A Treatise of Justification, Book 4 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. That we are justified by Christs righteousnesse, and not by that which is inherent in us, proved joyntly by three arguments.
§. I. FIrst therefore; That righteousnesse whereby we are justiedArg. 1. we are justified by Gods righteousnesse, and not by ours. is Gods righteousnesse, and not ours; The righteousnesse of Christ, which is out of us in him, is Gods righteousnesse, that which is inherent in us, is ours:
Therefore wee are justified by the righteousnesse of Christ, which is out of us in him, and not by that which is inherent in our selves.
The former part of the proposition is proved out of Rom. 1. 17. and 3. 21. Thus:
The righteousnesse, which there is said to be revealed in the Gospell, is that righteousnesse, by which wee are justified. This proposition is confessed of all.
The righteousnesse of God is that righteousnesse, which is revealed in the Gospell. Rom. 1. 17. In the Gospell is revealed theRom. 1. 17. righteousnesse of God from faith to faith, as it is written, the just by faith shall live, Rom. 3. 21. The righteousnesse of God is without the Law manifested (viz. in the Gospell) even the righteousnesse of God, which is by faith of Iesus Christ, unto all and upon all that beleeve:
Therefore the righteousnesse of God is that righteousnesse by which wee are justified.
The whole proposition in both the parts is proved out of Rom. 10. 3. where it is not onelyonly signified, that wee are justified by Gods righteousnesse and not by our owne; but there is also such an opposition made betwixt Gods righteousnesse and ours in the point of justification; that whosoever seeke to be justified by their owne rig…teousnesse, cannot be justified by the righteousnesse of God. Wherefore Paul, in the question of his owne justification, renounceth his owne righteousnesse, desiring to bee found in Christ, not having his owne righteousnesse, which is of the Law (as all inherent righteousnesse is) but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousnesse which is of God by faith, Phil. 3. 9.
§. 2. The assumption in respect of the former part, viz. that the righteousnesseThe righteousnesse of Christ is Gods righteousnesse. I…r. 23 6. of Christ is Gods righteousnesse, is easily proved: first, because Christ is God, who as …eremy prophecied, should be called …ebovah our righteousnesse, …er. 23. 6. Now his righteousnesse is called Gods righteousnesse, as hath beene said▪ not because it is the righteousnesse of the Godhead; but because it is the righteousnesse of him that is God. For as the bloud of Christ, by which we are redeemed, is Gods bloud, Act. 20 28. so the righteousnesse of Christ, by which we are justified, is the righteousnesse of God, and is so called, 2 Cor. 5. 21. Rom. 1. 17. 3. 21. 10. 3. and most plainely, 2 Pet. 1. 1. where it is called the righteousnesse of God2 Pet. 1. 1. and our Saviour Iesus Christ; which is an excellent testimony to prove the Deity of our Savior, like to that, Ti…. 2. … 3. for it is not said of God, & of our Saviour, as noting two persons aNot foreign, but foreign., but of God and our Saviour, as betokening one. Secondly, because it is that very righteousnesse of God whereof the Apostle speaketh in the places even bRom. 1. 17. 3. 21. 10. 3. 2 Cor. 5 21. 2 …et. 1. 1.now mentioned, where it is so called, neither because it is the essentiall righteousnesse of God, as I have shewed before against Osiander; nor because it is a righteousnesse in us from God, for that is perfectly described in the Law, as this is not, Rom. 3. 21. and because that (as I shall shew in the proofe of the second part of the assumption) is not called Gods, but ours: but because it is the righteousnesse of that person who is God: which, that wee should not thinke to bee any thing in us, is called sometimes his bloud, Rom. 5. 9. sometimes his obedien…e cRom. 5. 19., that is, both his passive and active righteousnesse, by imputation whereof those that truely beleeveThe Fathers by the righ…eousnesse of God, und…rstand Christ and his righteousnesse. are made the righteousnesse of d2 Cor. 5. 21.God, not in themselves, but in Christ: even as hee by imputation of our sinnes, was made sinne for us.
§. III. 3. Because divers of the Fathers, to whose judgment some of the popish eSalmero. B. Iustinian.Doctors subscribe, by the righteousnesse of God mentioned in the first, third, and tenth chapters to the Romanes, understand Christ and his righteousnesse. Origen in Rom. 3. therefore this righteousnesse of God, quae est Christus, which is Christ, is manifested without the Law, and so in Rom. 10. 3. Ambrose in Rom. 10. 3. Not knowing the justice of God, that is (as hee expoundeth) ignorantes …uncesse Christum; the Iewes being ignorant that this is the Christ, whom God had promised, said, another was to be expected, preferring their owne righteousnes, which they had by the Law, before him who is the righteousnesse of God by faith; justitia n. ipse est, for hee himselfe is the righteousnesse: which words wee finde also in Sedulius in Rom. 10. 3. Anselmus in R…. 10. 3. they are not subject Justiciae Dei, id est, Christo, to the righteousnesse of God, that is, to Christ. Remigius in Ro. 10. 3. Ignorantes Dei justitiam, non quo ipse justus est essentialiter, sed Christm, &c. They being ignoran… of the justice of God, not that whereby he is just essentially, but Christ—they would not submit their neckes justitiae Dei, id est, Christ…, to the justice of God, that is, to Christ, and in Rom. 3. 21. possumus ipsam justitiam Dei Patris, id est, Filium intelligere, we may understand the very righteousnesse of God the Father, that is to say, the Sonne from whom and by whom we are justified—ipse Christus justitia nostra, Christ himselfe our righteousnesse hath testimony from the Law and the Prophets Some to the same purpose understand the righteousnesse of faith. Theophilact in Ro. … 10. 3. and Oecumenius likewise, foreign the faith in Christ hee calleth the righteousnesse of God. Anselmus in Roman. 1. 17. the righteousnesse of God is revealed in the Gospell, that is, the righteousnesse of faith, which was covered in the Law, for the righteousnesse of God is that, by which hee freely justifieth a sinner (through faith without the workes of the Law, Sedulius in Rom. 1. 17. the righteousnesse of God) because it was just, that as Abraham beleeving was justified by faith onelyonly, so all others imitating his faith should be saved. Augustine speaking of those words, Rom. 3. 21. (the righteousnesse of God is manifested) hee did not say (saith hee) fDe Spiritu & litera, cap. 9.the righteousnesse of man, or the righteousnesse of our owne will, but the righteousnesse of God; not whereby God himselfe is just, sed q… induit hominem, but wherewith hee endueth a man (which is a metaphore taken from garments) when he justifieth a sinner: where, if Augustine had by righteousnesse understood inherent, he should have beene confuted out of the very place, which saith this righteousnesse is revealed without the Law which cannot be verified of inherent righteousnesse. And againe, gIbid. cap. 11.this is the righteousnesse of God, quae testamento veteri velata, in … revelata, which having beene covered in the Old Testament (which cannot be said of righteousnes inherent, for all that righteousnes which is from God in us, whether it bee habituall consisting in the habit of charity, or actuall which is obedience, is exactly, prescribed in the Law, which is the perfect rule of all inherent righteousnesse) is discovered in the New: which is therefore called the righteousnesse of God, because by imparting it he maketh men righteous.
§. IV. But most agreeable to the words and meaning of the ApostleThe exposition of …, and the … of Papist…. is the exposition of Theodore…, as it is related by Cardinall hin Rom. 1. 17.Tolet, and i… Rom. 1. Dispu…. 7.Pererius the Iesuite. That by the righteousnesse of God is meant the righteousnesse of Christ, who is both God and man, which he performed for the redemption of Mankinde▪ thereby fully satisfying the justice of God for us. I conclude with Pererius, and Cardinall Cajetan. The justice of God is a justice satisfactory to God for the sinnes of Mankinde by the death (I adde, and obedience) of Christ. And this is called the justice of God, the justice of faith, or the justice which is by fa…th, Rom. 10. 6. Cajetan in Rom. 10. 3. The justice of God is a justice of satisfaction to God for mankinde by the death of Christ: and in 2 Cor. 5. 21. the righteousnesse of God in Christ is the merit of Christ sufficient even to satisfie for us, and to justifie us—which is called Gods kQuod de Deo, tum quia est Deo …, tū quia …st apud divinum tribunal vera …stitia, ad diff…rentiam … nostrarum, quia apud divinum tribun…l s…nt velut pannus menstrua…ae, &c.both because it is the righteousnesse of God personally, and also because before the tribunall of God it is true righteousnesse, differing from our righteousnesse, which before the judgement seate of God are as the cloth of a menstruous woman: when therefore the merit of Christ is communicated unto us, then are we made the righteousnesse of God in Christ, because wee are made just not by our owne righteousnesse, but by the righteousnesse of God communicated unto us in Christ: for we are made just before God, by the merit, by the satisfaction, by the reconciliation made by Christ: and againe in Rom. 3. 24. The redemption wrought by Christ, is Gods righteousnesse, not ours, because Iesus Christ himselfe is true God.
This righteousnesse of Christ, which is called the righteousnesse of God, by which we are justified; the Papists (even Bellarmine himselfe) sometimes confesse to be a plenary satisfaction to God, and by him imputed to them that beleeve: and that this righteousnesse of Christ is the meritorious cause of our justification, and that by the merit of Christs righteousnesse we are justified: and yet they cannot abide to heare, that it is the matter of justification: when as wee by the matter of justification understand nothing, but that righteonsnesse, which is imputed to justification. Now it is certaine, that the righteousnesse of Christ, neither active nor passive, which were transient, nor the merit thereof, can otherwise be communicated to us, but by imputation. Even as the actuall transgression of Adam, and the guilt thereof, were by imputation communicated to us. Neither could inherent righteousnesse bee merited for us unto our sanctification, unlesse his righteousnesse it selfe and the merit thereof were first imputed to us unto justification: no more than the actuall sinne of Adam could have infected us with originall corruption, if his sinne and the guilt thereof had not first beene imputed to us.
§. V. The fecond part of the assumption was, that the righteousnesseThe righteousnesse inherent is ours. inherent in us, is our righteousnesse: which, one would thinke should need no proofe. For though we receive it from God, as wee doe all other good things which wee have, yet it, as well as all other good things, even our daily bread, which we have received from God, is to be called lMatth. 6. 11.ours. All good things which we have, are Gods gifts, and yet they are not called his, but ours. As our bodies, our soules, our life, our liberty, our learning, our wisedome, our charity, our temperance, our piety, &c. and so our righteousnesse. The Papists, and some others doe teach, that, that righteousnesse is called Gods righteousnesse, which wee shall have from God▪ and that ours, which wee have from our selves, and by the strength of nature: whereto I answer, first, there can bee no righteousnesse, which is not the gift of God, frommJam. 1. 17. whom all gifts doe come. Neither is it credible, that the Iewes, who were instructed in Gods word, should ever looke to bee justified by a righteousnesse not received from God. The Pharisee himselfe, who trusted unto his owne righteousnesse, and thought, as the Apostle speaketh of the Iewes, nRom. 10. 3.to be justified by his owne righteousnesse, acknowledged it to be the gift of God, and therefore thanked him for it. And hereunto Bellarmine oDe … l. … c. 8elsewhere accordeth, endeavouring by the example of the Pharisee (who trusted in himselfe, as being righteous) to prove that men are not justified by speciall faith, or by affiance in Gods speciall merciemercy. And lest any should object, that hee trusted to a righteousnesse which he had of himselfe, hee addeth: Neither can it bee said, that the Pharisee had faith or affiance of Gods benevolence by reason of his owne merits, as though hee …eleeved that he had his righteousnesse from himselfe. Nam agebat gratias Deo de sua justitia, proinde à Deo eam se habere credebat: for he gave God thankes for his righteousnesse, and therefore beleeved that he had it from God. Secondly, the righteousnesse of God, by which wee are justified, is without the Law revealed in the Gospell: but all that righteousnesse which is from God within us, is fully and perfectly described in the Law.
§. VI. Thirdly, as the severall parts of inherent righteousnesse,The severall parts of righteousnesse inherent …re called ours. though received from God, as being his gifts of grace, are notwithstanding called ours, as our faith, Matth. 9. 2, 22. Rom. 1. 8. Hab. 2. 4. …am. 1. 3. Our charity, 2 Cor. 8. 8, 24. 1 Cor. 16. 24. Philem. 1. and 7. Our hope, Phil. 1. 20. 1 Thess. 2. 19. Our good workes, Mat. 5. 16. Apoc. 2. 2. Our patience, Luk. 21. 19. 2 Thess. 1. 4. Apoc. 2. 2. 3. 10. 13. 10. So righteousnesse inherent is in very many places of Scripture called ours, whereof I will quote some, Gen. 30. 33. 1 Sam. 26. 23. 2 Sam. 22. 21, 25. 1 King. 8. 32. Iob 33. 26. Psalm. 7. 8. 18. 20, 24. 35. 27. 112. 3, 9. Prov. 11. 5, 6. Eccl. 7. 16. Esa. 5. 23. 64. 6. Ezech. in his 3. 4. 18. and 33. chapters, foureteene times. Matth. 5. 20. and 6. 1. according to the Latine, 2 Cor. 9. 9, 10. but there are two which are most remarkeable, Psalm. 4. 1. where David thus calleth upon the Lord, O God of my righteousnesse, that is, saith Bellarmine, pin Psal. 4.à quo est omnis me… justitia, acknowledging all his righteousnesse to bee from God, and yet calleth it his owne righteousnes. Esa. 54. 17. their righteousnesse is from me, saith the Lord, from God, but yet theirs. If it bee objected out of Augustine, that it is called the righteousnesse of God, non qua justus est, sed qua nos justos facit, not whereby hee is just, but whereby hee maketh us just. I answer, that Christs righteousnesse both habituall and actuall, both active and passive is such, for it is not that whereby God, that is the Godhead is just, but that whereby hee maketh us just.
Fourthly, whereas the Papists will needes have the righteousnesse of God, by which wee are justified, and which is the principall matter taught in the Gospell to be inherent in us, though from God: they confound Gods righ teousnes and ours, and thereby confound the Law and the Gospell, and by confounding them abolish the righteousnes of God: as before, by confounding justification with sanctification they abolished the benefit of justification, and evacuate the Gospell, or at least with the false Apostles, Gal. 1. teach another Gospell whiles they teach another righteousnesse whereby to bee justified, than the righteousnes of God: which whosoever doth, though hee were an Apostle, though an Angel from heaven, qGal. 1. 8. Our second argument. By Christs righteousnesse we stand righteous before God, and not by righteousnesse inherent.he ought to be held accursed.
§. VII. Our second argument: That is the matter of our justification besore God, by which wee being sinners in our selves (for that justification, which the Scriptures teach, is the justification rRom. 4. 5. 5. 8. 10.of a sinner) doe stand righteous before God; which wee being sinners may oppose to the judgement of God, why he should not condemne us; which wee being sinners may interpose betwixt Gods justice and us; and which we may plead as a full satisfaction to God for us. Such is the righteousnes of Christ: for being sinners in our selves, yet beleeving in Christ, we are in s2 Cor. 5. 21. Rom. 5. 19.him accepted and constituted righteous. The righteousnesse of Christ is that, which we being sinners in our selves may oppose to Gods judgement, or interpose betwixt Gods justice and us, which wee may plead as a full satisfaction made in our behalfe. For though by our sins wee have deserved to bee condemned, and to be excluded from heaven: yet if wee beleeve in Christ, his sufferings are accepted in our behalfe to free us from hell, and his obedience to entitle us unto heaven. In him we have borne the penalty, in him wee have fulfilled the tRom. 10. 4.Law. Such is not ours: for being sinners in our selves wee cannot stand before God as righteous by justice inherent, neither can wee oppose it to Gods judgement, or interpose it betwixt Gods justice and our sinnes, or plead it as a full satis faction. But the best of us must pray with David, uPsal. 143. 2.Enter not into judgement with thy servant O Lord, for no flesh shall bee righteous in thy sight, namely, if thou enter into judgement with him: and againe, *Psal. 130. 3. 4.if thou Lord shalt marke iniquity, O Lord who shall stand, but there is forgivenesse with thee that thou mayst be feared. Augustine on those words, xAugust. in Psal. 1 29.Quis sustinebit? Non dixit, ego non sustinebo, sed, quis sustinebit? vidit n. propè totam vitam humanam circumlatrari peccatis suis, accusari omnes conscientias cogitationibus s… is, non inveniri cor castum praesumens de sua justitia. Si ergo cor castum non potest inveniri, quod praesumat de sua justitia, praesumat omnium cor de misericordia Dei, & dicat Deo, Si iniquitates observaveris Domine, Domine quis fustinebit? quae a.spes est? quoniam apud te propitiatio est: & quae est ista propitiatio, nisi sacrificium? & quod est sacrificium, nifi quod pro nobis oblatum est? Sanguis innocens fusus delevit omnia peccata nocentium——Ergo est apud te propitiatio. Nam si non esset apud te propitiatio, si judex solum esse velles, & misericors esse nolles, observares omnes iniquitates nostras, & quae…eres, eas, quis sustineret?—quis staret in judicio tuo? Spes ergo una est, quoniam est apud te propitiatio. Againe, yContr. Crescon. lib. 4.Augustine and some others doe use to joyne in coherence the 8. and 9. verses of the 20. Chapter ofProv. 20. 8. 9. the Proverbs: when the righteous King shall sit on his throne, who can say my heart is cleane? wee deny not that there is a righteousnesse inherent in the faithfull, that it is accepted of God in Christ, that it is graciously rewarded; but we deny that we are justified thereby. This is not it, in which wee can stand in judgement before the righteous King sitting on his throne.
§. VIII. Our third argument: By that righteousnesse of man,The third argument because Christs righteousnesse is perfect, and not ours. which onelyonly is perfect, wee are justified, and not by that which is unperfect.
The righteousnesse of Christ, which is out of us in him, is the onelyonly righteousnesse of man which is perfect, and all our inherent righteousnesse in this life is unperfect.
Therefore wee are justified by the righteousnesse of Christ, which is out of us in him, and not by any righteousnesse inherent in our selves.
The proposition needeth no proofe; for that justice, which is not perfect, cannot stand in judgement before God, and is so farre from justifying, that it selfe is sinfull, every imperfection and defect being foreign, a transgression of the Law, and consequently a sinne. So long, saith Augustine zEpist. 29. ad Hieron. quamdiu augeri potest charitas, … illud quod minus est ex vitio est., as charity may be increased, assuredly that, which is lesse than it ought to bee, is vicious: and againe aLib. de perf. justis. ad. 15.more plainely, peccatum est, cum charitas minor est quàm debet, it a sinne when charity is lesse than it ought to-be. I doe not say, that the habit of grace, as faith or charity, or a worke of grace, as prayer, or almes giving is a sinne, and much lesse a mortall sinne, as our adversaries charge us: but I say, that the imperfection or defect of the habit or the worke is a sinne: and in respect thereof neither the habit, nor the worke, though good, is purely and perfectly good, but sinfull and stained bEsai. 64. 6.with the flesh: which staine to them, who are in Christ Iesus, is veniall, and it notwithstanding, both the habit and the worke of grace are cum venia, with favour and indulgence through the merits and intercession of our Saviour in him accepted: the want and imperfection being by his perfect righteousnesse and obedience covered. That the righteousnesse of Christ is perfect, is also manifest: And that it is the onelyonly righteousnesse of man which in this life is perfect, is evidently proved, because all the righteousnesse of all meere and mortall men is unperfect. And that I prove by these reasons:The righteousnesse of all mortall men is unperfect; first, because all are sinners.
§. IX. First, no sinners have perfect righteousnesse inherent in them.
All mortall men are sinners.
Therefore no mortall man hath perfect righteousnesse inherent in him.
The proposition is manifest: for whiles men bee sinners, they cannot be perfectly righteous. The assumption, viz. that all men are sinners, it is proved by the common experience of all men in all ages. Secondly,2 it is grounded upon most plaine and undeniable testimonies of holy Scriptures, which have concluded all men whatsoever under sinne. Gal. 3. 22. Rom. 3. 23. 1 King. 8. 46. Eccl. 7. 20. Thirdly, it is a3 confessed and received truth: which therefore the Apostle in his Enthymeme, Gal. 3. 10. taketh for granted. For thus the Apostle argueth;
Every one that is a transgressour of the Law, is accursed, therefore
All men whatsoever, even those, who seeke by their obedience of the Law to be justified, are accursed. If any man should deny the consequence of this Enthymeme, it is to bee made good by adding the assumption (which the Apostle left out as a thing presupposed and taken for granted) thus,
Whosoever is a transgressour of the Law, is by the Law accursed; which the Apostle expresseth in these termes, cGal. 3. 10.Cursed is every one that continueth not in all the things which are written in the booke of the Law to doe them.
But all men without exception, even those which seeke to be justified by the Law, are transgressours of the Law: Never any man continued in all the things which are written in the booke of the Law to doe them, that is, never any meere and morall man hath so abstained from all evill forbidden, as that he hath also done the things commanded, that he hath done all, that hee hath ever continued in doing all. Thus Chrysostome understandeth the Apostle to argue. No man is justified by the Law, foreign, for all have sinned and are under the curse; and saith, that the Apostle by testimony proveth foreign, that no man hath fulfilled the Law: and Oecumenius likewise in Gal. 3. that the Apostle proveth, that even those who seeke to be justified by the Law are under the Curse, why? foreign, because no man, saith he, fulfilleth the Law.
Therefore all men without exception, even those which seeke to bee justified by the Law, are by the Law accursed: which conclusion is of no force if it bee not granted, that all men are transgressours4 of the Law. Fourthly, all they who are to pray to God for the forgivenesse of their sinnes, are sinners: But all, even the best of men are to pray to God for the forgivenesse of their sinnes. dPsal. 32. 6.Pro hac (that is, for remission of sinnes) or abit ad te omnis sanctus, every godly man shall pray unto thee. Our Saviour taught his owne Apostles and all other Christians, to pray daily for remission of sinne. Every one saith Cyprian eDe oratione dominica.is taught peccare se quotidie, dum quotidie per peccatis jubetur orare, that he sinneth daily, seeing he is commanded to pray daily for his sinnes. Therefore all, even the best of us are sinners: Fifthly, whosoever5 doth that evill which he would not, and doth not that good which hee would, is a sinner, both in respect of commission and omission: but such is the condition of the best, even of the Apostl… himselfe, Rom. 7. 15. 19. for so he saith, vers. 25▪ foreign, I my selfe.
Sixthly, whosoever hath sinne is a sinner; All men have sinne: and that I prove thus;
Whosoever is a lyar himselfe, and maketh God a lyar, that saith he hath no sinne, he undoubtedly is a sinner.
But every man, though he were as holy as the beloved Apostle and Evangelist Saint Iohn, is a lyar himselfe, and maketh God a lyar, that saith he hath no sinne: for if wee (saith he, including himselfe) say we have no sinne, wee deceive our selves, and the truth is not in us, 1 Iohn 1. 8. if we say that we have not sinned we make him a lyar, and his word is not in us, vers. 10. Therefore every man, though hee be as holy as Saint Iohn himselfe, is a sinner.
Seventhly, whosoever is free from sinne is also free from death: No mortall man is free from death: Therefore no mortall man is free from sinne.