And these things are represented unto us in the Scripture as dis- tinct, and depending on distinct causes: so are they in the vision
268 ON JUSTIFICATION.
concerning Joshua the high priest, Zech. iii. 4, 5, " And he an- swered and spake unto those that stood before him sa3dng, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said. Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments." It hath been generally granted that we have here a representation of the justification of a sinner before God. And the taking away of filthy garments is expounded by the passing away of iniquity. When a man's filthy garments are taken away, he is no more defiled with them ; but he is not thereby clothed. This is an additional grace and favour thereunto, — namely, to be clothed with change of garments. And what this raiment is, is declared, Isa. Ixi. 10, " He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness;" which the apostle alludes unto, Phil. iii. 9. Wherefore these things are distinct, — namely, the taking away of the filthy garments, and the clothing of us with change of raiment ; or, the pardon of sin, and the robe of righteousness. By the one are we freed from condemnation; by the other have we right unto salvation. And the same is in like manner represented, Ezek. xvi. 6-12.
This place I had formerly urged to this purpose about communion with God, p. 187;^ which Mr Hotchkis, in his usual manner, attempts to answer. And to omit his reviling expressions, with the crude, un- proved assertion of his own conceits, his answer is, — that by the change of raiment mentioned in the prophet, our own personal right- eousness is intended; for he acknowledgeth that our justification be- fore God is here represented. And so also he, expounds the place produced in the confirmation of the exposition given, Isa. Ixi. 10, where this change of raiment is called, " The garments of salvation, and the robe of righteousness ; " and thereon affirms that our right- eousness itself before God is our personal righteousness, p. 203, — that is, in our justification before him, which is the only thing in ques- tion. To all which presumptions I shall oppose only the testimony of the same prophet, which he may consider at his leisure, and which, at one time or other, he will subscribe unto. Isa. Ixiv. 6, " We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." He who can make garments of salvation and robes of right- eousness of these filthy rags, hath a skill in composing spiritual vest- ments that I am not acquainted withal. What remains in the chap- ter wherein this answer is given unto that testimony of the Scrip- ture, I shall take no notice of; it being, after his accustomed manner, only a perverse wresting of my words unto such a sense as may ' See vol. ii. p. 164 in the present edition of Owen's works.
THE IMPUTATION OF CHEIST's OBEDIENCE. 269
seem to countenance liim in casting a reproach upon myself and others.
There is, therefore, no force in the comparing of these things unto hfe and death natural, which are immediately opposed : " So that he who is not dead is alive, and he who is alive is not dead ;" — there be- ing no distinct state between that of life and death ; for these things being of different natures, the comparison between them is no way argumentative. Though it may be so in things natural, it is other- wise in thing's moral and political, where a proper representation of justification may be taken, as it is forensic. If it were so, that there is no difference between being acquitted of a crime at the bar of a judge, and a right unto a kingdom, nor different state between these things, it would prove that there is no intermediate estate between being pardoned and having a right unto the heavenly inheritance. But this is a fond imagination.
It is true that right unto eternal life doth succeed unto freedom from the guilt of eternal death : " That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified." But it doth not do so out of a necessity in the nature of the things themselves, but only in the free constitution of God. Believers have the par- don of sin, and an immediate right and title unto the favour of God, the adoption of sons, and eternal life. But there is another state in the nature of the things themselves, a,nd this might have been so actually, had it so seemed good unto God ; for who sees not that there is a " status," or " conditio personoe," wherein he is neither under the guilt of condemnation nor hath an immediate right and title unto gloiy in the way of inheritance? God might have pardoned men all their sins past, and placed them in a state and condition of seeking righteousness for the future by the works of the law, that so they might have lived ; for this would answer the original state of Adam. But God hath not done so. True; but whereas he might have done so, it is evident that the disposal of men into this state and condition of right unto life and salvation, doth not depend on nor proceed from the pardon of sin, but hath another cause ; which is, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto us, as he fulfilled the law for us.