son into the World, that we might be justified freely by his Grace, through the redemption that is in Christ, Deus Pater nos justificat, ut judex quidem, sed sedens in Throno Gratiae, etc. Synops. Rom. 3.25. and that we should be to the praise of the glory of his Grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, Ephes. 1, 6. Wherefore, not unto us, not unto us, not to any works of righteousness that we have done, but to the Father of Mercies, the Lord God omnipotent, and to the Lamb that sits upon the Throne, be all Honour, and Glory, Blessing and praise for evermore, Revel. 5.13. 2 Tim. 1.9. 2. The subordinate end is our Salvation, Rom. 8.30. whom he hath justified, them also he Glorified, Tit. 3.7. That being justified by his Grace, we should be made heirs of eternal life Though our salvation be our particular proper, Our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. supreme end, or chief good, to which both justification, and sanctification are referred; yet it is subordinate to God's Glory, as to the Sovereign and universal End: for such is the infinite goodness of God to believing sinners, that he hath subordinated their salvation to his own Glory. The precious properties of this Righteousness; how it is a divine righteousness, a temptation vanquishing, and a World-overcoming righteousness, a Law fulfilling, and a justice satisfying righteousness, a most perfect righteousness, a Glorious Robe of righteousness, an everlasting righteousness, etc. Ye have heard at large discussed from another Text, therefore I shall forbear to enlarge herein. Lastly, What are the blessed fruits and consequences of Justification? I answer, 1. Sanctification inherent, with good works apparent, which non praecedunt justificandum, sed sequuntur justificatum, as Austin speaks; they do not go before, but follow after a state of justification. 2. Peace with God; that is an holy Tranquillity, and sweet serenity of conscience, Rom. 5.1. 3. A free Access to God, Rom. 5.2. 4. Certain hope of Glory, Rom. 5.2, 5. 5. Consolation, yea Gloriation in, and over afflictions, Rom. 5.3. 6. The shedding abroad the love of God into the hearts of the justified, Rom. 5.5. 7. Conservation from wrath to come, Ro. 5.9. 8. Glorification and eternal life, Rom. 8.30. Rom. 5.21. that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might Grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. A word or two at parting to the Justified, by way of Application. 1. Walk up to your Duty. 2. Live up to your Comfort. 1. Walk up to your Duty: Ye that are the redeemed of the Lord, the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus, walk worthy of him who hath called you to his Kingdom and Glory; As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, Col. 2.6. Receive not this Grace of God in vain: this is a certain evidence of your freedom from Condemnation, if ye walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, Rom. 8.1. and herein is your father glorified, if ye bring forth much fruit, John 15.6. As your Receipts are great, so give me leave to tell you, your duty is, and your Account will be great also: so live, so act, so work, that ye may give up your account with joy. 2. Live up to the Comfort of your state; ye are already the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear, what ye shall be, 1 Joh. 3.1. who shall lay any thing to your charge? (whether men or Devils) 'tis God that justifieth, it is Christ that died, etc. Ro. 8.33. Behold thy Treasures, thy Comforts, thy Joys, thy Portion, thy Privileges, laid up for thee in that precious Cabinet, Rom. 5.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Wherefore feed, nay feast thy Soul by faith upon them: wherefore, in the worst of times; the righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and all the upright in heart shall glory, Psalm 64.10. Thus, so far as one Exercise would permit, I have endeavoured to give some satisfaction in the great Argument of Justification. Consider what I have said, and the Lord give ye understanding; 2 Tim. 2.7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. FINIS.