been maintained fully and at length'; it is even declared, that the recent formula is more scientifically correct than the more general practical statements of St. Augustine'; the question relates not at all to GOD's act of justifying, but to our continuance in the state of justification; not to what He doth, when He justifieth us, or man's condition previous to justification, or whether there be any thing acceptable in him, which GOD in any measure considereth in justifying him; but, assuming as undoubted, that man, being lost and utterly helpless and unable to please GOD, and sin adhering to all his actions, is taken out of this state by GoD's free mercy for the merits of CHRIST alone, the further question is, In what doth this result? What is it, which GOD, having first given, looks upon as acceptable in those whom He has thus justified? To this, two inadequate answers had been given: (1) that of Ultra-Protestants, that it is our faith; (2) that of modern Rome, that it is our inherent righteousness. Mr. Newman suggests a third answer, combining both, and assigning the ground of both, and this in conformity with Holy Scripture and the Ancient Church, that it is our being members of CHRIST, our being in CHRIST, and this continued to us by virtue of— 66 an inward divine presence, of which both faith and spiritual "renovation are fruits. If such a presence be not vouchsafed, 1 Lect. iii. Primary Sense of the word Justification. 2 Ib. p. 68. "then certainly faith on the one hand, renovation on the other, are the ultimate elements to which our state of righteousness 66 can be respectively referred in the two theologies. But if it be, "neither Protestant nor Romanist ought to refuse to admit, and "in admitting to agree with each other, that the presence of the "HOLY GHOST shed abroad in our hearts, the Author both of "faith and of renewal, this is really that which makes us righteous, and that our righteousness is the possession of that presence."-P. 151. 66 Again, it is not contended, that man, in this his renewed state, can, even by the grace of GoD, fulfil His law perfectly; but, acknowledging the imperfection even of GOD's eminent saints, the question is, whether, as before justification, man, although not wholly evil, was yet, on account of the prevailing evil, displeasing to GOD, so, after it, though not wholly good, he be not, on account of the prevailing grace, really well-pleasing unto GOD. Man's state of unrighteousness, before justification, is thus spoken of, adopting the strong words of the Homilies, that we are since Adam's fall " corrupt and naught," and "nothing else but a lump of sin '.' 66 "These fearful, yet most true words, do not imply that our original nature is pure evil, as the devil is, though even to the "devil's nature, left to itself, it assuredly tends; they are not "inconsistent with an admission that the natural man may have "many high thoughts and wishes, and may love and do what is 66 noble, generous, beneficent, courageous, and wise. But the "writer means that, whatever good principles, in whatever 1 P. 96, 7. 66 66 66 66 degree, remain to us since Adam's fall, they are, to use his own "expression, altogether spotted and defiled,' thoroughly and hopelessly steeped in evil, saturated with evil, dissolved in "evil. They do not exist by themselves in their unmixed nature, as if we could act on them and nothing but them, whatever might be their worth if so exerted but though good, "viewed in themselves, they are, in fact and as found in us, of 66 a sinful nature. All that we do, whether from better principles or from worse, whether of an indifferent nature or directly "moral, whether spontaneously, or habitually, or accidentally, all "is pervaded with a quality of evil so odious to Almighty God, as to convert even our best services into profanations; or in the expressive words of St. Paul, 'They that are in the flesh can"not please God.' "—pp. 96, 97. 66 66 66 And, as opposed to this state in which we were "by nature unrighteous, or displeasing to GOD,” it is contended that we are, "in a state of grace, actually righteous and pleasing to Him." "Not that there is not abundant evil still remaining in us, but "that justification coming to us in the power and inspiration of "the Spirit,' so far dries up the fountain of bitterness and impurity, "that we are forthwith released from God's wrath and damnation, " and are enabled in our better deeds to please Him. It places 66 us above the line in the same sense in which we were before "below it. By nature we were not absolutely devilish, but had a curse within us which blighted and poisoned our most reli"gious offerings; by grace we are gifted, not with perfection, "but with a principle hallowing and sweetening all that we are, "all that we do religiously, sustaining, hiding, and (in a sense) making intercession for 66 66 66 pleading for what remains of sin in us, us, according to the will of God.' As by nature sin was sove "reign in us in spite of the remains of heaven, so now grace triumphs through righteousness in spite of the remains of sin." -P. 99. 66 66 In a word, although "good works, which follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure "the severity of GOD's judgment, yet are" they not, as our Article declares', intrinsically " pleasing and acceptable to GOD in CHRIST?" This is the real contrast between the two schools, (if they must so be called) who claim to follow the teaching of our Church, and who respectively expound her meaning by reference, on the one hand, to continental Reformers, on the other, to the Ancient Church. It is whether God's saints are, on the whole, righteous or unrighteous, whether their righteousness be real or reputed only; whether the "infection of nature, "which doth still remain in them that are regene"rate," or their renewed nature, be predominant; which of the two gives the character and complexion to the whole man; whether, notwithstanding this infection, the whole man be, upon the whole, regarded by GOD as holy, through the Spirit of CHRIST, Which dwelleth in him, and he, being in CHRIST ingraffed, be acceptable to GOD; or whether, notwithstanding this indwelling Spirit, the whole man be, (on account of the remaining infection, against which he daily struggles, and prevails, and for his infirmities in his struggles seeks for pardon,) regarded by GOD as unholy in himself, and only as holy through the imputation of his Saviour's merits to him, externally to himself. This then is the leading 1 Art. xii. 66 66 contrast throughout this work, between a real' and an unreal righteousness of GOD's saints; i. e. a righteousness not realized in them, but ascribed to them, though they have it not; between "a real and actual com"munication to the soul, of the Atonement, through "the ministration of the SPIRIT," and an external application of its merits; a real and a figurative3 union with our LORD; between " a nominal change1, a nominal righteousness, an external blessing," and one penetrating inwards into our heart and spirit, joints and marrow, pervading us with a real efficacy, and wrapping us round in its fulness;" between "a change merely in GoD's dealings towards us," and the possession of Himself, of His substantial grace to touch and reach the root of the evil, the fountain of our misery, our bitter heart and its inbred corruption;" it is between justification resulting in righteousness, and a "justification without inherent righteousness," such as Luther makes the criterion of a standing or falling Church; justification, as "an act 66 66 66 66 1 See Lect. v. throughout, e. g. p. 115. 122, 123. 125. 127. 129. 2 P. 160. 3 See p. 162. comp. p. 425. "In the foregoing Lectures a view "has been taken substantially the same as this, but approaching 66 more nearly in language to the Calvinists; viz. that CHRIST "indwelling is our righteousness; only what is with them a "matter of words I would wish to use in a real sense, as expressing a sacred mystery; and therefore I have spoken of it in the "language of Scripture, as the indwelling of CHRIST through the "SPIRIT." 66 4 P. 36. 5 P. 159. "P. 125. |