The Protestant Doctrine of Justification by Christs Righteousness Part 2, Tract · Chapter 7
CHAP. VII. Of the Nature of Faith, that it juſtifieth as an Inſtrument applying the Promiſes of life in Chriſt, and not as a Condition or Part of Obedience.
T The Apoſtle Paul was ſent to preach the Goſpel to the Gentiles, Act. 26. v. 17, 18. to this end, that they might receive the forgiveneſs of ſins, and an inheritance amongſt thom which are ſanctified by Faith which is in Chriſt; therefore forgiveneſs and a right to the heavenly Inheritance comes by Faith: But what this Faith is and how it gives right to Life, is now to be inquired into. In explaining the nature of Faith I ſhall wave all that is uſually drawn from Philoſophy to this Argument, from the nature and difference of Man's Soul and his Faculties; and the difference of the Faculties from each other, alſo from the nature of Habits intellectual or moral, which things are fit Exerciſes for Scholars, but not fit to build the Doctrine of Juſtification and Eternal life upon; and if the beſt Philoſophers can give us no certain account how men ſee and hear, and how the external Senſes (which yet are more material in their operations than the underſtanding) do exerciſe their functions; there is much leſs certainty to be had concerning the Faculties, Operations and Habits of the rational part; and the Scripture ſpeaks of believing as a work of the whole Soul, With the heart man believeth unto righteouſneſs, Rom. 10.9. The like may be ſaid of every Grace, and of every Sin, that hath the conſent of the Heart, that they carry the whole Soul with them: What then is this Faith? The Socinians affirm Faith and Obedience to be really the ſame thing,Peltius, Artic. Parag. 21. diſtinct only formally or docendi cauſâ, Soc. reſp. ad Epiſt. Joan. Opera & Fides nullo modo diſtinguuntur à Paulo, nec ab ea ſeperari queant, imò animo ſeu forma fidei ſunt. The Arminians agree with them in this, and our late Authors with them both, and make believing and obeying the Goſpel all one; and to be juſtified by Faith with them is to be juſtified by obedience to the Goſpel:Aphor. Th. 70. Hence it is that they deſcribe Faith to be, ſo to believe God, as to love him, fear him, truſt him, and obey him in every particular command, or more briefly, to be an accepting of Chriſt for our Lord and Saviour, i. e. to promiſe obedience to him,Ibid. 69, & 67. and to deſire and expect to be ſaved by him. Now we grant, as the Goſpel is ſometime taken for the whole Doctrine or Mind of Chriſt containing both Promiſes, Precepts and Threatnings, though properly it be nothing but a Promiſe of Life through Chriſt, in contradiſtinction to all Law and Precepts; ſo alſo the Faith of Chriſt and of the Goſpel doth ſometimes comprehend the whole Chriſtian Profeſſion, whereby we promiſe both a belief of the doctrine and obedience to the Command of Chriſt: Yet Faith, taken properly, is to be diſtinguiſhed from all obediential Graces, viz. thoſe that are the immediate cauſe of obedience, as much as thoſe graces are diſtinct from each from other; as Love from Fear, both from Patience, &c. That we may wave that Philoſophical queſtion alſo, whether Graces be ſeveral diſtinct habits, or one univerſal habit, diſtinguiſhed by ſeveral acts and objects, it is ſufficient if Faith be diſtinct by its acts and proper object from all other graces, as much as they are diſtinguiſhed each from other: And that it is ſo, is evident, becauſe it is an aſſent of the mind to divinely revealed truth: Its acts are to believe or aſſent; its formal object is the revealed truth of God, as ſuch (we ſpeak of Divine Faith only.) The immediate End of it is the ſatisfaction of the mind in the certainty of a true propoſition, and the like. All theſe are diſtinct from love, fear, deſire, which are the immediate principles of all obedience or practice, in doing good, or avoiding evil. Moreover, Faith is the root of obedience, not as the immediate principle of the elicite acts of obedience, but as a more remote principle, which doth excite and direct all the immediate principles of it. Thus Faith is prerequired to ſeeking and ſerving of God, Heb. 11.2. to the End; and yet the immediate principles of them were fear, v. 7. ſelf-denial, v. 25. holy courage, contempt of the World, and the like. Faith worketh by love, Gal. 5.6. purifieth the heart, Acts 15.9. Therefore it is not love it ſelf, or the purity of the heart, but ſomething that inclineth and diſpoſeth to love and purity; and ſurely before we can love and obey God, there muſt be an apprehenſion of his goodneſs, faithfulneſs, readineſs to accept and reward, which muſt incline the heart to it: We cannot love and ſerve him … we neither know him nor his Mind concerning us, nor have any confidence in his good wil… towards us: And this is Faith, which we may thus deſcribe, Faith is a hearty and practical aſſent to all divine truth, ſo as to believe the Hiſtories, fear the Threatnings, truſt in the I remiſes and expect the fulfilling of Prediction which proceed from God. All this is eaſily gathered out of the 11. Heb. where the Apoſtle having ſpoken in the end of the 10th Chapter of believing to the ſaving of the Soul, ſubjoyn… this deſcription of Faith, v. 1. viz. That it is the ſubſtance (foreign) the ſubſiſtence of things hoped for, and the evidence (foreign) of things not ſeen, which ſubſiſtence and evidence things yet ſuture have only in God's Word and Man's real belief of it; things hoped for, properly reſpect the Promiſes; things not ſeen, the Hiſtory of things paſt; as the belief of the Creation, v. 2. and the Prediction of things to come, as Noah by Faith feared the Deluge, v. 7. and all the Patriarchs died in faith or expectation of the coming of Chriſt, v. 13. Now that Faith hath ſeveral acts and cauſeth ſeveral affections, as hope, truſt, fear in the ſoul, is becauſe it hath ſeveral objects, things to be deſired, things to be feared, and things to be hoped for, which is common to it with other graces, which have their ſeveral acts and affections towards ſeveral objects, or the ſame objects ſeverally con…dered: That ſpecial act of Faith which re…ects Promiſes, or affection immediately …owing from Faith, without which it is not …ompleat, in Scripture is called by ſeveral …ames; rouling, reſting, leaning, relying upon God, flying to him for reſuge, hiding our …lves under him, putting of our ſelves under …he Shadow of his Wings, which and the like …re Metaphors from the Body, and when we …eak properly of the acts of the Soul are beſt …preſt by believing, or truſting in the Promiſes; which the Proteſtants expreſs by fidu…a, affiance or fiducial recumbence, which is …ſo the Scripture term, of putting our hope and confidence in God and foreign, a pervaſion, and foreign, a full aſſurance, of …is Promiſe. Now Faith juſtifieth a Sinner, …ot in its whole Latitude; for ſo it believeth …eer Hiſtories as well as practical things, and …e Threatnings as well as the Promiſes, and …uſeth fear as well as hope: But a Sinner cannot be reconciled unto God by fearing his Wrath and Judgment, though fearing may …cite him to look after mercy in the Promiſe; …or by believing the Hiſtory of things paſt, as …e Creation and Floud; or the Prediction of …ings to come, as the Reſurrection and day … Judgment, though theſe things may ſet forth God's veracity, and confirm the Truth of his promiſe, and may excite fear and diligence … ſeeking after mercy; As truſting in the promiſes of particular mercies and deliverances, is the means of obtaining thoſe mercies, as the promiſes are made to ſuch faith or … Iſa. 26.3.4. Thou ſhalt keep him in perſe peace whoſe mind is ſtayed on thee, becauſe truſteth in thee. The promiſes of deliverant go before, and this is added as the means procure the accompliſhment of them, viz. That they ſhould truſt in God; ſo in like m… ner, the general promiſe of Pardon and Juſtfication is made to believing or truſting in and faith gives right to it, and is the means having it performed to us: Faith then juſti… as it obtains mercy, Heb. 11.33. Saint… Faith obtained Promiſes, viz. a performan of them: and in the Goſpel frequently, … Faith hath ſaved thee, and thy Faith hath m… thee whole, &c. As Faith obtains theſe mercies, neither as an act of obedience, not the cauſe or root of obedience; but only truſting in the Power and Faithfulneſs of G… engaged by the particular promiſes; ſo a… Faith juſtifieth a Sinner by truſting in … Grace and Mercy of God through Je… Chriſt expreſſed in the general Promiſe of … Goſpel, He that believeth ſhall be ſaved, … the like. We do not contend about the a… ception of faith in this propoſition: We a… juſtified by ſaith, whether it be taken objectively only, as ſome think, i. e. we are juſtified by Chriſt believed on; or relatively, … are juſtified by faith as apprehending the mercy of God promiſed through Chriſt, and … by any works of our own; it cometh all one at laſt. The Mercy of God is the c… …ſa proegomena, the moving cauſe of our Juſtification, the righteonſneſs of Chriſt wrought for us, the meritorious cauſe, procuring our acceptance with God, and alſo the material or formal cauſe, being the very thing for which God accepts us to life. The Promiſe in the Goſpel is the external, moral or legal means whereby God conveys Juſtification and this Righteouſneſs, having promiſed … to them that believe: and faith is an internal means on mans part, to apply Chriſt's Righteouſneſs for his Juſtification, by truſting him, promiſing of it, and that partly natural, is faith is an act or habit, or act properly converſant about a promiſe; and partly mo…al, as God hath appointed our faith in the promiſe of Juſtification to be a means of obtaining it; and this is all that Divines mean by ſaying, Faith juſtifys as an inſtrument, or intrumentally, and when they call it the mouth and the hand of the ſoul, viz. That Man is Juſtified by the Righteouſneſs of Chriſt, which Juſtification is propoſed and promiſed in the Goſpel to all that will accept it and truſt in it; which is believing; ſo that Faith it ſelf is …ot the matter or righteouſneſs which doth Juſtifie us under the Goſpel, inſtead of our Obedience under the Law; but it is the means whereby through the Promiſe of the Goſpel, Chriſts Righteouſneſs is imputed or applied to us, by, and for which we are juſtified.
Object.It is no better than a cavil which is objected: If Faith juſtifys as an inſtrument, whoſe inſtrument is it, Gods or Mans? if Mans, then he juſtifys himſelf; if Gods, then Man doth nothing in the buſineſs of Juſtification, which is Antinomian. For,
Anſw.The like may be asked of all inſtruments, Natural or Moral. Our Food, whoſe inſtrument is it to nouriſh us? If Gods, then we need not eat; if ours, then we nouriſh our ſelves. The Word and Sacraments are inſtruments of grace, if they are our inſtruments, then we work grace in our ſelves; i… Gods, then we need do nothing: all theſe and the like are inſtruments of Gods appointing, to be uſed by us, to the right uſe of which he hath promiſed a bleſſing: he hath commanded us to take food, and promiſed life by it … to uſe the Ordinances, and promiſed grace by them, and that in believing him, we ſhall have life everlaſting. So Faith, as the reſt is Gods inſtrument, as to appointment an… ſucceſs; ours, as to the uſe and practice of it … only it is not proper to call it a paſſive inſtrument (as ſome do) or to ſay it juſtifies paſſively, (whoſe miſtake is rather in the term, tha… in the ſence.) For Faith is a Moral, not … proper Phyſical inſtrument, which only can be paſſive; Again, a paſſive inſtrument is tha… which hath no activity at all, but is meerly uſed by the Agent in his action, as a Knife Saw or the like; but Faith juſtifieth actively, or as a grace whereby the whole Soul underſtanding the promiſe of pardon in Chriſt accepts it, truſteth in it, expecteth Salvatio… only that way; now this is a moral reception, or acceptation of, and dependance upon Chriſt in the Promiſe, not a Phyſical paſſiveneſs, as the term ſeems to imply. We are now to prove, That we are thus juſtified by Faith as hath been laid down, becauſe, though the Scripture is full and expreſs for it in many places; yet other ſences are now put upon them.
Argument 1.
Faith is the means of obtaining all particular merits, both ſpiritual and temporal, only by truſting in the promiſe of them: hence bleſſedneſs is aſcribed to truſting in God, Pſ. …4.13. and many times God delivered men, becauſe they truſted in him, 2 Chr. 20.20. Obedience qualifies and fits the ſubject to receive …ercies, but ſtill Faith is ſuppoſed as that …hich giveth right to mercies. The Vertues … Unbelievers have no promiſe, the promiſe to Faith; therefore Juſtification alſo com… by Faith, in the Promiſe of pardon; for …ere is the ſame reaſon for all the Promiſes …aith as faith obtain other Promiſes, why …t this alſo: beſides the Promiſe of Juſtification is the foundation of all the reſt, and …udes them virtually; therefore if Faith en…le to all other Promiſes and Mercies, much …re to this; nay Faith in particular Promi… obtains mercy, chiefly upon this account, …cauſe it hath firſt obtained reconciliation …h God, and the promiſe of his love in Chriſt: for upon this all promiſes are founded, and true truſting in them doth ſuppole our truſting in God firſt for Juſtification; yea, is a ſecondary act of the ſame Faith.2 Cor. 1.24
Argument 2.
As Abraham was, ſo are all men juſtified, Gal. 3.7, 8, 9. all Believers are his Seed, an… bleſſed with him, and in the ſame way; bu… Abraham was juſtified by Faith, as it is a truſting in the promiſe of God, viz. a promiſ… that he and all the World ſhould be bleſſe… in Chriſt, Ergò. That Abraham was thus juſtified, the Apoſtle affirms, Gal. 3.6. He believed, and it was imputed to him for righteouſneſs; and this believing is oppoſed to ſeeking righteouſneſs by the works of the Law, v. 10. Thsy that are of the Law are not bleſſed with Abraham, but under the Curſe, becauſe th… keep not the whole Law, which comprehen… the Moral, as well as Ceremonial, therefor… faith as truſting in the promiſe, juſtified him… Moreover, Chriſt redeemed us from the Cu… of the Law, that we might receive the promi… of the Spirit by Faith, v. 13, 14. Ʋnto Abraham, and his Seed were the Promiſes made, v. 1… and the Inheritance is not of the Law, but … Promiſe, v. 18. The Faith then that juſtifi… Abraham, was a truſt in Gods Promiſes, contradiſtinct to obedience to the Law or Commands. If you ask, what Promiſe? I anſwer v. 17. directe us to it, The Law was 400 … 30 years after the Covenant or Promiſe, whi… points at the time when Abraham was firſt …alled, and of the Promiſe made to him then, …nd to all Nations in him, Gen. 12.1, 2, 3. by believing that promiſe Abraham was juſtified; …nd his faith in the promiſe of a Son mentioned above, Chap. 15.6. and Rom. 4. was but a ſubſequent act of his juſtifying faith, and its …eing imputed for righteouſneſs,Vid. Preſt. On the Cov. Serm. 11. but an inſtance or evidence that his faith in the promiſe of being bleſſed in Chriſt did juſtifie him before God.
Argument 3.
The Juſt ſhall live by Faith, Habak 2.4. The Prophet ſpoke it immediately, concerning temporal deliverance in publick calamities; but theſe deliverances to the Children of God are tokens and fore-runners of deliverance from the Wrath to come, and effects of their reconciliation with God: therefore …s it is uſual in the New Teſtament to apply ſuch promiſes to ſpiritual things, ſo the Apoſtle applieth this of the Prophet to Juſtification; wherefore, as to live, in the Prophet principally ſignified preſervation from the temporal effects of the wrath of God, ſo with the Apoſtle, it ſignifieth to be delivered from eternal wrath and eternal death by the ſpecial favour of God, i. e. to be juſtifyed: now this he aſcribes to Faith only, Rom. 1.17. where he proveth, that the Goſpel is the power of God to Salvatian in them that believe, becauſe therein is the righteouſneſs of God revealed from Faith to Faith; which is further confirmed, becauſe the Juſt ſhall live b… Faith: it is believing then that ſaves me… and faith that makes them partakers of th… Righteouſneſs of God revealed in the Goſpel therefore by that they live, i. e. are juſtified and yet more expreſs, Gal. 3.11. The Apoſtle proves by this Text, That a Man cannot be juſtified by his Works, and thinketh it a… Argument above exception, but that no ma… is juſtified by the Law in the ſight of God it … evident, for the Juſt ſhall live by Faith.
Argument 4.
To be juſtified by Faith, is directly oppoſed to Juſtification by Works, and by ou… own Righteouſneſs: therefore Faith juſtified only by truſting in Gods Mercy through Chriſ… The Antecedent is the Apoſtles, Rom. 10.5, 6. The Righteouſneſs of the Law ſaith, That h… that doth them ſhall live in them: but the righteouſneſs of Faith ſaith, If thou believe in thy heart, that God raiſed Chriſt from the dead thou ſhalt be ſaved, v. 9. likewiſe Gal. 3.10. having ſaid, the Juſt ſhall live by Faith, he adds the Law is not of Faith, but the Man that doth them ſhall live by them: therefore Man cannot be juſtified by the Works of the Law, i… muſt be by Faith only: will they again ſay… that theſe places only exclude the works o… the Ceremonial Law? Surely Moſes in the place cited, Lev. 18.5. ſpeaketh of the whole Law given to the Jews, as the context ſheweth, and as it is interpreted by the Prophet Ezekiel 20.13. Or will they ſay that only perfect Works, and the Law of innocency are excluded, not imperfect ſincere Obedience? Anſ. If any works juſtifie, they muſt be perfect, elſe there muſt be a conjunction of Gods mercy and Mans own works to juſtifie him, and ſo a Medium betwixt Juſtification by Faith and by Works, even to be juſtified by both together, and ſo the Apoſtle argues imperfectly, yea falſly, à malè diviſis ad benè conjuncta: we are juſtified by Faith, Ergò not by works: nay, it may be by both together.
Argument 5.
We are juſtified freely by Gods grace, therefore by faith as a truſt in the Promiſe: The Antecedent is the Apoſtles, Rom. 3.24. Being juſtified freely by his grace, through the Redemption that is in Jeſus Chriſt: the Conſequence is his alſo, for he adds, God hath ſet forth him to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Bloud: likewiſe Rom. 4.16. It is by Faith, that it may be by Grace. If we are juſtified by Obedience to any Commands, as Obedience, then may we be juſtified by grace in part, there may be ſome mercy in it, but not freely by his grace. Faith only accepteth Salvation as a gift of meer grace, pleading nothing but the free Promiſe of God, in which it truſts, and Faith only applyeth the Righteouſneſs of God by truſting in it: but Obedience, be it what it will, provides a Righteouſneſs of our own; and hereby only is all the glory of our Salvation aſcribed to God when we truſt to nothing of our own in any ſort: But Chriſt is Wiſdom, Righteouſneſs, Sanctification, and Redemption to us, which is by Faith only, 1 Cor. 1.30, 31. For obedience, as obedience, brings ſomething to God, and doth not receive from him, and ſome of the Glory is due to it.
Argument 6.
The Spirit is given by Faith, as affiance to truſt; therefore we are juſtified by it: The conſequence is gathered hence; the Spirit is the Author of all Grace in the Sanctified, and of uſeful gifts both in them and in the unſanctified, for the edifying of the Church, both theſe are means of fitting men for Heaven: If then Faith obtain the means, ſurely it obtaineth a Right and Title to Heaven firſt. The Antecedent is the Apoſtles, Gal. 3.2. in a queſtion importing a negation as to Works, and an affirmation as to Faith, Received you the Spirit by the Works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith? And v. 5. He that miniſtreth the Spirit and worketh miracles amongſt you, doth he it by the Works of the Law, or by the preaching of Faith? The former words I underſtand of the Graces, the latter of the extraordinary Gifts of the Holy Ghoſt, but doth come, not by preaching obedience to the Law, but the Promiſes of the Goſpel. Again, v. 14. We receive the Promiſe of the Spirit by Faith: now here they cannot ſay, the Apoſtle oppoſeth the works of the Law to the works of the Goſpel, implied in Faith, as they do ſometimes. For thoſe he diſputes againſt were believing Jews, and ſuch as pretended the Authority, at leaſt, the Example of Peter and John for their Doctrine, as appears, Chap. 2. and Acts 15.5. Theſe did not exclude the works of the Goſpel, but meant that men ſhould be ſaved by believing in Chriſt and fulfilling the Precepts of the Law and Goſpel, and differed nothing from our late Authors in this point, but in that they accounted the Ceremonial Law ſtill to oblige. Gal. 1.6, 7. I marvel that you are ſo ſoon removed, from him that called you into the Grace of Chriſt, unto another Goſpel, which is not another: but there are ſome that trouble you and would pervert the Goſpel of Chriſt: If they had contended for the works of the Law diſtinct from the Goſpel, it had been another Goſpel they had preached: their Doctrine therefore was a mixture of Faith and Works: Nor is it the Ceremonial Law only whoſe works are excluded; For theſe Teachers endeavoured that the Gentiles ſhould be circumciſed and keep the Law of Moſes, Act. 15.5. the whole Law; which is alſo oppoſed to the Promiſe made to Abraham, by which he and his Seed were juſtified, Gal. ….16, 17. Ceremonies indeed are particularly inſtanced in; becauſe men put moſt truſt in them, whether appointed by God or deviſed by themſelves, and chiefly becauſe they were the bond and badge of the whole Law, Gal. 5.3. I teſtifie to every man, if he be circumciſed, he is a Debtor to keep the whole Law: It is therefore Juſtification by obedience to God's Commands, as well as believing in Chriſt, uſhered in by impoſing the Jewiſh Ceremonies, which the Apoſtle diſputes againſt in this Epiſtle, and againſt which he proves, We are juſtified by Faith in the Promiſes.
Argument 7.
Miraculous Faith, as truſting in the Promiſe and Power of God, obtaineth miraculous Effects; therefore Faith in the Promiſe of Pardon obtains Juſtification. The Antecedent is frequently laid down in the Goſpel, Thy Faith hath ſaved thee; thy Faith hath made thee whole; be it unto thee according to thy Faith: And that general Promiſe, Mat. 17.20. If you have Faith as a grain of Muſtardſeed, you ſhall ſay to this Mountain, Remove to yonder place and it ſhall obey you, and nothing ſhall be impoſſible for you. The conſequence is thus proved; The Faith of Miracles, as in the unſanctified, it was an extraordinary degree of common or notional Faith; ſo in the Godly it was but an extraordinary degree of that ſound Faith which juſtifies them. We have no reaſon to make it a diſtinct gift or grace, no more than that Faith whereby we believe particular promiſes in ſpiritual or temporal things, ſhould be diſtinct from the Faith of the Pardon of Sin. Now then, if a truſting in extraordinary promiſes will procure theſe extraordinary effects thereby promiſed, by the ſame reaſon, truſting in the Promiſe of Juſtification, ſhould be effectual to juſtifie us.
Argument 8.
Ex oppoſito. If Faith doth not juſtifie, as truſt in the Promiſe, but Obedience with it, and as a part of Obedience; then it may be ſaid truly and properly there is Juſtifying Repentance, Juſtifying Love to God and our Neighbour, Juſtifying Patience, &c. as well as Juſtifying Faith, in that we are juſtified by them as well as by Faith; but the Scripture is ſilent to any ſuch thing. Nor will it ſerve to ſay, Faith juſtifieth principally and primarily, works ſecondarily and leſs principally, and therefore it is aſcribed only to Faith: For (beſides that we muſt not diſtinguiſh where the Scripture doth not) Works in their intrinſecal value are much more excellent than Faith. To believe the Scriptures, or truſt in a Promiſe, is of it ſelf the meaneſt, loweſt Act, that man can perform to God, and which he doth only for his own good; but in Obedience man denieth himſelf and ſeeketh only the Honour of God: And if you ſay, as a condition, Faith is principal, Works leſs principal. I anſwer, It is ſtrange that the leſs conſiderable thing ſhould have the greateſt weight laid upon it: But let it be ſhewed how Faith doth reconcile us to God more than Love and Obedience; till then we may look upon this diſtinction but as an old Popiſh Evaſion revived.