it were ridiculous to say that Adam's sin had more power to condemn, than Christ's righteousness hath to save ; and who but fools in folio will say that God doth not impute Christ's righteousness, as well as Adam's sin ? The apostle's parallel between the two Adams does clearly e\ddence that as the guilt of Adam's disobedience is really imputed to us, insomuch that in his sinning we all sin ; so the obedience of Christ is as really imputed unto us, insomuch that in his obeying, reputatively and legally we obey also. How did Adam's sin become ours ? Why, by way of imputation. He trans- gressed the covenant, and did eat the forbidden fruit, and it was justly reckoned unto us. It was personally the sinful act of our first parent, but it is imputed to all of us who come out of his loins ; for we were in him not only naturally, as he was the root of mankind, but also legally, as he was the great representative of mankind.^ In the covenant of works, and the transactions thereof, Adam stood in the stead, and acted in the behalf, not only of himself, but of all his posterity, and therefore his sin is reckoned unto them ; even so, saith the apostle, after the same manner, the obedience and righteous- ness of Christ is made over to many for justification. I cannot under- stand the analogy betwixt the two Adams, wherein the apostle is so clear and full, unless this imputation, as here stated, be granted. Look, as Christ was made sin for us only by imputation, so we are made righteous only by the imputation of his righteousness to us, as the Scripture everywhere evidences, 1 Pet. ii. 22 ; 2 Cor. v. 21 , ' He hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' How was Christ made sin for us ? Not sin inherent, for he had no sin in him ; he was ' holy, harm-' less, and undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,' Heb. vii. 26 ; but by imputation. Christ's righteousness is imputed to us in that way wherein our sin was imputed to him. Now our sin was imputed to Christ, not only in the Ipitter efi'ects of it, but he took the guilt of them upon himself, as I have in this treatise already evidenced ; so, then, his righteousness or active obedience itself must be proportionably imputed to us, and not only in the effects thereof. The mediatory righteousness of Christ can no way become the believer's, but as the first Adam's disobedience became his posterity's, who never had the least actual share in his transgression ; that is, by an act of impu- tation from God as a judge. The Lord Jesus having fulfilled the law as a second Adam, God the Father imputeth it to the believing soul, as if he had done it in his own person. I do not say that God the Father doth account the sinner to have done it, but I say that God the Father doth impute it to the believing sinner, as if he had done it, unto all saving intents and purposes. Hence Christ is called ' the Lord our Kighteousness,' Jer. xxiii. 6. An awakened soul, that is truly sensible of his own baseness and unrighteousness, would not have this golden sentence, ' The Lord our Kighteousness,' blotted out by a hand of heaven out of the Bible, for as many worlds as there are men in the world. So is that text to a believer, living and dying, a strong cordial, viz., 1 Cor. i. 30, * Clirist Jesus is made unto
• ^ Gen. iii. 6, 11, 12. As imitation of Adam onlj' made us not sinners, so imitation of Christ only makes us not righteous, but the imputation, — Down[ame] — of Justification.
OF THE IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 231
US of God wisdom, righteousness,' &cA And pray how is Christ made righteousness to the believer ? Not by infusion, but imputation ; not by putting righteousness into him, but by putting a righteousness upon him, even his own righteousness, by the imputing his merits, his satis- faction, his obedience unto them, through which they are accepted as righteous unto eternal life, Eom. v. 19. Christ's righteousness is his in respect of inhesion, but it is ours in respect of imputation ; his righteousness is his personally, but ours meritoriously ; we are justified by another's righteousness, and that only, and therefore by imputed righteousness ; for another's righteousness can no other way be made ours, but only by imputation : Kom. v. 18, ' By the righteous- ness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification,' Were it any other than imputed righteousness, it would be as manifold a righteousness as there are persons justified ; but it is said to be ' the righteousness of one, that comes upon all men for justification of life.' That is a choice word that you have in Rev. xix, 8, ' And to her,' that is, Christ's spouse, ' was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.' The Greek word here is 8iKatco/iaTa, 'righteousnesses' or 'justifications.' This, say some, signifieth a double righteousness given to us — (1.) The righteousness of justification, whereby we are justified before God ; (2.) The righteousness of sanctification, by which we evidence our justification to men. But others say it is a Hebrew- ism rather, by the plural righteousnesses noting the most absolute, complete, and perfect righteousness which we have in Christ.^ Now though I would not exclude inherent righteousness, yet I judge that imputed righteousness is the righteousness here meant ; and that, (1.) Because this clothing is that which is the righteousness of all saints, by which they stand recti in curia before God. Now there is no standing before God in our inherent righteousness ; for though, next to Christ, our graces are our best jewels, yet they are but weak and imperfect, they have their specks and spots, they are like the moon, which, when it shines brightest, yet has her black spots.^ (2.) Christ's righteousness is the only pure, clean, white, spotless righteousness. There is no speck or spot to be found upon Christ's righteousness ; but ' we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags,' as that evangelical prophet speaks, Isa. Ixiv. 6, 3. The word here is plural, SiKaido/xara, ' righteousnesses.' Christ hath many righteousnesses — ^first, He hath his essential and personal righteousness as God. Now this essential personal righteous- ness of Christ cannot be imputed to us. Osiander was of opinion that men were justified by the essential righteousness of Christ as God, which was a most dangerous opinion, and learnedly and largely con- futed by Calvin in his Institutions,* and by others since ; secondly y
^ In this 1 Cor. i. 30, the apostle (1.) distinguisheth righteousness from sanctification, imputed righteousness from inherent righteousness ; (2.) he saith that Christ's righteous- ness is made ours of God. See Rom. iv. 6 ; Ps. Ixxi. 16.
'^ So the Hebrew word is used, Isa. xlv. 24.