Quest. LXX. What is justification?
Answ. Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone.
Quest. LXXI. How is justification an act of God’s free grace?
Answ. Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice, in the behalf of them that are justified; yet, inasmuch as God accepteth the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded of them, did provide this surety, his own only Son, imputing his righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification, but faith; which also is his gift; their justification is, to them, of free grace.
Hitherto we have been led to consider that change of heart and life which is begun in effectual calling; whereby a dead sinner is made alive, and one that was wholly indisposed for, and averse to the performance of good works, is enabled to perform them by the power of divine grace: and now we are to speak concerning that change of state which accompanies it; whereby one, who being guilty before God, was liable to the condemning sentence of the law, and expected no other than an eternal banishment from his presence, is pardoned, received into favour, and has a right to all the blessings which Christ has, by his obedience and sufferings, purchased for him. This is what we call justification; and it is placed immediately after the head of effectual calling, as being agreeable to the method in which it is insisted on in that golden chain of salvation, as the apostle says, Whom he called, them he also justified, Rom. viii. 30.
This is certainly a doctrine of the highest importance, inasmuch as it contains in it the way of peace, the foundation of all our hope, of the acceptance both of our persons and services, and beholding the face of God, at last, with joy. Some have styled it the very basis of Christianity; and our forefathers thought it so necessary to be insisted on and maintained, according to the scripture-account thereof, that they reckoned it one of the principal doctrines of the reformation. And, indeed, the apostle Paul speaks of it as so necessary to be believed, that he concluded that the denying or perverting of it was the ground and reason of the Jews being rejected; who being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish a righteousness of their own, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God: and when they shall be called, if their call be intended, in that account which we have, of the marriage of the Lamb, and his wife having made herself ready, Rev. xix. 7. as many suppose, it is worth observing, that she is described as arrayed in fine linen, which is the righteousness of saints, or Christ’s righteousness, by which they are justified: this is that in which they glory; and therefore are represented as being convinced of the importance of that doctrine which, before, they were ignorant of. This we have an account of in these two answers, which we are now to explain, and shall endeavour to do it in the following method.
I. We shall consider what we are to understand by the word justify.
II. What are the privileges contained therein, as reduced to two heads, to wit, pardon of sin; and God’s accounting them who are justified, righteous in his sight? And,
III. What is the foundation of our justification? namely, a righteousness wrought out for us.
IV. The utter inability of fallen man to perform any righteousness, that can be the matter of his justification in the sight of God.