Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, A WORD TO NEGLECTERS OF CHRIST. 350

 

To conclude. One word to you that are neglecters of Jesus Christ: 'How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?' Here, we may see how we ought to judge all such persons as neglecting the Lord Jesus, under whatever guise, name, or notion they are. We ought, I say, to judge of such, that they are at present in a state of condemnation; of condemnation, 'because they have not believed in the only-begotten Son of God' (John 3:18). It is true; there is no man more at ease in his mind, with such ease as it is, than the man that hath not closed with the Lord Jesus, but is shut up in unbelief. O! but that is the man that stands convict before God, and that is bound over to the great assize; that is the man whose sins are still his own, and upon whom the wrath of God abided (v 36); for the ease and peace of such, though it keeps them far from fear, is but like to that of the secure thief, that is ignorant that the constable stands at the door; the first sight of an officer makes his peace to give up the ghost (1 John 5:12). Ah, how many thousands that can now glory that they never were troubled for sin against God; I say, how many be there that God will trouble worse than he troubled cursed Achan, because their peace, though false, and of the devil, was rather chosen by them than peace by Jesus Christ, than 'peace with God by the blood of his cross' (Col 1:20). Awake, careless sinners, awake! And arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light. Content not yourselves either with sin or righteousness, if you be destitute of Jesus Christ, but cry, cry, O cry to God for light to see your condition by; for light in the Word of God, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed (Eph 5:14). Cry, therefore, for light to see this righteousness by; it is a righteousness of Christ's finishing, of God's accepting, and that which alone can save the soul from the stroke of eternal justice! (Rom 1:17).

There are six things that, on man's part, are the cause he receives, not the gospel of Christ, and so life by him—1. They do not see their state by nature, how polluted they are with original sin (Eph 2:2). 2. They do not see the justice of God against sin; they do not know him that hath said, 'Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense' (Heb 10:30). 3. They cannot see the beauty of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:4). 4. they dare not venture their souls with Jesus Christ, unbelief being mighty in them. They dare not trust his righteousness and to that only (Rev 21:8). For, 5. Their carnal reason also sets itself against the word of faith and cannot stoop to the grace of Jesus Christ (1 Cor 2:14). 6. They love to have honored one another; they love to be commended for their own vain-glorious righteousness, and the fools think that because they are commended of men, they shall be commended of God also: 'How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?' (John 5:44). This last thing—to wit, the desire of vain-glory, is the bane of thousands; it is the legalist's bane, it is the civilian's bane, it is the formalist's bane, yea, which yet is stranger, it is the bane of the vicious and debauched also; for though there be a generation that, to one's thinking, have not regard to righteousness, yet watch them narrowly, and they have their times of doing something that looks like good, and though possibly it is but seldom, yet this wretch counted that, for the sake of that, God accepted him, and counted his, glorious righteousness. I might add a seventh cause: the desire for serious meditation upon the eternal judgment and what shall follow. If it took a deep place in the heart, this consideration would doubtless produce these workings of spirit after Jesus Christ for justification that now are wanted in most men. This made Felix, yea, it makes the devils, tremble; and would, I say, could thou deeply meditate, make thee start and turn thy wanton thoughts into heavy sighs after God's mercy in Jesus Christ, lest thou also come into their place of torment.

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 349

 

First, the first sort, though they may seek life, yet thus continue, are never likely to find it. Wherefore? Because they seek it not by faith but, as it were, by the works of the law. Indeed, they will not be merit-mongers; they will not wholly trust the law; they will partly venture on Christ and partly trust the law. Well, but therefore they shall be damned because they trust to Christ but in part, and in part, as it were, to the works of the law; for such sinners make Christ but a Saviour in part—why, then, should he be their Saviour in whole? No; because they halt between Christ and the law, they shall fall between Christ and the law; yea, because they will trust to their works in part, they shall be but almost saved by Christ. Let not that man think that he shall obtain anything from the Lord. What man? Why did he doubt or waver in his mind about the truth of the mercy of God in Christ? Therefore, the exhortation is, 'But let him ask in faith.—For he that wavered,' or, that halted between the law and Christ for life, 'is like a wave of the sea, driven off the wind and tossed' (James 1:6). In conclusion, he resteth nowhere—a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways' (v 8). This man, therefore, must miscarry; he must not see the good land that flows with milk and honey; no, let him not have thought of life in his heart; let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.

This was the case of many in the primitive times, for whose sake this caution was written; for the devout and religious Jew and proselyte, when they fell away from the word of the gospel, they did not fall to those gross and abominable pollutions in which the open profane, like sows and swine, do wallow, but they fell from the grace of God to the law; or, at least, did rest betwixt them both, doubting of the sufficiency of either; and thus, being fearful, they distrust; wherefore, being found at length unbelieving, they are reputed of God abominable, as murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolators, and liars, and so must have their portion in the lake, with them, that burns with fire and brimstone (Rev 21:8). The reason is, because where Christ is rejected sin remaineth, and so the wrath of God for sin. Neither will he be a Saviour in part; he must be all thy salvation or none. 'Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord' (James 1:7; John 3:36). Not anything. There is no promise for him, no pardon for him, no heaven for him, no salvation for him, no escaping of his fire! What condition is this man in? Yet he is a religious man, for he prays; he is a seeking man, a desiring man, for he prays; but he halts between two, leaneth to his righteousness, and committeth iniquity. He is afraid to venture all upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Let not that man think of receiving anything from the Lord!

Yet the words suggest that he is apt to think he shall receive something because God is merciful because his promise is great, but this expectation is, by this word, cut off, and this sinner is cast away. Let not that man think, let him forbear to think, of having anything at the hand of God. The Israelites thought to go up to the land the day after they had despised it. Agag thought the bitterness of death was past, even that day in which he was hewn to pieces. Rechab and Baanah, his brother, thought to have received the reward of David that day they were hanged over the pool in Hebron. Let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord (Num 14:40-45; 1 Sam 15:32,33; 2 Sam 4:12).

Second. As for those that professedly deny the sufficiency of this most blessed righteousness, the whole book is a conviction to them and shall assuredly, if it comes to their hands, rise up in judgment against them. They have rejected the wisdom and mercy of God; they have rejected the means of their salvation; they have trampled upon the blood of the Son of God; wherefore judgment waiteth for them, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 348

 

There are three things in the act of believing which make this grace displeasing to the wicked one—

1. Faith discovers the truth of things to the soul; the truth of things as they are, whether they be things of this world, or of what is to come; the things and pleasures above, and also those beneath. Faith discovers to the soul the one’s blessedness, goodness, and durableness; the vanity, foolishness, and transitoriness of the other. Faith gives credit to all things that are written in the law and in the prophets (Acts 24:14), both as to the being, nature, and attributes of God; the blessed undertaking of the Lord Jesus Christ; the glory of heaven and torments of hell; the sweetness of the promise and terror of the threatening and curses of the Word; by which means Satan is greatly frustrated in his assaults when he tempted either to love this world or slight that which is to come, for he can do no great matter in these things to any but those who want the faith. ‘In vain is the snare laid in the sight of any bird’ (Prov 1:17); therefore he must first blind, and hold blind, the minds of men, ‘that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine unto them,’ else he can do no harm to the soul (2 Cor 4:4). Now, faith is the eye of the godly man, and that sees the truth of things, whatever Satan suggests, either about the glory of this world, the sweetness of sin, the uncertainty of another world, or the like (1 John 5:4,5; Heb. 11:27).

2. Faith wraps the soul up in the bundle of life with God; it encloses it in the righteousness of Jesus, and presents it so perfectly, that whatever he can do, with all his cunning, cannot render the soul spotted or wrinkled before the justice of the law; yea, though the man, as to his own person and acts, be full of sin from top to toe, Jesus Christ covers all; faith sees it, and holds the soul in the godly sense and comfort of it. The man, therefore, standing here, stands shrouded under that goodly robe that makes him glisten in the eye of justice. Yeah, all the answer that Satan can get from God against such a soul is, that he ‘doth not see iniquity in Jacob, nor behold perverseness in Israel’; for here ‘Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts, though,’ as to their own persons, ‘their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel’ (Num 23:21-23; Jer 51:5; Rom 6:14; Deut. 33:12). Thus, therefore, the soul believing, is hid from all the power of the enemy, and dwells safely under the dominion of grace.

3. Faith keeps the soul from giving credit to any of his insinuations; for whatever Satan saith, either about the acceptance of my person or performances, so long as I believe that both are accepted by God for Christ’s sake, he suggested to the wind; wherefore faith doth the same against the devil that unbelief doth to God. Does unbelief count God as a liar? Faith counts the devil as a liar. Does unbelief hold the soul from the mercy of God? Faith holds the soul from the malice of the devil. Does unbelief quench thy graces? Faith kindled them even into a flame. Does unbelief fill the soul full of sorrow? Faith fills it full of the joy of the Holy Ghost. In a word, doth unbelief bind down thy sins upon thee? Why, faith in Jesus Christ releases thee of them all.

4. As faith keeps the soul from giving credit to the insinuations of Satan, so, when he makes his assaults, it over-masters him, and makes him retreat; ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.—Whom resist steadfast in the faith’ (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9). Believe, as I have already said, that God loveth you, that the blood of Christ was shed for you, that your person is presented complete before him, through the righteousness of Christ, and Satan must give place; thy crediting of the gospel makes him fly before thee; but thou must do it steadfast in the faith; every waverer giveth him advantage. And, indeed, this is why the godly are so foiled by his assaults, they do not resist him steadfastly in the faith; they often stagger through unbelief. Now, at every stagger, he recovered lost ground again and gave the battle another time. Besides, by this and the other stagger he taketh heart to attempt by other means, and so double the affliction with manifold temptations. This is, I say, for want of being steadfast. ‘Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked’ (Eph 6:16). To quench them, though they come from him as kindled with the very fire of hell. None knows, save him that feels it, how burning hot the fiery darts of Satan are; and how, when darted, they kindle upon our flesh and unbelief; neither can any know the power and worth of faith to quench them but he that hath it and hath power to act it.

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Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 347

 

SECOND. THAT MAN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

Fourth. I might add, that living by faith is the way to receive fresh strength from heaven, thereby to manage thine every day’s work with life and vigor; yea, every look by faith upon Jesus Christ, as thine, doth this great work. When Paul saw the brethren that came to meet him, ‘he thanked God and took courage’ (Acts 28:15). O! how much more, then, shall the Christian be blessed with fresh strength and courage even at the beholding of Christ; whom ‘beholding as in a glass,’ we ‘are changed,’ even by beholding of him by faith in the word, ‘into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord’ (2 Cor 3:18). But to be brief.

Fifth. Make conscience of the duty of believing, and be as afraid of falling short here as in any other command of God. ‘This is his commandment, that you believe’ (1 John 3:23). Believe, therefore, in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is the will of God, that you believe. Believe, therefore, to the saving of the soul (John 6:46). Unbelief is a fine-spun thread, not so easily discerned as grosser sins; and therefore, that is true ‘The sin that doth so easily beset us’ (Heb 12:1). The light of nature will show those sins that are against the law of nature, but the law of faith is a command beyond what flesh or nature teaches; therefore to live by faith is so much the harder work; yet it must be done, otherwise thine other duties profit thee nothing.

For if a man gives way to unbelief, though he is most frequent in all other duties besides, so often as he worshipped God in these, he yet saith, God is a liar in the other, even because he hath not believed: ‘He that believeth not God, hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God had given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (1 John 5:10,11). So then, when thou gives way to unbelief; when thou dost not venture the salvation of thy soul upon the justifying life that is in Christ—that is, in his blood, &c.,—at once, thou gives the lie to the whole testament of God; yea, thou tramples upon the promise of grace, and countess this precious blood an unholy and unworthy thing (Heb 10:29). Now how thou doing thus, the Lord should accept of thy other duties, of prayer, alms, thanksgiving, self-denial, or any other, will be hard for thee to prove.

In the meantime, remember that faith pleased God; without faith, it is impossible to please him. Remember also, that for this cause it was that the offering of Cain was not accepted: ‘By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain’; for by faith Abel first justified the promise of the Messiah, by whom a conquest should be obtained over the devil, and all the combination of hell against us: then he honored Christ by believing that he was able to save him; and in token that he believed these things indeed, he presented the Lord with the firstlings of his flock, as a remembrance before God that he believed in his Christ (Heb 11:4). And therefore it is said, ‘By faith he offered’; by which means the offering was accepted of God; for no man’s offering can be accepted with God but his that stands righteous before him first. But unbelief holds men under their guilt, because they have not believed in Christ, and by that means put on his righteousness. Again; he that believeth not, hath made invalid—what in him lies—the promise of God and merits of Christ, of whom the Father hath spoken so worthily; therefore what duties or acts of obedience soever he performed, God by no means can be pleased with him.

By this, you see the miserable state of the people with no faith—’ Whatever they do, they sin’; if they break the law, they sin; if they endeavor to keep it, they sin. They sin, I say, upon a double account: first, because they do it but imperfectly; and, secondly, because they yet stay upon that, resisting that which is perfect, even that which God hath appointed. It mattered not, as to justification from the curse, therefore; men wanting faith, whether they be civil or profane, they are such as stand accursed of the law, because they have not believed, and because they have given the lie to the truth, and to the God of truth. Let all men, therefore, that would please God make conscience of believing; on pain, I say, of displeasing him; on pain of being, with Cain, rejected, and on pain of being damned in hell. ‘He that believes not shall be damned’ (Mark 16:16).

Faith is the very quintessence of all gospel obedience, it is that which must go before other duties and that which also must accompany whatever I do in the worship of God if it is accepted of him. Here you may see a reason why the force and power of hell is so bent against believing. Satan hated all the parts of our Christian obedience, but the best and chiefs most. And hence the apostle saith to the Thessalonians, that he sent to know their faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted them, and so his labor had been in vain (1 Thess 3:5). Indeed, where faith is wanting, or hath been destroyed, all the labor is in vain, nothing can profit any man, neither as to peace with God, nor the acceptance of any religious duty; and this, I say, Satan knows, which makes him so bend his force against us.

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 346

 

SECOND. THAT MAN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

THE USE/APPLICATION

But I find, sayest thou, as if the Spirit led me forth to study other matters.

Answ.—First. What other matters? What matters besides, above, or beyond the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and our acceptance of God through him? What spirit, or doctrine, or wisdom soever it be that centers not in, that cometh not from, and that terminates not within, the bonds of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is not worthy the study of the sons of God; neither is it food for the faith of Jesus Christ, for that is the flesh of Christ, and that is eternal life (John 6:5). Whither will you go? Beware of the spirit of the Antichrist; for 'many false spirits are gone out into the world.' I told you before, that the Spirit of God is 'the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ,' and that without and besides the Lord Jesus it discovered nothing (Eph 1:17). It is sent to testify of him; it is sent to bring his words to our remembrance; it is sent to take of his things and show them unto us (John 14,15,16). Wherefore, never call that the Spirit of Jesus which leads you away from the blood and righteousness of Christ; that is but the spirit of delusion and of the devil, whose teachings end in perdition and destruction. Tempt not Christ as they of old did. But how did they tempt him? Why, in loathing the manna, which was the type of his flesh and blood, which we are to eat of by believing. I say, tempt him not, lest you be destroyed by the serpents, by the gnawing guilt of sin; for, take away Christ, and sin remains, and there is no more sacrifice for sin: if so, thou wilt be destroyed by the destroyer (Num 21:5-7; 1 Cor 10:10). But again—

Second. Living by faith begets in the heart a son-like boldness and confidence to God-ward in all our gospel duties, under all our weaknesses, and under all our temptations. It is a blessed thing to be privileged with a holy boldness and confidence God-ward, that he is on our side, that he taketh part with us, and that he will plead our cause 'with them that rise up against us' (2 Cor 2:14, 4:17,18; Gal 2:20). But this boldness faith helped us to do, and also managed in our heart. This is that which made Paul always triumph and rejoice in God and the Lord Jesus (Phil 3:3; Rom 5:11). He lived a life of faith; for faith sets a man in the favor of God by Christ, and makes a man see that what befalls him in this life, it shall, through the wisdom and mercy of God, not only prove for his forwarding to heaven but to augment his glory when he comes there. This man now stands on high, lives, is rid of slavish fears and carking cares, and in all his straits he hath a God to go to! Thus David, when all things looked awry upon him, 'encouraged himself in the Lord his God' (1 Sam 30:6). Daniel also believed in his God, and knew that all his trouble, losses, and crosses, would be abundantly made up in his God (Dan 6:23). And David said, 'I had fainted unless I had believed' (Psa 27:13). Believing, therefore, is a great preservative against all such impediments, and makes us confident in our God, and with boldness to come into his presence, claiming privilege in what he is and hath (Jonah 3:4,5). For by faith, I say, he sees his acceptance through the Beloved, and himself interested in the mercy of God, and riches of Christ, and glory in the world to come (Heb 10:22,23; Eph 1:4-7). This man can look upon all the dangers in hell and earth without paleness of countenance; he shall meditate terror with comfort, 'because he beholds the King in his beauty' (Isa 33:17,18). Again—

Third. Living by faith makes a man exercise patience and quietness under all his afflictions; for faith shows him that his best part is safe, that his soul is in God's special care and protection, purged from sin in the blood of Christ. Faith also shows him that after a little while he shall be in the full enjoyment of that which now he believes is coming: 'We, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith' (Gal 5:5). Wherefore, upon this ground it is that James exhorted the saints to whom he wrote, to patience, because they knew the harvest would in due time come (James 5:7-11). Faith lodged the soul with Christ: 'I know,' saith Paul, 'on whom I have believed,' and to whom I have committed my soul, 'and am persuaded,' I believe it, 'that he can keep that which I have committed unto him against that day'; therefore it was no shame to him to wear a chain for his name and sake (2 Tim 1:12). O! It is a blessed thing to see, I say, by the faith of the Lord Jesus, that we are embarked on the same ship with him; this will help us greatly 'both to hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord' (Psa 46:1-6; Lam 3:26).

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 345

 

SECOND. THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

THE USE/APPLICATION

2. By this, means the Holy Spirit is plentifully received (Gal 3:1-3). Now the Spirit of God is a spirit of wisdom and revelation; but yet so as in the knowledge of Christ; otherwise the Spirit will show to man not any mighty thing, its great delight being to open Christ and to reveal him unto faith (Eph 1:17). Faith indeed can see him, for that is the eye of the soul; and the Spirit alone can reveal him, that being the searcher of the deep things of God; by these therefore the mysteries of heaven are revealed and received. And hence it is that the mystery of the gospel is called the 'mystery of faith,' or the mystery with which faith only hath to do (1 Tim 3:9).

Wouldst thou, then, know the greatest things of God? Accustom thyself to the obedience of faith,[34] live upon thy justifying righteousness, and never think that to live always on Christ for justification is a low and beggarly thing, and as it were a staying at the foundation; for let me tell you, depart from a sense of the meritorious means of your justification with God, and you will quickly grow light, and frothy, and vain. Besides, you will always be subject to errors and delusions; for this is not to hold the head from or through which nourishment is administered (Col 2:19). Further, no man that built forsakes the good foundation; that is the ground of his encouragement to work, for upon that is laid the stress of all; and without it nothing that is framed can be supported, but must inevitably fall to the ground.

Again; why not live upon Christ always? and especially as he stands as the mediator between God, and the soul, defending thee with the merit of his blood, and covering thee with his infinite righteousness from the wrath of God and the curse of the law. Can there be any greater comfort ministered to thee than to know thy person stands just before God? Just and justified from all things that would otherwise swallow thee up? Is peace with God and assurance of heaven of so little respect with thee that thou slightest the very foundation thereof, even faith in the blood and righteousness of Christ? and are notions and whimsies of such credit with thee that thou must leave the foundation to follow them? But again; what mystery is desirable to be known that is not to be found in Jesus Christ, as Priest, Prophet, or King of saints? In him are hid all the treasures of them, and he alone hath the key of David to open them (Col 2:1,2; Rev 3:7). Paul was so taken with Jesus Christ, and the knowledge of this, that he was crucified for us, that he desired, nay, determined not to know anything else among the Corinthians, that itched after other wisdom (1 Cor 2:2).

Object. But I see not that in Christ now, that I have seen in him in former days. Besides, I find the Spirit leads me forth to study other things.

Answ. In the first part of this objection, I would answer several things.—The cause why thou sees not that in Christ now, which thou hast seen in him in former days, is not, but in thy faith; he is the same, as fresh, and as good, and as full of blessedness, as when thou didst most rejoice in him (Heb 1:11,12). And why not now, as well as formerly? God is never weary of being delighted with Jesus Christ; his blood is always precious with God; his merits being those in which justice hath everlasting rest, why shouldst thou wander or go about to change thy way? (Prov 8:30; Jer 2:36). Sin is the same as ever, and so is the curse of the law. The devil is as busy as ever and beware of the law in thy members. Return, therefore, to thy rest, O soul! for he is thy life, and the length of thy days. Guilt is to be taken off now, as it was years ago; whether thou sees it or not, thou sinned in all thy works. How, then, canst thou stand clear from guilt in thy soul who neglects to act faith in the blood of the Lamb? There thou must wash thy robes, and there thou must make them white (Rev 7:14,15). I conclude, then, thou art a polluted, surfeited, corrupted, hardened creature, whosoever thou art, that thus objects.

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 344

 

SECOND. THAT MAN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

USE SECOND.—I come now to the second use—Have faith in Christ.

But what are we to understand by faith?

Answ. Faith imported as much as to say, Receive, embrace, accept, or trust in, the benefit offered. All of which are, by holy men of God, words used on purpose to show that the mercy of God, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, are not to be had by doing, or by the law; but by receiving, embracing, accepting, or trusting to the mercy of God through Christ: 'We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved, even as they' (Acts 15:11; John 1:12; 2 Cor 4:1, 11:4; Col 2:6; Heb 11:13; 1 Tim 1:15; Eph 1:12-13). Thus you see what the gospel is, and what faith does do in the salvation of the soul. Now, that faith might be helped in this work, for great are they that oppose it, therefore the Scriptures, the Word of truth, hath presented us with the invitation in most plain and suitable sentences: as 'That Christ came into the world to save sinners—Christ died for our sins—Christ gave himself for our sins—Christ bare our sins in his body on the tree—and that God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you.' Further, as the invitations are plain and easy, so the threatening's to the opposers are sore and astonishing: 'He that believeth not shall be damned—Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God gave them up to strong delusions, that they all might be damned' (Mark 16:16; 2 Thess 2:10-12).

Object. But faith is said to be an act of obedience.

Answ. And well it may, for it is the most submitting act that a man can do; it throws out all our righteousness; it makes the soul poor in itself; it lived upon God and Christ, as the alms-man doth upon his lord; it consented to the gospel that it is true; it giveth God and Christ the glory of their mercy and merit; it loveth God for his mercy, and Jesus Christ for his service; whatever good it doth, it still cried, hereby, am I not justified, but he that justified me is the Lord. Well, but is there in truth such a thing as the obedience of faith? Then let Christians labor to understand it, and distinguish it right, and to separate it from the law and all man's righteousness; and remember that it is a receiving of mercy, an embracing of forgiveness, an accepting of the righteousness of Christ, and a trusting to these for life. Remember, again, that it put the soul upon coming to Christ as a sinner, and to receive forgiveness as a sinner, as such. We now treat justification.

But a little to insert at large a few more of the excellencies of it, and so draw towards a conclusion. The more thou believes for the remission of sins, the more of the light of the glorious gospel of Christ thou receive into thy soul—' For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith' (Rom 1:17). That is, according to the degree of faith. Little faith see but little but great faith see much; and therefore he saith again, that by faith we have 'access into the grace of God' (Rom 5:2). The reason is,

1. Because faith, having laid hold upon Christ, hath found him 'in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col 2:3). In him, therefore, it finds and sees those heights and depths of gospel mysteries that are nowhere else to be found; nay, let a man be destitute of faith, and it is not possible he should once think of some of them.

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 343

 

SECOND. THAT MAN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

THE USE.

USE FIRST.—Is justifying righteousness to be found in the person of Christ only? Then this should admonish us to take heed of seeking it in ourselves; that is, of working righteousness, thereby to appease the justice of God, lest by so doing we affront and blaspheme the righteousness of Christ. He that shall go about to establish his own righteousness defies what is which of God, of God's appointing, of God's providing; and that only wherewith the justice of the law must be well pleased. Wherefore take heed, I say, of doing such a thing, lest it provoke the eyes of the Lord's glory—' When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trusts to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it (Eze 33:13). Mark, though he be righteous, yea, though he has a promise of life, yet he shall die. But why? Because he sinned against the Lord by trusting his own righteousness, he must die for it. Some things will keep a man from splitting upon this rock. As,

First, get yourself well acquainted with the covenant of grace and of the persons concerned in the conditions of that covenant. The conditions of that covenant are, that a righteousness shall be brought into the world that shall please the justice of God, and answer and so remove the curse of the law. Now he that does perform this condition is Christ; therefore, the covenant is not immediately with man, but with him, who will be the Mediator between God and man: 'As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners,' speaking of Christ (Zech 9:11). So then, Christ, the Man Christ, is he who was to bring in these conditions, to wit, everlasting righteousness. And hence it is that God hath said, Christ shall be the covenant of the people—that is, he shall be our conditions to Godward (Dan 9:23,24). He, therefore, is all our righteousness as to the point of our justification before God; he is the covenant of the people, as well as the light of the Gentiles; for as no man can see but in the light of his Spirit, so no man can stand but in and by him; he is the covenant of the people, the conditions and qualifications of the people (Isa 52:6). So that to Godward Christ is all in all, and no man anything at all. He hath made with me an everlasting covenant; with me, as I stand in my head, Christ, who, because he hath brought in everlasting righteousness, therefore hath removed the curse of the law; wherefore he adds, this covenant 'is ordered in all things, and sure,' because all points that concern me, as to redemption from the curse, are taken away by Christ, as before is discoursed (2 Sam 23:5). Look, then, upon Christ as the man, the mediator, undertaker, and accomplisher of that righteousness in himself, wherein thou must stand just before God; and that he is the covenant or conditions of the people to Godward, always having in himself the righteousness that the law is well pleased with, and always presenting himself before God as our only righteousness.

Second, that this truth may be the more heartily inquired into by thee, consider thine own perfections; I say, study how polluted thou art, even from the heart throughout. No man hath a high esteem of the Lord Jesus that is a stranger to his own sore. Christ's church is a hospital of sick, wounded, and afflicted people; even when he was in the world, the afflicted and distressed set the highest price upon Jesus Christ. Why? They were sick, and he was the Physician, but the whole had no need of him. And just thus it is now: Christ is offered to the world to be the righteousness and life of sinners, but no man will regard him save he that sees his own pollution; he that sees he cannot answer the demands of the law, he that sees himself from top to toe polluted, and that therefore his service cannot be clean as to justify him from the curse before God—he is the man that must needs die in despair and be damned, or must trust in Jesus Christ for life.

Further, this rule I would have all receive that come to Jesus
Christ for life and salvation—

1. Not to stick at the acknowledgment of sin, but to make that of it which the law makes of it: 'Acknowledge thine iniquity,' saith the Lord (Jer 3:13). This is a hard pinch, I know what I say, for a man to fall down under the sense of sins by acknowledging them to be what the Lord saith they are; to acknowledge them, I say, in their own defiling and polluting nature; to acknowledge them in their unreasonable and aggravating circumstances; to acknowledge them in their God-offending and soul-destroying nature, especially when the conscience is burdened with the guilt of them. Yet this is duty: 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive' (1 John 1:9). Yea, to this is annexed the promise, 'He that confesses and forsakes them shall find mercy.' This made David, as it were, lay claim to the mercy of God—'Wash me thoroughly,' said he, 'from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin; for I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me.' Though, then, thou art to blush and be ashamed when thou remember your sins and iniquities, yet do not hide them—' He that covers his sins shall not prosper.' Do not lessen them; do not speak of them before God after a mincing way—' Acknowledge thine iniquities, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree; and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord' (Jer 3:13).

2. If we would come to Christ aright, we must only acknowledge our sins; we must ONLY acknowledge them, and there stop; stop, I say, from attempting to do ought to present us well before God, but only to receive the mercy offered. 'Only acknowledge thine iniquities.' Men are subject to two extremes, either to confess sins notionally and by the halves; or else, together with the confession, to labor to do some holy work, thereby easing their burdened consciences, and begetting faith in the mercy of God (Hosea 5:15). Now both these are dangerous, and very ungodly—dangerous, because the wound is healed falsely; and ungodly, because the command is transgressed: 'Only acknowledge thy sin,' and there stand, as David, 'till thy guilt is taken away.' Joshua stood before the angel, from top to toe in filthy garments, till the Lord put other clothes upon him (Zech 3:3-5). In the matter of thy justification, thou must know nothing, see nothing, hear nothing, but thine own sins and Christ's righteousness—' Only acknowledge thine iniquities.' Now the Saviour and the soul come rightly together; the Saviour to do his work, which is to spread his skirt over the sinner; and the sinner to receive, by believing this blessed imputed righteousness. And hence the church, when she came to God, lieth down in her shame, and her confusion covered her, and so lied till pardon comes (Jer 3:25).

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 342

 

SECOND. THAT MAN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

Third. It is yet further evident that the righteousness by which we stand just before God from the curse is a righteousness inherent, not in us, but in Christ; because it is a righteousness besides, and without the law itself. Now take away the law, and you take away the rule of righteousness. Again; take away the rule, and the act as to us must cease. 'But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets' (Rom 3:21). So then, by such righteousness we are justified as is not within the power of the law to command of us.

Quest. But what law is that which hath not power to command our obedience in the point of our justification with God?

Answ. The moral law is called the Ten Commandments. Therefore we are neither commanded to love God, nor our neighbor, as the means or part of our justifying righteousness; nay, he that shall attempt to do these things to be delivered from the curse thereby, by the scripture is holden accursed of God. 'As many as are of the works,' or duties, 'of the law, are under the curse,' &c. (Gal 3:10). Because we are justified not by that of the law, but by the righteousness of God without the law; that is, without its commanding of us, without our obedience to it—' Freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood (Rom 3:24,25). This is the righteousness of God without the law; that is, without any of our obedience to the law. Wherefore the righteousness by which we stand just, in the sight of God, cannot be inherent in us, but in Christ the King thereof.

Fourth. This is further made apparent, by the capacity that God will consider that soul in, to whom he imputed justifying righteousness; and that is, 'as one that worketh not,' as one that stands ungodly in the judgment of the law (Rom 4:4,5). But this I have handled before and therefore shall pass it here.

Fifth. To conclude. If any works of ours could justify us before God, they would be works after faith received; but it is evident that these do not; therefore the righteousness that justifies us from the curse before God, is a righteousness inherent only in Christ.

That works after faith do not justify us from the curse, in the sight of God, is evident

1. Because no works of the saints can be justified by the moral law, considering it as the law of life works (Gal 3:10). For this must stand a truth forever—Whatsoever justified us must be justified by the moral law, for that is it that pronounced the curse; unless, then, that curse be taken away by the work, the work cannot justify us before God (Rom 3:21). But the curse cannot be taken away but by a righteousness that is first approved of by that law that so cursed; for if that shall yet complain for want of full satisfaction, the penalty remained. This is evident to reason and confirmed by the authority of God's Word, as hath been already proved; because the law, once broken, pronounced death, expected death, and executed the same on him that will stand to the judgment of the law; but no work of a believer is capable of answering this demand of the law; therefore none of his works can justify him before God; for the law, that notwithstanding, complained.

2. No works of faith can justify us from the curse before God, because of the want of perfection in our greatest faith. Now, if faith is not perfect, the work cannot be perfect; I mean with that perfection as to please Divine justice. Consider the person, that had to do with God immediately by himself. Now, that faith is not capable of this kind of perfection, it is evident, because when men here know most, they know but in part. Now he that knows but in part, can do but in part; and he that doth but in part, hath a part wanting in the judgment of the justice of God. So then, when thou hast done all thou canst, thou hast done but part of thy duty, and so art short of justification from the curse by what thou hast done (1 Cor 8:2, 13:12).

3. Besides, it looks too like a monster that the works of faith should justify us before God; then faith is turned, as it were, with its neck behind it. Faith, in its own nature and natural course, respected the mercy of God through the Mediator, Jesus Christ; and as such, its virtue and excellency is to expect justification by grace through him; but by this doctrine, faith is turned roundabout, and now makes a life out of what itself hath done; but, methinks, faith should be as noble as its fruits, that being the first, and they but the fruits of that.

Besides, seeing the work is only good because it flowed from faith (for faith purifies the heart), therefore faith is it that justifies all its works (Acts 15:9). If, then, we be justified by either, it is by faith, and not by his works; unless we will say there is more virtue in the less than in the greater. Now, what is faith but a believing, trusting, or relying-on act of the soul? What, then, must it rely upon or trust in? Not in itself; that is, without Scripture; not in its works, they are inferior to itself; besides, this is the way to make even the works of faith the mediator between God and the soul, and so by them thrust Christ out of doors; therefore it must trust in Christ; and if so, then no man can be justified from the curse, before God, by the works that flow from faith.

4. To put all out of doubt; the saint, when he hath done what he can to bring forth good works by faith, yet he dares not show these works before God but as they pass through the Mediator Christ, but as they are washed in the blood of the Lamb. And therefore Peter saith, those sacrifices of ours that are truly spiritual are only then accepted of God when offered up by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). And therefore it is said again, that the prayers of the saints, which are the fruits of faith, come up before the throne of God through the angel's hand; that is, through the hand of Christ, through his golden censer, perfumed with his incense, made acceptable by his intercession (Rev 8:3,4). It is said in the Book of Revelation, that it is granted to the bride, the Lamb's wife, that she should be 'arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; which white linen is the righteousness of saints.' This fine linen, in my judgment, is the works of godly men, their works that sprang from faith. But how came they clean? How came they white? Not simply because they were the works of faith. But Mark, they 'washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' And 'therefore they stand before the throne of God' (Rev 7:14,15). Therefore it is that their good works stand there too.

I conclude, then, 'our persons are justified while we are sinners in ourselves.' Our works, even the works of faith, are not otherwise accepted but as they come through Jesus Christ, even through his intercession and blood. So then, Christ doth justify both our person and works, not by way of approbation, as we stand in ourselves or works before God, but by presenting of us to his Father by himself, washing what we are and have from guilt in his blood, and clothing us with his own performances. This is the cause of our acceptance of God, and our works are not absent from his presence.

Works of John Bunyan: JUSTIFICATION BY AN IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS; OR, THAT MEN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD. 341

 

SECOND— THAT MAN CAN BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE CURSE BEFORE GOD, WHILE SINNERS IN THEMSELVES, BY NO OTHER RIGHTEOUSNESS THAN THAT LONG AGO PERFORMED BY, AND REMAINING WITH, THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

[SECOND.] This being so, the second position is also manifest—namely, that the righteousness by which we stand just from the curse, before God, is only inherent in Jesus Christ. For if he hath undertaken to bring in justifying righteousness, and that by works and merits of his own, then that righteousness must of necessity be inherent in him alone, and ours only by imputation; and hence it is called, in that fifth to the Romans, the gift, the ‘gift of righteousness’; because neither wrought nor obtained by works of ours, but bestowed upon us, as a garment already prepared, by the mercy of God in Christ (Rom 5:17; Isa 61:10). There are four things that confirm this for a truth—

First, this righteousness is said to be the righteousness of one, not of many; I mean of one properly and personally, as his own particular personal righteousness. The gift of grace is the gift of righteousness, which is ‘by one man, Jesus Christ.’ ‘Much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by ONE, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all to condemnation; even so 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 (Rom 5:15-19). Mark, the righteousness of one, the obedience of one; the righteousness of one man, of one man, Jesus. Wherefore, the righteousness that justified a sinner is personally and inherently the righteousness of that person only who, by works and acts of obedience, did complete it, even the obedience of one, of one man, Jesus Christ; and so ours only by imputation. It is improper to say, that Adam’s eating of the forbidden fruit was personally and inherently an act of mine. It was personally his, and imputatively mine; personally his, because he did it; imputatively mine, because I was then in him. Indeed, the effects of his personal eating are found in my person; to wit, defilement, and gravity. The effects also of the imputation of Christ’s personal righteousness are truly found in those that are in him by electing love and unfeigned faith, even holy and heavenly dispositions; but a personal act is one thing, and the effects of that another. The act may be done by, and be only inherent in one; the imputation of the merit of the act, as also the effects of the same, may be in a manner universal, extending itself unto the most, or all. This is the case of Adam and Christ doth manifest. The sin of one is imputed to his posterity; the righteousness of the other is reckoned the righteousness of those that are his.

Second. The righteousness by which we stand just before God from the curse is called, ‘The righteousness of the Lord—the righteousness of God—the righteousness of Jesus Christ,’ &c. (Phil 3:6-9); and that by way of opposition to the righteousness of God’s own holy law—’ That I might be found in him, not having on 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.’ Now, by this opposition, as by what was said before, the truth is made exceeding clear; for by these words, ‘not having my own righteousness,’ are not only excluded what qualifications we suppose to be in us, but the righteousness through which we stand just in the sight of God by them is limited and confined to a person absolutely distinct. Distinct, I say, as to his person and performances, who here is called God and Jesus Christ; as he saith also in the prophet Isaiah, ‘In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory’ (Isa 45:25). In the Lord, not in the law; in the Lord, not in themselves. ‘And their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.’ Of me, not of themselves; of me, not of the law (54:17). And again; ‘Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength’ (45:24). Now, as I have already said, all this is to be understood of the righteousness that was fulfilled by acts and works of obedience, which the person of the Son of God accomplished in the days of his flesh in the world; by that man, I say, ‘The Lord our righteousness’ (Jer 23:5). Christ, indeed, is naturally and essentially righteousness; but as he is simply such, so he justified no man; for then he need not to bear our sins in his flesh, and become obedient in all points of the law for us; but the righteousness by which we stand just before God is righteousness consisting of works and deeds, of the doings and sufferings, of such a person who also is essentially righteousness. And hence, as before I have hinted, we are said to be justified by the obedience and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the doings and sufferings of the Son of God. And hence, again, it is that he first is called King of righteousness; that is, a King of righteousness as God-man, which of necessity supposes his personal performances; and after that, ‘King of peace’ (Heb 7:1-3). For what he is naturally and eternally in his Godhead, he is not to us, but himself; but what he is actively and by works, he is not to himself, but to us; so, then, he is neither King of righteousness nor of peace to us, as he is only the eternal Son of the Father, without his being considered as our priest and undertaker. He hath ‘obtained,’ by works of righteousness, ‘eternal redemption for us’ (Heb 9:12). So then, the righteousness by which we stand just before God is a righteousness inherent only in Christ because righteousness is performed by him alone.

Now, that righteousness by which we stand just before God must be a righteousness consisting of personal performances; the reason is, that persons had sinned; this the nature of justice requires, that ‘since by man came death, by man’ should come ‘also the resurrection from the dead’ (1 Cor 15:21). The angels, therefore, for this very reason, abide under the chains of everlasting darkness, because he ‘took not hold on them’ (Heb 2:16,17); that is, by fulfilling righteousness for them in their nature. That is a blessed word, to you. ‘To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.’ To YOU, not to angels; to you is born a Saviour (Luke 2:11).

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