fearching into their actions. For, in particular inftances, these may have been imperfect, and even faulty, through the greater corruption of nature which fome have to struggle against, or the greater temptations to which others have been expofed, or the peculiar difadvantages under which a third fort have laboured, while their general conduct hath been right. Besides, in most cafes, the bad actions of those who have a fincere defire to please God, having through invincible ignorance, been performed under the notion, perhaps, of fervice done to God; or if performed contrary to knowledge and confcience, having been speedily repented of by the believer, God will graciously forgive them for the fake of Chrift, and will accept of their faith, or general disposition to please him, which led them to an habitual courfe of virtuous, though not finlefs conduct, as if it were a perfect righteousness; and will reward them from pure favour, on account of the meritorious obedience of Christ.

4. By making faith the condition of our justification, the gofpel teaches, that however good any action may be, as to the matter of it, if it does not proceed from faith, that is, from an habitual regard to the will of God, and from a fincere defire to please him, in the hope of obtaining those rewards, which the lights of nature and of revelation, encourage pious men to expect from his goodness, (Heb. xi. 6.) it is neither a moral nor a religious action. It is the mere effect of natural difpofition, or perhaps of fomething worfe; for inftance, a defire of the praise of men, or a regard to one's own prefent intereft; and therefore it will avail nothing to one's acceptance with God.

5. Laftly, The gospel, which hath made faith working by love, the condition on which God will juftify men in the way of favour, is attended with this advantage, that while it establisheth good works on the firmeft foundation, and giveth them all the weight and importance in the Chriftian scheme which really belong to them, it beats down men's pride, by making them fenfible of the imperfection of their virtue. And thus taking away from finners all pretenfions to merit, it constrains them humbly to receive the great bleflings of juftification and falvation, as free gifts from God through Jefus Chrift, and lays a foundation for their gratitude to God, and love to Chrift, throughout the endlefs ages of eternity.

SECT,

SECT. V. Of the Time when Believers are justified.

Many of the inextricable opinions with which theologians have perplexed themselves, in pretending to reconcile the doctrine of the apostles Paul and James on the article of justification, originate from the notion, that believers are justified in the prefent life. And I acknowledge, that what Mofes hath written concerning the juftification of Abraham, according to its obvious meaning in modern language, feems to imply, that he was juftified at the time he believed in the Lord. I acknowledge also, that what Paul hath written concerning the justification of believers, feems in like manner to imply, that they are juftified in the prefent life. Nevertheless, I hope to make it evident, that neither Mofes nor Paul meant to teach any fuch doctrine.

1. To fhew this, my firft argument fhall be taken from the nature of juftification. To be justified, in the fcripture fenfe of the word, is to be acquitted from the charge of having broken the law of God, either by omitting the duties which it enjoins, or by committing the fins which it forbids; confequently, it means to be freed by the fentence of God, from the punishment which they incur who break his law. Accordingly the Weftminster Affembly in their Shorter Catechism, have rightly defined juftification, " An act of God's free grace, wherein he "pardoneth all our fins, and accepteth us as righteous in his "fight." But as the whole of a man's life is a state of probation, the sentence of acquittal, in which juftification consisteth, muft proceed upon an examination of all the deeds men have done in the body, during the whole courfe of their trial. Wherefore, if the sentence of acquittal is paffed immediately on a man's first faith, which is the opinion of Eftius, Whitby, Locke, Taylor, and others, on the one hand, and of the Antinomians, and of fome Calvinists, on the other, we muft either hold, with the first mentioned learned men, that the acquittal refpects only the fins committed by the believer prior to that first act of faith; or with the last mentioned perfons, that it comprehends not only the believer's paft fins, but all thofe alfo, which he may happen to commit afterwards, till his death, F 4

The

The first of thefe opinions, namely, that justification consists in the pardon of the fins committed previous to believing, labours under this inconveniency, that by connecting the pardon of paft fins with men's first faith in the gofpel, we are led to think, that fome may be juftified and pardoned with refpect to all their past fins, on whom no change of difpofitions hath paffed, nor will pafs; as was the cafe with Simon Magus, and many others in the first age, who were baptized and made an outward profession of faith in the gofpel. The fame is the cafe likewise

with many in every age, who fpeculatively believe the gospel to be a revelation from God, and yet are not influenced thereby either in their temper or actions. I afk, Will wicked persons, who die impenitent, not be punished for the fins they committed previous to their first faith in the gofpel? To refolve the matter into the fovereign pleasure of God, will not account for his pardoning fuch perfons: because if at any time God forgives the fins which men have committed, while they continue in these fins, he acts contrary to his perfections, and to his character as the righteous Judge of the world.-Befides, if the future punishment of fin is to arise in part, from the existence of evil difpofitions in the mind of the finner, those who live and die in their fins, must be miferable in proportion to the number and ftrength of the evil habits which they carry with them into the other world; thefe not being diminished in the least by their fuppofed first pardon. Wherefore, that finners are pardoned in any period of their life without repentance, and that the fins which have been thus pardoned, will neither be punished in a future ftate, nor be the inftrument of the finner's punishment who dieth in his fins, being opinions which. ftand in oppofition to the declared laws of God's government, and to the established course of things, they ought not to be adopted on a few expreffions in fcripture, which eafily admit of a different interpretation. But to induce us to embrace fuch opinions, the plainest and most unambiguous affertions ought to be produced from the infpired writings, in confirmation of them.-To all these confiderations we may add, that if the fpeculative belief and outward profeffion of the gofpel is fufficient, without repentance, to procure for finners the pardon of all the fins they have com

mitted previous to their believing the gofpel, Why may not the fame kind of faith continued in, procure for finners without repentance, the pardon of all the fins they commit through the whole course of their life? In fhort, the doctrine of a first and fecond juftification, the one by faith, and the other by works, though patronised by many great names, being contrary both to fcripture and reason, ought to be exploded.

The second opinion concerning the justification of believers in the prefent life, is, that the pardon granted immediately on their believing, includes not only their paft fins, but all the fins which they may afterwards commit during the whole course of their life. But to this notion of justification, it may with great propriety be objected, that it reprefents men's future actions as judged, and their fins as pardoned, before they exist. Or, if this form of the doctrine is too abfurd to be maintained, it must at least be allowed, that a juftification which includes the pardon of all future fins, very much resembles a Popish bull of indulgence, and gives men too great a liberty of finning; confequently it can be no doctrine of the gofpel.-The Antinomians indeed endeavour to remove this objection, by afferting that the evil actions of believers are not in them fins, neither doth God confider them as fuch. Or, to ufe their own expreffion, God fees no fin in believers. But the impiety and folly of this affertion, is too glaring to need any laboured confutation. Sin is fin, by whomfoever, and at what time foever committed: and if not forfaken, will moft certainly be punished.

2. My fecond argument to prove that men are not justified in the present life, shall be taken from experience; and it is this: Since juftification is an act of God's free grace, in which he pardoneth all our fins, and accepteth us as righteous, if believers are pardoned in this life, they must in this life be delivered from the punishment of fin, that is, from difeafes and death, and every evil which at the fall was inflicted on mankind, as the punishment of Adam's fin. The reason is, a pardon which leaves the finner under any part of his punishment, is no pardon at all: at least it is not a full pardon. He may have an affurance of pardon given him in the promises of the gofpel: but while any part of his punishment is continued, he

can

Effay VI. can no more be faid to be pardoned, than a prisoner can be said to be freed from his confinement, who is detained in prifon. A believer alfo, may in the promises of the gospel have an affurance of God's love, together with peace of conscience in the prospect of pardon, provided he perfeveres in faith and holiness. But ftill this is not pardon; for as was faid before, pardon confists in an actual deliverance from all the penal confequences of fin, both in the prefent, and in the future life,

Farther, one's acceptance as righteous in the fight of God, confifts in his being rewarded as a righteous person. If so, this part of juftification doth not take place at prefent. None of the children of Adam, were ever in this life thus accepted as righteous in the fight of God, except Enoch and Elijah, who on account of their fingular faith and holiness, and to fhew what justification is, were tranflated in the body to heaven; whereby they were freed from death, the punishment of fin, and put in the imme, diate poffeffion of a blessed immortality, the reward promised to the righteous. Since then, believers are neither delivered in this life from difeafes and death, nor put in poffeffion of the joys of heaven, but only in the promises of the gofpel, have an affurance that these bleflings fhall be bestowed on them at Chrift's fecond coming, it is evident from experience, that no believer is juftified in the present life.

3. A third argument, to fhew that believers are not justified in the present life, arifes from thofe paffages of scripture, in which justification is represented as a thing future. Of these the principal are, Rom. ii. 5. Revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every one according to his works, &c. Rom. viii. 24. We are faved in hope. Now hope feen, is not hope: For what a man seeth, how also can he hope for it? 25. But if we hope for what we do not fee, we wait with patience for it, Gal. v. 5: We, through the Spirit, look for the hope of righteousness by faith. Wherefore, righteousness is not counted to us through faith, in the prefent life; and our falvation is a thing future, being the object of our hope, and will not be accomplished till Chrift's fecond coming.

4. A fourth argument is, if believers on their firft act of faith are justified, that is, judged in the prefent life, and acquitted from

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