Veneer on Article XI: Of the Justification of Man

[…]

The Exposition.

I NCE the bed Works of the bed Men are imperfed, fo that if God should enter into Judgment with his Servants, no Man living would be iuftified, as appears from Psalm cxliii. 2.; it follows, t\2it jujiifaation for as many as are justified, are justified only for the the Merhs of MeritsofChrift by Faith, that is, a lively F/Z?, •'''.'''''' which worketh by Love Gal v. 6. This Doc- trine, that we are justified only for the Merits of Christ by Faith, is delivered likewise in very strong Lines, Ro??i.m. 23, 24, 25, 26, For all have finned and come jloort of the Glory of God-:, Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption thai is in Jesus Christ : IVhom God hath fet forth to he a Propitiation through Faith

in

I 304 J72 ‘Ex’podtioti on t/je

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S. Clement of Rome in his Epiflle to the Corinthians f, hath these Words, ” And we ’ therefore, who are called by his Will in ” Chrill: Jesus, are not justified by ourielves, ’ nor by our own WifHom, our own Under- *’ landing, or our own Godlinefs, or by Works ’ which we have done in the Holinels of our ” Heart, but by Faith, by which Almighty ’ God hath justified all those that have been ” justified from the Beginning of the World. ”

iRENiEus tells us §, That Faith which is towards the most High God juftifieth Man. And again +, he makes ufe of these Words 3 For the Just shall live by Faith : And then he adds, That this Dodrine, that the Just shall live by Faith, was foretold by the Prophets. S. Cyprian reasons thus : That it is Faith alone that hath profited us ; and that we are able to do in proportion to our believing, appears from the Book o( Genesis^ And Abraham helienjedj and it was imputed unto him for Rightcoufnefs *. And in his 63d Epiftle, he applies what hath been said of Abraham to Mankind in general :

t Cap. 51.

• Cap. 67.

For

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For M Abraham^ faith he, believed in God, and Article XI.

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manner, whofoever believeth in God, and lives

by Faith, is found Righteous. The latter Part

of this Article is a Sort of a Paraphrafe upon Rom,

V. I, 2. therefore being justified by Faith ^ we

have Peace with God^ through our Lord Jesus

Christ : By whom also w^ have Access by Faith

into his Grace^ wherein we stand^ and rejoice in

Hope of the Glory of God. But we fee that the

Faith to which Juitification is aicribed, is not a

bare Belief of the Scriptures, and a confident

Application of God’s Promiles to ourselves on

the Account of fuch a Belief; but fuch a Faith

as is explained in the Homily of Juflification ;

that is, as I have already hinted, a lively Faith,

which makes us love God fo as to keep his The Nature cf

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Article afferts, a good Life is infeparable.

I T is obierved in the Homily here referred to. That this is the Do6lrine of a great many of the Antient Fathers — hat we are jufitfied by Faith only f’hi without IVorks. But that their Meaning is not, that juflifying Faith is alone in Man, without true Pepentance, Hope, Charity, Dread, and the Fear of God at any Time and Seafbn ; or that we should or might afterward be idle, and that nothing should be required on our Parts afterward ;- or that we are fo justified without good Works, that we should do no good Works at all ; but to take away clearly all Merit of our Works, as being unable to deserve our Justification at God’s Hands, and thereby mofh plainly to expreis the Weak- jiefsof Man, and theGoodnefs of God, the great Infirmity of ourselves, and the Might and Power of God, the Imperfednefs of our own Works,

U and

^o6 An Expofiticn on the

Article XI. and the most abundant Grace of our Saviour /V” Christ ; and therefore, wholly to afcribe the Merit and Defer ving of our Juflification unto Christ only, and his most precious Bloodshed- ding. The Homily of Faith doth likewise diftin* guifli betwixt a dead and a li’vely Faith j the first of which it obfervcs with St.James chap. ii. 19. to be common both to Men and Devils , and to the latter it alcribes our Justification : So that upon the Whole, our Justification is ascribed in these Homilies to Faith alo?ie and yet to Faith and good IVorks ; and both St. Paul and St. James are quoted in the fame manner as I have quoted them already, for the Support of this Do(5trine. From hence have arilen fome of the most difficult and perplexed Qiieftions in Divinity, but I hope to ftiew, that St. Paul Rem. iii. &c. and Ephef. ii. 8, 9. or elsewhere, means nothing different from St. James chap. il 24. and, consequently, that there is no real Inconfiftency in the Dodrine of the Church, either when one Part of it is compared with another, or when the Whole of what it hath delivered as to this Point, is compared with any of those Places of Scripture on which it is founded.

What I profefs to Ihew then, is, That St. Paul and St. James though they differ in Words and Expreihons, do yet really both teach the fame Doctrine 5 that neither doth St. Paul in excluding Works from having any thing to do in our Juflification mean to exclude iuch Works as St. James here declares to be neceftary , neither on the other Side, doth St. James in afferting the NecefHty of good IVorks together with Faith, and as the Effedls of it, mean to attribute more to them than

St. Paul

Thirty-Wine Articles. 507

St. Faul does. But before I proceed to (hew Article XT. how thcfe Apostles may, as I think, be fairly VVN. reconciled, it may not be amifs to premise this one 1 hing, viz. That if that Solution of the Difficulty, which I shall by-and-by propose, should not seem clear and fatisfadory , and if we could not think of any other way, whereby theie two Divine Writers might to our Apprehension be reconciled together, and made to ipeak the fame Thing ; it would nevertheless in that Cafe, be reasonable to stick to the Words of St. James in their ftrid and most natural Signification, and to fuppoie that St. Paul is to be intrepreted by him rather than he by St. Paul- and, confe- quently, to take for granted, that the Dodrine which is here taught in exprefi Words by St. James Qviz. That Works are neceffary as well as Faith, to render us such as God will approve of, and justify at the Lail Day) is undoubtedly true, although we could not tell which way St. Paufs Words might be fairly- interpreted in the fame Sense. 1 his, I fay, appears realbnable upon several Accoimts • as namely, i. Because we have an expreis 1 efti- mony of Scripture, That in St. Paul’s VVTitings there are fome ‘things hard to he imderjiocd which they that are unlearned and unftahle wrefl - — to their own Beftruhon z Pet. iii. i6. And ‘tis probable, that those Places wherein he treats concerning Juflification by ‘Faith only, may be reckoned in that Number. And this St. Auguffine says expreily, inz. That the chief Difficulty of all in St. Paul’s Epiflles, is his lb much Commendation of that Faith, whic he says does justify , by which ignorant Men under- lland nothing elle but only an Affent of the Mind to the Truths of the Golpel, whi., indeed, is the prime and most proper Notion cf U 2 the

308 An Exposition on the

Article XI. the Word, and do thence infer that a good Life OO’N is not necejfary to jttfttfy and fave a Man. And, indeed, if St. Peter had not made this Obferva- tion concerning the Obscurity of fome of St. Paul’s Writings, ‘tis nevertheless no more than what every one that reads the Bible must needs ob- serve, njiz. that the Epiftles of St. Paul efpe- cially where he handles Controversy, are the hardest to be underflood, except, perhaps, the Prophefies that are not yet accomplished, of any Part of the New ‘Testament. And on the other Side, it is no less obvious to be observed, that the EpiilleofSt James and this Chapter of it in particular, is to appearance very plain and clear j and that both in the Conclusion which it lays down, “viz. hat we are justified hy Works and not hy Faith only and also in the Argument •whereby this Conclusion is made good, from the 14th Verse of this Chapter to the End. Now if the Cafe be thus, as it plainly seems to be, nothing can be more reafbnable than to inter- pret this Place of S. James by those of S. Paul’ that is, a plain Place by an obscure one • and on the other Side, nothing can be fairer than when we meet with any crabbed or difficult Place in any Author, to feevhether his Meaning be not elsewhere expreiled more clearly ; and if it be, to conclude, that the intricate Place hath the fame Meaning with the plain one, although we know not how well to reconcile the Words and Phrases thereof to it. And this is the Cafe here ; for though St. Paul and St. James were different Writers, yet the Author of both their Epiflles was the fame, iz the Holy Spirit of God, by whose Inspiration they both wrote • their Writings are, consequently, both of them Parts of that one everlasting Goipel, by which God will judge the World and they do both of

them

Thirty ISlhie Articles. 309

them contain (only in different Expreflions) Article xI. the Articles of the fame Covenant between God “‘y and U5. It is reaibnable therefore in this Cafe, to observe the fame Method that we do in other the like Cafes, “viz. to put such a Senie and Interpretation on any difficult or am: iguous Paf. fage that we meet with any where herein 5 as to make it agree to, and confift with those other Paffages in the fame Book or Writing, which leem to be more plainly expreffed, and of the Meaning of which there can be iefs Dispute. 2. Another Reason why I think, if we could not easily reconcile St. Paul with St. James we ought rather to embrace the literal Senlc of St.James than that of St. Paul -, and to con- dude with him. that good Works are nccedary to our Juftificatlon and Salvation, as well as Faith is, because, as is observed by several of the Antients, this Epiftle of St. James as like- wife the First of St. Johi the Second of St. Peter and that of St, Jude was written on purpose to rectify the Mistakes that fome had fallen into through their mifunderftanding of fome of St. Paiif Writings . Now if this be fo, we may reasonably conclude. That St. J;;/5 designing this Dilcourfe of his concerning Faith and IVorks as a Commentary upon, or an Ex- plication of what St. Paul had written before upon the fame Subjed:, was very careful to avoid all that Obscurity and Ambiguity of Ex- prefiion, which had occafioned the Writings of St. Paul to be fo groOy mifunderftood, and wreiled to such ill Purposes, as St.Peter obfervcs they had been by fome ignorant and perverie Men and, consequently, that St. James uses

See Crctms on jamesii. 21.

U 3 the

^ lo Jn Expofitjon on the

Article XT. the Words Faith and JVorks in that Sense which •V is most natural and obvious, in that Sense where- in common Readers were most Hkely to under* stand them : Whereas St. Paul’s Epiftles, I mean those wherein he handles the fame Sub- je6t, being written with another Design, as I iliall Ihew hereafter, it may well be fuppofed, that he having in his writing them an Eye to his main Design, which was to (hew the Necef- fity of embracing the Christian Faith, and the Obligation that lay upon Christians from the Ceremonial Law of Moses was more careless in his other Expreflions, as not fearing that any Person inftruded in the Christian Religion, would ever fo grofly mifunderftand and pervert his Words, as to think that he intended to give Encouragement to a lewd and diifolute Life. But this nevertheleis fome did think, at least they pleaded St. Paul’s. Authority for it, 1 hat if Men did but believe aright, it was no great matter how they lived. Against thele therefore, the Apostle St. James itis himself in this Chapter ; and ihews at large, that Christianity did not confift only in a true and orthodox Faith, that a bare Belief in Christ, and the Truth of the Gospel, without bringing forth Fruits in our Life and Conversation anfwerable to ftich a Belief, would be in no-wife sufficient to justify or fave us. And that in writing this, he had an Eye to what St. Paul had written before upon the fame Subjed, is farther probable, because he makes ufe of that very Instance of . Abraham to prove the Neceility of good Works, together with Faith, which St. Paul had before brought against the Jeivs to fhew the Suf- ficiency of Faith alone without Works that is, without those Ceremonial Obfervances, which they would have preiTed upon all other Chri-

2 ftians,

Thirty-‘Nme Articles. 3 1 1^

ftiars, and which they laid more Stress upon. Article XI. and did put more Confidence in, than in the /V”Vi weightier Matters of the La\so Justice Mercy and Fidelity. This Epiftle of St, James there- fore, being written after St. Paul’s Epiftles, and o very probably, with a Design to explain them where they had been mifunderftood ; it is reasonable to take for granted, that what St. James here plainly afferts touching the Ne- ceflity of good Works, together with Faith, is the Sense of St. Patil although we could not easily bring St. ?aul\ Words to it especially if it be considered farther in the Third Place, That though this Epiftle of St. James had been never written , nay, though there had not been one plain Text in the whole Bible, exprefly ailerting the Infufficiency of mere Beliefs or of an empty fruitless Faith ; yet we could not understand those PafTages of St. Fatd wherein he fb much magnifies Vaith and decries IVorks in any other Sense than what St. James here plainly teaches, without making those Paffages in St. Faul to evacuate all the rest of the Bible, and to contradid: the whole Design of the Gospel • for there is never a Page, hardly a Verse in the whole Bible, wherein the Nature of that Covenant which God hath made with Mankind is spoken of, which doth not either in express Words, or by plain Consequence, con- tradid: and disapprove that wild Notion of being saved only by a bare Belief, tho’ we take no care to lead our Lives suitable to our Belief Now this is the Method that we observe in the Read- ing of other Books • We consider the Scope and Befign of the Whole, and judge of the Sense of particular PafTages with reference to that : And if there be any’ fmgle Paffage which we appre- hend not the Meaning of, or which at first

U 4 reading ^

3tx -^// Exposition on the

Article XI. reading seems to have another Meaning than is -""VN agreeable to the Author’s main Design, we build nothing upon such a PalTage, but wait a while to lee if the Author will not elsewhere explain himself : And if he does not, and if at last we cannot discern how that PalTage can, without somewhat draining the Words, be reconciled with others, we conclude, however, and take for granted, that the Author (if he appears to be a Person of Judgment) is confident with himself j and, consequently, that in that Pai fage, however the Words of it may found, he did not mean to thwart and contradid: all the rest of his Book. And this is the Cafe here • for the Dengn of our Saviour’s coming into the World was to make Men Holy ; all that he did and taught, and suffered, had a Tendency to effed this Design ; and his whole Gospel is in a manner made up of Precepts, Exhortations, and Encouragements to Godlinefs and Virtue, and of severe Threatnings against all manner of Sin (Kom. i. i’6.J The Wrath of God is therein revealed from Heaven, against all Ungodlinefs and Unrighteouil’iefs of Men, . who hold the -Truth in Unrighteoufnefs : These Things are plain and undeniable ; this is manifeftly the Scope and Design of the whole Bible. And, therefore, though fome few PaiTages in St. Paufs Writings should, in their most obvious Meaning, seem to imply the contrary to this 3 it would be very reaibnable, however, to believe and affert, the indifpenfable Neceflity of a Holy Life, toge- ther with an Orthodox Belief, rather than upon them alone to ground the Doctrine, which, if true, would plainly evacuate all the rest of the Bible, and perfedly thwart and contradidt the whole Design of the Gospel. And this 1 think a sure Ground for them to go upon, who have

not

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not Leisure to fludy the Point, or who after all Article XL their S|udy, are not able clearly to discern how OOTN-/ these two Apostles may be fairly reconciled in their seemingly contradidory AiTertions ; one saying that we are justified by Faith, and the other, that we are justified by Works, and not by Faith only. Which Difference neverthelels, I believe, it is not fo hard a Matter to recon- cile, as at the first Sight it may appear to be 3 the seeming Contrariety between them lying, as I fuppole, only in their using, in different Senses, the Words Jufiify^ Faith^ and fVorks, as they frequently are used in Holy Scripture.

For, i/?, As to the Word Juflify not to trouble the Eeader with the Etymology of it, which is but an uncertain W’ay of knowing the common Acceptation of a Word, nor yet with the Sense which Heathen Writers have used the Word in, from whence we cannot with Certainty colled: in what Sense the Sacred Writers do ufe it ; it may be sufficient to observe, that the most obvious and useful Signification thereof in Holy Scrip- ture, is to receive to Mercy, to ablblve and acquit from former Tranigreflions. When God justifies a Man, it is by forgiving him his TrefpafTes, and accepting, efteeming, and rewarding him as a righteous Perlbn, although he is not really and ftridly such : And thus St. Faul himself seems to expound the Word, Kom. iii. 25. Being justified freely hy his Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus who??t God hath fet forth to he a Propitiation through Faith in his Bloody to declare his KtghteoufneJ’s for the KemiJJion of Sins that are past through the For- hearanceofGod. In which Text, being justified, and having our Sins remitted, seem to be used as Terms of the fame Signification. And the

Pfalmiji

314 ^^ Exposition an the

Article XI. Pfahnift meaning to describe the Bleflednef yy’J of a justified Person, thus exprefles it, Blejfed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose Sins are covered (Plalm xxxii. i, 2.) BleJJed is the Man to whom the Lord will not impute Sin, Kom, iv. 5, 65 7, 8.) And, indeed, this is all the Justification that fmful Men, and such all Men are, are capable of; For being in Truth Sinners, they can’t by a just God be acquitted as innocent : They can therefore be justified no other way, but by having their Sins forgiven them, and by being received to Mercy ; for if God fliould enter into ftrid Judgment with us, no Man living could be justified in his Sight, as the Pfalmiftfays, FfalmcYm. 2. Tojuftify, there- fore, in the common fpirituai Notion of it, is to abfolve from Guilt, to discharge from Puniih- ment 3 and accordingly, it is frequently in Scrip- ture opposed to Condemnation : It is God that jujtificth,, says the Apostle, who is he that con- demneth ? Rom. viii. 33, 34. And in another Place, Being justified by his Bloody we Jloall he saved from Wrath through him Rom. v. 9. Now taking the Word in this Sense, there is a twofold Justification. First, when we take upon us the Profellion of the Christian Religion in Baptism 3 for then our past Sins are forgiven us, then we are received into a Covenant of Grace and Pardon. But this is not a full Juftifi- cation ; for our Sins are not then clearly pardoned and forgiven, because they may after this be still imputed to us ; and fo they will be, in cafe we afterwards do, either in ProfefHon or in Works deny that Faith which we then take upon us. Our second therefore, and our compleat and final Justification is not till the great Day of Judgment, when God will for ever acquit from the Guilt, and free from the Funifhment ’ of

Thirty’-Wi7ie Articles. 315

of all their past Sins, all those who continued Article XL faithful to that Covenant which they entered -/VN into with God at their Baptism. Suppofing therefore at present, that St. Paul and St. Jaynes do by Faith and Works both mean the fame Things 5 yet if they do not both speak of the fame Justification : If St. Vatil when he Ipeaks of Justification by Faith, means the first Jufti- fication, which is difpenled to us in Baptism ; and St. James when he affirms. That iice are justified hy IVorks and not hy Faith only means the fccond and final Justification at the Last Day 5 there is plainly no manner of Contrariety between them. For it may be true, that in order to our being admitted into the Covenant of Justification and Pardon, nothing more may be required, but only that we firmly believe and embrace the Christian Religion ; and accord- ingly we may observe, that as a previous Dilpo- fition to Baptifin, nothing elfe seems to be re- quired, but only that we should believe the Gospel, and in Profeflion renounce our former Sins, according to that of St. Philip to the Eunuch Ad:s viii. 37. If thou helievefi with all thine Hearty thou mayefi he baptized , and yet it may be true too, that our being put into a justified State by Baptism, will in the Event be no Advantage to us, but rather only increase our Condemnation, unless afterwards we continue true and faithful to that Profeflion which we then take upon us, and are careful to perform our Part of that Covenant which we then enter into with God. Now, I fay, this last seems to be what S. James affirms, and the first, all that St. Paul teaches, at least in many of those Places, where he says we are justified by Faith : For that by Justification, which St. James speaks of, when he says, IVe are jtiftified hy Works and not hy

Faith

-^16 Jn Exposition on the

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L>nr^^

the Great Day, upon which that Salvation will immediately be beftov/ed upon us, which at our Baptism was only promiied and afTured to us upon certain Conditions, is evident by his using Justification and Salvation in this Diipute, as Terms equivalent: For thus he exprelTes the Dodrine of the Text, in the 14th Verie, where he first begins to handle the Subjed , What doth it profit my Brethren if a Man [ay he hath Faith and have not IVorks ? Can Faith fave him ? It is plain, that he means the fame Thing there, by being fa-ved that he does in the Text, and other Verses of this Chapter, by being jtiftified -, and, consequently, that by Justification in this Diicourfe of his concerning Faith and Works he means that final Juftifica- tion, upon which Salvation is immediately con fequent. And on the other Side, that St. Paul in very many at lead, if not in all thole Places wherein he attributes Justification to Faith only, v;ithout Works, means, therefore, only our first Justification, that is, our being admitted into the Covenant of Grace, and being put into a justified State by Baptism, will, I fuppofe, be no less evident, if theie two Things be con- fidered. i. That in many Places he speaks of Justification as a Thing past, which he could not do if he had meant the fame Thing by Justification that St. James does : For thus writing to the Corinthians he says, i Cor. vi. II. Ye are, or ye have been justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus. And Kom. v. i. Ipeaking of himself and other Christians that were then living, and, consequently, not finally justified in St. Jam€s\ Ufe of the Word, he says, That being juftifi.ed by Faith they had Peace with God. And upon this he grounds

their

Th’trty-fhue Articles. 31;^

their Hope, that they should alio, if they con- Article XI. tinned in the Faith, h finally jujlified by God L/OTN at the Last Day, “ver. 9. For if, while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us much more then being now justified by his Bloody we Jloall he saved from IVrath throng him. 2. It may be alio further observed, that in many Places he exprelly joins Justification with Baptifin, as an Eifed: or Concomitant of it • as in 2lr. iii. 5, 7. iVb hy Works of Kighteotifnefs which we hanje done hut according to his Mercy he fa’ved us hy the IVaJloingof Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Ghost — - hat heingjuftified hy his Grace weJJoould he made Heirs according to the Hope of Eternal Life , and in i Cor. vi. 1 1. Such were fome of you , hut ye are wajhed hut ye are fan- ified hut ye are justified. They were justified, it seems, at the fame time that they were washed, that is, at their Baptism, when they openly and lolemnly renounced those wicked Works which they had formerly lived in, and took upon them the Profeilion of the Christian Faith. Now, therefore, ifthis be granted, which seems to be very probable, that S. Paul generally means this by Justification, t/z. only our being admitted into a State of Grace and Favour with God at our Baptism • in which State, if we continue, by perfevering in Faith and Obedience, we fhaJl at last be justified and acquitted finally in the great Judgment; it will be easy to understand all those Places wherein he attributes this to Faith only, in a Sense very agreeable to the Dodrine which St. James here teaches ; it will be easy then to understand what St. Paul means, Rom. iv. 5. where he says. That God juftifieth the Ungodly : Then, I fay, that PafiTage which hath been thought the ftrongeft, will appear to be no Objedion at all against St. James’s

Dodrine ;

3 1 8 All Expofitioii on the

Article XI. Do6lrine • the Meaning thereof being only this, ”“V’ That the Grace of God in Chnft Jesus is fo large, as that he does not refule them upon their Belief of the Gospel, and closing with the Terms of it : And there will then be no Dif- ficulty at all in understanding how Abraham was jufiified by Faith only according to St. Paul and how he \3.s jufiified by IVorks that is, not by Faith only, as St. James exprefly affirms he was, at the 2111 Verse of this Chapter. For the Cafe was thus : Upon his giving a full and hearty Aflent to the Truth of the Divine Promises, he was immediately received into God’s Favour and Acceptance, even before the Sincerity of his Faith had been actually tried by his Obedience : Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Kighteoufnefs Rom. iv. 3. fo that he was then in a justified State : And yet, if, after this, he had declined to leave his Country, and his Father’s House, or even to sacrifice his Son at God’s Command, he would by this Difbbedience have fallen from that State of Divine Favour, and not have been finWy jtifii fie d by God\ but then all his former, as well as his latter Sins, which had been once remitted to him with a temporary and con- ditional Remiffion, upon his first entering into the Covenant of Grace, by Taith (by Virtue of which Remiilion, he was, while he con- tinued in the Covenant, a jufiified PerfonJ would levcrthelefs have been imputed to him, and he condemned for them, if he had afterwards fwerved from his Obedience. In Ihort, there- fore, the Jollification which St. Paul generally Ipeaks of, is that whereby we are made Heirs of Salvation, as he himself explains it in the afore-cited Text, fit.m. 7. ‘if hat being justified by Grace J we fioould he made Heirs according to

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the Hope of Eternal Life : But the Juftlfication Article xl which St. James speaks of is that by which we -‘“VN are adually admitted into the PodefHon of this Inheritance. And, therefore, though in order to the first Justification nothing more be ne- cefTary, but only that we close with, and accept of those Terms of Reconciliation which God offers to us yet in order to the second Juftifica- tion, it is moreover neceffary, that we should make good that Covenant which we before enter’d into ; or t\k though we are already justified in St. PauVs Sense, that is, are now already, by our embracing and believing, and profefHng the Gospel, in such a Capacity and Likelihood of obtaining Eternal Life, as an Heir is of enjoying his Father’s Estate , we ihall never be justified in St. James’s Sense, that is, we shall never actually polTefs and enjoy the Estate; but notwithstanding our preient Heirfhip, shall at last be cast off, and difin- herited for our Disobedience. And this Obfer- vation concerning the different Senles wherein these tv/o Apostles do sometimes ufe the Word Jtifiify may, I fuppofe, be alone sufficient to reconcile them in most, if not in all those Paf fages wherein they seem to differ.

But, Secondly, The Word Faith or Belief, which they do both ufe in treating of this Sub- ject, is likewise a Word capable of, and fre- quently in Scripture used indifferent Senses; and, I believe, it may easily be made appear, that in those Places wherein St. Paul attributes fo much to Faith ^ wherein he is thought to declare. That that is the only Condition of our filial Juftlfication and Admittance into the promised Inheritance, he means quite another Thisg by Faith than St. James does, when he

says.

3XO Jn Expofitjon on the

Article XI. f^yg^ That that alone is not sufficient, even all

^ry>^

that St. James means by Faith and lorks too. I shall not trouble the Reader with all the Signi- fications in which the Word Faith or Belief, is used in Holy Scripture , but shall take Notice only of two, which I fuppofe most applicable to the Cafe in hand. i. The first Sense of it “which I (hall take notice of, is, that which in- deed is the most obvious and proper Meaning of the Word , that is, when by Faith is meant. An Ajfent of the MM to the ruth of fome revealed Proposition. And in this St. fames uses the Word, when he speaks of that Faith which is without IVorks and which he says is not fuf- ficient to justify or fave us , for he here plainly means nothing more than only a Belief of those Truths which are revealed in the Goipel. And the Cafe that he puts is this, That a Man be- lieves there is a God, and that those Things which he has revealed are true , and that all his Promises and Threatnings shall be made good, but nevertheless takes no Care to live well : And in this Cafe he says. That fjch a Faith as this, is an empty dead Faithj and that it will be of no Advantage to us any more than it is to the Devils, who believe all these Truths as firmly as we can do, but without any Benefit to themselves, because the Promises not being made to them, they arc not thereby incited to the doing of Good. But the Promises are made to us, and, therefore, it can hardly be conceived, it is scarcely to be fuppofed, that any Man that firmly believes the Truths of the Gospel, and considers his own Intcreft therein, should nevertheless allow himself in a wicked Life. Faith is naturally such an adive, lively, and working Principle that it can hardly fail to Ihew itself by its Effeds. 2. And for this

Reason,

IJjtrty-‘Nine Articles. 3 1 1

Realbn, Secondly, The Word Faith ^ which Article XI.

[…]

Principle, is__oftentimes in Scripture put to iig-^

nify both the Cause and the EfFed too, that is,

both a Belief of the Gospel-Truths, and also ^

Life led anfwerably to fuch a Belief And in

this large and comprehensive Sense, ‘tis clearly

evident, St. Pml does ufe the Word in divers

Places, and eipecially in thofe Epiftles where he

treats of Jtifttfication by Faith^ as may appear

from the Words and Phrases which he makes

[…]

what he sometimes calls Faith ^ he at other

times, in those fame Epiftles, calls the Law of

Faith y and the Oh edi eric e of Faith (Rom. iii. 27.

chap. 1.5, 16, 28.) And in Ro;?^. X. 16. he most

clearly explains his own Meaning to be, to

include and comprehend Obedience in the Word

Faithy when he attributes {o much to Faith^

— But they have hot all obeyed the Gospel^ for

Efaias faith ^ Who hath believed our Report ? In

which Words, the fame Thing is plainly meant

by obeying the Gospel^ and believing the Report

of the Preachers of it : From whence it clearly

appears. That the Faith or Belief which he {6

much magnifies in that Epiftle, is not an idle,

ineffedual Belief, but fuch a Faith as makes

Men to be obedient. Forafmuch, therefore, as

the Faith which St. Faitl speaks of, when he

lays we are justified by Faith, includes in it all

St. James means by Faith and Works too ; it

is plain, that though we fuppoie that they do.

both ufe the Word Jtiftify always in the lame

Sense ; there is not, however, any Contrariety

in their Doctrines, although one fays that ”Joe

are justified by Faith^ and the other, that we are.

justified by Uorks j and fwt by Faith only.

5t 3uT

312, An Exposition on tie

Article XT. B u T, Thirdly, There is alio an Ambiguity ”yy* in the Word Works ; and it is not improbable (nay, 1 fuppofe, I fhalJ make it very plain) that these two Apostles, St. Paul and St. James in their several Difcourfes upon the Subject of ‘J unification do likewise ue this Word in very different Senses j and that St, Vaul when he excludes Works does not mean the fame by Works that St. James does, when he affirms that we are justified by Works and not by Faith only* And if St, James by Works when he affirms them to be neceffary together with Faith, means those Works of Piety, Ju- slice, and Charity, and other Moral Duties which are required in the Goipel, as to any one that reads the former Part of the Chapter, it will be evident that he does , and on the other Side, if St. Patil when he excludes Works, means by Works only, either those materially good Works, which Men might do without the Grace of the Gospel, or the Merit of good Works, or elfe those ritual Obfervances which were required by the Ceremonial Law of Moses : Then, tho their Words and Expreflions be different, yet their Sense may be the very fame. Now con- cerning this Place in St. James I think there can be no Diipute , he plainly takes both Faith and Works in the moil proper and usual Ac- ceptation of the Words : By Faith, when he affirms that Faith alone is not sufficient, he plainly means a mere Belief of the Truths of the Gospel ; and by Works, when he affirms that they are neceffary together with Faith, he plainly means such a Sort of Life and Converfa- tion, as the Belief of the Gospel-Truths h naturally apt to produce, a Converfation he- coming the Gospel of Christ : And both these he

■ affirms

Thirty-Nine Articles. 5 2 5

affirms to be neceflary, in order to our final Article XI- Justification at the laftDay. And on the other \yru fide, St. Paul if at any time he speaks of the fame Justification that St. James does, means by Faith, when he says we are juftificd by that only, all that St. James means by Faith and Works too, ( as hath been fhewn already) and by Works, when he says we are justified by Works, he means only, either the Merit of good Works, or such Works as might be done by unregenerate Men, without the Grace of the Gospel, or elfe the ritual Obfervances of the Mofalcal Law : And that he uses the Words in thefc Senses, and does not mean to exclude from being a Condition of our final Justification, that hearty Obedience to the Precepts of the Gospel, which a firm Belief of the Truths of it is naturally apt to produce, will farther appear if these two Things be confiderM : i. The Occasion and Design of those Difcourfes of St. Paul wherein Faith is fo much magnified, and Works are fet fo light by. And, 2. The several Cautions which are here and there inter- mixed in those Difcourfes, as it were on purpoie to prevent our mistaking his Meaning, and thinking that we may be saved by Faith alone, without a good Life,

I. We may consider the Occasion and Design of those Difcourfes of St. Paul^ wherein Faith is fo much magnified, and Works are fet {o light by ; and which consequently do seem most to contradid the Doclrine here taught by St. James. Kndl premise this first of all, that none of St. P^///‘s Epiftles seem to have been written as if they were intended to comprehend the whole Christian Religion • they rather fup- pose Christianity already planted in theft Places

X 2 to

wnrv^

5^4 An Exposition on the

T- to which his Epiftles are diredled. It was not, * consequently, his Intention in every Epiftle that he wrote, to teach all the Principles of the Bo- 6lTine of Chriji and to lay again the Fomidation of Repeutance from dead IVorks and of Faith to- wards God Heb. vi. i. for all this had been done jbefore , thoie fame Apostles, by whose Mini- ftry they had been converted and baptized, having also then (according to the CommiiTion given them by Christ) taught the?n to ohferve all ‘Things whatfoeuer our Lord had commanded. As such therefore the Apostle consider’d the Persons to whom he wrote, viz. as true Dii ciples of Christ, as Persons that had before been taught to believe and obey the Gofpcl, and fo had no fear upon him, that by his using the Words Faith or Works in an uncommon Sense (and yet in such a Sense as the Controversy he was handling led him to ufe them in) they to whom he wfote, would ever be in Danger of embracing an Opinion fo contrary to the firfi Principles of the Christian Religion, as it plainly was, to think that they might be saved only by believing, without obeying the Gospel. The main Design then, I fay, of most of St. Paul’s Epiftles, I mean of the controversial Parts of them, seems to be to furnifti the Christians to whom he wrot, with Answers to those Obj- dions, which the Enemies to Christianity, among whom they lived, did make against it. And most of the Churches to which these Epi- ftles were directed, were made up chiefly of Gentile Converts with whom, nevertheless, there were ibme Jezvijh Converts also intermix’d ; but the far grea’test Part of the Inhabitants of those Places were profeffed yeiius or Gentiles who tho’ both zealoiis, each for their own way and againfl: each other3 yt readily join’d their ’””-’ Forces

[…]

Forces together, as against a common Enemyj Article xl to hinder the Growth and Spreading of Chri- —’”” ftianity ; fo that St. Paul had three lorts of Ad- verfaries to deal with, qjiz. the Gentiles the yws, and the J udaizmg Christians, /ThQ Gentiles who had been long bred up un- der the Institution of their Philosophers, and by their good and whollbme Precepts of Morality, were in a good Readiiiefs and Diipo- fition to embrace the Golpel, which, in ge° neral, commanded little more than they were taught before by their own Philosophers, only requiring a ftrider and more perfed Observance of those Rules, adding new Motives and En- couragements to it, from the plain Revelation of a future State of Rewards and Punishments, of which, before the Coming of Christ, Men had but an obscure Notion, and very (lender Aflurance. The main Objedion therefore which these had to make a2:ainft St. PauL was, that he took (as they thought) a great deal of Pains to little purpose, in going about to efta- blifh a new Belief, and a new Profeflion of Re- ligion among them, feeing, that, as to Pradice, they had been taught all the fame Things ia Subflance by their own Philosophers , fo that, consequently, they thought he might have f)ared his Labour. They were of the Mind of our modern Deifts, that natural Religion was fo good and perfed, that it needed no Revela- tion to improve it. Against these therefore, the Apostle proves the NecefTity of the Christian Difpenfation, and of Faith in Christ because, tho’ Men had been taught well before, they had never pradifed as they had been taught j that by realbn of the Weakness of human Nature, they had never lived up to what they knew was their Duty , that therefore no Man was or X 3 could

326 All Expofitlon on the

Article XT could be juftificd ill GodVSight, by the Law of ’^’^ ’ Nature, or the first Covenant made with Man- kind, which required ftrid: and unfinning Obe- dience j that consequently it was neceflary to believe in Christ, and to enter into that more gracious Covenant, which he by his Bk)od had made between God and us, whereby he had en- couraged good Works with better Promises, and ofFer’d to afford us divine Strength and Succour to aflift our Endeavours, by which Covenant of Grace in Christ (tho’ indeed we were still obliged to the lame Duties which the Law of Nature had laid upon us) we might be juflified, which, by the other, we could not be ; because that requir’d ilricft and unfinning Obedience, whereas this made Allowance for the Weakness of human Nature, and left Room for Repen- tance, if at any time, through CarelefTnefs or Surprize, we fliould come short of our Duty. And to ihew the Advantage of this Covenant made by Christ, and the Impoilibility of being justified any other way, than by having our Sins remitted to us through Faith in his Blood, seems to have been mainly design’d by the Apostle in the former Part of hisEpiftle to the Romans. Now the first Covenant made with Mankind, being indeed a Covenant of Works without Grace, therefore, in opposition to, and to diftinguilh this from that, he, with good Reason, calls this sometimes Grace, and fome- times the Law of Faith, sometimes the Preach- ing of Faith, and sometimes barely Faich, -which, he says, is the only Way by which it is pofiible for us to be justified ; because our Na- ture is To corrupt and degenerate, that we can- not perform perfedl and unfinning Obedience.

But,

TJjhiy-Mne Articles. 327^

But, II. The Jews were also as conceited Article xl of themselves as the Gentiles and as unwilling L/VN to accept of the Covenant made by Christ, be- cause they trusted to be saved by the Obferva- tionofthe Law of Moses , and therefore the Apostle, likewise against these, endeavours to fhew, that they were Sinners as well as the Gentiles and flood in as much need of a Saviour as they : And this he does in the four or five first Chapters of his Epiftle to the Romans ; in fome Paffages of which ( especially In the first and second Chapters) he seems to have a pecu- liar Respect to the Gentiles and in other Places to the Jews more especially, and in fbme to both of them : And the Sum of this Argument is this. That fmce all, both Je’ws and Gentiles had fmned, and come short of the Glory of God, it was therefore neceifary that a Redeemer should come, to make Attonement for their past Sins, and to eftablifh a new Covenant betweeni God and Men, which he calls Faith or the Law of Faith, to diftinguifh it from the Law of Moses which was truly a Law of Works; and by this Covenant of Grace or Faith in Chrlft, which was open and free for all to enter into, hox.\Jews2ind (?;2?/7j, he says, might be juftifiedj which they could not either of them be by the Law of Works nor the Jews any more than the Gentiles by the Ceremonial Law of Moses that being never design’d by God as a Condition of Justification, as having only temporal Re- wards and Puniihments annex’d to it. Seeing therefore the Jews as well as the Gentiles had broken the first Law given to Mankind, which required unfmning Obedience, he says, bere was no Means of Justification now left for either of them but by Faith in Cbrift that is, by X 4 coming:

528 u4n Exposition on the

^i^TjcLE^xi. coming into that new Covenant which Chrlfi: had eftablifh’d by his Death, and ofFer’d to us in the Gospel.

But, III. Besides these two, the Apostle had alio a third Sort of Adverfarics to deal with, which did cost him as much Trouble as either of the former; and they werefome who being born and bred Jews had been converted to Christianity by the Preaching of the Apostles, but, neverthelels, flill retain’d such a great Liking and Veneration for Moses and his Law, that they thought they were yet bound to ob- ierve it as much as ever and not only fo, but they would fain have forced the fame upon the Gentiles too, telling them, that notwithllanding Christ, they were bound to be circumcifed as the Jews were, and to keep the Law of Moses and that otherwiie they could not be saved. Against these, therefore, the Apostle proves at large, especially in his Epiftle to the Galatians that the Law given by Moses was never design’d to oblige the Gentiles nor the Jews neither, any longer than till the Coming of Christ that the Law was, to the Jews themselves, only a Schoolmaster to bring them unto Christ, that is to prepare and difpofe them to receive his more pure and heavenly Do6lrine ; that there- fore now, after the Revelation and Preaching of the Gospel, That Law was of no farther Ufe ; ylnd after that Faith is come says he, that is after the Gospel is preached ‘we are no longer under a School-master Gal. iii. 25. That the ceremonial Law was made up only of Types and Shadows whereof Christ was the Substance ; and that therefore the Substance being now come, they were to cease ; that the cere- monial Law was given only to exercise the t Je-wiJJj

Thirty-Nine Articks. 529

JewlJIj Nation for Ibmc time, and was then to Article xi. give way to a better Law, the Law of Faith or /VX- evangelical Obedience ; that Ahraham himself was justified by the fame Means and Method which is now propounded in the Gospel, Iz, by a lively Faith in the Promises of God, working in him a ready Obedience to what- Ibever God required of him, and that he was thus justified before he was circumcifed, and therefore fo might they be too, without Circum- cifion, and such other ritual Cbfervances. In the Management of which Dispute with these Judaizing Christians the Apostle calls the Chri- ftian Religion, as opposed to the Jewish by the Word Faith to diftinguifh it from the Ob- fervation of Moses’s Law, which was called IVorkSj or the Works of the Law : And using the Word in this Sense, he says, IVe are justified hy Faiths and hy Faith only that is, by the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel 3 and that there is no need at all of Works, that is, of such Works as were enjoin’d by the ceremonial Law, which they laid such great Stress upon ; for thus he often explains himself, exprefly call- ing those Works which he rejects, i’he Works of the LaWy thereby plainly diftingu’fhing them from evangelical Obedience, and clearly inti- mating that it was not his Intention to exclude these, tho’ he did those. Thus the Apostle managed the Controversy he was engaged in with these three Sorts of Adverfarics , and that his main Design was to oppose one or other of them, in all those Places wherein those Pallages are found, which fb much magnify Faith and vilify Works, (which are elpecially the Epiftles to the Romans and Galatians’) will, I fuppofe, readily appear to any one that (hall attentively read them over ; and I think it will be impoflible

to

K./^y\j

330 Jn Exposition on the

Article Xl. to fhcw how those Places do at all tend to the carrying on thele Designs, if we take the Words Faith and Works in any other Sense than I have before said St. ?aul does ufe them in. But, secondly That the Apostle St. PattI did not intend to exclude such good Works as St. fames here requires Qviz. Obedience to the Precepts of the Gospel) from being neceilary to final Justification at the great Day, will yet further and more plainly appear, if in reading over those Epiftles, we do but observe the several Cautions that are here and there intermixed, as it were to prevent our putting such an Inter- pretation upon his Words. And, first, in his Epiftle to the Romans chap. ii. 6. he tells us plainly, That Gdd mil render to every Man according to his IVorks rthulation and Angitifb tipon every Soul of Man that doth Evil and Glory Honour and Feace to every Man that worketh Good , which Palfage would be very oddly put into a Difcourfe, wherein he was proving the Sufficiency of Faith alone for Jufti- fication, if thereby he had meant such a Faith as might be without good Works : But in the i$thVerfe of that Chapter, he contradifts that Opinion most exprefly j Not the Hearers of the Law says he, fJjall he just before God hut the Boers of the Law floall he justified. It seems then, that St. Paul’s Justification by Faith only was not a Justification without Works , the Faith that he there speaks of must needs there- fore be such a Faith as includes Works in it, he Doers of the Law Jhall he justified. And fo again, chap. iii. 21. after he had said, that both Circumcision and Uncirciimcifion must be justified by Faith, and that they could not be justified any other Way ; that they might not take Faith in such a narrow Senih as to exclude

good

Thirty-Nhie Articles. 331

good Works, he adds. Do ijce then make n)oid Article XT. tbe Lazv through Faith i* God forbid-, yea we -/VN eftahltfJj the Law. And to the fame Purpose again, chap. vi. i. IV hat Jhall we fay then ? Shall we continue in Sin that Grace may ahotmd ? God forbid. How jhall we that are dead to Sin live any longer therein ? And again, ‘ver. 15. What then ? shall we fin because we are not under the Law but under Grace ? God forbid. And, Idftly (to name no more) in the eighth Chapter of that Epiftle, n:er. i. when he was come to the Conclusion of this Controversy, having ihewn at large the Infufficiency of all otherWays, and the absolute Neceility of accept- ing the Gospel Truths in order to Justification, he goes on to (hew the Blelfednefs of those who behev’d in Christ in these Words , There is therefore now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus ; but then, left they should mistake him, and think that a bare Belief in Christ, or the Profsffion of his Religion only, was enough to entitle them to this Bleftednels, he adds, IVho walk not after the FleJJj but after the Spirit. The like Care he hath also taken in his Epiftle to the Galatians where he handles this Controversy again, with a special Regard to the JewifJj Law ; where we may observe, that to prevent all Alifunderftandingof what he had delivered touching the SufFicieticy of Faith without Works, he takes frequent Occasion to declare his Meaning to be, only to exclude the Works of the Law, not the Obedience of the Golpel. Particularly in the two last” Chapters, he is very large in explaining what kind of Li- berty he had been pleading for ; Stand fast therefore says he, in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and he not entangled again with the Take of Bondage Gal. v. i . and

what

3 ; 1 An Expofitioli on tie

Articlexi. what Bondage he meant, appears in the next Verse, Behold I Paul fay unto you hat if you he ctrcumcifed Chri(l JJjall profit you nothing j that is, if you still trull to be saved by your JeiviJJj Obfervances, you difclaim and renounce the Covenant which Christ hath made for you, and fo can we expe6t no Benefit from it • IV ho- foe-vef of you says he, are justified that is, hope to be juftificd, hy the Laijc ye are fallen from Grace : For ive, through the Spirit wait for the Hope of Kighteoufnefs hy Faith ; , We, that is, we Christians, no lels than you Jews do “jjait for the Hope of Kighteoufnefs that is, for a Re- ward of our Righteoulhcfs : But then it is not such a Righteoufnefs as yours, a Righteoufnefs confiding in the Observation of Rites and Ce- remonies, but through the Spirit, that is, by a spiritual Righteoufnefs ; and ‘tis by Faith, that is, by our Belief of the Gospel of Chrifl j for, says he, njer. 6. In Christ Jesus neither Circura- cffion availeth any things or Uncircumcifion hut Faith ; not any Faith, but Faith ivhich ‘•joork- eth hy Lonje or Faith ivhich is made perfe6i hy Lo’ve 3 which Words he repeats again, chap. vi. 15. only instead of Faith putting in another Word not fo ambiguous - /;; Christ Jesus neither Cir- cmncifion availeth any things nor Uncircnmcifion hut a nc-‘ju Creature : And the fame Apoflle, in another parallel Place, in another of his Epiftles, puts it out of all doubt what he means in the first of these Places by Faith, when he expreffes the fame by Obedience, Circumcifwn is nothings and Uncircumcifion is nothings hut the keeping the Commandments of God., 1 Cor. vii. 19. And now by all that hath been said, I fuppofe it fuffi- clently appears, that by Faith, St. Paul means something more than only a bare Belief of the Gospel Truths, when he makes it the folc

Condition

Thjrty-‘Nme Articles. 355

Condition of Justification ; and that by Works, Article xi he does not mean Works of evangelical Obe- /’“‘V” ’ dience, when he excludes them from being necelfary in order to it : So that St. Pml does not, any more than St. James exclude such good Works as are natural Eifedls of a true, and lively, and christian Faith, from being necefTary together with Faith in order to our full and final Justification at the last Day. And from all that hath been said, 1 think it ap pears, that St. Paul and St. James agree very well together , which was the Point that I pro- posed to make good. St. James indeed, lays here, that Faith alone, or a bare Belief of the Gospel, will not do without Works anfwerablc to our Belief ; Te fee how that by IVorks a Man is justified and 7iot by Faith only, St. Faul on the other fide, says, that we are justified by ‘Faith ; but tho’ this manner of Expreffion be different from, and in the Letter seemingly con- tradiAory to St. James’s Meaning, yet the Sense of it is plainly the fame. He affirms, indeed, that we are jtiftified by Faith , but then, as I have fhewn, he means the lame Thing by Faith that St. James doth by Fozith and Works too ’- He means such a Faith as Abrahams was ( for that is his Example as well as St. James’s) , he means such a Faith, as, however it is tried, approves it self by a ready Obedience, as Abra- ham’s did ; and the Works which he rcjeds as yfeleis and unnecedary, or as not sufficient, are not such as Abraham’s were. Fruits of a lively Faith, but either meer ritual Obiervances, or dfe such Works as, tho’ materially good, are not done out of a good and virtuous Principle. In a word, he opposes Faith, his jullifying, fa- ving Faith, not to evangelical Obedience, but pither to unfmnlng Obedience, by which none

can

Article XL

An Exposition on the

can be justified, because all are Sinners ; or to an Opinion of Merit, which there can never be any Ground for ; or, lastly, to the Rites and Ceremonies of Moses’s Law, which he fhews us was not then obliging, and (o could not be the Condition of Juilification ^.

[…]

Ar T I CL B

Thirty- Kme Articles.

Notes

• Aiher. Hat. lib. 4. cap. 13.
• Teflim. ad ^lirhi. lib. 3. cap. 42,