obedience to the commands contained in it, although those duties are there commanded in perfection, viz. because it is not our obedience to those commands that is the justifying righteousness of the gospel, but another righteousness that is given us, that is, a freedom from guilt, and a right to life, when we obey the first great command, viz. believing or trusting in Christ.

Whereas a proper law requires perfect obedience for justification The language of every proper law is this; Cursed, or condemned, is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them; Gal. iii. 10. and whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all; James ii. 10. That can be no justifying righteousness according to a law, which doth not arise to the perfection of the command, both for kind, for degree, for continuance, and for every circumstance. But the gospel proposing another justifying righteousness to be received, only, by our faith, whether this faith be strong and perfect or no, yet, if it be true, it receives the righteousness, and the believer is justified. If a criminal lay hold on a pardon with a trembling paralytic hand, he is as safe from condemnation, as he that with courage and strength reaches out his arm to seize it; because it is not his hand, but the pardon secures him. If an Israelite stung by a fiery serpent could but just look with half an eye to the brazen serpent, he was healed, as well as another that beheld it with strong and steady eyes; Num. xxi. 8, 9. If the manslayer was never so lame and feeble, yet if he could but reach the city of refuge, he was as secure from the avenger, as he that fled to it with the swiftest feet; Num. xxxv. 12. So he that commits his guilty sinful soul to Christ for salvation, though with a feeble faith, and far short of perfection, yet a righteousness is given him; "the righteousness of God is unto and upon all that believe, for there is no difference;" Rom. iii. 22. and a weak believer is as secure from hell as a stronger, though he cannot have so much present evidence or comfort: And the reason of his safety is, because his believing is not his justifying righteousness, but is only a means to attain it.

This is my present best set of thoughts upon this subject; and though I have copied them all from the word of God, so far as I have been able to understand the meaning of it, yet some subtile disputer may arise and tell me, he could embarrass my scheme with so many objections, and press it with such powerful difficulties, as are far above my skill to solve, and so constrain me to renounce it.

If this disputer can shew me that any part of it is contrary to scripture, I renounce it freely; but though he might perplex it with difficulties, which I could not easily answer, yet I would not merely for that reason be bound immedi

ately to renounce it: For there are many texts of scripture itself which are so embarrassed and perplexed by the cavilling wit of the Deists or Socinians, that it may be exceeding hard to give a fair and satisfactory account of them; yet none of us, who are christians, dare to renounce the scripture, nor those very texts, that have so much darkness about them; because we have so much stronger proof of the truth of scripture. How many difficulties are there in the chronological and historical parts, that seem scarce reconcileable by all the learning and reason of men ; and perhaps that Spirit only can reconcile them who knows what were his own design in writing, what the idea that the first writers fixed to each word, what the sense which they intended to convey to the first readers, and what accidental variations may have crept into the text by the ignorance or negligence, the bigotry or sacrilege of the transcribers. I have learned from my youngest years of philosophy, not to renounce any proposition, for which I see plain and sufficient evidence, from reason and revelation, though many difficulties may attend it, which I am not at present able to solve. I know the weakness of hu

man nature.

SECT. III.-Yet that I may make a clearer way for this discourse, to the assent of my readers, I would give a hint or two how the chief objections that I can think of, may be removed: I. Some may oppose me by scripture, and say, Among all the texts that call the gospel a law, there is one that makes our bles-sedness evidently depend on our doing the work commanded therein. James i. 25. Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. Now this looks like justification by obedience to the commands of the gospel, which is the proper nature of a law.

Answer I. That the gospel, which hath advices, commands and threatenings belonging to it, should be sometimes called a law in scripture is no wonder, for the word law among the Jews, was in so frequent use upon all occasions, that not only doctrines, rules and constitutions were called laws, but even the natural and supernatural principles of human actions. So the law of kindness; Prov. xxxi. 26. for good humour, or a principle of love and civility. So the law of sin; Rom. vii. 25. for the principles of corrupt nature and evil inclinations the law of the Spirit of life for a principle of holiness; Rom. viii. 2. And yet if all the places where some suppose the gospel to be called a law, were well examined, we should find them reduced to a very few in reality: Whence it will appear that this is not the common language of scripture. The text cited in the objection, seems rather to refer to the moral law, which is called a law of liberty, because it is freed from its cursing and

So

condemning power by the gospel, and made easy to believers by their new nature: Now, surely, no christian 'will say that we are to be justified by doing the works of the moral law.

II. In those places of the New Testament where the gospel is, or is supposed to be called a law, there is generally some qualifying word added, as, the law of faith, the law of liberty, &c. that it may seem to stand in opposition to a law of works, and appear distinct from a strict and proper law.

There may be, as I have before hinted, many blessings promised, and blessedness pronounced upon obedience to any of the commands of God, whether in the moral law or gospel; so Ps. i. 1. and exix. 1, 2. so Mat. v. 3—11. But every such blessing doth not signify the justification of a sinner in the sight of God, his release from the guilt or obligation to hell, and his first right to heaven. He that obeys the duties of the law or gospel in any measure or degree, has some sort of blessedness pronounced on him by the favour and condescension of God, for in keeping any of his commands there is great reward; Ps. xix. 11. especially to a soul in a state of grace and already justified by faith.

Objection II. Another may draw an argument from reason, and say, Whatsoever duties of righteousness are required in any constitution or covenant, the fulfilling those duties must in the very nature and reason of things be esteemed that righteousness upon which that constitution pronounces a man just or right in court; so faith justifies us against the charge of unbelief, so repentance and sincere obedience justify us against the charge of impenitency and hypocrisy, and so perseverance justifies against the charge of apostacy, because it is a conformity to that rule or constitution which requires faith, repentance, perseverance, &c.

Answer. It must be granted, indeed, that in the very nature of things our faith justifies us against the charge of unbelief, so far as our faith goes; and our repentance and our love to God justify us against the charge of impenitence, and hating God, so far as we do repent and love him; and our meekness, humility and sincerity, justify us against the charge of pride and passion, and hypocrisy, so far as we are meek, humble and sincere: And in this sense the apostle John might say; 1 John. iii. 7. He that doth righteousness is righteous, as God is righteous; where righteousness is evidently used for holiness, and not in a forensic sense, to signify justification. But all our virtues and graces of faith, love, repentance, &c. are so very far from perfection, and so much below what the holiness of God and his commands require, that the Spirit of God in his word, hath not thought fit to honour these our works with the name of righteousness, when he is describing the way how a sinner is justified; nor hath he applied the term of justification to those performances in those

places of scripture where with a plain design and exactness of expression he hath treated of the righteousness that justifies a sinner before God. And the holy apostle seems cautious of using the word justification, when he is speaking of his own sincere; obedience; 1. Cor. iv. 4—I know nothing by myself, yet I am not hereby justified; though this justification refers only to the charge of any negligence in the discharge of his apostolical office.

Objection III. Yet it is evident that there are several texts which speak of our justification by works, as James ii. 24. our justification by our words; Mat. xii. 37. and our right to heaven by doing the commands; Rev. xxii. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and enter through the gates into the city. Answer. In those places of scripture where the word justification is used and attributed to our duties or graces, we must consider in what sense justification is taken.

1. There is a justification before men, and a justification in our own consciences; and in both these respects our repentance, our love to God, our good works, all justify us against the charges of wicked men, and against the charges of Satan's temptations, or our own doubting consciences, that is, our repentance shews we are not impenitent, and our good works shew that we are not full of wicked works; and good works may be said to justify us also against the charge of a false and hypocritical dead faith, for they prove that our faith is lively and true; and this is that justification St. James intends, chapter ii. for verse 18. he says, I will shew thee my faith by my works; and it is in this sense that he speaks of justifications by works. So Abraham was justified from the charge of a dead faith, by his zeal for God in offering up his Son; James ii. 21-23. Thus was the scripture fulfilled, that is, thus was the truth and honour of the scripture maintained and cleared, which declares Abraham to be justified by faith. Now though this act of Abraham's faith here mentioned; and Gen. xv. 6. exercised on the express promise of the Messiah, be not the first act of faith that ever he put forth, and though he might be in a justified state long before; yet every repeated act of true faith confirms the justifying sentence, and shews the way of his first justification: And so every good work he performed may be said, in another sense to confirm his justification too, as it proves the truth of his faith, and evidences him to be justified.

2. There is a justification at the day of judgment, which is only declarative, and designed to publish aud declare to all the world the equitableness of God's final sentence, adjudging some to heaven and some to hell: And there our own holiness, imperfect as it is, may justify us against the charge of being utterly wicked; what good words we have spoken may justify us againstthe charge of being always guilty of evil or idle words: They

serve to distinguish the character of saints and sinners, and make it appear there is a difference in their practice, as well a in their recompences, as the process of that awful day is repro sented; Mat. xxv. 31-46. And it is in this sense that our Savi our saith concerning the day of judgment; Mat. xii. 37. By th words thou shalt be justifled, and by thy words thou shalt be con demned; that is, your words as well as your actions shall have share in determining your character before men and angels i that day. And that text also in the Rev. chap. xxii. 12, 14 refers evidently to the last judgment, where it is said, Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be; blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. The sense of it is, that those who persevere to the end, in a sincere obedience to the commands of Christ, in all the duties of holiness, shall have a public, adjudged and declared right to the immediate possession of heaven; which is a very different thing from the justification of a sinner in the sight of God, by his believing or trusting in Christ, which gives him the first right; and which is the precise subject of St. Paul's discourse, Romans, chapters ii. iii. iv. and v. and Galatians, chapters ii. and iii.

It is on this matter that our divines are wont to make a distinction between the "jus hæreditarium," or the right of heirship which a son has to his Father's estate, as soon as he is born, supposing his father to be dead, and the "jus aptitudinarium,' which is a right of fitness, and a right to the immediate possession, and this he has not till the age of manhood. Nor is this distinction ill-framed, nor unaptly applied to the present case; for scripture gives a plain foundation for it, viz. that we have the right of heirship at our first believing, and the right of actual fitness, when we have fulfilled all the services God hath appointed us in this life. The scriptures that naturally lead to this distinction are these: The right of heirship by faith is very plain; Rom. iv. 11, 13, 16. Gal. iii. 26, 29. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Nor doth the apostle make much distiction between our right to heaven by justification, and that by adoption or inheritance, for both justification and adoption come by faith; and he intermingles both, as they most fitly answer his present design; which is evident by comparing the process of his discourse from Rom. iv. 1-16. and Rom. v. 17, 18, 21. And then there is the right of fitness for immediate possession; Heb. x. 36. have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise;" and this is the right intended; Rev. xxii. 14. Now we may suppose both the right of heirship

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