6. It is, moreover, urged, " That upon the supposed imputation of the righteousness of Christ, it will follow that every believer is justi- fied by the works of the law ; for the obedience of Christ was a legal righteousness, and if that be imputed unto us, then are we justified by the law ; which is contrary unto express testimonies of Sciipture in many places." Ans. (1.) I know nothing more frequent in the "writings of some learned men than that the righteousness of Christ is our legal righteousness ; who yet, I presume, are able to free them- selves of this objection. (2.) If this do follow in the true sense of being justified by the law, or the works of it, so denied in the Scrip- tm^e, their weakness is much to be pitied who can see no other way whereby we may be freed from an obligation to be justified by the law, but by this imputation of the righteousness of Christ. (3.) The Scripture which affirms that " by the deeds of the law no man can be justified," affirms in like manner that by " faith we do not make void the law, but establish it;" that "the righteousness of the law is
222 ON JUSTIP7CATION.
fulfilled in us;" that Christ " came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it," and is the " end of the law for righteousness unto them that do believe." And that the law must be fulfilled, or we cannot be justi- fied, we shall prove afterward. (4.) We are not hereon justified by the law, or the works of it, in the only sense of that proposition in the Scripture; and to coin new senses or significations of it is not safe. The meaning of it in the Scripture is, that only " the doers of the law shall be justified," E,om. ii. 13; and that " he that doeth the things of it shall live by them," chap. x. 5, — namely, in his own person, by the way of personal duty, which alone the law requires. But if we, who have not fulfilled the law in the way of inherent, per- sonal obedience, are justified by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto us, then are we justified by Christ, and not by the law.
But it is said that this tvill not relieve; for if his obedience be so imputed unto us, as that we are accounted by God in judg- ment to have done what Christ did, it is all one upon the matter, and we are as much justified by the law as if we had in our own proper persons performed an unsinning obedience unto it. This I confess I cannot understand. The nature of this imputation is here represented, as formerly, in such a way as we cannot acknowledge ; from thence alone this inference is made, which yet, in my judgment, doth not follow thereon. For grant an imputation of the righteous- ness of another unto us, be it of what nature it will, all justification by the law and works of it, in the sense of the Scrij)ture, is gone for ever. The admission of imputation takes off all power from the law to justify; for it can justify none but upon a righteousness that is originally and inherently his own : " The man that doeth them shall live in them." If the righteousness that is imputed be the ground and foundation of our justification, and made ours by that imputa- tion, state it how you will, that justification is of grace, and not of the law. However, I know not of any that say we are accounted of God in judgment 'personally to have done ivhat Christ did; and it may have a sense that is false, — namely, that God should judge us in our own persons to have done those acts which we never did. But what Christ did for us, and in our stead, is imputed and communi- cated unto us, as we coalesce into one mystical person with him by faith ; and thereon are we justified. And this absolutely overthrows all justification by the law or the works of it; though the law be established, fulfilled, and accomplished, that we may be justified.
Neither can any, on the supposition of the imputation of the right- eousness of Christ truly stated, be said to merit their own salvation. Satisfaction and merit are adjuncts of the righteousness of Christ, as jor^mally inherent in his OAvn person ; and as such it cannot be trans- fused into another. Wherefore, as it is imputed unto individual
IMPUTATION PROVED. 223
believers, it liath not those properties accompanying of it, which belong only unto its existence in the person of the Son of God. But this was spoken unto before, as also much of what was necessary to be here repeated.
These objections I have in this place taken notice of, because the answers given unto them do tend to the farther explanation of that truth, whose confirmation, by arguments and testimonies of Scripture, I shall now proceed unto.
CHAPTER X.
Arguments for justification by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ — The first argument from the nature and use of our own personal righteous- ness.
III. There is a justification of convinced sinners on their believing. Hereon are their sins pardoned, their persons accepted with God, and a right is given unto them unto the heavenly inheritance. This state they are immediately taken into ujjon their faith, or believing in Jesus Chi'ist. And a state it is of actual peace luith God. These things at present I take for granted; and they are the foundation of all that I shall plead in the present argument. And I do take notice of them, because some seem, to the best of my understanding, to deny any real actual justification of sinners on their believing in this life. For they make justification to be only a general conditional sentence declared in the gospel ; which, as unto its execution, is delayed unto the day of judgment. For whilst men are in this world, the whole condition of it being not fulfilled, they cannot be partakers of it, or be actually and absolutely justified. Hereon it follows, that indeed there is no real state of assured rest and peace with God by Jesus Christ, for any persons in this life. This at present I shall not dis- pute about, because it seems to me to overthrow the whole gospel, — the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and all the comfort of believers; about which I hope we are not as yet called to contend.