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 bear the iniquity of the father, it is obviously meant that the son will not be punished for the sins of the father. The meaning of this expression being so definite, there can be no doubt, of course, as to the manner in which it is to be understood, when used in reference to the Redeemer. The prophet Isaiah says, The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. My righteous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. He was numbered with transgressors, and bore the sins of many. Isa 53.6, 11, 12 More explicit language could not be used. This whole chapter is designed to teach one great truth: that our sins were to be laid on the Messiah, that we might be freed from the punishment which they deserved. It is therefore said, He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. Isa 53.8 In the New
Testament, the same doctrine is taught in the same terms. He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. 1Pet 2.24 Christ was offered to bear the sins of many. Heb 9.28 You know that he was manifested to take away (to bear) our sins. 1Joh 3.5 According to all these representations, Christ saves us from the punishment due to our sins, by bearing the curse of the law in our stead.
Intimately associated with the passages just referred to, are those which describe the Redeemer as a sacrifice, or propitiation. The essential idea of a sin-offering, is propitiation by means of vicarious punishment. That this is the Scriptural idea of a sacrifice, is plain from the laws of their institution, from the effects ascribed to them, and from the illustrative declarations of the sacred writers. The law prescribed that the offender should bring the victim to the altar, lay his hands on its head, and make confession of his crime; the animal would then be slain, and its blood sprinkled on the altar. Thus, it is said, He shall put his hand on the head of the burnt-offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Lev 1.4 And he brought the bullock for a sin-offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bullock of the sin-offering. Lev 8.14 The import of this imposition of hands is clearly taught in the following passage: And Aaron shall lay his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities, to a land not inhabited. Lev 16.21-22 The imposition of hands, therefore, was designed to express symbolically the ideas of substitution and transfer of the liability to punishment. In the case just referred to, in order to convey more clearly the idea of the removal of the liability to punishment, the goat on whose head the sins of the people were imposed, was sent into the wilderness; but another goat was slain and consumed in its stead.
The nature of these offerings is further obvious from the effects attributed to them. They were commanded in order to make atonement, to propitiate, to make reconciliation, to secure the forgiveness of sins. And they actually secured this effect. In the case of every Jewish offender, some penalty connected with the theocratical constitution under which he lived, was removed by the presentation and acceptance of the appointed sacrifice. This was all the effect, in the way of securing pardon, that the blood of bulls and of goats could produce. Their efficacy was confined to the purifying of the flesh, and to securing, for those who offered them, the advantages of the external theocracy. Besides this efficacy, however, which by divine appointment belonged to them considered in themselves, they were intended to prefigure and predict the true atoning sacrifice which was to be offered when the fulness of time should come.
Nothing, however, can more clearly illustrate the Scriptural doctrine of sacrifices, than the expressions employed by the sacred writers to convey the same idea as that intended by the term sin-offering. Thus, all that Isaiah taught about the Messiah — that the chastisement of our peace was upon him; that by his stripes we are healed; that he was stricken for the transgression of the people; that on him was laid the iniquity of us all, and that he bore the sins of many — he taught by saying, He made his soul an offering for sin. And in the epistle to the Hebrews it is said, He was offered (as a sacrifice) to bear the sins of many. Heb 9.28 The same idea, therefore, is expressed by saying either he bore our sins, or he was made an offering for sin. But to bear the sins of anyone, means to bear the punishment of those sins; and therefore, to be a sin-offering conveys the same meaning.
Such being the idea of a sacrifice which pervades the whole Jewish
Scriptures, it is obvious that the sacred writers could not teach more distinctly and intelligibly the manner in which Christ secures the pardon of sin, than by saying he was made an offering for sin. All the early readers of the Scriptures were familiar with this mode of pardon. They had been accustomed to it from their earliest years.
Not one of them could recall the time when the altar, the victim, and the blood were unknown to him. His first lessons in religion contained the ideas of confession of sin, substitution and vicarious sufferings and death. Therefore, when the inspired penmen told men imbued with these ideas, that Christ was a propitiation for sin, that he was offered as a sacrifice to make reconciliation, they told them in the plainest of all terms, that he secures the pardon of our sins by suffering in our stead. Jews could understand such language in no other way; and therefore, we may be sure it was intended to convey no other meaning. And in point of fact, it has been so understood by the Christian church from its first organization to the present day.
If it were merely in the way of casual allusion, that Christ was declared to be a sacrifice, we would not be authorized to infer from it the method of redemption. But this is far from being the case. This doctrine is presented in the most didactic form. It is exhibited in every possible mode. It is asserted, illustrated, and vindicated. It is made the central point of all divine institutions and instructions. It is urged as the foundation of hope, as the source of consolation, the motive to obedience. It is in fact the gospel. It would be vain to attempt a reference to all the passages in which this great doctrine is taught. We are told that God set forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation for our sins through faith in his blood. Rom 3.25 Again, he is declared to be a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. 1Joh 2.2 He is called the Lamb of God that takes away (bears) the sins of the world. Joh 1.29 You were not redeemed, says the apostle Peter, with corruptible things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1Pet 1.18-19 In the epistle to the Hebrews, this doctrine is more fully exhibited than in any other portion of Scripture. Christ is not only repeatedly called a sacrifice, but an elaborate comparison is made between the offering which he presented, and those which were offered under the old dispensation.
If the blood of bulls and of goats, says the apostle, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit (possessing an eternal spirit) offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Heb 9.13-14
The ancient sacrifices in themselves could only remove ceremonial uncleanness. They could not purge the conscience or reconcile the soul to God. They were mere shadows of the true sacrifice for sins.
Hence they were offered daily. Christ's sacrifice being really efficacious, was offered but once. It was because the ancient sacrifices were ineffectual, that Christ said, when he came into the world, Sacrifice and offering you would not have, but you prepared for me a body. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have no pleasure, Then I said, Lo I come to do your will, O God. Heb 10.5 By which will, adds the apostle (that is, by accomplishing the purpose of God), we are sanctified (or atoned for) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all; Heb 10.10 and by that one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified; and about all this, he adds, the Holy Ghost is witness. Heb 10.14-15
The Scriptures therefore clearly teach that Jesus Christ delivers us from the punishment of our sins, by offering himself as a sacrifice on our behalf; so that, as under the old dispensation, the penalties attached to the violations of the theocratical covenant, were removed by the substitution and sacrifice of bulls and of goats, so under the spiritual theocracy, in the living temple of the living God, the punishment of sin is removed by the substitution and death of the Son of God. No ancient Israelite was ignorant of the mode of atonement and reconciliation, when he had forfeited by transgression, his liberty of access to the earthly sanctuary. So now, no conscience-stricken sinner who knows that he is unworthy to draw near to God, need be ignorant of that new and living way which Christ has consecrated for us, through his flesh, so that we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Heb 10.19-20
In all the forms of expression mentioned up to here — namely, that Christ was made a curse for us; he was made sin for us; he bore our sins, he was made a sin offering — there is the idea of substitution.
Christ took our place; he suffered in our stead; he acted as our representative. But as the act of a substitute is in effect the act of the principal, all that Christ did and suffered in that character, every believer is regarded as having done and suffered himself. The attentive and pious reader of the Bible will recognize this idea in some of the most common forms of Scriptural expression. Believers are those who are in Christ. This is their great distinction and most familiar designation. They are so united to him, that what he did in their behalf, they are declared to have done. When he died, they died; when he rose, they rose; as he lives, they also shall live.
The passages in which believers are said to have died in Christ are numerous. If one died for all, says the apostle, then all died (not, all were dead). 2Cor 5.14 He that died (with Christ) is justified from sin, i.e. freed from its condemnation and power; if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall live with him. Rom 6.7-8 As a woman is freed from her husband by death, so believers are freed from the law by the body (the death) of Christ, because his death is in effect their death.
Rom 7.4 And in the following verse, he says, having died (in Christ), we are freed from the law. Every believer, therefore, may say with Paul, I was crucified with Christ. Gal 2.20 In like manner, the resurrection of Christ secures both the spiritual life and future resurrection of all his people. If we have been united to him in his death, we shall be in his resurrection. If we died with him, we shall live with him. Rom 6.5, 8
God, says the apostle, has quickened us together with Christ; and has raised us up together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Eph 2.5-6 That is, God has quickened, raised, and exalted us together 9 with Christ.
It is on this ground also that Paul says that Christ rose as the first fruits of the dead; not merely the first in order, but the earnest and security of the resurrection of his people. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall be made alive. 1Cor 15.20, 22 As our union with Adam secures our death, union with Christ secures our resurrection. Adam is a type of him that was to come, that is Christ — inasmuch as the relation in which Adam stood to the whole race is analogous to that in which Christ stands to his own people. As Adam was our natural head, the poison of his sin flows in all our veins. As Christ is our spiritual head, eternal life which is in him, descends to all his members. It is not they that live, but Christ that lives in them. Gal 2.20
This doctrine of the representative and vital union of Christ and believers pervades the New Testament. It is the source of the humility, the joy, the confidence which the sacred writers so often express. In themselves they were nothing, and deserved nothing; but in Him they possessed all things. Hence they counted all things but loss that they might be found in Him. Hence they determined to know nothing, to preach nothing, to glory in nothing but in Christ and him crucified.
The great doctrine of the vicarious sufferings and death of Jesus
Christ is further taught in those numerous passages which refer our salvation, to his blood, his death, or his cross. Viewed in connection with the passages already mentioned, those now referred to not only teach the fact that the death of Christ secures the pardon of sin, but how it does it. To this class belong such declarations as the following: The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. 1Joh 1.7 We have redemption through his blood. Eph 1.7 He has made peace through the blood of his cross. Col 1.20 Being justified by his blood. Rom 5.9 You are made near by the blood of Christ. Eph 2.13 You have come to the blood of sprinkling. Heb 12.24 Elect for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. 1Pet 1.2 To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Rev 1.5 He has redeemed us to God by his blood.
Rev 5.9 This cup, said the Son of God himself, is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Mat 26.28
The sacrificial character of the death of Christ is taught in all these passages. Blood was the means of atonement, and without the shedding of blood, there was no remission; therefore, when our salvation is so often ascribed to the blood of the Savior, it is declared that he died as a propitiation for our sins. The same remark may be made in reference to those passages which ascribe our redemption to the death, cross, and flesh of Christ; for these terms are interchanged, being of the same import. We are reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Rom 5.10 We are reconciled by his cross. Eph 2.16
We are reconciled by the body of his flesh through death. Col 1.22 We are delivered from the law by the body of Christ; Rom 7.4 he abolished the law in his flesh; Eph 2.15 he took away the handwriting which was against us, nailing it to his cross. Col 2.14 The more general expressions respecting Christ's dying for us receive a definite meaning from their connection with the more specific passages mentioned above. Everyone, therefore, knows what is meant when it is said that Christ died for the ungodly; Rom 5.6 that he gave himself a ransom for many; Mat 20.28 that he died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. 1Pet 3.18 No less plain is the meaning of the Holy Spirit when it is said, God did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all; Rom 8.32 that he was delivered for our offenses; Rom 4.25 that he gave himself for our sins. Gal 1.4
Seeing then, that we owe everything to the expiatory sufferings of the blessed Savior, we cease to wonder that the Cross is rendered so prominent in the exhibition of the plan of salvation. We are not surprised at Paul's anxiety lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect; or that he should call the preaching of the gospel, the preaching of the cross; or that he should preach Christ crucified, both to Jews and Greeks, as the wisdom of God and the power of God; or that he should determine to glory in nothing save in the Cross of Christ.
As there is no truth more necessary to be known, so there is none more variously or plainly taught than the method of escaping the wrath of God due to us for sin. Besides all the clear exhibitions of Christ as bearing our sins — such as dying in our stead, making his soul an offering for sin, redeeming us by his blood — the Scriptures set him forth in the character of a Priest, in order that we might more fully understand how it is that he effects our salvation. It was predicted long before his advent, that the Messiah was to be a priest.
You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, was the declaration of the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David. Psa 110.4
Zechariah predicted that he would sit as a priest upon his throne. Zec
6.13 The apostle defines a priest to be a man ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. Heb 5.1 Jesus Christ is the only real priest in the universe. All others were either pretenders, or the shadow of the great High Priest of our profession.
He had every necessary qualification for this office. He was a man.
For inasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part of the same in order that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest; one who can be touched with a sense of our infirmities, seeing that he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. He was sinless. For such a high priest became us, He who was holy, harmless, and separate from sinners. He was the Son of God. The law made men having infirmity, to be priests. But God declared his Son to be a priest, who is consecrated forevermore. Heb
7.28 The sense in which Christ is declared to be the Son of God, is explained in the first chapter of Hebrews. It is said there that he is the express image of God; that he upholds all things by the word of his power; that all the angels are commanded to worship him; that his throne is an everlasting throne; that in the beginning he laid the foundations of the earth; that he is from everlasting, and that his years do not fail. It is from the dignity of his person, possessing this divine nature, that the apostle deduces the efficacy of his sacrifice, Heb 9.14 the perpetuity of his priesthood, Heb 7.16 and his ability to save to the uttermost all who come to God through him. Heb 7.25
He was duly constituted a priest. He didn't glorify himself to be made a high priest, but He that said to him, You are my Son, also said, You are a priest forever. He is the only real priest, and therefore his advent superseded all others, and put an immediate end to all their lawful ministrations by abolishing the typical dispensation with which they were connected. For the priesthood being changed, there was of necessity a change of the law. There was a disannulling of the former commandment for the weakness and unprofitableness of it; and there was the introduction of a better hope. Heb 7.12, 19 He has an appropriate offering to present. As every high priest is appointed to offer sacrifices, it was necessary that this man should have something to offer. This sacrifice was not the blood of goats or of calves, but his own blood; it was himself that he offered to God, to purge our conscience from dead works. Heb 9.12, 14 He has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, which was accomplished when he was once offered to bear the sins of many. Heb 9.26, 28 He has passed into the heavens. As the high priest was required to enter into the most holy place with the blood of atonement, so Christ has entered not into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us, Heb 9.24 and where he ever lives to make intercession for us. Heb 7.25
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God (let the reader remember what that means), who has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having by himself purged our sins and made reconciliation for the sins of the people, every humble believer who commits his soul into the hands of this High Priest, may come with boldness to the throne of grace, assured that he will find mercy and grace to help in time of need.
Section III. The righteousness of Christ the true ground of our Justification. The practical effects of this doctrine.
The Bible, as we have seen, teaches first, that we are under a law which demands perfect obedience and which threatens death in case of transgression; secondly, that all men have failed in rendering that obedience, and therefore are subject to the threatened penalty; thirdly, that Christ has redeemed us from the law by being made under it and in our place, satisfying its demands. It only remains to be shown that this perfect righteousness of Christ is presented as the ground of our justification before God.
In scriptural language, condemnation is a sentence of death pronounced upon sin; justification is a sentence of life pronounced upon righteousness. As this righteousness is not our own, as we are sinners, ungodly, without works, it must be the righteousness of another, even of him who is our righteousness. Hence we find so constantly the distinction between our own righteousness, and that which God gives. The Jews, the apostle says, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, would not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. Rom 10.3
This was the rock on which they split. They knew justification required righteousness; they insisted on urging their own, imperfect as it was. And they would not accept of that which God had provided in the merits of his Son, who is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. The same idea is presented in Rom 9.30-
32, where Paul sums up the case of the rejection of the Jews and the acceptance of believers. The Gentiles have attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel has not attained it. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. The Jews would not receive and confide in the righteousness which God had provided, but endeavored by works, to prepare a righteousness of their own. This was the cause of their ruin. In direct contrast to the course pursued by the majority of his kinsmen, we find Paul renouncing all dependence upon his own righteousness, and thankfully receiving that which God had provided. He had every advantage and every temptation that any man could have to trust in himself — for he was one of the favored people of God, circumcised on the eighth day, and touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Yet all these things he counted but loss, that he might win Christ, and be found in him, not having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Phi 3.8-9
Here the two righteousnesses are brought distinctly into view. The one was his own, consisting in obedience to the law; this Paul rejects as inadequate, and unworthy of acceptance. The other is of God and received by faith; this Paul accepts and glories in as all-sufficient, and as alone sufficient. This is the righteousness which the apostle says God imputes to those without works. Hence it is called a gift, a free gift, a gift by grace; and believers are described as those who receive this gift of righteousness. Rom 5.17 Hence we are never said to be justified by anything done by us or wrought in us, but by what Christ has done for us. We are justified through the redemption that is in him. Rom 3.24 We are justified by his blood. Rom 5.9 We are justified by his obedience. Rom 5.19 We are justified by him from all things. Act 13.39 He is our righteousness. 1Cor 1.30 We are made the righteousness of God in him. 2Cor 5.21 We are justified in his name.
1Cor 6.11 There is no condemnation to those who are in him. Rom 8.1
Justification is therefore by faith in Christ, because faith is receiving and trusting to him as our Savior, as having done all that is required to secure our acceptance before God.
It is thus, then, that the Scriptures answer the question, How can a man be just with God? When the soul is burdened with a sense of sin, when it sees how reasonable and holy that law is which demands perfect obedience, and which threatens death as the penalty of transgression; when it feels the absolute impossibility of ever satisfying these just demands by its own obedience and sufferings — it is then that the revelation of Jesus Christ as our righteousness, is felt to be the wisdom and power of God unto salvation. Destitute of all righteousness in ourselves, we have our righteousness in him.
What we could not do he has done for us. Therefore, the righteousness on which the sentence of justification is passed on the believing sinner, is not his own, but that of Jesus Christ.
It is one of the strongest evidences of the divine origin of the Scriptures, that they are suited to the nature and circumstances of man. If their doctrines were believed and their precepts obeyed, men would stand in their true relation to God, and the different classes of men to each other. Parents and children, husbands and wives, rulers and subjects, would be found in their proper sphere, and would attain the highest possible degree of excellence and happiness. Truth leads to holiness. And all truth is known to be truth, by its tendency to promote holiness. As this test, when it is applied to the Scriptures generally, evinces their divine perfection, so when it is applied to the cardinal doctrine of Justification by faith in Jesus Christ, it shows that doctrine to be worthy of all acceptation. On this ground, it is commended by the sacred writers. They declare it to be in the highest degree, honorable to God and beneficial to man. They assert that it is so arranged as to display the wisdom, justice, holiness, and love of God, while it secures the pardon, peace, and holiness of men. If it failed in either of these objects — if it were not suited to the divine character, or to our nature and necessities — it could not answer the end for which it was designed.
It will be readily admitted that the glory of God, in the exhibition or revelation of the divine perfections, is the highest conceivable end of creation and redemption. And consequently, any doctrine which is suited to make such exhibition is on that account, worthy of being universally received and gloried in. Now, the inspired writers teach us that it is peculiarly in the plan of redemption, that the divine perfections are revealed; that it was designed to show to principalities and powers, the manifold wisdom of God; that Christ was set forth as a propitiatory sacrifice to exhibit his righteousness or justice; and especially that in the ages to come, He might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us in Christ
Jesus. It is the love of God, the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of which surpass knowledge, that is here most conspicuously displayed. Eph 3.18-19 Some men strangely imagine that the death of Christ procured for us the love of God; whereas it was the effect and not the cause of that love. Christ did not die that God might love us; rather, he died because God loved us. God commends his love towards us in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5.8 He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life. Joh
3.16 In this was manifested the love of God towards us: because God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1Joh 4.9-10
As this love of God is manifested towards the unworthy, it is called grace, and this it is that the Scriptures dwell upon with such peculiar frequency and earnestness. The mystery of redemption is that a Being of infinite holiness and justice should manifest such wonderful love to sinners. Hence the sacred writers so earnestly denounce everything that obscures this peculiar feature of the gospel; everything which represents men as worthy, as meriting, or in any way by their own goodness, securing the exercise of this love of God.
It is of grace lest any man should boast. We are justified by grace; we are saved by grace; and if it is of grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. The apostle teaches us not only that the plan of salvation had its origin in the unmerited kindness of God, and that our acceptance with him is in no way or degree founded on our own worthiness, but moreover, that the actual administration of the economy of mercy is so conducted as to magnify this attribute of the divine character. God chooses the foolish, the base, the weak, yes those who are nothing, in order that no flesh should glory in His presence. Christ is made everything to us, that those who glory, should glory only in the Lord. 1Cor 1.27, 31
It cannot fail to occur to every reader that unless he sincerely rejoices in this feature of the plan of redemption, unless he is glad that the whole glory of his salvation belongs to God, his heart cannot be in accordance with the gospel. If he believes that the ground of his acceptance is in himself, or even wishes that it were so, he is not prepared to join in those grateful songs of acknowledgment to Him who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, 2Tim 1.9 which it is the delight of the redeemed to offer to Him who loved them, and gave himself for them. Eph 5.2 It is most obvious that the sacred writers are abundant in the confession of their unworthiness in the sight of God. They acknowledged that they were unworthy absolutely, and unworthy comparatively. It was of grace that any man was saved; and it was of grace that they were saved rather than others. It is therefore all of grace, that God may be exalted and glorified in all those who believe.
The doctrine of the gratuitous justification of sinners by faith in Jesus Christ, not only displays the infinite love of God, but it is declared to be peculiarly honorable to him, or peculiarly consistent with his attributes, because it is adapted to all men. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes of the Gentiles also; seeing it is one God who shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith. Rom 3.29-30 For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call on Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Rom 10.12-13 This is no narrow, national, or sectarian doctrine. It is as broad as the earth. Wherever men can be found, the creatures of God, there the mercy of God in Christ Jesus may be preached. The apostle greatly exults in this feature of the plan of redemption, as worthy of God; and as making the gospel the foundation of a religion for all nations and ages. In revealing a salvation sufficient for all and suited for all, it discloses God in his true character, as the God and Father of all.
The Scriptures, however, represent this great doctrine as no less suited to meet the necessities of man, than it is to promote the glory of God. If it exalts God, it humbles man. If it renders it manifest that he is a Being of infinite holiness, justice, and love, it makes us feel that we are destitute of all merit, indeed most ill-deserving; that we are without strength; that our salvation is an undeserved favor. As nothing is truer than the guilt and helplessness of men, no plan of redemption which does not recognize these facts, could ever be in harmony with our inward experience, or command the full acquiescence of the penitent soul. The ascription of merit which we are conscious that we do not deserve, produces of itself severe distress; and if this false estimate of our deserts is the ground of the exhibition of special kindness towards us, it destroys the happiness such kindness would otherwise produce. Therefore, to a soul sensible of its pollution and guilt in the sight of God, the doctrine that it is saved on account of its own goodness, or because it is better than other men, is discordant and destructive of its peace. Nothing but an absolutely gratuitous salvation can suit a soul sensible of its illdesert. Nothing else suits its views of truth, or its sense of right. The opposite doctrine involves a falsehood and a moral impropriety in which neither reason nor conscience can acquiesce. The scriptural doctrine, which assumes what we know to be true (namely, our guilt and helplessness) places us in our proper relation to God; that relation which accords with the truth, with our sense of right, with our inward experience, and with every proper desire of our hearts.
This is one of the reasons why the Scriptures represent peace as the consequence of justification by faith.
There can be no peace while the soul is not in harmony with God, and there can be no such harmony until it willingly occupies its true position in relation to God. So long as it does not acknowledge its true character, so long as it acts on the assumption of its ability to merit or to earn the divine favor, it is in a false position. Its feelings towards God are wrong, and there is no manifestation of approval or favor on the part of God towards the soul. But when we take our true place and feel our ill-desert, and look upon pardoning mercy as a mere gratuity, we find access to God and his love is shed abroad in our hearts, producing that peace which passes all understanding. The soul ceases from its legal strivings; it gives over the vain attempt to make itself worthy, or to work out a righteousness with which to appear before God. It is contented to be accepted as unworthy, and to receive as a gift, a righteousness which can bear the scrutiny of God. Peace, therefore, is not the result of the assurance of mere pardon, but of pardon founded upon a righteousness which illustrates the character of God, which magnifies the law and makes it honorable; which satisfies the justice of God while it displays the infinite riches of divine tenderness and love. The soul can find no objection to such a method of forgiveness. It is not pained by the ascription of merit to itself, which is felt to be undeserved. Its utter unworthiness is not only recognized but openly declared. Nor is it harassed by the anxious doubt whether God can forgive sin, consistent with his justice. For justice is as clearly revealed in the cross of Christ, as love. The whole soul, therefore, however enlightened, or however sensitive, acquiesces with humility and delight in a plan of mercy which thus honors God, and which, while it secures the salvation of the sinner, permits Him to hide himself in the radiance which surrounds his Savior.
The apostles, moreover, urge on men the doctrine of justification by faith with peculiar earnestness because it presents the only method of deliverance from sin. So long as men are under the condemnation of the law, and feel themselves bound by its demands of obedience as the condition and ground of their acceptance with God, they do and must feel that He is unreconciled, that his perfections are arrayed against them. Their whole object is to propitiate him by means which they know to be inadequate. Their spirit is servile, their religion a bondage, their God is a hard master. To men in such a state, true love, true obedience, and real peace are alike impossible. But when they are brought to see that God, through his infinite love, has set forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation for our sins, that He might be just, and yet justify those who believe; that it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy that he saves us — they are then emancipated from their former bondage and made the sons of God. God is no longer a hard master, but a kind
Father. Obedience is no longer a task to be done for a reward; it is the joyful expression of filial love. The whole relation of the soul to God is changed, and all our feelings and conduct change with it.
Though we have no works to perform in order to obtain justification, we have everything to do in order to manifest our gratitude and love.
Do we therefore make void the law through faith? God forbid! indeed, we establish the law. Rom 3.31 There is no such thing as real, acceptable obedience until we are thus delivered from the bondage of the law as the rule of justification, and are reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Till then we are slaves and enemies, and have the feelings of slaves. When we have accepted the terms of reconciliation, we are the sons of God and have the feelings of sons.
It must not, however, be supposed that the filial obedience rendered by the children of God, is the effect of the mere moral influence arising from a sense of His favor. Though perhaps it is the strongest influence which any external consideration can exert, it is far from being the source of the holiness which always follows faith. The very act by which we become interested in the redemption of Christ from the condemnation of the law, makes us partakers of his Spirit. It is not mere pardon, nor any other isolated blessing that is offered to us in the gospel, but complete redemption, deliverance from evil, and restoration to the love and life of God. Therefore, those who believe, are not merely forgiven, but are so united to Christ, that they derive from and through him, the Holy Spirit. This is his great gift, bestowed on all who come to Him and confide in Him. This is the reason why he says, Without me, you can do nothing. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. Joh 15.4-5
The gospel method of salvation, therefore, is worthy of all acceptation. It reveals the divine perfections in the clearest and most affecting light, and it is in every way suited to the character and necessities of men. It places us in our true position as undeserving sinners; and it secures pardon, peace of conscience, and holiness of life. It is the wisdom and the power of God unto salvation. It cannot be a matter of surprise that the Scriptures represent the rejection of this method of redemption, as the prominent ground of the condemnation of those who perish under the sound of the gospel.
That the plan should be so clearly revealed, and yet men should insist on adopting some other that is better suited to their inclinations, is the height of folly and disobedience. That the Son of God should come into the world; die the just for the unjust; and offer us eternal life; and yet that we should reject his proffered mercy — this proves such an insensibility to his excellence and love, such a love for sin, such a disregard of the approval and enjoyment of God, that if all other grounds of condemnation could be removed, this alone would be sufficient. He that does not believe, is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Joh 3.18