Section VII. On the Sinner's Justification by Faith in Christ. · Part 2

It is indeed impossible that he who has once sinned, if he have any degree of virtue and true love to God, in the exercise of that, to seek or desire to recommend himself to God by it, so as to obtain pardon and his favour, merely out of respect to that; for this would be to oppose God, and all goodness; to rise in rebellion against his law, and holy government; and therefore, contrary to love to God, and all true virtue, or moral goodness.—The reason of this has been given, viz. That it is contrary to the law of God, which curses the sinner, that he should be considered and treated any otherwise than as being accursed, out of regard to any thing he has, or can do, and while he is not united to Christ, so as to have the benefit to his , by receiving purely out of respect to that. Hence it is certain, that if a man seek, and by the works of the law, or by any supposed virtue or goodness of his own, he does in that, act as an enemy to God, and to his law; and his supposed moral goodness is nothing but sin and rebellion. But if it were not so, and he were really and perfectly holy, this could not recommend him to pardon; and would be no reason why he should be pardoned, and delivered from the curse of the law, rather than another, who is wholly destitute of all moral goodness. The reason of this has been given. Therefore, whenever he who has sinned is brought to love God, and exercise any degree of moral goodness, he will not desire to be by it, and will be so far from offering it as a to recommend him to favour, that he will approve of the law of God which curses him, and condemn himself as that docs, as infinitely guilty and ill-deserving; and consequently place all his hope of pardon in the of Christ; and with Paul, not desire to be found in his own , which is of the law; but that which is through the faith of Christ, the which is of God, by faith. But of this, more hereafter.

2. Though a sinner, upon his becoming perfectly obedient, after he had sinned, might be by his own , which has been proved to be impossible; yet man is cut off from all hope of acceptance in this way, because every believer is, in this life, very imperfect, and sinful. In every act of his, there is much sin; sin enough to condemn him, had he never sinned before. He has a great degree of opposition in his heart to God, and his law; and all his exercises, in which there is a degree of moral goodness, are so defective, that he has reason to be ashamed of himself, and of them; for every degree of defect is sinful. He does not love God half so much as he ought, and his heart is exceeding corrupt and abominable, viewed in all the exercises and defects of it. On this account the believer is unworthy of any favour, his goodness is infinitely far from rendering him worthy of the least favour; and every act of his is attended with sin enough to condemn him forever, if viewed and treated as he is in himself, and according to his present character. In this view the Psalmist says, “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark , O Lord, who shall stand! Enter not into judgment with thy servant: For in thy sight shall no man living be .” And Job says, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: But now mine eye seeth thee: I abhor myself, and in dust and ashes.”

When it is considered, how much sin attends the believer in all his exercises; how far he falls below his duty in every thing; how much moral evil is constantly in his heart; and how greatly every thing wrong and. defective in him is aggravated, and more criminal than it was before he believed, by the greater light and he now has, and the great, peculiar and distinguishing favours he has received from God: and the advantages and motives he now has to be holy as God is holy, by which his obligations are unspeakably increased: When all this is considered, there will doubtless appear reason to conclude that he is now more criminal in the sight of God, and in this sense a greater sinner, and more hateful and abominable, than he was before he believed, or than any unbeliever whatsoever, notwithstanding his faith, virtue, and . Surely then he has nothing in himself suited to flatter and raise his pride, by becoming a believer, and uniting himself to Christ; but every thing is suited to lead him to humble himself in the sight of the Lord, and walk humbly with God, and constantly cry, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

This leads to another particular.

3. All the virtue or ; all the right taste and exercises which are implied in saving faith, as described m the foregoing section, as was there observed, imply and consist chiefly in disclaiming and renouncing all pretences to any worthiness that the believer has, or can possibly be in man, that should recommend him to any favour, and in coming to Christ, as in himself, infinitely guilty and ill-deserving, and trusting in his and merit for . How then can this possibly lead men to trust in themselves that they are righteous, or flatter and encourage their pride? It is the only thing that destroys such a spirit, and tends to pluck it up by the roots, and by which a believer humbles himself in the sight of the Lord, and walks humbly before him all his days. The more of this faith he has, the farther he is from pride, and the more humble. And he who has not this faith, and does not live by it, his soul is lifted up in pride, and is not upright in him.

Faith, which worketh by love, discerns the excellence of the divine character and law, and the infinite evil of sin; approves of the former and condemns the latter. In the exercise of this faith the law comes, sin revives, and the sinner dies; feels himself undone and lost forever, notwithstanding any help or in himself, if treated according to the righteous law of God. By this faith the sinner flies to the Redeemer for , and , as a free gift to an infinitely unworthy creature, who has no of his own to recommend him to the least favour, and never can have any. And the more the sinner has of this faith, which implies love and , and the longer he lives by it, the more he sees and feels the evil nature and ill desert of sin, and a view and sense of his own sinfulness increases; and the more he prizes and trusts in Christ for pardon, , and . And if he be not really a greater criminal than he was before, he now sees much more of his sin and guilt, and a view and sense of this increases, as he grows in faith and . Thus all boasting is most effectually excluded by the law of faith, as faith itself discards and opposes all that which could be the ground of boasting.

Hence it appears, that they who exclude and love from faith, take an effectual way to support boasting and the pride of man: For that faith in which there is no does not oppose the pride of the human heart, but leaves man as proud as before, and with the same disposition to exalt himself, and trust in himself that he is righteous. No one who has not a heart that is truly and friendly to God, will humble himself before God, and be willing to be wholly indebted to free for and .

4. If faith did not imply a right taste and disposition and true love to Christ, it would not in any manner or degree unite the sinner to Christ so as to render it fit and proper that his should be reckoned in his favour, or be any reason why such a believer should be , rather than another, who does not believe. It has been shewn, that in the scripture the believer is said to be in a particular relation to Christ, to be in Christ, and to put him on; to be united to him as the wife is to the husband, and the members of the body to the head; and that this union is by faith. This gives him an interest in Christ, as, on account of this union, he may with reason and propriety be considered and treated as belonging to Christ, so as to have the benefit of his worthiness and for his ; and in this sense he is by faith. That faith therefore, which does not unite to Christ, cannot be saving faith. No faith can do this but that which implies love, for in this all true moral union consists. That faith which is consistent with the sinner’s being at heart an enemy to Christ, does in no true sense unite to him, but is consistent with the greatest, with total alienation from him, and opposition to him. Therefore, there is no more reason or fitness that the man who has such a faith should be by the of Christ, than he who has it not, but is in every sense an unbeliever.

It must be still kept in mind, that faith does not bring into a state, because it is a good work, or out of respect to the moral goodness there is in it; but because of the natural fitness there is, that he whose heart is united to Christ, as it is by believing, should be recommended to favour, and by his worthiness and , to whom he is thus united, and in whom he trusts. The believing sinner is considered, when viewed in and by himself, as destitute of any thing to recommend him to favour, and as unworthy and ill-deserving, as if he had no faith, and no kind or degree of moral goodness: And must be viewed so, according to the reason of things, and the law of God; so that when he is , he is as being ungodly, because he really is so; that is, has no moral goodness, to recommend him, as the reason why he should be , rather than another, who has no moral goodness. In this respect all are alike, and upon equal grounds. This leads us to the true sense of the following words of the apostle Paul, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that the ungodly, his faith is counted for .”

By him that worketh not, is evidently meant one who does not attempt to work, in order to recommend himself to the favour of God by his moral goodness; is not of those who are of the works of the law, and consequently under the curse of it, notwithstanding any thing they can do; but renounces all pretence and desire to be in this way, by his works; but directly contrary to this, believeth on him, and receives from him, as a free, undeserved favour, , who gives it to all such, though they have no or works to recommend them; but are in this respect ungodly. This is evidently the Apostle’s meaning; for he puts not working, and believing, in opposition to working in order to recommend themselves and render themselves worthy of a reward, so as, in this sense, to bring God into debt to them. This appears by the foregoing words, with which those are connected. “Now to him that worketh, is the reward not reckoned of , but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that the ungodly, &c.” By working he means the deeds, the works of the law, of which he speaks, and sets them in opposition to faith, as he does here. What is meant by working to merit a reward, has been often explained in the preceding section, and in this. Faith is opposed to this, and looks to Christ, and receives , pardon and , as a free, undeserved gift to the ungodly, that is, to one who has no good works, no worthiness to recommend him to the least favour, but is infinitely unworthy, guilty and ill deserving. All this is consistent with faith, implying and consisting in all that moral goodness, gospel , and obedience, which, according to scripture it does, as has been shewn in the section on saving faith.

5. If moral goodness in faith would recommend the believer to favour, on account of the worth in it, and render a sinner more worthy and deserving, or less unworthy and ill deserving in the sight of God, and therefore is inconsistent with by free , and consequently all moral goodness must be excluded from it; then it is equally necessary that the believer should never have any moral goodness, in order to his being saved by . They who would exclude all moral goodness from faith, and suppose, if it involves and love, and is really a holy exercise, this moral goodness would render the sinner more deserving or less ill deserving, and so would be inconsistent with his being wholly by the of Christ, and saved by free , do suppose, at the same time, that gospel and obedience is some how connected with saving faith, and does take place, sooner or later, in the heart of every believer. But if moral goodness in those who have sinned, in itself considered, recommend to favour, and render them worthy of it; then when they attain to this they will have no more need of the of Christ, nor of free ; but may and must trust in their own . And when they come to be perfectly holy, they may justly consider themselves as worthy of eternal life, and claim it as a debt, and not receive it as a free gift. Do not they who carefully exclude all moral goodness from saving faith, for the reason above mentioned, appear inconsistent with themselves, in this respect? It is not yet seen how those things can be .

But if what has been proved concerning the law of God, and the true state of the sinner, viz. that no possible degree of and obedience, continued any length of time by the sinner, can for one sin; but if he once the law, he falls under the curse of it, from which no moral goodness afterwards attained can deliver him, but he will forever deserve to be the subject of the displeasure of God, and condemned to eternal misery: If this be kept in view, it will appear, that whatever moral goodness he attains, it does not render him the less unworthy; and if he be pardoned and saved, it must be as much through the of Christ, and as really a free gift to him, and he as much the subject of free , as if he had no moral good; and the believer must receive all favours, and continue in a state, through life, however obedient he be; and forever, though perfectly holy, out of respect to the of Christ, and as a gift of free , as much as he received at first. And there does not appear any inconsistence or difficulty in the matter, when viewed in this scripture light.

The , when perfectly holy in heaven, will, considered in and by themselves, be as deserving of the divine displeasure and everlasting punishment, as they ever were, and will be so forever. They continue in a state, and in the enjoyment of the favour of God, by continuing united to Christ; and were it possible that this union between the Redeemer and them should cease, they would, they must fall under condemnation, and sink into hell. It is true, that the obedience and of believers is acceptable to God, and may be rewarded, as a testimony of this, in consequence of their union to Christ, and out of respect to his and worthiness, because they are united to him, and love him, who is so infinitely worthy in the sight of God. Their persons and their obedience, and offerings to God, are pleasing and acceptable to him for the sake of Christ, and because they belong to him, and are in him, and do all in his name. This is the account the scripture gives of the matter. “To the praise of the glory of his , wherein he hath made us accepted m the beloved.” “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious; ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God, by Jesus Christ.” “Now the God of peace—make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ.” The reason of this is, that by the which Christ has made for sin, and out of respect to that, their sins are all forgiven; they are blotted out, so as not to be remembered against them.—In this respect, their guilt is cancelled and done away, which otherwise would counterbalance, swallow up, and destroy all their moral goodness. In this sense, God is to them in Christ, not their trespasses unto them. And by reason of their relation to Christ, their moral goodness, in the exercise of which they cleave to Christ, and love and honour him, is more acceptable, precious and worthy in the sight of God, than it could be in any creature not so united to the infinitely worthy Redeemer. Their relation to him gives them a dignity and worthiness, which they have not in themselves, considered as separate from Christ, and renders all their more acceptable and rewardable than otherwise it could be. This is expressed by Christ in the following words. “He that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father. The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.”

But farther to explain the doctrine of by faith in Christ, now under consideration, it must be observed,

VI. Men are brought into a state by one, the first act of saving faith. The promise of salvation is made to him who believeth. “He that believeth shall be saved; he hath eternal life, and shall never come into condemnation.” He therefore who believes and exercises one act of true faith, however imperfect and weak, comes within the reach of this promise, is and shall be saved. The reason of it is, because the first act of faith as really unites the sinner to Christ, as many, or a course of acts do; and therefore is sufficient to render it fit and suitable that he should have an interest in his merit and .

It is true indeed, that in order to a person’s continuing in a state, he must continue united to Christ, and therefore must in his faith, in which the union on his part consists, and by which it is maintained: And in this respect the faith by which a man is , and obtains the promises of life, is a faith.—Though a man is pardoned and has a promise of eternal life, upon the first act of faith, yet this first act is not regarded by God, in his him, as the only act; but it is viewed as connected with a continued series of the acts of the same faith to the end. And the first act entitles to life, as the first, or beginning of a continued course of exercises of the same kind, or as a faith.

The first act of faith entitles to in faith, by virtue of a divine constitution and promise. God has promised that he who once believes shall continue to believe, so that his faith shall not fail: That they shall be “kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation.” If this were not the case, it would not be fit or congruous, that he who once believes should have the promise of salvation; and to eternal life would be suspended until the believer had in faith.

In the first act of saving faith, the believer does virtually and implicitly, if not expressly, look to Christ and trust in him for , together with other blessings; and so it gives a title to this benefit, among others. In this view, in faith is implied in the first act, and as such, it is faith, and has the promise of salvation. The scripture sets this point in the same light. “Now the just shall live by faith but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Here, saving faith is represented as faith; and , as being that in faith, by which it becomes saving; for believing to the saving of the soul, is put in opposition to drawing back unto perdition; and therefore must mean a faith.

In this view it may be seen why believers are daily to pray for the forgiveness of the sins, which they commit after they are in a state; and why God is represented as actually forgiving them; and that this forgiveness is suspended upon their renewed acts of and faith. The believer, upon his first believing, has the forgiveness of all his past sins, and the promise that all his future sins shall be forgiven; so that he shall never come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life: But this is, the whole of it, in some sense, conditional; it is granted upon the supposition that he will in a course of repeated acts of faith, and that his present union to Christ will never cease, but be an everlasting union: If this should cease to exist, and this were possible, all his past sins would be remembered against him, and he fall into condemnation, and under the curse of the law; nor could any of his sins, which he should commit in future, be forgiven. He has the promise of the forgiveness of all the sins which he shall commit, upon condition he does in and faith; therefore upon his renewed sinning, he renews acts of and faith, and, in the exercise of these, asks for pardon, and upon this he is actually forgiven, and not before, agreeable to the divine promise. But as his in faith is made sure by the promise of God, in the of , pardon of all his sins and eternal life are made sure to him, upon his first act of faith, and his .

VII. In the of the believer by the of Christ, it does not become his , so as that he is considered as having actually done and suffered, in his own person, what Christ did and suffered; for this is in no sense true, and cannot be made true.—But he being in Christ, united to him by faith, the of Christ, what he has done and suffered for sinners, and in their place and stead, avails for the believer’s , and he has as much advantage by it, in this respect, as if it were his own personal . It would be needless to mention this particular, if some had not entertained this notion of the of the of Christ, and represented it in this very absurd light; and drawn consequences from it, most contrary to the truth, and many express declarations of scripture.

VIII. In pardoning and the believer, his sins are not so blotted out, or covered, as not to be any more seen or remembered. When sins are once committed, they never can become no sins; it will be forever true, that they were committed. These facts, or the nature of them, cannot be annihilated or altered. And it is impossible that they should be forgotten by God, or out of his sight, while he exists the Omniscient. And the believer’s knowledge that he is has no tendency to make him forget his sins; but the contrary, viz. to fix them on his memory, to think much of them, confess them, and humble himself for them, and admire the of God in his forgiveness, for the sake of Christ. If he could forget his sins, he would forget that he was pardoned; for the latter supposes the former, and is founded upon it. Paul, remembered and repeatedly mentioned his sins, and ranks himself among the chief of sinners, after he knew he was pardoned, and had obtained mercy. And if he could lose the idea of his sin and guilt, he would have no idea of the mercy of God to him. as long as he exists. His sin, in persecuting the , and the sins of other persons, on scripture record, are so far from being forgotten, covered or hid, that they are published to the world, and will be eternally known and remembered. The scripture speaks of forgiving sin, by such phrases as these, Not remembering them any more—covering them—casting them into the depths of the sea, &c. These are strong metaphorical expressions, to denote that God does not, and never will suffer them to rise and be brought against the believer, to condemn him, or do him any hurt. In this sense they are annihilated, blotted out, and never shall be remembered any more. That these expressions cannot be understood in any other sense, or be literally true, appears from the observations which have been made under this head.

IX. The of the believer by the of Christ does in no measure free him from obligation to be perfectly holy in his own person; but increases it, and his criminality in not being so. He is freed from the curse of the law, for not being perfectly and perseveringly holy, and from obligation to perfect obedience, in order to be ; for he is already , without this. In this respect, he is not under the law, but under . But still he is under obligation to love God with all his heart, and his neighbour as himself. His faith is a conformity to these commands, as including and love, and he cannot be perfectly holy, to which he is under indispensable obligation, till he comes to a perfect conformity to this law: For by this only, lie can be holy, as God is holy. It is impossible he should not be under obligation to obey this law perfectly; for it is founded in reason, and cannot be altered or abated; and must therefore forever be the rule of the duty of creatures; and every thing in them which is contrary to this law, or a disregard of it, is sin. Christ did not come to destroy, or make void the law, in this respect; but to fulfil it: And his fulfilling or obeying it, and suffering the penalty of it, does not release the believer from obligation to obedience to it; for this is impossible, because it would be infinitely wrong. Yet some have been so wild in their notions, and so absurd and infatuated, as to suppose he has done it!

It has been observed, that gospel , or the of faith, differs from legal , or the of man before he fell into sin, and that of the angels; and the difference has been particularly stated in the foregoing section. Nevertheless, the necessary to by law, or the of works, and that of the believer under the of , are of the same nature and kind, and consist in obedience and conformity to the same law, in love to God, and to our neighbour: Though the latter may require exercises in some respects different, and towards new and different objects and truths, which could have no place or existence, under the former, such as sinful man, , the character of Jesus Christ, his sufferings and works, &c.

And it is worthy of observation here, that the of faith, and of the , so far as for the reason above mentioned, it differs from legal , or that under a of works, has a peculiar beauty and excellence, and renders him who possesses it, more happy than he could be under a of works, though perfectly holy.

The are raised from the dark regions of infinite guilt and wo; delivered from sin, in which they were totally involved; and translated from the power land kingdom of Satan, into the eternal kingdom of Christ, to sit down and reign with him on his throne. And this deliverance, happiness and honour, is not from themselves, in the least degree; but from the free and wonderful love of God; and by the of the Son of God, and his taking the place of sinners, and dying for their . All this makes an amiable and glorious display of the love and wisdom of God, which could not have been made, had not taken place. And all this new and wonderful scene lays a foundation for answerable exercises by the , in the deepest humility, in a sense and acknowledgment of their unworthiness, and absolute dependence on free for all the good, both negative and positive, comprised in ; and in the sweet love of benevolence, delight and gratitude, answerable to the divine love and manifested in the of sinners, and his unspeakable love and to them, by which they are laid under peculiarly great, and the most agreeable, everlasting obligations to gratitude and praise.