Section VII. On the Sinner's Justification by Faith in Christ. · Part 3

In these respects, and by their everlasting and peculiarly near and dear relation to Christ, and union with him, by which they are the bride, the Lamb’s wife, the church will shine in a peculiarly beautiful and glory, and enjoy greater happiness and honour, than any of those creatures who have not been , though perfectly holy. In this respect, as well as others, is the new creation, the new heaven and new earth, far exceeding the first and old creation. In this there is a new display of the divine glory; a new mode of the exercise of by a new kind of creatures, by putting on a form in which there is a new beauty and excellence; and a new degree of happiness; a new and glorious character in the Redeemer, the centre of union, love and of the church; and, in one word, a new moral world, which could not have taken place, were it not for the apostasy of man, and by Christ. In this sense, “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new!”

X. On the whole, the doctrine of the of sinners by faith in Jesus Christ appears to be not only agreeable to the scripture, but rational, when examined and understood; there being nothing absurd or inconsistent in it. The law of God admits of a substitute to obey or to suffer for others in their room and stead. The first man was constituted such, and he was made a type and figure of the second man, who was to come, the Lord from heaven. He was able to do what the first man could not, even to sinners from the curse of the law, by taking the curse on himself, and suffering it for them, as well as obeying it perfectly; being made under the law, and putting himself in their place. Thus he has a which answers the law; and therefore sufficient for the of all those in whose favour it can be properly applied, so as consistently to have the benefit of it, as much as if it were their own personal . This can be done only by the sinner’s being cordially united to him, approving of his character, and receiving and trusting ill him for and , which is done by believing in him. Therefore, “Christ is the end of the law for to every one that believeth. Even the of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe.” And this avails to their complete ; their sins are pardoned for the sake of Christ, who is the for their sins; he suffering for them, the just for the unjust, has made full ; and they are made heirs of eternal life, being recommended by the merit and worthiness of Christ, they being in him, and one with him, as the members and head are one body.

It is agreeable to reason, and common sense, that one person should have favour shewn to him, out of respect to the merit and worthiness of another, purely on the account of the relation the former bears to the latter, who has no worthiness of such favour in himself, and to whom it would be improper to shew such favour, were it not for his relation to such a worthy person, by which he is in some sense united to him. This is really the merit of one person to another, to recommend him to favour, who has no worthiness in himself. Thus, if we have a friend who is very dear to us, and has great merit and worthiness with us, and we see a child in wretched circumstances, starving and naked; when we are informed that he is the son of our friend, we shall be disposed to shew him kindness and give him relief, feed and clothe him for the sake of his father, out of regard to his merit in our eyes. Or, if such a worthy person, who has great merit, have a friend who loves him, though he may have no worthiness in himself, and has offended us; yet if he come recommended by this worthy friend of ours, desiring that we would forgive him, and shew him all the kindness he wants, we shall readily do it, wholly for the sake of the worthiness of our friend, though otherwise it would be proper, and we should be disposed to treat him with neglect and contempt; and this appears congruous and rational.

Much more is it so in the case before us. The Son of God, who is infinitely dear and worthy in his sight, has expressed his love to the Father, and zeal for his honour, and the honour of his law and government, and hatred of all sin against him, by putting himself in the place of sinners under the law; and has borne the curse of it himself in the sinner’s stead, and obeyed it perfectly; hereby manifesting his love to sinful man, and desire of their salvation, if consistent with the honour of God and his law: and that he might make it so for all those who believe in him, has done and suffered all this, and in this way has exerted himself to the utmost, that they may be pardoned and saved, and God honoured thereby: That God may be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in him. And in all this, in which he has exercised and expressed his love of , and hatred of , in the best manner, and to the highest degree possible, he has merited infinitely with the Father; he is well pleased for his sake, and is ready to give him whatever he asks; especially that for the sake of which he has gone through all this labour and suffering. He asks that he would pardon and save every guilty sinner, who unites himself to him by believing on him, who shall love, receive, and trust in him, that his may be to him, and that for his sake he will and save all such whom he loves, and for whom he has done and suffered so much. The Father is so well pleased with his , and he is so infinitely dear, honourable and meritorious in his sight, that he is ready to shew all needed favour to those who love his Son, and believe, on him, for his sake and purely out of respect to his suffering and merit, to them, and give them eternal life, though they be in themselves infinitely unworthy and ill deserving Thus the of Christ is to all them who believe for their . And who can shew that there is any thing unreasonable or contrary to the truth in this procedure? Who will say it is not perfectly reasonable and proper?

IMPROVEMENT.

THE subject of this section leads us to see, and reflect upon the wonderful display of infinite wisdom in the salvation of man, by Jesus Christ.

It has been observed, that wisdom is a moral excellence; it is a moral perfection of God. It is included in benevolence or goodness, and cannot be separated from it. Where there is no benevolence, there is no wisdom, and where there is no wisdom, there is no benevolence. And there is always, and in all instances, as much wisdom as there is goodness, and vice versa. Yet it is proper and necessary to distinguish between these, in order to think and speak most clearly of the perfection of God. And this is done in the scripture. The goodness of God is a wise goodness, is exercised in the wisest and best manner, to answer the best ends. God is as wise as he is good.

There is a most bright and glorious display of the wisdom of God in the of man. Therefore, the gospel of the of God is called wisdom, the wisdom of God: And Christ is called so: And the apostle Paul, speaking of the of man, has the following remarkable expression. “According to the riches of his , wherein he hath abounded towards us, in all wisdom and prudence.” And he says, the angels learn the manifold wisdom of God, in the of his church by Jesus Christ. “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In order to lay the best and most ample foundation, and give opportunity and occasion for the greatest and most glorious exercise and manifestation of the love and of God, it has been wisely ordered that there should be creatures in a state of infinite guilt and wretchedness, from which they could not be delivered consistent with the honour of the divine law, and the moral character and government of God, unless a divine person, the Son of God, became a man, and took upon him the form of a servant, putting himself under the law, and taking the sinner’s place, so as to bear the curse in his stead, and die an ignominious, cruel and accursed death for him: And having thus suffered, and obeyed the law of God in the most trying circumstances, he is become the author of eternal salvation to all them who obey him: And in this way of salvation by Christ, there is no room for mere human and worthiness to come into the account. The by which man is accepted and , is a divine , the of God: A of which not a mere creature is the author; and the worth of it arises from the dignity of the divine nature, and not from any worthiness of a mere creature. In this way man is emptied of all worthiness in himself, and greatly humbled, and brought into a state of exceeding, peculiar dependence on God; and divine is exalted and honoured, while the believer receives from him “abundance of , and of the gift of .”

And the are interested in this divine , not out of regard to any worthiness of their own; but when they are , they are considered in themselves infinitely unworthy; and that by which they are united to this divine person, so as to have the advantage of his merit, the bond of union on their part consists in an exercise of soul in which they discern and acknowledge that they are infinitely guilty, ill deserving, hateful creatures; that were there not an infinitely meritorious in Christ, it would not be proper or consistent with the law and the perfection of God, that they should be pardoned and saved; and that the by which they are , is that of a divine person, the of God. They therefore ascribe every good they receive, every thing better than endless destruction, to the free of God, and give him all the glory of it. This is “to be freely by his through the that is in Jesus Christ: And it is of faith, that it might be by .” “By are ye saved through faith.” And the apostle adds, “And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” This leads to observe, that the faith by which men are united to Christ, is the free, gift of God, in renewing their hearts, and forming them to such an exercise; in which he acts as an absolute , and has mercy on whom he will have mercy.

Every thing is so ordered in the work of , as to give the greatest occasion and advantage, and the best opportunity for the exercise of the infinite goodness and of God; and in such a manner as to make it most visible to creatures: And the are put under the best advantage to see it in the extent and glory of it, and be properly affected with it. The emptiness and nothingness of the creature, his infinite dependence on God, the fountain of being and all good; the infinite sufficiency for the creature, even for infinitely guilty and wretched creatures, and his free, , unbounded love and , are here set in the most advantageous and striking light, especially to the ; so that in the final issue of things, when is perfected, God will appear in the clearest light possible, to be all in all. And they will receive unspeakably greater good, than they could have wanted, or were capable of, had they not sinned, and had there been no divine and . And all “to the praise of the glory of his .”

Now the wisdom of God has contrived and laid the plan for all this. Therefore it is manifested, and glorified in this exercise and display of divine , in which God hath abounded in all wisdom and prudence. Here the wisdom of God is set in the most conspicuous, pleasing light, which draws the attention, raises the admiration, influences the love, and exalts the praise of angels. And all who understand the gospel will cordially join with them, and with St. Paul, in his rapture and doxology: “O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise god, be honour and glory, forever and ever. Amen.”

II. In the view of this subject, we see how and in what respects the law is established in the of sinners by faith in Christ.

The apostle Paul says, the law is established in this way. “Do we then make void the law through faith? Yea, we establish the law.” And when we consider what saving faith is, and how the sinner is by faith, we may see on what ground this is asserted.

The whole work of the Redeemer in his , obedience and sufferings, had reference to the law, in order to establish that, and magnify it, and make it honourable, consistent with the pardon and salvation of the sinner who believeth in Jesus. He was made under the law with this view, in order to suffer the curse of it, and obey it in the room of sinners, as their substitute and surety, and in this way obtain the of the law for them, that he might be “the end of the law for to every one that believeth.”

That the law might be maintained and established by vicarious obedience or suffering, or by a substitute, was made know n when man was first created, as has been shewn. The first substitute or public head failed of obedience, and introduced sin and condemnation, which by divine constitution extended to all his posterity. All mankind are by the disobedience of the first man constituted sinners, and by sinning are under the curse of the law; from which they cannot be delivered, without abolishing the law, unless it be suffered by them, or a substitute. They could not suffer this curse and survive it: for the evil implied in it, and which they deserved, is infinite. And for the same reason, no mere creature in heaven or earth could be a substitute to suffer it in their room. But the last Adam, the second man, who is the Lord from heaven, is able to take the curse on himself and suffer it, and yet survive; and having by this made full for sin, and satisfied the threatening of the law; and by his obedience done all that is required of man, in order to his , he has introduced a complete and everlasting ; so that he to whom it may be properly , and he have the advantage of it, as much as if it were his own personal , and he stood perfectly right in the sight of the law, may be , perfectly consistent with the law; and the law be more established, respected and honoured by the divine of the , than it would have been by the eternal sufferings of every , and the obedience of all creatures.

But no man can be by the of Christ, unless he unite himself to him by faith in him; in which he is brought to see and heartily acknowledge the law which curses every of it, to be holy, just and good, and that he may be justly destroyed forever for his sin, and if he be pardoned and saved, it must be wholly by free, undeserved, to him, while he receives this favour purely on the account of the of Christ. And he highly approves of it, and is greatly pleased that the has done and suffered so much to establish and honour the law, so as to become the end of the law for to him who believeth, and trusts in him in the character of “the Lord our .” Thus the believer is a friend to the law of God, and does not wish to be saved in any way inconsistent with it. And by faith he is conformed to it, in the requirement of it, in a measure, and it is written on his heart. And he feels himself under indispensable obligation to perfect obedience to the law, as an unerring, excellent and perfect rule, and acknowledges that every thing in him, contrary to this law, and that does not come up to all that it requires, is inexcusable wickedness. And he looks to Christ and trusts in him to bring him to a perfect conformity to the law of God, as without that he cannot be completely happy, and in which, in a great measure, his salvation consists. At the same time he is watching and fighting against sin and Satan, and pressing forward after perfect , working out his own salvation with fear and trembling.

Thus the law, both in the precepts and threatenings of it, is every way regarded, maintained and established, in the of sinners by faith in Christ, and is much more honoured than it could have been, had there been no Redeemer, and all of the law had perished, or had it never been .