The Pharisee and the Publican

And, first, I answer, he must be righteous in a law-sense: that is, he must be righteous in the judgment of the law.  This is evident: because he saith, “He that doeth righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”  That is, in a law-sense: for Christ in no sense is righteous in the judgment of charity only; but in his meanest acts, if it be lawful to make such comparison, he was righteous in a law-sense, or in the judgment of the law.  Now the apostle saith, that “he that doeth righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”  They are the words of God, and therefore I cannot err in quoting of them, though I may not so fully as I would make the glory of them shine in speaking to them.

But what righteousness is that, with which a man must stand righteous in the judgment of the law, before he shall or can be found to do acts of righteousness, that by the gospel are so called?

1.  I answer, first, It is none of his own which is of the law, you may be sure: for he hath his righteousness before he doth any that can be called his own.  “He that doeth righteousness is righteous” already, precedent to, or before he doth that righteousness; yea, he “is righteous, even as he is righteous.”

2.  It cannot be his own which is of the gospel; that is, that which floweth from a principle of grace in the soul: for he is righteous before he doth this righteousness.  “He that doeth righteousness is righteous.”  He doth not say, he that hath done it, but he that doth it; respecting the act while it is in doing, he is righteous.  He is righteous even then when he is a-doing of the very first act of righteousness; but an act, while it is doing, cannot, until it is done, be called an act of righteousness; yet, saith the text, “he is righteous.”

But again, if an act, while it is doing, cannot be called an act of righteousness, to be sure, it cannot have such influences as to make the actor righteous—to make him righteous, as the Son of God is righteous; and yet the righteousness with which this doer is made righteous, and that before he doth righteousness, is such; for so saith the text, that makes him righteous, as he is righteous.

Besides, it cannot be his own, which is gospel-righteousness, flowing from a principle of grace in the soul; for that in its greatest perfection in us, while we live in this world, is accompanied with some imperfections; to wit, our faith, love, and whole course of holiness is wanting, or hath something lacking in it.  They neither are apart, nor when put all together, perfect, as to the degree, the uttermost degree of perfection.

But the righteousness under consideration, with which the man, in that of John, is made righteous, is a perfect righteousness; not only with respect to the nature of it, as a penny is as perfect silver as a shilling; nor yet with respect to a comparative degree, for so a shilling arriveth more toward the perfection of the number twenty, than doth a twopenny or a threepenny piece; but it is a righteousness so perfect, that nothing can be added to, nor can any thing be taken from it; for so implieth the words of the text, he is righteous as Christ is righteous; yea, thus righteous before, and in order to his doing of righteousness.

And in this he is like unto the Son of God, who was also righteous before he did acts of righteousness referring to a law of commandment; wherefore it is said, that as he is, so are we in this world.  As he is or was righteous, before he did acts of righteousness among men by a law; so are his righteous, before they act righteousness among men by a law.  “He that doeth righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”

Christ was righteous before he did righteousness, with a twofold righteousness.  He had a righteousness as he was God; his Godhead was perfectly righteous: yea, it was righteousness itself.  His human nature was perfectly righteous, it was naturally spotless and undefiled.  Thus his person was righteous, and so qualified to do that righteousness, that because he was born of woman, and made under the law, he was bound by the law to perform.

Now, as he is, so are we; not by way of natural righteousness, but by way of resemblance thereunto.  Had Christ, in order to his working of righteousness, a two fold righteousness inherent in himself?—the Christian, in order to his working of righteousness, had belonging to him a twofold righteousness.  Did Christ’s twofold righteousness qualify him for that work of righteousness that was of God designed for him to do?—why, the Christian’s twofold righteousness doth qualify him for that work of righteousness that God hath ordained that he should do and walk in this world.

But you may ask, What is that righteousness with which a Christian is made righteous before he doth righteousness?

I answer, It is a twofold righteousness.

1.  It is a righteousness put upon him.

2.  It is a righteousness put into him.

For the first, It is a righteousness put upon him, with which also he is clothed as with a coat or mantle, Rom. iii. 22, and this is called “the robe of righteousness;” and this is called “the garment of salvation;” Isa. lxi. 10.

This righteousness is none other but the obedience of Christ; the which he performed in the days of his flesh, and can properly be called no man’s righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ; because no man had a hand therein, but he completed it himself.  And hence it is said, that “by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous;” Rom. v. 19.  By the obedience of one, of one man Jesus Christ (as you have it in verse 15); for he came down into the world, to this very end; that is, to make a generation righteous, not by making of them laws, and prescribing unto them rules (for this was the work of Moses, who said, “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us;” Deut. vi. 25; xxiv. 13); nor yet by taking away by his grace the imperfections of their righteousness, and so making of that perfect by additions of his own; but he makes them righteous by his obedience, not in them, but for them, while he personally subjected himself to his Father’s law on our behalf, that he might have a righteousness to bestow upon us.  And hence we are said to be made righteous, while we work not, and to be justified, while ungodly (Rom. iv. 5), which can be done by no other righteousness than that which is the righteousness of Christ by performance, the righteousness of God by donation, and our righteousness by imputation.  For, I say, the person that wrought this righteousness for us, is Jesus Christ; the person that giveth it to us, is the Father; who hath made Christ to be unto us righteousness, and hath given him to us for this very end, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him; 1 Cor. i. 4; 2 Cor. v. 21.  And hence it is often said, “One shall say, Surely in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.”  And again, “In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.”  “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord; and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord;” Isa. xlv. 24, 25; liv. 17.

This righteousness is that which justifieth, and which secureth the soul from the curse of the law; by hiding, through its perfection, all the sins and imperfections of the soul.  Hence it follows, “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin;” Rom. iv.

And this it doth, even while the person, that by grace is made a partaker, is without good works, and so ungodly.  This is the righteousness of Christ, Christ’s personal performances, which he did when he was in this world; that is that by which the soul, while naked, is covered, and so hid as to its nakedness, from the divine sentence of the law: “I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness,” Ezek. xvi. 4–9.

Now this obediential righteousness of Christ consisteth of two parts. 1.  In a doing of that which the law commanded us to do. 2.  In a paying that price for the transgression thereof, which justice hath said shall be required at the hand of man; and that is the cursed death.  “In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die the death;” to wit, the death that comes by the curse of the law.  So then, Christ having brought in that part of obedience for us, which consisteth in a doing of such obediential acts of righteousness which the law commands, he adds thereto the spilling of his blood, to be the price of our redemption from that cursed death, that by sin we had brought upon our bodies and souls.  And thus are the Christians perfectly righteous; they have the whole obedience of Christ made over to them; to wit, that obedience that standeth in doing the law, and that obedience that standeth in paying of a price for our transgressions.  So, then, doth the law call for righteousness? here it is.  Doth the law call for satisfaction for our sins?  Here it is.  And what can the law say any more to the sinner but that which is good, when he findeth in the personal obedience of Christ for him, that which answereth to what it can command, that which it can demand of us?

Herein, then, standeth a Christian’s safety, not in a bundle of actions of his own, but in a righteousness which cometh to him by grace and gift; for this righteousness is such as comes by gift, by the gift of God.  Hence it is called the gift of righteousness, the gift by grace, the gift of righteousness by grace, which is the righteousness of one, to wit, the obedience of Jesus Christ, Rom. v. 15–19.

And this is the righteousness by which he that doth righteousness is righteous as he is righteous; because it is the very self-same righteousness that the Son of God hath accomplished by himself.  Nor has he any other or more excellent righteousness, of which the law taketh notice, or that it requireth, than this: for as for the righteousness of his Godhead, the law is not concerned with that; for as he is such, the law is his creature, and servant, and may not meddle with him.

The righteousness also of his human nature, the law hath nothing to do with that; for that is the workmanship of God, and is as good, as pure, as holy, and undefiled, as is the law itself.  All then that the law hath to do with, is to exact complete obedience of him that is made under it, and a due satisfaction for the breach thereof; the which, if it hath, then Moses is content.

Now, this is the righteousness with which the Christian, as to justification, is made righteous; to wit, a righteousness that is neither essential to his Godhead, nor to his manhood; but such as standeth in that glorious person (who was such) his obedience to the law.  Which righteousness himself had, with reference to himself, no need of at all, for his Godhead, yea, his manhood, was perfectly righteous without it.  This righteousness therefore was there, and there only necessary, where Christ was considered as God’s servant (and our surety) to bring to God Jacob again, and to restore the preserved of Israel.  For though Christ was a Son, yet he became a servant to do, not for himself, for he had no need, but for us, the whole law, and so bring in everlasting righteousness for us.

And hence it is said, that Christ did what he did for us.  He became the end of the law for righteousness for us; he suffered for us, he died for us, he laid down his life for us, and he gave himself for us.  The righteousness then that Christ did fulfil, when he was in the world, was not for himself simply considered, nor for himself personally considered, for he had no need thereof; but it was for the elect, the members of his body.

Christ then did not fulfil the law for himself, for he had no need thereof.  Christ again did fulfil the law for himself, for he had need of the righteousness thereof; he had need thereof for the covering of his body, and the several members thereof; for they, in a good sense, are himself, members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones; and he owns them as parts of himself in many places of the holy scriptures; Eph. v. 30; Acts ix. 4, 5; Matt. xxv. 45; x. 40; Mark ix. 37; Luke x. 16; 1 Cor. xii. 12, 27.  This righteousness then, even the whole of what Christ did in answer to the law, it was for us; and God hath put it upon them, and they were righteous in it, even righteous as he is righteous.  And this they have before they do acts of righteousness.

Secondly, There is righteousness put into them, before they act righteous things.  A righteousness, I say, put into them; or I had rather that you should call it a principle of righteousness; for it is a principle of life to righteousness.  Before man’s conversion, there is in him a principle of death to sin; but when he is converted to Christ, there is put in him a principle of righteousness, that he may bring forth fruit unto God; Rom. vii. 4–6.

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 figs.”  It is not the fruit that makes the tree, but the tree that makes the fruit.  A man must be good, before he can 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. 16–18; Luke vi. 43–45.  “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 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 righteousness, 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?

Answ.  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 righteousness, by it God justifieth the ungodly, by imputing it 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 the Lord 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, after God had a respect unto his person.  “And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had no respect.”

The prophet Ezekiel also shews us this, where, by the similitude of the wretched infant, and of 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 sake of 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; not by faith as it is an acting grace, but the righteousness of faith, that is, by that righteousness that faith embraceth, layeth 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, 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 to Abel’s?  For did Abel offer?  So did Cain.  Did Abel offer his best?  So did Cain his.  And if with this we shall take notice of the order of their offspring, Cain seemed to offer first, and so with the frankest will and forwardest mind; but yet, 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 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; I say if many be made righteous by the righteousness of one, then are they that are so, as to themselves, passive and not active, with reference to the working out of 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 a work of Christ, his own obedience to his Father’s law; the making of it ours is the act of the 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 Jim 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 to our first parents, when he acted in grace towards them after the fall.

There it is said, the Lord God made unto Adam, and unto his wife, coats of skins, and clothed them; Gen. iii. 21.

Whence note,

(1.)  That Adam and his wife were naked, both in God’s eye and in their own, verses 10, 11.

(2.)  That the Lord God made coats of skins.

(3.)  That in his making of them, he had respect to Adam and to his wife, that is, he made them.