John Wesley SERMON 5
(text from the 1872 edition)
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
"To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans
4:5. 1. How a sinner may be justified before God, the Lord and
Judge of all, is a question of no common importance to every
child of man. It contains the foundation of all our hope,
inasmuch as while we are at enmity with God, there can be no
true peace, no solid joy, either in time or in eternity. What
peace can there be, while our own heart condemns us; and much
more, He that is "greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things?" What solid joy, either in this world or that to come,
while "the wrath of God abideth on us?"
2. And yet how little hath this important question been
understood! What confused notions have many had concerning it!
Indeed, not only confused, but often utterly false; contrary to
the truth, as light to darkness; notions absolutely inconsistent
with the oracles of God, and with the whole analogy of faith.
And hence, erring concerning the very foundation, they could not
possibly build thereon; at least, not "gold, silver, or precious
stones," which would endure when tried as by fire; but only "hay
and stubble," neither acceptable to God, nor profitable to man.
3. In order to justice, in far as in me lies, to the vast
importance of the subject, to save those that seek the truth in
sincerity from "vain jangling and strife of words," to clear the
confusedness of thought into which so many have already been led
thereby, and to give them true and just conceptions of this
great mystery of godliness, I shall endeavour to show,
First. What is the general ground of this whole doctrine of
justification.
Secondly. What justification is.
Thirdly. Who they are that are justified. And,
Fourthly. On what terms they are justified. I. I am, First, to
show, what is the general ground of this whole doctrine of
justification.
1. In the image of God was man made, holy as he that created him
is holy; merciful as the Author of all is merciful; perfect as
his Father in heaven is perfect. As God is love, so man,
dwelling in love, dwelt in God, and God in him. God made him to
be an "image of his own eternity," an incorruptible picture of
the God of glory. He was accordingly pure, as God is pure, from
every spot of sin. He knew not evil in any kind or degree, but
was inwardly and outwardly sinless and undefiled. He "loved the
Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his mind, and
soul, and strength."
2. To man thus upright and perfect, God gave a perfect law, to
which he required full and perfect obedience. He required full
obedience in every point, and this to be performed without any
intermission, from the moment man became a living soul, till the
time of his trial should be ended. No allowance was made for any
falling short: As, indeed, there was no need of any; man being
altogether equal to the task assigned, and thoroughly furnished
for every good word and work.
3. To the entire law of love which was written in his heart,
(against which, perhaps, he could not sin directly,) it seemed
good to the sovereign wisdom of God to superadd one positive
law: "Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree that groweth
in the midst of the garden;" annexing that penalty thereto, "In
the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."
4. Such, then, was the state of man in Paradise. By the free,
unmerited love of God, he was holy and happy: He knew, loved,
enjoyed God, which is, in substance, life everlasting. And in
this life of love, he was to continue for ever, if he continued
to obey God in all things; but, if he disobeyed him in any, he
was to forfeit all. "In that day," said God, "thou shalt surely
die."
5. Man did disobey God. He "ate of the tree, of which God
commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it." And in that
day he was condemned by the righteous judgment of God. Then also
the sentence whereof he was warned before, began to take place
upon him. For the moment he tasted that fruit, he died. His soul
died, was separated from God; separate from whom the soul has no
more life than the body has when separate from the soul. His
body, likewise, became corruptible and mortal; so that death
then took hold on this also. And being already dead in spirit,
dead to God, dead in sin, he hastened on to death everlasting;
to the destruction both of body and soul, in the fire never to
be quenched
6. Thus "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin. And so death passed upon all men," as being contained in
him who was the common father and representative of us all.
Thus, "through the offence of one," all are dead, dead to God,
dead in sin, dwelling in a corruptible, mortal body, shortly to
be dissolved, and under the sentence of death eternal. For as,
"by one man's disobedience," all "were made sinners;" so, by
that offence of one, "judgment came upon all men to
condemnation." (Romans v. 12, &c.)
7. In this state we were, even all mankind, when "God so loved
the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end we
might not perish, but have everlasting life." In the fullness of
time he was made Man, another common Head of mankind, a second
general Parent and Representative of the whole human race. And
as such it was that "he bore our griefs," "the Lord laying upon
him the iniquities of us all." Then was he "wounded for our
transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities." "He made his
soul an offering for sin:" He poured out his blood for the
transgressors: He "bare our sins in his own body on the tree,"
that by his stripes we might be healed: And by that one oblation
of himself, once offered, he hath redeemed me and all mankind;
having thereby "made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice
and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world."
8. In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath "tasted
death for every man," God hath now "reconciled the world to
himself, not imputing to them their" former "trespasses." And
thus, "as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift
came upon all men unto justification." So that, for the sake of
his well-beloved Son, of what he hath done and suffered for us,
God now vouchsafes, on one only condition, (which himself also
enables us to perform,) both to remit the punishment due to our
sins, to reinstate us in his favour, and to restore our dead
souls to spiritual life, as the earnest of life eternal.
9. This, therefore, is the general ground of the whole doctrine
of justification. By the sin of the first Adam, who was not only
the father, but likewise the representative, of us all, we all
fell short of the favour of God; we all became children of
wrath; or, as the Apostle expresses it, "judgment came upon all
men to condemnation." Even so, by the sacrifice for sin made by
the Second Adam, as the Representative of us all, God is so far
reconciled to all the world, that he hath given them a new
covenant; the plain condition whereof being once fulfilled,
"there is no more condemnation" for us, but "we are justified
freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus
Christ."
II. 1. But what is it to be "justified?" What is
"justification?" This was the Second thing which I proposed to
show. And it is evident, from what has been already observed,
that it is not the being made actually just and righteous. This
is "sanctification;" which is, indeed, in some degree, the
immediate fruit of justification, but, nevertheless, is a
distinct gift of God, and of a totally different nature. The one
implies what God does for us through his Son; the other, what he
works in us by his Spirit. So that, although some rare instances
may be found, wherein the term "justified" or "justification" is
used in so wide a sense as to include "sanctification" also;
yet, in general use, they are sufficiently distinguished from
each other, both by St. Paul and the other inspired writers.
2. Neither is that far-fetched conceit, that justification is
the clearing us from accusation, particularly that of Satan,
easily provable from any clear text of holy writ. In the whole
scriptural account of this matter, as above laid down, neither
that accuser nor his accusation appears to be at all taken in.
It can not indeed be denied, that he is the "accuser" of men,
emphatically so called. But it does in nowise appear, that the
great Apostle hath any reference to this, more or less, in all
he hath written touching justification, either to the Romans or
the Galatians.
3. It is also far easier to take for granted, than to prove from
any clear scripture testimony, that justification is the
clearing us from the accusation brought against us by the law:
At least if this forced, unnatural way of speaking mean either
more or less than this, that, whereas we have transgressed the
law of God, and thereby deserved the damnation of hell, God does
not inflict on those who are justified the punishment which they
had deserved.
4. Least of all does justification imply, that God is deceived
in those whom he justifies; that he thinks them to be what, in
fact, they are not; that he accounts them to be otherwise than
they are. It does by no means imply, that God judges concerning
us contrary to the real nature of things; that he esteems us
better than we really are, or believes us righteous when we are
unrighteous. Surely no. The judgment of the all-wise God is
always according to truth. Neither can it ever consist with his
unerring wisdom, to think that I am innocent, to judge that I am
righteous or holy, because another is so. He can no more, in
this manner, confound me with Christ, than with David or
Abraham. Let any man to whom God hath given understanding, weigh
this without prejudice; and he cannot but perceive, that such a
notion of justification is neither reconcilable to reason nor
Scripture.
5. The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, the
forgiveness of sins. It is that act of God the Father, hereby,
for the sake of the propitiation made by the blood of his Son,
he "showeth forth his righteousness (or mercy) by the remission
of the sins that are past." This is the easy, natural account of
it given by St. Paul, throughout this whole epistle. So he
explains it himself, more particularly in this and in the
following chapter. Thus, in the next verses but one to the text,
"Blessed are they," saith he, "whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin." To him that is justified or forgiven, God
"will not impute sin" to his condemnation. He will not condemn
him on that account, either in this world or in that which is to
come. His sins, all his past sins, in thought, word, and deed,
are covered, are blotted out, shall not be remembered or
mentioned against him, any more than if they had not been. God
will not inflict on that sinner what he deserved to suffer,
because the Son of his love hath suffered for him. And from the
time we are "accepted through the Beloved," "reconciled to God
through his blood," he loves, and blesses, and watches over us
for good, even as if we had never sinned.
Indeed the Apostle in one place seems to extend the meaning of
the word much farther, where he says, "Not the hearers of the
law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified." Here he
appears to refer our justification to the sentence of the great
day. And so our Lord himself unquestionably doth, when he says,
"By thy words thou shalt be justified;" proving hereby, that
"for every idle word men shall speak, they shall give an account
in the day of judgment." But perhaps we can hardly produce
another instance of St. Paul's using the word in that distant
sense. In the general tenor of his writings, it is evident he
doth not; and least of all in the text before us, which
undeniably speaks, not of those who have already "finished their
course," but of those who are now just "setting out," just
beginning to "run the race which is set before them."
III. 1. But this is the third thing which was to be considered,
namely, Who are they that are justified? And the Apostle tells
us expressly, the ungodly: "He (that is, God) justifieth the
ungodly;" the ungodly of every kind and degree; and none but the
ungodly. As "they that are righteous need no repentance," so
they need no forgiveness. It is only sinners that have any
occasion for pardon: It is sin alone which admits of being
forgiven. Forgiveness, therefore, has an immediate reference to
sin, and, in this respect, to nothing else. It is our
"unrighteousness" to which the pardoning God is "merciful:" It
is our "iniquity" which he "remembereth no more."
2. This seems not to be at all considered by those who so
vehemently contend that a man must be sanctified, that is, holy,
before he can be justified; especially by such of them as
affirm, that universal holiness or obedience must precede
justification. (Unless they mean that justification at the last
day, which is wholly out of the present question.) So far from
it, that the very supposition is not only flatly impossible,
(for where there is no love of God, there is no holiness, and
there is no love of God but from a sense of his loving us,) but
also grossly, intrinsically absurd, contradictory to itself. For
it is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and under the
notion of a sinner. God justifieth not the godly, but the
ungodly; not those that are holy already, but the unholy. Upon
what condition he doeth this, will be considered quickly: but
whatever it is, it cannot be holiness. To assert this, is to say
the Lamb of God takes away only those sins which were taken away
before.
3. Does then the good Shepherd seek and save only those that are
found already? No: He seeks and saves that which is lost. He
pardons those who need his pardoning mercy. He saves from the
guilt of sin, (and, at the same time, from the power,) sinners
of every kind, of every degree: men who, till then, were
altogether ungodly; in whom the love of the Father was not; and,
consequently, in whom dwelt no good thing, no good or truly
Christian temper, --but all such as were evil and abominable,
--pride, anger, love of the world, --the genuine fruits of that
"carnal mind" which is "enmity against God."
4. These who are sick, the burden of whose sins is intolerable,
are they that need a Physician; these who are guilty, who groan
under the wrath of God, are they that need a pardon. These who
are "condemned already," not only by God, but also by their own
conscience, as by a thousand witnesses, of all their
ungodliness, both in thought, and word, and work, cry aloud for
Him that "justifieth the ungodly," through the redemption that
is in Jesus; --the ungodly, and "him that worketh not;" that
worketh not, before he is justified, anything that is good, that
is truly virtuous or holy, but only evil continually. For his
heart is necessarily, essentially evil, till the love of God is
shed abroad therein. And while the tree is corrupt, so are the
fruits; "for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit."
5. If it be objected, "Nay, but a man, before he is justified,
may feed the hungry, or clothe the naked; and these are good
works;" the answer is easy: He may do these, even before he is
justified; and these are, in one sense, "good works;" they are
"good and profitable to men." But it does not follow, that they
are, strictly speaking, good in themselves, or good in the sight
of God. All truly "good works" (to use the words of our Church)
"follow after justification;" and they are therefore good and
"acceptable to God in Christ," because they "spring out of a
true and living faith." By a parity of reason, all "works done
before justification are not good," in the Christian sense,
"forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ;" (though
from some kind of faith in God they may spring;) "yea, rather,
for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them
to be done, we doubt not" (how strange soever it may appear to
some) "but they have the nature of sin."
6. Perhaps those who doubt of this have not duly considered the
weighty reason which is here assigned, why no works done before
justification can be truly and properly good. The argument
plainly runs thus: --
No works are good, which are not done as God hath willed and
commanded them to be done.
But no works done before justification are done as God hath
willed and commanded them to be done:
Therefore, no works done before justification are good.
The first proposition is self-evident; and the second, that no
works done before justification are done as God hath willed and
commanded them to be done, will appear equally plain and
undeniable, if we only consider, God hath willed and commanded
that "all our works" should "be done in charity;" (_en agapE_)
in love, in that love to God which produces love to all mankind.
But none of our works can be done in this love, while the love
of the Father (of God as our Father) is not in us; and this love
can not be in us till we receive the "Spirit of Adoption, crying
in , our hearts, Abba, Father." If, therefore, God doth not
"justify the ungodly," and him that (in this sense) "worketh
not," then hath Christ died in vain; then, notwithstanding his
death, can no flesh living be justified.
IV. 1. But on what terms, then, is he justified who is
altogether "ungodly," and till that time "worketh not?" On one
alone; which is faith: He "believeth is Him that justifieth the
ungodly." And "he that believeth is not condemned;" yea, he is
"passed from death unto life." "For the righteousness (or mercy)
of God is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them
that believe: --Whom God hath set forth for a propitiation,
through faith in his blood; that he might be just, and"
(consistently with his justice) "the Justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus:" "Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law;" without
previous obedience to the moral law, which, indeed, he could
not, till now, perform. That it is the moral law, and that
alone, which is here intended, appears evidently from the words
that follow: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God
forbid: Yea, we establish the law. What law do we establish by
faith? Not the ritual law: Not the ceremonial law of Moses. In
nowise; but the great, unchangeable law of love, the holy love
of God and of our neighbour."
2. Faith in general is a divine, supernatural "_elegchos_,"
"evidence" or "conviction," "of things not seen," not
discoverable by our bodily senses, as being either past, future,
or spiritual. Justifying faith implies, not only a divine
evidence or conviction that "God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself;" but a sure trust and confidence that Christ
died for "my" sins, that he loved "me," and gave himself for
"me." And at what time soever a sinner thus believes, be it in
early childhood, in the strength of his years, or when he is old
and hoary-haired, God justifieth that ungodly one: God, for the
sake of his Son, pardoneth and absolveth him, who had in him,
till then, no good thing. Repentance, indeed, God had given him
before; but that repentance was neither more nor less than a
deep sense of the want of all good, and the presence of all
evil. And whatever good he hath, or doeth, from that hour when
he first believes in God through Christ, faith does not "find,"
but "bring." This is the fruit of faith. First the tree is good,
and then the fruit is good also.
3. I cannot describe the nature of this faith better than in the
words of our own Church: "The only instrument of salvation"
(whereof justification is one branch) "is faith; that is, a sure
trust and confidence that God both hath and will forgive our
sins, that he hath accepted us again into His favour, for the
merits of Christ's death and passion. --But here we must take
heed that we do not halt with God, through an inconstant,
wavering faith: Peter, coming to Christ upon the water, because
he fainted in faith, was in danger of drowning; so we, if we
begin to waver or doubt, it is to be feared that we shall sink
as Peter did, not into the water, but into the bottomless pit of
hell fire." ("Second Sermon on the Passion")
"Therefore, have a sure and constant faith, not only that the
death of Christ is available for all the world, but that he hath
made a full and sufficient sacrifice for "thee," a perfect
cleansing of "thy" sins, so that thou mayest say, with the
Apostle, he loved "thee," and gave himself for "thee." For this
is to make Christ "thine own," and to apply his merits unto
"thyself." ("Sermon on the Sacrament, First Part")
4. By affirming that this faith is the term or "condition of
justification," I mean, First, that there is no justification
without it. "He that believeth not is condemned already;" and so
long as he believeth not, that condemnation cannot be removed,
but "the wrath of God abideth on him." As "there is no other
name given under heaven," than that of Jesus of Nazareth, no
other merit whereby a condemned sinner can ever be saved from
the guilt of sin; so there is no other way of obtaining a share
in his merit, than "by faith in his name." So that as long as we
are without this faith, we are "strangers to the covenant of
promise," we are "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
without God in the world." Whatsoever virtues (so called) a man
may have, --I speak of those unto whom the gospel is preached;
for "what have I to do to judge them that are without?"
--whatsoever good works (so accounted) he may do, it profiteth
not; he is still a "child of wrath," still under the curse, till
he believes in Jesus.
5. Faith, therefore, is the "necessary" condition of
justification; yea, and the "only necessary" condition thereof.
This is the Second point carefully to be observed; that, the
very moment God giveth faith (for "it is the gift of God") to
the "ungodly" that "worketh not," that "faith is counted to him
for righteousness." He hath no righteousness at all, antecedent
to this, not so much as negative righteousness, or innocence.
But "faith is imputed to him for righteousness," the very moment
that he believeth. Not that God (as was observed before)
thinketh him to be what he is not. But as "he made Christ to be
sin for us," that is, treated him as a sinner, punishing him for
our sins; so he counteth us righteous, from the time we believe
in him: That is, he doth not punish us for our sins; yea, treats
us as though we are guiltless and righteous.
6. Surely the difficulty of assenting to this proposition, that
"faith is the "only condition" of justification," must arise
from not understanding it. We mean thereby thus much, that it is
the only thing without which none is justified; the only thing
that is immediately, indispensably, absolutely requisite in
order to pardon. As, on the one hand, though a man should have
every thing else without faith, yet he cannot be justified; so,
on the other, though he be supposed to want everything else, yet
if he hath faith, he cannot but be justified. For suppose a
sinner of any kind or degree, in a full sense of his total
ungodliness, of his utter inability to think, speak, or do good,
and his absolute meetness for hell-fire; suppose, I say, this
sinner, helpless and hopeless, casts himself wholly on the mercy
of God in Christ, (which indeed he cannot do but by the grace of
God,) who can doubt but he is forgiven in that moment? Who will
affirm that any more is "indispensably required" before that
sinner can be justified?
Now, if there ever was one such instance from the beginning of
the world, (and have there not been, and are there not, ten
thousand times ten thousand?) it plainly follows, that faith is,
in the above sense, the sole condition of justification.
7. It does not become poor, guilty, sinful worms, who receive
whatsoever blessings they enjoy, (from the least drop of water
that cools our tongue, to the immense riches of glory in
eternity,) of grace, of mere favour, and not of debt, to ask of
God the reasons of his conduct. It is not meet for us to call
Him in question "who giveth account to none of his ways;" to
demand, "Why didst thou make faith the condition, the only
condition, of justification? Wherefore didst thou decree, "He
that believeth," and he only, "shall be saved?" This is the very
point on which St. Paul so strongly insists in the ninth chapter
of this Epistle, viz., That the terms of pardon and acceptance
must depend, not on us, but "on him that calleth us;" that there
is no "unrighteousness with God," in fixing his own terms, not
according to ours, but his own good pleasure; who may justly
say, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy;" namely, on
him who believeth in Jesus. "So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth," to choose the condition on
which he shall find acceptance; "but of God that showeth mercy;"
that accepteth none at all, but of his own free love, his
unmerited goodness. "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will
have mercy," viz., on those who believe on the Son of his love;
"and whom he will," that is, those who believe not, "he
hardeneth," leaves at last to the hardness of their hearts.
8. One reason, however, we may humbly conceive, of God's fixing
this condition of justification, "If thou believest in the Lord
Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved," was to "hide pride from
man." Pride had already destroyed the very angels of God, had
cast down "a third part of the stars of heaven." It was likewise
in great measure owing to this, when the tempter said, "Ye shall
be as gods," that Adam fell from his own steadfastness, and
brought sin and death into the world. It was therefore an
instance of wisdom worthy of God, to appoint such a condition of
reconciliation for him and all his posterity as might
effectually humble, might abase them to the dust. And such is
faith. It is peculiarly fitted for this end: For he that cometh
unto God by this faith, must fix his eye singly on his own
wickedness, on his guilt and helplessness, without having the
least regard to any supposed good in himself, to any virtue or
righteousness whatsoever. He must come as a "mere sinner,"
inwardly and outwardly, self-destroyed and self-condemned,
bringing nothing to God but ungodliness only, pleading nothing
of his own but sin and misery. Thus it is, and thus alone, when
his "mouth is stopped," and he stands utterly "guilty before"
God, that he can "look unto Jesus," as the whole and sole
"Propitiation for his sins." Thus only can he be "found in him,"
and receive the "righteousness which is of God by faith."
9. Thou ungodly one, who hearest or readest these words! thou
vile, helpless, miserable sinner! I charge thee before God, the
Judge of all, go straight unto him, with all thy ungodliness.
Take heed thou destroy not thy own soul by pleading thy
righteousness, more or less. Go as altogether ungodly, guilty,
lost, destroyed, deserving and dropping into hell; and thou
shalt then find favour in his sight, and know that he justifieth
the ungodly. As such thou shalt be brought unto the "blood of
sprinkling," as an undone, helpless, damned sinner. Thus "look
unto Jesus!" There is "the Lamb of God," who "taketh away thy
sins!" Plead thou no works, no righteousness of thine own! no
humility, contrition, sincerity! In nowise. That were, in very
deed, to deny the Lord that bought thee. No: Plead thou, singly,
the blood of the covenant, the ransom paid for thy proud,
stubborn, sinful soul. Who art thou, that now seest and feelest
both thine inward and outward ungodliness? Thou art the man! I
want thee for my Lord! I challenge "thee" for a child of God by
faith! The Lord hath need of thee. Thou who feelest thou art
just fit for hell, art just fit to advance his glory; the glory
of his free grace, justifying the ungodly and him that worketh
not. O come quickly! Believe in the Lord Jesus; and thou, even
thou, art reconciled to God.
[Edited by Pastor Weldon Shuman for the Wesley Center for
Applied Theology at Northwest Nazarene College (Nampa, Idaho)
with minor corrections by George Lyons.] _