Part 3
torpor, and assents to the declarations of God with a force that is not
to be resisted. When Paul reasoned about righteousness,
temperance, and the judgment to come, Felix trembled. The truth,
externally presented, found such a response in the bosom of the
Roman governor, that he could not disbelieve. This is in accordance
with daily experience. The cavils of men against the unreasonable
strictness of the divine law and their objections against the justice of
its awful penalty vanish in a moment, when their eyes are open to see
what the law and its violation really are. And so long as the
perception lasts, the conviction remains. If they can succeed in
shutting out the light, and in quieting a conscience that's been roused
by its intrusion, they become as skeptical as ever on all these
subjects. In many cases, they succeed in closing their eyes to what
they hate to see; and they regain their former unbelief. But often this
is found to be impossible, especially on the near approach of death,
or when God is about to pluck them as brands from the burning.
Probably a day doesn't pass without some illustration of the truth of
these remarks. Men who have long lived in unbelief or carelessness
are arrested by an influence which they can neither understand nor
resist. There is no new revelation, no novel arguments, no conscious
process of reasoning. There is simply a perception of the truth of the
declarations of God concerning sin. Against the conviction arising
from this, their old cavils, and the arguments and assurances of their
friends, have no effect. They don't reach the point. They are
addressed to something quite foreign to the ground of the conviction,
and therefore they don't affect it. Though this persuasion of the truth
of the Scriptural doctrine respecting sin is often temporary, it forms
an essential part of those convictions which are abiding and saving.
Men may have this persuasion, who never accept the offers of
salvation; but those who do accept them cannot be entirely without
it.
This knowledge of sin, which enters so essentially into the nature of
true conviction, is derived from the law; for by the law is the
knowledge of sin. Rom 3.20 I would not have known sin, said the
apostle, but by the law. For without the law, sin was dead. I was alive
without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived
and I died. Rom 7.9 It is clearly taught in these and similar passages,
that the apostle was at one time ignorant of the extent and
spirituality of the law, and consequently ignorant of sin. He thought
himself to be as good as could reasonably be expected. He was
contented and at ease. But when the law was revealed to him in its
true character, his views of sin were at once changed. He came to
know what it was, and to feel its power over him. A thousand things
which before had appeared indifferent or trivial, he now saw to be
aggravated offenses; and especially the secret, deep-seated evil of his
heart, which had escaped his knowledge or regard, was detected as
the great source of all other sin.
The law is the means of communicating this knowledge, because it
is an expression of the perfect holiness of God. So long as men judge
themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among
themselves, they will be in the dark as to their true character. It is not
until they judge themselves by the perfect standard of duty contained
in the law of God, that they can have any proper knowledge of their
real character. It is in His light that we see light. It is only when we
look away from the sinful beings by whom we are surrounded, and
feel ourselves in the presence of the perfect purity of God, that we are
sensible of the extent of our departure from the standard of
excellence. It is therefore both the doctrine of the Bible and the
experience of the people of God, that the knowledge of sin arises
from the apprehension of the divine excellence as revealed in the law.
No doubt there is great diversity in the experience of Christians as to
the clearness of their views on this subject. In some cases everything
is seen as through a glass, darkly; in others there is such a discovery
of the infinite excellence of God and of his law, as to fill the mind
with great reverence and self-abasement. Sometimes this knowledge
steals upon the mind as imperceptibly as the opening day; at others,
in a moment, the truth stands disclosed in all its awful purity. The
man who one hour was unconcerned, the next is full of astonishment
at his former blindness. He wonders how it was possible he could be
so ignorant of the excellence of God and the perfection of his law. He
is amazed at his infatuation in thinking that he was to be judged by
the common standard of man's judgment, by the low demands of the
world or of his associates. He now sees that the rule by which he is to
be tried is infinitely pure, and cannot overlook the least
transgression. We are nowhere taught what degree of clearness of
this knowledge is necessary to salvation. We only know that men
must have such a knowledge of sin as to bring their judgments
respecting it into accordance with the declarations of God. Instead of
that perpetual opposition to the doctrine of the Scriptures respecting
the evil and extent of sin, which men so generally evince, they must
be brought to acquiesce in the truth and justice of all God's
representations on the subject.
Besides this knowledge of sin and assent to the Scriptural doctrine
on the subject, there is, in genuine conviction, a sense of personal
unworthiness. This perhaps has been in a measure anticipated, but it
deserves particular consideration. Holy beings may have a clear
perception of the truth as presented in the word of God respecting
the nature of sin, but they can have no sense of moral turpitude. And
among men, there is often a clear understanding of the doctrine on
this subject, and a general assent to its truth, without any adequate
conviction that what the Bible says of sinners is applicable to us. It
isn't enough, therefore, that we should know and believe what the
Scriptures teach respecting sin; we must feel that it is all true as it
regards ourselves. There must be an assent of our own
consciousness to the declaration that the heart is deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked; that in us, that is, in our flesh, there
dwells no good thing. Rom 7.18 This sense of personal unworthiness is
the principal part of conviction of sin. It is the opposite of that false
notion of our own excellence, which we are so prone to indulge. It
destroys our self-complacency and eradicates the disposition to
justify ourselves, or extenuate our guilt.
The most certain concomitant of this sense of moral turpitude in the
sight of God, is shame. O my God, cried Ezra under a sense of sin, I
am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to you my God, for our
iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass has grown
up to the heavens. Ezr 9.6 Daniel said: O Lord, righteousness belongs
to you, but to us, shame of face, as at this day. Dan 9.7 I have heard of
you, said Job, with the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you,
and I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42.5 And in
another place he says: Behold I am vile, what shall I answer you? I
will lay my hand upon my mouth. Job 40.4 The same feeling is
expressed by the Psalmist, when he says, My iniquities have taken
hold upon me, so that I cannot look up; they are more than the hairs
of my head, therefore, my heart fails me. Pa 40.12 The same emotion
filled the bosom of the Publican, when he would not so much as lift
up his eyes to heaven, but struck upon his breast and said, God be
merciful to me a sinner. Luk 18.13
With this sense of unworthiness are mingled, in a greater or less
degree, the feelings of contrition and remorse; sorrow for our
innumerable offenses, and bitter self-condemnation. To these are
often added perplexity and fear of the wrath of God; a dread lest our
sins can never be forgiven, lest our defilement can never be washed
away. No suffering in this world can exceed what the soul often
endures under the pressure of these feelings. It cries out with Paul, O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this
death? Rom 7.24 Or it is forced to say with Job, The arrows of the
Almighty are within me, the poison of which drinks up my spirits;
and the terrors of God set themselves in array against me. Job 6.4 Or
with Heman, While I suffer your terrors I am distracted; your fierce
wrath goes over me; your terrors have cut me off. Psa 88.15-16
With the inspired record of the experience of God's people on this
subject, we find the language of his more eminent servants in later
times remarkably coincident. The Confessions of Augustine are full
of similar expressions of humiliation and anguish under a sense of
sin. And even the stout heart of Luther was so broken by his inward
sufferings, that his life was long a burden almost too heavy for him to
bear. But while it is no doubt true that it is the natural tendency of
correct apprehensions of our real character in the sight of God to
produce these strong emotions of humiliation and sorrow; and while
it is no less true that those who have made the most eminent
attainments in holiness, have generally had the largest share of these
inward trials, it is not to be supposed that they are necessary to the
character of a Christian. On the contrary, a believing apprehension of
the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, while it would not prevent
humiliation and penitential sorrow on account of sin, would
effectually extract the bitterness of remorse and fear from the cup of
repentance. There is no true religion in these terrors and fearful
apprehensions. The death-bed of the impenitent often exhibits this
sense of guilt, humiliation, remorse, dread of punishment and other
indications of an enlightened and awakened conscience. And in
many cases, those who have suffered all this distress, lose their
serious impressions and sink into their former carelessness.
Therefore, though the pain of remorse and dread of the wrath of God
often attend conviction of sin, they do not constitute it.
In many cases, there is little of this agitation of feeling. Perhaps the
most frequent form of religious experience on this subject is a deep
distress on account of the lack of an excitement of feeling
corresponding with the judgment of the understanding and
conscience. The common complaint with many is that they cannot
feel; that their hearts are like ice; that the knowledge and perception
of their ingratitude and disobedience produce little or no emotion.
Such persons would gladly exchange their insensibility for the
keenest anguish; their constant prayer is that God would take from
them their heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh. This form of
experience is just as consistent with the nature of conviction of sin as
the other. All that is necessary is the testimony of conscience to the
justice of the divine representations of our character and conduct;
the consciousness and acknowledgment that we are what God
declares us to be. Where this judgment of the conscience, or this
sense of personal unworthiness exists, leading the sinner to lay his
hand upon his mouth in the presence of God, and to bow at his feet
as undeserving of mercy, there, as far as this point is concerned, is
genuine conviction.
This state of mind may be produced in very different ways.
Sometimes it is the result of a calm review of life — a comparison of
the habitual state of the heart and general course of our conduct,
with the law of God. Sometimes, some one offense more than
commonly aggravated, seizes upon the conscience; some broken
vow, some neglected call, some open sin, is made the means of
revealing the man to himself. Whatever may be the particular
occasion, the mind is led to fix itself on its responsibility to God and
the conviction of its guilt becomes settled and confirmed. This is
necessary to the sinner's return to God. So long as he thinks himself
whole and healthy, he will not apply to the physician. So long as he
regards his sins as either few or trivial, he will feel no concern for
pardon or sanctification. But when his eyes are opened and his
conscience aroused, he feels that his case demands immediate and
earnest attention; he knows himself to be unprepared to meet his
God, that his sins are so great that they cannot be forgiven unless he
obtains an interest 5 in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Every
true Christian is in some way brought to this conviction and
acknowledgment of personal ill-desert in the sight of God.
In the third place, conviction of sin includes a conviction of our
condemnation before God. A sense of sin is a sense of unworthiness;
and a sense of unworthiness involves a sense of just exposure to the
divine displeasure. It may be proper to notice three very distinct
states of mind in reference to this subject. It is very obvious that our
views of the punishment due to sin, must depend on our views of sin
itself. If we have inadequate apprehensions of the evil of sin, we will
have inadequate apprehensions of the punishment which it deserves.
Hence in the great majority of men, there is a secret disbelief of the
Scriptural representations on this subject. They cannot reconcile the
declarations of God respecting the doom of the impenitent, with
their views of his justice and mercy; and therefore they cannot
believe them. And it very often happens that the sense of sin which
serious people experience, is insufficient to overcome this unbelief;
or at least, the strong opposition of the heart to what the Bible
teaches on this subject. They feel that they are sinners; they feel that
they deserve the displeasure of God; but they still experience a secret
revolting against the dreadful denunciations of the Scriptures against
all sin.
"To submit to the condemning power of the holy law of God," says
Dr. Milner, "is a hard matter, a very hard matter indeed to do this
thoroughly. My understanding has shown me for many years, that
this was the touchstone of a sound conversion; and I have been busy
enough in noting the defect of it in others; but as to myself, if I have
got on at all in this respect, it is very lately indeed. The heart is sadly
deceitful here; for, with Christ's salvation before one's eye, one may
easily fancy that God is just and equitable in condemning sinners;
when, if you put the case, only for a moment, to your own heart
seriously, as a thing likely to happen, the heart will rise against such
a dispensation; perhaps indeed with a smothered sort of opposition
and dislike, but which is very steady and determined. Nothing less
than the Holy Ghost himself can cure this, by showing us the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ." 6
That the soul should revolt at the idea of its own misery, is the law of
our nature, and can never be eradicated. This is not the sentiment
which it is intended to condemn, but the opposition of the heart to
the truth and justice of God's declarations respecting the punishment
due to sin. It is this opposition, this disposition to criminate God, to
regard him as unjustly severe, which ought to be subdued; because it
shows that our hearts are not in harmony with his word; that we
regard as unjust what He pronounces just. All experience shows that
this is a very common state of mind. And its existence proves that
our views of the ill-desert of sin have not been sufficiently clear to
bring us to submit to the plan which God has revealed for our
redemption from deserved condemnation.
The opposite extreme to this, is the feeling that our sins are so great
that they cannot be forgiven. This is no uncommon persuasion.
When there is a clear discovery of the evil of sin, with no concomitant
apprehension of the true plan of salvation, despair is the natural
result. The judgment of conscience is known to be true when it
pronounces our sins to be deserving of death. And unless the soul
sees how God can be just and yet justify the sinner, it cannot hope
for mercy. Nothing can be more pitiable than a soul in this condition.
Its views of the justice of God and of the evil of sin, are neither false
nor exaggerated. It is their truth which gives them power, and which
renders futile the soothing assurances of friends that God will not be
so strict in marking iniquity, or that the sinner's guilt is not so great
as he imagines. An enlightened conscience cannot be thus appeased;
and if such are the only sources of consolation to which it has access,
it must despair.
In a Christian country, however, the knowledge of the plan of
salvation is so generally diffused, that it seldom fails, even when
imperfectly understood, to calm or restrain the apprehensions of
God's displeasure. It is known that God can pardon sin, that there is
salvation at least for some, for some have been saved. And although
the sinner is often disposed to think that his is an excepted case, or
that there is some peculiar aggravation in his guilt, which puts him
beyond the reach of mercy, yet he cannot be sure that this is the case.
And in his darkest hours, the belief in the possibility of salvation is
not entirely destroyed.
Between these extremes of inimical opposition to the truth of God —
as to the just exposure of the sinner to condemnation, and the
despair of mercy which arises from unbelief — lies genuine
conviction of ill-desert. If religious experience is the conformity of
our judgments and feelings to the truths that are revealed in the
Scriptures, and if it is there revealed that the wages of sin is death,
then our judgment and feeling must assent to that truth; we must
admit that such is the just desert of sin and of our sins. There must
be no disposition to complain of the extent or severity of the law; but
such a sense of ill-desert in the sight of God as will lead us to lie at
His feet, sensible that he can neither do nor threaten wrong, and that
forgiveness must be a matter entirely of grace. It is obvious that there
can be no intelligent acceptance of Christ as a savior without this
conviction of our exposure to condemnation; and there can be no
conviction of such exposure, without a perception of the justice of the
penalty of the law. It is to be remembered, however, that there are
many things involved in Christian experience, which may not be the
object of distinct attention. It may therefore well happen that many
pass from death unto life, without any lively apprehension of the
wrath of God, or any very distinct impression that all that He has
threatened against sin might be justly inflicted upon them. Their
attention may have been arrested and their hearts moved by the
exhibition of the love of God in Christ, and they may have been
conscious at the time, of little more than a cordial acquiescence in
the gospel, and the desire and purpose to live for the service of God.
Still, even in such persons, as soon as their attention is directed to
the subject, there is a full recognition of ill-desert, a readiness to
acknowledge that salvation is a matter of grace, and that they would
have no right to complain had they been left to perish in their sins.
Diversified, therefore, as may be the experience of God's people on
this subject, they agree in acknowledging the justice of God in his
demands and threatenings, and in regarding themselves as unworthy
of the least of all His favors.
Section II. Insufficiency of our own righteousness and of our own strength.
Another essential characteristic of genuine conviction is the
persuasion that our own good works are entirely insufficient to
recommend us to God, or to be the ground of our acceptance before
him. Since the Scriptures declare that we are justified freely, not by
works, lest any man should boast, but by faith in Jesus Christ, our
experience must accord with this declaration. We must have such
views of the holiness of God, of the extent of his law and of our own
unworthiness as will make us fully sensible that we cannot secure by
our own works, either pardon or acceptance. It's easy to profess that
we don't trust to our own righteousness, but to really divest ourselves
of all reliance upon our supposed excellence, is a difficult task. When
a man is roused to a sense of his guilt and danger, his first impulse is
almost always to fly to any other refuge than that provided in the
gospel. The most natural method of appeasing conscience is the
promise of reformation. Particular sins are therefore forsaken, and a
struggle, it may be, is maintained against all others. This conflict is
often long and painful, but it is always unsuccessful. It is soon found
that sin, in one form or other, is constantly getting the mastery; and
the soul feels that something more must be done if it is ever to make
itself fit for heaven. It is therefore ready to do, or to submit to
anything which appears necessary for this purpose.
What particular form of works it may be which it endeavors to weave
into a robe of righteousness, depends on the degree of knowledge
which it possesses, or the kind of religious instruction which it
receives. When greatly ignorant of the gospel, it endeavors by painful
penances, self-imposed, or prescribed by priestly authority, to make
satisfaction for its sins. Experience teaches that there is no extremity
of self-denial to which a conscience-stricken man will not gladly
submit as a means of satisfying the demands of God. If heaven were
really to be gained by such means, we would see the road crowded by
the young and old, the rich and poor, the learned and ignorant, in
multitudes as countless as those which throng the cruel temples of
the Hindus, or which perish on the burning sands of Arabia. This is
the easiest, the pleasantest, the most congenial of all the methods of
salvation taught by the cunning craftiness of men. It is no wonder
that those who teach it as the doctrine of the gospel, should find
submissive hearers. If men can be allowed to purchase heaven, or
make atonement for past transgressions by present suffering, they
will gladly undertake it. This is so congenial to the human heart, that
men who are well informed, and who pride themselves on their
independence of mind, are scarcely less apt to be caught in the
meshes of this net, than their more ignorant brethren. We therefore
see statesmen and philosophers, as well as peasants, wearing
sackcloth, or walking barefoot at the bidding of their religious
teachers.
In Protestant countries, where the Bible is generally accessible, it is
rare to see any such gross exhibitions of the spirit of self-
righteousness. The Scriptures so clearly teach the method of
salvation, that almost everyone knows that at least mere external
works of morality or discipline cannot avail to our justification before
God. We must have a finer robe, a robe composed of duties of a
higher value. Prayers are multiplied, the house of God is frequented,
the whole routine of religious duties is assiduously attended to,
under the impression that we will thus satisfy the demands of God
and secure his favor. Multitudes are contented with this routine.
Their apprehensions of the character and requirements of God, of
the evil of sin, and of their own ill-desert are so low, that this remedy
is adequate for all the wounds their consciences feel. The
performance of their social and religious duties seems sufficient, in
their view, to entitle them to the character of religious men; and they
are satisfied. Thus it was with Paul, who considered himself
blameless, as touching the righteousness of the law. Phi 3.6 But all his
strictness of moral duty and religious observance, was discovered to
be worthless so far as satisfying the demands of God is concerned.
And every man, who is brought to accept the offer of salvation as
presented in the gospel, is made to feel that it is not for anything
which he either does or abstains from doing, that his sins are
pardoned and his person is accepted before God. No indeed, he sees
that what men call their "good works" are so impure, as to be
themselves a ground of condemnation. What are cold, wandering,
selfish, irreverent prayers, but offenses against God, whom we
pretend to propitiate by services which are but a mockery of His
holiness? And what is any routine of heartless observances — or if
not heartless, at least so imperfect as to fail to secure even our own
approval — in the eyes of Him before whom the heavens are
unclean? What approach can such services make either towards
satisfying the present demands of God, or atoning for years of
neglect and sin? It requires but little insight into the state of his own
heart, or the real character of the divine law, to convince the sinner
that he must have a better righteousness than that which consists of
his own duties or observances.
The convinced sinner is therefore soon driven from this foundation
of sand; but he resorts to another refuge nearer the cross, he
supposes, which seems to require more self-renunciation. He ceases
to think of establishing his own righteousness, but he still wishes to
be made worthy to receive the righteousness of God. He knows that
he can never cancel his debt of guilt, that his best services are
unworthy of acceptance, that with all his circumspection, he never
lives a day in full compliance with the just demands of the law, and
consequently that his salvation must be of grace. But he still thinks
he must in some way merit that grace, or at least, be prepared for its
reception by some observance or some experience. The distressed
soul imagines that if it could be more distressed, more humbled,
more touched with sorrow or remorse, it might then find
acceptance. It sees that its long course of disobedience and
ingratitude, its rejection of Christ, its disregard of mercies and
warnings, its thousand sins of commission and omission, if forgiven
at all, must be gratuitously pardoned. But this hardness of heart, this
lack of due tenderness and penitence, is a sin which must first be
gotten out of the way, before the others can be remitted.
It is, however, only one of a long, black catalogue. It can no more be
separately conquered or atoned for, before coming to Christ, than
any other sin of heart or life. It is often long before the soul is
brought to see this, or to feel that it is really endeavoring to make
itself better before applying to the physician; to accomplish at least
some preparatory part of salvation for itself, so as not to be entirely
indebted to the Redeemer. At last, however, the soul discovers its
mistake; it finds that Christ does not save sinners for their
tenderness or conviction; that tears are not more worthy of
acceptance than fasting, or almsgiving; that it is the unworthy, the
hard-hearted, the ungodly — those who have nothing to recommend
them — that Christ came to save, and whom he accepts in order to
render them contrite and tenderhearted and obedient. These graces
are His gifts; and if we stay away from him until we get them
ourselves, we must perish in our sins. The soul must be brought to
this entire self-renunciation, this absolute rejection of everything in
itself as the ground or reason of its acceptance, before it embraces
the offers of the gospel.
It is included in what has been said, that a consciousness of our own
weakness is a necessary ingredient, or consequence of true
conviction. There is not only a giving up of our own righteousness,
but of our own strength. All that is necessary here, as on other
points, is that we should feel what is true. If it is the doctrine of the
Bible that the sinner can change his own heart, subdue his sins,
excite all right affections in his heart, then genuine religious
experience requires that this truth should be known, not merely as a
matter of speculation, but as a matter of consciousness. But if the
Scriptures teach that this change of heart is the work of the Holy
Spirit; that we are born not of the will of man but of God; Joh 1.13 that
it is the exceeding greatness of the divine power that operates in
those who believe, quickening those who were dead in trespasses and
sins, creating them anew in Christ Jesus so that they are His
workmanship, created for good works; Eph 2.10 if from one end of the
Scriptures to the other, the internal work of salvation is declared to
be not by the might or power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord,
then this is one of the great truths of revelation of which we must be
convinced. Our experience must accord with this representation; and
we must feel that to be true in our case, which God declares to be
true universally.
When a man is brought to feel that he is a sinner, that his heart is far
from being right in the sight of God, he as naturally turns to his own
strength to effect a change and to bring himself up to the standard of
the law, as he turns to his own works as a compensation for his sins,
or as a ground of confidence towards God. His efforts, therefore, are
directed to subdue the power of sin, and to excite religious feelings in
his heart. He endeavors to mortify pride, to subdue the influence of
the body, to wean himself from the world. He gives up his sinful, or
worldly associates; he strengthens his purposes against evil; he
forces himself to discharge the most ungrateful duties and exercises
himself in self-denial. At the same time, he tries to force himself into
a right state of mind, to make himself believe, repent, love, and
exercise all the Christian graces of meekness, humility, brotherly
kindness, and charity — that is, he tries to make himself religious.
He does everything in his own strength and to save himself.
Sometimes this course is pursued to the end of life. At others, it is
continued for years, and then found to be all in vain. Wesley tells us
this was the kind of religion which he had, until his visit to America
and his intercourse with the Moravians. This is the religion of
ascetics, which maybe persevered in through stress of conscience, or
fear of perdition, with great strictness and constancy. Almost every
man tests this. He will be his own savior if he can. It is found to be a
hopeless task, however, by those who are taught of God.
The subtle evil of the heart is not to be subdued by any such efforts.
If we force ourselves to forego the pleasures of sin, we cannot destroy
the desire of forbidden joys. If we refuse to gratify pride, we cannot
prevent its aspirations. If we relinquish the pursuit of worldly things,
we still retain the love of the world. If we force ourselves to perform
religious duties, we cannot make those duties a delight. If we compel
ourselves to think of God, we cannot force ourselves to love Him, to
desire communion with Him, to take pleasure in his service, and to
delight in all his requirements. No one can tell the misery arising
from these painful and ineffectual struggles; these vain attempts to
subdue sin and excite the Christian graces. If anything could be taken
as a substitute for them; if making many prayers, or submitting to
any suffering, could be taken as an equivalent, it would be gladly
acceded to. But to change the heart, to delight in God, to be really
spiritual and holy, is a work the sinner finds to be above his strength,
and yet absolutely necessary. Repeated failures do not destroy his
delusion; he still thinks that this is his work, and that he must do it
or be lost. He therefore struggles on; he collects all his strength, and
at length suddenly discovers it to be perfect weakness. He finds that
if he is ever renewed and made holy, it must be the work of God, and
he cries in the depth of his distress, Lord save me, or I perish. He
gives up working in his own strength and sees what he wonders he
never saw before: that the Christian virtues are really graces, i.e.
gifts; that they are not excellencies to be wrought out by ourselves;
but favors bestowed through Christ and for Christ's sake; that it is
the Holy Spirit purchased and sent by Him that is to change the
heart and convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment; that faith,
repentance, joy, peace, humility, and meekness are the fruits of that
Spirit, and not the products of our own evil hearts; that if we could
make ourselves holy, we should scarcely need a Savior; and that it is
the greatest of all delusions to suppose that we must be holy before
we come to God through Christ, instead of holiness being the result
of our reconciliation.
While we are under the law, we bring forth fruit unto death. Rom 7.5 It
is not until we are free from the law and reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, that we bring forth fruit unto righteousness. This
great truth, though written on every page of the Bible, every man has
to learn for himself. He cannot be made to understand it by reading
it in the Scriptures, or by being told it by others. He must try his own
strength until he finds it to be nothing, before he submits to be saved
by the grace of God; and bowing at the feet of Jesus, in utter despair
of any other helper, he says, Lord if you will, you can make me
clean. Mat 8.2
The man, therefore, whom the Holy Ghost convinces of sin, he
causes to understand and believe what God has revealed on this
subject. He makes him feel that what He declares to be true of all
men, is true of him; that he deserves what God declares all men
deserve; that he has no merit to recommend him to God, and no
strength to change his own heart. This knowledge the Spirit
communicates through the law, which by presenting the perfect rule
of duty, shows us how far short we come of the glory of God, and how
often and justly we have incurred its penalty; which convinces us that
we are entirely unable to comply with its righteous demands; and
that no mere objective presentation of what is holy, just, and good
can change the heart, or destroy the power of indwelling sin — since
even when we see the excellence of the law, we do not conform to it,
and cannot do the things that we would, but ever find a law in our
members warring against the law of our minds, and bringing us into
subjection to the law of sin. Rom 7.23 It is thus that the law is a
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ; Gal 3.24 to drive us from every
refuge of our own righteousness and strength, to Him who of God, is
made both justification and sanctification to those who believe. 1Cor
1.30
CHAPTER V. JUSTIFICATION.
Section I. Importance of the doctrine.
Explanation of the Scriptural terms relating to it.
Justification is not by works.
The state of mind described in the preceding chapter, cannot be long
endured. Some way of satisfying the demands of conscience must be
adopted. When the mind is enlightened by divine truth, and duly
impressed with a sense of guilt, it cannot fail to anxiously inquire,
How can a man be just with God? The answer given to this question
decides the character of our religion, and if practically adopted, our
future destiny. To give a wrong answer, is to mistake the way to
heaven. It is to err where error is fatal, because it cannot be
corrected. If God requires one thing, and we present another, how
can we be saved? If He has revealed a method in which he can be just
and yet justify the sinner, and if we reject that method and insist on
pursuing a different way, how can we hope to be accepted?
Therefore, the answer which is given to the above question should be
seriously pondered by all who assume the office of religious teachers,
and by all who rely upon their instructions. As we are not to be
judged by proxy, but every man must answer for himself, so every
man should be satisfied for himself what the Bible teaches on this
subject. All that religious teachers can do, is to endeavor to aid the
investigations of those who are anxious to learn the way of life. And
in doing this, the safest method is to adhere strictly to the
instructions of the Scriptures, and exhibit the subject as it is
presented there. The substance and form of this all-important
doctrine are so intimately connected, that those who attempt to
separate them can hardly fail to err. What one discards as belonging
merely to the form, another considers as belonging to its substance.
All certainty and security are lost as soon as this method is adopted,
and it becomes a matter to be decided exclusively by our own views
of right and wrong, as to what is to be retained and what is to be
rejected from the Scriptural representations. Our only security,
therefore, is to take the language of the Bible in its obvious meaning,
and put the construction on it which the persons to whom it was
addressed must have given it, and consequently, which the sacred
writers intended it to bear.
As the doctrine of justification is not only frequently stated in the
sacred Scriptures, but formally taught and vindicated, all that will be
attempted in this chapter is to give, as faithfully as possible, a
representation of what the inspired writers inculcate on this subject.
That is, to state what positions they assume, what arguments they
give to sustain those positions, how they answer the objections to
their doctrine, and what application they make of it to the hearts and
consciences of their readers.
It is one of the primary doctrines of the Bible, everywhere either
asserted or assumed, that we are under the law of God. This is true
of all classes of men, whether they enjoy a divine revelation or not.
Everything which God has revealed as a rule of duty, enters into the
constitution of the law which binds those to whom that revelation is
given, and by which they are to be ultimately judged. Those who have
not received any external revelation of the divine will, are a law unto
themselves. The knowledge of right and wrong written on their
hearts, is of the nature of a divine law, having its authority and
sanction; and the heathen are to be judged by it in the last day.
God has seen fit to annex the promise of life, to obedience to His law.
The man who does these things shall live by them, Rom 10.5 is the
language of Scripture on this subject. To the lawyer who admitted
that the law required love to God and man, our Savior said, you have
answered right. Do this, and you shall live. Luk 10.28 And to one who
asked him, What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?
he said, If you would enter into life, keep the commandments. Mat
19.17 On the other hand, the law proclaims death as the penalty of
transgression. The wages of sin is death. Such is the uniform
declaration of Scripture on this subject.
The obedience which the law demands, is called righteousness; and
those who render that obedience are called righteous. To ascribe
righteousness to anyone, or to pronounce him righteous, is the
scriptural meaning of the word to justify. The word never means to
make good in a moral sense, but always to pronounce just or
righteous. Thus God says, I will not justify the wicked. Exo 23.7 Judges
are commanded to justify the righteous and to condemn the wicked.
Deu 25.1 Woe is pronounced on those who justify the wicked for a
reward. Isa 5.23 In the New Testament it is said, By the deeds of the
law no flesh shall be justified in his sight. Rom 3.20 It is God who
justifies, who is he that condemns? Rom 8.33-34 There is scarcely a
word in the Bible, the meaning of which is less open to doubt. There
is no passage in the New Testament in which it is used out of its
ordinary and obvious sense. 7 When God justifies a man, He declares
him to be righteous. To justify never means to render one holy. It is
said to be sinful to justify the wicked; but it could never be sinful to
render the wicked holy. And as the law demands righteousness, to
then impute or ascribe righteousness to anyone, in scriptural
language, is to justify. To make (or constitute) righteous, is an
equivalent form of expression. Hence, to be righteous before God,
and to be justified, mean the same thing, as in the following passage:
Not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of
the law shall be justified. Rom 2.13 The attentive, and especially the
anxious reader of the Bible, cannot fail to observe that these various
expressions — to be righteous in the sight of God, to impute
righteousness, to constitute righteous, to justify, and others of
similar import — are so interchanged as to explain each other, and to
make it clear that to justify a man is to ascribe or impute
righteousness to him. The great question then is, How is this
righteousness to be obtained? We have reason to be thankful that the
answer which the Bible gives to this question is so perfectly plain.
In the first place, it is not only asserted but proved that the
righteousness by which we are to be justified before God, is not of
works.
The apostle's first argument on this point is derived from the
consideration that the law demands a perfect righteousness. If the
law was satisfied by an imperfect obedience, or by a routine of
external duties, or by any service which men are competent to
render, then indeed, justification would be by works. But since it
demands perfect obedience, justification by works is absolutely
impossible for sinners. It is thus that the apostle reasons: As many
as are of the works of the law, are under the curse. For it is written,
cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. Gal 3.10 As the law pronounces its curse
upon every man who continues not to do all that it commands, and
as no man can pretend to this perfect obedience, it follows that all
who look to the law for justification must be condemned. To the
same effect, he says in the following verse, The law is not of faith, but
the man who does them shall live by them. That is, the law is not
satisfied by any single grace or imperfect obedience. It knows, and
cannot know any other ground of justification, than complete
compliance with its demands. Hence in the same chapter, Paul says,
If there had been a law which could have given life, truly
righteousness would have been by the law. Gal 3.21 If the law could
pronounce righteous, and thus give a title to the promised life to
those who had broken its commands, there would have been no
necessity for any other provision for the salvation of men. But as the
law cannot thus lower its demands, justification by the law is
impossible. The same truth is taught in a different form, when it is
said, If righteousness comes by the law, Christ died in vain. Gal 2.21
There would have been no necessity for the death of Christ if it had
been possible to satisfy the law by the imperfect obedience which we
can render. Paul therefore warns all those who look to works for
justification, that they are debtors to do the whole law. Gal.5.3 It
knows no compromise; it cannot demand less than what is right, and
perfect obedience is right. And therefore its only language is as
before, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things
written in the book of the law, to do them; and The man who does
those things shall live by them. Every man, therefore, who expects
justification by works, must see to it, not that he is better than other
men, or that he is very exact and does many things, or that he fasts
twice in the week, and gives tithes of all he possesses, but that he is
sinless.
That the law of God is thus strict in its demands, is a truth which lies
at the foundation of all Paul's reasoning in reference to the method of
justification. He proves that the Gentiles have sinned against the law
written on their hearts; and that the Jews have broken the law
revealed in their Scriptures; both Jews and Gentiles therefore are
under sin, and the whole world is guilty before God. Hence he infers
that by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in His sight.
There is no force in this reasoning, however, except on the
assumption that the law demands perfect obedience. How many
men, who freely acknowledge that they are sinners, depend on their
works for acceptance with God! They see no inconsistency between
the acknowledgment of sin, and the expectation of justification by
works. The reason is, they proceed on a very different principle from
the one adopted by the apostle. They suppose that the law may be
satisfied by very imperfect obedience. Paul assumes that God
demands perfect conformity to his will, that His wrath is revealed
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Therefore, it is
enough for him that men have sinned, to prove that they cannot be
justified by works. It is not a question of degrees more or less, for
there is no difference as to this point, since all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God. Rom 3.23
Men are disposed to think that this doctrine, though so plainly
taught in scripture, is very severe. They imagine that their good
deeds will be compared with their evil deeds, and that they will be
rewarded or punished as one class or the other preponderates; or
that the sins of one part of life may be atoned for by the good works
of another; or that they can escape by mere confession and
repentance. They could not entertain such expectations, if they
believed themselves to be under a law. No human law is
administered as men seem to hope the law of God will be. Someone
who steals or murders, though it is but once, though he confesses
and repents, though he does any number of acts of charity, is no less
a thief or murderer. The law cannot take cognizance of his
repentance and reformation. If he steals or murders, the law
condemns him. Justification by the law is impossible for him. The
law of God extends to the most secret exercises of the heart. It
condemns whatever in its nature is evil. If a man violates this perfect
rule of right, justification by the law ends; he has failed to comply
with its conditions; and the law can only condemn him. To justify
him, would be to say that he had not transgressed. However, men
think that they are not to be dealt with on the principles of strict law.
Here is their fatal mistake. It is here that they are in most direct
conflict with the Scriptures, which proceed upon the uniform
assumption of our subjection to the law. Under the government of
God, strict law is nothing but perfect excellence; it is the steady
exercise of moral rectitude. Even conscience, when duly enlightened
and roused, is as strict as the law of God. It refuses to be appeased by
repentance, reformation, or penance. It enforces every command and
every denunciation of our Supreme Ruler, and it teaches as plainly as
the Scriptures themselves, that justification by an imperfect
obedience is impossible. As conscience is fallible, however, no
reliance on this subject can be placed on her testimony. The appeal is
to the word of God, which clearly teaches that it is impossible for a
sinner to be justified by works, because the law demands perfect
obedience.
The apostle's second argument to show that justification is not by
works, is the testimony of the Scriptures of the Old Testament. This
testimony is urged in various forms. In the first place, as the apostle
proceeds on the principle that the law demands perfect obedience, all
those passages which assert the universal sinfulness of men, are so
many declarations that they cannot be justified by works. He
therefore quotes such passages as the following: There is none
righteous, no not one. There is none that understands, there is none
that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way; they are
altogether become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no
not one. Rom 3.10, 12 The Old Testament, by teaching that all men are
sinners, does, in the apostle's view, thereby teach that they can never
be accepted before God on the ground of their own righteousness. To
say that a man is a sinner, is to say that the law condemns him; and
of course it cannot justify him. As the ancient Scriptures are full of
declarations of the sinfulness of men, so they are full of proof that
justification is not by works.
But in the second place, Paul cites their direct affirmative testimony
in support of his doctrine. In the Psalms it is said, Do not enter into
judgment with your servant; for in your sight no man living shall
be justified. Psa 143.2 He often quotes this passage; 8 and to the same
class belong all those passages which speak of the insufficiency or
worthlessness of human righteousness in the sight of God.
In the third place, the apostle refers to those passages which imply
the doctrine for which he contends; that is, to those which speak of
the acceptance of men with God as a matter of grace, as something
which they do not deserve, and for which they can urge no claim
founded upon their own merit. It is with this view that he refers to
the language of David; Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin. Rom 4.7-8 The fact that a man is forgiven implies
that he is guilty; and the fact that he is guilty, implies that his
justification cannot rest upon his own character or conduct. It need
hardly be remarked that in this view, the whole of Scripture, from
beginning to end, is crowded with condemnations of the doctrine of
justification by works. Every penitent confession, every appeal to
God's mercy, is a renunciation of all personal merit; it is a
declaration that the penitent's hope was not founded on anything in
himself. Such confessions and appeals are indeed often made by
those who still rely on their good works, or inherent righteousness,
for acceptance with God. This, however, does not invalidate the
apostle's argument. It only shows that such persons have a different
view of what is necessary for justification, from that which is
entertained by the apostle. They suppose that the demands of the law
are so low, that although they are sinners and need to be forgiven,
they can still do what the law demands. Whereas, Paul proceeds on
the assumption that the law requires perfect obedience, and
therefore every confession of sin or appeal for mercy, involves a
renunciation of justification by the law.
Again, the apostle represents the Old Testament as teaching that
justification is not by works, by showing that they inculcate a
different method of obtaining acceptance with God. They do this by
the doctrine which they teach concerning the Messiah as a Redeemer
from sin. Hence Paul says that the method of justification without
works (not founded on works) was testified by the law and the
prophets; that is, by the whole of the Old Testament. The two
methods of acceptance with God, the one by works the other by a
propitiation for sin, are incompatible. And as the ancient Scriptures
teach the latter method, they repudiate the former. But moreover, in
express terms they assert that, The just shall live by faith. Hab 2.4 And
the law knows nothing of faith; its language is, The man who does
them shall live by them. Gal 3.11-12 The law knows nothing of anything
but obedience as the ground of acceptance. If the Scriptures say we
are accepted through faith, they thereby say that we are not accepted
on the ground of obedience.
Again, the examples of justification given in the Old Testament, show
that it was not by works. The apostle appeals particularly to the case
of Abraham, and asks whether he attained justification by works? He
answers, No, for if he were justified by works he had something of
which to glory, but he had no ground of glorying before God, and
therefore he was not justified by works. Rom 4.2-3 And the Scriptures
expressly assert, Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him
for righteousness. His acceptance, therefore, was by faith and not by
works.
In all these various ways, the apostle makes the authority of the Old
Testament sustain his doctrine that justification is not by works. This
authority is as decisive for us as it was for the ancient Jewish
Christians. We also believe the Old Testament to be the word of God,
and its truths come to us explained and enforced by Christ and his
apostles. We have the great advantage of an infallible interpretation
of these early oracles of truth. And the argumentative manner in
which their authority is cited and applied, prevents all obscurity as to
the real intentions of the sacred writers. That by the deeds of the law
no flesh shall be justified before God, is taught so clearly and so
frequently in the New Testament — it is so often asserted, so formally
proved, so variously assumed — that no one can doubt that such is
indeed the doctrine of the word of God. The only point on which the
serious inquirer can even raise a question is, What kind of works do
the Scriptures mean to exclude as the foundation for acceptance with
God? Does the apostle mean works in the widest sense? Or does he
merely intend ceremonial observances, or works of mere formality
performed without any real love to God?
Those who attend to the nature of his assertions and to the course of
his argument, will find that there is no room for doubt on this
subject. The primary principle on which his argument rests
precludes all ground for mistaking his meaning. He assumes that the
law demands perfect obedience, and as no man can render that
obedience, he infers that no man can be justified by the law. He does
not argue that because the law is spiritual, it cannot be satisfied by
mere ceremonies or by works flowing from an impure motive. He
nowhere says that though we cannot be justified by external rites, or
by works having the mere form of goodness, we are justified by our
sincere though imperfect obedience. On the contrary, he constantly
teaches that, since we are sinners, and since the law condemns all
sin, it condemns us; and justification by the law is therefore
impossible. He applies this argument to the Jews and the Gentiles
without distinction, to the whole world, whether they knew anything
of the Jewish Scriptures or not. It was the moral law, the law which
he pronounced holy, just, and good, which says, You shall not covet;
it is this law, however revealed, whether in the writings of Moses, or
in the human heart, of which he constantly asserts that it cannot give
life, or teach the way of acceptance with God. As most of those to
whom he wrote had enjoyed a divine revelation, and as that
revelation included the law of Moses and all its rites, he of course
included that law in his statement, and often specially refers to it —
but never in its limited sense as a code of religious ceremonies; it is
always in its widest scope as including the highest rule of moral duty
made known to men.
And hence he never contrasts one class of works with another, but
constantly contrasts works and faith, excluding all classes of the
former — works of righteousness as well as those of mere formality.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy he has saved us. Tit 3.5 Who has saved us not according to
our works. 2Tim 1.9 We are saved by faith, not by works. Eph 2.9 Indeed,
men are said to be justified without works; to be ungodly when
justified; and it is not until they are justified, that they perform any
really good works. It is only when united to Christ, that we bring
forth fruit unto God. Hence we are said to be his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works. All the inward excellence of
the Christian, and the fruits of the Spirit, are the consequences and
not the causes of his reconciliation and acceptance with God. They
are the robe of beauty, the white garment, with which Christ arrays
those who come to him poor and blind and naked. Then it is the
plain doctrine of the word of God, that our justification is not
founded upon our own obedience to the law. Nothing done by us, or
wrought in us, can for a moment stand the test of a rule of
righteousness which pronounces a curse upon all those who do not
continue in all things written in the Book of the Law, to do them.
Section II. The demands of the Law are
satisfied by what Christ has done.
We have thus seen that the Scriptures teach first, that all men are
naturally under the law as prescribing the terms of their acceptance
with God; and secondly, that no obedience which sinners can render
is sufficient to satisfy the demands of that law. It follows then that
unless we are freed from the law, not as a rule of duty, but as
prescribing the conditions of acceptance with God, justification is
impossible for us. It is therefore, the third great point of Scriptural
doctrine on this subject, that believers are free from the law in the
sense just stated. You are not under the law, says the apostle, but
under grace. Rom 6.14 To illustrate this declaration, he refers to the
case of a woman who is bound to her husband as long as he lives; but
when he is dead, she is free from her obligation to him, and is at
liberty to marry another man. So we are delivered from the law as a
rule of justification, and are at liberty to embrace a different method
of obtaining acceptance with God. Rom 7.1, 6 Paul says of himself, that
he had died to the law, Gal 2.19 i.e. he had become free from it. And the
same is said of all believers. Rom 7.6 He insists upon this freedom as
essential not only to justification but to sanctification. For while
under the law, the motions of sin, which were by the law, brought
forth fruit unto death; but now we are delivered from the law, that
we may serve God in newness of spirit. Rom 7.5-6 Before faith came, we
were kept under the law, which he compares to a schoolmaster; but
now we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Gal 3.24-25 He regards the
desire to be subject to the law as the great infatuation. Tell me, he
says, you who desire to be under the law, Do you not hear the law?
And then he shows that those who are under the demands of a legal
system, are in the condition of slaves, and not of sons and heirs.
Stand fast, therefore, he exhorts, in the liberty with which Christ has
made us free. Behold! I Paul say to you, that if you are circumcised,
Christ will profit you nothing. For I testify to everyone who is
circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ has
become of no effect to you; whichever of you are justified by the law,
you have fallen from grace. Gal 5.1-4 Paul considered this infatuation
to be madness. And so he exclaims, O foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ has been evidently portrayed among you, as crucified?
This only would I learn from you, Did you receive the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Gal 3.1-2 This apostasy was
so fatal — the substitution of legal obedience for the work of Christ as
the ground of justification, was so destructive — that Paul
pronounces accursed any man or angel who preached such a doctrine
for the gospel of the grace of God.
It was to the law, as revealed in the books of Moses, that the fickle
Galatians were disposed to look for justification. Their apostasy,
however, consisted in going back to the law, no matter in what form
it was revealed, to works, no matter of what kind, as the ground of
justification. The apostle's arguments and denunciations are
therefore so framed as to apply to the adoption of any form of legal
obedience, instead of the work of Christ, as the ground of our
confidence towards God. To suppose that all he says relates
exclusively to a relapse into Judaism, is to suppose that we Gentiles
have no part in the redemption of Christ. If it was only from the
bondage of the Jewish economy that he redeemed his people, then
those who were never subject to that bondage, have no interest in his
work. And of course Paul was strangely infatuated in preaching
Christ crucified to the Gentiles. We find, however, that what he
taught in the Epistle to the Galatians, in special reference to the law
of Moses, he teaches in the Epistle to the Romans in reference to that
law which is holy, just, and good, and which condemns the most
secret sins of the heart.
The nature of the apostle's doctrine is, if possible, even clearer from
the manner in which he vindicates it, than from his direct assertions.
What then! he asks, Shall we continue in sin, because we are not
under the law, but under grace? God forbid! Rom 6.1 Had Paul taught
that we are freed from the ceremonial, in order to be subject to the
moral law, there could have been no room for such an objection. But
if he taught that the moral law itself could not give life, that we must
be freed from its demands as the condition of acceptance with God,
then indeed, to the wise of this world, it might seem that he was
loosing the bands of moral obligation, and opening the door to the
great licentiousness. Hence the frequency and earnestness with
which he repels the objection, and shows that so far from legal
bondage being necessary to holiness, it must cease before holiness
can exist — that it is not until the curse of the law is removed, and
the soul reconciled to God, that holy affections rise in the heart, and
the fruits of holiness appear in the life. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid! indeed, we establish the law. Rom 3.31
It is then clearly the doctrine of the Bible, that believers are freed
from the law as prescribing the conditions of their acceptance with
God; it is no longer incumbent upon them, in order for justification,
to fulfil its demand of perfect obedience, or to satisfy its penal
exactions. But how is this deliverance effected? How is it that
rational and accountable beings are exempted from the obligations of
that holy and just law which was originally imposed on their race as
the rule of justification?
The answer to this question includes the fourth great truth
respecting the way of salvation taught in the Scriptures. It is not by
the abrogation of the law, either as to its precepts or penalty; it is not
by lowering its demands, and accommodating them to the altered
capacities or inclinations of men. We have seen how constantly the
apostle teaches that the law still demands perfect obedience, and that
those who seek justification at its hands, are debtors to do the whole
law. He no less clearly teaches that death is as much the wages of sin
in our case, as it was in that of Adam. If it is neither by abrogation
nor relaxation that we are freed from the demands of the law, then
how has this deliverance been effected? By the mystery of vicarious
obedience and suffering. This is the gospel of the grace of God. This
is what was a scandal to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks, but,
to those who are called, it is the power of God and the wisdom of
God. 1Cor 1.23-24
The Scriptures teach us that the Son of God, the brightness of the
Father's glory, and the express image of his person, who did not
think it robbery to be equal with God, became flesh, and subjected
himself to the very law to which we were bound; he perfectly obeyed
that law and suffered its penalty, and thus, by satisfying its demands,
he delivered us from its bondage and introduced us into the glorious
liberty of the sons of God. Rom 8.21 It is thus that the doctrine of
redemption is presented in the Scriptures. God, says the apostle, sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, that he might
redeem those who were under the law. Gal 4.4-5 Being made under the
law, we know that he obeyed it perfectly, brought in everlasting
righteousness, and is therefore declared to be the Lord our
righteousness, since by his obedience, many are constituted
righteous. Rom 5.19 He is therefore said to be made righteousness to
us. 1Cor 1.30 And those who are in him are said to be righteous before
God, not having their own righteousness, but that which is by the
faith of Christ. Phi 3.9
That we are redeemed from the curse of the law by Christ's enduring
that curse in our place, is taught in every variety of form, from the
beginning to the end of the Bible. There was greater need that this
point be clearly and variously presented, because it is the one on
which an enlightened conscience immediately fastens. The desert of
death, begets the fear of death. And this fear of death cannot be
allayed until it is seen how, in consistency with divine justice, we are
freed from the righteous penalty of the law. How this is done, the
Scriptures teach in the most explicit manner. Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. Gal 3.13 Paul had
just said, As many as are of the law are under the curse. But all men
are naturally under the law, and therefore all are under the curse.
How are we redeemed from it? By Christ's being made a curse for us.
Such is the simple and sufficient answer to this most important of all
questions.
The doctrine so plainly taught in Gal 3.13, that Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law by bearing it in our stead, is no less
clearly presented in 2Cor 5.21. He has made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. This is represented as the only ground on which men are
authorized to preach the gospel. We are ambassadors for Christ,
says the apostle, as though God beseeched you by us; we beg you in
Christ's stead, be reconciled to God. Then follows a statement of the
ground on which this offer of reconciliation is presented. God has
made effectual provision for the pardon of sin, by making Christ sin
for us — though he was holy, harmless, and separate from sinners —
that we might be made righteous in him. The iniquities of us all were
laid on him; he was treated as a sinner in our place, in order that we
might be treated as righteous in Him.
The same great truth is taught in all those passages in which Christ is
said to bear our sins. The expression to bear sin, is one which is
clearly explained by its frequent occurrence in the sacred Scriptures.
It means to bear the punishment due to sin. It is said in Lev 20.17,
He that marries his sister, shall bear his iniquity. Again, Whoever
curses his God, shall bear his sin. It was said of someone who failed
to keep the Passover, that man shall bear his sin. Num 9.13 If a man
sins, he will bear his iniquity. It is used in the same sense when one
man bears the sin of another. Your children will wander in the
wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms. Num 14.33 Our
fathers have sinned and are no longer, and we have borne their
iniquities. Lam 5.7 When it is said in Eze 18.20, that the son shall not