The Doctrine of Justification by Faith
The Doctrine of Justification by Faith, through the Imputation
of the Righteousness of Christ;
explained, confirmed, and vindicated
Part 2
By John Owen
(1616-1683)
(The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1965)
General considerations previously necessary unto the explanation of the doctrineof justification
First, The general nature of justification — State of the person to bejustified antecedently thereunto, Rom. iv. 5; iii. 19; i. 32; Gal. iii.10; John iii. 18, 36; Gal. iii. 22 — The sole inquiry on that state —Whether it be any thing that is our own inherently, or what is onlyimputed unto us, that we are to trust unto for our acceptance with God— The sum of this inquiry — The proper ends of teaching and learningthe doctrine of justification — Things to be avoided therein
That we may treat of the doctrine of justification usefully unto itsproper ends, which are the glory of God in Christ, with the peace andfurtherance of the obedience of believers, some things are previouslyto be considered, which we must have respect unto in the whole processof our discourse. And, among others that might be insisted on to thesame purpose, these that ensue are not to be omitted:—
1. The first inquiry in this matter, in a way of duty, is after theproper relief of the conscience of a sinner pressed and perplexed witha sense of the guilt of sin. For justification is the way and meanswhereby such a person does obtain acceptance before God, with a rightand title unto a heavenly inheritance. And nothing is pleadable in thiscause but what a man would speak unto his own conscience in that state,or unto the conscience of another, when he is anxious under thatinquiry. Wherefore, the person under consideration (that is, who is tobe justified) is one who, in himself, is asebes, Rom. iv. 5, —"ungodly;" and thereon hupodikos to Theo, chap. iii. 19, — "guiltybefore God;" that is, obnoxious, subject, liable, to dikaiomati touTheou, chap. i. 32, — to the righteous sentential judgment of God,that "he who committeth sin," who is any way guilty of it, is "worthyof death." Hereupon such a person finds himself hupo kataran, Gal. iii.10, — under "the curse," and "the wrath of God" therein abiding onhim," John iii. 18, 36. In this condition he is anapologetos, —without plea, without excuse, by any thing in and from himself, for hisown relief; his "mouth is stopped," Rom. iii. 19. For he is, in thejudgment of God, declared in the Scripture, sunkekleismenos huph'hamartian, Gal. iii. 22, — every way "shut up under sin" and all theconsequents of it. Many evils in this condition are men subject unto,which may be reduced unto those two of our first parents, wherein theywere represented. For, first, they thought foolishly to hide themselvesfrom God; and then, more foolishly, would have charged him as the causeof their sin. And such, naturally, are the thoughts of men under theirconvictions. But whoever is the subject of the justification inquiredafter, is, by various means, brought into his apprehensions who cried,"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
2. With respect unto this state and condition of men, or men in thisstate and condition, the inquiry is, What that is upon the accountwhereof God pardons all their sins, receives them into his favour,declares or pronounces them righteous and acquitted from all guilt,removes the curse, and turns away all his wrath from them, giving themright and title unto a blessed, immortality or life eternal? This isthat alone wherein the consciences of sinners in this estate areconcerned. Nor do they inquire after any thing, but what they may haveto oppose unto or answer the justice of God in the commands and curseof the law, and what they may betake themselves unto for the obtainingof acceptance with him unto life and salvation.
That the apostle does thus, and no otherwise, state this whole matter,and, in an answer unto this inquiry, declare the nature ofjustification and all the causes of it, in the third and fourthchapters of the Epistle to the Romans, and elsewhere, shall beafterwards declared and proved. And we shall also manifest, that theapostle James, in the second chapter of his epistle, does not speakunto this inquiry, nor give an answer unto it; but it is ofjustification in another sense, and to another purpose, whereof hetreats. And whereas we cannot either safely or usefully treat of thisdoctrine, but with respect unto the same ends for which it is declared,and whereunto it is applied in the Scripture, we should not, by anypretences, be turned aside from attending unto this case and itsresolution, in all our discourses on this subject; for it is thedirection, satisfaction, and peace of the consciences of men, and notthe curiosity of notions or subtlety of disputations, which it is ourduty to design. And, therefore, I shall, as much as I possibly may,avoid all these philosophical terms and distinctions wherewith thisevangelical doctrine has been perplexed rather than illustrated; formore weight is to be put on the steady guidance of the mind andconscience of one believer, really exercised about the foundation ofhis peace and acceptance with God, than on the confutation of tenwrangling disputers.
3. Now the inquiry, on what account, or for what cause and reason, aman may be so acquitted or discharged of sin, and accepted with God, asbefore declared, does necessarily issue in this:— Whether it be anything in ourselves, as our faith and repentance, the renovation of ournatures, inherent habits of grace, and actual works of righteousnesswhich we have done, or may do? Or whether it be the obedience,righteousness, satisfaction, and merit of the Son of God our mediator,and surety of the covenant, imputed unto us? One of these it must be,— namely, something that is our own, which, whatever may be theinfluence of the grace of God unto it, or causality of it, becausewrought in and by us, is inherently our own in a proper sense; orsomething which, being not our own, nor inherent in us, nor wrought byus, is yet imputed unto us, for the pardon of our sins and theacceptation of our persons as righteous, or the making of us righteousin the sight of God. Neither are these things capable of mixture orcomposition, Rom. xi. 6. Which of these it is the duty, wisdom, andsafety of a convinced sinner to rely upon and trust unto, in hisappearance before God, is the sum of our present inquiry.
4. The way whereby sinners do or ought to betake themselves unto thisrelief, on supposition that it is the righteousness of Christ, and howthey come to be partakers of, or interested in, that which is notinherently their own, unto as good benefit and as much advantage as ifit were their own, is of a distinct consideration. And as this also isclearly determined in the Scripture, so it is acknowledged in theexperience of all them that do truly believe. Neither are we in thismatter much to regard the senses or arguing of men who were neverthoroughly convinced of sin, nor have ever in their own persons "fledfor refuge unto the hope set before them."
5. These things, I say, are always to be attended unto, in our wholedisquisition into the nature of evangelical justification; for, withouta constant respect unto them, we shall quickly wander into curious andperplexed questions, wherein the consciences of guilty sinners are notconcerned; and which, therefore, really belong not unto the substanceor truth of this doctrine, nor are to be immixed therewith. It is alonethe relief of those who are in themselves hupodikoi to Theo, — guiltybefore, or obnoxious and liable to, the judgment of God, — that weinquire after. That this is not any thing in or of themselves, nor canso be, — that it is a provision without them, made in infinite wisdomand grace by the mediation of Christ, his obedience and death therein,— is secured in the Scripture against all contradiction; and it is thefundamental principle of the gospel, Matt. xi. 28.
6. It is confessed that many things, for the declaration of the truth,and the order of the dispensation of God's grace herein, are necessaryto be insisted on, — such are the nature of justifying faith, theplace and use of it in justification, and the causes of the newcovenant, the true notion of the mediation and suretiship of Christ,and the like; which shall all of them be inquired into. But, beyondwhat tends directly unto the guidance of the minds and satisfaction ofthe souls of men, who seek after a stable and abiding foundation ofacceptance with God, we are not easily to be drawn unless we are freeto lose the benefit and comfort of this most important evangelicaltruth in needless and unprofitable contentions. And amongst many othermiscarriages which men are subject unto, whilst they are conversantabout these things, this, in an especial manner, is to be avoided.
7. For the doctrine of justification is directive of Christianpractice, and in no other evangelical truth is the whole of ourobedience more concerned; for the foundation, reasons, and motives ofall our duty towards God are contained therein. Wherefore, in orderunto the due improvement of them ought it to be taught, and nototherwise. That which alone we aim (or ought so to do) to learn in itand by it, is how we may get and maintain peace with God, and so tolive unto him as to be accepted with him in what we do. To satisfy theminds and consciences of men in these things, is this doctrine to betaught. Wherefore, to carry it out of the understandings of ordinaryChristians, by speculative notions and distinctions, is disserviceableunto the faith of the church; yea, the mixing of evangelicalrevelations with philosophical notions has been, in sundry ages, thepoison of religion. Pretence of accuracy, and artificial skill inteaching, is that which gives countenance unto such a way of handlingsacred things. But the spiritual amplitude of divine truths isrestrained hereby, whilst low, mean, philosophical senses are imposedon them. And not only so, but endless divisions and contentions areoccasioned and perpetuated. Hence, when any difference in religion is,in the pursuit of controversies about it, brought into the old ofmetaphysical respects and philosophical terms, whereof there is polusnomos entha kai entha — sufficient provision for the supply of thecombatants on both sides, — the truth for the most part, as unto anyconcernment of the souls of men therein, is utterly lost and buried inthe rubbish of senseless and unprofitable words. And thus, inparticular, those who seem to be well enough agreed in the wholedoctrine of justification, so far as the Scripture goes before them,and the experience of believers keeps them company, when once theyengage into their philosophical definitions and distinctions, are atsuch an irreconcilable variance among themselves, as if they wereagreed on no one thing that does concern it. For as men have variousapprehensions in coining such definitions as may be defensible againstobjections, which most men aim at therein; so no proposition can be soplain, (at least in "materia probabili,") but that a man ordinarilyversed in pedagogical terms and metaphysical notions, may multiplydistinctions on every word of it.
8. Hence, there has been a pretence and appearance of twenty severalopinions among Protestants about justification, as Bellarmine[1] andVasquez,[2] and others of the Papists, charge it against them out ofOsiander,[3] when the faith of them all was one and the same, Bellar.,lib v. cap. 1; Vasq. in 1, 2, quest. 113, disp. 202; whereof we shallspeak elsewhere. When men are once advanced into that field ofdisputation, which is all overgrown with thorns of subtleties,perplexed notions, and futilous terms of art, they consider principallyhow they may entangle others in it, scarce at all how they may get outof it themselves. And in this posture they oftentimes utterly forgetthe business which they are about, especially in this matter ofjustification, — namely, how a guilty sinner may come to obtain favourand acceptance with God. And not only so, but I doubt they oftentimesdispute themselves beyond what they can well abide by, when they returnhome unto a sedate meditation of the state of things between God andtheir souls. And I cannot much value their notions and sentiments ofthis matter, who object and answer themselves out of a sense of theirown appearance before God; much less theirs who evidence an openinconformity unto the grace and truth of this doctrine in their heartsand lives.
9. Wherefore, we do but trouble the faith of Christians, and the peaceof the true church of God, whilst we dispute about expressions, terms,and notions, when the substance of the doctrine intended may bedeclared and believed, without the knowledge, understanding, or use ofany of them. Such are all those in whose subtle management the captiousart of wrangling does principally consist. A diligent attendance untothe revelation made hereof in the Scripture, and an examination of ourown experience thereby, is the sum of what is required of us for theright understanding of the truth herein. And every true believer, whois taught of God, knows how to put his whole trust in Christ alone, andthe grace of God by him, for mercy, righteousness, and glory, and notat all concern himself with those loads of thorns and briers, which,under the names of definitions, distinctions, accurate notions, in anumber of exotic pedagogical and philosophical terms, some pretend toaccommodate them withal.
10. The Holy Ghost, in expressing the most eminent acts in ourjustification, especially as unto our believing, or the acting of thatfaith whereby we are justified, is pleased to make use of manymetaphorical expressions. For any to use them now in the same way, andto the same purpose, is esteemed rude, undisciplinary, and evenridiculous; but on what grounds? He that shall deny that there is morespiritual sense and experience conveyed by them into the hearts andminds of believers (which is the life and soul of teaching thingspractical), than in the most accurate philosophical expressions, ishimself really ignorant of the whole truth in this matter. Thepropriety of such expressions belongs and is confined unto naturalscience; but spiritual truths are to be taught, "not in the words whichman's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparingspiritual things with spiritual." God is wiser than man; and the HolyGhost knows better what are the most expedient ways for theillumination of our minds with that knowledge of evangelical truthswhich it is our duty to have and attain, than the wisest of us all. Andother knowledge of or skill in these things, than what is required ofus in a way of duty, is not to be valued.
It is, therefore, to no purpose to handle the mysteries of the gospelas if Hilcot and Bricot, Thomas and Gabriel, with all theSententiarists,[4] Summists, and Quodlibetarians of the old Romanperipatetical school, were to be raked out of their graves to be ourguides. Especially will they be of no use unto us in this doctrine ofjustification. For whereas they pertinaciously adhered unto thephilosophy of Aristotle, who knew nothing of any righteousness but whatis a habit inherent in ourselves, and the acts of it, they wrested thewhole doctrine of justification unto a compliance wherewithal. SoPighius[5] himself complained of them, Controv. 2, "Dissimulare nonpossumus, hanc vel primam doctrinae Christianae partem (dejustificatione) obscuratam magis quam illustratam a scholasticis,spinosis plerisque quaestionibus, et definitionibus, secundum quasnonnulli magno supercilio primam in omnibus autoritatem arrogantes,"etc.
Secondly, A due consideration of God, the Judge of all, necessary untothe right stating and apprehension of the doctrine of justification,Rom. viii. 33; Isa. xliii. 25; xlv. 25; Ps. cxliii. 2; Rom. iii. 20 —What thoughts will be ingenerated hereby in the minds of men, Isa.xxxiii. 14; Micah vi. 6, 7; Isa. vi. 5 — The plea of Job against hisfriends, and before God, not the same, Job xl. 3-5, xliii. 4-6 —Directions for visiting the sick given of old — Testimonies of Jeromeand Ambrose — Sense of men in their prayers, Dan. ix. 7, 18; Ps.cxliii. 2, cxxx. 3, 4 — Paraphrase of Austin on that place — Prayerof Pelagius — Public liturgies
Secondly, A due consideration of him with whom in this matter we haveto do, and that immediately, is necessary unto a right stating of ourthoughts about it. The Scripture expresses it emphatically, that it is"God that justifieth," Rom. viii. 33; and he assumes it unto himself ashis prerogative to do what belongs thereunto. "I, even I, am he thatblotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will notremember thy sins," Isa. xliii. 25. And it is hard, in my apprehension,to suggest unto him any other reason or consideration of the pardon ofour sins, seeing he has taken it on him to do it for his own sake; thatis, "for the Lord's sake," Dan. ix. 17, in whom "all the seed of Israelare justified," Isa. xlv. 25. In his sight, before his tribunal, it isthat men are justified or condemned. Ps. cxliii. 2, "Enter not intojudgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living bejustified." And the whole work of justification, with all that belongsthereunto, is represented after the manner of a juridical proceedingbefore God's tribunal; as we shall see afterwards. "Therefore," saysthe apostle, "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified inhis sight," Rom. iii. 20. However any man be justified in the sight ofmen or angels by his own obedience, or deeds of the law, yet in hissight none can be so.