rely on him as a priest, whilst he determines that " he will not have him to reign over him." These and similar dependences are mere delusions; for Christ rules as a priest on his throne; he intercedes with regal authority; and he teaches his disciples to rely on his atonement and advocacy, to shelter their souls under his omnipotent protection, and to submit to his sovereign authority. He reveals as a prophet what he purchased and obtains as a high-priest, and confers as a munificent prince. The obedience which he requires of his subjects, he by his grace disposes and enables them to perform, and renders it accepted through his intercession. So that they who truly receive him in one of these combined offices, receive him in them all. Thus our Lord prepares their souls for the inheritance which he hath purchased for them; nor could the utmost efficacy of one of these distinct parts of his mediatorial undertaking accomplish that gracious purpose. His sacrifice and intercession, indeed, render it consistent with the glory of God, to admit us sinners into his presence, to receive us to his favour, to make us his children, and to give us an inheritance in his own holy habitation; but how should we profit by this provision, did he not send forth his word and his ministers to proclaim the glad tidings, to give the invitations, and to set before us his precious promises and new covenant engagements? How can we receive the advantage even of this revelation, without we understand and believe it? or how shall we credit such a humbling spiritual message, except the eyes of our minds be opened by the Holy Spirit? (1 Cor. ii. 14.) And, at last, how could we unholy creatures be made meet for this holy inheritance, without the influences of his new-creat ing Spirit? How could we overcome the powers of darkness, and all our enemies, if he did not fight for us? How could we meet the king of terrors, if he did not engage to support and deliver us, and finally to raise our bodies, incorruptible, immortal, and glorious, to unite with our souls in the everlasting enjoyment of the love of our reconciled God and Father? Is this then our creed, our experience and dependence? Do we thus rely on Christ our Prophet, Priest, and King? and do we, in the patient obedience of faith and love, "wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life?" (Jude 20, 21.) For this, and this only, is genuine Christianity. : ESSAY XI. ON JUSTIFICATION. ALL things having been made ready for the salvation of sinners, in the person and mediation of the great Redeemer, it was also necessary that the method, or medium, of appropriating this inestimable benefit, should be clearly and expressly revealed and this leads us to the consideration of the scripture doctrine of justification. I shall therefore, in the present Essay, briefly explain the meaning of the words justify and justification, as they are used by the sacred writers;-show that we must be justified before God by faith alone ;consider the peculiar nature of faith, and the manner in which it justifies ;-assign a few reasons, why justification and salvation are ascribed to this, rather than any other holy dispositions or actions of the soul;-and answer some of the more plausible objections to the doctrine. The terms justify and justification, are taken from the common concerns of life, and applied, with some necessary variation of meaning, to the state of sinners who have found acceptance with God; and they imply, that the sinner is now dealt with as if he were a righteous person; and, therefore, he is wholly exempted from those sufferings which are strictly speaking penal, and is entitled to the reward of perfect obedience; though in himself he hath merited no such reward, but on the contrary hath deserved the punishment denounced in the law against transgressors. These are com monly said to be forensic terms, referring to the practice of human judicatories; and they seem to have been originally taken from such transactions; yet this derivation gives us a very inadequate idea of their import. For when a man is charged with a crime before an earthly tribunal, he must either be condemned or acquitted: if he be condemned, he may be pardoned, but he cannot be justified; if he be acquitted, he may be justified, but he cannot stand in need of a pardon. Moreover, a criminal may be acquitted, for want of legal evidence, or from other causes, when there can be no reasonable doubt of his guilt: yet no accusation for the same crime can be brought against him, though he is very far from being fully justified from it, or admitted to the full enjoyment of those privileges that belong to an unsuspected member of civil society; nor would he be a proper person to be confided in, or advanced to a place of honour and responsibility. Whereas, if an accused person be fully justified from the charge brought against him, he suffers no degradation in his character, or disadvantage in his circumstances; his integrity is often placed in a more conspicuous light than be. fore; he is considered as an injured man; and is frequently recommended by these circumstances to the favour and confidence of the prince, or of the people. Justification, therefore, in the original meaning of the word, is not only distinct from pardon, but is absolutely incompatible with it: it implies far more than the acquittal of an accused person; it is a declaration that no charge ought to have been made against the man; that he is justly entitled to all the privileges of a good citizen; and that he is, and ought to be, admissible to every post of honour and emolument, even as if he had never been accused. The meaning of the word, in other concerns of life, is the same: if a man's character has been aspersed, he is said to be completely justified, when the charge is entirely refuted, and proved malicious, or groundless, to the satisfaction of all that inquire into it. : But, on the other hand, our justification before God always connects with pardon, and implies that we are guilty and we are justified, as ungodly; "righteousness being imputed to us without works" (Rom. iv. 1-8). If we had never sinned, we might have been justified before God, by our own obedience, according to the common use of the word justification: no charge could have been brought or proved against us, nor should we have needed any forgiveness. But, by breaking the holy law of God, we have forfeited our title to the reward of righteousness according to the law, and have incurred the penalty of eternal misery. The justification, therefore, of a sinner, must imply something distinct from a total and final remission of the deserved punishment; namely, a renewed title to the reward of righteousness, as complete and effective as he would have had if he had never sinned, but had perfectly performed, during the term of his probation, all the demands of the divine law. The remission of sins alone would place him in such a state, that no charge would lie against him: but then he would have no title to the reward of righteousness, till he had obtained it by performing, for the appointed time, the whole obedience required of him; for he would merely be put again into a state of probation, and his justification or condemnation would not be decided till that were terminated: but the justifi cation of the pardoned sinner gives him a present title to the reward of righteousness, independent of his future conduct, as well as without respect to his past actions. This is manifestly the scripture idea of justification: it is uniformly represented as immediate and complete, when the sinner believes in the Lord Jesus Christ; and not as a contingent advantage, to be waited for till death or judgment. And the arguments that some learned men have adduced, to prove that justification means nothing else than forgiveness of sins, only show, that the two distinct blessings are never separately conferred. David, for instance, says, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity” (Psalm xxxii. 2); and Paul observes, that ". David describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works" (Rom. iv. 6): Now this does not prove, that " not imputing sin," and "imputing righteousness," are synonymous terms; but merely, that where God does not impute sin, he does impute righteousness; and confers the title to eternal life on all those whom he rescues from eternal death (Acts xiii. 38, 39). Indeed, exemption from a terrible punishment, and a right to an actual and vast reward, are such distinct things, that one cannot but wonder they should be so generally confounded as they are in theological discussions. It may, therefore, suffice to observe, that justification signifies, in scripture, that God hath given a sinner a right and title to eternal life, accounting him righteous by an act of sovereign grace; so that thenceforth there is no condemnation for him; but, being thus justified, "he is made an heir, according to the hope of eternal life” (Tit. iii. 1—7). Every attentive reader of the scriptures (especially if, but writings which the apostles penned by the far ration of the Holy Spirit, as the last and full revelation of the truth of God to man |