PAUL AND JAMES RECONCILED. 393
believe also, but only inquire in what sense he was so justified : for it was thirty years or thereabout after it was testified concerning him that " he believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness;" and when righteousness was imputed unto him he was justified; and tmce justified in the same sense, in the same way, with the same kind of justification, he was not. How, then, was he justified by works when he offered his son on the altar? He that can conceive it to be any otherwise but that he was by his work, in the offering of his son, evidenced and declared in the sight of God and man to be justified, apprehends what I cannot attain unto, seeing that he was really justified long before; as is unquestionable and con- fessed by all. He was, I say, then justified in the sight of God in the way declared, Gen. xxii. 12; and gave a signal testimony unto the sincerity of his faith and trust in God, manifesting the truth of that Scripture, *' He believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." And, in the quotation of this testimony, the apostle openly acknowledgeth that he was really accounted righteous, had righteousness imputed unto him, and was justified before God (the reasons and causes whereof he therefore considereth not), long before that justification which he ascribes unto his works; which, therefore, can be nothing but the evidencing, proving, and manifestation of it : whence also it appears of what nature that faith is whereby we are justified, the declaration whereof is the principal design of the apostle. In brief, the Scripture alleged, that "Abraham believed, and it was imputed unto him for righteousnes.s," was fulfilled when he was justi- fied by works on the offering of his son on the altar, either by the imputation of righteousness mito him, or by a real efficiency or work- ing righteousness in him, or by the manifestation and evidence of his former justification, or some other way must be found out. First, That it was not by imputation, or that righteousness unto the justi- fication of life was not then first imputed imto him, is plain in the text ; for it was so imputed unto him long before, and that in such a way as the apostle proves thereby that righteousness is imputed with- out works. Secondly, That he was not justified by a real efficiency of a habit of righteousness in him, or by any way of making him in- herently righteous who was before unrighteous, is plain also ; because he was riohteous in that sense loncj before, and had abounded in the works of righteousness unto the praise of God. It remains, therefore, that then, and by the work mentioned, he was justified as unto the evidencing and manifestation of his faith and justification thereon. His other instance is of Raliab ; concerning whom he asserts that she was "justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and sent them away." But she received the spies " by faith," as the Holy Ghost witnesseth, Heb. xi. 31 ; and therefore had true faith before
394 ON JUSTIFICATION.
their coming; and if so was really justified: for that any one should be a true believer and yet not be justified, is destructive unto the foundation of the gospel. In this condition she received the mes- sensrers, and made unto them a full declaration of her faith, Josh. ii 9-11. After her believing and justification thereon, and after the confession she had made of her faith, she exposed her life by concealing and sending of them away. Hereby did she justify the sincerity of her faith and confession ; and in that sense alone is said to be "justified by works." And in no other sense doth the apostle James, in this place, make mention of justification ; which he doth also only occasionally.
(4.) As unto "works," mentioned by both apostles, the same works are intended, and there is no disagreement in the least about them ; for as the apostle James intends by works duties of obedience unto God, according to the law, — as is evident from the whole first part of the chapter, which gives occasion unto the discourse of faith and works, — so the same are intended by the apostle Paul also, as we have proved before. And as unto the necessity of them in all believers, as unto other ends, so as evidences of their faith and justification, it is no less pressed by the one than the other ; as hath been declared.
These things being in general premised, we may observe some things in particular from the discourse of the apostle James, suffi- ciently evidencing that there is no contradiction therein unto what is delivered by the apostle Paul concerning our justification by faith, and the imputation of righteousness without works, nor to the doc- trine which from him we have learned and declared ; as, — 1. He makes no composition or conjunction between faith and works in our justi- fication, but opposeth them the one to the other; asserting the one and rejecting the other, in order unto our justification. 2. He makes no distinction of a first and second justification, of the beginning and continuation of justification, but speaks of one justification only; which is our first personal justification before God. Neither are we con- cerned in any other justification in this cause whatever. 3. That he ascribes this justification luholly unto works, in contradistinction unto faith, as unto that sense of justification which he intended, and the faith whereof he treated. Wherefore, — 4. He doth not at all in- quire or determine how a sinner is justified before God, but how pro- fessors of the gospel can prove or demonstrate that they are so, and that they do not deceive themselves by trusting unto a lifeless and barren faith. All these things will be farther evidenced in a brief con- sideration of the context itself; wherewith I shall close this discourse.