Hence they are said to be quickened, to be made alive, to be risen from death to life, to have the spirit of God dwelling in them; not only to make their souls alive, but to quicken their mortal bodies to that which is good, Rom. viii. 11.

Here, as I hinted before, they that do righteousness are said to be born of him, that is, antecedent to their doing of righteousness, 1 John ii. 29. " born of him," that is, made alive with new spiritual and heavenly life. Wherefore the exhortation to them is, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God," Rom. vi. 13.

Now this principle must also be in men, before they can do that which is spiritual; for whatever seeming good thing any man doth, before he has bestowed upon him this heavenly principle from God, it is accounted nothing, it is accounted sin and abomination in the sight of God; for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit: "Men do not gather grapes of thorns; neither of a bramble gather they figs." It is not fruit that makes the tree, but the tree that makes the fruit. A man must be good before he do good; and evil before he can do evil.

This is that which is asserted by the Son of God himself; and it lieth so level with reason and the nature of things, that it cannot be contradicted, Matth. vii. 16, 17, 18. Luke vi, 43, 44, 45. "A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil.” But notwithstanding all that can be said, it seemeth very strange to the carnal world; for they will not be otherwise persuaded, but that they be good deeds that make good men, and evil ones that make evil men; and so, by such dotish apprehensions, do what in them lieth to fortify their hearts with the mists of darkness against

the

the clear shining of the word, and conviction of the truth.

And thus it was from the beginning: Abel's first services to God were from this principle of righteousness; but Cain would have been made righteous by his deeds; but his deeds not flowing from the same root of goodness, as did Abel's, notwithstanding he did it with the very best he had, is yet called evil; for he wanted, I say, the principles, to wit, of grace and faith, without which no action can be counted good in a gospel

sense.

These two things, then, that man must have that will do righteousness. He must have put upon him the perfect righteousness of Christ; and he must have that dwelling in him, as a fruit of the new birth, a principle of righteousness. Then indeed he is a tree of righte ousness, and God is like to be glorified in, and by him; but this the Pharisee was utterly ignorant of, and at the remotest distance from.

You may ask me next, But which of these are first bestowed upon the Christian, the perfect righteousness of Christ unto justification, or this gospel-principle of righteousness unto sanctification?

Ans. The perfect righteousness of Christ unto justification, must first be made over to him by an act of grace. This is evident.

1. Because he is justified as ungodly; that is, whilst he is ungodly; but it must not be said of them, that have this principle of grace in them, that they are ungodly; for they are saints and holy. But this righte ousness, by it God justfieth the ungodly, by imputing to them, when, and while they, as to a principle of grace, are graceless.

This is further manifested thus: The person must be accepted before his performance can; "And God had respect unto Abel, and to his offering," Gen. iv. If he had respect to Abel's person first, yet he must have respect unto it for the sake of some righteousness; but Abel, as yet had no righteousness; for that he

acted,

"And

acted, after God had respect unto his person. God had respect unto Abel, and to his offering; but unto Cain, and to his offering, the Lord had no respect."

The prophet Ezekiel also shews us this; where, by the similitude of the wretched infant, and the manner of God's receiving it to mercy, he shews how he received the Jews to favour. First, saith he, "I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness." There is justification; "I covered thy nakedness:" But what

manner of nakedness was it? Yes, it was then as naked as naked could be, even as naked as in the day that it was born, Ezek. xvi. 4-9. And as thus naked, it was covered, not with any thing but with the skirt of Christ; that is, with his robe of righteousness, with his obedience, that he performed of himself for that very purpose; for by the obedience of one many are made righteous.

2. Righteousness unto justification must be first, because the first duty that a Christian performeth to God, must be accepted, not for the sake of the principle from which in the heart it flows, nor yet for the person that acts it, but for the sake of Christ, whose righteousness it is by which the sinner stands just before God.And hence it is said, "By faith Abel offered unto God. a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." Heb. xi. By faith he did it; but faith in respect to the righteousness that justifies; for we are justified by faith, that is, by that righteousness that faith embraceth, laying hold of, and helpeth the soul to rest, and trust to, for justification of life, which is the obedience of Christ. Besides, it is said, by faith he offered; faith then in Christ was precedent to his offering.

Now, since faith was in act before his offer, and since before his offer he had no personal goodness of his own, faith must look out from home; I say to another for righteousness; and finding the righteousness of Christ to be the righteousness which by God was designed to be performed for the justification of a sinner; it embraces

it,

it, and through it offereth to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.

Hence it follows, by which he obtained witness, that he was righteous; by which, not by his offering, but by his faith; for his offering, simply as an offering, could not have made him righteous if he had not been righteous before: "for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit." Besides, if this be granted, why had not God respect to Cain's offering, as well as Abel's? For did Abel offer? So did Cain. Did Abel offer his best? So did Cain his. And with this we shall take notice of the order of their offering, Cain seemed to offer first, and so with the frankest will and forwardest mind; but saith the text, "The Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offering." But why to Abel? Why, because his person was made righteous before he offered his gift: "By which he obtained witness that he was righteous;" God testifying of his gifts, that they were good and acceptable, because they declared Abel's acceptation of the righteousness of Christ, through the riches of the grace of God.

By faith, then, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. He shrouded himself under the righteousness of Christ, and so, of that righteousness, he offered to God. God also looking and finding him there, (where he could not have been, as to his own apprehension, no otherwise than by faith,) accepted of his gift; by which acceptation (for so you may understand it also) God testifieth that he was righteous; for God receiveth not the gifts and offerings of those that are not righteous, for their sacrifices are an abomination unto him, Prov. xxi. 27.

Abel

*It is the proper office of faith to justify; for faith is the grace that is just suited for this purpose. As the eye is fitted for seeing, or the hand for acting, so is faith exactly fitted for justifying, but this justifying faith is not separated from repentance, hope, love, and other fruits of the Spirit, though these divine principles in the heart have no share in the act of justification, which is the peculiar privilege of faith, which may be called the root-grace.

Abel then was, I say, made righteous, first, as he stood ungodly in himself; God justifieth the ungodly, Rom. iv. Now being justified, he was righteous; and being righteous, he offered his sacrifice of praise to God, or other offerings which God accepted, because he believed in his Son. But this our Pharisee understandeth

not.

3. Righteousness by imputation must be first, because we are made so, to wit, by another, By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."Now to be made righteous, implies a passiveness in him that is so made, and the activity of the work to lie in some body else; except he had said, they had made themselves righteous: but that it doth not, nor doth the text leave to any the least countenance so to insinuate; nay, it plainly affirms the contrary, for it saith, "by the obedience of one, of one man, Jesus Christ, many are made righteous;" by the righteousness of one, Rom. v. So then, if they be made righteous by the righteousness of one, then are they that are so, as to this righteousness. They have no hand in that; for that is the act of one, the righteousness of one, the obedience of one, the workmanship of one, even of Christ Jesus.

Again, If they are made righteous by this righteousness, then also they are passive as to their first privilege by it; for they are made righteous by it; they do not make themselves righteous by it.

Imputation is also the act of God. "Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness." The righteousness then is the work of Christ, his own obedience to his Father's law: the making of it ours is the act of his Father, and of his infinite grace: "For of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. For (God) hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." And both these things God

shewed

J