with rapture and ecstasy. By others it is done with great calmness. And by many, I doubt not, who do it truly, it is done so feebly and faintly, or rather, with such indistinct perceptions of their own real acts, that they long doubt and fear whether they have done it at all. But what is essential is, really, practically, and heartily to approve of the way of salvation by Christ, and rest and trust in him, as the "all in all" of the soul. Those who do this, embrace him in a saving manner. The Lord grant that you and I, my dear youth, may thus embrace him to our eternal benefit. Amen.

LECTURE XXVIII.

WHAT BENEFITS DO THEY THAT ARE EFFECTUALLY CALLED PARTAKE OF IN THIS LIFE?

WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION?

WE are to begin the present lecture with considering that, "They that are effectually called, do in this life partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification; and the several benefits which, in this life, do either accompany or flow from them." This answer is to be considered chiefly as introductory to several answers which follow it. To enter far into any of the subjects of these answers would, you perceive, be only to anticipate what a proper discussion of those topics will demand, when they come in order before

us.

All therefore that I shall remark further, on the answer now in our view is, that it should serve to impress on our minds this important truth, that all the blessings and benefits of redemption are indissolubly connected, or linked together; and that they are all insured to every individual, who is "effectually called" by the grace of God to that vital union with Christ which was described in the last lecture.

Hear

the words of infallible truth; "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified."

Let us now consider the next interesting answer in the Catechism. "Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight; only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone." In this answer is explained God's method of forgiving sinners and receiving them into his favour, as it is revealed in the gospel; and which, but for that revelation, we could never have known. Here the great problem is solved, which perplexed and confounded all the heathen moralists and philosophers, namely, how God can pardon sin in consistency with his own honour and glory. Here it is shown, that God can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. What wretched folly, as well as wickedness is it, for any who call themselves Christians, to deny this doctrine; to ungospelize the gospel; to throw themselves back into all the darkness of heathenism; to have no ground to hope for pardon, but that which is common to them and to those who are denominated virtuous pagans. It was well said by Luther, that the doctrine of justification before God, by the imputed righteousness of Christ alone, is "the doctrine of a standing or a falling church;" meaning, that the church which maintains this doctrine, in its purity and fulness, will prosper; and that no other can or will.

You will recollect, my dear youth, that when we discussed the nature of our Redeemer's priestly office, I showed you at some length, the weakness and fallacy of the objections which the enemies of gospel truth bring against the doctrine of imputation; both as it relates to the imputation of the sins of his people to their surety Saviour, and the imputation of his perfect

righteousness to them. Our attention at this time, therefore, need not be arrested or interrupted, by removing those objections. We may go on without delay in the presentation and illustration of this precious and fundamental truth of the gospel, just as it is given to us in the sacred Scriptures, and expressed in the answer before us.

Our first object must be to obtain a clear understanding of the word justification itself. You will, then, be careful to observe that this is what is called a juridical term; that is, it is a word used in, and borrowed from, courts of justice among men. When a person who has been arraigned, or brought to the bar, is, upon trial or inquiry, pronounced by the judge to be righteous, and in open court acquitted and discharged, such a person is said to be justified. Much pains have been taken by those who are, from various reasons, opposed to the gospel doctrine of justification, to show that the word does not always in sacred Scripture carry with it the import of a judicial sentence of acquittal. Witsius, in his Economy of the Covenants, under the article justification, an article which will richly reward the pains of any of you who will read it carefully, has shown in a most accurate and satisfactory manner, what are the several senses of this word, both in the Old Testament and the New; for it frequently occurs in both. And he has most unequivocally proved that its forensic or juridical signification, is not only its primary and general sense, but its invariable meaning, whenever it is used to denote a sinner's acquittal before his God. A single remark may make this evident. It is opposed to condemnation; as in that passage "it is God who justifieth, who is he that condemneth?" Now, as condemnation does never imply the making of a person guilty, but the sentence pronounced on him for being so, in like manner, its contrasted term justification cannot mean the making of a person righteous, but the declaration that he is righteous. To justify a person, then, is not to make him righteous, but to declare him to be so, upon the ground of law and

the trial of a competent judge. It is in regeneration and sanctification, that men are made, as far as in this life they are ever made, inherently holy. In justification, they are legally discharged from the guilt of all their sins. Regeneration and sanctification are graces wrought within us; justification is something that takes place without us, and is not our act at all, but the act of God. These things, therefore, are never to be confounded.

"It is God that justifieth," says the apostle. Witsius, in the place before cited, has excellently shown, that it is God, essentially considered in the person of the Father, who is especially the justifier of his people, in respect of judiciary power and authority. But he also shows that our Lord Jesus Christ is likewise said to justify, in respect to the dispensation or exercise of that power. And that the Holy Spirit is said to justify, as making application of the blood or righteousness of Christ, on account of which we are justified.

Justification, in the answer before us, is called "an act of God's free grace." It is called an act, because, like the sentence or decision of a judge, it is done and completed at once; and not carried on gradually like a work of time. It is called an act of God's free grace, because this grace is the sole moving cause in our justification. Thus it is said in the very words of inspiration, "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." If it be asked, how it is an act of free grace, by which we are justified, since it is through the redemption that is in Christ? the answer is this; the redemption that is in Christ, is the channel through which justifying grace freely flows to us. It was infinite grace that provided a Saviour; pure grace that led the soul to, and gave it an interest in, the Saviour; and therefore, an act of free grace is clearly performed when the sinner is declared to be justified in virtue of his righteousness. To the Saviour himself, it is indeed an act of strict justice, that his people should be justified, since he has paid the full price of it. But to his peo

ple who receive the benefits of his redemption, it is grace from the foundation to the top stone. Justice is indeed satisfied, in all the extent of its demands; but it is by the provision of God, the work of the Saviour, and the application of his Spirit. From these sources alone, all the benefits received in justification flow forth to the believer, and he therefore is plainly the recipient of the purest grace.

In justification there are two parts distinctly noticed, in the answer before us. 1. The pardon of all our sins. 2. The acceptance of us as righteous in the sight of God. The first of these is necessary and antecedent to the second. By the pardon of sin God absolves the sinner from the condemnation of the law, on account of Christ's satisfaction for sin. For till the sentence of the broken law be absolved by pardon, it is impossible that our persons can be accepted, or any blessing of the covenant be conferred upon us.

In pardon, it is the guilt of sin which is removed; that guilt by which the subject of it is exposed to eternal wrath as its just reward, for "the wages of sin is death." Nor can the guilt of sin ever return upon a pardoned and justified believer. The obligation to punishment being removed, or once taken off, can never again recur, according to the economy of grace; because there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, and whom he loveth he loveth unto the end. In justification, all past and present guilt is pardoned, and the assurance is given, that new acts of pardon shall be granted after every future transgression. But be careful to understand this distinctly. The meaning is, that God will always bring the justified believer to deep repentance and humiliation for his known offences, and also to the dereliction of his sin; and then will grant him a fresh act of pardon. To my apprehension it is perfectly preposterous to speak of sins being pardoned before they are committed. But it is a glorious gospel truth, that when God has once pardoned a sinner through Jesus Christ; he brings him into a state in which he will never fail to humble him and bring him to true repentance for