I find not myself concerned in his ensuing talk, but only in one reflection on the words of the Scripture, and the repetition of his old, putid, and shameless calumny, p. 108, until we come to p. 126, where
314 A VINDICATION OF
he arraigns an occasional discourse of mine about the necessity of hohness and good works; wherein he hath only filched out of the whole what he thought he could wrest unto his end, and scoffingly descant upon. I shall, therefore, for once, transcribe the whole pas- sage as it lies in my book, and refer it to the judginent of the reader, p. 206:'—
" 2. The second objection is, ' That if the righteousness and obedi- ence of Christ to the law he imputed unto us, then what need lue yield obedience ourselves T To this, also, I shall return answer as briefly as I can in the ensuing obsei-vations : —
" (1.) The placing of our gospel obedience on the right foot of account (that it may neither be exalted into a state, condition, use, or end, not given it of God ; nor any reason, cause, motive, end, ne- cessity of it, on the other hand, taken away, Aveakened, or impaired), is a matter of great importance. Some make our obedience, the works of faith, our works, the matter or cause of our justification; some, the condition of the imputation of the righteousness of Chiist ; some, the qualification of the person justified, on the one hand; some exclude all the necessity of them, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, on the other. To debate these differences is not my pre- sent business ; only, I say, on this and other accounts, the right stating of our obedience is of great importance as to our walking with God.
" (2.) We do by no means assign the same place, condition, state, and use to the obedience of Ghrist imputed to us, and our obedience performed to God. If we did, they were really inconsistent. And therefore those who affirm that our obedience is the condition or cause of our justification, do all of them deny the imputation of the obedience of Christ unto us. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, as that on the account whereof we are accepted and esteemed lighteous before God, and are really so, though not inherently. We ai-e as truly righteous with the obedience of Christ imputed to us as Adam was, or could have been, by a complete righteousness of his own performance. So Rom. v. 18, by his obedience we are made righteous, — made so truly, and so accepted ; as by the disobedience of Adam we are truly made trespassers, and so accounted. And this is that which the apostle desires to be found in, in 02)position to his own righteousness, Phil. iii. 9. But our own obedience is not the right- eousness whereupon we are accepted and justified before God; although it be acceptable to God that we should abound therein. And this distinction the apostle doth evidently deliver and confirm, so as no- thing can be more clearly revealed: Eph. ii. 8-10, ' For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
' In the present edition of Owen's Works, tlie passage will be found in p. 180 of this volume.
THE PRECEDING DISCOUllSE. 315
God : not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his work- manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them/ We are saved, or justified (for that it is whereof the apostle treats), ' by grace through faith,' which receives Jesus Christ and his obedience ; ' not of works, lest any man should boast/ ' But what works are they that the apostle intends?' The works of believers, as in the very beginning of the next words is manifest : * " For we are," we behevers, with our obedi- ence and our works, of whom I speak/ ' Yea; but what need, then, of works?' Need still there is: ' We are his workmanship,' etc.
" Two things the apostle intimates in these words: —
" [1.] A reason why we cannot be saved by works, — namely, be- cause we do them not in or by our own strength; which is necessary we should do, if we will be saved by them, or justified by them. ' But this is not so,' saith the apostle ; ' for we are the workmanship of God,' etc. ; — all our works are wrought in us, by full and effectual, undeserved grace.
" [2.] An assertion of the necessity of good works, notmth standing that we are not saved by them; and that is, that God has ordained that we shall walk m them: which is a sufficient ground of our obedience, whatever be the use of it.
"If you will say, then, 'What are the true 2iXidi.^ro^er gospel grounds, reasons, uses, and motives of our obedience; whence the necessity thereof may be demonstrated, and our souls be stin-ed up to abound and be fruitful therein?' I say, they are so many, and he so deep in the mystery of the gospel and dispensation of grace, spread them- selves so throughout the whole revelation of the will of God unto us, that to handle them fully and distinctly, and to give them their due weight, is a thing that I cannot engage in, lest I should be turned aside from what I principally intend. I shall only give you some brief heads of what might at large be insisted on : —