The Nature of Justification, and the

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The Nature of Justification, and the Nature and Concern of Faith in it</strong>

by Samuel Davies

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith." Romans 1:16-17

However little the gospel of Christ is esteemed in the world, it is certainly the most gracious and important dispensation of God towards sinful men, or else our Bible is mere fantasy and fable; for the Bible speaks of it with the highest encomiums, and the sacred writers are often in transports when they mention it. It is called:
the gospel of the grace of God, Acts 20:24;
the gospel of salvation, Ephesians 1:13;
the glorious gospel, or, the gospel of the glory of Christ, 2 Corinthians 4:4;
the gospel of peace, Ephesians 6:15.

Nay, its very name has something endearing in the sound, "good tidings," "joyful news". It is the wisdom of God in a mystery, 1 Corinthians 2:7; the mystery which had been hidden from ages and from generations, Col. 1:26; the ministration of the Spirit, and of righteousness, which far exceeds all former dispensations in glory. 2 Corinthians 3:8, 9.

And it is represented as the only scheme for the salvation of sinners. When the wisdom of the world had used its utmost efforts in vain, it pleased God, by the despised preaching of this humble gospel, to save those who believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21.

In my text it is called "the power of God unto salvation, to every one who believes, whether Jew or Gentile." Paul, though the humblest man who ever lived, declares he would not be ashamed of professing and preaching the gospel of Christ, even in Rome—the metropolis of the world, the seat of learning, politeness, and grandeur. He represents it as a 'catholic-on', a universal remedy, equally adapted to Jews and Greeks, to the posterity of Abraham, and to the numerous Gentile nations, and equally needed by them all.

Now this must be all extravagance and ostentatious parade, unless there is something peculiarly glorious and endearing in the gospel. It must certainly give the most illustrious display of the divine perfections: it must be the most grand contrivance of infinite wisdom; the most rich and amazing exertion of unbounded goodness; and particularly, it must bear the most favourable aspect upon guilty men, and be the best, nay, the only scheme for their salvation. And what are the glorious peculiarities, what are the endearing recommendations of this gospel? One of them, in which we are nearly interested, strikes our eyes in my text, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last." Here let us inquire into the meaning of the expressions, and point out the connection.

The righteousness of God has generally one uniform signification in the writings of Paul; and by it he means that righteousness, upon the account of which a sinner is justified; that righteousness for the sake of which his sins are forgiven, and he is restored to the divine favour: in short, it is our only justifying righteousness. It may be called the righteousness of God, to distinguish it from our own personal righteousness. It is the righteousness of God, a complete, perfect, divine, and God-like righteousness; and not the base, imperfect, scanty righteousness of sinful, guilty men. So it seems to be taken, Romans 10:3. "Being ignorant ofGod's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God;" where the righteousness of God is directly opposed to, and distinguished from, their own righteousness.

The various descriptions of this righteousness, and of justification by it, which we find in the apostolic writings, may assist us to understand the nature of it; and, therefore, it may be proper for me to lay them before you in one view.

It is frequently called the righteousness of Christ; and it is said to consist in his obedience; "by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous," Romans 5:19. Now obedience consists in the strict observance of a law; and, consequently, the obedience of Christ, which is our justifying righteousness, consists in his obedience to the law of God. Hence he is said to be "the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes." Romans 10:4, 5. To be justified by his righteousness is the same thing as to be justified by his blood, Romans 5:9; to be reconciled to God by his death, etc, verse 10. From whence we may learn, that the sufferings of Christ are a principal part of this righteousness; or, that he not only obeyed the precept—but also endured the penalty of the divine law in our stead; and that it is only on this account we can be justified.

This righteousness is called the righteousness of God without the law, Romans 3:21; an imputed righteousness without works, Romans 4:6. And it is plain, from the whole tenor of this epistle, and that to the Galatians, that the righteousness by which we are justified, is entirely different from our own obedience to the law: and hence we may learn, that our own merit or good works do not in whole or in part constitute our justifying righteousness; but that it is wholly, entirely, and exclusively the merit of Christ's obedience and sufferings.

This righteousness is often called the righteousness of faith. Thus, according to some, it is denominated in my text, which may be thus rendered, "For in it the righteousness of God by faith is revealed to faith;" and this is most agreeable to the phraseology of this epistle. Others, following our translation—or the apparent order of the original, understand it in another sense; yet still so as to assign faith a peculiar concert in the affair. "The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith;" that is, according to some, it is entirely and all through by faith; or, from one degree of faith to another; or from faith to faith, from believer to believer, all the world over, among the Jews and Gentiles; or from the faithfulness of God in the Word, to the grace of faith in the heart.

You see that whatever sense you put upon this difficult phrase, it still coincides with or countenances the translation, which I would rather choose. "The righteousness of faith is revealed to faith." So it is expressly called in Romans 3:22, "The righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Christ." See chapter 4:11, 13, 10:6; Philippians 3:9. "Not having my own righteousness, which is of the law—but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." From whence we may infer, thatfaith has a peculiar concurrence of instrumentality in our justification by the righteousness of Christ.

My text further observes that in the gospel this justifying righteousness is revealed to faith; that is, in the gospel it is clearly revealed, proposed, and offered as an object of faith. The light of nature is all darkness and uncertainty on this important point; it can only offer obscure and mistaken conjectures concerning the method of pardon and acceptance for a guilty sinner; it leaves the anxious conscience still unsatisfied and perplexed with the grand inquiry, "With what shall I come before the Lord? How shall such a guilty creature as I re-obtain the favour of my provoked Sovereign?" It may suggest some plausible things in favour of repentance, as the only method of pardon; it may flatter the sinner, that a God of infinite goodness will not rigorously execute his law; and it may draw a veil over the attribute of his justice; and thus it may build the hopes of the sinner upon the ruin of the divine government, and the dishonour of the divine perfections.

But a method of justification by the righteousness of another, by the obedience and death of an incarnate God; by his perfect obedience to the law, and complete satisfaction to justice, instead of the sinner; a method in which sin may be pardoned, and in the meantime, the honours of the divine government advanced, and the divine perfections gloriously illustrated; this is a mystery, which was hidden from ages and generations. This was a grand secret, which all the sages and philosophers, and all the sons of men, who had nothing but the light of nature for their guide, could not discover, nor indeed so much as guess at! This scheme was as far above their thoughts—as the heavens are above the earth. Nothing but infinite wisdom could contrive it: nothing but omniscience could reveal it.

In the writings of Moses and the prophets, indeed, we meet with some glimmerings of it; some few rays of gospel-light were reflected back from the Sun of Righteousness, through the dark medium of three or four thousand years, and shone upon the minds of the Jews, in the sacrifices, and other significant types of the law, and in the prophecies of the Old Testament writers; and hence the apostle says, that "the righteousness of God is witnessed by the law and the prophets" Romans 3:21; but it is in the gospel alone that it is explicitly and fully revealed: in the gospel alone it is proposed in full glory—as a proper object for a distinct, particular, and explicit faith.

And hence we may easily see the strong and striking connection of the text. You may connect this sentence, "For therein, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith," with the first part of a foregoing text, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ;" and then the sense will be, "No wonder that I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ among Jews or Gentiles, and even in Rome itself; for it makes a most glorious and important discovery, in which they are all concerned; a discovery which the Jews, with all the advantages of the law and the prophets, could not clearly make: a discovery which the Greeks with all their learning and philosophy, and the Romans with all their power and improvements, could not so much as guess at! And that is the discovery of a complete God-like righteousness, by which guilty men, of every nation under heaven, may obtain justification from all their sins! A righteousness which is a sufficient foundation for the hopes of sinners, and gives the most majestic and amiable view of the great God! A righteousness, without which Jews and Gentiles, and even the Romans, in the height of their empire, must unavoidably, irreparably, universally, and eternally perish, in general ruin."

Such a glorious and divine righteousness does the neglected and despised gospel reveal; such a benevolent, gracious, and reviving discovery does it make; and who would be ashamed of such a gospel? "For my part," says Paul, "I am not ashamed of it—but would boldly publish it unto kings and emperors, to sages and philosophers; and whatever sufferings I endure for its sake, still I glory in so good a cause, and would spend and be spent in its service!"

Or we may join this clause, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith," with the last part of the preceding verse, "For it is the power of God unto salvation," etc, and then the connection will run thus: "The gospel of Christ, so destitute of all carnal and secular recommendations, is sufficiently recommended to universal acceptance by this, that it is the only powerful and efficacious expedient for the salvation of all such as believe it, whether they be Jews or Gentiles. And no wonder it is attended with this divine power and efficacy, for in it, and in it alone, the righteousness of God by faith is revealed to the faith and acceptance of a guilty world. No religion but that of a Mediator can provide or propose such a righteousness; and yet without such a righteousness, no sinner, whether Jew or Gentile, can be saved! And, on the other hand, the revelation of such a righteousness directly tends to promote the important work of salvation, as it encourages the despairing sinner, and inspires him with vigour: and as it lays a foundation for the honourable communication of the influences of the Holy Spirit, without which this work can never be effected."

I hope these things are sufficient to give you a view of the sense and connection of the text. And there is only one thing I would repeat and illustrate before I proceed to a methodical prosecution of my subject; and that is—that the righteousness of God, or the righteousness of Christ, on account of which we are justified, signifies both the obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ—to answer the demands of the law, which we had broken. Or, as it is usually expressed, "his active and passive obedience." He obeyed the law, and endured its penalty, as the surety or substitute of sinners: that is, he did all this, not for himself—but for them, or in their stead. This is a matter of so much importance, that you should by all means rightly understand it; and I hope it is now sufficiently plain without enlarging upon it, though I thought it necessary to repeat it. My thoughts on this interesting subject I intend to dispose in the following order:

I. I shall briefly explain to you the nature of justifying faith, and show you the place it has in our justification.

II. I shall show, that no righteousness but that which the gospel reveals is sufficient for the justification of a sinner.

III. I shall evince that it is the gospel alone which reveals such a righteousness.

I. I am to explain to you the nature of justifying faith, and show you the place it has in our justification.

You see I do not propose to explain the general nature of faith, as it has for its object the Word of God in general; but only under that formal notion, as it has a peculiar instrumentality in our justification. When I mentioned the term justification, it occurs to my mind that some of you may not understand it; and for the sake of such, I would explain it. You cannot but know what it is to be pardoned, or forgiven, after you have offended: and it must be equally plain to you what it is to be loved, and received into favour, by a person whom you have offended; and these two things are meant by justification.

When you are justified, God pardons or forgives you all your sins; and he receives you again into his love and favour, and gives you a title to everlasting happiness. I hope this important point is now sufficiently plain to you all; and I return to observe, that I intend to consider faith at present, only under that formal notion, as we are justified by it; and in that view it is evident that theLord Jesus, as a Saviour who died for sinners, is its peculiar object. Hence a justifying faith is so often described in Scripture in such terms as these; "Believing in Christ, faith in his blood," etc; and the righteousness of Christ, by which we are justified, is called "the righteousness of faith, the righteousness which is of God by faith," etc. Therefore a justifying faith in Christ includes these two things:

1. A full persuasion of the truth of that method of salvation through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which the gospel reveals.

2. A hearty approbation of and consent to that method of salvation.

1. A justifying faith includes a full persuasion of the truth of that method of salvation through the righteousness of Jesus Christ which the gospel reveals.

Faith, in its general nature, is the belief of a thing upon the testimony of another. A divine faith is the belief of a thing upon the testimony of God; and consequently faith in Christ must be the belief of the testimony of God concerning him in the gospel. Hence faith is said to be a receiving the witness of God, which he has testified of his Son; and unbelief, on the other hand, is the not believing the record which God gave of his Son. 1 John 5:9, 10. Now John tells us, that the substance of the record or testimony, which God has given of his Son, is this: That God has given unto us eternal life; and this life is in his Son, verse 11; that is, "God in the gospel testifies, that he has established and revealed a method of bestowing immortal life and blessedness upon guilty sinners, who were justly condemned to everlasting death. And he farther testifies, that it is only in and through his Son Jesus Christ that this life and blessedness can be obtained; it is only through him that it can be hoped for; and nothing appears but horror and despair from every other quarter. Now faith is a firm, affecting persuasion of the truth of this gracious and important testimony. And as the foundation of all is, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the true Messiah, promised as the Saviour of sinners; hence it is, that believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, etc, is so frequently the definition of faith.

The scheme of salvation through Jesus Christ, supposes that all are sinners, exposed to condemnation, and unable to make satisfaction for their offences, or merit the divine favour by anything they can do or suffer; and represents the Lord Jesus as substituting himself in the place of the guilty, bearing the punishment due to their sin, and obeying the law of God in their stead; and it represents our injured Sovereign as willing to be reconciled to such of his guilty creatures, on this account; but then that, in order to enjoy the blessings of righteousness, they must, as guilty, helpless sinners, place their whole dependence upon it, and plead it as the only ground of their justification; and that, though they must abound in good works—yet these good works must not make these in the least the ground of their hopes of pardon and acceptance.

This is the substance of the testimony of God in the gospel; this testimony has been repeatedly published in your ears; and if you have believed with a justifying faith, you have yielded a full assent to this testimony; you are thoroughly convinced, and deeply sensible that these things are true, and you can cheerfully venture your eternal all upon the truth of them. You are convinced that this Jesus is indeed the only Saviour; that his righteousness is alone sufficient, and to the entire exclusion of every other righteousness in point of justification.

Such a faith may appear a very easy thing to a careless, impenitent sinner, who has imbibed this belief from his earliest days, and found no more difficulty in it, than in learning his creed, or assenting to a piece of history. But a person of this character is not at all the subject of a saving faith. It is ONLY the poor self-condemned penitent, broken-hearted sinner, that is capable of such a faith; and truly it is no easy matter to him; for one that sees his sins in all their aggravations, the divine law, and the righteous severity of divine justice: one that finds the lusts and prejudices of his heart rising against this method of salvation as foolishness, and as giving an intolerable mortification to his pride and vanity; for such a one to believe, is not an easy matter; it is the working of God's mighty power. Ephesians 1:19. But,

2. A justifying faith more peculiarly includes a hearty approbation of and consent to this method of salvation by the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

To believe the gospel as a true history; to believe it as a true theory or speculation, with a languor, an indifference, or a disaffection of heart—this indeed is the common popular faith of our country, and it generally prevails where the profession of Christianity is become fashionable; but, alas! it is not that faith by which we can be justified and saved! A hearty approbation of the way of salvation through Christ; a willing, delightful dependence of the whole soul upon his righteousness; a free, vigorous choice of it, and a cheerful consent to all the terms of the gospel; this is essential to such a faith.

It is the greatest incongruity to suppose that it is sufficient to believe the gospel with a lukewarm indifference, or a careless, unaffecting assent; or that our faith in Christ should be merely the act of a constrained, necessitated soul. He is the beloved Son of God, in whom he is well pleased; and we must be well pleased with him too, before we can expect salvation by him. To receive a scheme which God has so much at heart, a scheme, for the accomplishment of which Jesus bled and died; a scheme on which our everlasting life depends, and without which we are undone forever; to receive such a scheme with a languid assent, what profaneness! what impiety!

If you have ever truly believed in Jesus Christ, my friends, it has not been the languid act of a cold, impenitent, unwilling heart—but your whole souls have exerted their utmost vigor in it, and it has been the most cheerful, animated act of your whole lives! It is true, necessity had no small influence in the case. You saw, you felt yourselves lost forever without this righteousness; you saw no other way of escape or safety; you found yourselves shut up to the faith; and it was this sense of your necessity that first set you upon seeking after Christ, and turned your thoughts towards this method of salvation. But when God shined into your hearts, to give you the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ, when you received the first glances of his glorious righteousness, and heard, as with new ears, the offer of it in the gospel—stand, and pause, and recollect—what were your sentiments, and the temper of your heart in that important and memorable hour?

Was not their language, "Blessed Jesus! until now I have been blindly seeking after you from a servile principle, not from the agreeable constraint of love—but from the painful compulsion of fear, horror, and necessity; not because I desired you on account of your own excellency—but because I was desirous to be saved from hell, though it should be by an unacceptable hand. I have been striving to work up my reluctant heart to a compliance with your gospel, not because I saw your glory—but merely because I must perish forever if I rejected it. But now, when I see your glory, O lovely Saviour, I most cheerfully consent to the method of salvation revealed in the gospel, not only because I must—but because I choose to do so. I see it is a scheme well ordered in all things, and sure, and therefore it is all my salvation and all my desire. I would not only be saved—but I would be saved by you, blessed Jesus! I am willing, I am desirous, that you, and not I, should have the glory of it. Pardon is sweet to a guilty criminal;salvation is sweet to a perishing soul; but oh! pardon by your righteousness, salvation through your grace, this is doubly sweet!"

Such, my friends, has been, and such still is the language of your hearts, if you have ever received the righteousness of Christ through faith.

And hence it follows, that faith supposes the supernatural illumination of the mind and renovation of the heart, by the power of divine grace. Alas! while nature is left in its original darkness and depravity, it has no such views of the way of salvation through Christ, nor any such delight in it.

There are many, I am afraid, that secretly wonder what peculiar wisdom and grace there should be in the gospel, and why God should commend it so highly, and saints should be in raptures when they speak of it; for as for their part, they can discover no such great matters in it. Their hearts are cold and careless about it, or form insurrections against it. The way of salvation through the righteousness of Christ is something quite unnatural and mortifying to sinful men; they have no relish for it, nor aptitude or inclination to seek salvation, in this way; it is much more natural for them to choose some other, though it should be much more painful. They will submit to the heaviest penances and bodily austerities; they will afflict themselves with fasting; they willdrudge at the duties of religion, in order to work out a righteousness of their own; and they are as fond of the covenant of worksto obtain eternal life, as if it had never been broken! But tell them of a free salvation, purchased by Jesus Christ, and offered in the gospel; tell them that it is only on account of his righteousness they can be pardoned, and that all their personal good works, however necessary for other purposes, must all count for nothing in this affair; they are amazed, and wonder what you mean! It is strange, unintelligible doctrine to them, and their hearts rise against it!

Hence many a believer has found that it was easier for him to work up his heart to anything—rather than to believe in Jesus Christ; and that God alone could enable him to do this. But, when God works in him the work of faith with power, he opens his understanding to see a surprising glory in the mediatorial scheme of salvation, and gives him a heart to relish it: and without this, no external recommendations of this scheme, no speculative conviction in its favor, can gain the cordial approbation of the sinner!

I shall now endeavor, in a few words, to show you the peculiar place which FAITH has in our justification. You may observe, then, that as the righteousness of Christ is the peculiar ground of our justification, so the grace of faith has a peculiar reference to that righteousness; it is, as it were, the bent of the soul towards that particular object. Repentance has sin for its object.

Love has the intrinsic glory and communicated goodness of the divine nature for its object.

Charity and justice have a reference to man; and none of these objects are the proper grounds of our justification; and consequently none of these graces which terminate upon them can have any direct concurrence in it.

But our justifying righteousness is the immediate, direct object of faith; and therefore faith must have a special instrumentality in our justification.

And if we recollect what has been said about the nature of faith, there will appear a peculiar propriety in conferring this honour upon it. It is certainly fit that we should believe in him who is our Saviour; and it would be absurd to apply to him in that character, while we suspect him for an impostor. It is fit that we should approve of the righteousness by which we are justified, and heartily consent to that scheme by which we are saved. And, on the other hand, it would be highly preposterous that we should be justified and saved by a Saviour, and in a way we despise or disgust. These considerations show not only the wisdom, but thegrace of the constitution.

Approve of the Saviour, and you shall be saved;
trust in his righteousness, and you shall be justified;
consent to the covenant of grace, and you shall inherit all its blessings.
And could you desire lower or easier terms? This approbation, this trust, this consent, is faith: and now, I hope, you see the peculiar place it has in our justification. Let us now proceed,

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