The last place wherein he grants this signification of the word
134 ON JUSTIFICATION.
dizaiou, is Rev. xxii. 11, 'O dix.aiog dixaiuSriToj Iti' — " Qui Justus est, jus- tificetur adliuc;" which place is pleaded by all the Romanists. And our author saj^s they are but few among the Protestants who do not acknowledge that the word cannot be here used in a forensic sense, but that to be justified, is to go on and increase in piety and right- eousness.
Ans. But, — (1.) There is a great objection lies in the Avay of any argument from these words, — namely, from the various reading of the place ; for many ancient copies read, not ' O h'maiog hr/.aiudyjToi in, which the Vulgar renders " Justificetur adhuc;" but, Ar/iaiosuvi^v voiri- saroj 'irr — "Let him that is righteous work righteousness still," as doth the printed copy which now lieth before me. So it was in the copy of the Complutensian edition, which Stephens commends above all others, and in one more ancient copy that he used. So it is in the Syriac and Arabic published by Hutterus, and in our own Polyglot. So Cyprian reads the words, " De bono patientiee; Justus autem ad- huc justiora faciat, similiter et qui sanctus sanctioi'a." And I doubt not but that it is the true reading of the place, diTiaiudyiru being sup- plied by some to comply with ayiaaD/i-oj that ensues. And this phrase of diTtaioaCvriv -ttohTv is peculiar unto this apostle, being nowhere used in the New Testament (nor, it may be, in any other author) but by him. And he useth it expressl}^, 1 Epist. ii. 29, and chap. iii. 7, where these words, 'O •xoiuv diKaiosuv/iv. b!x.ai6g sffTi, do plainly contain what is here expressed. (2.) To be justified, as the word is rendered by the Vulgar, " Let him be justified more" (as it must be rendered, if the word dtxaicodyjru be retained), respects an act of God, which neither in its beginning nor continuation is prescribed unto us as a duty, nor is capable of increase in degrees; as we shall show after- ward. (3.) Men are said to be hlxaioi generally from inherent right- eousness; and if the apostle had intended justification in this place, he would not have said 6 bixaiog, but 6 dixaiuhlg. All which things prefer the Complutensian, Syriac, and Arabic, before the Vulgar read- ing of this place. If the Vulgar reading be retained, no more can be intended but that he who is righteous should so proceed in working righteousness as to secure his justified estate unto himself, and to manifest it before God and the world.
Now, whereas the words dr/.ai6u and diy-aioufxa/ are used thirty-six times in the New Testament, these are all tlie places whereunto any exception is put in against their /ore?isic signification; and how ineffectual these exceptions are, is evident unto any impartial judge.
Some other considerations may yet be made use of, and pleaded to the same purpose. Such is the opposition that is made between justification and condemnation. So is it, Isa. 1. 8, 9 ; Prov. xvii. 1 5 ; Rom. V. 16, 18, viii. 38, 34; and in sundry other places, as may be
THE MEANING OF JUSTIFICATION. 135
observed in the preceding enumeration of them. Wherefore, as con- demnation is not the infusing of a habit of wickedness into him that is condemned, nor the making of him to be inherently wicked who was before righteous, but the passing a sentence upon a man with respect unto his wickedness ; no more is justification the change of a person from inherent unrighteousness unto righteousness, by the in- fusion of a principle of grace, but a sentential declaration of him to be righteous.
Moreover, the thing intended is frequently declared in the Scrip- ture by other equivalent terms, which are absolutely exclusive of any such sense as the infusion of a habit of righteousness ; so the apostle expresseth it by the '" imputation of righteousness without works," Eom., iv. 6, 11; and calls it the "blessedness" which we have by the " pardon of sin" and the " covering of iniquity," in the same place. So it is called " reconciliation with God," Rom. v. 9, 1 0. To be "justified by the blood of Christ" is the same with being " re- conciled by his death." " Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath by him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more, being recon- ciled, we shall be saved by his life." See 2 Cor. v. 20, 21. Recon- ciliation is not the infusion of a habit of grace, but the effecting of peace and love, by the removal of all enmity and causes of offence. To " save," and " salvation," are used to the same purpose. " He shall save his people from their sins," Matt. i. 21, is the same with " By him all that believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses," Acts xiii. 39. That of Gal. ii. 16, " We have believed, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law," is the same with Acts XV. 11, " But we believe that, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Eph. ii. 8, 9, " By