The Life of Justification Opened, Chapter 6

The Life of Justification Opened · Chapter 6

p. 34CHAP. VI.

What mysteries are in Justification.

WHat was said in the foregoing Chapter may by way of use, First, discover unto us that Kindness and Love of God our Saviour, that hath appeared unto men, whereof the Apostle speaketh, Tit. 3: 4. For this is one remarkable Instance thereof, and calleth for Admiration and praise from us, upon that account. O! what Tenderness, Love and Pity appeareth here! And what a wonderful Grace is this, that is here manifested? what condescension of Love and free Grace is clearly legible in this business? And how clear and distinct will all this appear to a self condemned sinner, arraigned in its convinced Conscience, before the tribunal of God; and then seeth, in the Gospel, a well contrived way of absolution, & closeth with it? How will all this shine forth unto them with a heavenly Lustre and Majestie? And how sweetly will their hearts acquiesce in this Sure and Saife way of obtaining life?

Secondly, This may discover unto us, what a manifold wisdom of God is to be seen & observed, in the Gospel dispensation, that even Principalities p. 35and powers may look into, and wonder at; as it is said to be made known unto them, by the Church, Ephes. 3: 10. That is, by what they see and observe, in the administration thereof, in the Church. And in this part of Gospel-device, there are several things remarkable, that may give us ground to wonder at this manifold Wisdom of God. The whole is a mysterie, and this is a prime part of the mysterie, and in this mysterie there are many mysteries, a short view of which may be of some use to us.

1. What a mysterious and wonderful thing is it, That such, as are dead by Law, lying under the sentence thereof, & so bound over to the wrath of God, according to the threatning of the Law, which is just and righteous in all points; and such, as have nothing to defend themselves by from the threatned death, unto which they are obnoxious; nor any thing, whereby to make Satisfaction to the demandes of the Law, or to the offended Lawmaker, or where with to appease Him; should notwithstanding hereof be Really, Formally and Effectually absolved from the sentence of the Law, by the sentence of the Judge; and so made and declared to live juridically & in Law-sense; and to be as free of the curse and penalty of the Law, as if they had never been guilty of the transgression thereof. And thus is it here indeed; Such, as were dead in trespasses and sinnes, and in the uncircumcision of the flesh, are quickened together with Christ, Ephes. 2: 1, 5. Col. 2: 13. He, who before had the wrath of God on him, and abiding on him, by beleeving on the Son of God, hath everlasting life, Ioh. 3: 36. And they, who were in a manner condemned already, yet, by beleeving on Him, are not condemned, yea have eternal life, Ioh. 3: 15, 18.

2. What a mysterie is this, That God, who is righteous and just, and the righteous Judge of the World, and who hath declared, that he looketh upon it, as an abomination for any man to justifie the wicked Prov. 17: 15. And whose judgement is alwayes according to truth. Rom. 2: 2. Should be one that justifieth the Ungodly? And yet so is He said to be, and so is He stiled, and so is He held forth, as the object of faith, Rom. 4. 5. But to him that worketh not, but beleeveth on Him, that justifieth the Ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, Papists & others, who will not suffer their Reason to follow Revelation, but will measure all the mysteries of the Gospel, by the corrupt rule of Reason; and wiredraw those, according to the dictats of this, pretend an Inconsistency here; and therefore will rather pervert the whole nature of Gospel-justification, than yeeld to the Spirits Revelation of the matter. Hence it is, that they say, a person cannot be justified by God, untill he be a Godly man, and have a Righteousness within him, upon the account of which he must be justified; little adverting, That by their own principles it would follow, that no man should ever be justified: for, seing God is a God of righteousness, and it is a sure and certaine thing, that His judgment is alwayes according to truth, He could not absolve a Person as righteous, that were not perfectly righteous, and void of all sin; & where is the man, (not out of his wits) that dar say this, remembering what David said, Psal. 130. 3. & 143. 2. But here lyeth the truth & the mystery. Such p. 36as are really and truely Ungodly in themselves, and have nothing of their own, but unrighteousness within them, and whose righteousnesses are but as filthy rags, Esai. 64: 6. are yet justified by God upon the account of a perfect righteousness, imputed to them, & received by faith. In the judgment of God, such, as in themselves are Ungodly, are considered as clothed with the perfect righteousness of the Mediator, Christ, that Head & publik person, which free grace putteth on them, & they receive & stand under by faith; and so are justified & declared to be righteous by God, whose judgment herein and sentence is most righteous, & most consonant to truth: for he justifieth such, as are righteous, though not with their own inherent righteousness, yet with the righteousness of their cautioner, now made theirs.

3. Here is another piece of this mystery, That Transgressours of the Law shall be Absolved and Justified; & yet the Law established, which threatneth death to Transgressours, and promiseth life only to such, as observe it in all points. Who can reconcile this seeming Contradiction, that is not acquanted with the glorious mystery of the Gospel? Paul, a man well acquanted with this mystery, tels us expresly, that the Gospel-way of justification, which he preached, and fully cleared in his Epistles, derogateth nothing from the Law, but establisheth it, Rom. 3: 31. Where, after he had cleared & confirmed the Nature and Causes of Gospel-justification, & had said vers 30. that He was one God, who would justifie the circumcision (or Jewes) by faith, and the uncircumcision (that is, the Gentiles) through faith; hy obv…ateth this objection, that some might have proposed, & said, What shall then become of the Law? you make it void, by speaking of faith, & ascribing justification to it, as a mean, in opposition & contradiction to works: he answereth. Do we then make void the Law, through faith? That be far from us, yea we establish the Law. So that there is nothing, in this Gospel justification, that weakeneth, or maketh void the Law; but, on the contrary, it is thereby more fully confirmed and established: for, what the Law could not do, in that it was weak, through the flesh, God sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, & for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteouness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, Rom. 8: 2, 3. Here is then the mysterie, Transgressours of the Law are justified, upon the account of what their Mediator, and Surety, their publik person & Representer did & suffered, for Satisfaction to Law, Justice & the Law-giver; & by what He did & suffered, the Law is more established, then it would have been by any thing that we did, or could suffer; for He made Satisfaction to all its demands; there was perfect obedience given thereunto, & its commands answered, in all points, by our Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, nor was deceite found in His mouth, 2 Cor. 5: 21. Esai. 53: 9. And because it was violated by sinners, & the Curse threatned was due, therefore, He did also satisfie that demand, by dying the shameful death of the cross, & undergoing the wrath & curse, due to us for sin; & thereby making a more perfect Satisfaction unto the Sanction and threatning part of the Law, than we could have done, by lying in hell for ever more. And by faith, closeing with Christ, & resting p. 37upon Him, as such a satisfying Cautioner & Redeemer, the sinner acknowledgeth the Law, in all its force, confessing himself a Transhressour, and obnoxious to the Curse; & now presenting to the Law & Law-giver the obedience & Satisfaction of Christ, whereby both its commands & Sanction are fully answered; & resting thereupon, as the only ground of his Absolution from the sentence of the Law for his guilt, and of his right to the Crown, which he formerly had forfeited.

4. Here is another mystery. That such, as are unrighteous, and Ungodly, should be declared and pronunced Righteous. In justification, the person is declared not guilty, of what was laid to his charge, in order to punishment, & that juridically; and so he is declared free from the punishment, that the Accuser was seeking to have inflicted upon him; and so is declared & pronunced to be a righteous man, though not one, that hath not sinneth, yet now one, that is juridically righteous, But how can this be, seing every man and woman is guilty before God, and is come short of the glory of God? The mystery lyeth here (as was said) The righteousness of their Cautioner, Christ, is reckoned upon their score, and is imputed to them, & they receive it by faith, and so it becometh theirs; for now by faith they are united unto Christ, & become members of His mystical body, He being the Head and true Representative; & thereby He and they are one Person in Law, (being one Spirit) as the Husband and the Wife are one person in Law (being one flesh) and as the Representer and Represented, the Cautioner & principal debtor: and thus they have a true Interest in His Righteousness & obedience to the Law, which He yeelded, not upon His own account, being not obliged thereunto, antecedently to His own voluntary condescension for us; for as to His person, He was God, and so not obnoxious to any such Law, imposed upon man, who is in the way to the obtaining of a Crown, as the end of his race: yea nor was this requisite, as to His humane Nature, which, by vertue of the personal union with the God-head was, as to it self, either in Patria, and in possession of the State of blessedness; or in a capacity thereto, without working therefore: And it is certaine, that therefore His being made under the Law, was for His owne people, that, in their room, He might, in the Nature of Man, give perfect obedience to the Law; and so make up a righteousness, with which they might all become clothed, by Imputation on Gods part, & by faith receiving it, on their part; and so be justified. Hence-saith the Apostle, by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous, Rom. 5: 19. And thus are they, who are unrighteous in themselves, being Transgressours of the Law, constituted righteous as to the Commands of the Law by the righteousness of their Cautioner. As also they are, though guilty in themselves & obnoxious to wrath, yet pronunced free, and absolved from that charge, by the Imputation of the Satisfaction of Christ, made in His sufferings, & death, who did bear our griefs, and carry our sorrowes, and was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed, Esai. 53: 4, 5. 1 Pet. 2: 24. And his own self bear our sins, in His own body on the tree.

p. 383. There is likewise a mystery here, That the Imputation of the obedience and Righteousness of Christ doth not take away the Imputation of His Satisfaction, nor make His Satisfaction useless & of no Importance, or necessity, as Socinians imagine, who cast the whole Gospel in the mould of their own corrupt Reason and understanding: For they think, if Christs Righteousness be imputed to us, we are perfectly righteous; and if we be perfectly righteous, we have no sin; & if we have no sin, there is no need of Satisfaction for our sin. But they little consider, that we are both guilty of the broken Law, and also nothwithstanding obliged to perfect obedience. It is unreasonable to think, that Adam, by his breach of the Law, was exeemed & delivered from any obligation to obey the Law; sin doth not, neither can, dissolve that obligation; otherwayes, the best way of being freed from the Lawes of God, or Man, were to break them, & cast them at our heels. We then being transgressours, & still under the obligation of obedience to the whole Law, our Mediator and Cautioner must not only obey the Law for us, to the end, we may inherite the promised reward; but must also make Satisfaction, for the Violation of the Law, to the end we may escape Gods Curse & wrath, threatned in the Law, and due to us for the breach of the same. Had we perfectly kept the Law, we had then had no need of any Satisfaction for our breach thereof: but being guilty of sin, this Satisfaction and the Imputation thereof to us, is absolutely necessary. And though we need not nicely here distinguish betwixt this Righteouness & Satisfaction, in reference to the different ends; and say, that by His Righteousness imputed to us, we have right to the Crown, & by His Satisfaction, freedom from death, which was the penalty of the broken Law: for God hath joined both together for both ends; & what He hath thus joined together, as we should not separat, so neither may we nicely & scrupulously distinguish; but adore the wonderful wisdom of God in this contrivance, and observing our necessity of both, sweetly acquiesce in and thankfully accept of both. But you will say, if we be perfectly righteous by the Imputation of Christs righteousness, what need have we of any more? are we not possessed of right to the reward, and being righteous, are we not free of our sin? I answer. It is true indeed, if we said, that Christs Righteousness, or compleet obedience, was first imputed to us; or if the Scripture gave any ground to say so, there might be some coloure for this Exception: but, as the Scripture giveth no such ground; so neither do we assert it: Only we have need of both, & both are graciously imputed, and received by faith: yea, we being sinners, if we might speak of an order here, Satisfaction must first be imputed, that thereby we may be freed from the sentence of the Law, which most presseth a wakened, convinced sinner, who is most anxious hereanent, crying out, How shall I escape the wrath and curse of God? But, as the Lord hath graciously and wonderfully knit the effects together, so is the Cause. Both Christs obedience and Sufferings were so woven together, that they belonged both to, & made up His state of humiliation; & by both imputed by God, and received by faith, the beleever receiveth the whole Effect, that is, both Immunity from punishment, p. 39& a Right to the reward promised to obedience, or to the Crown. As Christ, the Messias, made an end of sins, & made reconciliation for iniquity; so He brought in an everlastingh righteousness, Dan. 9: 24. And beleevers have the benefite of both; for as they receive the grace of God, & the gift by grace, & aboundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness; so they shall reigne in life; and grace through righteousness reigneth unto eternal life, Rom. 5: 15, 17, 21.

5. Upon the other hand, this mystery is also observable. That Christs Satisfaction taketh not away the necessity of the Imputation of Christs Righteousness & obedience; as some do say, who think, that because we have full pardon of all sinnes, by vertue of the Satisfaction of Christ; therefore we need no more; a person, who is pardoned, being therefore one, that is not unrighteous; & one that is not unrighteous, being righteous, for (say they) there is no mids betwixt just, or righteous, and not unjust, or not unrighteous; & he, who is righteous, having done all his duty, & so having a right to the promised reward of life. So that, upon this ground they suppose, there is need of no more, in order to obtaining of life: & beside, say they, the Scripture saith, that the man is blessed, to whom the Lord imputeth not sin; & he, who is blessed upon this account, needeth no righteousness to be added, to render him blessed, and to give a right unto glory. But (1) we were (as was said) guilty of the breach of the Law, & so, liable to punishment, & were also under obligation, to give perfect obedience unto the Law; Satisfaction therefore for our breach, & our pardon upon Satisfaction, faith not, that we have not broken the Law; and if we have broken the Law, we cannot be said to have yeelded perfect obedience unto the Law, when God pardoneth upon a Satisfaction made, He doth not judge, or suppose, that the person pardoned hath perfectly kept the Law; for His judgment is according to truth; and the very pardon supposeth a Transgression; and a Transgression taketh away perfect obedience; as perfect obedience destroyeth or rendereth useless all pardon. Wherefore neither before God, nor man, can a person, meerly because of Pardon, be said, or be accounted to have all that was required. Upon Pardon, it is true, he is as much exeemed from the obligation to punishment, as if he had kept the whole Law; but yet, by that pardon, he is not made, nor accounted to be one, who never broke the Law, & there upon hath a right unto the reward promised: As (supposing for illustrations sake) when a Prince maketh a Law, & commandeth such & such persons to obey the same, under the paine of death; & with all promiseth to such, as observe the Law, and do what is commanded, that they shall enjoy a rich reward, & become heirs of a great Kingdom; and the persons, after they have broken the Law and become guilty of death, are pardoned, upon the Interposition of some great person, & Satisfaction made by the same for the failure; they cannot, upon the account of this Satisfaction, & their pardon thereupon, be said to have done what was commanded, nor to have right unto the reward, & to the Inheritance, promised to such, as obeyed the Law. (2) Therefore, though a person, that is pardoned, be one that is not unrighteous, that is, obnoxious p. 40to the penalty; yet he is not one that is righteous positively, or in reference to the reward; but only one that is negatively righteous; that is, one that though he hath no right to the reward, yet he is not liable to the punishment: and therefore, though he be thus negatively not unrighteous, that is, one that is freed from the punishment; yet he cannot be accounted one, that hath done all that was commanded; & so he cannot be accounted Righteous, in reference to the reward. (3) So that there is a manifest mids betwixt being righteous, that is, one having a right to the reward, and being not unrighteous, that is, not obnoxious to the punishment, as is clear by the Instance of Adam, before his fall; for during that time (how long, or how short so ever it was) he could not be said to be untighteous, because he had not yet sinned; nor could he be said to be righteous, in reference to the reward, that was promised, on condition of perfect obedience to the end; that is, such as had done all his duty: for if he had then done all his duty, or all that was required, in order to the reward, he had then had a full and compleat right to the reward of life promised, & God would have given it to him, according to the Covenant and Promise. But we know it was not so; for he was to finish his course & run his race to the end, before he could have challenged a right to the promised inheritance; and this he did not. So that before he fell by transgression, it might have been said of him, that he was not unrighteous, that is, that he was one, that had not yet transgressed, and deserved the punishment-threatned; but he could not be said to have been fully & positively righteous, that is one, that had done all his duty; and therefore had now a full & compleat right unto the reward. (4) It is true, the Scripture saith, that the man is blessed, to whom the Lord doth not impute sin: but it doth not say, That he is blessed, to whom the Lord only imputeth not sin, or to whom He giveth no more: nor doth the Scripture say, that this pardoning, or not imputing of sin, purely & abstractively considered, that is, considered alone without any more (as it must be considered by such, as oppose us here) is that compleat blessedness, whereof the Scripture speaketh. But the reason, why such are said to be blessed, to whom the Lord doth not impute sin, is, because Imputation of …ighteousness is inseparebly annexed with non-imputation of sin: & therefore in that same place of Scripture; to wit, Rom. 4. 6. It is said, that David Psal. 32: 1, 2. describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness, while he saith, blessed is the man, unto whom the Lord will not impute sin, &c. Whereby we see, that both these are so firmly connected by the Lord, that the one cleareth and confirmeth the other; & that who ever hath the one, hath the other also; and upon that account are blessed, enjoying the whole Effect of the Imputation of Christs whole Surety-righteousness: and these two, to wit, pardon of sins, and the Right to the Inheritance, flowing from the Imputation of Christs Satisfaction, & of His obedience, though they are never separated, yet they are distinguished, & spoken of distinctly in Scripture. It is one thing to be delivered from under the Law, & another thing to receive the Adoption of Sones, and the blessing of Abraham, Gal. 3: 13, 14. & 4: 4, 5. As it is one thing to finish the p. 41Transgression, to make an end of sin, & to make Reconciliation for iniquity; & another thing to bring-in Everlasting Righteousness, Dan. 9: 24. Yea, the redemption from the Law and from its curse is mentioned, as preceeding the other; as the finishing of transgression is also mentioned before the bringing-in of Righteousness, in the passages cited. And thus, as these Effects are distinguished, though inseparable, so is the Cause. By the Imputation of Christs Satisfaction, we have pardon of sin, being redeemed from the curse of the Law, by His being made a curse for us, & by the Imputation of His Rigteousness, and obedience, we are looked upon as Righteous, & so have a right to the promise and Inheritance: Though we need not thus distinctly consider both, save only to demonstrat the necessity of the Imputation of both: for Christ by His death did also purchase the Inheritance for us; and by His obedience made Satisfaction for sin, it being a piece of His Humiliation. So that both, in the deep wisdom of God, make up one cause of that one Effect, which comprehendeth all Blessedness; that is, both pardon of sinnes and Right to the Inheritance, &c. By the Imputation of both, or of this compleat Surety-righteousness of Christ including both, beleevers are pardoned and adjudged unto life. Hence our pardon and justification are often ascribed unto Christs death, not as distinctly considered, or as excluding His Righteousness & obedience; but, among other reasons, because that was the compleating Act of His obedience; and to which all the rest preceeding had a respect, as to that, which should compleat the whole Meritorious part of His Mediation. And hereby His obedience can no more be excluded, than His foregoing soul-sufferings. Nay His death did presuppose and include His obedience; for it was the death of one, who had perfectly obeyed the Law; which death & obedience, being His Mediatory work in the state of His Humiliation, was a compleat Righteousness, for the blessedness & advantage of all those, for whom He appeared, & whose debt He undertook to pay. (5.) That the obedience of Christ must also be imputed to sinners, is manifest from this, That otherwise they should have no Righteousness at all imputed to them, that properly can be called a Righteousness: for if nothing but that, which is commonly called Christs passive obedience, or His Sufferings, be imputed, there can no Righteousness be said to be imputed; for dying and suffering the penalty, as such, are no righteousness; being no obedience to the commands of the Law, in conformity to which consisteth proper Righteousness: as when one dieth for his crime of Murther, he cannot be said to be thereby a righteous man, or to have obeyed the Law, forbidding Murther, nor can we be said properly to have obeyed the Law, when Christ in our room did suffer the penalty of death, due to us for the breach of it. They who are in hell, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, cannot be said to be obeying the Law. It is true, Christ in dying did obey a command, Imposed upon Him by the Father; but that was no command of the Moral Law, prescribed unto man: & thereafter in dying & Suffering, He gave no obedience to that Law, under the obligation to which we were standing; no more than He can be said to have Suffered the penalty, while He p. 42was obeying the Law; these two being so manifestly different. So that it is clear, that if Christs obedience be not imputed to us, no proper Righteousness is, or can be said to be imputed to us. Yea (6) If Christs obedience be not imputed to us, that Law, which saith, do this and live, is not fulfilled; but rather abrogated & quite abolished: and it must be said, that not withstanding of that constitution of Gods, we live, though we neither do this; nor is our Cautioners doing of it imputed to us. And so we have a right to the Reward, & get it at lenght, without the Righteousness required in order thereunto. Let us therefore admire the harmonious perfection of this Effect, & Work of infinite wisdom. I know several things are objected against this Truth, as there are many other grounds & Reasons adduced for the same; but these I shall speak to at more length afterward.

7. This is also a mysterie here to be noticed, That a Righteousness, that is not ours inherently, but Christs, should be made ours, made over to us, & reckoned upon our score, or we become clothed therewith, & there upon justified as Righteous, as really & effectually, as if we had wrought it our selves, and it had been properly inherent in us. Socinians, Papists, Arminians & others, who will not subject their reason unto this mystery, and give credite to Revelation, will acknowledge no such imputation of Righteousness: but at most do grant but an improper imputation; that is an imputation as to Effects: so that with them, Christ neither Suffered, nor obeyed, in our stead & room; but only for our good & advantage; & that too conditionally only, in case, we beleeve and performe the Gospel-condition. But this imputation as to Effects only, is no imputation at all, there being no thing thereby Imputed; not the Righteousness of Christ it self; for this they expresly deny; nor yet the Effects themselves, for we no where read of Imputed Justification, Adoption, Pardon &c. which are the Effects. Yea, it is not enough to them to deny this Imputed Righteousness; but in contempt & scorne, they call that, which we name an Imputed Righteousness, a putative Righteousness, as if it were a meer imaginary thing. But whatever such in decision think or say, the Gospel holdeth forth to us a Righteousness imputed, or the Righteousness of Christ, graciously bestowed upon & made over to belevers, or freely given unto them, so that they are dealt with by God, as Righteous Juridically & legally, or as possessours of such a compleat & perfect Righteousness, & that as really, & to all Effects, as if it had been their own inherently, & performed by them, & so had been theirs without any such Imputation. And because this, as the cause, is imputed to them & made theirs; therefore all the Effects thereof shall really & certainely be bestowed upon them, in God's appointed time & methode. This is the Truth, which the Gospel holdeth forth, to the solide peace, joy & comfort of Beleevers; the full clearing & vindicating of which would require a just Treatise. I shall therefore here propose but a few clear & manifest Grounds of this refreshful & comfortable truth, leaving the further prosecution & vindication of them, & of other arguments, that are used in this matter, with the examination of what is objected on the contrary, till afterward. First therefore, we say, as Christ, p. 43who knew no sin, was made sin; that is; had the sinnes of His people laid upon Him, & imputed to Him; so that they were all caused to meet together on Him Esai. 53: 6. & He therefore was made a Sacrifice for sin, or dealt with & punished, as a sinner, though no sinner inherently, but only by Imputation, for He did bear our griefs, & carried our sorrowes, & was wounded for our transgressions, & bruised for our iniquities, Esai. 53: 4, 5. to wit, now imputed to Him by God, & reckoned upon His account, who knew no sin in Himself inherently: So are we made the Righteousness of God in Him 2 Cor. 5: 21. that is, have His Righteousness, who is God, imputed to us, who were in our selves & inherently sinners; & being in Him by faith are dealt with as Righteous. The manifest scope of the place, & the plaine Import of the word, must enforce this truth, on all, who are not more than ordinarily blinded with prejudice. Secondly as Adam's posterity, who were not existing, when he transgressed the Law of God, but were only in his loines, & federally comprehended with him, in that covenant, by God's voluntary disignation & appointment; & so did not actually, & really eat that fruit, which Adam did eat; yet have that sin & guilt so imputed unto them, that it is really accounted theirs; & not meerly in its Effects, for its Effects are not truely Imputed, neither can be saied to be so; for that natural contagion & corruption of Nature, which is truely propagated to the posterity, & all actuall trangressions, the fruits thereof, cannot be said to be imputed, because they are really theirs, & inherent in them. But that original sin, which is the guilt of Adam's first sin, is only it, which can be imputed (unless we mean such an Imputation, whereby our actual sinnes, which we commit, are said to be imputed to us, when they are laid to our charge, & we actually punished therefore) to them, who did not actually commit it, in their own person; & by vertue of this Imputation, they are accounted guilty of that self same sin; & therefore are dealt with & punished, upon the account thereof, no less than if they had actually committed it themselves, in their own persons; & no less than Adam himselfs was punished therefore. So are Beleevers, being by faith united unto Christ, & made real members of His mystical body, & now interessed in Him, as His Children & Brethren, made partakers of His Righteousness, & have it imputed unto them, for all ends & uses, as if it had been their own, without any Imputation. The reading of the Apostles discourse Rom. 5. from vers 12. & forward to the end, may satisfy any as to this whole affaire, who will yeeld themselves captives unto Truth: for upon this doth the Apostle found His whole discourse & explication of the rich advantages, had by Christ & His Righteousness, clearing, & illustrating the same by that similitude of Adam, whom He expresly calleth the figure of Him, that was to come vers 14. & so asserteth, that as by one man sin entered into the world, & death by sin, & so death passed upon all, be…ause all did sinne; so by one man, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, righteousness ontered into the world, & life by it, & so life passed upon all, that were in Him, because they are righteous in Him, or have His righteousness imputed unto them. Nay, in the following verses, the matter is cleared with p. 44an advantage unto Beleevers in Christ. But (saith he vers 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.) not as the offence, so also is the free gift; for if through the offence of one, many be dead; much more the grace of God, & the gift by grace, by one man Iesus Christ, hath abounded unto many, &c. And so he goeth on to shew what & how great things beleevers receive from Christ, with no less, Yea rather with much more of a certainety, than the Posterity of Adam were interessed in what he did: and therefore, as judgment was by one to condemnation; (saith he) so the free gift is of many offences unto justification; & if by one mans offence, death reigned by one, much more they who beleeve or receive aboundance of grace, & of the gift of righteousness, shall reigne in life by one Iesus Christ. And as the offence of one Adam was imputed unto all, & thereby guilt & judgment came upon all, making them liable to condemnation: So by the righteousness of one Jesus Christ, imputed to all, that receive this aboundance of grace & of the gift of righteouseess, the free gift of justification cometh unto them, reconciling them to God, & instating them for life. And the ground & reason of this is laid down vers 19. for as by one mans disobedience, many were made sinners; & so were guilty, & made liable to judgment & condemnation; So by the obedience of one, that perfect obedience to the Law, that Christ performed, opposite to Adam's transgression & disobedience, shall many be made righteous, that is, constituted righteous; & therefore dealt with as such, through this imputed righteousness; & so justified & made heirs of life: for vers 21. he addeth as sin hath reigned unto death, even so grace must reigne, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Iesus Christ, our Lord. They then, who will deny, or oppose themselves unto this Imputation of Christ's righteousness, must do manifest violence unto the whole discourse of the Apostle, in this place. Thirly. Hence another evidencing ground of this imputation: for as what is done by a publick person, representing others, whether upon one ground, & after one manner, or another, is accounted legally to be done by those, who are represented, & they are dealt with accordingly, as Adam was a publick person, representing all his posterity, that were to come of him by ordinary generation, according to the ordination & appointment of God: So Christ, of whom Adam was a figure, was a publick person, representing all, whom the Father had given to Him, & for whom He had undertaken, & for whose sake He sanctified Himself Ioh. 17, 19. & become their Brother taking on their Nature. Heb. 2: 11, 14. & becoming like them in all things, sin only excepted Heb. 2: 17. comp: with Heb. 3: 15. Therefore He took not upon Him the Nature of Angels, but the seed of Abraham Heb. 2: 16. & He was the Captaine of their Salvation, vers 10. He is also made & called the Head of the Church, which is, His body & fulness Ephes 1: 22, 23. & 5: 23. Col. 1: 18. and so He with His Church make up one mystical body, whereof He is the Head, & Beleevers are members; Thus there is a closs & mystical union betwixt Christ & Beleevers; beyond any union, that is in Nature, whether it be that of Head & members, of Root & Branches, of King & Subjects, or of that betwixt Husband & wife, for all these are but dark resemblances of this Spiritual Union betwixt Christ & Beleevers, p. 45which is therefore compared unto these, & in part explained thereby, for our better understanding of the matter: but none of them, nor all of them do fully unfold the mystery. And in it there is ground enough to suppose, Christ to be a publick person & a Representative; as also for asserting of this Imputation; because Beleevers being thus united unto Christ, are made partakers of His righteousness, & of what He, as Head & Husband, did & suffered, in their room & place; & they thereupon are blessed with all the fruits & effects thereof. Fourthly His being called a Surety Heb. 7: 22. doth also give ground & confirmation unto this Imputation: for as He who becometh Surety for another, undertaketh to do or suffer, what he, for whom he is Surety, was obliged to do, or suffer: As when Paul became Surety for Onesimus; & bound himself, as such, unto Philemon, he would have Philemon, requiring all, that Onesimus was due to him, at his hand, & reckoned upon his score; & he undertook to satisfie him for this debt, or for what he could crave of Onesimus; as we see Philem. vers 18, 19. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that upon mine account, I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it. So what the cautioner doth, or suffereth, as such, or according to his undertaking, is reckoned upon the score of the Principul debtor; as Paul's paying of what Onesimus & imputed to was endue te Philemon, was to be reckoned on the score of Onesimus, him, that he thereby might be freed from all pursuite of Law, or action against him, at the Instance of Philemon. Wherefore as Christ, becoming Surety for His Children, & saying to the Father, Lo, I come, in the volumne of they book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will; ô God Psal. 40: 7, 8. Heb. 10. 7. did take upon Himself the debt of sinners, & engaged to pay all; that is, both to give perfect Obedience to the Law, & fulfill all Righteousness, Mat. 3: 15. as also to pay the penalty, to make Satisfaction to Justice, by becoming a Curse, & suffering Griefs, Sorrowes, Bruisings, Mockings, & the cursed death of the Cross: for all this He did willingly & cheerfully. I have (said He) a baptisme to be baptized with, (meaning His death) & how am I straitened (or pained) untill it be accomplished Luk. 12: 50. He laid down His life, that He might take it againe; & no man took His life from Him, against His will; but He laid it down of His own accord Ioh. 10: 17, 18. And as Christ did really & actually performe all, that He did undertake, so that He said upon the Cross, it is finished: It must of necessity follow, that all they, for whom He became Surety, & undertook to do & suffer what was laid upon Him, must have that Imputed, & made over unto them, & they must be clothed with that rob of Righteousness, which He did make for them, & must appear before the throne of justice clothed therewith. Fiftly Christ's making proper & full Satisfaction to the Father, in the Name & room of His people, saith also, That there is an Imputation of Christ's Righteousness unto them, for whom He performed that Righteousness; as His Satifaction must be for them. So that if Imputation be denied, Satisfaction also must be denied. Hence the Socinians wickedly deny both: & indeed, who ever deny the one, must also deny the other, p. 46or not speak consequentially; for when one laith down a satisfactory price for another, it must be reckoned upon the score of & imputed to that other; to the end, he may be dealt with, as if he had laid it down himself; & thereby be freed from what otherwayes he must have undergone: & if upon the account of that Satisfaction, he be not so freed, it cannot be called a Satisfaction for him. When Christ laith dwon his life for His sheep, His sheep must not dye & perish; for if they perish, He did not die for them; & if they perish not because of His dying for them, His death must be imputed to them; & upon the account of it they must be saved So that Christ's dying for His own is dying in their Room, Person, place & Stead, as the particle for manifestly importeth 2 Sam. 18: 33. Gen. 44: 33. Numb. 3: 12. Rom. 5: 6, 7. Hence His Ransome is expresly called foreign, 1 Tim. 2: 6. Many moe arguments might be here adduced, for confirmation of this Truth; but I shall satisfy my self at present, with these few & plaine ones; & so proceed.

8. This Mystery is also considerable here, That both the justice of God, the Mercy & free Grace of God, take place in this matter. Socinians cry up the Mercy & free Grace of God, in the matter if justification: but it is to this end, that they may, with more desperat confidence, shut out the Justice of God, so as it may have no place there: & therefore they deny all Satisfaction, Redemption & Atonement &c. (except what is meerly metaphorical) because they cannot see, how justice & mercy both can with joint hands concurre to our justification. But the Apostle, better taught than they, & better acquainted with the mind of Christ, in this Mystery, than they are, seeth no Inconsistency; But rather declareth the sweet & & perfect harmony & concurrence of these, in this mystery; telling us Rom. 3: 24, 25, 26. That we are justified freely by His grace; & yet addeth, through the redemption, that is in Iesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His bloud, to declare His righteonsness, &c. And againe, to declare His righteousness, that He might be just, & the justifier, of him, which beleeveth in Iesus. Here is a free grace triumphing; & yet Justifice declared and manifested; God declared to be just, and His righteousness manifested; & yet sinners and beleevers justified freely by grace. So Eph. 1: 7, 8. There is a Redemption through the price of bloud; & yet a free pardon of sinnes, according to the riches of Gods grace, wherein He hath abounded towards us, in all wisdome & prudence. But if it be enquired, wherein appeare to this mercy and freedom of grace, in our justification, seing there was a Satisfaction made to justice, for all the sinnes of His peaple? I answer, (1) was it not an Act of wonderful free grace & mercy, that, when the Lord might have executed the sentence of the Law upon us, according to that threatning, that day thou eats, thou shalt die; and so have made us, sinners, who transgressed the Law, to die and suffer; yet He would accept of a Satisfaction, at the hands of a Surety & Cautioner? (2) Was it not Act of grace & mercy to us, that He himself would provide a Surety and put His name in our obligation; & so make Him sin for us, who know no sin, & lay all our iniquities upon Him, that He might bear the punishment, due to p. 47us for the same? See Ioh. 3: 16. (3) Was it no Act of Soveraigne grace & mercy, that God should both provide a Mediator & Surety for us, & accept of His Mediation and Satisfaction, most freely, out of free Grace and Love, when we neither had done, nor could do any thing to move Him hereunto, or to procure this at His hands; yea, when all our carriage, & all that He could see in us, did rather cry aloud for the contrary dealing? (4) Was it no Act of Soveraigne Grace, that God should provide all this remedie for a few, whom He did choose for Him self out of free Grace and Love, and gave away to Christ, to bee redeemed by Him, leaving the rest, & passing them by, though no more unworthy, than such, as were chosen? (5) Is it no Act of grace & mercy, that in order to this great favour of justification, no more should be required on our part, than faith in Jesus Christ; seing this very faith, including an Union with and a marriag-consent unto Christ, is, in it self, a favour nothing, in a manner, inferiour to the pardon of all our sinnes, & to the accepting of us as Righteous, in His sight? (6) Is justification no Act of grace and mercy, though it be upon the account of the obedience and Satisfaction of Christ; when that very faith, which is only required of us, in order to our full interest in Christ & His merites, is also the free gift of God, Ephes. 2: 8? If these particulars will not aboundantly say that we are saved in justification by grace, & by the exceeding riches of Gods grace & kindness towards us, through Christ Jesus, according to Ephes. 2: 7. what will!

9. Here is a great and wonderful mystery, in this matter, That the Innocent should suffer, and the guilty escape & go free. The Socinians, that they may strengthen them selves in their mischievous prejudices against the Satisfaction of Christ, imagine an Impossibility here, & an Inconsistency with Justice, that an Innocent person should be put to suffer. But what ever they dream, who will walk in these mysterious matters by no other guide, than the dim light of corrupt nature, it comporteth aboundantly with Justice, that the Surety be put to pay what he hath undertaken to pay, for the principal debtor. And here was no wrong done to our Surety, Jesus Christ, who willingly undertook this debt, and was lord of His own life, having absolute power to lay it down, and power to take it up againe, and to raise him self from the dead; & knowing withall, how richly to compensate & make up that loss another way, so as He should be no loser, when He should see His Seed, and receive the rich reward of His laboures from the Father, whose Servant He was, in this affaire. Here is then a mystery of wisdom, Grace and Love, that the Innocent Lamb of God, who knew no sin, who did no violence, nor was guile found in his mouth, 2 Cor. …: 21. Esai. 53: 9. Who; when He was reviled, reviled not againe. 1 Pet. 2: 22, 23. Who was Holy, harmless, undesiled and separat from sinners, Heb. 7: 26. That He should be made sin by God, 2 Cor. 5: 21. And so legally guilty, & obnoxious to the punishment due for sin; that He should be made an High Priest to offer up Him self a sacrifice for sin, Heb. 9: 14, 28. That He should bear our grieves, & carry our sorrowes▪ and be wounded for our Transgressions, and bruised for our Iniquities; that the punishment of our peace should be upon Him; & He should p. 48stripes, & be oppressed & afflicted, and be cutt off out of the Land of the living; have strokes upon Him, & make His grave with the wicked; be bruised & be put to griefe, and make His soul an offering for sin. Esai, 53: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. That he, who could not be charged with sin, should yet be put to suffer most grieveous torments, immediatly in his soul, Mat. 26: 37, 38. & 27: 46. Luk. 22: 44 Ioh. 12: 27. And paines in his body, Mat. 26. & 27. Chapters. That He should die, and that He should die the Shamful, Painful, and cursed death of the Cross, Gal. 3: 13. Phil. 2. 8. And, upon the other hand, that we, who were the sinners, and guilty, and so obnoxious to all the miseries of this life, to death it self, and to the paines of hell and wrath of God for ever, should escape, and be healed by His stripes, Esai. 53: 5. 1 Pet 2: 24. & become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 5: 21. And be justified and made heirs of the promises; O! what an unsearchable mystery of Love and free grace shineth forth here?

10. This is also a Part of this Mystery, That nothing should be forgiven, & yet all should be forgiven. Nothing was forgiven to our Surety, He paid all that was required of Him; for the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He gave full obedience to the Law, in all its demandes, & made a perfect & compleat Satisfaction for our Offences; so that the Father was well pleased in Him; & the same was at two several times declared, & expressed out of heaven; once at His Baptisme, Mat. 3: 17. & againe at His Transfiguration, Mat. 17: 5. The sword of Justice was awakened against Him, though He was Gods fellow, Zech. 13: 7. And did abate Him nothing of what was due. The Lord Jesus gave him self for us, an offering and a Sacrifie to God, for a sweet smelling savour, Ephes. 5: 2. He is a perfect High Priest, continueing for ever, having an unchangable Priest-hood, and therefore is able to save them to the uttermost, that come unto God by Him; for He needeth not daily as the High Priests under the Law to offer up Sacrifie first for His own sinnes, & then for the People; for this He did once, when He offered up Himself: for the word of the Oath maketh Him a Priest, who is consecrated for ever more, Heb. 7: 24, 25, 26, 27. And yet, though He had nothing forgiven or abated to Him, while standing in our room, but paid all to the outmost farthing; all notwithstanding is freely forgiven to us, and we have blessedness, by the Lords forgiving our Iniquities, & covering our sins, or not imputing them to us, Psal. 32: 1, 2. Rom. 4: 7, 8. Our Redemption is forgiveness of sinnes Ephes. 1: 7. Col. 1: 14. And all sinnes must be forgiven to us, or our Redemption should not be perfect, nor we saved; for one sin would ruine us for ever; because if the Lord should mark iniquity, & enter in to judgment, no man should stand, & no flesh should be justified Psal. 130: 3. & 143: 2.

11. Here is another Mystery, considerable in our justification, That though thereby we be declared & pronounced righteous, & so acquite & absolved from what was, or might be charged upon us; Yet we have need of Pardor, & must be freely pardoned. Socinians cannot or will not … Conexion, that Infinite Wisdom hath made here; & therefore make use of forgiveness & free pardon of sinnes, as an Argument, wherewith to fight against true Gospel justification, or the justification of a sinner upon p. 49the account of the Imputed Righteousness of Christ; & against the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness to this end, that the sinner may be absolved & pronounced righteous, & accepted as such. But the Scripture seeth no Inconsistenry or Repugnancy here, but an harmonious & sweet accord betwixt the Lord's causing people their iniquities passe from them, & His clothing them with change of raiment Zach. 3: 4. And the Apostle joineth both, as inseparable; yea he declareth the necessity of both, saying Rom. 3: 21, 22. That now the righteousness of God without the Law is manifested— even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Iesus Christ, unto all, & upon all them that beleeve. where upon it followeth, vers 24. that they are freely justified by His grace. But then, what need is there of Remission? might one say: doth not this quite take away all Remission? No; for he addeth vers 24, 25. through the redemption, that is in Iesus Christ, whom God hath setforth to be a propitiation, through faith in His bloud, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sinnes, that are past. Yea, the forgiveness of sinnes establisheth & confirmeth the Imputation of righteousness, where by we are justified; for thus speaketh the Apostle Rom. 4: 6, 7, 8. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they, whose iniquities are forgiven, & whose sinnes are covered; blessed is the man, unto whom the Lord will not impute sin. Where we see, that non-imputation of sins is so far from shutting out Imputation of Righteousness, that it confirmeth it, & proveth it, & is in separable from it, & must necessarily presuppose it: for we, being sinners, can have no Absolution, untill the Satisfaction of Christ be applied to us, & made ours by Imputation: & where this is imputed by God, the soul must be absolved from all that can be laid to its charge. Therefore in justification, as we are declared righteous, by reason of the Righteousness of Christ imputed to us & received by faith; so have we thereby a full remission of all our sinnes. Paul tels us 2 Cor. 5: 19. That God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. And what giveth he for the ground of this? See vers 21. for) saith he) He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

12. It is also observable in this mysterious business, That though our jestification be an act of God's free grace, wherein, only upon the account of the Righteousness of Christ Imputed to us by God; & not upon the account of any thing in us, or done by us, He pardoneth our sins & accepteth our persons as righteous: Yet this is not with an exclusion, bur rather with an Inclusion of faith, which is a Receiving, a laying hold upon, & a Leaning unto the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, So…inians & others are utter strangers unto this mystery; & make use of their wit here, to plead against the imputation of Christ's Righteousness, the onelyonly ground of our justification; because faith is required of us, in order to our justification, and … (as they say) it self … to us as our Righteousneis; upon the account of which we are justified. They suppose, that if Christ's Righteousness be imputed to a person, & he thereupon acquite & pardoned of all his sinnes, that person must be righteous, pardoned & Justified, p. 50whether he beleeve, or not; & the Righteousness of Christ must be his, before he beleeve, But, leaving the debating of that Question, whether faith properly taken, that is, as our act, done in obedience to the command of God, be Imputed to us, as our righteousness? untill we come to the next part of the words. I shall only now say, as to the other thing here alleiged, That they, as ignorant of the Gospel, feigne an opposition in things, among which the Gospel pointeth forth to us a perpetual & harmonious agreement; & upon the other hand, they will patch up a reconciliation & agreement betwixt those things, which the Gospel setteth at perfect Opposition & variance: for Paul, better acquainted with the Gospel, & with the nature of Gospel-justification, than they, tels us, yea he proveth it by many Arguments, That by the deeds of the Law, there shall no flesh be-justified; & consequently, not by faith, as one deed or work of the Law. And he maketh mention of the righteousness of God without the Law; & saith, that that righteousness of God is imputed to & upon all them, that beleeve. And notwithstanding of this; he tels us, that this Righteousness is by faith of Iesus Christ, & imputed to all that beleeve, exclusive of others Rom. 3: 20, 21, 22. And againe he tels us, that as we are justified freely by bis grace; yet it is through the Redemption, that is in Iesus Christ, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His bloud vers 24, 25. And againe vers 26: as God is declared in this matter to be just; so is he the justifier of him only, that beleeveth in Iesus. Moreover vers. 27. he mentioneth the Law of faith, as opposite to the Law of works, in that it excludeth boasting; & concludeth againe vers 28. That a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law, and vers 30. that God justifieth by faith & through faith. Yet we never hear, that he faith, we are justified for faith or upon the account of faith. Further, That faith is required, in order to justification, is clear from Rom. 9: 31, 32. where it is said, that Israel which followed after the Law of righteousness, hath not attained to the Law of righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the Law. This also is fully proved by the same Apostle, in this Epistle to the Galatians, knowing (saithe he Chap. 2: 16.) that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of iesus Christ; even we have beleeved in Iesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. And to pointe forth this Interest of faith; & yet not as imputed for our righteousness; when properly taken, the same Apostle Phil. 3: 9. calleth that righteousness, which he opposeth unto his own righteousness, which is of the Law, a righteousness, which is through the faith of Christ, & the righteousness which is of God by faith. By all which, & many other passages mentioning our justification by faith, which might be cited, we see that the Lord hath so ordered the matter, that faith should have an Interest in justification as an Instrumental cause, or some such thing (for to contend about words, is not much to edification) as may fully denote & pointe forth the Emphasis of the Scripture expressions herein; such as are to be found Rom. 3: 22, 28, 30. & in other places now cited; and that because faith carrieth a poor convicted & self-condemned sinner out of himself, to seek a righteousness in Christ, in & upon the acount of which, he may be p. 51accepted of God & justified: & so bringeth him to close with Christ & to accept of His righteousness, & put it on, that he may appear in it before God, & so receive the Atonement & abundance of grace and & of the gift of righteousness Rom. 5: 11, 17. And albest it may satisfie us to know, that so the Lord God hath ordained it, that the self-condemned sinner should flee to the Righteousness of Christ, held forth in the Gospel, lay hold on it, & lean to it, thereby he may attaine Justification and Remission, without enquireing after reasons of this Contrivance: Yet we may clearly see the wisdom of God shining forth, in this appointed way of justification: for the sinner is hereby brought to swear (as it were) himself bare, to renounce all in himself, to declare & profess himself a plaine bankrupt; and so to despare in himself; that the riches of the free grace of God, & everlasting love may shine forth in him, in a more divine lustre, & in a singular heavenly beauty: & hereby all ground of pride, boasting, or glorying in himself is taken away; & the sinner is made to see & to subscribe unto the glorious wisdom, that then appeareth in that contrivance, & to wonder; as also to see his everlasting obligation unto the Lord contriver, & to the Lord Ransomer. So is he made to see the perfect ground of security & saifty in this way, when he seeth, that, in order to his partaking of the great blessings & favoures, his soul longeth for, he must first be united unto Jesus Christ himself, & married unto Him, in a perpetual marriage-Covenant, that shall never be dissolved. And he winneth hereby to a sure ground of peace & Tranquillity of soul, when he seeth, that it is nothing in himself, that is taken, as Satisfaction to the Infinite justice of God; but the Righteousness of Christ who is God & Man in one person; & so a perfect & Infinite Righteousness, able fully to repare the breach made, & to make Satisfaction for the wrong done to the Infinite God. So that upon this ground, he may boast & glory in the Lord alone, & triumph over all assaults & Temptations of Satan. Hereby then as the Lord hath consulted His own glory; for the sinner, fleing to the Righteousness of Christ, as his only refuge, & resting there, doth proclame God to be Holy, Just, Righteous, Gracious & only Wise; so he hath consulted the saifty, Peac, joy, & Confidence of His own. The consideration whereof should make us comply sweetly with this noble contrivance; & in stead of disputing against it, or ourselves out of it, acquiesce with all our heart in it, & rest there.

13. We may observe further another mystery, in this matter of justification to wit. That the way of justification, through the Imputed Righteousness of Christ, doth not take away the necessity & Usefulness of the Exercise of the Grace of Repentance. Socinians & others, who follow their footsteps, can observe no harmony here, & cry-out against the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, because (as they suppose) it … the Use and Necessity of Repentance, and enervateth all the commands enjoining it. But (1) This mistake must certainly flow from a misconception of the true Nature Use & ends of Gospel-repentance, for they must of necessity Suppose, that Gospel-Repentance is required for the same Ends p. 52& Uses, for which the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness is required; otherwise they could not think, that the asserting of the one should tend to the justling out of the other. But whatever they imagine, we assert no such thing; but affirme. That Christ hath purchased the whole of our Remission: and Repentance, whatever Papists say, hath no interest herein; nor hath it any merite with-it, whether ex condigno, or ex congruo, to procure Remission, & the Favoure of God, or Reconciliation with Him; but it is only required in its own place, to accompany faith, & to follow upon it, as a sutable & profitable exercise for sinners, advanced to such high favoures & Privileges. And the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, can no more prejudge the exercise of this grace, than of any other Gospel-Grace, or duty, such as Love, Fear, Hop, prayer, Patience &c. but rather incite & encourage to it (2.) what was formerly said of faith & its harmonious agreement with the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, will sufficiently also clear & confirme this: for if the Adversaries speak of legal Repentance, the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness will no more take that away, than faith, for it preceedeth faith, whereby the sinner laith hold on Christ. And if they speak of Gospel Repentance (which is more to the purpose) they must know, that though in its Exercise (at least in its remarkakle exercise) it doth follow faith, and in order of Nature is posteriour to it; Yet it is inseparably-connected therewith; so that where faith is, there is & must also be Repentance, at least, in its root & begun exercise: for a sinner cannot rightly accept of & close with Christ, as offered in the Gospel, for Gospel ends, & in a Gospel manner, & according to the call of the Gospel, but withall he must have a sight & sense of his sins, & a hatred thereof, as also a purpose firme & fixed, to turn from them unto God, as also an Endeavour after new obedience. Yea, we finde sometimes, Repentance pressed, as including faith in it; as when pressed in order to pardon & acceptance with God: Sometimes againe it is mentioned together with faith, as being inseparable therefrom. (3.) As the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ, and the justification of beleevers thereupon, doth not put them in such a case, as they shall sinne no more afterward, so neither doth it take away the Usefulness and necessity of renewed Acts of faith and Repentance; nor in the least weaken the after exercise of these Graces, but rather doth excite thereunto, each in their proper place, and to their proper ends, in order to actual pardon, according to the Gospel Method, in which it is required, that justified persons or Believers repent of their after sinnes, and by faith flee to Christ for pardon, and as at the first, so afterward there can be no true exercise of faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, for pardon of after sinnes, without a true exercise of Repentance towards God, these perpetually accompanying other: yet we must not think, that Repentance considered by it self, and as distinct from faith, hath the same Interest in the Covenant, for pardon, first or last, that faith hath: for neither doth it so act on Christ and his Righteousness, in order to pardon, as faith doth; nor is it appointed or called for, for that end: and when it is enjoined and mentioned, p. 53in order to Remission, it is to be taken as distinct, far less as separated from faith, but as including faith, being the necessary concomitant and consequent thereof, as also the publick and sensible expression and evidence of true and lively faith: for Repentance being towards God, & a turning to God, from whom Sin draweth the Soul away, must of necessity have faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, accompanying it, and laying a ground for it, seing there is no coming to the Father, but by the Son. Ioh. 14: 6. (4.) To say, that by Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, we should have no more need of Repentance, than Christ had, who was wholly without Sin, is to imagine, that we dream of such an Imputation, as maketh us to have been no Sinners, or under no guilt; and consequently to have stood in need of no gracious Imputation. But we assert no such thing; for we were Sinners, and so stood in need of a Righteousness to be imputed to us, in order to our iustification. And he who graciously did provide this Righteousness for us, might also, without the least derogation from the freedom and glory of his Grace & Favoure, as appointe the meanes, Method & way, how he will have us made partakers of the benefites of this Grace & Imputed Righteousness first & last; so also to prescribe what duties He thought meet for such, as He had so visited with Grace & Mercy.

14. Another part of this Mystery lyeth in this, That justification through the Imputed Righteousness of Christ, taketh not away the rich & honourable privilege of Adoption. Such, as are Adversaries unto this Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, alleige that there is no consistency here; because, say they, if Christ's Righteousness or Obedience should be imputed unto us, that so we may have a Right and Title to life, according to the tenour of the Covenant, do this and live, Adoption, by which this Title and Right is conveyed, according to the Scriptures, is rendered Useless. But not to mentione the great difference, that is betwixt the Life and Privileges of Life, a Right whereunto is solemnly had in Adoption; and the Life, that was promised in the old Covenant, by these words, do this and Live. They consider not, that the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness doth no more destroy or take away Adoption, than it doth destroy, or take away pardon; and that it is so far, from rendering either Useless, that it establisheth both, & is the ground and firme Basis of both: for as without the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness and Satisfaction, there can be no ground for pardon; so without the Imputation of his Righteousness and obedience there is no ground for Adoption. As justification is a solemne and formal stating of a person in Favour & reconciliation with God, and in pardon of Sinnes; so Adoption is a Solemne and formal stating of a person in a Right to glory and to all the Privileges of Son-ship here & hereafter. Now netther of these are rendered Useless, through the Doctrine of Imputation; but both are the more cleared, confirmed and secured thereby. The Imputation of Righteousness is not formally pardon it self, nor is it formally a Right to glory; but the necessary ground of both. Christ's Righteousness is Imputed, that we may be justified, and that we may be Adopted; that p. 54is, solemnely and formally placed in a state of pardon & Reconciliation, & into a state of Right & Interest in the Privilege of Son-ship. As the producing of the cautioners payment, in judgment, is not formally the absotion of the debtor, but the ground of a formal sentence of absolution; so the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness and Satisfaction, is not the formal sentence of Absolution & pardon, but the ground thereof: And as the paying of the price condescended on for Land or houses, is not a formal infeofing, or a formal and legal conveyance of Right & Title, by Charter and Seasing, but the ground thereof; So the Imputation of Christ's merites and obedience is not the formal & legal Conveyance of Right to the Inheritance of glory, and glorious Privileges of Son-ship; but is the ground thereof, upon which necessarily followeth adoption, which is, as it were, the Beleevers Infeosment and Seasing, whereby Right is formally & legally, conveyed unto him, to all these Privileges.

15. This is also a mystery in this matter, that such as are adversaries to the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, cannot understand, to wit, That Beleevers should be accounted Righteous, & there upon justified, through the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ; and yet the Lord should see sin in them. They say, if beleevers be righteous with the righteousness of Christ, God can no more see sin in them, than in Christ. But they distinguish not betwixt the being of sin, and obnoxiousness to punishment, which is separable from the being of sin, otherwise there could be no pardon. In such, as are coered with the Righteousness of Christ, imputed by God, and received by faith, God seeth sin in its being, for He pardoneth it, and pardon doth not make sin to have been no sin; nor say, that the man hath not sinned; for then pardon should be no pardon, seing all pardon supposeth sin: but he seeth not sin so, as to punish and condemne for it: for in respect of this Reatus, guilt and obligation to punishment, sin is taken away, forgotten, cast behind God's back, & in to the depths of the sea &c. As the Scripture expresseth this matter. The judge seeth not the debtor guilty & obnoxious to the sentence, when the payment made by the cautioner is instructed in open court: yet He cannot but see, that he hath contracted debt, and was thereupon obnoxious to the sentence. Neither do our Adversaries here consider, that by this way of argueing, they destroy all pardon; for when a man is pardoned, he is no more obnoxious to punishment; and God cannot see sin in him, in order to condemnation, because it is pardoned; & thereby that obligation to condemnation is taken away: And so, if they mean this only, by God's not seeing of sin, when they deny this, they must deny Remission, nor yet do we say, that the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness taketh away the being of all after sins, and maketh them no sins; but only that it ensureth their pardon. Nor do we argue the not being of after sinnes, or God's not seeing of them, from this Imputation, but only the Non imputation of them unto condemnation; for we know, that sin, in its being, is killed and mortified another way viz by the work of Sanctification.

16. To the same end, we may consider. That though by the way of justification p. 55through the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, and faith laying hold on the same, the Law is not made void, but established; as the Apostle saith Rom. 3: 31. and the righteousness of the Law is in some sense fulfilled in us, being fulfilled in our Nature, by Christ, the Mediator and Surety Rom. 8: 4. yet we are not justified by the Law, but by the Gospel; not by the Covenant of works, but by the Covenant of Grace. The Adversaries to Imputation alleige, that we, by asserting the same, do establish justification by the works of the Law, because the obedience of Christ was obedience to the Law, and so legal Righteousness; and if that be imputed to us, so as we are accounted to have done what he did, we must be justified by Law-righteousness, & consequently by the Law; which is contrary to the Scriptures. But in answere to this I say (1.) They advert not, that some of themselves do expresly call Christ's Righteousness, our legal, or prolegal righteousness; & therefore it must be a righteousness answering the Law, & also made ours. (2.) Nor do they observe, that justification by the Law, or by the works of the Law, which the Scriptures speak so much against, is not to be understood in their sense; the obvious, plaine and only meaning thereof being this, that no man can be justified by his own personal obedience to the Law, for by the Law, the doers only of the Law are justified Rom. 2: 13. The plaine tenor of the Law is Set down: Rom. 10: 5. Where Moses is mentioned, as describing the Righteousness of the Law to be this, that the man, who doth those things, shall live by them. Levis. 18: 5. When therefore the Law saith, that the man, that doth these things, shall live by them, & not, the man that either doth those himself, or getteth a cautioner to do them for him, shall be justified; it is manifest, that we are not justified by the Law, seing we do not these things ourselves, in our oun persons; but by the Gospel, which only provideth this Surety, & proposeth justification through His Righteousness imputed & received by faith. Thus we see. That justification through the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness, doth quite annull & destroy our Justification by the Law: all Imputation being inconsistent with Law-justification, & repugnant thereunto, because it is of grace; & what is of Grace, neither is, not can be of works, Rom. 11: 6. (3.) We assert not Imputation in this sense, to wit: That we are accounted & reputed to have done what Christ did; for that cannot be, God cannot judge amisse; but He should judge amisse, if He should judge, that we did what Christ did. Our meaning is this, that the Beleever, being now united unto Christ, hath an Interest in Christ's Righteousness & upon the account thereof, now reckoned upon his Score by Imputation, he is freed from all that the Law could charge upon him, and that as fully, to all ends, as if he had performed that Righteousness himself.

17. It is likewise here considerable, That we are justified upon the account of the Righteousness of Christ imputed; and yet this Righteousness of Christ is the proper meritorious cause of our justification, & of all that followeth there upon. Some, who oppose this Imputation, imagine an p. 56opposition here: But mistakingly they think, that the Righteousness of Christ must be made the meritorious cause of it self, or of that Righteousness, which is imputed; whileas we only say, That Christ's Rightteousness is the meritorious cause of our justification, Adoption &c. and that it is also imputed to us, for this end, that we may be thereby formally righteous, juridically & in Law sense; and so justified. &c. And who seeth not, that it must be so, seing we can be justified by no Righteousness, which is not a proper meritorious cause of our justification: & consequently, that we cannot be justified by any other Righteousness than the Righteousness of Christ; & so not by our own Gospel-righteousness, nor by faith, as suchs a Righteousness; for that cannot be a meritorious cause of our justification.

18. This is also a considerable part of this mystery, which carnal eyes cannot see, and which men, carried away with prejudice at the pure doctrine of the Grace of God, in the Gospel, cannot sweetly comply with; to wit. That our justification is Solely upon the account of the Imputed Righteousness of Christ, and not upon the account, or because of any thing wrought in us, or done by us: & yet our obligation to holiness & conformity to the Law of God, in all points, is not hereby in the least weakened. Paul's frequent preoccupying of this Objection, in his Epistles, may let us see, how ready carnal hearts are to abuse the doctrine of the Grace of God, revealed in the Gospel, to carnal liberty; and what a propensity there is in us, to look for justification upon the account of our works only; so that if we hear of any thing, to put us of this apprehension, we presently are ready to conclude, that all study of and endeavour after holiness, is wholly useless & unnecessary: and that we need not wonder much at Socinians & others, who do thus reasone against the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ. But Paul doth cleare to us a sweet consistency betwixt free justification upon the account of Christ's Righteousness imputed, and the serious study of holiness. He saw no Inconsistency betwixt the study of obedience to the Law, in all points, and the expectation of justification by faith in Christ alone, whatever men, who would seem sharp-sighted, & zealous for the study of holiness, do suppose they cannot but see. And albeit men in those dayes were ready enough to except against free justification, through the Imputed Righteousness of Christ; and to pretend, that the asserting thereof did take away all study of holiness: yet (& this is very remarkable) the Apostle, to remove that objection, never giveth the least hint of the necessity of our works of obedience, in order to our justification. And though He doth frequently press to holiness; yet he never maketh use of any argument thereunto, which might so much as insinuat, that we were justified by works, in one measure, or other. Nay, we will finde, that He draweth arguments, pressing unto holiness, from the very nature of their Gospel-justification, & of their State by vertue thereof. And experience proveth, this day: that the most effectual Medium to holiness, is taken from free justification, through faith in Christ alone; and that the holiness and obedience of such, as practise the orthodox doctrine, p. 57concerning justification, hath another heavenly lustre (as it floweth from another fountaine, & standeth upon another ground) and looketh more like true holiness, & universal sincere obedience, than what is to be seen among such, as lay most weight upon their own duties, whether we speak of Papists, Socinians, Arminians, or of others. And whatever inconsistency men may imagine to be betwixt free justification, through the Imputed Righteousness of Christ, and the Universal, Sincere, & Acceptable study of holiness, yet the Gospel knoweth no such thing; but presseth holiness, though not for this end, that we may thereby be put into a state of justification, or might sweat & foile, run & work for the prize, as the hire & wayes of our work; yet upon more Spiritual & Gospel like grounds; and by Arguments more sutable to the state of the justified, who only are in case to performe acts of obedience, and duties of holiness, acceptably unto God; Such as the Image of God proposed for our Imitation; the perpetual obligation of His Law; the Relation they stand into; the holy appointment of God; the engagments they stand under, the Spiritual help & furniture, which is at hand, the Nature of holiness it self; the genius & kindly inclination of the new Nature, whereof they are partakers; and the many advantages thereof here and hereafter, too many, here to be mentioned. Let any consider the Arguments, used to this purpose by Paul Rom. 6. & 7. & 8. Chapters, and in many places elsewhere, & he shall finde this true