condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. v. 18.) It was Kpt/xa, a judicial sentence, which came on men for the. offence of Adam, and it is a judicial sentence (justification, a SuccuWis) which comes for the righteousness of Christ, or, as is said in ver. 16 of the same chapter, it was a Kplfia cfe Kara/cpt^a, a condemnatory sentence that came for one offence ; and a x^P^H-0- €t's Su«u<ofui, a sentence of gratuitous justification from many offences. Lan- guage cannot be plainer. If a sentence of condemnation is a ju- dicial act, then justification is a judicial act.
Argument from the Statement of the Doctrine.
4. The judicial character of justification is involved in the mode in which the doctrine is presented in the Bible. The Scriptures speak of law, of its demands, of its penalty, of sinners as arraigned at the bar of God, of the day of judgment. The question is, How shall man be just with God ? The answer to this question determines the whole method of salvation. The question is not, How a man can become holy ? but, How can he become just ? How can he satisfy the claims which justice has against him ? It is obvious that if there is no such attribute as justice in God ; if what we call justice is only benevolence, then there is no pertinency in this question. Man is not required to be just in order to be saved. There are no claims of justice to be satisfied. Repentance is all that need be rendered as the condition of restoration to the favour of God. Or, any didactic declaration or exhibition of God's disapprobation of sin, would open the way for the safe pardon of sinners. Or, if the demands of justice were easily satisfied ; if partial, imperfect obedience and fatherly chastisements, or self-inflicted penances, would suffice to satisfy its claims, then the sinner need not be just with God in order to be saved. But the human soul knows intuitively that these are refuges of lies. It knows that there is such an attribute as jus- tice. It knows that the demands thereof are inexorable because they are righteous. It knows that it cannot be saved unless it be justified, and it knows that it cannot be declared just unless the demands of justice are fully satisfied. Low views of the evil of sin and of the justice of God lie at the foundation of all false views of this great doctrine.
The Apostle* 8 Argument in the Epistle to the Romans. The Apostle begins the discussion of this subject by assuming
124 PART III. Ch. XVII. — JUSTIFICATION.
that the justice of God, his purpose to punish all sin, to demand perfect conformity to his law, is revealed from heaven, i. e., so revealed that no man, whether Jew or Gentile, can deny it. (Rom. i. 18.) Men, even the most degraded pagans, know the righteous judgment of God that those who sin are worthy of death, (ver. 32.) He next proves that all men are sinners, and, being sinners are under condemnation. The whole world is « guilty before God." (iii. 19.) From this he infers, as intuitively certain (because plainly included in the premises), that no flesh living can be justified before God " by the deeds of the law," i. e., on the ground of his own character and conduct. If guilty he can- not be pronounced not guilty, or just. In Paul's argument, to justify is to pronounce just. Ai'kcuos is the opposite of vtt68lkos (i. 6., " reus, satisf actionem alteri debens" ). That is, righteous is the opposite of guilty. To pronounce guilty is to condemn. To pronounce righteous, L e., not guilty, is to justify. If a man denies the authority of Scripture ; or if he feels at liberty, while holding what he considers the substance of Scripture doctrines, to reject the form, it is conceivable that he may deny that justifi- cation is a judicial act; but it seems impossible that any one should deny that it is so represented in the Bible. Some men professing to believe the Bible, deny that there is anything super- natural in the work of regeneration and sanctification. • Being born of the Spirit ; ' * quickened by the mighty power of God ; ' 4 created anew in Christ Jesus,' are only, they say, strong orien- tal expressions for a self-wrought reformation. By a similar pro- cess it is easy to get rid, not only of the doctine of justification as a judicial act, but of all other distinguishing doctrines of the Scriptures. This, however, is not to interpret, but to pervert.
The Apostle, having taught that God is just, t. e., that He demands the satisfaction of justice, and that men are sinners and can render no such satisfaction themselves, announces that such a righteousness has been provided, and is revealed in the Gospel. It is not our own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness of Christ, and, therefore, the righteousness of God, in virtue of which, and on the ground of which, God can be just and yet justify the sinner who believes in Christ. As long as the Bible stands this must stand as a simple statement of what Paul teaches as to the method of salvation. Men may dispute as to what he means, but this is surely what he says.