268 A CAVEAT AGAINST INFIDELITY. cient for this end : But his trust in that God who justifies and Accepts theungodly, that is, persons who have no sufficient godli- ness for their justification : The only thing that man can do, which shall be imputed or reckoned to him in order to justifica- tion, is his faith or trust in the mercy of God, who justifies as freely, without any merit of our own works in our justification : And he doth this by virtue of the redemption that is in Christ. This is the sense of this.verse, according to the whole scope and design of the fourth chapter ; for the very design and scope of it is to show the self-emptying nature of that faith, by which we must be justified, as the design of the fifth chapter is to declare theobject of it, Jesus Christ. This is the languageof the New Testament, this is the appointment of the gospel. I grant indeed, that the gospel requires also repentance, and sincere submission and obedience to all the will of God revealed in his word, as well as trusting in Jesus Christ, if ever we would he accepted of God, and obtain heaven : And there are many substantial and indispensible reasons for it in the economy of the gospel. It is the very design of the gospel to recover men to holiness, by-a sense of pardoning 'grace : We are accepted in the beloved, that we may be holy and without blame before Godin love ; Eph.i. 4, 6. We are not fitted for salvation, and the heavenlyblessedness unless we are sanctified : Without holiness eto man shall see the Lord; lieb. xii. 14. 'We cannot evidence our own faith to be true and saving, unless it abide in us as the spring,of all good works. It is. only faith ai that works by love, -that is available to eternal life ; Gal. v. 6. Therefore those that have believed must remember, that they are redeemed fioin an evil world, as well as from hell They are redeemed front a vain conversation, as well as from guilt and misery, that they may be ve peculiar people unto God, zealous of good works; '[it. ii. 14.. Eut all this will not prove that sincerity in our works of obedi- ence to God, isthe appointed term of our pardon of sin, our jus- tification or acceptance in the sight of God under the gospel, without faith or trust in Jesus Christ, as the great Mediator and Reconciler. Still our acceptance with God is eminently referred to faith, and that as it stands distinct from works, though it must be such a living faith as is the spring of holiness. But to bring the matter as low as possible, suppose it should be allowed, as some contend, thatour sincere endeavours to serve God by works of holiness, should be joined with our faith in Christ, as the condition of our pardon, and should be made the *cry matter of our justifying righteousness in the New Testa- ment, yet no man that honestly reads the scripture, can ever suppose that this sincerity in our duties, is there made the term of our justification, without the belief of a Mediator, or that it is sufficient to procure pardon of sin, and acceptance with God
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