SERMON FIVE
Justification
By Faith
"To
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans
4:5.
1. How a sinner may be justified before God, the Lord and Judge
of all, is a question of no common importance to every child
of man. It contains the foundation of all our hope, inasmuch
as while we are at enmity with God, there can be no true peace,
no solid joy, either in time or in eternity. What peace can
there be, while our own heart condemns us; and much more, He
that is "greater than our heart, and knoweth all things?"
What solid joy, either in this world or that to come, while
"the wrath of God abideth on us?"
2. And yet how little hath this important question been understood!
What confused notions have many had concerning it! Indeed, not
only confused, but often utterly false; contrary to the truth,
as light to darkness; notions absolutely inconsistent with the
oracles of God, and with the whole analogy of faith. And hence,
erring concerning the very foundation, they could not possibly
build thereon; at least, not "gold, silver, or precious
stones," which would endure when tried as by fire; but
only "hay and stubble," neither acceptable to God,
nor profitable to man.
3. In order to justice, in far as in me lies, to the vast importance
of the subject, to save those that seek the truth in sincerity
from "vain jangling and strife of words," to clear
the confusedness of thought into which so many have already
been led thereby, and to give them true and just conceptions
of this great mystery of godliness, I shall endeavour to show,
First. What is the general ground of this whole doctrine of
justification.
Secondly. What justification is.
Thirdly. Who they are that are justified. And,
Fourthly. On what terms they are justified. I. I am, First,
to show, what is the general ground of this whole doctrine of
justification.
1. In the image of God was man made, holy as he that created
him is holy; merciful as the Author of all is merciful; perfect
as his Father in heaven is perfect. As God is love, so man,
dwelling in love, dwelt in God, and God in him. God made him
to be an "image of his own eternity," an incorruptible
picture of the God of glory. He was accordingly pure, as God
is pure, from every spot of sin. He knew not evil in any kind
or degree, but was inwardly and outwardly sinless and undefiled.
He "loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and with
all his mind, and soul, and strength."
2. To man thus upright and perfect, God gave a perfect law,
to which he required full and perfect obedience. He required
full obedience in every point, and this to be performed without
any intermission, from the moment man became a living soul,
till the time of his trial should be ended. No allowance was
made for any falling short: As, indeed, there was no need of
any; man being altogether equal to the task assigned, and thoroughly
furnished for every good word and work.
3. To the entire law of love which was written in his heart,
(against which, perhaps, he could not sin directly,) it seemed
good to the sovereign wisdom of God to superadd one positive
law: "Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree that
groweth in the midst of the garden;" annexing that penalty
thereto, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely die."
4. Such, then, was the state of man in Paradise. By the free,
unmerited love of God, he was holy and happy: He knew, loved,
enjoyed God, which is, in substance, life everlasting. And in
this life of love, he was to continue for ever, if he continued
to obey God in all things; but, if he disobeyed him in any,
he was to forfeit all. "In that day," said God, "thou
shalt surely die."
5. Man did disobey God. He "ate of the tree, of which
God commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it." And
in that day he was condemned by the righteous judgment of God.
Then also the sentence whereof he was warned before, began to
take place upon him. For the moment he tasted that fruit, he
died. His soul died, was separated from God; separate from whom
the soul has no more life than the body has when separate from
the soul. His body, likewise, became corruptible and mortal;
so that death then took hold on this also. And being already
dead in spirit, dead to God, dead in sin, he hastened on to
death everlasting; to the destruction both of body and soul,
in the fire never to be quenched
6. Thus "by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin. And so death passed upon all men," as being contained
in him who was the common father and representative of us all.
Thus, "through the offence of one," all are dead,
dead to God, dead in sin, dwelling in a corruptible, mortal
body, shortly to be dissolved, and under the sentence of death
eternal. For as, "by one man's disobedience," all
"were made sinners;" so, by that offence of one, "judgment
came upon all men to condemnation." (Romans v. 12, &c.)
7. In this state we were, even all mankind, when "God
so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the
end we might not perish, but have everlasting life." In
the fullness of time he was made Man, another common Head of
mankind, a second general Parent and Representative of the whole
human race. And as such it was that "he bore our griefs,"
"the Lord laying upon him the iniquities of us all."
Then was he "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised
for our iniquities." "He made his soul an offering
for sin:" He poured out his blood for the transgressors:
He "bare our sins in his own body on the tree," that
by his stripes we might be healed: And by that one oblation
of himself, once offered, he hath redeemed me and all mankind;
having thereby "made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice
and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world."
8. In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath "tasted
death for every man," God hath now "reconciled the
world to himself, not imputing to them their" former "trespasses."
And thus, "as by the offence of one judgment came upon
all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one
the free gift came upon all men unto justification." So
that, for the sake of his well-beloved Son, of what he hath
done and suffered for us, God now vouchsafes, on one only condition,
(which himself also enables us to perform,) both to remit the
punishment due to our sins, to reinstate us in his favour, and
to restore our dead souls to spiritual life, as the earnest
of life eternal.
9. This, therefore, is the general ground of the whole doctrine
of justification. By the sin of the first Adam, who was not
only the father, but likewise the representative, of us all,
we all fell short of the favour of God; we all became children
of wrath; or, as the Apostle expresses it, "judgment came
upon all men to condemnation." Even so, by the sacrifice
for sin made by the Second Adam, as the Representative of us
all, God is so far reconciled to all the world, that he hath
given them a new covenant; the plain condition whereof being
once fulfilled, "there is no more condemnation" for
us, but "we are justified freely by his grace, through
the redemption that is in Jesus Christ."
II. 1. But what is it to be "justified?" What is
"justification?" This was the Second thing which I
proposed to show. And it is evident, from what has been already
observed, that it is not the being made actually just and righteous.
This is "sanctification;" which is, indeed, in some
degree, the immediate fruit of justification, but, nevertheless,
is a distinct gift of God, and of a totally different nature.
The one implies what God does for us through his Son; the other,
what he works in us by his Spirit. So that, although some rare
instances may be found, wherein the term "justified"
or "justification" is used in so wide a sense as to
include "sanctification" also; yet, in general use,
they are sufficiently distinguished from each other, both by
St. Paul and the other inspired writers.
2. Neither is that far-fetched conceit, that justification
is the clearing us from accusation, particularly that of Satan,
easily provable from any clear text of holy writ. In the whole
scriptural account of this matter, as above laid down, neither
that accuser nor his accusation appears to be at all taken in.
It can not indeed be denied, that he is the "accuser"
of men, emphatically so called. But it does in nowise appear,
that the great Apostle hath any reference to this, more or less,
in all he hath written touching justification, either to the
Romans or the Galatians.
3. It is also far easier to take for granted, than to prove
from any clear scripture testimony, that justification is the
clearing us from the accusation brought against us by the law:
At least if this forced, unnatural way of speaking mean either
more or less than this, that, whereas we have transgressed the
law of God, and thereby deserved the damnation of hell, God
does not inflict on those who are justified the punishment which
they had deserved.
4. Least of all does justification imply, that God is deceived
in those whom he justifies; that he thinks them to be what,
in fact, they are not; that he accounts them to be otherwise
than they are. It does by no means imply, that God judges concerning
us contrary to the real nature of things; that he esteems us
better than we really are, or believes us righteous when we
are unrighteous. Surely no. The judgment of the all-wise God
is always according to truth. Neither can it ever consist with
his unerring wisdom, to think that I am innocent, to judge that
I am righteous or holy, because another is so. He can no more,
in this manner, confound me with Christ, than with David or
Abraham. Let any man to whom God hath given understanding, weigh
this without prejudice; and he cannot but perceive, that such
a notion of justification is neither reconcilable to reason
nor Scripture.
5. The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon,
the forgiveness of sins. It is that act of God the Father, hereby,
for the sake of the propitiation made by the blood of his Son,
he "showeth forth his righteousness (or mercy) by the remission
of the sins that are past." This is the easy, natural account
of it given by St. Paul, throughout this whole epistle. So he
explains it himself, more particularly in this and in the following
chapter. Thus, in the next verses but one to the text, "Blessed
are they," saith he, "whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin." To him that is justified or forgiven,
God "will not impute sin" to his condemnation. He
will not condemn him on that account, either in this world or
in that which is to come. His sins, all his past sins, in thought,
word, and deed, are covered, are blotted out, shall not be remembered
or mentioned against him, any more than if they had not been.
God will not inflict on that sinner what he deserved to suffer,
because the Son of his love hath suffered for him. And from
the time we are "accepted through the Beloved," "reconciled
to God through his blood," he loves, and blesses, and watches
over us for good, even as if we had never sinned.
Indeed the Apostle in one place seems to extend the meaning
of the word much farther, where he says, "Not the hearers
of the law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified."
Here he appears to refer our justification to the sentence of
the great day. And so our Lord himself unquestionably doth,
when he says, "By thy words thou shalt be justified;"
proving hereby, that "for every idle word men shall speak,
they shall give an account in the day of judgment." But
perhaps we can hardly produce another instance of St. Paul's
using the word in that distant sense. In the general tenor of
his writings, it is evident he doth not; and least of all in
the text before us, which undeniably speaks, not of those who
have already "finished their course," but of those
who are now just "setting out," just beginning to
"run the race which is set before them."
III. 1. But this is the third thing which was to be considered,
namely, Who are they that are justified? And the Apostle tells
us expressly, the ungodly: "He (that is, God) justifieth
the ungodly;" the ungodly of every kind and degree; and
none but the ungodly. As "they that are righteous need
no repentance," so they need no forgiveness. It is only
sinners that have any occasion for pardon: It is sin alone which
admits of being forgiven. Forgiveness, therefore, has an immediate
reference to sin, and, in this respect, to nothing else. It
is our "unrighteousness" to which the pardoning God
is "merciful:" It is our "iniquity" which
he "remembereth no more."
2. This seems not to be at all considered by those who so vehemently
contend that a man must be sanctified, that is, holy, before
he can be justified; especially by such of them as affirm, that
universal holiness or obedience must precede justification.
(Unless they mean that justification at the last day, which
is wholly out of the present question.) So far from it, that
the very supposition is not only flatly impossible, (for where
there is no love of God, there is no holiness, and there is
no love of God but from a sense of his loving us,) but also
grossly, intrinsically absurd, contradictory to itself. For
it is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and under the
notion of a sinner. God justifieth not the godly, but the ungodly;
not those that are holy already, but the unholy. Upon what condition
he doeth this, will be considered quickly: but whatever it is,
it cannot be holiness. To assert this, is to say the Lamb of
God takes away only those sins which were taken away before.
3. Does then the good Shepherd seek and save only those that
are found already? No: He seeks and saves that which is lost.
He pardons those who need his pardoning mercy. He saves from
the guilt of sin, (and, at the same time, from the power,) sinners
of every kind, of every degree: men who, till then, were altogether
ungodly; in whom the love of the Father was not; and, consequently,
in whom dwelt no good thing, no good or truly Christian temper,
--but all such as were evil and abominable, --pride, anger,
love of the world, --the genuine fruits of that "carnal
mind" which is "enmity against God."
4. These who are sick, the burden of whose sins is intolerable,
are they that need a Physician; these who are guilty, who groan
under the wrath of God, are they that need a pardon. These who
are "condemned already," not only by God, but also
by their own conscience, as by a thousand witnesses, of all
their ungodliness, both in thought, and word, and work, cry
aloud for Him that "justifieth the ungodly," through
the redemption that is in Jesus; --the ungodly, and "him
that worketh not;" that worketh not, before he is justified,
anything that is good, that is truly virtuous or holy, but only
evil continually. For his heart is necessarily, essentially
evil, till the love of God is shed abroad therein. And while
the tree is corrupt, so are the fruits; "for an evil tree
cannot bring forth good fruit."
5. If it be objected, "Nay, but a man, before he is justified,
may feed the hungry, or clothe the naked; and these are good
works;" the answer is easy: He may do these, even before
he is justified; and these are, in one sense, "good works;"
they are "good and profitable to men." But it does
not follow, that they are, strictly speaking, good in themselves,
or good in the sight of God. All truly "good works"
(to use the words of our Church) "follow after justification;"
and they are therefore good and "acceptable to God in Christ,"
because they "spring out of a true and living faith."
By a parity of reason, all "works done before justification
are not good," in the Christian sense, "forasmuch
as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ;" (though from
some kind of faith in God they may spring;) "yea, rather,
for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded
them to be done, we doubt not" (how strange soever it may
appear to some) "but they have the nature of sin."
6. Perhaps those who doubt of this have not duly considered
the weighty reason which is here assigned, why no works done
before justification can be truly and properly good. The argument
plainly runs thus: --
No works are good, which are not done as God hath willed and
commanded them to be done.
But no works done before justification are done as God hath
willed and commanded them to be done:
Therefore, no works done before justification are good.
The first proposition is self-evident; and the second, that
no works done before justification are done as God hath willed
and commanded them to be done, will appear equally plain and
undeniable, if we only consider, God hath willed and commanded
that "all our works" should "be done in charity;"
(en agape) in love, in that love to God which produces love
to all mankind. But none of our works can be done in this love,
while the love of the Father (of God as our Father) is not in
us; and this love can not be in us till we receive the "Spirit
of Adoption, crying in , our hearts, Abba, Father." If,
therefore, God doth not "justify the ungodly," and
him that (in this sense) "worketh not," then hath
Christ died in vain; then, notwithstanding his death, can no
flesh living be justified.
IV. 1. But on what terms, then, is he justified who is altogether
"ungodly," and till that time "worketh not?"
On one alone; which is faith: He "believeth is Him that
justifieth the ungodly." And "he that believeth is
not condemned;" yea, he is "passed from death unto
life." "For the righteousness (or mercy) of God is
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:
--Whom God hath set forth for a propitiation, through faith
in his blood; that he might be just, and" (consistently
with his justice) "the Justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus:" "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law;" without previous
obedience to the moral law, which, indeed, he could not, till
now, perform. That it is the moral law, and that alone, which
is here intended, appears evidently from the words that follow:
"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid:
Yea, we establish the law. What law do we establish by faith?
Not the ritual law: Not the ceremonial law of Moses. In nowise;
but the great, unchangeable law of love, the holy love of God
and of our neighbour."
2. Faith in general is a divine, supernatural "elegchos,"
"evidence" or "conviction," "of things
not seen," not discoverable by our bodily senses, as being
either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies,
not only a divine evidence or conviction that "God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself;" but a sure
trust and confidence that Christ died for "my" sins,
that he loved "me," and gave himself for "me."
And at what time soever a sinner thus believes, be it in early
childhood, in the strength of his years, or when he is old and
hoary-haired, God justifieth that ungodly one: God, for the
sake of his Son, pardoneth and absolveth him, who had in him,
till then, no good thing. Repentance, indeed, God had given
him before; but that repentance was neither more nor less than
a deep sense of the want of all good, and the presence of all
evil. And whatever good he hath, or doeth, from that hour when
he first believes in God through Christ, faith does not "find,"
but "bring." This is the fruit of faith. First the
tree is good, and then the fruit is good also.
3. I cannot describe the nature of this faith better than in
the words of our own Church: "The only instrument of salvation"
(whereof justification is one branch) "is faith; that is,
a sure trust and confidence that God both hath and will forgive
our sins, that he hath accepted us again into His favour, for
the merits of Christ's death and passion. --But here we must
take heed that we do not halt with God, through an inconstant,
wavering faith: Peter, coming to Christ upon the water, because
he fainted in faith, was in danger of drowning; so we, if we
begin to waver or doubt, it is to be feared that we shall sink
as Peter did, not into the water, but into the bottomless pit
of hell fire." ("Second Sermon on the Passion")
"Therefore, have a sure and constant faith, not only that
the death of Christ is available for all the world, but that
he hath made a full and sufficient sacrifice for "thee,"
a perfect cleansing of "thy" sins, so that thou mayest
say, with the Apostle, he loved "thee," and gave himself
for "thee." For this is to make Christ "thine
own," and to apply his merits unto "thyself."
("Sermon on the Sacrament, First Part")
4. By affirming that this faith is the term or "condition
of justification," I mean, First, that there is no justification
without it. "He that believeth not is condemned already;"
and so long as he believeth not, that condemnation cannot be
removed, but "the wrath of God abideth on him." As
"there is no other name given under heaven," than
that of Jesus of Nazareth, no other merit whereby a condemned
sinner can ever be saved from the guilt of sin; so there is
no other way of obtaining a share in his merit, than "by
faith in his name." So that as long as we are without this
faith, we are "strangers to the covenant of promise,"
we are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and without
God in the world." Whatsoever virtues (so called) a man
may have, --I speak of those unto whom the gospel is preached;
for "what have I to do to judge them that are without?"
--whatsoever good works (so accounted) he may do, it profiteth
not; he is still a "child of wrath," still under the
curse, till he believes in Jesus.
5. Faith, therefore, is the "necessary" condition
of justification; yea, and the "only necessary" condition
thereof. This is the Second point carefully to be observed;
that, the very moment God giveth faith (for "it is the
gift of God") to the "ungodly" that "worketh
not," that "faith is counted to him for righteousness."
He hath no righteousness at all, antecedent to this, not so
much as negative righteousness, or innocence. But "faith
is imputed to him for righteousness," the very moment that
he believeth. Not that God (as was observed before) thinketh
him to be what he is not. But as "he made Christ to be
sin for us," that is, treated him as a sinner, punishing
him for our sins; so he counteth us righteous, from the time
we believe in him: That is, he doth not punish us for our sins;
yea, treats us as though we are guiltless and righteous.
6. Surely the difficulty of assenting to this proposition,
that "faith is the "only condition" of justification,"
must arise from not understanding it. We mean thereby thus much,
that it is the only thing without which none is justified; the
only thing that is immediately, indispensably, absolutely requisite
in order to pardon. As, on the one hand, though a man should
have every thing else without faith, yet he cannot be justified;
so, on the other, though he be supposed to want everything else,
yet if he hath faith, he cannot but be justified. For suppose
a sinner of any kind or degree, in a full sense of his total
ungodliness, of his utter inability to think, speak, or do good,
and his absolute meetness for hell-fire; suppose, I say, this
sinner, helpless and hopeless, casts himself wholly on the mercy
of God in Christ, (which indeed he cannot do but by the grace
of God,) who can doubt but he is forgiven in that moment? Who
will affirm that any more is "indispensably required"
before that sinner can be justified?
Now, if there ever was one such instance from the beginning
of the world, (and have there not been, and are there not, ten
thousand times ten thousand?) it plainly follows, that faith
is, in the above sense, the sole condition of justification.
7. It does not become poor, guilty, sinful worms, who receive
whatsoever blessings they enjoy, (from the least drop of water
that cools our tongue, to the immense riches of glory in eternity,)
of grace, of mere favour, and not of debt, to ask of God the
reasons of his conduct. It is not meet for us to call Him in
question "who giveth account to none of his ways;"
to demand, "Why didst thou make faith the condition, the
only condition, of justification? Wherefore didst thou decree,
"He that believeth," and he only, "shall be saved?"
This is the very point on which St. Paul so strongly insists
in the ninth chapter of this Epistle, viz., That the terms of
pardon and acceptance must depend, not on us, but "on him
that calleth us;" that there is no "unrighteousness
with God," in fixing his own terms, not according to ours,
but his own good pleasure; who may justly say, "I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy;" namely, on him who
believeth in Jesus. "So then it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth," to choose the condition on which
he shall find acceptance; "but of God that showeth mercy;"
that accepteth none at all, but of his own free love, his unmerited
goodness. "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy," viz., on those who believe on the Son of his love;
"and whom he will," that is, those who believe not,
"he hardeneth," leaves at last to the hardness of
their hearts.
8. One reason, however, we may humbly conceive, of God's fixing
this condition of justification, "If thou believest in
the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved," was to "hide
pride from man." Pride had already destroyed the very angels
of God, had cast down "a third part of the stars of heaven."
It was likewise in great measure owing to this, when the tempter
said, "Ye shall be as gods," that Adam fell from his
own steadfastness, and brought sin and death into the world.
It was therefore an instance of wisdom worthy of God, to appoint
such a condition of reconciliation for him and all his posterity
as might effectually humble, might abase them to the dust. And
such is faith. It is peculiarly fitted for this end: For he
that cometh unto God by this faith, must fix his eye singly
on his own wickedness, on his guilt and helplessness, without
having the least regard to any supposed good in himself, to
any virtue or righteousness whatsoever. He must come as a "mere
sinner," inwardly and outwardly, self-destroyed and self-condemned,
bringing nothing to God but ungodliness only, pleading nothing
of his own but sin and misery. Thus it is, and thus alone, when
his "mouth is stopped," and he stands utterly "guilty
before" God, that he can "look unto Jesus," as
the whole and sole "Propitiation for his sins." Thus
only can he be "found in him," and receive the "righteousness
which is of God by faith."
9. Thou ungodly one,
who hearest or readest these words! thou vile, helpless, miserable
sinner! I charge thee before God, the Judge of all, go straight
unto him, with all thy ungodliness. Take heed thou destroy not
thy own soul by pleading thy righteousness, more or less. Go
as altogether ungodly, guilty, lost, destroyed, deserving and
dropping into hell; and thou shalt then find favour in his sight,
and know that he justifieth the ungodly. As such thou shalt
be brought unto the "blood of sprinkling," as an undone,
helpless, damned sinner. Thus "look unto Jesus!" There
is "the Lamb of God," who "taketh away thy sins!"
Plead thou no works, no righteousness of thine own! no humility,
contrition, sincerity! In nowise. That were, in very deed, to
deny the Lord that bought thee. No: Plead thou, singly, the
blood of the covenant, the ransom paid for thy proud, stubborn,
sinful soul. Who art thou, that now seest and feelest both thine
inward and outward ungodliness? Thou art the man! I want thee
for my Lord! I challenge "thee" for a child of God
by faith! The Lord hath need of thee. Thou who feelest thou
art just fit for hell, art just fit to advance his glory; the
glory of his free grace, justifying the ungodly and him that
worketh not. O come quickly! Believe in the Lord Jesus; and
thou, even thou, art reconciled to God.
Edited
by Rev. Weldon Shuman with minor corrections and other modifications
by Ryan Danker and George Lyons of Northwest Nazarene University.
Copyright
© 1999 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology. Text may be
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