An Apology for the True Christian Divinity / Being an explanation and vindication of the principles and doctrines of the people called Quakers

by Robert Barclay

§. VIII.

Proof 2.Secondly, That it is by this Revelation of Jesus Christ, and the new Creation in us, that we are justified, doth evidently appear from that excellent Saying of the Apostle included in the Proposition itself, Tit. iii. 5. According to his Mercy he hath saved us, by the Washing of Regeneration, and Renewing of the Holy Ghost, &c. Now that whereby we are saved, that we are also no Doubt justified by; which Words are in this Respect synonymous. The immediate Cause of Justification is the inward Work of Regeneration.Here the Apostle clearly ascribes the immediate Cause of Justification to this inward Work of Regeneration, which is Jesus Christ revealed in the Soul, as being that which formally states us in a Capacity of being reconciled with God; the Washing or Regeneration being that inward Power and Virtue, whereby the Soul is cleansed, and clothed with the Righteousness of Christ, so as to be made fit to appear before God.

Proof 3.Thirdly, This Doctrine is manifest from 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Examine your own selves, whether ye be in the Faith; prove your own selves: Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be Reprobates? First, It appears here how earnest the Apostle was that they should know Christ in them; so that he presses this Exhortation upon them, and inculcates it three Times. The Cause of Reprobation is Christ not known by inward Revelation.Secondly, He makes the Cause of Reprobation, or Not-justification, the Want of Christ thus revealed and known in the Soul: Whereby it necessarily follows, by the Rule of Contraries, where the Parity is alike (as in this Case it is evident) that, where Christ is inwardly known, there the Persons subjected to him are approved and justified. For there can be nothing more plain than this, That if we must know Christ in us, except we be Reprobates, or unjustified Persons; if we know him in us, we are not Reprobates, and consequently justified ones. Like unto this is that other Saying of the same Apostle, Gal. iv. 19. My little Children, of whom I travail in Birth again, until Christ be formed in you; and therefore the Apostle terms this, Christ within, the Hope of Glory, Col. i. 27, 28. Now that which is the Hope of Glory, can be no other than that which we immediately and most nearly rely upon for our Justification, and that whereby we are really and truly made just. And as we do not hereby deny, but the original and fundamental Cause of our Justification is the Love of God manifested in the Appearance of Jesus Christ in the Flesh, Christ by his Death and Sufferings has opened a Way for our Reconciliation.who by his Life, Death, Sufferings, and Obedience, made a Way for our Reconciliation, and became a Sacrifice for the Remission of Sins that are past, and purchased unto us this Seed and Grace, from which this Birth arises, and in which Jesus Christ is inwardly received, formed, and brought forth in us, in his own pure and holy Image of Righteousness, by which our Souls live unto God, and are clothed with him, and have put him on, even as the Scripture speaks, Ephes. iv. 23, 24. Gal. iii. 27. we stand justified and saved in and by him, and by his Spirit and Grace, Rom. iii. 24. 1 Cor. vi. 11. Tit. iii. 7. So again, reciprocally, we are hereby made Partakers of the Fulness of his Merits, and his cleansing Blood is near, to wash away every Sin and Infirmity, and to heal all our Backslidings, as often as we turn towards him by unfeigned Repentance, and become renewed by his Spirit. Those then that find him thus raised, and ruling in them, have a true Ground of Hope to believe that they are justified by his Blood. But let not any deceive themselves, so as to foster themselves in a vain Hope and Confidence, that by the Death and Sufferings of Christ they are justified, so long as Sin lies at their Door, Gen. iv. 7. Iniquity prevails, and they remain yet unrenewed and unregenerate; lest it be said unto them, I know you not. Let that Saying of Christ be remembered, Not every one that saith Lord, Lord, shall enter, but he that doth the Will of my Father, Matt. vii. 21. To which let these excellent Sayings of the beloved Disciple be added; Little Children, let no Man deceive you; he that doth Righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth Sin is of the Devil; because if our Heart condemn us, God is greater than our Heart, and knoweth all Things, 1 John iii. 7. & 20.

Many famous Protestants bear Witness to this inward Justification by Christ inwardly revealed and formed in Man. Boræus in Gen. P. 162.As M. Boræus: “In the Imputation,” saith he, “wherein Christ is ascribed and imputed to Believers for Righteousness, the Merit of his Blood, and the Holy Ghost given unto us by Virtue of his Merits, are equally included. The Testimonies of famous Protestants of inward Justification.And so it shall be confessed, That Christ is our Righteousness, as well from his Merit, Satisfaction, and Remission of Sins obtained by him, as from the Gifts of the Spirit of Righteousness. And if we do this, we shall consider the whole Christ proposed to us for our Salvation, and not any single Part of him.” The same Man, P. 169. “In our justification then Christ is considered, who breathes and lives in us, to wit, by his Spirit put on by us; concerning which putting on the Apostle saith, Ye have put on Christ.” And again, P. 171. “We endeavour to treat in Justification, not of Part of Christ, but him wholly, in so far as he is our Righteousness every Way.” And a little after: “As then blessed Paul, in our Justification, when he saith, Whom he justified, them he glorified, comprehends all Things which pertain to our being reconciled to God the Father, and our Renewing, which fits us for attaining unto Glory, such as Faith, Righteousness, Christ, and the Gift of Righteousness exhibited by him, whereby we are regenerated, to the fulfilling of the Justification which the Law requires; so we also will have all Things comprehended in this Cause, which are contained in the Recovery of Righteousness and Innocency.” And P. 181. “The Form,” saith he, “of our Justification is the divine Righteousness itself, by which we are formed just and good. This is Jesus Christ, who is esteemed our Righteousness, partly from the Forgiveness of Sins, and partly from the Renewing and the Restoring of that Integrity, which was lost by the Fault of the first Adam: So that this new and heavenly Adam being put on by us, of which the Apostle saith, Ye have put on Christ, ye have put him on, I say, as the Form, so the Righteousness, Wisdom, and Life of God.” Inuncunas.So also affirmeth Claudius Albertus Inuncanus, see his Orat. Apodict. Lausaniæ Excus. 1587. Orat. 2. P. 86, 87. Zuinglius.Zuinglius also, in his Epistle to the Princes of Germany, as cited by Himelius, C. 7. P. 60. saith, “That the Sanctification of the Spirit is true Justification, which alone suffices to justify.” Estius.Estius upon 1 Cor. vi. 11. saith, “Lest Christian Righteousness should be thought to consist in the Washing alone, that is, in the Remission of Sins, he addeth the other Degree or Part, [but ye are sanctified] that is, ye have attained to Purity, so that ye are now truly holy before God. Lastly, Expressing the Sum of the Benefit received in one Word, which includes both the Parts, But ye are justified (the Apostle adds) in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, by his Merits, and in the Spirit of our God, that is, the Holy Spirit proceeding from God, and communicated to us by Christ.” R. Baxter.And lastly, Richard Baxter, a famous English Preacher, in his Book called Aphorisms of Justification, P. 80. saith, “That some ignorant Wretches gnash their Teeth at this Doctrine, as if it were flat Popery, not understanding the Nature of the Righteousness of the new Covenant; which is all out of Christ in ourselves, though wrought by the Power of the Spirit of Christ in us.”