by

Owen’s masterly account of justification by faith is distinguished from

the two other classical 17

th

-century English treatises on this subject

(those of Downame and Davenant) by its non-speculative,

non-scholastic character and its dominating pastoral concern. The

resurgent Roman challenge, and current Protestant confusion, obliged

Owen to write controversially at certain points, but the core of his

discourse is straightforward biblical exposition, massive, fresh,

compelling and practical. Of all the many Puritan treatments of

justification, Owen’s is without doubt the richest.

First edition 1677. The Works of John Owen, edited by William H

Goold, first published by Johnstone and Hunter 1850–1853. Reprinted

by photolithography and published by the Banner of Truth Trust,

Edinburgh 1965.

Modern verb forms introduced by a previous editor of the text (e.g.

doth does) have been retained

Salvation

Table of Contents

p. 1

The Doctrine of Justification by Faith, through the Imputation of the

Righteousness of Christ; explained, confirmed, and vindicated.. . . . . . .

p. 2 Prefatory note.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 6 To the reader.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 10

General considerations, previous unto the explanation of the doctrine of

justification.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 10 The general nature of justification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 14 A due consideration of God necessary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 19 Our apostasy from God. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 22 Opposition between works and grace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 29 Commutation as unto sin and righteousness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 37 Introduction of grace by Jesus Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 46 Prejudices against imputation of righteousness of Christ. . . . . . . . . . .

p. 53 Influence of doctrine of justification at the Reformation. . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 58 Chapter I. Justifiying faith; the causes and object of it declared.. . . . . . .

p. 75 Chapter II. The nature of justifying faith.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 86

Chapter III. The use of faith in justification; its especial object farther

cleared.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 98

Chapter IV. Of justification; the notion and signification of the word in

Scripture.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 109

Chapter V. The distinction of a first and second justification examined. The

continuation of justification: whereon it does depend.. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 121

Chapter VI. Evangelical personal righteousness, the nature and use of it.

Final judgement, and its respect unto justification.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 129

Chapter VII. Imputation, and the nature of it; with the imputation of the

righteousness of Christ in particular.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 140

Chapter VIII. Imputation of the sins of the church unto Christ. Grounds of it.

The nature of his suretiship. Causes of the new covenant. Christ and the

church one mystical person. Consequents thereof.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 162

Chapter IX. The formal cause of justification, or the righteousness on the

account whereof believers are justified before God. Objections

answered.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

p. 175

Chapter X. Arguments of justification by the imputation of the righteousness

of Christ — The first argument from the nature and use of our own personal

righteousness.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 187

Chapter XI. The nature of the obedience that God requires of us. The eternal

obligation of the law thereunto.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 195

Chapter XII. The imputation of the obedience of Christ unto the law declared

and vindicated.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 213

Chapter XIII. The nature of justification proved from the difference of the

covenants.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 215

Chapter XIV. The exclusion of all sorts of works from an interest in

justification. What is intended by "the law," and the "works" of it, in the epistles

of Paul.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 225 Chapter XV. Faith alone.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 228

Chapter XVI. The truth pleaded farther confirmed by testimonies of Scripture.

Jer. xxiii. 6.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 231 Chapter XVII. Testimonies out of the evangelists considered.. . . . . . . . .

p. 237

Chapter XVIII. The nature of justification as declared in the epistles of St

Paul, in that unto the Romans especially.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 237 Romans iii.–v.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 239 Romans iii. 24–26. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 242 Romans iv.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 247 Romans v. 12–21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 260 Romans x. 3, 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 264 1 Corinthians i. 30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 267 2 Corinthians v. 21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 272 Galatians ii. 16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 274 Ephesians ii. 8–10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 278 Philippians iii. 8, 9. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 286

Chapter XIX. Objections against the doctrine of justification by the imputation

of righteousness of Christ. Personal holiness and obedience not obstructed,

but furthered by it.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 295

Chapter XX. The doctrine of the apostle James concerning faith and works.

Its agreement with that of St Paul.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 308 Indexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 308 Index of Scripture References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 312 Index of Citations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 313 Index of Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 316 Greek Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 324 Hebrew Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

p. 326 Latin Words and Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

p. 337 Index of Pages of the Print Edition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

OF

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH,

THROUGH

THE IMPUTATION OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST;

EXPLAINED, CONFIRMED, AND VINDICATED

Search the Scriptures — John v. 29

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

There is a pregnant and striking passage in one of the charges of Bishop Horsley, which may

be said to embody the substance and intimate the scope of the following work on justification, —

a work which has been esteemed one of the best productions of Dr Owen. "That man is justified,"

says Horsley, "by faith, without the works of the law, was the uniform doctrine of our first Reformers.

It is a far more ancient doctrine, — it was the doctrine of the whole college of apostles; it is more

ancient still, — it was the doctrine of the prophets; it is older than the prophets, — it was the religion

of the patriarchs; and no one who has the least acquaintance with the writings of the first Reformers

will impute to them, more than to the patriarchs, the prophets, or apostles, the absurd opinion, that

any man leading an impenitent, wicked life, will finally, upon the mere pretence of faith (and faith

connected with an impenitent life must always be a mere pretence), obtain admission into heaven."

Dr Owen, in the "general considerations" with which he opens the discussion of this momentous

subject, shows that the doctrine of justification by faith was clearly declared in the teaching of the

ancient church. Among other testimonies, he adduces the remarkable extract from the epistle to

Diognetus, which, though commonly printed among the works of Justin Martyr, has been attributed

by Tillemont to some author in the first century. Augustine, in his contest with Pelagian error,

powerfully advocated the doctrines of grace. That he clearly apprehended the nature of justification

by grace appears from the principle so tersely enunciated by him, "Opera bona non faciunt justum,

sed justificatus facit bona opera." The controversy, however in which he was the great champion

of orthodox opinions, turned mainly upon the renovation of the heart by a divine and supernatural

apprehension and firm grasp of this doctrine which ultimately emancipated Luther from the thraldom

of Romish error, and he clung to it with a zeal proportioned to his conviction of the benefit which

his own soul had derived from it. He restored it to its true place and bearings in the Christian system,

and, in emphatic expression of its importance, pronounced it "Articulus stantis aut cadentis ecclesiæ."

It had to encounter, accordingly, strong opposition from all who were hostile to the theology of the

Reformation. Both Socinus and Bellarmine wrote against it, — the former discussing the question

in connection with his general argument against orthodox views on the subject of the person and

work of Christ; the latter devoting a separate treatise expressly to the refutation of the doctrine of

the Reformed churches regarding justification. Several Roman Catholic authors followed in his

wake, to whom Dr Owen alludes in different parts of his work. The ability with which Bellarmine

conducted his argument cannot be questioned; though sometimes, in meeting difficulties and

disposing of objections to his views from Scripture, he evinces an unscrupulous audacity of statement.

His work still continues, perhaps the ablest and most systematic attempt to overthrow the doctrine

of justification by faith. In supplying an antidote to the subtle disquisitions of the Romish divine,

Dr Owen is in reality vindicating that doctrine at all the points where the acumen of his antagonist

had conceived it liable to be assailed with any hope of success.

To counteract the tendency of the religious mind when it proceeded in the direction of

Arminianism, Calvinistic divines, naturally engrossed with the points in dispute, dwelt greatly on

the workings of efficacious grace in election, regeneration, and conversion, if not to the exclusion

of the free offer of the gospel, at least so as to cast somewhat into the shade the free justification

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

offered in it. The Antinomianism which arose during the time of the Commonwealth has been

3a

accounted the reaction from this defect. Under these circumstances, the attention of theologians

was again drawn to the doctrine of justification. Dissent could not, in those times, afford to be

weakened by divisions; and partly under the influence of his own pacific dispositions, and partly

to accomplish a public service to the cause of religion, Baxter made an attempt to reconcile the

parties at variance, and to soothe into unity the British churches. Rightly conceiving that the essence

of the question lay in the nature of justification, he published in 1649 his "Aphorisms on

Justification," in opposition to the Antinomian tendencies of the day, and yet designed to

accommodate the prevailing differences; on terms, however, that were held to compromise the

gratuitous character of justification. He had unconsciously, by a recoil common in every attempt

to reconcile essentially antagonistic principles, made a transition from the ground of justification

by faith, to views clearly opposed to it. Though his mind was the victim of a false theory, his heart

was practically right; and he subsequently modified and amended his views. But to his "Aphorisms"

Bishop Barlow traces the first departure from the received doctrine of the Reformed churches on

the subject of justification. In 1669, Bishop Bull published his "Apostolical Harmony," with the

view of reconciling the apostles Paul and James. There is no ambiguity in regard to his views as

to the ground of a sinner’s acceptance with God. According to Bull "faith denotes the whole

condition of the gospel covenant; that is, comprehends in one word all the works of Christian piety."

It is the just remark of Bickersteth, that "under the cover of justification by faith, this is in reality

justification by works."

A host of opponents sprung up in reply to Baxter and Bull; but they were not left without help

in maintaining their position. In support of Baxter, Sir Charles Wolsley, a baronet of some reputation,

who had been a member of Cromwell’s Council of State, and who sat in several parliaments after

the Restoration, published, in 1667, his "Justification Evangelical." In a letter to Mr Humfrey,

author of the "Peaceable Disquisition," published subsequently to Owen’s work and partly in

refutation of it, Sir Charles, referring to Dr Owen, remarks, "I suppose you know his book of

Justification was written particularly against mine." There is reason to believe that Owen had a

wider object in view than the refutation of any particular treatise. In the preface to his great work,

which appeared in 1677, he assures the reader that, whatever contests prevailed on the subject of

justification, it was his design to mingle in no personal controversy with any author of the day. Not

that his reasonings had no bearing on the pending disputes, for, from the brief review we have

submitted of the history of this discussion, it is clear that, with all its other excellencies, the work

was eminently seasonable and much needed; but he seems to have been under a conviction, that in

refuting specially Socinus and Bellarmine, he was in effect disposing of the most formidable

objections ever urged against the doctrine of justification by grace, while he avoided the

unpleasantness of personal collision with the Christian men of his own times whose views might

seem to him deeply erroneous on the point; and the very coincidence of these views, both in principle

and tendency, with Socinian and Popish heresies, would suggest to his readers, if not a conclusive

argument against them, at least a good reason why they should be carefully examined before they

were embraced. His work, therefore, is not a meagre and ephemeral contribution to the controversy

as it prevailed in his day, and under an aspect in which it may never again be revived. It is a formal

review of the whole amount of truth revealed to us in regard to the justification of the sinner before

God; and, if the scope of the treatise is considered, the author cannot be blamed for prolixity in the

treatment of a theme so wide. On his own side of the question, it is still the most complete discussion

3

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

in one language of the important doctrine to which it relates. Exception has been taken to the

abstruse definitions and distinctions which he introduces. He had obviously no intention to offend

in this way; for, at the close of chap. XIV, he makes a quaint protest against the admission of "exotic

learning," "philosophical notions," and "arbitrary distinctions," into the exposition of spiritual truth.

In the refutation of complicated error, there is sometimes a necessity to track it through various

sinuosities; but, in the main, the treatise is written in a spirit which proves how directly the author

was resting on divine truth as the basis of his own faith and hope, and how warily he strove and

watched that his mind might not "be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

4a

"A curious fact," says Mr Orme, "respecting this book, is mentioned in the Life of Mr Joseph

Williams, of Kidderminster:— ‘At last, the time of his (Mr Grimshawe’s, an active clergyman of

the Church of England) deliverance came. At the house of one of his friends he lays his hand on a

book, and opens it, with his face towards a pewter shelf. Instantly his face is saluted with an

uncommon flash of heat. He turns to the title-page, and finds it to be Dr Owen on Justification.

Immediately he is surprised with such another flash. He borrows the book, studies it, is led into

God’s method of justifying the ungodly, has a new heart given unto him; and now, behold, he

occurrence which turned his attention to it, is of importance merely as the second cause, which,

under the mysterious direction of Providence, led to a blessed result."

I–III. The nature of justification is next discussed; — first, under an inquiry into the meaning of

the different terms commonly employed regarding it; and, secondly, by a statement of the juridical

and forensic aspect under which it is represented in Scripture, IV. The theory of a twofold

justification, as asserted by the Church of Rome, and another error which ascribes the initial

justification of the sinner to faith, but the continuance of his state as justified to his own personal

righteousness, are examined, and proved untenable, V. Several arguments are urged in disproof of

a third erroneous theory, broached and supported by Socinians, that justification depends upon

evangelical righteousness as the condition on which the righteousness of Christ is imputed, VI. A

general statement follows of the nature of imputation, and of the grounds on which imputation

proceeds, VII. A full discussion ensues of the doctrine that sin is imputed to Christ, grounded upon

the mystical union between Christ and the church, the suretiship of the former in behalf of the

church, and the provisions of the new covenant, VIII. The chief controversies in regard to justification

are arranged and classified, and the author fixes on the point relating to the formal cause of

justification as the main theme of the subsequent reasonings, IX.

At this stage, the second division of the treatise may be held to begin, — the previous

disquisitions being more of a preliminary character. The scope of what follows is to prove that the

sinner is justified, through faith, by the imputed righteousness of Christ. This part of the work

embraces four divisions; — general arguments for the doctrine affirmed; testimonies from Scripture

in support of it; the refutation of objections to it; and the reconciliation of the passages in the Epistles

of Paul and James which have appeared to some to be inconsistent.

and contends for the imputation of Christ’s righteousness as the ground of justification; — first,

from the insufficiency of our own righteousness, or, in other words, from the condition of guilt in

which all men are by nature involved, X.; secondly, from the nature of the obedience required unto

4

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

justification, according to the eternal obligation of the divine law, XI.; and, as a subsidiary and

collateral consideration, from the necessity which existed that the precept of the law should be

fulfilled as well as that atonement should be rendered for the violation of it, — in short, from the

active as well as the passive righteousness of Christ; and here the three objections of Socinus, that

such an imputation of Christ’s obedience is impossible, useless, and pernicious, receive a detailed

confutation, XII.; thirdly, from the difference between the two covenants, XIII.; and fourthly, from

the express terms in which all works see excluded from justification in Scripture, XIV.; while faith

is exhibited in the gospel as the sole instrument by which we are interested in the righteousness of

and commented on from the prophets, XVI.; from the evangelists, XVII.; and from the epistles of

— namely, that the doctrine overthrows the necessity of holiness and subverts moral obligation,

explanation of the passages in Paul and James which are alleged to be at variance but which are

proved to be in perfect harmony, XX. — Ed.

5

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

I shall not need to detain the reader with an account of the nature and moment of that doctrine

which is the entire subject of the ensuing discourse; for although sundry persons, even among

ourselves, have various apprehensions concerning it, yet that the knowledge of the truth therein is

of the highest importance unto the souls of men is on all hands agreed unto. Nor, indeed, is it

possible that any man who knows himself to be a sinner, and obnoxious thereon to the judgment

of God, but he must desire to have some knowledge of it, as that alone whereby the way of delivery

from the evil state and condition wherein he finds himself is revealed. There are, I confess, multitudes

in the world who, although they cannot avoid some general convictions of sin, as also of the

consequents of it, yet do fortify their minds against a practical admission of such conclusions as,

in a just consideration of things, do necessarily and unavoidably ensue thereon. Such persons,

wilfully deluding themselves with vain hopes and imaginations, do never once seriously inquire

by what way or means they may obtain peace with God and acceptance before him, which, in

comparison of the present enjoyment of the pleasures of sin, they value not at all. And it is in vain

to recommend the doctrine of justification unto them who neither desire nor endeavour to be

justified. But where any persons are really made sensible of their apostasy from God, of the evil

of their natures and lives, with the dreadful consequences that attend thereon, in the wrath of God

and eternal punishment due unto sin, they cannot well judge themselves more concerned in any

thing than in the knowledge of that divine way whereby they may be delivered from this condition.

And the minds of such persons stand in no need of arguments to satisfy them in the importance of

this doctrine; their own concernment in it is sufficient to that purpose. And I shall assure them that,

in the handling of it, from first to last, I have had no other design but only to inquire diligently into

the divine revelation of that way, and those means, with the causes of them, whereby the conscience

of a distressed sinner may attain assured peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I lay more

weight on the steady direction of one soul in this inquiry, than on disappointing the objections of

twenty wrangling or fiery disputers. The question, therefore, unto this purpose being stated, as the

reader will find in the beginning of our discourse, although it were necessary to spend some time

in the explication of the doctrine itself, and terms wherein it is usually taught, yet the main weight

of the whole lies in the interpretation of scripture testimonies, with the application of them unto

the experience of them who do believe, and the state of them who seek after salvation by Jesus

Christ. There are, therefore, some few things that I would desire the reader to take notice of, that

he may receive benefit by the ensuing discourse; at least, if it be not his own fault, be freed from

prejudices against it, or a vain opposition unto it.

1. Although there are at present various contests about the doctrine of justification, and many

books published in the way of controversy about it, yet this discourse was written with no design

4

to contend with or contradict any, of what sort or opinion soever. Some few passages which seem

of that tendency are, indeed, occasionally inserted; but they are such as every candid reader will

judge to have been necessary. I have ascribed no opinion unto any particular person, — much less

wrested the words of any, reflected on their persons, censured their abilities, taken advantage of

presumed prejudices against them, represented their opinions in the deformed reflections of strained

consequences, fancied intended notions, which their words do not express, nor, candidly interpreted,

6

John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

give any countenance unto, — or endeavoured the vain pleasure of seeming success in opposition

unto them; which, with the like effects of weakness of mind and disorder of affections, are the

animating principles of many late controversial writings. To declare and vindicate the truth, unto

the instruction and edification of such as love it in sincerity, to extricate their minds from those

difficulties (in this particular instance) which some endeavour to cast on all gospel mysteries, to

direct the consciences of them that inquire after abiding peace with God, and to establish the minds

of them that do believe, are the things I have aimed at; and an endeavour unto this end, considering

all circumstances, that station which God has been pleased graciously to give me in the church, has

made necessary unto me.

2. I have written nothing but what I believe to be true, and useful unto the promotion of gospel

obedience. The reader may not here expect an extraction of other men’s notions, or a collection

and improvement of their arguments, either by artificial reasonings or ornament of style and

language; but a naked inquiry into the nature of the things treated on, as revealed in the Scripture,

and as evidencing themselves in their power and efficacy on the minds of them that do believe. It

is the practical direction of the consciences of men, in their application unto God by Jesus Christ

for deliverance from the curse due unto the apostate state, and peace with him, with the influence

of the way thereof unto universal gospel obedience, that is alone to be designed in the handling of

this doctrine. And, therefore, unto him that would treat of it in a due manner, it is required that he

weigh every thing he asserts in his own mind and experience, and not dare to propose that unto

others which he does not abide by himself, in the most intimate recesses of his mind, under his

nearest approaches unto God, in his surprisals with dangers, in deep afflictions, in his preparations

for death, and most humble contemplations of the infinite distance between God and him. Other

notions and disputations about the doctrine of justification, not seasoned with these ingredients,

however condited unto the palate of some by skill and language, are insipid and useless, immediately

degenerating into an unprofitable strife of words.

3. I know that the doctrine here pleaded for is charged by many with an unfriendly aspect

towards the necessity of personal holiness, good works, and all gospel obedience in general, yea,

utterly to take it away. So it was at the first clear revelation of it by the apostle Paul, as he frequently

declares. But it is sufficiently evinced by him to be the chief principle of, and motive unto, all that

obedience which is accepted with God through Jesus Christ, as we shall manifest afterwards.

However, it is acknowledged that the objective grace of the gospel, in the doctrine of it, is liable

to abuse, where there is nothing of the subjective grace of it in the hearts of men; and the ways of

its influence into the life of God are uncouth unto the reasonings of carnal minds. So was it charged

by the Papists, at the first Reformation, and continues yet so to be. Yet, as it gave the first occasion

unto the Reformation itself, so was it that whereby the souls of men, being set at liberty from their

bondage unto innumerable superstitious fears and observances, utterly inconsistent with true gospel

obedience, and directed into the ways of peace with God through Jesus Christ, were made fruitful

in real holiness, and to abound in all those blessed effects of the life of God which were never found

5

among their adversaries. The same charge as afterwards renewed by the Socinians, and continues

still to be managed by them. But I suppose wise and impartial men will not lay much weight on

their accusations, until they have manifested the efficacy of their contrary persuasion by better

effects and fruits than yet they have done. What sort of men they were who first coined that system

of religion which they adhere unto, one who knew them well enough, and sufficiently inclined unto

their Antitrinitarian opinions, declares in one of the queries that he proposed unto Socinus himself

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

and his followers. "If this," says he, "be the truth which you contend for, whence comes it to pass

that it is declared only by persons ‘nulla pietatis commendatione, nullo laudato prioris vitæ exemplo

commendatos; imo ut plerumque videmus, per vagabundos, et contentionum zeli carnalis plenos

oper. Socin.’ " The fiercest charges of such men against any doctrines they oppose as inconsistent

with the necessary motives unto godliness, are a recommendation of it unto the minds of

considerative men. And there cannot be a more effectual engine plied for the ruin of religion, than

for men to declaim against the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and other truths concerning

the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, as those which overthrow the necessity of moral duties, good

works, and gospel obedience; whilst, under the conduct of the opinions which they embrace in

opposition unto them, they give not the least evidence of the power of the truth or grace of the

gospel upon their own hearts, or in their lives. Whereas, therefore, the whole gospel is the truth

which is after godliness, declaring and exhibiting that grace of God which teaches us "to deny all

ungodliness and worldly lusts, and that we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly in this

world;" we being fallen into those times wherein, under great and fierce contests about notions,

opinions, and practices in religion, there is a horrible decay in true gospel purity and holiness of

life amongst the generality of men, I shall readily grant that, keeping a due regard unto the only

standard of truth, a secondary trial of doctrines proposed and contended for may and ought to be

made, by the ways, lives, walkings, and conversations of them by whom they are received and

professed. And although it is acknowledged that the doctrine pleaded in the ensuing discourse be

liable to be abused, yea, turned into licentiousness, by men of corrupt minds, through the prevalence

of vicious habits in them (as is the whole doctrine of the grace of God by Jesus Christ); and although

the way and means of its efficacy and influence into universal obedience unto God, in righteousness

and true holiness, be not discernible without some beam of spiritual light, nor will give an experience

of their power unto the minds of men utterly destitute of a principle of spiritual life; yet, if it cannot

preserve its station in the church by this rule, of its useful tendency unto the promotion of godliness,

and its necessity thereunto, in all them by whom it is really believed and received in its proper light

and power, and that in the experience of former and present times, I shall be content that it be

exploded.

4. Finding that not a few have esteemed it compliant with their interest to publish exceptions

against some few leaves which, in the handling of a subject of another nature, I occasionally wrote

many years ago on this subject, I am not without apprehensions, that either the same persons or

others of a like temper and principles, may attempt an opposition unto what is here expressly

tendered thereon. On supposition of such an attempt, I shall, in one word, let the authors of it know

wherein alone I shall be concerned. For, if they shall make it their business to cavil at expressions,

to wrest my words, wire-draw inferences and conclusions from them not expressly owned by me,

— to revile my person, to catch at advantages in any occasional passages, or other unessential parts

of the discourse, — labouring for an appearance of success and reputation to themselves thereby,

6

without a due attendance unto Christian moderation, candour, and ingenuity, — I shall take no

more notice of what they say or write than I would do of the greatest impertinencies that can be

reported in this world. The same I say concerning oppositions of the like nature unto any other

writings of mine, — a work which, as I hear, some are at present engaged in. I have somewhat else

to do than to cast away any part of the small remainder of my life in that kind of controversial

writings which good men bewail, and wise men deride. Whereas, therefore, the principal design

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

of this discourse is to state the doctrine of justification from the Scripture, and to confirm it by the

testimonies thereof, I shall not esteem it spoken against, unless our exposition of Scripture

testimonies, and the application of them unto the present argument, be disproved by just rules of

interpretation, and another sense of them be evinced. All other things which I conceive necessary

to be spoken unto, in order unto the right understanding and due improvement of the truth pleaded

for, are comprised and declared in the ensuing general discourses to that purpose. These few things

I thought meet to mind the reader of.

J. O.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

First, The general nature of justification — State of the person to be justified antecedently thereunto,

Rom. iv. 5; iii. 19; i. 32; Gal. iii. 10; John iii. 18, 36; Gal. iii. 22 — The sole inquiry on that state

— Whether it be any thing that is our own inherently, or what is only imputed unto us, that we are

to trust unto for our acceptance with God — The sum of this inquiry — The proper ends of teaching

and learning the doctrine of justification — Things to be avoided therein

That we may treat of the doctrine of justification usefully unto its proper ends, which are the

glory of God in Christ, with the peace and furtherance of the obedience of believers, some things

are previously to be considered, which we must have respect unto in the whole process of our

discourse. And, among others that might be insisted on to the same purpose, these that ensue are

not to be omitted:—

of a sinner pressed and perplexed with a sense of the guilt of sin. For justification is the way and

means whereby such a person does obtain acceptance before God, with a right and title unto a

heavenly inheritance. And nothing is pleadable in this cause but what a man would speak unto his

own conscience in that state, or unto the conscience of another, when he is anxious under that

inquiry. Wherefore, the person under consideration (that is, who is to be justified) is one who, in

righteous sentential judgment of God, that "he who committeth sin," who is any way guilty of it,

"the curse," and "the wrath of God" therein abiding on him," John iii. 18, 36. In this condition he

relief; his "mouth is stopped," Rom. iii. 19. For he is, in the judgment of God, declared in the

8

the consequents of it. Many evils in this condition are men subject unto, which may be reduced

unto those two of our first parents, wherein they were represented. For, first, they thought foolishly

to hide themselves from God; and then, more foolishly, would have charged him as the cause of

their sin. And such, naturally, are the thoughts of men under their convictions. But whoever is the

subject of the justification inquired after, is, by various means, brought into his apprehensions who

cried, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

2. With respect unto this state and condition of men, or men in this state and condition, the

life eternal? This is that alone wherein the consciences of sinners in this estate are concerned. Nor

do they inquire after any thing, but what they may have to oppose unto or answer the justice of

God in the commands and curse of the law, and what they may betake themselves unto for the

obtaining of acceptance with him unto life and salvation.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

That the apostle does thus, and no otherwise, state this whole matter, and, in an answer unto

this inquiry, declare the nature of justification and all the causes of it, in the third and fourth chapters

of the Epistle to the Romans, and elsewhere, shall be afterwards declared and proved. And we shall

also manifest, that the apostle James, in the second chapter of his epistle, does not speak unto this

inquiry, nor give an answer unto it; but it is of justification in another sense, and to another purpose,

whereof he treats. And whereas we cannot either safely or usefully treat of this doctrine, but with

respect unto the same ends for which it is declared, and whereunto it is applied in the Scripture,

we should not, by any pretences, be turned aside from attending unto this case and its resolution,

in all our discourses on this subject; for it is the direction, satisfaction, and peace of the consciences

of men, and not the curiosity of notions or subtlety of disputations, which it is our duty to design.

to be put on the steady guidance of the mind and conscience of one believer, really exercised about

the foundation of his peace and acceptance with God, than on the confutation of ten wrangling

disputers.

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3. Now the inquiry, on what account, or for what cause and reason, a man may be so acquitted

or discharged of sin, and accepted with God, as before declared, does necessarily issue in this:—

and surety of the covenant, imputed unto us? One of these it must be, — namely, something that

is our own, which, whatever may be the influence of the grace of God unto it, or causality of it,

not our own, nor inherent in us, nor wrought by us, is yet imputed unto us, for the pardon of our

sins and the acceptation of our persons as righteous, or the making of us righteous in the sight of

God. Neither are these things capable of mixture or composition, Rom. xi. 6. Which of these it is

the duty, wisdom, and safety of a convinced sinner to rely upon and trust unto, in his appearance

before God, is the sum of our present inquiry.

4. The way whereby sinners do or ought to betake themselves unto this relief, on supposition

which is not inherently their own, unto as good benefit and as much advantage as if it were their

own, is of a distinct consideration. And as this also is clearly determined in the Scripture, so it is

acknowledged in the experience of all them that do truly believe. Neither are we in this matter much

to regard the senses or arguing of men who were never thoroughly convinced of sin, nor have ever

in their own persons "fled for refuge unto the hope set before them."

5. These things, I say, are always to be attended unto, in our whole disquisition into the nature

curious and perplexed questions, wherein the consciences of guilty sinners are not concerned; and

which, therefore, really belong not unto the substance or truth of this doctrine, nor are to be immixed

or obnoxious and liable to, the judgment of God, — that we inquire after. That this is not any thing

in or of themselves, nor can so be, — that it is a provision without them, made in infinite wisdom

and grace by the mediation of Christ, his obedience and death therein, — is secured in the Scripture

against all contradiction; and it is the fundamental principle of the gospel, Matt. xi. 28.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

6. It is confessed that many things, for the declaration of the truth, and the order of the

dispensation of God’s grace herein, are necessary to be insisted on, — such are the nature of

10

into. But, beyond what tends directly unto the guidance of the minds and satisfaction of the souls

of men, who seek after a stable and abiding foundation of acceptance with God, we are not easily

to be drawn unless we are free to lose the benefit and comfort of this most important evangelical

truth in needless and unprofitable contentions. And amongst many other miscarriages which men

are subject unto, whilst they are conversant about these things, this, in an especial manner, is to be

avoided.

7. For the doctrine of justification is directive of Christian practice, and in no other evangelical

truth is the whole of our obedience more concerned; for the foundation, reasons, and motives of

all our duty towards God are contained therein. Wherefore, in order unto the due improvement of

them ought it to be taught, and not otherwise. That which alone we aim (or ought so to do) to learn

in it and by it, is how we may get and maintain peace with God, and so to live unto him as to be

accepted with him in what we do. To satisfy the minds and consciences of men in these things, is

this doctrine to be taught. Wherefore, to carry it out of the understandings of ordinary Christians,

by speculative notions and distinctions, is disserviceable unto the faith of the church; yea, the mixing

of evangelical revelations with philosophical notions has been, in sundry ages, the poison of religion.

Pretence of accuracy, and artificial skill in teaching, is that which gives countenance unto such a

way of handling sacred things. But the spiritual amplitude of divine truths is restrained hereby,

whilst low, mean, philosophical senses are imposed on them. And not only so, but endless divisions

and contentions are occasioned and perpetuated. Hence, when any difference in religion is, in the

pursuit of controversies about it, brought into the old of metaphysical respects and philosophical

combatants on both sides, — the truth for the most part, as unto any concernment of the souls of

men therein, is utterly lost and buried in the rubbish of senseless and unprofitable words. And thus,

in particular, those who seem to be well enough agreed in the whole doctrine of justification, so

far as the Scripture goes before them, and the experience of believers keeps them company, when

once they engage into their philosophical definitions and distinctions, are at such an irreconcilable

variance among themselves, as if they were agreed on no one thing that does concern it. For as men

have various apprehensions in coining such definitions as may be defensible against objections,

which most men aim at therein; so no proposition can be so plain, (at least in "materia probabili,")

11

distinctions on every word of it.

8. Hence, there has been a pretence and appearance of twenty several opinions among Protestants

1 A cardinal, who, according to Bayle, had "the best pen for controversy of his day." He was born in Tuscany in 1542, ordained

by the celebrated Jansenius in 1569, was professor of theology for seven years at Louvain, in 1576 gave controversial lectures

at Rome, was made cardinal in 1599, and archbishop of Capua in 1602; which, three years after, he quitted for Rome, where he

died in 1621. His controversial works fill three large folio volumes. His work on the temporal power of the pope was condemned

at Paris, because he claimed for the pope the right to depose princes; and yet because he asserted this right to be not direct, but

indirect, his book was placed by Pope Sixtus V. on the Index Expurgatorius. — Ed.

2 A Roman Catholic writer on morals and theology, whose works were published at Leyden in 1620. — Ed.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

1, 2, quest. 113, disp. 202; whereof we shall speak elsewhere. When men are once advanced into

that field of disputation, which is all overgrown with thorns of subtleties, perplexed notions, and

futilous terms of art, they consider principally how they may entangle others in it, scarce at all how

they may get out of it themselves. And in this posture they oftentimes utterly forget the business

which they are about, especially in this matter of justification, — namely, how a guilty sinner may

come to obtain favour and acceptance with God. And not only so, but I doubt they oftentimes

dispute themselves beyond what they can well abide by, when they return home unto a sedate

meditation of the state of things between God and their souls. And I cannot much value their notions

and sentiments of this matter, who object and answer themselves out of a sense of their own

appearance before God; much less theirs who evidence an open inconformity unto the grace and

truth of this doctrine in their hearts and lives.

9. Wherefore, we do but trouble the faith of Christians, and the peace of the true church of God,

whilst we dispute about expressions, terms, and notions, when the substance of the doctrine intended

may be declared and believed, without the knowledge, understanding, or use of any of them. Such

are all those in whose subtle management the captious art of wrangling does principally consist. A

12

diligent attendance unto the revelation made hereof in the Scripture, and an examination of our

own experience thereby, is the sum of what is required of us for the right understanding of the truth

alone, and the grace of God by him, for mercy, righteousness, and glory, and not at all concern

himself with those loads of thorns and briers, which, under the names of definitions, distinctions,

accurate notions, in a number of exotic pedagogical and philosophical terms, some pretend to

accommodate them withal.

10. The Holy Ghost, in expressing the most eminent acts in our justification, especially as unto

our believing, or the acting of that faith whereby we are justified, is pleased to make use of many

metaphorical expressions. For any to use them now in the same way, and to the same purpose, is

esteemed rude, undisciplinary, and even ridiculous; but on what grounds? He that shall deny that

there is more spiritual sense and experience conveyed by them into the hearts and minds of believers

(which is the life and soul of teaching things practical), than in the most accurate philosophical

expressions, is himself really ignorant of the whole truth in this matter. The propriety of such

expressions belongs and is confined unto natural science; but spiritual truths are to be taught, "not

in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual

things with spiritual." God is wiser than man; and the Holy Ghost knows better what are the most

expedient ways for the illumination of our minds with that knowledge of evangelical truths which

it is our duty to have and attain, than the wisest of us all. And other knowledge of or skill in these

things, than what is required of us in a way of duty, is not to be valued.

3 Andrew Osiander, or in German, Hosemann, was born in Franconia 1498, became a preacher at Nuremburg in 1522, and

professor of theology in the University of Königsberg in 1548. He died in 1522. He was among the first of the Protestant divines

that broached heretical views. He denied the forensic character of justification, confounded it with sanctification, and held that

man is justified not by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in satisfying and obeying the moral law, but by our participation,

through faith, in the essential righteousness of Christ as God. He was, nevertheless, an able and learned man, though proud and

dogmatic in temper. He wrote a valuable "Harmonia Evangelica." — Ed.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

It is, therefore, to no purpose to handle the mysteries of the gospel as if Hilcot and Bricot,

peripatetical school, were to be raked out of their graves to be our guides. Especially will they be

of no use unto us in this doctrine of justification. For whereas they pertinaciously adhered unto the

philosophy of Aristotle, who knew nothing of any righteousness but what is a habit inherent in

ourselves, and the acts of it, they wrested the whole doctrine of justification unto a compliance

13

hanc vel primam doctrinæ Christianæ partem (de justificatione) obscuratam magis quam illustratam

a scholasticis, spinosis plerisque quæstionibus, et definitionibus, secundum quas nonnulli magno

supercilio primam in omnibus autoritatem arrogantes," etc.

Secondly, A due consideration of God, the Judge of all, necessary unto the right stating and

apprehension of the doctrine of justification, Rom. viii. 33; Isa. xliii. 25; xlv. 25; Ps. cxliii. 2; Rom.

iii. 20 — What thoughts will be ingenerated hereby in the minds of men, Isa. xxxiii. 14; Micah vi.

6, 7; Isa. vi. 5 — The plea of Job against his friends, and before God, not the same, Job xl. 3–5,

xliii. 4–6 — Directions for visiting the sick given of old — Testimonies of Jerome and Ambrose

— Sense of men in their prayers, Dan. ix. 7, 18; Ps. cxliii. 2, cxxx. 3, 4 — Paraphrase of Austin on

that place — Prayer of Pelagius — Public liturgies

immediately, is necessary unto a right stating of our thoughts about it. The Scripture expresses it

emphatically, that it is "God that justifieth," Rom. viii. 33; and he assumes it unto himself as his

prerogative to do what belongs thereunto. "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for

mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins," Isa. xliii. 25. And it is hard, in my apprehension,

to suggest unto him any other reason or consideration of the pardon of our sins, seeing he has taken

it on him to do it for his own sake; that is, "for the Lord’s sake," Dan. ix. 17, in whom "all the seed

of Israel are justified," Isa. xlv. 25. In his sight, before his tribunal, it is that men are justified or

condemned. Ps. cxliii. 2, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man

living be justified." And the whole work of justification, with all that belongs thereunto, is

represented after the manner of a juridical proceeding before God’s tribunal; as we shall see

afterwards. "Therefore," says the apostle, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his

sight," Rom. iii. 20. However any man be justified in the sight of men or angels by his own

obedience, or deeds of the law, yet in his sight none can be so.

Necessary it is unto any man who is to come unto a trial, in the sentence whereof he is greatly

concerned, duly to consider the judge before whom he is to appear, and by whom his cause is finally

to be determined. And if we manage our disputes about justification without continual regard unto

him by whom we must be cast or acquitted, we shall not rightly apprehend what our plea ought to

Born near Novara, in Lombardy — died in 1164, bishop of Paris — called "Magister Sententiarum," from one of his works,

which is a compilation of sentences from the Fathers, arranged so as to form a system of Divinity, and held in high repute during

5 There were two writers, uncle and nephew, of the same name, Pighi, and both born at Campen, in the Dutch province of

Overyssel. The uncle (1490–1542) wrote in defence of the Romish hierarchy. — Ed.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

be. Wherefore the greatness, the majesty, the holiness, and sovereign authority of God, are always

to be present with us in a due sense of them, when we inquire how we may be justified before him.

Yet is it hard to discern how the minds of some men are influenced by the consideration of these

things, in their fierce contests for the interest of their own works in their justification: "Precibus

aut pretio ut in aliquâ parte hæreant." But the Scripture does represent unto us what thoughts of

him and of themselves, not only sinners, but saints also, have had, and cannot but have, upon near

discoveries and effectual conceptions of God and his greatness. Thoughts hereof ensuing on a sense

of the guilt of sin, filled our first parents with fear and shame, and put them on that foolish attempt

of hiding themselves from him. Nor is the wisdom of their posterity one jot better under their

convictions, without a discovery of the promise. That alone makes sinners wise which tenders them

14

relief. At present, the generality of men are secure, and do not much question but that they shall

come off well enough, one way or other, in the trial they are to undergo. And as such persons are

altogether indifferent what doctrine concerning justification is taught and received; so for the most

part, for themselves, they incline unto that declaration of it which best suits their own reason, as

influenced with self-conceit and corrupt affections. The sum whereof is, that what they cannot do

themselves, what is wanting that they may be saved, be it more or less, shall one way or other be

made up by Christ; either the use or the abuse of which persuasion is the greatest fountain of sin

in the world, next unto the depravation of our nature. And whatever be, or may be, pretended unto

the contrary, persons not convinced of sin, not humbled for it, are in all their ratiocinations about

spiritual things, under the conduct of principles so vitiated and corrupted. See Matt. xviii. 3, 4. But

when God is pleased by any means to manifest his glory unto sinners, all their prefidences and

contrivances do issue in dreadful horror and distress. An account of their temper is given us, Isa.

xxxiii. 14, "The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among

us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" Nor

is it thus only with some peculiar sort of sinners. The same will be the thoughts of all guilty persons

at some time or other. For those who, through sensuality, security, or superstition, do hide themselves

from the vexation of them in this world, will not fail to meet with them when their terror shall be

increased, and become remediless. Our "God is a consuming fire;" and men will one day find how

vain it is to set their briers and thorns against him in battle array. And we may see what extravagant

contrivances convinced sinners will put themselves upon, under any real view of the majesty and

holiness of God, Mic. vi. 6, 7, "Wherewith," says one of them, "shall I come before the Lord, and

bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a

year old? will the Lord be pleased with thousand of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Neither

shall I ever think them meet to be contended withal about the doctrine of justification who take no

notice of these things, but rather despise them.

This is the proper effect of the conviction of sin, strengthened and sharpened with the

consideration of the terror of the Lord, who is to judge concerning it. And this is that which, in the

superstitious inventions for the appeasing of the consciences of men who by any means fall under

15

the disquietments of such convictions. For they quickly see that nothing of the obedience which

God requires of them, as it is performed by them, will justify them before this high and holy God.

Wherefore they seek for shelter in contrivances about things that he has not commanded, to try if

they can put a cheat upon their consciences, and find relief in diversions.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

they have had near and efficacious representations of the greatness, holiness, and glory of God,

have been cast into the deepest self-abasement, and most serious renunciation of all trust or

confidence in themselves. So the prophet Isaiah, upon his vision of the glory of the Holy One, cried

out, "Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips," chap. vi. 5; — nor was

he relieved but by an evidence of the free pardon of sin, verse 7. So holy Job, in all his contests

above other men, with assured confidence and perseverance therein, justified his sincerity, his faith

and trust in God, against their whole charge, and every parcel of it. And this he does with such a

full satisfaction of his own integrity, as that not only he insists at large on his vindication, but

frequently appeals unto God himself as unto the truth of his plea; for he directly pursues that counsel,

with great assurance, which the apostle James so long after gives unto all believers. Nor is the

doctrine of that apostle more eminently exemplified in any one instance throughout the whole

Job justified himself, and was justified by his works, so we allow it the duty of every believer to

be. His plea for justification by works, in the sense wherein it is so, was the most noble that ever

was in the world, nor was ever any controversy managed upon a greater occasion.

At length this Job is called into the immediate presence of God, to plead his own cause; not

or trust in God was sincere; but as it was stated between God and him, wherein he seemed to have

made some undue assumptions on his own behalf. The question was now reduced unto this, — on

what grounds he might or could be justified in the sight of God? To prepare his mind unto a right

judgment in this case, God manifests his glory unto him, and instructs him in the greatness of his

majesty and power. And this he does by a multiplication of instances, because under our temptations

we are very slow in admitting right conceptions of God. Here the holy man quickly acknowledged

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that the state of the case was utterly altered. All his former pleas of faith, hope, and trust in God,

of sincerity in obedience, which with so much earnestness he before insisted on, are now quite laid

aside. He saw well enough that they were not pleadable at the tribunal before which he now appeared,

so that God should enter into judgment with him thereon, with respect unto his justification.

Wherefore, in the deepest self-abasement and abhorrence, he betakes himself unto sovereign grace

and mercy. For "then Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee?

I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken; but I will not answer: yea, twice; but I

will proceed no farther," Job xl. 3–5. And again, "Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; I will

demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now

mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself; and repent in dust and ashes," chap. xlii. 4–6. Let

any men place themselves in the condition wherein now Job was, — in the immediate presence of

God; let them attend unto what he really speaks unto them in his word, — namely, what they will

answer unto the charge that he has against them, and what will be their best plea before his tribunal,

that they may be justified. I do not believe that any man living has more encouraging grounds to

and distinctions, as the Jesuits have; but however we may be harnessed with subtle arguments and

solutions, I fear it will not be safe for us to adventure farther upon God than he durst to do.

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John Owen The Doctrine of Justification by Faith

seem to be convinced of:— "Credisne te non posse salvari nisi per mortem Christi? Respondet

infirmus, ‘Etiam.’ Tum dicit illi, Age ergo dum superest in te anima, in hâc solâ morte fiduciam

tuam constitue; in nullâ aliâ re fiduciam habe, huic morti te totum committe, hâc solâ te totum

contege totum immisce te in hac morte, in hac morte totum te involve. Et si Dominus te voluerit

judicare, dic, ‘Domine, mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi objicio inter me et tuum judicium, aliter

tecum non contendo.’ Et si tibi dixerit quia peccator es, dic, ‘Mortem Domini nostri Jesu Christi

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pono inter me et peccata mea.’ Si dixerit tibi quod meruisti damnationem; dic, ‘Domine, mortem

Domini nostri Jesu Christi obtendo inter te et mala merita mea, ipsiusque merita offero pro merito

quod ego debuissem habere nec habeo.’ Si dixerit quod tibi est iratus, dic, ‘Domine, mortem Domini

Jesu Christi oppono inter me et iram tuam;’ " — that is, "Dost thou believe that thou canst not be

saved but by the death of Christ? The sick man answers, ‘Yes;’ then let it be said unto him, Go to,

then, and whilst thy soul abideth in thee, put all thy confidence in this death alone, place thy trust

in no other thing; commit thyself wholly to this death, cover thyself wholly with this alone, cast

thyself wholly on this death, wrap thyself wholly in this death. And if God would judge thee, say,

‘Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and thy judgment; and otherwise I

will not contend or enter into judgment with thee.’ And if he shall say unto thee that thou art a

sinner, say, ‘I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and my sins.’ If he shall say

unto thee that thou hast deserved damnation, say, ‘Lord, I put the death of our Lord Jesus Christ

between thee and all my sins; and I offer his merits for my own, which I should have, and have

not.’ If he say that he is angry with thee, say, ‘Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ

between me and thy anger.’ " Those who gave these directions seem to have been sensible of what

it is to appear before the tribunal of God, and how unsafe it will be for us there to insist on any

meruit damnationem, et pœnitentia mea non sufficit ad satisfactionem; set certum est quod

misericordia tua superat omnem offensionem;" — "My conscience has deserved damnation, and

my repentance is not sufficient for satisfaction; but most certain it is that thy mercy aboundeth

above all offence." And this seems to me a better direction than those more lately given by some

Methodus in adjuvandis morientibus: "Domine Jesu, conjunge, obsecro, obsequium meum cum

omnibus quæ tu egisti, et passus es ex tam perfecta charitate et obedientia. Et cum divitiis

satisfactionum et meritorum dilectionis, patri æterno, illud offere digneris." Or that of a greater

mortis meæ, merita, fidelitatum, constantiæ, et pretiosi sanguinis, cum sanguine agni immaculati,

pro omnium salute effusi." Jerome, long before Anselm, spake to the same purpose: "Cum dies

judicii aut dormitionis advenerit, omnes manus dissolventur; quibus dicitur in alio loco, confortamini

manus dissolutæ; dissolventur autem manus, quia nullum opus dignum Dei justitia reperiatur, et

6 Anselm was born in 1033, at Aosta, in Piedmont, became archbishop of Canterbury in 1093, and died in 1109. His works

extend to three folio volumes. He spent a troubled life in maintaining the usurpations of the clergy and the church against the

Ed.

7 An author who published a catechism of Roman Catholic doctrine at Cologne in 1582. — Ed.

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non justificabitur in conspectu ejus omnis vivens, unde propheta dicit in psalmo, ‘Si iniquitates

death shall come, all hands will be dissolved" (that is, faint or fall down); "unto which it is said in

another place, ‘Be strengthened, ye hands that hang down.’ But all hands shall be melted down"

(that is, all men’s strength and confidence shall fail them), "because no works shall be found which

can answer the righteousness of God; for no flesh shall be justified in his sight. Whence the prophet

says in the psalm, ‘If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, who should stand?’ " "And Ambrose, to

the same purpose: "Nemo ergo sibi arroget, nemo de meritis glorietur, nemo de potestate se jactet,

omnes speremus per Dominum Jesum misericordiam invenire, quoniam omnes ante tribunal ejus

cxix. Resh, — "Let no man arrogate any thing unto himself, let no man glory in his own merits or

good deeds, let no man boast of his power: let us all hope to find mercy by our Lord Jesus; for we

shall all stand before his judgment-seat. Of him will I beg pardon, of him will I desire indulgence;

what other hope is there for sinners?"

Wherefore, if men will be turned off from a continual regard unto the greatness, holiness, and

majesty of God, by their inventions in the heat of disputation; if they do forget a reverential

consideration of what will become them, and what they may betake themselves unto when they

stand before his tribunal; they may engage into such apprehensions as they dare not abide by in

their own personal trial. For "how shall man be just with God?" Hence it has been observed, that

the schoolmen themselves, in their meditations and devotional writings, wherein they had immediate

thoughts of God, with whom they had to do, did speak quite another language as to justification

before God than they do in their wrangling, philosophical, fiery disputes about it. And I had rather

Nor do I remember that I did ever hear any good man in his prayers use any expressions about

justification, pardon of sin, and righteousness before God, wherein any plea from any thing in

ourselves was introduced or made use of. The prayer of Daniel has, in this matter, been the substance

of their supplications: "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces.

We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.

O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; for thine own sake, O my God," Dan. ix. 7, 18, 19. Or that of the

psalmist, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living

be justified," Ps. cxliii. 2. Or, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

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But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared," Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. On which words the

exposition of Austin is remarkable, speaking of David, and applying it unto himself: "Ecce clamat

sub molibus iniquitatum suarum. Circumspexit se, circumspexit vitam suam, vidit illam undique

flagitiis coopertam; quacunque respexit, nihil in se boni invenit: et cum tanta et tam multa peccata

undique videret, tanquam expavescens, exclamavit, ‘Si iniquitates observaris Domine, quis

sustinebit?’ Vidit enim prope totam vitam humanam circumlatrari peccatis; accusari omnes

conscientias cogitationius suis; non inveniri cor castum præsumens de justitia; quod quia inveniri

non potest, præsumat ergo omnium cor de misericordi Domini Dei sui, et dicat Deo, ‘Si iniquitates

observaris Domine, Domine quis sustinebit?’ Quæ autem est spes? quoniam apud te propitiatio

est." And whereas we may and ought to represent unto God, in our supplications, our faith, or what

it is that we believe herein, I much question whether some men can find in their hearts to pray over

and plead before him all the arguments and distinctions they make use of to prove the interest of

our works and obedience in our justification before him, or "enter into judgment" with him upon

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the conclusions which they make from them. Nor will many be satisfied to make use of that prayer

which Pelagius taught the widow, as it was objected to him in the Diospolitan Synod: "Tu nosti,

Domine, quam sanctæ, quam innocentes, quam puræ ab omni fraude et rapina quas ad te expando

manus; quam justa, quam immaculata labia et ab omni mendacio libera, quibus tibi ut mihi miserearis

preces fundo;" — "Thou knowest, O Lord, how holy, how innocent, how pure from all deceit and

rapine, are the hands which I stretch forth unto thee; how just, how unspotted with evil, how free

from lying, are those lips wherewith I pour forth prayers unto thee, that thou wouldst have mercy

on me." And yet, although he taught her so to plead her own purity, innocency, and righteousness

before God, he does it not as those whereon she might be absolutely justified, but only as the

condition of her obtaining mercy. Nor have I observed that any public liturgies (the mass-book

only excepted, wherein there is a frequent recourse unto the merits and intercession of saints) do

guide men in their prayers before God to plead any thing for their acceptance with him, or as the

means or condition thereof, but grace, mercy, — the righteousness and blood of Christ alone.

Wherefore I cannot but judge it best (others may think of it as they please), for those who would

teach or learn the doctrine of justification in a due manner, to place their consciences in the presence

of God, and their persons before his tribunal, and then, upon a due consideration of his greatness,

power, majesty, righteousness, holiness, — of the terror of his glory and sovereign authority, to

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inquire what the Scripture and a sense of their own condition direct them unto as their relief and

refuge, and what plea it becomes them to make for themselves. Secret thoughts of God and ourselves,

retired meditations, the conduct of the spirit in humble supplications, deathbed preparations for an

immediate appearance before God, faith and love in exercise on Christ, speak other things, for the

most part, than many contend for.

Thirdly, A due sense of our apostasy from God, the depravation of our nature thereby, with the

power and guilt of sin, the holiness of the law, necessary unto a right understanding of the doctrine

of justification — Method of the apostle to this purpose, Rom. i., ii., iii. — Grounds of the ancient

and present Pelagianism, in the denial of these things — Instances thereof — Boasting of perfection

from the same ground — Knowledge of sin and grace mutually promote each other

the law, are necessary unto a right apprehension of the doctrine of justification. Therefore, unto the

declaration of it does the apostle premise a large discourse, thoroughly to convince the minds of

all that seek to be justified with a sense of these things, Rom. i., ii., iii. The rules which he has given

us, the method which he prescribes, and the ends which he designs, are those which we shall choose

to follow. And he lays it down in general, "That the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to

faith;" and that "the just shall live by faith," chap. i. 17. But he declares not in particular the causes,

nature, and way of our justification, until he has fully evinced that all men are shut up under the

state of sin, and manifested how deplorable their condition is thereby; and in the ignorance of these

things, in the denying or palliating of them, he lays the foundation of all misbelief about the grace

of God. Pelagianism, in its first root, and all its present branches, is resolved whereinto. For, not

apprehending the dread of our original apostasy from God, nor the consequence of it in the universal

depravation of our nature, they disown any necessity either of the satisfaction of Christ or the

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efficacy of divine grace for our recovery or restoration. So upon the matter the principal ends of

the mission both of the Son of God and of the Holy Spirit are renounced; which issues in the denial

of the deity of the one and the personality of the other. The fall which we had being not great, and

the disease contracted thereby being easily curable, and there being little or no evil in those things

unto our sanctification and obedience; as these men suppose.

When these or the like conceits are admitted, and the minds of men by them kept off from a

due apprehension of the state and guilt of sin, and their consciences from being affected with the

terror of the Lord, and curse of the law thereon, justification is a notion to be dealt withal pleasantly

or subtlety, as men see occasion. And hence arise the differences about it at present, — I mean

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those which are really such, and not merely the different ways whereby learned men express their

thoughts and apprehensions concerning it.

By some the imputation of the actual apostasy and transgression of Adam, the head of our

nature, whereby his sin became the sin of the world, is utterly denied. Hereby both the grounds the

apostle proceeds on in evincing the necessity of our justification, or our being made righteous by

the obedience of another, and all the arguments brought in the confirmation of the doctrine of it,

par. iv. cap. 6, confesses that place to give great countenance unto the doctrine of justification by

the imputation of the righteousness of Christ; and therefore he sets himself to oppose, with sundry

artifices, the imputation of the sin of Adam unto his natural posterity. For he perceived well enough

that, upon the admission thereof, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ unto his spiritual

seed would unavoidably follow, according unto the tenor of the apostle’s discourse.

God, and the loss of his image; or, if they do not absolutely deny it, yet they so extenuate it as to

acknowledge, arising from the disorder of our affections, whereby we are apt to receive in such

vicious habits and customs as are in practice in the world; and, as the guilt hereof is not much, so

the danger of it is not great. And as for any spiritual filth or stain of our nature that is in it, it is

the image of God, wherein the beauty and harmony of all our faculties, in all their acting in order

the Scriptures and experience so fully charge on the state of lost nature, are rejected as empty

dream, who esteem those things which evidence its necessity to be but fond imaginations. And

better, they will care very little to know Christ at all.

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Against such as these the doctrine of justification may be defended, as we are obliged to contend

for the faith once delivered unto the saints, and as the mouths of gainsayers are to be stopped; but

to endeavour their satisfaction in it, whilst they are under the power of such apprehensions, is a

vain attempt. As our Saviour said unto them unto whom he had declared the necessity of regeneration,

"If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly

things?" so may we say, If men will not believe those things, whereof it would be marvellous, but

that the reason of it is known, that they have not an undeniable evidence and experience in

themselves, how can they believe those heavenly mysteries which respect a supposition of that

within themselves which they will not acknowledge?

perfection in the sight of God, even when they were convinced of sinful miscarriages in the sight

Such persons are not "subjecta capacia auditionis evangelicæ." Whilst men have no sense in their

own hearts and consciences of the spiritual disorder of their souls, of the secret continual acting of

sin with deceit and violence, obstructing all that is good, promoting all that is evil, defiling all that

is done by them through the lusting of the flesh against the Spirit, as contrary unto it, though no

outward perpetration of sin or actual omission of duty do ensue thereon, who are not engaged in

a constant watchful conflict against the first motions of sin, — unto whom they are not the greatest

burden and sorrow in this life, causing them to cry out for deliverance from them, — who can

despise those who make acknowledgments in their confession unto God of their sense of these

things, with the guilt wherewith they are accompanied, — [they] will, with an assured confidence,

reject and condemn what is offered about justification through the obedience and righteousness of

Christ imputed to us. For no man will be so fond as to be solicitous of a righteousness that is not

his own, who has at home in a readiness that which is his own, which will serve his turn. It is,

therefore, the ignorance of these things alone that can delude men into an apprehension of their

justification before God by their own personal righteousness. For if they were acquainted with

them, they would quickly discern such an imperfection in the best of their duties, such a frequency

of sinful irregularities in their minds and disorders in their affections, such an unsuitableness in all

that they are and do, from the inward frames of their hearts unto all their outward actions, unto the

greatness and holiness of God, as would abate their confidence in placing any trust in their own

righteousness for their justification.

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By means of these and the like presumptuous conceptions of unenlightened minds, the

consciences of men are kept off from being affected with a due sense of sin, and a serious

consideration how they may obtain acceptance before God. Neither the consideration of the holiness

or terror of the Lord, nor the severity of the law, as it indispensably requires a righteousness in

compliance with its commands; nor the promise of the gospel, declaring and tendering a

righteousness, the righteousness of God, in answer whereunto; nor the uncertainty of their own

secret disquietment of their consciences, if not seared or hardened through the deceitfulness of sin,

can prevail with them whose thought are prepossessed with such slight conceptions of the state and

art of sin to fly for refuge unto the only hope that is set before them, or really and distinctly to

comport with the only way of deliverance and salvation.

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Wherefore, if we would either teach or learn the doctrine of justification in a due manner, a

clear apprehension of the greatness of our apostasy from God, a due sense of the guilt of sin, a deep

experience of its power, all with respect unto the holiness and law of God, are necessary unto us.

We have nothing to do in this matter with men, who, through the fever of pride, have lost the

understanding of their own miserable condition. For, "Natura sic apparet vitiata, ut hoc majoris

vitii sit non videre," Austin. The whole need not the physician, but the sick. Those who are pricked

unto the heart for sin, and cry out, "What shall we do to be saved?" will understand what we have

to say. Against others we must defend the truth, as God shall enable. And it may be made good by

their regard unto the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is no less true also, on the other hand,

as unbelief works in men a disesteem of the person and righteousness of Christ, they are cast

inevitably to seek for countenance unto their own consciences in the extenuation of sin. So insensibly

are the minds of men diverted from Christ, and seduced to place their confidence in themselves.

Some confused respect they have unto him, as a relief they know not how nor wherein; but they

by the best of the philosophers: "Unum bonum est, quod beatæ vitæ causa et firmamentum est, sibi

equally despised with the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. The sum of their faith, and of

their arguments in the confirmation of it, is given by the learned Roman orator and philosopher.

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"Virtutem," says he, "nemo unquam Deo acceptam retulit; nimirum rectè. Propter virtutem enim

jure landamur, et in virtute rectè gloriamur, quod non contingeret, si donum a Deo, non a nobis

Fourthly, Opposition between works and grace, as unto justification — Method of the apostle, in

the Epistle to the Romans, to manifest this opposition — A scheme of others contrary thereunto

— Testimonies witnessing this opposition — Judgment to be made on them — Distinctions whereby

they are evaded — The uselessness of them — Resolution of the case in hand by Bellarmine, Dan.

ix. 18; Luke xvii. 10

consideration. The opposition intended is not made between grace and works, or our own obedience,

as unto their essence, nature, and consistency, in the order and method of our salvation; but only

with respect unto our justification. I do not design herein to plead any particular testimonies of

Scripture, as unto their especial sense, or declaration of the mind of the Holy Ghost in them, which

the Scripture guides our apprehensions, and what compliance there is in our own experience with

that guidance.

The principal seat of this doctrine, as will be confessed by all, is in the Epistles of Paul unto

the Romans and Galatians, whereunto that also to the Hebrews may be added: but in that unto the

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And it is worth our consideration what process he makes towards the decoration of it, and what

principles he proceeds upon therein.

He lays it down as the fundamental maxim which he would proceed upon, or as a general thesis,

including the substance of what he designed to explain and prove, that in the gospel the

"righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith,"

Rom. i. 17. All sorts of men who had any knowledge of God and themselves, were then, as they

must be always, inquiring, and in one degree or other labouring, after righteousness. For this they

looked on, and that justly, as the only means of an advantageous relation between God and

be their own, — inherent in them, and performed by them; as Rom. x. 3. For as this is the language

nature of righteousness; so whatever testimony was given of another kind in the law and the prophets

(as such a testimony is given unto a "righteousness of God without the law," chap. iii. 21), there

which all men seek after, and cannot but seek after, who design or desire acceptance with God; so

it is in vain to inquire of the law, of natural conscience, of philosophical reason, after any

25

righteousness but what consists in inherent habits and acts of our own. Neither law, nor natural

conscience, nor reason, do know any other. But in opposition unto this righteousness of our own,

and the necessity thereof, testified unto by the law in its primitive constitution, by the natural light

of conscience, and the apprehension of the nature of things by reason, the apostle declares, that in

the gospel there is revealed another righteousness, which is also the righteousness of another, the

righteousness of God, and that from faith to faith. For not only is the righteousness itself reveals

alien from those other principles, but also the manner of our participation of it, or its communication

unto us, "from faith to faith" (the faith of God in the revelation, and our faith in the acceptation of

it, being only here concerned), is an eminent revelation. Righteousness, of all things, should rather

by us, as the Papists affirm. "No," says the apostle, "it is ‘from faith to faith;’ " whereof afterward.

This is the general thesis the apostle proposes unto confirmation; and he seems therein to exclude

from justification every thing but the righteousness of God and the faith of believers. And to this

purpose he considers all persons that did or might pretend unto righteousness, or seek after it, and

all ways and means whereby they hoped to attain unto it, or whereby it might most probably be

obtained, declaring the failing of all persons, and the insufficiency of all means as unto them, for

the obtaining a righteousness of our own before God. And as unto persons, —

with their conversation thereon: and from the whole of what might be observed amongst them, he

concludes, that they neither were nor could be justified before God; but that they were all, and most

deservedly, obnoxious unto the sentence of death. And whatever men may discourse concerning

the justification and salvation of any without the revelation of the righteousness of God by the

gospel, "from faith to faith," it is expressly contradictory to his whole discourse, chap. i., from

verse 19 to the end.

on many considerations, with many arguments, he excludes them also from any possibility of

attaining justification before God, by any of the privileges they enjoyed, or their own compliance

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wherewithal, chap. ii. And both sorts he excludes distinctly from this privilege of righteousness

before God, with this o