Jehovah Our Righteousness, Title page 1 – Dedication 1
Jehovah our Righteouſneſs; OR THE JUSTIFICATION OF Believers BY THE Righteouſneſs of Chriſt only. Aſſerted and Applyed IN SEVERAL SERMONS. By Samuel Comlyns, A. M. A Miniſter of the Goſpel in Marleborough.
LONDON, Printed for Tho. Parkhurſt, at the Sign of the Bible and Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapſide, near Mercer's-Chappel.
To the Moſt Illuſtrious WILLIAM Duke of Bedford, Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
May it pleaſe Your Grace,
I Cannot forget your Grace's Kindneſs and Bounty to me in a Troubleſome time of Perſecution from Man, and a Dark-day of Viſitation from God; when, by a Diſeaſe, I was brought near the brink of the Grave. In Gratitude, I offer your Grace a Diſcourſe of that Everlaſting Righteouſneſs which we have in Chriſt, and of that Eternal Salvation we enjoy by him. Some may be wrapt up in the Skirt of Providence, as the Hair in the Skirt of Ezekiel's Garment, Ezek. 5.3, 4. for a few years, yet, at laſt, be brought forth, and be caſt into the Eternal Fire of God's Wrath, 2 Theſ. 8, 9. It will be ſad to have a Reprieve for time, and then to feel a dreadful Execution for Eternity; but through the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, God may not only, as a Patient Creditor, forbear us for years; but, as a Righteous Judge, juſtify and diſcharge us for ever. Diogenes Laertius, in vita Socratis, tells us, That Apollodorus brought Socrates a Rich Garment to put on, and Die in. I here Preſent to your Grace the Glorious Garment of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, both to Live on, and to Die in. Our blind Anceſtours, at a dear rate, purchaſed a Monk's Habit to be Buryed in: but I here tender to your Grace the Beautiful Habit of our Great High-Prieſt, to Adorn and Secure your Soul for Time and Eternity. The builders of Spiritual Babel are ſtrangely confounded in their Language; they deny the Imputation of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, yet promiſe their Benefactors that they will Communicate to them the Merits of their Order. Sir Edwyn Sands, in his Religion of the Weſt, Relates, That he heard a Capuchin Preach, and that in his Sermon (as a high act of Charity) he ſaid, That he would diveſt himſelf of all his Merits, and put them on the Congregation that heard him; but he himſelf would ſtand before God, as the greateſt Sinner of them all. But what a high ſtrain of Pride is this, to deny the Imputation of Chriſt's Righteouſneſs, and yet allow the Imputation of their own Merits to others, as if Sackcloth could Adorn, but not the Son of Righteouſneſs. Tucquet, in his Spaniſh Hiſtory, informs us, That Philip the Second, King of Spain, was (when Sick) directed to take a Crucifix in one hand, and a Candle Conſecrated to the Virgin Mary, that is worſhipped at Monſerat, in the other hand, and in this poſture to meet Death, the King of Terrors. But is it not infinitely better, that the Lively Picture of Chriſt Crucified, as drawn in the Goſpel, ſhould be before the eyes of our Minds? and the Son of Righteouſneſs be graſped and held faſt in the Hand of Faith, that Death may be diſarmed of its Sting, and diveſted of its Terror. The Doctrine of Juſtification aſſerted in this Treatiſe, is oppoſed by many. Socinians deny the Death of Chriſt to be the Price of our Redemption: Others ſeem to over-look the Active Obedience of Chriſt, as it were not the matter of our Righteouſneſs. The Apoſtle ſaith, That Chriſt was made under the Law to Redeem us, Gal. 4.4, 5. This expreſſion, made under the Law, is not to be Reſtrained to Chriſt's being made under the Curſe of the Law, the Phraſe is otherwiſe taken in the ſame Chapter, Gal. 4.21. You that deſire to be under the Law. Surely the Jews did not deſire to be under the Curſe of the Law, but under the Commands of the Law, as a Covenant. We are poor and weak, as well as guilty Creatures: we need not only that Chriſt, by enduring the Curſe on the Croſs, ſhould reverſe the Sentence of Death, but alſo, that he ſhould obey the Law, and ſo take it off from us, as a Covenant of Life. If the Sentence of death ſhould be abrogated for the time paſt, and the Law ſtand in force, as a Covenant of Life for the time to come, our State would be hopeleſs and deſperate. Some account Faith to be too ſmall and mean a thing for us to be Juſtified by; as Naaman thought Waſhing in the Waters of Jordan to be too ſlight a Meanes to cure him of his Leproſy, 2 Kings 5.11, 12. and therefore, by Faith, they underſtand all Obedience to the Goſpel, that flowes from it; as when the Jews loſt the Spiritual meaning of the Sacrifices, as they did Typifie Chriſt, Iſa. 53.10. they thought the Offering of a Beaſt to be a cheap Sacrifice, therefore they would ariſe higher, and Offer the Firſt-Fruit of their Body for the Sin of their Soul, Micah 6.7. So when ſome conſider not, or over-look the Office of Faith, as it is an Inſtrument to receive Chriſt and his Righteouſneſs for Juſtification; they debaſe Faith as a mean thing, and Introduce all New Obedience as the condition of Juſtification. This is to make a Goſpel Juſtification like a Legal Juſtification, wherein Men's own obedience was the Matter of their Righteouſneſs, and the condition of their Juſtification. The Wrath of God is Revealed from Heaven againſt us for our Ʋngodlineſs, and Ʋnrighteouſneſs, Rom. 1.18. And how might our hearts ſink, if the Righteouſneſs of God were not Revealed in the Goſpel for our Comfort and Support? *Cartwright.Some diſtinguiſh between the Righteouſneſs of the Law, and foreign Rom. 8.4. Phil. 3.9. The Righteouſneſs of the Law is in ſome Meaſure fulfilled in Saints, as they have Graces, and do Actions, in ſome meaſure, conformable to the Law: but yet the Scripture denies, and diſavows Chriſtians having the Righteouſneſs that is of the Law, that is, ſuch a perfect and compleat Righteouſneſs as the Law requires for Juſtification. But it is the Righteouſneſs of God that we muſt fly to, and take hold of for Juſtification. It is this Righteouſneſs that gives us ground to conclude, that God will turn again and have compaſſion on us, Micah 7.19. and that he will not return to deſtroy us, Hoſ. 11.9. God will not execute the Fierceneſs of his Anger, but expreſs the Heat, and Height of his Love, in adopting us into his Family, ſetting us at the Table to Feaſt, and placing us in the Throne to Reign with Chriſt, Luke 22.29, 30. Rev. 3.21. We cannot break through an Hoſt of ſins, and get to the Fountain of Life, or venture into the Preſence of God, that is a Conſuming Fire, if we are not Armed with this Righteouſneſs. That your Grace may continually come into this Righteouſneſs, as your Fortreſs and Caſtle; Live on it as your moſt precious Food and generous Cordial, and, at laſt, be found in it, as your Glorious Garment, is the ſincere deſire, and ſhall be the earneſt Prayer of
June 11th, 1696. Your Grace's moſt humble Servant and Oratour, Samuel Tomlyns.