seems most demonftrably plain to me, that tho' the Apostle does moft certainly difpute against joining Mofes with Jefus, the works of the ceremonial law with faith in Chrift in juftification, yet that this is only one branch of his defign. He difputes against juftification by the works of that law, by which is the knowledge of fin, Rom iii. 20. which what is it, but the moral law? as himself tells us, chap. vii. 7. that he had not known fin, but by the law: not known concupifcence to be fin, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet: and this he defcribes afterwards in that chapter, as that law, which was ordained to life, ver. 10 which the ceremonial law never was; and as fpiritual, and whofe commandments are holy, juft, and good, having, as I faid before, an intrinfick goodness in them. He difputes against juftification by the works of that law, which faith, the man which doeth those things fhall live by them, Rom. x. 5. the very form and tenor of the moral law; and by the breach of which the whole world was fubjected to condemnation, Rom. iii. 19. and from the curfe of which Chrift came to redeem, Gal. iii. 13. He disputes against juftification by the works of that law, against which the Gentiles finned, which could not be the ritual and ceremonial law of the Jews, which was never promulgated to them, nor were the obligations of it laid upon them, nor did they ever attempt juftification by it. Finally,--against juftification by the works of that law, which we eftablifh by faith, which, to be fure, is the moral law, the ceremonial law, on the contrary, being for ever vacated by the grace and faith of the gospel.

And

And agreeably to this way of arguing, how does the Apostle ftate the manner of Abraham's justification to be by faith exclufively of all works? Rom. iv. 2, 3. For if Abraham were juftified by 'works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what faith the fcripture? A'braham believed God, and it was counted un? to him for righteoufnefs.' Not his works, which would have left room for boafting, but his faith was counted unto him for righteousness, by which therefore alone he was juftified in exclufion of all works. And in what follows, the Apoftle oppofes juftification by faith and by works as abfolutely inconfiftent. These two ways of juftification can never be reconciled; inasmuch as the one would make justification to be a debt, whereas it is plain by the whole feries of the Apostle's difcourfe, that there is no claim of merit in our works; confequently, that our juftification is not a debt due to us for them, but an act of the freeft grace; for fo he proceeds ver. 4, 5. Now to him that worketh is the re'ward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But " to him that worketh not, but believeth on him 'that juftifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted 'for righteoufnefs: Where the Apostle reprefents those whom God juftifies, as ungodly *, i. e. before

I am inclinable to think with Mr Locke, that when the Apostle fpeaks of God's juftifying the ungodly, he points to Abraham, who was a Heathen before God called him. And if fo, what an unanfwerable argument does this furnish us with against juftification by works? For what works could fuch a one have (a Heathen, and that had lived in the practice of idolatry all his days) that can be fuppofed to have an influence into his juftification Compare Gen. xii, 1, &c. with Joh. xxiv. 2.

before juftified; who therefore can have no works of their own, that are confidered as the causes of their juftification; faith, therefore, is counted to them for righteousness in oppofition to, and in exclufion of, all works whatever; conformably to which he farther inftances in the next verfe, that God imputeth righteousness without works; adding, ver. 16. that therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace. God hath on purpose appointed our juftification to be by faith that the whole may appear to be of grace. As the Apostle, when entring upon this fubject, fets out with this as his grand propofition, ch. iii. 24. 'that we are juftified freely by his grace, thro' 'the redemption that is in Jefus Christ; freely ' and by grace,' all of pure, unmerited, unmixed grace It is impoffible for words more fully to exprefs, that every thing is fo adjusted in the way of our juftification by the death of Chrift, that grace may fhine out therein in its full glory. Nor can we be too careful how we admit works into a copartnerfhip with grace herein, when the Apostle fo exprefly excludes them from all agency in our falvation, Eph. ii. 8, 9. and fo directly opposes them to grace, as what exclude and deftroy each other. Rom. xi. 6. And if by · grace, then it is no more of works; otherwife grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwife work is no more work,'

Finally, If juftified by any righteousness of our own, or if we could and did produce any obedience of our own, that was the matter and caufe of our juftification, how would this turn the covenant of grace into a covenant of works?

The

The first covenant was therefore called a covenant of works, becaufe man's own obedience, performed upon the foot of that covenant, was to be the ground and reafon of his juftification, and his title to every bleffing promised in it. Now, if our fincere, tho' imperfect, obedience is to be in the new covenant the ground and reafon of our juftification, in the fame manner as our perfect obedience was in the first cove nant; I fee not, but that hereby the covenant of grace is directly turned into a covenant of works, or fo blended and confounded with it, that its beauty is greatly defaced, and its nature changed thereby. For, as one hath observed upon the occafion, Majus & minus non mutant fpeciem, "Let works be perfect, or imperfect, "it will be a covenant of works, fo long as "works are the condition of it."

The fum of the whole is; that the scripture doth in the fulleft and most express manner exclude all forts of works, not only thofe of the ceremonial, but of the moral law, from all agency and influence in a finner's juification. The being juftified by fuch works would lay a foundation for boafting, whereas none have, nor can have any reason for boasting before God; the admiffion of fuch works would interfere with the freeness of that grace, which runs through the whole of a finner's justification, and make it a reward, not of grace, but of debt; and alter the very genuis and complexion of the covenant of grace, and turn it back into a covenant

of works.

I should now have proceeded to inftance in the feveral branches of our own righteousness, fhewing

D

fhewing how infufficient and unequal they are for the purposes of our juftification: We have none inherent in us, nor any performed by ús, than can be pleaded for this. And as we have no fuch righteoufnefs of our own, so neither can any creature provide us with it. It remains therefore, that this righteousness is only to be had in the Lord Jefus Chrift; in his moft perfect and complete obedience performed to the law in our room and ftead, according to the exprefs and bleffed language in the text, furely, fball one fay, in the Lord have I righteousness all that righteousness which I want, and which is no where else to be had. But these things will deferve to be deduced in a separate difcourfe.

SERMON