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Show • !668.~ John l~.rto. 'The SanJy Foundation Shaken'. Vot.. f. for G~d's Unclpngeable; and therefore 1 !hall draw this Argument, That the Condemnation or JuftificationofPerfons, ts not from the lt,npurauon ~f another"s Righteoufnefs, but the actual Perfor~ance and keepwg of Gods Righteous Statutes or Commandments, orherwtfe God fhould forget .ro.he Equa[: Therefore how wickedly unequal are rhofe, who nor rrom Scnp ... ture Evidences, but their own dark ConjeUur:s and_lnrerpretauo~s of O~· fcure Paffages would frame a Dofhine fo mamfefily mconfifient _wnh Gods moft Pure and Equal Na~urc; making him to Condemn t~e Htghteous to Death, and Juftifie the Wicked to Life, f~om the lmputauon of another's Righrcoufne!S: - A moft: unequal Way mdeed. . ,.. 4 Not every one t..bat fanh unto me Lord, Lord, jbaO enter znto the K1ng· do1R. of Heaven, but be that doth the Wifl_of !'1-Y Fa! her. Wbofoever bear~tb thefe Sayings of mine, and doth them, I will bkeJI h.tm Unto a Wife l)'lanwbzcb built his Houfe upon a Rock, &c. [How very fruttful are the Sc!lptures of Truth, in Tefiimonies againft this abfurd and dangerous Dotl:nn~; the~e Words feem to import a Twofold Righteoufnefs, t~e firft c6nfills lD Sa~n· fice, the laft in Obedience; the one makes a Talkmg,_ the other1 .il Dozng Chriflian. I in fhort argue thus : If none can enter mto the _Kt~gdom of Heaven, but they that do the Father's Will, then none. are JU{h~ed, but they who do the Father's \¥ill, becaufe none can enter Into th_e Kmgdom, hut fuch as are Jufiified; fince therefore there c~n be no Admittance had, wirhout performin~ that Righteous \Vill, and domg thofe Holy and Perfe8:. Sayings : Alas! To what Value will an I!llputarive RigbteouJnfJs amount, when a poor Soul fhall awake polluted in his Sin, by the bally <;:~!Is of Death, to make its Appearance before the Judgment·Seat, where us 1m· poffible to juftifie the Wicked, or that any fbould efcape Uncondemned, but fuch as do the Will of God. '). If ye keep my Commandme111s, ye fha/1 abide in my L'me, evtn ns I ba~t kept my Fatber's Commandmems, dnd abide in bis Love .. (From w~ence th.ts Argument doth naturally arife; If none are truly Jufhfied that abtde not In Chrift's Love and that none abide in his Love, who keep not his Command~ ments, then ~onfequently none are juftified but fuch as keep his Comma~d· ments. Befides, here is the moft palplble Oppofition to an lmputattve Rigbreou{nefs that may be ; for Chrift is fo far from telling them of fuch :1 Way of being Juftified, as that he informs them the Reafon w~y he abode in his Father's Love, w:1s his Obedience; and is fo far from telhng them of their being Juftified., whilfi: not abiding in his Lo\'e, by Virtue of his Obe· dience imputed unto them, that unleiS they keep his Commands, and obey for themfelves, they fhan be fo remote from an Acceptance, as wholly to be caft out; in all which Chrift is our Example.] 6. JC are my Friends, if ye do wbatfocver 1 command you. [\~l e have al~ rnoft here the very Words, but altogetl1er the fame Marter, which a~ords us thus much, without being Chrift's Friends, there's no being Jufhfied, but unlefs we keep his Commandments, it's impoffible we fhould be his Fri-ends; it therefore nece£farily follows, rhat except we keep his Com .. rnandmenu, there is no being Ju1ti6ed: Or, in fhort thus: If the V'fay t.o be a Friend, is to keep the Commandments, then the Way to be Jull:tfied lS to keep the Commandments, becaufe none can obtain the Quality of :1 Friend, and remain Unjuftified, or be truly Jufiified,, whilft an Enemy, which he certainly is, that keeps not the Commandrnems.] 7· For nor the Hearers of the Law are }ufl before God, bu·t the Doers of the Law fhall be Juflified. [From whence how unanfwerably mJy I ob· fen>e, unlefs we hecome Doers of that Law, which Chrift came not to de4 ftroy, but, as our Example, to fulfil, we can never be Jultified before God; wherefore Obedience is 10 abfolutely nece!fary, that fhort of it there can be no Acceptance; nor let any fancy that Chrift hath fo fnlfil1 'd it for them,. as to exclude their Obedience from being requifite to their Acceptance, bulf as their Pattern; For unlefs ye follow me, fai[h Chrift, )'e cannot be "'!'l Difciples: And it is not only repugnant to Reafon, but in this Pl:lce patti· tularly refuted ; for if Chrilt had fulfill'd it on our Behalf, and we n<>t ena· blei VoL. i; The Sandy Foundation Shaken: bled to follow hi~ Exa'mple, there would not .be J:?oers, but one Doer only J668. of the Law Jufhfied bt:fore G~d. In fhorr, 1f Without Obedience to the ~ Righteous Law none .can be J u(hfie~, t~en all our Hearing of the Law, with bur the meer lmputaHon of another s R1ghteoufnefs, whilfl: we ate aCtually Breakers of ir, is excluded, as nor Juftifying before God. If you fulfil the RIJyal Law, ye do wclJ; fo Jpeak ye, and fo do ye, m they rbar }hall be Judg'J thereby.] 8. If yt Livt after t~t Flejh, yc /haY dit ; hut if yt tbrougb tbc Spirit do RDm. 8. 13; morri.fie the Deeds of the Body, y~ jhalf live. [No Man can be Dead, 'aud Jultified before God, for fo he may be Ju!!ified that lives after the Fle01; therefore they. o.nly can be .Juftified that are Alive; from whence this fol-lows, lfthe Ll\'tng are Jufhfied and not rhe Dead, and that none can live to God~ but fuch as have mortified the Deeds of the Body through the Spi· rit, then none can be Juftified bur they who have mortified the Deeds of the Body through the Spirit; fo that Jultification does not go before, but is Subfeqnential to the Mortification of Lufts, and Sanctification of the Soul, through the Spirit's Operation.] 9· For 1t1 many mare led hy the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God. [How Rom. 8.14; clearly will h appear to any but a cavilling and tenacious Spirit, that Man can be no farther Juftified, then as he becomes obedient to the Spirit's Lead· jngs; for if none can be a Son of God, but he that's led by the Spirit of God, then none can he .Tuftified without being led by the Spirit of God becaufe none can be Julfified but he that is a Son of God: So that rh~ Way to Juftification and Son·01ip, is through Obedience to the Spirit's Leadings, that is, manifefting the Holy Fruits thereof by an innocent Life and Conver!3:tion.J . 10 .. Bu_tler every A-Ian prov_e his own Work, and then jhall f;e h,1ve Rejoy· Goiil. CS. 4,7. cmg m btmfelf alone, nnd not m another. Be nor deceived, f or reharfoever a .Man Sowetb, that jiM~ he Retzp. ru Rejoycing and Acceptance with God, <>r the contrary, are to be Reaped from the Work thJt a Man Sowc[h, ei· thcr to the Flefh or to the Spirit, then is the Doltrine of Acceptance1 and Groun4 of Rejoycing'i" from the Works of another, utterly excluded, every Man Reaping according to what he hath Sown, and hearing his own Burden. ll. f!'m not Abraham our Farber ju/Jijied by Workr, when he bad offered Jaru.2.21,241 Ifaac bu Son upon ~be Altar? Te jee t!JCn how tbnt by Works n Man is ]11fli-jieJ, and not hy Fmth only. He that will ferioufly perufe this Chapter, fha11 d~ubtlefs fin~ fo~e •. to whom this ~piftle was ~rote, ~of the fame Spirit Wlth the SatiS[aflroni.[ls and Imputarran.r of our Time, they fain would l1:1ve found out a J uftificauon from Fairh in the Imfutation of another's Righte-oufnefs ; bur James, an Apoltle of the Mol High God, who ex peri men· tally knew what True Faith and Jufiification meant, gave them to under-fiand from .Abraham's Self·Denying Example, that unfefs their Faith, in ths Purity and Power of God's Grace, had that cffeB:ual Operation to fubd.ue evc~y beloved L_uft, wean ~rom .every De!i!tzb, and intirely to refign and fac_n_ficc lfaac h1mfelf, then Faah was a Fable, or as a Body without a Spun; a~d as Righteoufnefs therefore in one Perfon cannot Jultifie another fro~ Unnghteoutnefs, fo whoever now pretend to be Jufiified by Faiih, wh1lft not J~d and guided by the Spirit into all the Ways of Truth, and Works of R1ghreoufnefs, their Faith they will find at !all a FiE\ion.] • I~. Lut{l Cb1!dren, let ~to .A1an deceive you, he that doth Rigbreouf?tift, t John3•7•C! n R~ghreom, a.1 God iS Rtghuom, (but) be that c?mmitttrh Sin is of the Devzl. [Fr~m w?ence it may be ~ery clearly argued, thJt none can be in a. State of Juthficauon, from the R1ghteoufhcfs performed hy :Jnorher impu· t~ unto them, but as they are aau:~Uy redeemed from the Commiffion of Stn .= For, if He that commiuerb Sin :'s of the Devil, then cannot any be Julh~ed compleatly ~efore God, who is {o incomplearly redeem'd, as yet to be under the Capuvity of Luft, fince then the DevWs Seed, or Qff.. fpring may beJuftified; but that's impoffible: It therefore foll ows, that as he w~6 do~h Righteoufnefs .. is Righteous, as God is Righteous; fo no far· ther ts be ltke God, or Julhfiable; for in whatfoe\'er he derogates {rom the .. |