The Nature of Justification, and the 2
Back to SERMONS Samuel Davies
II. To show you that no righteousness but that which the gospel reveals, is sufficient for the justification of a sinner.
In order to form a right judgement of this matter, we must place ourselves in a proper situation and view it in an advantageous point of light. Is a blind, self-flattering sinner, who does not see the strictness of the law and justice of God, or who secretly murmurs at it as too precise and rigid, and who does not see the infinite evil of sin—but loves it, indulges it, and is expert in making excuses for it, and diminishing its aggravations— who forms his maxims of the divine government from the procedure of weak and partial mortals in human governments; who compares himself with his fellow-sinners, and not with the divine purity, and the holy law of God; whose conscience is secure, who places the tribunal of his supreme Judge far out of sight; and who forms his notions of his government not from God's Word—but from the flattering suggestions of his own deceitful heart!
I say, is such a blind, partial, careless sinner a competent judge in this matter? But let him be awakened to see himself and his sins in a proper light; and let him see the purity and extent of the divine law, and make that the only test of his good works; let him realize the divine tribunal, and place himself in the immediate presence of his Judge—and then the controversy will soon be at an end! Then all his high thoughts of his own righteousness are mortified; all his excuses for his sins are silenced; and then he sees his absolute need of a perfect and divine righteousness, and the utter insufficiency of his own!
O sirs! if you have ever placed yourselves in this posture, you are done forever with all disputes on this point. What could ease your consciences then but the complete righteousness of Jesus Christ? Oh! "none but Christ, none but Christ!" then appeared sufficient.
Here I beg permission to translate a very animated and striking passage, written about two hundred years ago, by that great and good man, John Calvin, who had long groped for salvation among the doctrines of merit in the church of Rome—but could find no relief, until the gospel revealed this righteousness to him:
"It is a very easy thing," says he, "to amuse ourselves with arguments for the sufficiency of good works for justification, while we are ingeniously trifling in schools and colleges of learning; but when we come into the presence of God, we have done with all such amusements: for there it is a very serious affair, and not an idle dispute about words. There, there we must place ourselves, if we would profitably inquire after the true righteousness, and how we shall answer our celestial Judge when he shall call us to an account! Let us represent this Judge to ourselves, and not such as our fancies would imagine him to be—but such as he is really represented in the Scriptures; as one by whose brightness the stars are turned into darkness; by whose power the mountains are melted; at whose anger the earth trembles; by whose wisdom the wise are caught in their own craftiness; before whose purity all things are turned into pollution; whose justice even angels are not sufficient to bear; who will by no means clear the guilty; whose vengeance, when once it is kindled, burns and penetrates to the lowest hell! Let him, I say, sit as Judge on the actions of men, and who can securely place himself before his throne of judgement? Lord, if you mark iniquity, who, O Lord, shall stand! All must be condemned, and unavoidably perish.! Shall mortal man be justified before God? or be pure in the eyes of his Maker? Behold he puts no trust in his servants; and his angels he charges with folly—how much less in those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth! Behold he puts no trust in his saints; yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight; how much more abominable and filthy is man which drinks iniquity like water!
Eliphaz is struck silent; for he sees that God cannot be appeased even with angelic holiness, if their works should be brought to the impartial scale of justice—and certainly if our lives should be compared to the standard of the divine law, we must be stupid indeed, unless we are struck with the terror of its curses, and particularly of that, 'Cursed is every one that continues not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them!' And all the disputes we may have about the method of justification, are vain and insipid, unless we place ourselves as guilty before our heavenly Judge, and, solicitous for a pardon, voluntarily prostrate and empty ourselves before him!
To this great tribunal, sinners, you must lift your eyes, that, instead of vainly exalting yourselves, you may learn to tremble before him. While the comparison is between man and man—it is easy for every man to think he has something which others should not despise; but when we place ourselves before God—then all that confidence falls and perishes in an instant!"
I might go on with my quotation from this excellent author; but this is sufficient to show you a grand pre-requisite to the impartial determination of this point. And now, with a deep impression of this, with a deep sense of our sins, and of the strictness of the law and justice, and placing ourselves, as in the presence of our righteous Judge—let us inquire what righteousness is sufficient for our justification before him?
It may be of service to observe, that there is something singular in the phraseology of Scripture on this point, and different from what is used in other cases of the same general nature. To receive a pardon is a very different thing, in common language, from being justified. When a man is PARDONED, it supposes that he has broken the law—but that the law is dispensed with, and the threatened penalty not executed. But when he is JUSTIFIED, it supposes that he has a righteousness equal to the demands of the law, and therefore that he may be acquitted according to justice. These, you see, are very different things; but in the affair before us, they are happily united.
The sinner is said to be both pardoned and justified at once; and the reason of this unusual combination is this: The sinner has broken the divine law, and has no obedience to answer its demands; and therefore, his being freed from the guilt of sin and the threatened punishment, is, in this respect, a gracious, unmerited pardon. But by faith he has received the righteousness of Christ; and God imputes it to him, as though it were his own; and this righteousness answers all the requisitions of the law, and it has no charges against him: so that, in this respect, he is justified, or pronounced righteous according to law and justice.
Hence it follows, from the very meaning of the terms used in this case, that no righteousness can justify us in the sight of God but that which is equal to all the demands of the divine law. It must be perfect, and conformed throughout to that standard; for if it is not, we cannot be pronounced righteous in the eye of the law; but the law charges and condemns us as transgressors, and its sentence lies in full force against us!
And now, if any of you have such a perfect righteousness, produce it, glory in it, and carry it with you to the divine tribunal, and demand acquittance there! But if you have not, (as, if you know yourselves, you must own you have not) then fall down as guilty sinners before your righteous Judge, confess that you dare not appear in his presence in your own righteousness—but lay hold of and plead the righteousness of Jesus alone; otherwise the law thunders out its terrors against you, and justice will seize you as obnoxious criminals!
It was from such premises as these, that the apostle reasoned, when he drew this conclusion, that by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh shall be justified, Romans 3:20, 28; and that we are justified by faith, without the deeds of the law. He grants, that if any can produce a perfect righteousness of their own—they shall obtain life by the law; the law, says he, is not of faith: but the man that does these things, shall live in them. Galatians 3:12. But then he proves, that all men, both Jews and Gentiles, have sinned, and consequently have no righteousness agreeable to the law. He stops every mouth, and brings in the whole world, as guilty, before God. And hence, he infers the impossibility of justification by the works of the law. And then he naturally introduces another righteousness equal to all the demands of the law. "But now" says he, "a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice . . . he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus!" Romans 3:21-26.
O glorious scheme of salvation! O complete, divine righteousness! A righteousness by which Jew and Gentile, the greatest sinner as well as the least, may be made divinely righteous, and completely justified, even at the bar of a holy and just God! Here, you guilty sinners, you condemned criminals, you bleeding consciences, here is the only righteousness for you! Put forth the hand of faith, and humbly lay hold upon it!
It would be easy to collect a great variety of arguments to support this important truth; but if you carefully read over the apostolic writings, particularly this epistle to the Romans, and that to the Galatians, you cannot but be satisfied for yourselves.
III. And lastly, To show that it is the gospel alone, which reveals such a righteousness as is sufficient for the justification of a sinner.
The Jewish religion, as I observed before, gave several intimations of this method of justification by the righteousness of another. There were many prophecies and types of this import; and this was undoubtedly the original design of sacrifices; for it is quite unaccountable, that ever men should imagine that they could appease the wrath of God, and procure the pardon of sin, by offering to him sacrifices of brutes in their stead, unless we suppose that God did at first institute this method to signify that the way in which he would be reconciled to sinners was by the sufferings and death of another, as a sacrifice substituted in their place and stead.
This institution seems to have been immediately after the fall of man, when the first beam of gospel-light blessed our world in that promise, the seed of the woman, etc; for we are told that God made coats of skins, and with them covered our first parents. Genesis 3:21. Now animal food was not allowed to man until after the flood: and consequently those beasts, whose skins were used for this purpose, were not killed for that use: and we cannot suppose that they died naturally so soon after their creation. It is therefore most probable that Adam had killed them for sacrifices; and that God had commanded him to do this, immediately upon the promulgation of that promise, to typify the manner of its accomplishment, namely, by the sacrifice of Christ in the fullness of time. This practice we find continued by Cain and Abel; and thus Noah consecrated the new world after the flood. Genesis 8:20.
But though the patriarchs and Jews had these intimations of the method of pardon and acceptance, they were very dark and perplexing to them, and just as much as they had of this light, just so much they had of the gospel; and therefore the gospel, taking the word in its full extent, claims the honour of this discovery.
Now, if we except the patriarchal and Jewish religion, which had a mixture of the gospel in it, there is none that pretends to reveal a complete and perfect righteousness and atonement for the justification of a sinner. The religion of Mahomet is silent on this head; and the Socrates's and Plato's of heathen antiquity, who had only the light of nature for their guide—knew nothing about it; much less did the ignorant populace, who are always the greater part of mankind. The custom of sacrifice was indeed universal: but, as it was received by a very remote tradition, mankind had quite lost its original design; and they corrupted it into the most absurd and cruel superstition. They offered their sacrifices to imaginary deities, or (as the apostle tells us) to devils! 1 Corinthians 10:20. They were so unnatural and barbarous, that they offered human sacrifices, and even their own children—to propitiate their angry gods! And, if we may believe some of their best authors, this was often practices by the express command of their oracles—a sufficient evidence that it was not the true God who gave answers by them.
Alas! how were the poor creatures bewildered and perplexed about the method of expiating their sins! They knew nothing of the great atonement which was to be made by the High Priest of the Christian profession, which the gospel reveals to us. Nay, the Jews themselves are often reproved by the prophets for their self-righteous trust in their sacrifices, to the neglect of their morals, and the grand atonement which they prefigured. The light of nature might teach the heathen world, that if they perfectly obeyed the law of God, they might be assured of his favor, or at least that they should not be punished; but it informed them, that they had not done so—but on the other hand, had repeatedly broken the law of God; and they had no notion at all of the possibility of their being justified by the righteousness of another.
This alone determines the point I am now proving. I have shown already, that a sinner cannot be justified, but by a perfect righteousness; and it is evident that none of the sons of men can pretend to such a righteousness. Where, then, can it be found? Consult the light of nature; ask the multitude in the heathen world; nay, ask their most improved sages and philosophers, and you will find all silent, all bewildered and perplexed! Nothing was ever farther from their thoughts than a complete atonement for sin by the death of an innocent and divine person! I appeal to such of the Negroes as came from Africa, as the best judges in this case. Did you ever hear, in your own country, of a righteousness equal to all the requisitions of the law of God, by which you could be justified? Was there no thoughtful person among you whose conscience was uneasy about his sins against a holy God, and who was concerned how he should obtain a pardon? And what way did he take to ease his mind? Alas! he knew nothing of therighteousness of God by faith. This happy discovery, poor creatures, you have met with in the land of your bondage; and oh! if you make a proper use of it, it will make your slavery the greatest blessing to you!
The light of nature might surmise a great many things upon this head; but, alas! all was uncertain. It might intimate, "that God is the compassionate Father of mankind, and therefore would dispense with the threatenings of his law, and not execute them rigorously upon his own creatures." This we often hear urged by sinners among ourselves, who, notwithstanding their profession of Christianity, will form a system of religion, and a scheme of reconciliation with God, according to their own selfish and flattering prejudices; and it seems to them incredible that God should inflict eternal punishment on his own creatures—for the sins of a few years. But to this it might be replied, that since God is the Father of mankind, it is a more unnatural and aggravated wickedness to sin against him: that he is not only the Parent—but also the Lawgiver and Judge of the world, and that he must sustain both these characters with honour. He must maintain the honour of his law, and preserve his government from contempt; and thereforethe communications of his goodness—must be consistent with justice. He must also execute his laws upon sinners, in order to warn and deter others; and therefore every sinner must tremble for fear of the execution of the divine threatenings upon him. To all this I may add, that the miseries that are inflicted by divine Providence in this world, and that very often upon the best of men, must leave the sinner in a dreadful suspense.
If God does not allow the sins even of the best of men always to escape unpunished in this world—but afflicts them with pains, sickness, and an endless variety of calamities, how can our reason, that knows so little of the counsels of heaven, assure us that he will not punish them also, and that with greater severity, in the world to come? Nothing but a revelation from himself could ease an anxious mind from this dread suspicion.
The light of nature may also perhaps surmise, "That their own repentance and reformation are sufficient to procure the pardon of sin:" and mankind seem naturally inclined to look for pardon in this way. Hence sinners among ourselves, notwithstanding the clearer discoveries of the gospel, fly to their own repentance and reformation, not only as a pre-requisite to their salvation—but as sufficient ground of acceptance; and they gaze and wonder at a man if he intimates the contrary. It must be granted that repentance and reformation are necessary; but the question is, are repentance and reformation alone sufficient?
And this is easily answered, if what has been proved before be true, namely: That no righteousness but that which is perfect, and fully conformed to the divine law, can be sufficient for our justification. Now repentance, at best, is but a reformation from a wrong course, and a return to obedience; which should never have been interrupted. If the reformation were perfect, it would be but doing what we are obliged to do for the present time; and consequently it can be no atonement or satisfaction to the law forpast offences; but, alas! The sinner, in the midst of all his repentance and reformation, is sinning still; there are guilty imperfections in his best duties; and can these atone for his past sins? So that repentance and reformation cannot be a sufficient justifying righteousness.
Again, what kind of government would that be among men—in which all crimes were pardoned upon repentance? What encouragement would this give to offenders! How soon would such a government fall into contempt! And what a low idea would it give of the wisdom and justice of the ruler, and of the evil of sin! And shall the Supreme Ruler imitate so weak a conduct, and thus:
obscure his perfections,
depreciate his laws,
and encourage vice?
It is a virtue in a private man to forgive an injury; and it may be a piece of generosity in such a one to give up some of his rights; but, as I have told you, God is not to be considered, in this case, as a private person—but as a supreme Ruler, and Governor of the universe: and sin is an offence against him in that capacity; and therefore for reasons of state, it is not fit he should remit it merely upon the sinner's repentance. He must maintain the dignity of law and government, and consult the public good; not the good of this man and that, nor even of the whole race of men—but of men through all their generations; of angels through all their various ranks and orders, and in short, of the whole universe of reasonable creatures!
And the interest of individuals must be subservient to the more general good of the whole. An error in such an extensive government, through an excessive lenity towards offenders, would have a most extensive ill influence, and injure more worlds than we know of. If the magistrate in one particular government be lax in the execution of the laws, he may injure a whole nation. But what would be the consequence, if the Ruler of heaven and earth and the whole creation, should relax his law, and allow sin to go unpunished, upon so cheap a payment as repentance? No human government could be supported upon this principle, much less the divine government!
Further: it should be considered, that, in order to encourage offenders to repent, it is necessary it should be made a fixed constitution, and openly published, that whoever, in all time coming, should be guilty of any offence against the laws of God—that he shall be forgiven if he does but repent. Now, what encouragement would such a declaration give to sin! It would also be unprecedented in human governments. It is true, civil rulers do forgive some offenders: but then they do not declare beforehand that they will do so, or who the objects of their clemency shall be. To make a previous declaration of this, would be to givelicense to men to break the law.
Let it also be considered, that when civil rulers forgive criminals, there is no necessity they should receive them into special favour ; but in the divine government these two things are inseparable: there is no medium between high favour and misery. When God forgives, he receives the sinner into complete happiness and intimacy with himself, as well as rescues him from punishment. And is it fit he should do this merely upon his repentance? How would such a conduct look in human governments?
Finally, the pardon of a crime, is a matter of sovereignty, and only has place in governments where the royal prerogative is abovelaw, and has a power to dispense with it. Whether such a prerogative belongs to the divine government (that is, whether it would be a perfection upon the whole in such a government) I shall not now dispute: but suppose it is, still it is a matter of sovereignty; that is, it lies entirely in the breast of the Supreme Ruler, whether he will pardon penitents or not; and they can know his pleasure no other way but by his declaring it. This consideration shows the necessity of a revelation from God, to give a sinner assurance that he will pardon him upon any terms. The light of nature leaves a sinner awfully uncertain whether ever he can re-obtain the favour of his offended sovereign. Now, this revelation we have in the gospel, with the additional discovery of the way in which forgiveness and acceptance can be obtained. And it appears, from this short survey, that it is in the gospel alone we can find this discovery.
I. I shall now conclude with two reflections:
1. Let this subject lead us to a strict examination of the ground of our hopes, whether they are founded on the righteousness of God alone—or partly at least upon our own. To speak freely, I am afraid that some of you, my dear people, have built upon this sandy foundation. This may be the case of some of you who have very fair characters; for it is such sort of people, and not those who make little or no pretensions to good works—who are most in danger of the extreme of self-righteousness. I therefore beg you would inquire after this sly, lurking delusion; a delusion which perverts the best things—into the worst things—and makes your good works the occasion of your destruction, instead of means of salvation!
I beg you would inquire, whether ever you have been deeply sensible of the aggravated evil of sin, the perfection of God's law, the strictness of his justice, and the guilty imperfections of your own best works; whether ever you have seen the glory of God in the gospel, and the excellency and sufficiency of the righteousness of Christ? Have you cheerfully embraced it with your whole souls? And do you lay the whole dependence of your salvation upon it? Do you find it is the only relief for your wounded consciences, the only cordial for your sinking hearts? Do your whole souls embrace it with the tenderest endearment, and tenaciously cling to it as the only plank to keep you from sinking, after the general wreck of human nature? Do you relish its doctrines, even those who are the most mortifying to your pride and vanity, and love to hear them honestly preached? Are the humble, despised doctrines of the cross sweet to you, and the very life of your souls? If you can give a comfortable answer to these inquiries, then,
2. This subject affords you abundant encouragement, and strong consolation. It is true, you can never think too humbly of yourselves. You are as sinful as you can possibly suppose yourselves to be; your righteousness is as insufficient and imperfect, and you are as undeserving of the favour of God, as you can possibly imagine! But it is not to yourselves, that you look for a righteousness, which will bear you out at the bar of your Judge; you have been obliged to give up that point forever! You tried to stand upon your own footing as long as you could—but you found it would not do. And now your only refuge is the righteousness of Christ by faith; here you rest, and you look for salvation in no other way.
My friends, I would gladly do honour to this righteousness; but, alas! the highest thing I can say of it is quite too low. It is indeed a righteousness sufficient for all the purposes for which you need it; it is a sure, a tried foundation. Thousands have built their hopes upon it, and it has never failed one of them yet; you may make the experiment with the same safety. There is not a charge which the law or justice, your own conscience, or Satan, the accuser of the brethren, can bring against you—but what it can fully answer. Here, then, is safe footing—a sure foundation! Let nothing drive you from it; and oh, give glory to God for so great a blessing!
Back to SERMONS Samuel Davies