Part 22

Many famous Protestants bear Witness to this inward Justification by Christ inwardly revealed and formed in Man. [Sidenote: Boræus _in _Gen._ P. 162._] As _M. Boræus_: “In the Imputation,” saith he, “wherein Christ is ascribed and imputed to Believers for Righteousness, the Merit of his Blood, and the Holy Ghost given unto us by Virtue of his Merits, are equally included. [Sidenote: _The Testimonies of famous Protestants of inward Justification_.] And so it shall be confessed, _That Christ is our Righteousness_, as well from his Merit, Satisfaction, and Remission of Sins obtained by him, as from the Gifts of the Spirit of Righteousness. And if we do this, we shall consider the whole Christ proposed to us for our Salvation, and not any single Part of him.” The same Man, P. 169. “In our justification then Christ is considered, who breathes and lives in us, to wit, by his Spirit put on by us; concerning which putting on the Apostle saith, _Ye have put on Christ_.” And again, P. 171. “We endeavour to treat in Justification, not of Part of Christ, but him wholly, in so far as he is our Righteousness every Way.” And a little after: “As then blessed _Paul_, in our Justification, when he saith, _Whom he justified, them he glorified_, comprehends all Things which pertain to our being reconciled to God the Father, and our Renewing, which fits us for attaining unto Glory, such as Faith, Righteousness, Christ, and the Gift of Righteousness exhibited by him, whereby we are regenerated, to the fulfilling of the Justification which the Law requires; so we also will have all Things comprehended in this Cause, which are contained in the Recovery of Righteousness and Innocency.” And P. 181. “The Form,” saith he, “of our Justification is the divine Righteousness itself, by which we are formed just and good. This is _Jesus Christ_, who is esteemed our Righteousness, partly from the Forgiveness of Sins, and partly from the Renewing and the Restoring of that Integrity, which was lost by the Fault of the first _Adam_: So that this new and heavenly _Adam_ being put on by us, of which the Apostle saith, _Ye have put on Christ_, ye have put him on, I say, as the Form, so the Righteousness, Wisdom, and Life of God.” [Sidenote: Inuncunas.] So also affirmeth _Claudius Albertus Inuncanus_, see his _Orat. Apodict. Lausaniæ Excus. 1587. Orat. 2_. P. 86, 87. [Sidenote: Zuinglius.] _Zuinglius_ also, in his Epistle to the Princes of _Germany_, as cited by _Himelius_, C. 7. P. 60. saith, “That the Sanctification of the Spirit is true Justification, which alone suffices to justify.” [Sidenote: Estius.] _Estius_ upon 1 _Cor._ vi. 11. saith, “Lest Christian Righteousness should be thought to consist in the _Washing_ alone, that is, in the Remission of Sins, he addeth the other Degree or Part, [but ye are _sanctified_] that is, ye have attained to Purity, so that ye are now truly holy before God. _Lastly_, Expressing the Sum of the Benefit received in one Word, which includes both the Parts, But ye are _justified_ (the Apostle adds) in the Name of the Lord _Jesus Christ_, that is, by his Merits, and in the Spirit of our God, that is, the Holy Spirit proceeding from God, and communicated to us by Christ.” [Sidenote: R. Baxter.] And lastly, _Richard Baxter_, a famous _English_ Preacher, in his Book called _Aphorisms of Justification_, P. 80. saith, “That some ignorant Wretches gnash their Teeth at this Doctrine, as if it were flat _Popery_, not understanding the Nature of the Righteousness of the new Covenant; which is all out of Christ in ourselves, though wrought by the Power of the Spirit of Christ in us.”

§. IX. [Sidenote: Posit. 3.] The _third_ Thing proposed to be considered is, concerning _the Necessity of good Works to Justification_. I suppose there is enough said before to clear us from any Imputation of being _Popish_ in this Matter.

[Sidenote: Object.] But if it be queried, _Whether we have not said, or will not affirm, that a Man is justified by Works?_

[Sidenote: _Answ._] I answer; I hope none need, neither ought to take Offence, if in this Matter we use the plain Language of the holy Scripture, which faith expresly in answer hereunto, _James_ ii. 24. [Sidenote: _That Works are necessary to Justification._] _Ye see then how that by Works a Man is justified, and not by Faith only._ I shall not offer to prove the Truth of this Saying, since what is said in this Chapter by the Apostle is sufficient to convince any Man that will read and believe it; I shall only from this derive this one Argument.

[Sidenote: Arg.] If no Man can be justified without Faith, and no Faith be living, nor yet available to Justification without Works, then Works are necessary to _Justification_:

But the first is true: Therefore also the last.

For this Truth is so apparent and evident in the Scriptures, that for the Proof of it we might transcribe most of the Precepts of the Gospel. I shall instance a few, which of themselves do so clearly assert the Thing in Question, that they need no Commentary, nor farther Demonstration. And then I shall answer the Objections made against this, which indeed are the Arguments used for the contrary Opinion, _Heb._ xii. 14. _Without Holiness no Man shall see God._ Matt. vii. 21. [Sidenote: _Not the Sayers, but the Doers are blessed._] _Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven._ John xiii. 7. _If ye know these Things, happy are ye if ye do them._ 1 Cor. vii. 19. _Circumcision is nothing, and Uncircumcision is nothing, but the Keeping of the Commandments of God._ Rev. xxii. 14. _Blessed are they that do his Commandments, that they may have Right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the Gates into the City_: And many more that might be instanced. From all which I thus argue:

[Sidenote: _Arg._] If those only can _enter into the Kingdom that do the Will of the Father_; if those be accounted only the _wise Builders_ and _happy_ that do the Sayings of Christ; if no Observations avail, but only the _Keeping of the Commandments_; and if they be blessed that _do the Commandments_, and thereby have Right to the _Tree of Life_, and Entrance through the Gates into the City; then _Works_ are absolutely _necessary to Salvation_ and _Justification_:

But the first is true: And _therefore_ also the last.

The Consequence of the _Antecedent_ is so clear and evident, that I think no Man of sound Reason will call for a Proof of it.

§. X. [Sidenote: Obj. 1.] But they object, _That Works are not necessary to Justification_: First, because of that Saying of _Christ_, Luke xvii. 10. [Sidenote: _Unprofitable Servants._] _When ye shall have done all these Things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable Servants._

[Sidenote: _Answ._] _Answer_; As to God we are indeed unprofitable, for he needeth nothing, [Sidenote: _God needeth nothing._] neither can we add any Thing unto him: But as to ourselves, we are not unprofitable; else it might be said, that it is not profitable for a Man to keep _God’s Commandments_; which is most absurd, and would contradict Christ’s Doctrine throughout. Doth not Christ, _Matt._ v. through all those Beatitudes, pronounce Men blessed for their _Purity_, for their _Meekness_, for their _Peaceableness_, &c? And is not then that for which Christ pronounceth Men blessed, profitable unto them? Moreover, _Matt._ xxv. 21, 23. [Sidenote: _Those that had improved their _Talents_, were called good and faithful Servants._] Doth not Christ pronounce the Men _good and faithful Servants_ that improved their Talents? Was not their doing of that then profitable unto them? And Ver. 30. it is said of him that hid his _Talent_, and did not improve it, _Cast ye the unprofitable Servant into utter Darkness_. If then not improving of the _Talent_ made the Man _unprofitable_, and he was therefore _cast into utter Darkness_, it will follow by the Rule of _Contraries_, so far at least that the Improving made the other profitable; seeing, if our Adversaries will allow us to believe Christ’s Words, this is made a _Reason_, and so at least a _Cause instrumental_ of their Acceptance; _Well done, good and faithful Servant, thou hast been faithful over a few Things, I will make thee Ruler over many Things; enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord_.

[Sidenote: Obj. 2.] _Secondly_, They object those Sayings of the Apostle, where he excludes the Deeds of the Law from Justification; as first, _Rom._ iii. 20. _Because by the Deeds of the Law there shall be no Flesh justified in his Sight._ And Ver. 28. _Therefore we conclude, that a Man is justified by Faith, without the Deeds of the Law._

[Sidenote: _Answ. 1._.] _Answ._ We have shewn already what Place we give to _Works_, even to the _best of Works_, in _Justification_; and how we ascribe its immediate and formal Cause to the _Worker_ brought forth in us, but not to the _Works_. But in answer to this Objection, I say, there is a great Difference betwixt the _Works_ of the _Law_, and those of _Grace_, or of the _Gospel_. [Sidenote: _The Works of the Gospel or Grace distinguished from those of the Law._] The first are excluded, the second not, but are necessary. The first are those which are performed in Man’s own Will, and by his Strength, in a Conformity to the outward Law and Letter; and therefore are Man’s own imperfect Works, or Works of the Law, which _makes nothing perfect_: And to this belong all the Ceremonies, Purifications, Washings, and Traditions of the _Jews_. The second are the Works of the Spirit of Grace in the Heart, wrought in Conformity to the inward and spiritual Law; which Works are not wrought in Man’s Will, nor by his Power and Ability, but in and by the Power and Spirit of Christ _in us_, and therefore are _pure_ and _perfect_ in their Kind (as shall hereafter be proved) and may be called _Christ’s Works_, for that he is the immediate Author and Worker of them: Such _Works_ we affirm absolutely _necessary to Justification_, so that a Man cannot be justified without them; and all _Faith_ without them is dead and useless, as the Apostle _James_ saith. Now, that such a Distinction is to be admitted, and that the _Works_ excluded by the Apostle in the Matter of Justification are of the first Kind, will appear, if we consider the Occasion of the Apostle’s mentioning this, as well here, as throughout his Epistle to the _Galatians_, where he speaks of this Matter and to this Purpose at large: Which was this, That whereas many of the _Gentiles_ that were not of the Race or Seed of _Abraham_, as concerning the Flesh, were come to be converted to the _Christian Faith_, and to believe in him, some of those, that were of the _Jewish Proselytes_, thought to subject the faithful and believing _Gentiles_ to the legal Ceremonies and Observations, as necessary to their Justification: [Sidenote: _The Occasion of the Apostle’s speaking of the Works of the Law, which are excluded._] This gave the Apostle _Paul_ Occasion at length, in his Epistle to the _Romans_, _Galatians_, and elsewhere, to shew the Use and Tendency of the Law, and of its Works, and to contra-distinguish them from the Faith of Christ, and the Righteousness thereof; shewing how the former was ceased and become ineffectual, the other remaining, and yet necessary. And that the Works excluded by the Apostle are of this Kind of Works of the Law, appears by the whole Strain of his Epistle to the _Galatians_, Chap. i, ii, iii, and iv. For after, in Chap. iv. he upbraideth them for their Returning unto the Observation of _Days_ and _Times_, and that, in the Beginning of Chap. v. he sheweth them their Folly, and the evil Consequence of adhering to the Ceremonies of Circumcision, then he adds, Ver. 6. _For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision availeth, but Faith, which worketh by Love_; and thus he concludes again, Chap. vi. Ver. 15. _For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision availeth, nor Uncircumcision, but a new Creature._ From which Places appeareth that Distinction of Works before-mentioned, whereof the one is excluded, the other necessary to Justification. For the Apostle sheweth here, that _Circumcision_ (which Word is often used to comprehend the whole Ceremonies and legal Performances of the _Jews_) is not necessary, nor doth avail. Here then are the _Works_ which are excluded, by which _no Man is justified_; but _Faith_, which _worketh by Love_, but the _new Creature_, this is that which _availeth_, which is _absolutely necessary_: For _Faith_, that _worketh by Love_, cannot be without _Works_; for, as it is said in the same 5th Chapter, Ver. 22. _Love is a Work of the Spirit_; also the _new Creature_, if it avail and be necessary, cannot be without Works; seeing it is natural for it to bring forth Works of Righteousness. Again, that the Apostle no Ways intends to exclude such good Works appears, in that in the same Epistle he exhorts the _Galatians_ to them, and holds forth the Usefulness and Necessity of them, and that very plainly, Chap. vi. Ver. 7, 8, 9. [Sidenote: _The Usefulness and Necessity of good_ Works.] _Be not deceived_, saith he, _God is not mocked; for whatsoever a Man soweth, that shall he also reap: For he that soweth to the Flesh, shall of the Flesh reap Corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap Life everlasting. And let us not be weary of Well-doing, for in due Season we shall reap, if we faint not_: Doth it not hereby appear, how necessary the Apostle would have the _Galatians_ know that he esteemed good Works to be? To wit, not the outward Ceremonies and Traditions of the Law, but the Fruits of the Spirit, mentioned a little before; by which Spirit he would have them to be led, and walk in those good Works: As also, how much he ascribed to these good Works, by which he affirms _Life everlasting_ is reaped. Now, that cannot be useless to Man’s Justification, which capacitates him to reap so rich an Harvest.

[Sidenote: _Answ. 2._] But _Lastly_; For a full Answer to this Objection, and for the establishing of this Doctrine of _good Works_, I shall instance another Saying of the same Apostle _Paul_, which our Adversaries also in the Blindness of their Minds make use of against us; to wit, Tit. iii. 5. [Sidenote: Justified _not by our _legal Performances_, but the _Fruit_ of the_ Spirit.] _Not by Works of Righteousness which we have done, but according to his Mercy he saved us, by the Washing of Regeneration, and Renewing of the Holy Ghost._ It is generally granted by all, that [_saved_] is here all one as if it had been said [_justified_.] Now there are two Kinds of _Works_ here mentioned: One by which we are not saved, that is, not justified; and another by which we are saved, or justified. The first, the Works of Righteousness which we have wrought, that is, which we in our first fallen Nature, by our own Strength, have wrought, our own _legal Performances_, and therefore may truly and properly be called ours, whatever specious Appearances they may have. And that it must needs and ought to be so understood, doth appear from the other Part, _By the Washing of Regeneration, and Renewing of the Holy Ghost_; seeing _Regeneration_ is a Work, comprehensive of many good Works, even of all those which are called _the Fruits of the Spirit_.

[Sidenote: Obj.] Now in Case it should be objected, _That these may also be called ours, because wrought in us, and also by us many Times as Instruments_;

[Sidenote: _Answ._] I answer; It is far otherwise than the former: For in the first we are yet alive in our own natural State, unrenewed, working of ourselves, seeking to save ourselves, by imitating and endeavouring a Conformity to the outward Letter of the Law; and so wrestling and striving in the _Carnal Mind_, that is Enmity to God, and in the _cursed Will_ not yet subdued. But in this second we are _crucified with Christ_, we are become _dead with him_, have _partaken of the Fellowship of his Sufferings_, are made _conformable to his Death_; and our first Man, our _old Man with all his Deeds_, as well the openly Wicked as the seemingly Righteous, our legal Endeavours and foolish Wrestlings, are all buried and nailed to the _Cross of Christ_; [Sidenote: _Not _We_, but _Christ in us_ is the Worker of Righteousness._] and so it is no more _we_, but _Christ alive in us_, the _Worker in us_. So that though it be _we_ in a Sense, yet it is according to that of the Apostle to the same _Galatians_, Chap. ii. Ver. 20. _I am crucified, yet nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: Not I, but the Grace of Christ in me_. These Works are especially to be ascribed to the _Spirit of Christ_, and the _Grace of God in us_, as being immediately thereby acted and led in them, and enabled to perform them. And this Manner of Speech is not strained, but familiar to the Apostles, as appears, Gal. ii. 8. _For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the Apostleship of the Circumcision, the same was mighty in me_, &c. Phil. ii. 13. _For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do_, &c. So that it appears by this Place, that since the _Washing of Regeneration_ is necessary to Justification, and that _Regeneration_ comprehends _Works_, _Works_ are necessary; and that these _Works_ of the Law that are excluded, are different from these that are necessary and admitted.

§. XI. [Sidenote: Obj. 3.] _Thirdly_, They object _That no Works, yea, not the Works of Christ in us, can have Place in Justification, because nothing that is impure can be useful in it; and all the Works wrought in us are impure_. For this they allege that Saying of the Prophet _Isaiah_, lxiv. 6. _All our Righteousnesses are as filthy Rags_; adding this Reason, _That seeing we are impure, so must our Works be; which though good in themselves, yet as performed by us, they receive a Tincture of Impurity, even as clean Water passing through an unclean Pipe is defiled_.

[Sidenote: _Answ. 1._] That no _impure Works_ are useful to Justification, is confessed; but that all the Works wrought in the Saints are such, is denied. And for Answer to this, the former Distinction will serve. We confess, that the first Sort of _Works_ above-mentioned are _impure_; but not the second: Because the first are wrought in the unrenewed State, but not the other. And as for that of _Isaiah_, it must relate to the first Kind; [Sidenote: _What Sort of _Righteousness_ is as filthy _Rags.] for though he saith, _All our Righteousnesses are as filthy Rags_, yet that will not comprehend the Righteousness of Christ _in us_, but only that which we work _of_ and _by_ ourselves. For should we so conclude, then it would follow, that we should throw away all _Holiness_ and _Righteousness_; since that which is as _filthy Rags_, and as a _menstruous Garment_, ought to be thrown away; yea, it would follow, that all the Fruits of the Spirit, mentioned, _Gal._ iv. were as _filthy Rags_; Whereas on the Contrary, some of the Works of the Saints are said to have a _sweet Savour in the Nostrils of the Lord_; are said to be an _Ornament of great Price in the Sight of God_; are said to _prevail with him_, and to be _acceptable to him_; which _filthy Rags_ and a _menstruous Garment_ cannot be. Yea, many famous _Protestants_ have acknowledged, that this Place is not therefore so to be understood. [Sidenote: Calvin _and others their Sense concerning _Isa. 64. 6._ of our_ Righteousness.] _Calvin_ upon this Place saith, “That it is used to be cited by some, that they may prove there is so little Merit in our Works, that they are before God filthy and defiled: But this seems to me to be different from the Prophet’s Mind,” saith he, “seeing he speaks not here of all Mankind.” [Sidenote: Musculus.] _Musculus_ upon this Place saith, “That it was usual for this People to presume much of their legal Righteousness, as if thereby they were made clean; nevertheless they had no more Cleanness than the unclean Garment of a Man. Others expound this Place concerning all the Righteousness of our Flesh; that Opinion indeed is true; yet I think that the Prophet did rather accommodate these Sayings to the Impurity of the People in _legal Terms_.” [Sidenote: (Bertius) Epistolæ præfixæ dissert. ann.] The Author (commonly supposed _Bertius_) speaking concerning the true Sense of the 7th Chapter of the Epistle to the _Romans_, hath a Digression touching this of _Isaiah_, saying; “This Place is commonly corrupted by a pernicious Wresting; for it is still alleged, as if the Meaning thereof inferred the most excellent Works of the best Christians, _&c._” [Sidenote: Ja. Coret Apol. _Impress_. Paris, Ann. 1597 _Page 78_.] _James Coret_, a _French_ Minister in the Church of _Basil_, in his _Apology_ concerning _Justification_ against _Alescales_, saith; “Nevertheless concerning the Counsel of certain _good Men_, I must admonish the Reader, that it never came into our Minds to abuse that Saying of _Isa._ lxiv. 6. against _good Works_, in which it is said, that _all our Righteousnesses are as filthy Rags_, as if he would have that which is good in our _good Works_, and proceedeth from the _Holy Spirit_, to be esteemed as a filthy and unclean Thing.”