Tomline on Article XI: Of the Justification of Man

Justification, in the language of Scripture signifies the being accounted just or righteous in the sight of God; or the being placed in a «tate of salvation. ” When God justifies a man,’^ says Mr. Veneer, ” it is by forgiving him his trespasses, and accepting, esteeming, and re- warding him as a righteous person, although he is not really and strictly such. To justify, in the common spiritual notion of it, is to absolve from guilt, to discharge from punishment.”

The word justification, or justify, when applied to Christians in the New Testament, always refers to the present life, as in this passage, ” Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from

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ART, XI,] , xhirty-tune Articles. 157

wrath through him (a)‘y’ here Justification is spoken of as having already taken place, but Sal- vation js mentioned as being future ; that is. Jus- tification is in this world, Salvation in the next. Justification is the remission of sins here on earth; Salvation is the attainment of happiness in heaven. In this article it is said, ” We arc accounted righteous/’ and ” We are justified,” which are synonymous expressions, both in the present tense, and referring to the present life. And the following article speaks of ” Works which follow after Justification,” which still more clearly shews that justification refers to the present life.

This article was directed against the Popish doctrine of Human Merit, which our Reform- ers, with reason, considered as inconsistent with the whole scheme of Redemption through Christ alone, and in particular as striking at the very root of the Christian duty of humility. * Let us attend to the words in the Latin, which is much clearer than the English ; Tantum propter me- ritum Domini ac Servatoris nostri Jesu Christi, per Fidem, non propter opera et merita nostra, justi coram Deo reputamur. Observe, that Faith is not opposed to Works, but the merit of Christ is opposed’to the merit of our Works — propter meritum Christi — non propter opera et merita

nostra (a) Rom. c. 5. v. 9. VOL. ir. n

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nostra — Kind it is per Fidem^ not- propter Fidem (b). It is here asserted that we ark

FOR THE MERIT, that is, on account of the merit,

FAITH, that is, through our faith, and not for, diat is, not on account of, our own works or PESERViNGs. Our works never can have any merit towards procuring pardon of our sins, firom l3mT own intrinsic worth ; they cannot justify, or tend to justify us. Nor has our faith any merit of this kind ; we are not said to be justified propter meritum Fidei or propter Fidem, but per Fidem. The blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the meritorious cause of our jus-’ tification ; but it operates through our faith, faith being the means or condition upon which it has pleased our Ahnighty Father to offer to his sinful creatures forgiveness of their past offences. And this is the express declaration of Scripture : ” The

righteousness

(b) Wherever the justification or salvation of man by faith is mentioned in Scripture, the expression is rlfi*, wWwi, wU-iiti or hek nq wtrifq, but never h fpir or Ji w v/nr. Vide Rom. c. i . v% 1 7. c. 3. v. 22, 28, and 30. Gal.c. 3. V. 3. Eph. c. 2. v. 8. It is well known that ♦i when it governs a genitive case signifies per, md when it governs an accusative case it signifies propter ; that is, in the former case it indicates the means, in the latter the cause.

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AUT. XI.] Tfrirty-nine Articles. 259

righteousfiess of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe ; for there is no difference ; for all have sinned, and come short of the ^ory of God ; being justi- fied freely by his Grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God ; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him who be- lieveth in Jesus (c).” By the faith, which in this passage, and also in our article, is said to justify, we are to understand that lively ” faith, which -worketh by love (d^’ which purifieth the heart, which keepeth the commandments of God. The doctrine of Justification by Faith was maintained by the early Christians : Clement of Rome, after speaking of the Jews, says, “‘And we also, being caHed by the same will in Christ Jesus, are not justified Ity ourselves, neither by our own wisdom, « knowledge, or piety, or by works which we have done in the holiness of our hearts, but by that feitib by which God Almighty has justified all men from the beginning (e).” Upon these pounds our Church declares that the merit of

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(e) Rom. c. 3. ▼. 22 — a6.

(d) Gal. c- 5. r. 6. (e) Ep. !•

[…]

OUR OWN WORKS has no share in our justifica- tion, in opposition to Papists, who assert, that man*s inherent righteousness is the meritorious cause of his justification, and that good works ” ad vitam astemam consequendam vere pro-

mereri (/)•”

It may be proper upon this occasion to explain some passages in the Epistles of St. Paul and St. James, relative to Justification, which at first sight appear to be inconsistent with each other. St. Paul says, that ” A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (g).” And again, that ” A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus -Christ (h).” St. James says, ” A man is jus- tified by works, and not by faith only fij.” St. Paul and St. James both allude to the case of adult converts to the Gospel ; and in order to reconcile these ‘seemingly contradictory asser- tions, we must consider the particular object which each had in view, and also distinguish between the first entrance into a state of justifica- tion, and the continuance in that state. St. Paul, when he makes the above declarations, is argu*- ing, as clearly appears from the context, against those judaizing C^jristians, who contended that

circun)cision, (f) Cone. Trid. de Bon, Op, cap. 1 1 , j^g) Rom. c, 3. V. 28, (h) aaJ. c a. V, iQ, (i) C. 2, y, «4.

ART. XI.] Thirty^-nine Articles. 261

circumcision, and an observance of the whole ritual of the Mosaic institution, were required in Gentiles who embraced the Gospel, as essen- tial to their justification ; and therefore the jus- tification which he means is the first entrance into a state of justification, and the works and deeds of the law, which he excludes and rejects, are the numerous outward ordinances prescribed by the Law of Moses, and abolished by the Gospel of Christ. But this obvious sense of these passages was soon perverted, and they were made to signify, that faith in Christ, without works or deeds of any kind, that is, without the practice of moral virtue, was of itself sufficient to procure salvation. This most unwarrantable in- terpretation St. James reprobates and refutes If A:^, by proving that a man is justified by his works, and not by faith only. He does not say by the works of the law, but by works, that is, by a man’s own works or actions. When therefore he says, that a man is not justified by faith only, he means that a man is not preserved in a state of justifi- cation by a bare belief in the religion of Christ. ” Faith,” says he repeatedly in the same chapter,

” without

(k) Several antient authors mention that St. James wrote this Epistle to correct some errors which had arisen from a misapprehension of St. Paul’s writings. St. Peter observed, that in St. Paul’s Epistles, there

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i62 Exposition of the [part iii,

•* without works is dead (I) ; ” that is, although a man believes in the divine mission of Christ, and in consequence of that belief has been admit- ted in the Gospel Covenant, yet if he does not afterwards obey its precepts, his faith is ineffisc* tual ; ’ he will not continue justified ; and if he perseveres in his disobedience, he will not in^ herit eternal life. The Apostles therefore are speaking of different things : St. Paul is shewing what it is which places a man in a state of justi- fication ; St. James is shewing what it is which is necessary to continue a person in a state of justi- fication : and they were respectively led to discuss these subjects by errors which prevailed among those whom they addressed. St. Paul asserts^ that if a man be convinced of the truth of the Gospel, and sincerely intend to obey its precepts, he becomes justified without the observance of the Mosaic ceremonies. St. James asserts, that a man, who has thus been once justified, does not continue in a state of justification, unless he actually obeys the moral precepts of the Gospel. Faith will place a man in a state of justificaticMi ; but faith and works are both necessary to pre- serve *’ are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do a^so the other scriptures, unto their own destruction/ 1 Pet. c. 3. V. 16. (I) C. 2, V. 17, 20 and 26.

ART. XI.} Thirty-nme Artkkt. t^$

serve a man in a state of justifkatioB. Th^6 tm^ doctrines are perfectly connstent trith each other.

V

In proof that when St. Paul says, a man is justified by faith, without mentioning any other requisite, he means the first entrance into a state of justification, and that by the works of the law which he rejects, he does not mean the duties of moraKty, we may observe, that every one of his Epistles, and particularly those in which he treats of justification, abounds with the most earnest exhortations and strict injunctions to the practice of moral virtue as essentially necessary in persons after they have embraced the Gospel, and as al- solutely indispensaUe to final salvation. And that St James, when he says that a man is jus- tified by works, is speaking of the continuance in a state of justification, and that by w orks he means the moral duties, is equally evident from his rea- sonii and the examples which he adduces in the second chapter of his Epistle. St. Paul puts faith for feith in Christ, in contradistinction to the Law of Moses ; and works which he declares to be unnecessary for justification, are the rites and ceremonies of that law. On the €ther hand, fay fahh St. James means a bare assent to the truth of the Gospel wi&oul conforBaity to its precepts ; and the works, which he pronounces to he necessary for justification, ffle tile moral ekities

s 4 enjoined

264 £j:position df the [part hi.

enjoined by the Gospel, and which are produced by a true and lively faith.

We now return to the article, which proceeds in this manner; wherefore that we are

FORT ; the word only is here added for the pur- pose of again disclaiming the Popish doctrine of Human Merit. Justification by faith cannot but be* a most wholesome doctrine and very full c^ comfort, as it places our hope of justification in this world, and of everlasting happiness in that which is to come, upon the infallible promises of God, and the all-sufficient merits of Christ.

As IS MORE LARGELY EXPRESSED IN THE

HOMILY OF JUSTIFICATION. It is remarkable, that there is no homily with this title. The homily intitied ” Of the Salvation of all Man- kind,” is generally supposed to be here meant, though some learned men have thought that the four homilies upon ” human misery, salvation, faith, and good works,” were all referred to. The former opinion seems to be the better founded, as the word in the article is Homily^ and not Homilies; and that homily relates more particu- larly to the subject of this article. We find in it the following passages : ” This saying, that we be justified by faith only, freely, and without

•<4 works.

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words, is spoken for to take away clearly all merit of our works, as being unable to deserve our justification at God’s hands, and thereby most plainly to express the weakness of roan, and the goodness of God; the great infirmity ^^ of our- selves, and the might and power of God ; the imperfection of our own works, and the most abundant grace of our Saviour Christ; and tfierefore wholly to ascribe the merit and de- serving of our justification unto Christ only and his most precious blood-shedding.” …” Our office is not to pass the time of this present life unfruitfiilly and idly, after that we are baptized or justified, not caring how few good works we do to the glory of God, and the profit of our neighbours.” From the expression ” baptized or justified,” and also from the Forms of Baptism in our Liturgy, it is manifest that our Church con- siders justification as taking place at the time of Baptism, both in the case of infants and also of adults (m).

(m) I desire to refer to the third chapter of mj Refutation of Calvinism, for a more comprehensive view of the doctrines of Justification, Faith, and Works, than the designed brevity of this work will admit ; but I have thought it my duty to insert in this edition some passages from that chapter, which appear to be particularly connected with this article.

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