forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God: to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

The Apostle triumphantly asks where is boasting then? he answers, it is excluded! he asks again, by what law? of works? and replies, nay, but by the law of faith, and so comes to the most comfortable conclusion of the text, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law.

Can any thing be more explicit, full, and decisive? The whole train of argument centres in one point, and beautifully introduces and immoveably establishes the final deduction. The concluding questions fix and confirm the meaning, justification by faith, alone excluding boasting.

But the subject is so important, and the testimonies of Scripture are so numerous and so decisive, that we will add some other passages to illustrate and confirm the doctrine.

Justification cannot be of works, for the Apostle says (Rom. iv. 5.) To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So he tells the Ephesians, (ii. 8.) By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

It cannot be by our obedience, for it is attributed simply to the obedience of Christ. Rom. v. 18, 19. By the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so, by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous.

It cannot be by faith as a work, for St. Paul asserts, Rom. iv. 16: Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed. And he shows that grace and works are in this matter quite opposite and inconsistent. (Rom. xi. 6.)

Justification cannot be attained by our own righteousness, for the Apostle condems the Jews for seeking it in this way, Rom. x. 3, 4. They, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own

righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God; for Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

Nor can there be a second justification before God by works, after a first justification by faith. From first to last the just live by faith. Rom. i. 17. Heb. x. 38, 39. The Apostle says, We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast to the end. He tells the justified Roman, thou standest by faith. The Scriptures know nothing of a double justification, and they so connect present justification by faith with eternal life and glory (Rom. v. 1, 2: viii. 30) as to leave no room for the dream of a second justification by works.

Nor yet, and weigh this well, can you seek to be justified partly by obedience to a law, and partly by Christ, without forfeiting all hope in Christ, (Gal. v. 2—4.) 1 Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law: ye are fallen from grace.

If we seek righteousness therefore by works, we shall be left without righteousness. St. Paul says, Rom. ix. 31. Israel which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.

Though justification has an ultimate reference to the day of judgment and is to be then openly declared, and its fruits testified and exhibited, yet it is still a blessing conferred in the present life, and of which we may now enjoy the comfort, for the Apostle says, (Rom. v. 1.) Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we believe in Christ, we are then immediately justified: though sinful in ourselves, yet according to the revealed will of God, we are accounted and dealt with as righteous in his sight. His word pronounces on every true believer the sentence of justification, and they stand accepted before him as free from all guilt, and as if they were righteous, altogether righteous, according to the gracious declaration, By him all that

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believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Acts xiii. 39.

The faith that saves however, is not a dead and vain, but a true and living faith. St. James says, (ii. 14.) What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him? Any man may profess to have faith, but real faith is proved to be such by its fruits.

Justification is continued by the same means by which it was first received. It is founded on his mediation, who was foretold as one to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness: who has declared that his sheep shall never perish, and who ever liveth to make intercession for us: he maintains the faith which he gave; (Luke xxii. 32.) and thus, notwithstanding the daily sinfulness of the believer, his justification, as to his enjoyment of the blessing, is renewed and confirmed from day to day by constantly recurring faith in Jesus-so the Apostle describes his experience, The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. ii. 20.)

Such is the doctrine of our free justification before God by faith. It is our being accounted righteous in his sight through Christ Jesus. It springs from divine

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Some have considered justification and forgiveness as one and the same blessing. It is allowed that we should guard against multiplying artificial divisions, but we should also preserve scriptural distinctions. The expressions contained Rom. iv. 6---8, do not necessarily prove that justification is merely synonymous with the pardon of our sins. words of David, Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, are quoted by St. Paul, to show that God imputeth righteousness without works. The Apostle is dwelling on the FREEDOM of our salvation, to him that worketh is the reward reckoned, not of grace, but of debt, &c. and he shows that David had similar views of the true blessedness of man, not as righteous in himself but as forgiven and without the imputation of sin, entirely of grace. But if a man be cleared of the imputation of sin, he is necessarily accounted righteous according to the law; for sin has reference to a law. The Apostle's inspired comment, that David describes God's imputing righteousness without works, is thus a most legitimate deduction from David's assertion, and appears to me to show that his words necessarily convey a meaning beyond the literal expression. Thus, while they manifest that forgiveness and justification always go together, they do not identify them as only the same blessing, or as synonymous expressions. The king's pardon, and the

grace; it is founded on the satisfaction made to the divine justice and the fulfilling of the divine law, by the sufferings and obedience unto death of our Lord; it is the divine testimony, sentence, and declaration of the inspired word in favour of the believer; it is received by a lively faith in Christ, and it is manifested to our own conscience and the world, by a life of holy obedience. It is continued and maintained through the same faith by which it was first obtained, and it will be evidenced in the day of judgment by all those fruits of a holy life which ever spring from genuine faith.

I have now to show that this scriptural doctrine is held by the Protestant Church. The general consent of Protestants, and the holy care with which they expressed and guarded this doctrine may be seen in the Harmony of the Confessions. I can now only extract a few sentences to show that they did really hold the doctrine.

The Helvetian Confession says, "We teach and believe with the Apostle, that sinful man is justified only by faith in Christ, not by the law or by any works.We do not part the benefit of justification; giving part kings restoring a large estate that had been forfeited are distinct blessings, though bestowed at the same time. Our King, the King of kings, in justifying us, not only pardons but confers the gift of that heavenly and enduring inheritance which we by sin had forfeited. Our justification before God can never be without pardon, and must include it; but the term in the scriptures is connected also with the title to everlasting life. Being justified by faith we have peace with God.-And rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Rom. v. 1, 2.) We have an inheritance among them that are sanctified, as well as forgiveness by faith in Jesus, Acts xxvi. 19. Forgiveness of sins does not necessarily entitle us to life, but justification according to a law with a promise of life, gives us that blessed hope, and therefore God in tender mercy, for our unspeakable comfort, has added the term "justification" to show our complete blessedness in Christ. We freely allow that scriptural terms and expressions cannot be cooped up in the narrowness of a human system. Forgiveness and justification are often in the Scriptures convertible and transferable terms. Just as the atonement and obedience of Christ are inseparable, and sometimes the benefit of our salvation in Christ is ascribed to one, and sometimes to the other, so our deliverance from the charge and guilt of sin is sometimes called forgiveness and sometimes justification, and in the Christian scheme these are inseparable. But while we take care not to systematize so as to cramp the freedom and the largeness of divine truth, let us also remember that all these terms and all these modes of expression are needful and valuable, and the distinct meaning of none of them should be lost.

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to the grace of God, or to Christ, and a part to ourselves, our charity, works, or merit; but we do attribute it wholly to the praise of God in Christ, and that through faith."

The French Confession says, "We do utterly reject all other means whereby men do think that they may be justified before God: and, casting away all opinion of virtues and merits, we do altogether rest in the only obedience of Jesus Christ; which is imputed to us both that all our sins may be covered, and also that we may obtain grace before God."

The Augsburg Confession says, "Men cannot be justified before God by their own power, merits, or works; but are justified for Christ's sake, through faith.'

The Wirtemberg Confession declares, "Man is made acceptable to God, and counted just before God, for the only Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, through faith."

The English Articles assert, "We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings: wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.'

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The Confessions of the Four Cities, the Confessions of Basil, of Belgia, of Saxony, and of Scotland agree here. Thus, with one voice, the whole Protestant Church bears witness to this scriptural doctrine.

1. The Church of England is very clear, and full, and scriptural in her statements on this doctrine. Four Articles immediately relate to itthe 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th; and the Homily of Salvation contains a full illustration of it.

2 The Greek Church, at least a part of that extensive church, in theory, holds the same doctrine. Platon's Summary of Christian Divinity, (recommended by the first dignitaries of the Russian Church, as containing a just view of the doctrines believed and taught in their communion,) on the point of justifying faith, has the following statement: "Through it man is accounted just before God; yea, is accounted as such, according to the doctrine of Paul, without the works of the law. (Rom. xi. 6.) For how is it possible for man to have any part in his own justification, when it is impossible to be justified in any other way, than by first confessing our guilt before God, and that we have merited his wrath."-See Pinkerton's State of the Greek Church, p. 108.