thyself wholly in this death. And if God would judge thee, say, Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy judgment ; and otherwise I will not contend, or enter into judgment with thee. And if He shall say unto thee, that thou art a sinner, say, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ be- tween me and my sins. If He shall say unto thee, that thou hast deserved damnation, say, Lord, I put the death of our Lord Je- sus Christ between thee and all my sins ; and I offer his merits for my own, which I should have, and have not. If He say that He is angry with thee : say, Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy anger." 1
Such being the real and only foundation of a sinner's hope towards God, it is of the last importance that it should not only be practically held by the people, but that it should also be clearly presented and maintained by the clergy. It is not what we do or are, but solely what Christ is and has done that can avail for our justification before the bar of God.
Other Passages teaching the same Doctrine.
4. This doctrine of the imputation of the righteousness of Christ ; or, in other words, that his righteousness is the judicial ground of the believer's justification, is not only formally and argumentatively presented as in the passages cited, but it is con- stantly asserted or implied in the word of God. The Apostle argues, in the fourth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, that every assertion or promise of gratuitous forgiveness of sin to be found in the Scriptures involves this doctrine. He proceeds on the assumption that God is just ; that He demands a righteous- ness of those whom He justifies. If they have no righteousness of their own, one on just grounds must be imputed to them. If, therefore, He forgives sin, it must be that sin is covered, that justice has been satisfied. " David, also," he says, " describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteous- ness without works ; saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." (Rom. iv. 6-8.) Not to impute sin implies the imputation of righteousness.
In Romans v. 9, we are said to be " justified by his blood." In Romans iii. 25, God is said to have set Him forth as a propi- tiation for sin, that He might be just in justifying the ungodly. As to justify does not mean to pardon, but judicially to pro-
1 See " The General Considerations," prefixed by Owen to his work on Justification.
156 PART IH. Ch. XVII. - JUSTIFICATION.
nounce righteous, this passage distinctly asserts that the work of Christ is the ground on which the sentence of justification is passed. In Romans x. 3, 4, he says of the Jews, " They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for right- eousness to every one that believeth." It can hardly be ques- tioned that the word (Sikcuoo-w^) righteousness must have the same meaning in both members of the first of these verses. If a man's " own righteousness " is that which would render him righteous, then " the righteousness of God," in this connection, must be a justifying righteousness. It is called the righteous- ness of God, because, as said before, He is its author. It is the righteousness of Christ. It is provided, offered, and accepted of God. Here then are two righteousnesses ; the one human, the other divine ; the one valueless, the other infinitely merito- rious. The folly of the Jews, and of thousands since their day, consists in refusing the latter and trusting to the former. This folly the Apostle makes apparent in the fourth verse. The Jews acted under the assumption that the law as a covenant, that is, as prescribing the conditions of salvation, was still in force, that men were still bound to satisfy its demands by their personal obedience in order to be saved, whereas Christ had made an end of the law. He had abolished it as a covenant, in order that men might be justified by faith. Christ, however, has thus made an end of the law, not by merely setting it aside, but by satisfy- ing its demands. He delivers us from its curse, not by mere pardon, but by being made a curse for us. (Gal. iii. 13.) He redeems us from the law by being made under it (Gal. iv. 4, 5), and fulfilling all righteousness.
In Philippians iii. 8, 9, the Apostle says, he "suffered the loss of all things," that he might be found in Christ, not having his " own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Here again one's own righteousness is contrasted with that which is of God. The word must have the same sense in both members. What Paul trusted to, was not his own right- eousness, not his own subjective goodness, but a righteousness provided for him and received by faith. De Wette (no Augus- tinian) on this passage says, the righteousness of God here means, " a righteousness received from God (graciously imputed) on condition of faith " (" die von Gott empfangene (aus Gnaden zugerechnete) Gerechtigkeit urn des Glaubenswillen.")