The Life of Justification Opened, Chapter 1
CHAPT. I.
The Introduction; & the text (the ground of this following discourse) opened-up.
THe Doctrine of Iustification cannot but be acknowledged by all, whose thoughts are taken up about an interest in everlasting felicity, to be of great concernment; & debates or Controversies about the same cannot be esteemed vaine & fruitless Digladiations, & Disputes about a thing of naught; seing in this lyeth the Ground of all our Hop, peace, & Eternal Salvation; & a Mistake or Errour, as to the Theorie in this matter, followed with an answerable & corresponding practice, (I meane as to what toucheth the heart & Substance of this Divine Mystery) may, yea must of necessity, prove not only dangerous to Souls; but even inevitably destructive. Wherefore it cannot be justly accounted blame worthy, that Churches & particular persons, who woule be faithful (& so accounted) unto the grand-interests of Souls, contend, with alle earnestness, for the faith once delivered to the Saints, in this particular; this being the true Basis of all Religion, & of Christianity; without which there can be no access to, nor Communion with, God; No peace with God, nor true peace in owr own Consciences; no life of Comfort here, nor true hope of Salvation for ever here after; No change of State, nor saving change of li…e & conversation; in a word, no life of Grace here, nor of Glory hereafter: And what then must follow upon the corrupting of this Truth, & upon Erroneous Apprehensions & practices herein, is aboundantly obvious to all such, as have not sinned away all sense & consideration, in these matters.
Wherefore it is no wonder, that Satan hath, in all ages, laboured, by one Instrument or other, upon one occasion or other, and under one pretext, or other, to corrupt the pure streames of this wholesome Fountaine of Truth, in one Measure or other, in one particular or other; & that by such Mediums & Arguments, as he knew would be most taking, & seem most plausible, at these Several times, & upon these Several occasions. What way, & how far the corruption of this Truth was advanced, in the Antichristian Church, is yet known; & what ground, their errour in this gave un to such, as began to be enlightened in the knowledge of the Truth, to separate from them, & to appear against them, is manifest: and what Effaies the Devil made, about the beginning of Reformation, or shortly after, to darken this Truth, by Questions & Disputes, even among such, as hold the Truth fast, as to the maine, and what since, by Several New Opinions, or new Modes and Methods (as they were called, and given out to be) vented, and improven by Several Artifices, to seeming different Ends, he hath effectuated; to the hardening of some, in their Misapprehensions; & to the Corrupting of the Hearts & Mindes of others; and also the Staggering and Shaking of not a few, may be called to minde with grief and sorrow; Not to mention the bold attempt, made by Socinians, to overturne the whole Grounds of Christian Religion; and to take away at once all the pillars of Gospel-justification.
The devil began early, in the breaking up of the clear day of Christianity, to darken this Sun, that the poor Church might for ever abide in darkness, if the Church, her Head and Husband had not provided a Remedie, and had not effectually dispelled these Cloudes: And he had no small advantage of the corrupt Iewes, who had a zeal of God, but not according to knowledg, and had a very Specious pretext of crying up the Law, prescribed by God himself, and of Obedience thereunto, and constant observation thereof, in all points, to the prejudice of the Gospel-truth, in the matter of Justification. And though the first rise of this difference and debate was upon occasion of the Ceremonial Law, which was the dispensation of the Grace of God, which the ancient Church was under, while under Tutors & Governours, and in her Non-age state; and was never rightly obeyed, or improven, but when in led them unto the promised Messiah, Christ, the end of that law, in a peculiar manner, the Substance thereof, and vailed thereunder; and which they might have known, was to be done away, when Christ, the Substance of all those shadowes, came in to the world, in the due time appointed and foretold; and which, contrare to its very Nature & End, to the many prophecies of old, & to the signal dispensations of God, giving clear significations of his mind, touching the evanishing of these shadowes, the Iewes, principled with false Conceptions about that Law, & with prejudices against the truth of the Gospel, and animated and encouraged by false Teachers, raised up of Satan, to corrupt the Doctrine of the Grace of God, did strenuously contend for the constant Observation thereof, either Solely, as a Sufficient ground of their Justification; or in conjunction with the Gospel: Yet, because this tookalongs with it, the observation of all that Law, which God had prescribed of old, as the only ground, in their mistaken apprehension, of their Justification, & acceptance with God; therefore we finde the Apostle Paul (who was especially stirred up, & immediatly inspired of the Spirit, to vindicat the Gospel-way of justification from this corruption; after he had been singularly fitted thereunto, by being in so signal a manner brought to embrace this Truth, (who was formerly so zealous for the Law, & against the Gospel in all points) prosecuting the controversie to the full; & not only handling it in reference to the immediat Rise & occasion thereof; but in reference to that also, where-unto of necessity it must have come, & where it must have landed, at length.
And though there have been few, since those dayes, & none at present, who will contend for the Observation of the ceremonial Law, in the sense, & for Ends, urged by the jewes, & jewish false Apostles, in the primitive times; yet we must not think, that therefore all the Doctrine of the Apostle hereanent is if no use to us. Many debates & discourses had the Apostle, beside what we have recorded of him in Scripture; & to think, that his Disputes & Discourses, in his Epistles, concerning Justification, are of no more concernment to us, as to the question about justification, because none now adaies, plead for justification by the observation of the ceremonial Law, as did the jewes, against whom Paul Disputed, is, in my judgment, no small imputation upon the Spirit of the Lord, inspireing the Apostle to write these Epistles, & putting them into our Canon: and of this such, in my apprehension must be guilty, who think to wave all the Apostles Discourses, in this matter, with this, that he is only to be understood, as speaking & Disputing against such, as criedup the constant observation of the Ceremonial Law, as such.
But, whatever circumstantial differences, whether as to the Rise or occasion, or as to other things of the like Import, there may seem to be, or may really be, betwixt the Disput, as then stated, & as now prosecuted; Yet all the Disputes & Differences about the Maine & Essentials of justification, as also about inferiour & subordinat Questions, in so far as they depend upon, or are influenced by the Maine, will be found to be, upon the matter, one & the same, whether managed of late or of old: For different Termes & Expressions may be, where the matter & thing so expressed, is really one & the same. And therefore, as we are to observe with thankfulness the Lords love to & care of His Church, in providing & preserving, for the use & Edification of the same, in all ages, to the end of the world, such a necessary Depositum; & His wonderful wisdome in inspireing His Amanue…ses so to write, as not only to refell the Errour, in all its Circumstances & Branches, as it was then broached, to the darkning of Gospel-light; but so also as the Truth might remaine full cleared, confirmed & saifguared against all the assaults of Satan, in all time coming, by whatever Instruments, & under whatsomever new Notions, Distinctions, Termes of art, Expressions and pretences, the same may come … be attacqued: So are we to acquaint our selves well with the Doctrine of the Spirit of the Lord, in this matter; to the end, we may be fully instructed in the Truth, & enabled, to maintaine the same, & fortified against all new Assaults; or, rather, old Assaults renewed, howbeit mannaged by seemingly new weapons, & new filed Instruments & Arguments.
It would prove long & tedious, to handle at length (& to touch in short, upon them, may seem to some to be but superficiary work) all the various controversies, that are on foot this day, about the matter of justification; & a short discovery of the truth, in this matter, as to the most principal things controverted (to which others may be so reduced, as a Scriptural discovery of the truth, as to those, may serve for a discussion of the rest; at least, so pave the way, that a solution of these Inferiour Controversies may be the more easie) may therefore be sufficient to such, at least, whose Edification and Instruction we mostly Intend here; that is, Such, as are not in case to improve what is written of Controversies, in Scholastick & abstruse termes. And, I judge, who ever handle this Controversie, in such termes only, or mostly, as are above the reach of ordinary Christians, who are herein as much concerned, as others, misse that mark, which they should mainely aime at, that is, Edification & Instruction of such, whose high concernment this is; & who have most need to be plainely instructed in this foundamental point of Truth, a Practical mistake in which may prove to them deadly & destructive; & especially of such, who, when under the pangs of an awakened Conscience, & under the convictions of sin, & fears of wrath, pursueing for sin, are then most ready to take any course that may seem to promise present ease & reliefe; & to be led away from Christ, the onelyonly peace-maker, through the slight of Satan, & the deceitfulness of their own heart; & through Ignorance of, or Mis-information about the true Gospel-way of Justification & peace with God; whereby their Ease & Reliefe may prove more deadly, than was their Distemper & Disquiet. As therefore, I Judge, this concerning Truth cannot be made plaine enough; so I think, the less use be made of Philosophick or Scholastick termes (which none but such as are well versed in these dry Nations, can competently understand; & which, though never so handsomely, set off, will prove very unsatisfying to awakened Consciences) it will be so much the better; seing, let men please themselves in them, as they will, as they are not the language, the Spirit of the Lord hath thought good to use in this matter so they darken rather, than cleare the matter, at least to me.
The Apostle (that we may in short cleare the words, upon which we are to ground our Discourse) in this vers. 11. after other Arguments, formerly adduced to prove the Thesis, which he laid down Chap. 2. vers. 16. to wit, That a man is not Iustified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Iesus Christ; he bringeth another Argument from Scripture, after he hath againe repeated the one halfe of the grand Thesis, by which the other is suffificiently understood, & more emphatically included in the probation, or Testimony of Scripture adduced, saying,
Gal. 3: 11. But that no man is Justified by the Law, in the sight of God, it is evident; for the just shall live by faith.
HE doth not explaine what is meaned by that word, Iustified; but presupposeth that there was no doubt, concerning the true meaning thereof, among those, with whom he had to do, in this Disput: as Indeed none, that consider what is the constant use thereof, in the Old Testament, (well known to the Jewish Teachers) yea & in the New Testament also, can doubt of its true Import, how ever Papists do quite mistake its true Nature & Import, supposing that it signifieth an Inward Renovation, or Infusion of Holiness; & so make it the same with Sanctification. But as no man, acquainted with the Scriptures, & with what is said of justification in them, can be ignorant of its right meaning; so every man, exercised with the sense of his own natural condition, & of the curse of the Law, under which he feeleth himself lying, according to what is here said, in the foregoing verse, readily understandeth, what it is to be justified & freed from that curse & Sentence of Condemnation; & so made free from the wrath that he is liable unto, because of the broken Law of God: So that we need say no more of it here.
He saith, No man is Iustified by the Law; & so, maketh no exception of any what somever, no not of the holiest meer Man, that ever existed since the fall: & this is of the same import with that expression Chap. 2: 16. No flesh; for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. So he hath the same expression Rom. 3: 20.
It is here said, by the Law; in the original it is, in the Law: but the sense is the same with that expression Chap. 2: 16. thrice repeated, by the works of the Law. The Ethiopike Version here is rather a short Commentary: for there it is; They are not justified doing the command of the Law. It is observable, That the Apostle useth variety of expressions, in this matter, all tending to cleare this one thing. That there is no justification by the works of the Law; so as no coloure or shew of evasion might be left unto any. Rom. 3. 20. he saith foreign, by or out of the works of the Law; as also Gal. 2: 16. And Rom. 3: 28. foreign, without the works of the Law; they having no consideration therein. Rom. 4: 2. foreign by, or out of works. So that there is no justification by the Law, nor by works; nor by the works of the Law: all which expressions are used to signifie one & the same thing. And in the following verse, he taketh the Law, & doing of them, that is, the commands of the Law, for one & the same thing. Those that were looking to the Law for justification, he saith of them vers 10. That they are of the works of the Law and chap. 4: 21.—Ye that desire to be under the Law. This elsewhere viz Phil. 3: 9. he calleth his own righteousness, which it of the Law: & Tit. 3: 5. works of righteousnoss, which we have done- & Rom. 10: 3. their own righteousness & Rom. 9: 31. the Law of righteousness. But what Law is this, by which, he denieth, that any can be justified? The forementioned Expressions do Sufficiently cleare, what Law he meaneth, even all that Law, that was the Rule of Righteousness, & was prescribed of God, as such; & not the Ceremonial Law only: that Law, by the works whereof he denied (Rom. 4: 1, 2.) that Abraham, the father of the faithful, was justified. That Law, in obedience to which consisted that righteousness, which the jewes laboured to cause stand; & that righteousness, which himself desired not to be found in: That Law, which was called the Law of righteouness: That Law, which the Gospel establisheth Rom. 3: 31. In a word, it is that Law, whereof he speaketh, in the preceeding verse, that is, that Law, the transgression of which, in the least particular, bringeth the sinner under the curse, according to that saying. Cursed is every one, that continueth not in all things, which are contained in the book of the Law, to do them Deut. 27: 26. And here also we see the Law & the book of the Law, are one: & sure, this book of the Law contained more, than the Ceremonial Law, even all the Moral Commandments; in respect of which & not in respect of the Ceremonial Law, the Gentiles, & amongst the rest, these Galatians, at least, so many of them, as had not yet Judaized, were of the Law, & so, under the curse. It is obvious, how useless all the Disput of the Apostle here, & in his Epistle to the Romanes, is rendered by asserting, That Paul's Disput runneth only upon the observation of the Ceremonial Law; seing now the very Subject of the debate is taken away from us. And, if matters be so, I would faine know, why the Apostle should have used any other Argument, in all his Dispute, beside this one, That by the Gospel, the subject of the question is wholly removed; the Ceremonial Law being utterly abrogated by the Gospel? Sure, this would have Sufficiently put an end to that debate. But this Supposal is, I confess, a short cutt to answere all the otherwise unanswerable Arguments of the Apostle against Justification by works, but yet it is such, as cannot yeeld satisfaction.
He addeth, in the sight of God, foreign, which is the same, upon the matter, with that expression Rom. 3: 20▪ foreign, in His sight; whereby we understand, what justification this is, whereof the Apostle speaketh; even; justification before Gods Tribunal, in His Court, who is the Supream & Righteous judge; as it is with Him alone that the poor convinced & wakened Sinner hath to do: And this is the justification, that we are most concerned to know the nature of, & to understand what way it is brought about, or to be had: This is the justification, which the Apostle alwayes denieth to be by works, & asserteth alwayes to be by faith, in opposition to works. As for a justification of our selves against the false Accusations of Satan, the unjust Surmises of our own treacherous Hearts, & mis-informed Consciences, & the groundless Alleigances of men, judging not according to truth, but according to their owne mis-apprehensions (whereof Iob's friends were guilty, in an high measure) It is not that justification, whereof the Apostle treateth. And whatever Interest good works may have herein, as real fruites of an upright working faith, & consequenly as evidences of our Interest in Christ, & of our being in a state of justification; Yet they are utterly excluded from having an Interest in that justification, which is before God, & in His sight: & here, Christ's Righteousness, Laid hold on by faith, only taketh place.
The Argument, whereby the Apostle disproveth this justification by the works of Law, in the sight of God, is in the following words, where he ushereth-in the argument with an, It is Manifest, foreign; to shew, That the Argument was irrefragable, & that the truth thereby was certaine, & beyond Contradiction. Now, the Argument is taken from the opposition, that is betwixt Faith, & the Law, or, the works of the Law, in the matter of justification: A ground, whereupon the Apostle goeth, in his whole Disput, upon this matter; as we see Rom. 3: 27, 28. & 4: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. & 9: 32. Gal. 2: 16. and therefore it must be a certaine truth, That if justification before God be by faith, it can not be by works; & consequently, whoever assert justification by works, destroy Gospel-justification by faith: and hence, it is also Manifest, That justification cannot be by both together, Faith & works conjoined; because what is of faith cannot be of works; these two being here inconsistent Rom. 11: 6.
That Gospel-justification is by faith, the Apostle proveth from that known sentence, the just shall live by faith; a sentence, which the Apostle adduced first of all, when he was to handle this question, in his Epistle to the Romans Chap. 1. vers 17. saying; for therein (i.e. in the Gospel) is the Righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Where we see, that this Sentence confirmeth the whole nature & contents of the Gospel, that is, That the Righteousness of God, i.e. the Righteousness, which only will stand in Gods Court, & be accepted of him, in order to the justifying of sinners; & which is the Righteousness of one, who is God, is revealed from faith to saith; that is to say, is hold forth to be embraced bysinners through faith, first & last; & this Righteousness, thus embraced & laid hold on by faith, is the onelyonly ground of the life of justification: so that beleevers their living by faith, saith, their faith laith hold on the Righteousness of God, revealed in the Gospel, as the onelyonly ground of their life.
As to the passage it self, it is cited our of Habakuk chap. 2. vers 4. where the Prophet being told vers 3. that howbeit sometime would passe, ere the promised delivery should come; Yet it would come; & that therefore he & all the People of God, should waite for it, & live in the certaine expectation thereof, addeth these words, as being told him of the Lord, that his Soul, which is lifted up, is not upright in him (how variously & these words are rendered by diverse, we need not mentione) the meaning is this, That such, as will not, in faith & patience, waite with confidence upon the Lords promise, that shall be made good, in His good time; but in their pride & impatience of heart, will think to anticipate their delivery, by sinistrous & sinful meanes, declare, that their heart is not upright, & that they are void of true faith. Upon the other hand, it is said, the just shall live by his faith, that is, Such, as are real & true beleevers, will waite in the exercise of faith, till God's time come; & by this faith, trusting & leaning to the faithful promise of God, through the Messiah, in whom all the promises are yea & amen 2 Cor. 1: 20. they shall have a life of it, they shall be carried thorow, supported, strengthened & com…orted. And much to this same Purpose, is this passage, cited by the Apostle Hebr. 10: 37, 38. For yet a little while, & he that shall come, will come, & will not tarry, now the just shall live by faith &c. (of which we have spoken elsewhere) in all these places, the Apostle leaveth out the pronoun his, which the Prophet useth; but that maketh no great alteration, the matter being clear, & that sufficiently understood. The Septuagints make a great alteration, when they render the words thus, The just shall live by my faith.
The great difficulty is, how these words of the Prophet, spoken of such, as were already justified, & beleevers; & his saying of them, that they shall live by their faith (for we need not owne that sense of the words; which some think may not improbably be given, to wit, That he, who is by his faith just (or justified) shall live) can be applicable to the Apostl'es purpose, to prove justification by faith. Not to mentione what others say to this, nor judging it very necessary to enquire anxiously into this matter, seing the Spirit of the Lord's moving & inspireing of Paul to alleige, & apply this passage of Old Testament truth, for confirmation of what he was about to prove, may fully satisfie us, as to its pertinency, though we should not satisfie all by proprosing our thoughts concernin it. … Conceive, the ground may be this, That this being a general truth, & universally true, that even beleevers, who are already changed, & have a life begun in them, must all their life long make use of faith, gripping to the promises, as yea, & amen in Christ, (promised & come) who is the Substance & Kirnel of them all, to the end they may be supported, Strengthened. Upheld, & carried thorow Difficulties, Distresses, Darknesses, Temptations & the like, without fainting, or doing what is unbeseeming a living Beleever, in the day of trial; so that their whole life, even unto the end, is kept-in & continued by faith, bringing new supplies & influences from the head, through the promises; it will hence follow, that without faith no man can at first attaine to this life, & change from death; yea, that in this case, faith is much more necessarily requisite, yea faith only without works is & must be, the only way to justification of life: for if the progress, & continuance of this life, or renewing of it after decayes, be had by faith, drawing sap, life & influence from the head, much more must this be the way of getting the first change made from death to life. And this way (or not much different) of argueing in this same debate, we see the Apostle followeth Rom. 4. where from what was said of Abraham, a considerable time after he was a beleever, he proveth justification by faith, without works, or that Abraham was justified by faith, & not by works. The Import then of the Testimony is, that this life, whereof beleevers are made partakers, is begun, continued & carried on by faith, & therefore it is not by the works of the Law, but by faith, that they are justified & brought into a state of life; If it be true, that without faith, even belevers cannot be supported, nor in case to live, as becometh, to the glory of God, & to their own peace & Comforth, in new Trials & Difficulties; much more is it true, that without faith those, who are in nature, & in state of Enmity to God, cannot live the life of justification, & with it alone they can & shall.
Before we come to speak particularly to any Truthes, deducable from the words, we shall premise some few things considerable.