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Merit of perfect righteousness
I never had g, yet never miss h;
On this condition I have all i,
Yet all is unconditional k.

Though freeft mercy I implore 1,
Yet I am fate on juftice' fcore m.

be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O houfe of Ifrael.

f Rom. v. 18, 19. By the righteoufnefs of one, the free gift came upon all men unto juftification of life. By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Ifa. xlv. 24. 25. Sure. ly, fhall one fay, In the Lord have I righteousness and ftrength: even to him fhall men come, and all that are incensed againf him fhall be ashamed. In the Lord fhall all the feed of Ifra el be juftified, and shall glory.

g Rom. ii. 9, 10. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wife: for we have proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under fin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no not one. v. 19. Now we know, that what things foever the law faith, it faith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be come guilty before God.

h1 Cor. i. 30. But of him are ye in Chrift Jefus, who of God is made unto us-righteoufnefs. Ifa xlv. 24. See letter f. Jer. xxiii. 6. In his days Judah fhall be faved, and Ifrael thall dwell fafely and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

i Ifa. xlii. 21. The Lord is well pleafed for his righteoulnefs fake, he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. Matth. iii. 5. Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. v. 17. And lo, a voice from heaven, faying, This is my be loved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

k Ifa. lv. 1. Ho, every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Rev. xxii. 17. Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

/Pfal. li. t. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindnefs: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my tranfgreffions.

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Which never could the guilty free n,
Yet fully clears moft guilty me o.

SECT. VII.

The mystery of GOD the Juftifier, Rom. iii. 26. juftified both in his juftifying and condemning; or foul juftification and felf-condemnation.

MY

Jefus needs not fave a, yet must b;
He is my hope c, I am his truft d.

m Rom. iii. 24, 25, 26. Being juftified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jefus Chrift: whom God hath fet forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteoufnefs for the remiffion of fins that are paft, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I fay, at this time his righteoufnefs: that he might be juft, and the juf tifier of him which believeth in Jefus. John i. 9. If we con fefs our fins, he is faithful, and just to forgive us our fins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

n Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. And the Lord paffed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, that will by no means clear the guilty.

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o Rom. iv. 5. To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that juftifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. a Rom. ix. 5. Chrift is over all, God bleffed for ever. b John x. 16. And other sheep I have, which are 'not of this fold them also I must bring, and they fhall hear my voice; and there fhall be one fold, and one fhepherd, v. 18. No man taketh it [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Luke ii. 49. And Jefus faid unto them [Jofeph and his mother] How is it that ye fought me ? wit ye not that I must be about my Father's bufinefs?

c Jer. xiv. 8. O the hope of Ifrael, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, &c. Chap. xvii. 17. Be not a terror unto me, thou art my hope in the day of evil. 1 Tim. i. [. Paul an apostle of Jefus Chrift, by the commandment of God our

He paid the double debt, well known
To be all mine, yet all his own e.
Hence, though I ne'er had more or lefs
Of juftice pleafing righteousness ƒ,
Yet here is one wrought to my hand,
As full as juftice can demand g.
By this my Judge is more appeas'd
Than e'er my fin his honour leas'd h.

Saviour, and the Lord Jefus Chrift, which is our hope.

d John xvii. 6. I have manifefted thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me. 2 Tim. i. 12. I know whom I have believed; and I am perfuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

elfa. liii. 4, 5, 6. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our forrows: yet we did efteem him ftricken, fmitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our tranfgreffions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his ftripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone aftray: we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. v. 8. For the tranfgreffion of my people was he stricken. Heb. vii. 22. By so much was Jefus made a furety of a better teftament.

f Rom. iii. 9, 10, 19. See letter g forecited.

g Dan ix. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the tranfgreffion, and to make an end of fins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlafting righteoufnefs, &c. Zech. xiii. 7. Awake, O fword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, faith the Lord of hofts: fmite the Shepherd, and the sheep fhall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

h Rom. v. 8-11. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet finners, Christ died for us. Much more then being now juftified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son: much more being reconciled, we shall be faved by his life. And not only

Yea, juftice can't be pleas'd fo well
By all the torments borne in hell i.
Full fatisfaction here is fuch,

As hell can never yield fo much k;
Though justice therefore might me damn,
Yet by more juftice fav'd I am I.

fo, but we will alfo joy in God, through our Lord Jefus Chrift, by whom we have now received the atonement. Heb.ix. 14. How much more fhall the blood of Chrift, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without fpot to God, purge your confcience from dead works to serve the living God?

i Heb. x. 5, 6. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he faith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body haft thou prepared for me: in burnt offerings and fa• crifices for fin thou haft had no pleasure. v. 14. by one offer. ing he hath perfected for ever them that are fanctified. v. 49. Of how much forer punishment fuppofe ye, fhall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was fanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

k Rom. v. 11. See letter h. Eph. v. 2. Chrift hath given himself for us, an offering and a facrifice to God for a sweetfmelling favour. 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. Forafmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as filver and gold, from your vain converfation, received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without fpot. Gal. iii. 13. Chrift hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curse for us.

/ 1 Pet. iii. 18. Chrift hath once fuffered for fins, the just for the unjust, (that he might bring us to God), being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Rom. iii. 26. To declare, I fay, at this time his righteoufnefs; that he might be juft, and the juftifier of him which believeth in Jefus. 1 John ii. 2. And he is the propitiation for our fins; and not for ours only, but also for the fins of the whole world. Chap iv. 10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and fent his Son to be the propitiation for our fins.

S

Hère ev'ry divine property
Is to the highest fet on high m;
Hence God his glory would injure,
If my falvation were not fure n.
My peace and fafety lie in this,
My Creditor my Surety is o,
The judgment-day I dread the less,
My Judge is made my righteousness p.
He paid out for a bankrupt crew
The debt that to himself was due;

m Rom. iii. 25. Whom God hath fet forth to be a propi tiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remiffion of fins that are paft, through the forebearance of God. Pfal. lxxxv. 10. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kiffed each other. 2 Cor. v. 18, 19. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to him, felf by Jefus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Chrift, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trefpaffes unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. v.2L For he hath made him to be fin for us, who knew no fin; that we might be made the righteoufnefs of God in him. Luke ii. 14. Glory to God in the higheft, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.

n Ifa. xliv. 23. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: fhout, ye lower parts of the earth a break forth into finging, ye mountains, O foreft, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. Eph. i. 6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. v. 12. That we fhould be to the praise of his glory who first trufted in Christ.

● Pfalm cxix. 122. Be furety for thy fervant for good: let not the proud opprefs me. Heb. vii. 22. By fo much was Jefus made a furety of a better testament.

p1 Cor. i. 30. But of him are ye in Chrift Jefus, who of God, is made unto us-righteoufnefs. Chap. xv. 55, 56, 57. O death, where is thy fting? O grave, where is thy victory? The fling of death is fin; and the ftrength of fin is the law:

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