Again, As we are thus justified by blood in the sight of God, by faith in it, so also it is testified of his blood, that it sprinkleth the conscience of the faithful, but still only as it is received by faith. But from what is the conscience sprinkled, but from those dead works that remain in all that have not yet been justified by faith in this blood. Now if faith in this blood doth sprinkle the conscience, and so doth purge it from all dead works, then must faith go first to the blood of Christ for justification, and must bring this home to the defiled conscience, before it be delivered from those dead works that are in it, and made capable of serving the living God (Rom 5:7-10, 3:24,25; Heb 9:14, 10:19-22).
But you say, 'you will never trust your discursive faculty so long as you live, if you are mistaken here' (p. 224).
Tell not me of your discursive faculty: The word of God is plain. And never challenge man, for he that condemneth your way to heaven, to the very pit of hell, as Paul doth, can yet set forth a better.
Second, I come now to the second thing, viz. the doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness, which you thus expound.
'It consists in dealing with sincerely righteous persons, as if they were perfectly so, for the sake, and upon the account of Christ's righteousness' (p. 225, 226).
Ans. 1. Any thing but truth; but I would know how sincerely righteous they were that were justified without works? Or how sincerely righteous they were whom God justified as ungodly? (Rom 4:3-5).
2. Your explication of the imputation of Christ's righteousness makes it respect our works rather than our persons: 'It consists [say you] in dealing with sincerely righteous persons, as if they were perfectly so': That is, it justifieth their imperfect righteousness first, and so secondarily their persons for the sake of that.
But observe a few things from this explication.
1. This concludeth that a man may be sincerely righteous in God's account, WITHOUT the righteousness of Christ; for that is to be imputed to such, and none but such.
2. This concludeth that men may be sincerely righteous, before Christ's righteousness is imputed: For this sincere righteousness is precedent to the imputation of Christ's.