The Life of Justification Opened, Chapter 33
CHAP. XXXIII.
The Righteousness of Christ is the special Object of Faith in Justification.
COnsidering what hath been said at some length above, concerning the imputation of the Surety-Righteousness of Christ, in order to Justification, we needed not insist on this here; Seing if what is said touching that fundamental point hold, this will not endure much debate: Yet because Mr. Baxter in his Apologie against Mr. Blake §. 11. is pleased to tell us, that Faith, which is the Iustifying condition, is not terminated on the Righteousness of Christ: And that it is a meer fancy & delusion to speak of the receiving a Righteousness, that we may be justified constitutive thereby, in such a sense, as if the Righteousness were first to be made ours, in order of nature before, our Iustification, & then justification follow, because we are Righteous.
But, sure, this eyeing of, laying hold on, and leaning to the Righteousness of Christ, holdeth clear correspondence with the experience of the Children of God, not only at their first Conversion, when delivered from under the Convictions of sin, and the terrours of the Law; but even afterward, when exercised with new assaults of Satan, objecting unto them their Unworthiness, & Filthiness, and hence inferring their exclusion from the face of God: for then their maine quieting refuge is the Righteousness of Christ; wherein they seek only to be found, acknowledging that in themselves, they are but sinners, and so rejecting their own worth & holiness, as too ragged to cover the shame of their nakedness, wherein they have the Apostle Paul going before them Phil. 3: 8, 9. (which may also serve, for a scriptural proof and ground of the truth in hand) He rejected all these things, wherein sometime he gloried, and he did now (even long after his Conversion, while a prisoner at Rome & after all his great Labour & Paines in spreading the Gospel) count all things (nothing is here excepted) but loss (saith he) for the excestency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, & do count them but dung. that I may win Christ, & be found in him, not having mine own Righteousness (it is nor good that Mr. Baxter should carp at Writters & Preachers, for speaking & teaching after this manner, as he doth Cath. Theol. Mor. Works §. 176.) which is of the Law; but that, which is through the faith of Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by faith. This saith …early, that in order to Justification before God, faith laith hold on a Righteousness, which is of God, and which is had by the Faith of Christ.
And this Surety-Righteousness of Christ, is that which can only prove sutable unto the case of a wakened sinner, pressed with the guilt of sin, and seeing justice armed against him, stopping his way to life, because of his Un-righteousness. What can be more welcome unto such a sinner, than the newes of a Righteousness, and of having Christ to become the Lord his Righteousness, as made of God Righteousness? And what can his faith grippe to more earnestly, than to this Righteousness, that he may be covered therewith, and think with joy of appearing before God? How else shall he think to be justified by God, who is just, even when the justifier of a beleeving sinner. He knoweth, that God is Righteous, and will not acquit the guilty; and therefore he must have a Righteousness, that he may be in case to stand before the Righteous God: So that he can have no peace, till by faith he have interest in the Surety-Righteousness of Jesus Christ; for he knoweth, that he hath none of his owne, and that there is none any where else to be had.
And further, this way doth exceedingly serve to demonstrate, upon the one hand, the Righteousness of God, who will not Justifie without a Righteousness, or one that hath no Righteousness; and upon the other hand, it commendeth the riches of the free Grace & Mercy of God, when the sinner seeth, how free Love hath provided such an alsufficient Remedie, a Righteousness against which, no exception can be made, and a Righteousness, under the wings of which, he may saifly hide & shelter himself & being covered with which, he may rest confidente of acceptance, and so may with full peace of mind rest here, and relye upon it. As also it serveth exceedingly to abase man in his own eyes, and to make him for ever keep a low saile, and walk humblie before this God, and give Him the Glory of all.
Hence this Righteousness is called the Righteousness of Faith, or of Christ beleeved in, and laid hold on Rom. 4: 13. & the Righteousness of God, which is by faith of Iesus Christ Rom. 3: 22. Phil. 3: 9. & a Righteousness through the faith of Christ, ibid. All which & the like expressions do manifestly say, that faith laith hold on a Righteousness, even on the Righteousness of God. And this Righteousness is said to be unto all, & upon all them that beleeve Rom. 3. 22. foreign. And imputed, or reckoned upon their score. Rom 4: 24. Mr. Baxter in the forecited book Cath. Theol. §. 131. saith that the meaning of this Rom. 4: 24. is no more, but that God reputeth, or judgeth us Righteous. But how can he repute us Righteous, unless we have a Righteousness, either of our own, or from some other: of ourselves we have not a Righteousness, unless he account beleeving all our Righteousness, against which we have said enough above; and the very words of the text will not admit of this glosse, as was also shown above. If it be the Righteousness of Christ, who was delivered for our Offences, and was raised againe for our Justification vers. 25. then it is fit object for faith to lay hold on, it being Christ's Surety-Righteousness, or the Righteousness, which he performed & wrought out, when he was delivered for our offences; and which was publickly declared to be accepted, when he was raised againe for our Justification. And whatever Mr. Baxter think, this is, and must be so far made our owne, through the gracious Imputation of God, that the Righteous God, whose judgment is to according to truth, may pronunce us Righteous, and accept of us, as such. But saith he, Imputing Righteousness to us, is a consequent act (after faith) of God as judge, and not an antecedent donation] Yet it is such a consequent act of God, as necessarily presupposeth God's free antecedent Donation: for it is God's reckoning that Righteousness upon the beleevers score, in order to the Justifying of him thereupon; and because this Righteousness must be given, we not having it of ourselves, there must a free donation antecede, and this groundeth Faiths accepting thereof, and receiving of it. And himself immediatly before this, saith, that God, giving us all the effects, or Salvation merited, in it self properly, is said also not unfitly to give us the merit or Righteousness, which procured them, that is, as it was paid to God for us, to procure them. And if so, why doth he inveigh so much, in the foregoing pages, against the orthodox doctrine of Imputation; seing he cannot but know, that they do not say, that God doth give us the very habits of holiness (as he speaketh there) which were in Christ, nor the transient acts which he performed, nor the very sufferings which he under-went, nor the Relation of Righteous Satisfactory & Meritorious, as it was that numerical relation, which immediatly resulted from Christ's own habits, acts and sufferings: They dreame of no such Translation of accidents. But only say, that seing (as Mr. Baxter here & elsewhere saith) this satisfactory Righteousness was paid to God for them, and accepted of God, as a compleat & Satisfactory Righteousness, they by faith coming to be united unto Christ (according to the way & methode, which the Lord hath wisely condescended upon) have an interest in that Satisfactory Righteousness, as legally made over unto them, and therefore have the benefites purchased thereby; as when a stranger, who was not under the Obligation, cometh to pay the debt of a debtor lying in prison, the payment must in Law sense be made, and accounted the debtors, or put upon his score, and received upon his account, ere he can therefore be relieved out of Prison.
But in the fore-cited place against Mr. Blake he maketh this Righteousness & Remission all one thing: And indeed if it were so, it could not belong to the Object of Faith, other wayes, than as an end, intended to be obtained thereby. But to us Remission is a benefite purchased by this Righteousness, and followeth upon our having interest therein through Faith, according to the appointment of God: a Pardoned man, as such, is not a Righteous man. But he tels us there, that our divines of the Assembly do perfectly define justifying Faith to be, a receiving & resting on Christ alone for Salvation, as he is offerest in the Gospel. It is of dangerous consequence to define justifying faith to be the receiving of justification, or Righteousness. Ans. Here we have Justification & Righteousness made one and the same, which with me, differ as Cause & Effect; our divines of the Assembly give a more full definition or description of Justifying Faith, in the Larger Catechisme, and there tell us, that thereby the convinced sinner receiveth & resteth upon Christ, & (N.B.) his Righteousness therein (i.e. in the Gospel) held forth, for pardon of sin, & for the accepting & accounting of his person Righteous in the sight of God for Salvation. And if Mr. Baxter would say so much, as is here, this debate would be at an end, and yet I finde not this among his exceptions, against that Catechisme, in his Confession. And when our devines mentione this Receiving & Resting upon Christ's Righteousness, they make not Justifying Faith to be a receiving of Justification; but the one a cause of the other: And he addeth a little thereafter, (which is considerable to our present purpose) That receptio Ethica activa of justification, or of Righteousness (for they are both one thing with him) goeth before Iustification, as a small & secondary part of condition, it being the accepting of Christ himself, that is the maine condition: And we never spoke of the receiving by Faith of Christ's Righteousness, as exclusive of the receiving of himself. He tels us next. That Christ's Satisfaction or Redemption (solvendo pretium) & merit, cannot properly be received by us; for they are not in themselves given to us. We grant the price was payed to God, but it being payed to God for us, it may be imputed to us, and reckoned upon our score; and we may that way receive it by faith, and Lean our soul upon it, to the end, that the fruit of it may be given to us. And likewise he granteth ibid. that justifying faith doth as necessarily respect Christ's satisfaction & merit, as it doth our Iustification thereby procurea. If he will grant, that Justifying Faith respecteth Christ's Satisfaction & Merite, as the Cause, in which we are to have an interest, and under which we must refuge our selves, and upon the account of which we are to be accepted of God, and accounted Righteous in his sight, all is granted that I desire.
But his following exceptions are founded upon a manifest mistake of his own, taking this Righteousness, whereof we speak, and Justification, for one and the same thing: for he saith. To say therefore, that the justifying act of faith, is only the receiving of Christ's Righteousness, or of Iustification, is to exclude the receiving of Christ himself, any way, even to exclude him as Satisfier from the justifying act: & to exclude from that act his Redemption by Bloudshed, Satisfaction & Merite. The mistake here is palpable: for we look on Righteousness, which faith receiveth, as the Cause, and on Justification as the Effect: when this Righteousness of Christ, the causa proca…arctica of our Justification, is received by faith, it is impossible, but Christ himself must be received as a Satisfier: his Redemption, Bloudshed, Satisfaction & Merite, cannot be excluded; for therein was the Righteousness, which faith laith hold upon, in order to Justification. He addeth for confirmation, for if it be only the receiving of Righteousness, that is the justifying act; than it is neither the receiving of Christ himself, nor yet the acknowledgment of his Satisfaction & Redemption by his blood. But this is nothing but what was said, repeated againe, Neither do we say, that the Justifying act of Faith, as it is called, is a receiving of Christ's Righteousness, as distinct from himself: nor is it imaginable, how Christ's Righteousness can be received, without the acknowledgment of his Satisfaction, and of the Redemption by his blood.
How he can say, that Christ's Righteousness & our Justification, are but one and the same thing, I do not understand, when as he saith himself▪ Cath. Theol. of moral works Sect. 13. n. 208. that our first constitutive justification (which is it whereof we are here speaking, to wit, that by which a soul is brought from an Unrighteous to a Righteous State, as he speaketh, n. 207.) is in its nature a right to impunity & to life, or glory. Now sure, this Relation, or Relative state is one thing, and the Righteousness of Christ, the ground & meritorious cause thereof is a far other thing. And when he saith Apologie ag. Mr. Eyre. §. 4. that he is well content to call Christ's Righteousness of Satisfaction the matter of ours, and that the imputation of Christ's Righteousness, taken for Donation, is the forme of Constitutive Iustification, & that sentential adjudication of Christ's Righteousness to us, is the forme of our sentential Iustification.
That Faith in order to Justification doth in a special manner, eye the Righteousness of Christ, is clear from Esai. 45: 24, 25, Surely shall one say, in the Lord have I Righteousness; & then followeth. In the Lord shall al… the seed of Israel be justified. This truth is also clearly held forth, when faith in the matter of Justification, is called faith in Christ's blood Rom. 3: 25. for when faith laith hold on the bloud of Christ, it cannot but lay hold on his Surety-Righteousness, whom God set forth to be a Propitiation; and in & through whom there was a Redemption wrought vers. 24. for this hlood was the Redemption-money, the price payed, in order to Redemption. 1. Pet. 1: 18, 19. And the blessedness of Justification is through the Imputation of Righteousness, without our works Rom. 4: 6. and therefore faith, in order to the obtaining of this blessedness, must eye and relye upon this Righteousness which is the Righteousness of him, who was delivered for our offences and was raised againe for our Justification vers. 25. where we may also observe a manifest difference betwixt this Righteousness, (which consisteth in his being delivered for our offences) and our Justification; the one being the Cause (as was said) & the other the Effect.
Moreover, this same truth is clear from R…m. 5: 17. where we read of the receiving of the gift of righteousness, which is by faith, and that in order to a reigning in life by one Jesus Christ: where also we see a difference put betwixt this gift of Righteousness & Reigning in life; which is also more cleare, in the following vers. 18. Even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto Iustification of life: this righteousness of one, to wit, one Jesus Christ, is the Cause, and the Iustification of life, is the Effect: And further this difference is againe held forth. vers. 19, 20, 21. Our being made Righteous is different from the obedience of one Christ Jesus; and by the Imputation of this Obedience to us, do we become Righteous, as our being made sinners is different from Adam's act of Disobedience; and we are made sinners by the Imputation of it to us. And as sin & death are different, when it is said, that sin hath reigned unto death; so Eternal life is different from Righteousness, when it is said, so might grace reigne through righteousness unto eternal life.
We need say no more of this, seing it clearly followeth, from what was formerly at length confirmed; to wit, That justification is by the Righteousness of Christ imputed.