Chapter 17: Testimonies from the Evangelists Considered

THe reasons why the doctrine of justification, by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, is more fully and clearly delivered in the following Writings of the New testament, than it is in those of the evangelists who wrote the History of the life and death of Christ, have been before declared. But yet in them also it is sufficiently attested, as unto the state of the church before the death and resurrection of Christ, which is represented in them. Some few of the many testimonies which may be pleaded out of their Writings unto that purpose, I shall consider.

1. The principal design of our Blessed Saviours sermon, especially that part of it which is Recorded Matthew 5. is to declare the true nature of righteousness before God. The Scribes and Pharisees, from a Bondage unto whose doctrines he designed to vindicate the Consciences of those that heard him, placed all our righteousness before God in the works of the law, or Mens own obedience thereunto. This they taught the people, and hereon they justified themselves, as he chargs them. Luke 16:15. Ye are they which justify your selves before men; but God knows your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed amongst men, is abomination in the sight of God: As in this sermon he makes it evident. And all those who were under their conduct, did seek to establish their own righteousness, as it were by the works of the law, Romans 9:33. Chap. 10:3. But yet were they convinced in their own Consciences, that they could not attain unto the law of righteousness; or unto that perfection of obedience which the law did require. Yet would they not forego their proud, fond imagination of justification by their own righteousness, but, as the manner of all Men is in the same case, sought out other inventions to relieve them against their convictions. For unto this end, they corrupted the whole law by their false glosses and interpretations to bring down, and debase the sense of it, unto what they boasted in themselves to perform. So does he in whom our savior gives an instance of the principle and practice of the whole Society, by way of a Parable. Luke. 18:10, 11, 12. And so the young Man affirmed, That he had kept the whole law from his youth, namely in their sense. Matthew 19:20.

To root out this pernicious Error out of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ in many instances, gives the true, spiritual sense and intention of the law, manifesting what the righteousness is, which the law requires, and on what terms a Man may be justified thereby. And among sundry others to the same purpose, two things he evidently declares. (1.) That the law in its precepts and prohibitions had regard unto the regulation of the heart, with all its first motions and actings. For he asserts, that the inmost thoughts of the heart, and the first motions of concupiscence therein, though not consented unto, much less actually accomplished in the outward deeds of sin, and all the occasions leading unto them, are directly forbidden in the law. This he does in his holy Exposition of the Seventh commandment, Ver. 27, 28, 29, 30. (2.) He declares the penalty of the law, on the least sin, to be hell fire, in his assertion of causless anger to be forbidden in the Sixth commandment. If Men would but try themselves by these rules and others, there given by our savior, it would, it may be, take them off from boasting in their own righteousness and justification thereby. But as it was then, so is it now also; the most of them who would maintain a justification by works, do attempt to corrupt the sense of the law, and accommodate it unto their own practice. The reader may see an eminent demonstration hereof, in a late excellent treatise, whose title is, The Practical Divinity of the papists discovered to be destructive of Christianity and Mens souls. The spirituality of the law, with the severity of its Sanction, extending it self unto the least, and most imperceptible motions of sin in the heart, are not believed, or not aright considered by them who plead for justification by works in any sense. Wherefore the principal design of the sermon of our savior is, as to declare what is the nature of that obedience which God requirs by the law, so to prepare the minds of his Disciples to seek after another righteousness, which in the cause and means of it, was not yet plainly to be declared, although many of them being prepared by the Ministery of John, did hunger and thirst after it.

But he sufficiently intimates wherein it did consist, in that he affirms of himself, That he came to fulfil the law, Ver. 17. What he came for, that he was sent for; for as he was sent, and not for himself, He was born to us, given unto us. This was to fulfil the law, that so the righteousness of it might he fulfilled in us. And if we our selves cannot fulfil the law in the proper sense of its commands, which yet is not to be abolished but established, as our savior declares; if we cannot avoid the curse and Penalty of it upon its transgression: And if he came to fulfil it for us, all which are declared by himself, then is his righteousness, even which he wrought for us in fulfilling the law, the righteousness wherewith we are justified before God. And whereas here is a twofold righteousness proposed unto us, one in the fulfilling of the law by Christ; the other in our own perfect obedience unto the law, as the sense of it is by him declared, and other middle righteousness between them there is none; it is left unto the Consciences of convinced, sinners, whether of these they will adhere and trust unto. And their direction herein, is the principal design we ought to have in the declaration of this doctrine.

I shall pass by all those places wherein the foundations of this doctrine are surely laid, because it is not expressly mentioned in them. But such they are as in their proper Interpretation do necessarily infer it. Of this kind are they all, wherein the Lord Christ is said to die for us, or in our stead, to lay down his life a ransom for us, or in our stead, and the like; but I shall pass them by, because I will not digress at all from the present argument.

But the Representation made by our savior himself, of the way and means whereon and whereby Men come to be justified before God, in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, is a guide unto all Men who have the same design with them. Luke. 18:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. And he spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves, that they were righteous and despised others: Two Men went up unto the Temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself; God I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the Publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his Brest, saying, God be merciful unto me a sinner. I tell you, that this Man went down unto his house justified, rather then the other: For every one that exalts himself, shall be abased; and every one that humbls himself, shall be exalted.

That the design of our savior herein, was to represent the way of our justification before God, is evident. (1.) From the description given of the persons whom he reflected on. V. 9. They were such as trusted in themselves, that they were righteous; or, That they had a Personal righteousness of their own before God. (2.) From the general rule wherewith he confirms the judgment he had given concerning the persons described, Every one that exalts himself shall be abased. Ver. 14. And he that abass himself, shall be exalted. As this is applied unto the Pharisee, and the prayer that is ascribed unto him, it declares plainly, That every plea of our own works, as unto our justification before God, under any consideration, is a self exaltation which God despiss; and as applied unto the Publican, that a sense of sin is the only preparation on our part for acceptance with him on believing.

Wherefore both the persons are represented, As seeking to be justified, for so our savior expresss the issue of their address unto God for that purpose; the one was justified, the other was not.

The Plea of the Pharisee unto this end consists of two parts. (1.) That he had fulfilled the condition whereon he might be justified. He makes no mention of any merit, either of congruity, or condignity. Only whereas there were two parts of Gods covenant then with the church, the one with respect unto the Moral, the other with respect unto the Ceremonial law, he pleads the observation of the condition of it in both parts, which he shews in instances of both kinds, only he adds, the way that he took to further him in this obedience, somewhat beyond what was injoyned, namely, That he fasted twice in the week. For when Men begin to seek for righteousness, and justification by works, they quickly think their best reserve lies in doing something extraordinary more then other Men, and more indeed then is required of them. This brought forth all the Pharisaical Austerities in the Papacy. Nor can it be said, That all this signified nothing, because he was an Hypocrite and a Boaster; for it will be replied, That it should seem all are so who seek for justification by works: For our savior only represents one that does so; neither are these things laid in Bar against his justification, but only that he exalted himself in trusting unto his own righteousness. (2.) In an ascription of all that he did unto God. God, I thank you: Although he did all this, yet he owned the aid and assistance of God by his grace in it all. He esteemed himself much to differ from other Men, but ascribed it not unto himself, that so he did. All the righteousness and holiness which he laid claim unto, he ascribed unto the benignity and goodness of God. Wherefore he neither pleaded any merit in his works, nor any works performed in his own strength, without the aid of grace. All that he pretends is, That by the grace of God he had fulfilled the condition of the covenant, and thereon expected to be justified. And what ever words Men shall be pleased to make use of in their Vocal Prayers, God interprets their minds, according to what they trust in, as unto their Justication before him. And if some Men will be true unto their own principles, this is the prayer which, Mutatis mutandis, they ought to make.

If it be said, that it is charged on this Pharisee, that he trusted in himself, and despised others, for which he was rejected. I answer, (1.) This charge respects not the mind of the person, but the genius and tendency of the opinion. The Perswasion of justification by works, includes in it a contempt of other means. For if Abraham had been justified by works, he should have had whereof to glory. (2.) Those whom he despised, were such as placed their whole trust in grace and mercy; as this Publican. It were to be wished, that all others of the same mind did not so also.

The issue is with this person, That he was not justified; neither shall any one ever be so on the account of his own Personal righteousness. For our savior has told us, That when we have done all, that is, when we have the testimony of our Consciences unto the integrity of our obedience, instead of pleading it unto our justification, we should say, that is, really judge and profess, that we are , unprofitable servants, Luke. 17:10. As the apostle speaks, I know nothing by my self, yet am I not thereby justified, 1 Corinthians 4:4. And he that is , and has nothing to trust unto but his service, will be cast out of the presence of God, Matthew 25:30. Wherefore on the best of our obedience to confess our selves , is to confess, that after all in our selves, we deserve to be cast out of the presence of God.

In opposition hereunto, the state and prayer of the Publican, under the same design of seeking justification before God, are expressed. And the outward acts of his person are mentioned, as representing, and expressive of the inward frame of his mind. He stood afar off; he did not so much as lift up his eyes; he smote upon his brest. All of them represent a person desponding, yea, despairing in himself. This is the nature, this is the effect of that conviction of sin, which we before asserted to be antecedently necessary unto justification. Displicency, sorrow, sense of danger, fear of wrath, all are present with him. In brief he declares himself guilty before God, and his mouth stopped, as unto any apology or excuse. And his prayer is a sincere application of his soul, unto sovereign grace and mercy, for a deliverance out of the condition, wherein he was by reason of the guilt of sin. And in the use of the word , there is respect had unto a propitiation. In the whole of his address there is contained. (1.) Self-condemnation and abhorrency. (2.) Displicency and sorrow for sin. (3.) An universal Renuntiation of all works of his own, as any conditions of his justification. (4.) An acknowledgment of his sin, guilt, and misery. And this is all that on our part is required unto justification before God, excepting that faith whereby we apply our selves unto him for deliverance.

Some make a weak attempt from hence, to prove that justification consists wholly in the remission of sin, because on the prayer of the Publican, for mercy and pardon, he is said to be justified; but there is no force in this argument. For (1.) The whole nature of justification is not here declared, but only what is required on our part thereunto. The respect of it unto the mediation of Christ, was not yet expressly to be brought to light, as was shewed before. (2.) Although the Publican makes his address unto God, under a deep sense of the guilt of sin, yet he prays not for the bare pardon of sin, but for all that sovereign mercy or grace, God provided for sinners. (3.) The term of justification must have the same sense, when applied unto the Pharisee, as when applied unto the Publican: And if the meaning of it, with respect unto the Publican, be, That he was pardoned, then has it the same sense, with respect unto the Pharisee, he was not pardoned; but he came on no such errand: He came to be justified, not pardoned; nor does he make the least mention of his sin, or any sense of it. Wherefore although the pardon of sin be included in justification, yet to justify, in this place has respect unto a righteousness, whereon a Man is declared just and righteous, wrapt up on the part of the Publican in the sovereign producing cause, The mercy of God.

Some few testimonies may be added out of the other evangelists, in whom they abound. As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, John 1:12. faith is expressed by the receiving of Christ. For to receive him, and to believe on his name, are the same. It receives him as set forth of God to be a propitiation for sin, as the great ordinance of God, for the Recovery and salvation of lost sinners. Wherefore this notion of faith includes in it, (1.) A supposition of the proposal and tender of Christ unto us, for some end and purpose. (2.) That this proposal is made unto us in the promise of the gospel. Hence as we are said to receive Christ, we are said to receive the promise also. (3.) The end for which the Lord Christ is so proposed unto us, in the promise of the gospel; and this is the same with that for which he was so proposed in the first promise, namely, The recovery and salvation of lost sinners. (4) That in the tender of his person, there is a tender made of all the Fruits of his mediation, as containing the way and means of our deliverance from sin, and acceptance with God. (5.) There is nothing required on our part unto an interest in the end proposed, but receiving of him, or believing on his name. (6.) Hereby are we intitled unto the Heavenly inheritance, we have power to become the Sons of God, wherein our adoption is asserted, and justification included. What this receiving of Christ is, and wherein it does consist, has been declared before, in the consideration of that faith whereby we are justified. That which hence we argue is, That there is no more required unto the obtaining of a right and title unto the Heavenly Inheritance, but faith alone in the name of Christ, the receiving of Christ as the ordinance of God, for justification and salvation. This gives us, I say, our original right thereunto, and therein our acceptance with God, which is our justification, though more be required unto the actual acquisition and possession of it. It is said indeed, that other Graces and works are not excluded, though faith alone be expressed. But every thing which is not a receiving of Christ, is excluded. It is, I say, virtually excluded, because it is not of the nature of that which is required. When we speak of that whereby we see, we exclude no other member from being a part of the body; but we exclude all but the eye from the act of seeing. And if faith be required, as it is a receiving of Christ, every grace and duty which is not so, is excluded as unto the end of justification.

Chap. 3:14, 15, 16, 17, 18. And as Moses lifted up the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believs on him, should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believs on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved. He that believs on him, is not condemned; but he that believs not, is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

I shall observe only a few things from these words, which in themselves convey a better light of understanding in this Mystery unto the minds of believers, then many long discourses of some Learned Men. (1.) It is of the justification of Men, and their right to eternal life thereon, that our savior discourss. This is plain in Ver. 18. He that believs is not condemned, but he that believs not, is condemned already. (2.) The means of attaining this condition or state on our part, is believing only, as it is three times positively asserted, without any addition. (3.) The nature of this faith is declared, (1) By its object, that is, Christ himself the Son of God; whosoever believs on him, which is frequently repeated. (2) The especial consideration, wherein he is the object of faith unto the justification of life; and that is as he is the ordinance of God, given, sent, and proposed from the love and grace of the father. God so loved the world, that he gave; God sent his Son. (3) The especial act yet included in the type, whereby the design of God, in him, is illustrated. For this was the looking unto the Brazen Serpent lifted up in the Wilderness, by them who were stung with Fiery Serpents. Hereunto our faith in Christ unto justification, does answer, and includes a trust in him alone for deliverance and relief. This is the way, these are the only causes and means of the justification of condemned sinners, and are the substance of all that we plead for.

It will be said that all this proves not the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto us, which is the thing principally inquired after: But if nothing be required on our part unto justification, but faith acted on Christ, as the ordinance of God for our recovery, and salvation, it is the whole of what we plead for. A justification by the remission of sins alone without a righteousness giving acceptance with God, and a right unto the Heavenly Inheritance, is alien unto the scripture, and the common notion of justification amongst Men. And what this righteousness must be, upon a supposition, that faith only, on our part, is required unto a participation of it, is sufficiently declared in the words wherein Christ himself is so often asserted, as the object of our faith unto that purpose.

Not to add more particular testimonies, which are multiplied unto the same purpose, in this evangelist, the sum of the doctrine declared by him, is, That the Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world, that is, by the sacrifice of himself, wherein he answered and fulfilled all the typical sacrifices of the law: That unto this end he sanctified himself, that those, who believe, might be sanctified, or perfected for ever by his own offering of himself: That in the gospel he is proposed, as lifted up and crucified for us is bearing all our sins on his body on the Tree: That by faith [〈◊〉] him, we have adoption, justification, freedom from judgment and condemnation, with a right and title unto Eternal life: That those who believe not, are condemned already, because they believe not on the Son of God; and as he elswhere expresss it, make God a lier, in that they believe not his testimony, namely, That he has given unto us Eternal life; and that this life is in his Son. Nor does he any where make mention of any other means, cause, or condition of justification on our part, but faith only, though he abounds in precepts unto believers for love, and keeping the commands of Christ. And this faith is the receiving of Christ, in the sense newly declared. And this is the substance of the Christian faith in this matter; which oft-times we rather obscure then illustrate, by debating the consideration of any thing in our justification, but the grace and love of God, the person and mediation of Christ, with faith in them.

The reasons why the doctrine of justification by the imputation of Christ's righteousness is more fully and clearly taught in the later writings of the New Testament than in the Gospels have already been explained. Even so, the Gospels give sufficient testimony to this doctrine, representing the state of the church before Christ's death and resurrection. I will consider a few of the many testimonies that can be drawn from their writings for this purpose.

The main purpose of our Lord Jesus Christ's sermon — especially the portion recorded in Matthew 5 — is to declare what true righteousness before God actually is. The Scribes and Pharisees, whose teachings had enslaved the consciences of their hearers, placed all of our righteousness before God in the works of the law — in people's own obedience to it. This is what they taught the people, and on this basis they justified themselves, as He charges them in Luke 16:15: "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God." And all those under their influence sought to establish their own righteousness, as it were by the works of the law (Romans 9:33; 10:3). Yet in their own consciences they were convinced that they could not reach the law's standard of righteousness — the perfect obedience the law required. Still, they refused to give up their proud fantasy of justification by their own righteousness, and instead — as people in every age do in the same situation — looked for other devices to silence their convictions. To that end they corrupted the whole law with false interpretations, pulling down and degrading its meaning to what they could proudly claim to perform. Our Savior illustrates this principle and practice of the whole group in the parable of the Pharisee in Luke 18:10-12. Similarly, the young man claimed he had kept the whole law from his youth — meaning, in their watered-down interpretation (Matthew 19:20).

To uproot this destructive error from the church, our Lord Jesus Christ gives the law its true, spiritual meaning in many instances, showing what righteousness the law actually requires and on what basis a person could be justified by it. Among several things He makes clear, two stand out. First, the law's commands and prohibitions reach all the way to the heart — its deepest thoughts and earliest stirrings. He teaches that the innermost movements of the heart, including the first impulses of sinful desire even when not consented to, let alone acted on, are directly forbidden by the law — along with everything that leads toward sin. He declares this in His exposition of the seventh commandment (Matthew 5:27-30). Second, He declares that the law's penalty for even the smallest sin is hell fire, as He states in connection with the sixth commandment and the prohibition of unjustified anger. If people would test themselves by these standards and others given by our Savior, it might well strip away their pride in their own righteousness and self-justification. But as it was then, so it remains today: most of those who argue for justification by works try to corrupt the meaning of the law and adjust it to fit their own behavior. A reader can see an excellent demonstration of this in a recent treatise titled The Practical Divinity of the Papists Discovered to Be Destructive of Christianity and Men's Souls. The spiritual depth of the law and the severity of its penalty — extending to the least and most imperceptible movements of sin in the heart — are neither believed nor rightly considered by those who argue for justification by works in any sense. Therefore the primary purpose of our Savior's sermon is both to declare the nature of the obedience God requires through the law, and to prepare the minds of His disciples to seek a different kind of righteousness — one whose source and means could not yet be plainly declared, though many of them, prepared by John's ministry, were already hungering and thirsting for it.

Yet He gives a clear enough indication of what that righteousness consists in when He says He came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17). What He came for, He was sent for — He was born for us and given to us, not for Himself. He came to fulfill the law so that its righteousness might be fulfilled in us. If we cannot fulfill the law in the proper sense of its commands — which the law does not abolish but establishes, as our Savior declares — and if we cannot avoid the law's curse and penalty for transgressing it, and if He came to fulfill it for us, all of which He Himself declares, then His righteousness — the righteousness He accomplished for us by fulfilling the law — is the righteousness by which we are justified before God. Two kinds of righteousness are set before us: one, the fulfilling of the law by Christ; the other, our own perfect obedience to the law as He has explained its meaning. There is no middle option between them. It is left to the consciences of convicted sinners to decide which of these they will rely on. And guiding people in that choice is the primary purpose we should have in teaching this doctrine.

I will pass over all those passages in which the foundations of this doctrine are firmly laid without being explicitly stated — passages that, when properly interpreted, necessarily lead to it. Among these are all the places where the Lord Christ is said to die for us, or in our place, to give His life as a ransom for us, and the like. I will pass these by so as not to digress from the present argument.

Our Savior's own depiction of how people come to be justified before God — in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector — is a guide for all who share the same desire. Luke 18:9-14: "And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 'Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: God, I thank You that I am not like other people — swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

That our Savior's purpose in this parable was to represent the way of justification before God is clear for several reasons. First, from the description of those He was addressing (verse 9): they were people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous — that they had a personal righteousness of their own before God. Second, from the general principle with which He confirms His verdict about these two men: "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled" (verse 14), "and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Applied to the Pharisee and his prayer, this plainly declares that any plea of our own works for our justification before God — under any consideration — is a self-exaltation that God despises. Applied to the tax collector, it declares that a genuine sense of sin is the only preparation on our part for acceptance with God through faith.

Both men are shown as seeking to be justified — that is how our Savior frames the outcome of their approach to God. One was justified; the other was not.

The Pharisee's case for justification has two parts. First, he claims he has fulfilled the condition on which he might be justified. He makes no mention of any merit — whether of congruity or condignity. But since God's covenant with the church at that time had two dimensions — one relating to the moral law and one to the ceremonial law — he pleads that he has met the conditions of both, giving examples of each. He adds that he had even gone beyond what was required, fasting twice a week. When people begin to seek righteousness and justification by works, they quickly decide their best hope lies in doing something extraordinary — more than other people do, and more indeed than is actually commanded. This gave rise to all the Pharisaical austerities within Roman Catholicism. And it cannot be said that all of this counted for nothing simply because he was a hypocrite and a boaster — for it might be replied that all who seek justification by works appear to be so. Our Savior simply presents a typical example of someone who does; nor are these things the stated reason for his rejection. He is rejected specifically because he exalted himself by trusting in his own righteousness. Second, in his prayer he ascribes everything he has done to God: "God, I thank You." Though he had done all this, he acknowledged God's help and grace in all of it. He recognized that he differed greatly from other people, but he did not credit himself for that difference. All the righteousness and holiness he claimed, he attributed to the goodness and kindness of God. He therefore pleaded neither personal merit in his works nor works done in his own strength apart from grace. His entire claim was that by the grace of God he had fulfilled the covenant's condition and therefore expected to be justified. Whatever words a person may use in their prayers, God reads their hearts according to what they actually trust for their justification. And if some people are honest about their own principles, this Pharisee's prayer — mutatis mutandis — is the prayer they ought to be making.

If someone objects that the Pharisee was rejected because he trusted in himself and despised others, I answer two things. First, this charge does not describe the character of the individual man but the nature and tendency of the belief itself. The conviction that justification comes by works inherently contains contempt for other means — for if Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had something to boast about. Second, those the Pharisee despised were people who placed their entire trust in grace and mercy — like this tax collector. One might wish that all others who hold the same view as the Pharisee did not do exactly the same.

The outcome for the Pharisee is that he was not justified — and no one ever will be, on the basis of their own personal righteousness. Our Savior told us that when we have done everything — that is, when our consciences testify to the sincerity of our obedience — instead of pleading it for our justification, we should say (that is, genuinely judge and acknowledge) that we are unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10). As the apostle says: "For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted" (1 Corinthians 4:4). And the person who is an unprofitable servant with nothing to rely on but his service will be cast out of God's presence (Matthew 25:30). Therefore, on the basis of our best obedience, to confess ourselves unprofitable servants is to confess that after everything we have, we deserve to be cast out of God's presence.

In contrast, the tax collector's condition and prayer — with the same goal of seeking justification before God — are then described. His outward posture and actions represent the inward state of his heart. He stood at a distance; he would not even lift his eyes; he beat his breast. All of this depicts someone who has given up on himself — someone in despair. This is the nature and the result of that conviction of sin which, as we have argued, must come before justification. Grief, sorrow, a sense of danger, and fear of wrath — all of these are present in him. In short, he declares himself guilty before God, with no defense or excuse to offer. His prayer is the sincere cry of his soul to sovereign grace and mercy for deliverance from the condition brought on by his guilt. In the very word he uses — "be merciful" — there is a reference to propitiation. His entire approach to God contains four things: first, self-condemnation and self-loathing; second, grief and sorrow for sin; third, a complete renunciation of all his own works as any basis for justification; and fourth, an acknowledgment of his sin, guilt, and misery. This is all that is required of us for justification before God, apart from the faith by which we apply ourselves to Him for deliverance.

Some make a weak attempt to use this passage to prove that justification consists entirely in the forgiveness of sin — since the tax collector prays for mercy and pardon and is then said to be justified. But this argument has no force. First, the full nature of justification is not explained here — only what is required of us for it. The relationship of justification to Christ's mediation was not yet to be openly revealed, as was shown earlier. Second, although the tax collector comes before God with a deep sense of the guilt of sin, he does not pray merely for the bare forgiveness of sin but for all the sovereign mercy and grace God has provided for sinners. Third, the word "justified" must carry the same meaning when applied to the Pharisee as when applied to the tax collector. If it means "pardoned" for the tax collector, then it means "not pardoned" for the Pharisee — but the Pharisee did not come on that errand at all. He came to be justified, not pardoned; he makes no mention of his sin or any sense of it. Therefore, although the forgiveness of sin is included in justification, the word "justify" in this passage refers to a righteousness by which a person is declared just and righteous — a righteousness that, on the tax collector's side, is wrapped up in the sovereign and producing cause: the mercy of God.

A few additional testimonies may be drawn from the other Gospels, which are full of them. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12). Here faith is expressed as receiving Christ, for receiving Him and believing in His name are the same thing. It is a receiving of Him as the One God has set forth as a propitiation for sin — the great ordinance of God for the recovery and salvation of lost sinners. This idea of faith therefore includes several things: first, a proposal and offer of Christ to us for a specific purpose; second, this proposal is made through the promise of the gospel, which is why we are said to receive both Christ and the promise; third, the purpose for which Christ is offered to us in the gospel's promise — namely, the recovery and salvation of lost sinners, the same purpose as the first promise; fourth, in the offer of His person, there is an offer of all the benefits of His mediation as the means of our deliverance from sin and acceptance with God; fifth, nothing is required of us to participate in this end except receiving Him — believing in His name; and sixth, this act of receiving gives us a right and title to the heavenly inheritance and the power to become children of God, which includes adoption and justification. What this receiving of Christ consists in has been explained already in the discussion of the faith by which we are justified. The argument from this passage is that nothing more is required for obtaining a right and title to the heavenly inheritance than faith alone in Christ's name — the receiving of Christ as God's ordained means of justification and salvation. This is what gives us our original right to that inheritance and our acceptance with God, which is our justification — though more is required for its actual possession. It may be objected that other graces and works are not excluded even though faith alone is stated. But everything that is not a receiving of Christ is excluded. It is effectively excluded because it is not of the nature of what is required. When we speak of the means by which we see, we do not exclude other members of the body — but we exclude everything except the eye from the act of seeing. And if faith is required as a receiving of Christ, then every grace and duty that is not such a receiving is excluded from any role in justification.

John 3:14-18: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

I will note only a few things from these words, which by themselves bring more light and understanding of this mystery to the minds of believers than many lengthy discussions by learned men. First, our Savior is speaking about the justification of people and their right to eternal life. This is plain in verse 18: "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already." Second, the only means of reaching this state on our part is believing — stated positively three times without any addition. Third, the nature of this faith is explained in three ways. Its object is Christ Himself, the Son of God — "whoever believes in Him" is repeated throughout. The specific way in which He is the object of faith for the justification of life is as the ordinance of God — given, sent, and offered from the Father's love and grace: "God so loved the world that He gave; God sent His Son." And the particular act included in the type through which God's design in Him is illustrated is the looking to the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness by those stung by venomous snakes — our faith in Christ for justification answers to this, and includes a trust in Him alone for deliverance and relief. This is the way, and these are the only causes and means of justification for condemned sinners. This is the substance of everything we are arguing for.

Someone may say that all this does not prove the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us — which is the main point at issue. But if nothing is required of us for justification except faith directed toward Christ as God's appointed means of our recovery and salvation, that is the whole of what we are arguing for. A justification consisting only in the forgiveness of sins — without a righteousness that gives us acceptance with God and a right to the heavenly inheritance — is foreign to Scripture and to the ordinary understanding of what justification means. And what that righteousness must be, given that faith alone is required on our part to participate in it, is sufficiently declared in the words where Christ Himself is so often set forth as the object of our faith for that purpose.

Without adding more specific texts — which multiply to the same purpose throughout this Gospel — the sum of the doctrine declared in it is this: the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, that is, by the sacrifice of Himself in which He fulfilled all the typological sacrifices of the law; He sanctified Himself for this purpose so that those who believe might be sanctified — perfected forever — by His one offering of Himself; in the Gospel He is set forth as lifted up and crucified for us, bearing all our sins in His body on the cross; through faith in Him we receive adoption, justification, freedom from judgment and condemnation, and a right and title to eternal life; those who do not believe are condemned already, because they do not believe in the Son of God, and as He says elsewhere, they make God a liar by refusing to believe His testimony — namely, that He has given us eternal life and that this life is in His Son. Nowhere does He mention any other means, cause, or condition of justification on our part except faith alone — though He is full of commands to believers concerning love and keeping Christ's commands. And this faith is the receiving of Christ in the sense just described. This is the substance of the Christian faith on this matter — which we often obscure rather than clarify by debating anything in our justification other than the grace and love of God, the person and mediation of Christ, and faith in them.