Sect. 6. — Justification before Faith refuted.
Sect. 6. — Justification before Faith refuted.
Ant. I beg you, sir, let me ask you something by the way. Was he not justified before this time?
Evan. If he did not believe in Christ before this time, as I conceive he did not, then certainly he was not justified before this time.
Ant. But, sir, you know, as the apostle says, “It is God that justifies; and God is eternal.” As you have shown, Christ may be said to have fulfilled the Covenant of Works from all eternity; and if he is Christ’s now, then he was Christ’s from all eternity. Therefore, as I conceive it, he was justified from all eternity.
Evan. Indeed, God is from all eternity. And in respect to God’s accepting Christ’s undertaking to fulfil the Covenant of Works, he fulfilled it from all eternity. And in respect to God’s electing someone, he was Christ’s from all eternity. Therefore it is true, in respect to God’s decree, that the man was justified from all eternity; and he was justified meritoriously in the death and resurrection of Christ. Yet he was not actually justified, till he actually believed in Christ. For the apostle says, in Acts 13.39, “By him all that believe are justified.” So that in the act of justifying, faith and Christ must have a mutual relation, and must always concur and meet together: faith as the action which apprehends, and Christ as the object which is apprehended. For Christ does not justify without faith, nor does faith justify unless it is in Christ.
Ant. Truly, sir, you have well-satisfied me in this point. And surely I like your conclusion marvellously well, that no faith justifies but that faith whose object is Christ.
Evan. The very truth of it is, even though a man believes that God is merciful and true to his promise, and that he has his elect number from the beginning, and that he himself is one of that number, yet if this faith does not eye Christ, if it is not faith in God as he is in Christ, it will not serve the turn. For God cannot be comfortably thought upon apart from Christ our Mediator; “for if we do not find God in Christ,” says Calvin, Instit. p. 155, “salvation cannot be known.” Therefore, Neophytus, I will say to you, as Mr. Bradford said to a gentlewoman in your case, “Thus, if you would be quiet and certain in conscience, then let your faith burst forth through all things, not only what you have within you, but also whatever is in heaven, earth, and hell; and let it never rest until it comes to Christ crucified, and the eternal sweet mercy and goodness of God in Christ.”