Thus we see how it is that no man can be justified by the deeds of the law. We are not under the law, but under grace. Were we under the law, the deeds of the law would be sufficient for our justification. The law demands obedience; obedience satisfies the law. Between obedience and the law there is perfect correspondence and harmony; the one gives what the other asks. There is also a perfect agreement between grace and faith. Grace bestows freely, without money and without price; and faith, having nothing to pay, receives humbly and thankfully. Grace, by bestowing, acquires great glory; faith, by receiving, obtains great happiness. God confers blessings according to the riches of his grace; sinners receive according to the strength of their faith. Faith and the law cannot agree at all, for both are seeking and receiving; neither can works and grace agree, for both live by communicating. Therefore “by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ye are justified through the righteousness and merit of Christ, who became your substitute, and both obeyed the law and suffered the penalty in your stead.
This view of the ground of a sinner’s justification is everywhere sustained in the Holy Scriptures. “By the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous.” “By the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men, unto justification of life.” “The obedience of one,” and “the righteousness of one,” in these two sentences, signify the same thing. Again: “He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” “All we like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.”
The perfect obedience of Christ, and his meritorious death, were both necessary, as the ground of a sinner’s justification. Neither would have been sufficient without the other. His obedience would not answer without his death; for the law which had been broken must be honored; and the penalty which had been incurred by the sinner must be endured by the Substitute. Neither would his death answer without his obedience; for it is the obedient, and not the punished, that the law justifies; he who keeps the precept, and not he who endures the penalty. It is only by satisfying both claims on our behalf, that Christ “of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
When it is said we are justified by faith, it is not meant that there is any merit in faith, any justifying efficacy; but that faith is the condition on which we are justified for the sake of him who obeyed and suffered for us—the Divinely appointed means by which we appropriate the merit of his obedience and suffering. It is by the eye of faith we see the excellency and adaptation of Christ’s righteousness and merit; and it is by the hand of faith we take and put on the wedding garment provided for us, and thus prepare ourselves for the marriage supper of the Lamb. Faith is the bond which unites us to Christ, by virtue of which union we are justified. Faith is the wedding ring by which the poor daughter of the old Amorite is married to the Prince of Peace. She is raised from the greatest poverty and degradation to unspeakable opulence and honor, not because of the intrinsic value of the ring, though it is a golden one; but on account of the union which it signifies between her and her Beloved. “He that hath the Son hath life.”
“But faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say—Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works? And by works was faith made perfect; and the scripture was fulfilled which saith—Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Ye see, then, how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” [256]
We have noticed the nature and ground of justification; in these words of the Apostle, we have the evidence of justification. The same doctrine was preached by our Saviour:—“For by thy works thou shalt be justified, and by thy works thou shalt be condemned.” Works justify only as the fruit of faith. A faith that does not produce good works is inefficient and worthless. It is not the faith which justifies the ungodly. What is it that justifies a man in a court of law? The goodness of his cause? No, verily. A man of common sense will not think of making a long speech to the jury, without adducing any evidence of the truth of his statements. My fellow sinners, if your cause is good, why do you not prove it? Why not bring forward your evidence? Why not act in this supremely important case as in every other? If you have justifying faith, let us see the fruit in a sanctified life. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
In this world, every man receives according to his faith; in the world to come, every man shall receive according to his works. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.” Their works do not go before them to divide the river Jordan, and open the gates of heaven. This is done by their faith. But their works are left behind, as if done up in a packet, on this side of the river. John saw the great white throne descending for judgment, the Son of Man sitting thereon, and all nations gathered before him. He is dividing the righteous from the wicked, as the shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats. The wicked are set on the left-hand, and the awful sentence is pronounced—“Depart from me, ye accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels!” But the righteous are placed on the right-hand, to hear the joyful welcome—“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!” The books are opened, and Mercy presents the packets that were left on the other side of Jordan. They are all opened, and the books are read wherein all their acts of benevolence and virtue are recorded. Justice examines the several packets, and answers—“All right. Here they are. Thus it is written—‘I was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; I was naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.’” The righteous look upon each other with wonder, and answer—“Those packets must belong to others. We knew nothing of all that. We recollect the wormwood and the gall. We recollect the strait gate, the narrow way, and the Slough of Despond. We recollect the heavy burden that pressed so hard upon us, and how it fell from our shoulders at the sight of the cross. We recollect the time when the eyes of our minds were opened, to behold the evil of sin, the depravity of our hearts, and the excellency of our Redeemer. We recollect the time when our stubborn wills were subdued in the day of his power, so that we were enabled both to will and to do of his good pleasure. We recollect the time when we obtained hope in the merit of Christ, and felt the efficacy of his blood applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we shall never forget the time when we first experienced the love of God shed abroad in our hearts. O, how sweetly and powerfully it constrained us to love him, his cause, and his ordinances! How we panted after communion and fellowship with him, as the hart panteth after the water-brooks! All this, and a thousand other things, are as fresh in our memory as ever. But we recollect nothing of those bundles of good works. Where was it? Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee; or thirsty, and gave thee drink; or a stranger, and took thee in; or naked, and clothed thee? We have no more recollection than the dead, of ever having visited thee in prison, or ministered to thee in sickness. Surely, those bundles cannot belong to us.” Mercy replies—“Yes, verily, they belong to you; for your names are upon them; and besides, they have not been out of my hands since you left them on the stormy banks of Jordan.” And the King answers—“Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
If the righteous do not know their own good works; if they do not recognise, in the sheaves which they reap at the resurrection, the seed which they have sown in tears on earth, they certainly cannot make these things the foundation of their hopes of heaven. Christ crucified is their sole dependence for acceptance with God, in time and in eternity. Christ crucified is the great object of their faith, and the centre of their affections; and while their love to him prompts them to live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present evil world, they cordially exclaim—“Not unto us, not into us, but to thy name, O Lord, give glory!” Amen.
SERMON XX.
THE SHIELD OF FAITH.
“Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”—Eph. vi. 16.