love to the brethren, obey the Saviour's new command, "That ye love one ́ another, as I have loved you" (John xv. 12). In the spirit of love read his Word, go to his house, engage in his service, labour in his cause, and wait in breathing expectation until you be endowed "with power from on high."

Then will the year be to you, in connection with all your religious opportunities and privileges, a festive year; and, should you live to its close, you will have ofttimes proved that the service of God is a feast; or, if removed from the present state, you will be welcomed by the loving Saviour to his kingdom, to dwell for ever there,—

"Where joy, like morning dew, distils,
And all the air is love."

Kings Lynn.

FREE JUSTIFICATION.

BY THE REV. JAMES SMITH.

"To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus."-Rom. iii. 26.

Every doctrine of revelation is important. But if we may institute a comparison between one doctrine and another, we should say that the doctrine of justification is most important. "How shall man be just with God?" is a question often proposed, but nowhere answered but in the Word of God. It is a question that no one could answer but God himself; and, blessed be his holy name, he has answered it, and answered it most fully. Let us approach this subject with solemn reverence, praying for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that we may not darken counsel by words without knowledge. No one can fully unfold the mind of God, infallibly teach the truth of God, or exalt the Lord Jesus as he should be exalted, but the Holy Spirit. Spirit of God, enlighten, enliven, and lead us into all saving truth, especially into this glorious truth, of a sinner's justification before a holy, sin-hating God! In looking at Paul's words we see,

First, AN END TO BE OBTAINED. Justification. The justification of a sinner, of any sinner, and every sinner, that believeth in Jesus. Here is the privilege, justification; that is, an acquittal from all charges before God's tribunal. My nature is sinful. My life has been a life of sin. If looked upon as I am in myself, ten thousand times ten thousand charges may be brought against me. But if God justify, not one charge can be substantiated against me. I am just. Every sin has been expiated. Every charge has been met. Every demand has been answered. I may look up to heaven, down to hell, or around the wide world, and ask, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" Anything! The least thing! "It is God that justifieth,” and he would not justify if one sin could justly be laid to our charge. Our sins are "blotted out." They are cast into the depths of the sea." They are "covered." They are "forgotten." They "shall never be found." These are scriptural expressions. They are God's own representation of a great and solemn fact. A fact revealed for faith to believe and appropriate, rather than for reason to discuss and argue about. He that is justified is not only pardoned, but so pardoned as to be acquitted, not only from all punishment, but from all charges. More than this, to be justified is to be pronounced righteous. Not only am I acquitted from all charge of sin, but I am declared righteous according to the demands of the holy law. So that in order to my acceptance with God, the law and justice of God can require

no more of me than it has already received. I have a righteousness that. meets all the divine acquirements. I am righteous in Jesus. More, I am "the righteousness of God`in him." "Righteous, even as he is righteous.” God, therefore, pronounces me a righteous person, and, as such, entitled to everlasting life. Not only so, but to be justified is to be treated as righteous. Now, as the moral Governor, God treats his people as righteous. He never condemns them; for "there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." But we have liberty to "enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus." We have freedom before God, as happy and beloved children. He never punishes as a Judge, though he may correct as a Father. To us he is emphatically love; and all he does to us, or for us, flows from love. The justified have peace with God, access with confidence into the presence of God, boldness to express themselves before God, and they rejoice in hope of the glory of God. They dread not his wrath, but rejoice in his love. He is not to them an object of dread or terror, but they joy in God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Glorious blessing this! But who are the justified persons? Those who believe in Jesus. All who believe in Jesus. Every one, though his faith be feeble, his knowledge small, or his trials great. "Being justified by faith." "By faith a man is justified, without the deeds of the law." What is it, then, to believe in Jesus? It is to receive into the mind God's testimony concerning Jesus. God has testified of his Son in the Gospel. He has borne witness of his Son in his Word. The Holy Spirit leads the soul to read and seriously consider God's record, that he hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. That Jesus is able and willing, anointed and appointed, to save all who come unto God by him. That through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive the remission of sins. That by him, all who believe are justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses. Having received this testimony into the mind, we exercise confidence in Christ. We renounce ourselves, our own works, our own sufferings, all and everything that is our own, and rely on Jesus Christ alone. It is no more what I have done or may do, but what Jesus did; nor what I have or may suffer, but what Jesus suffered. He is taken to be all I need, and his vicarious sacrifice and finished work are placed against my wants, deficiencies, and sins. The object of the simple believer, who is taught by the Holy Spirit, is, "That I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is by the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." There is, therefore, a righteousness which is by works, which is of the law, and there is a righteousness which is by the faith of Christ. The man who carefully and constantly keeps the law, not failing in the least point, will at last be counted righteous, and be dealt with accordingly; but the man that believes in Jesus is righteous at once, and is treated accordingly. The whole work of Christ is made over to him as a free gift, therefore called, "the gift of righteousness;" it is placed to his account, and therefore it is said, "Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works." Glorious mystery this! My sins laid on Jesus, punished in Jesus, expiated by Jesus; and the righteousness of Jesus given me, imputed to me, and made really mine! But in the passage we have,Secondly, A CHARACTER TO BE SUSTAINED. "That God may be just." God must maintain his character, and if he cannot maintain his character while he saves sinners, he will never save them. A God without a character! A God unjust! A God who trifles with his own law! How awful the supposition! How horrible the idea! But God is just. Must be just. Will appear just. That is, true to his word; to his

threatenings as much as his promises. Heaven and earth may pass away, but his word shall never pass away. He has threatened sin, and he will punish it. He has required righteousness, and he will demand it. He will be righteous in all his acts. If he punish sinners, he will do it righteously. No one shall have a stroke more than he deserves, or a pang that he has not merited. If he justify the sinner, he will do it righteously; and if he cannot do it righteously, he will not do it at all. He will be justified in the acquittal, acceptance, and approval of those who believe in Jesus. When the mystery is clearly unfolded, when the Most High clears his character before the universe, then every conscience in every intelligent creature, whether fallen or unfallen, whether saved or lost, will justify God in what he has done. All will see his wisdom, by which he provided for the honour of his law, the execution of his threatenings, and the display of his sovereign grace. All will confess that God has acted not only wisely, but righteously; and will see that every perfection of his nature, every principle of his government, and every portion of his word, is honoured in the salvation of every believer. He will then appear and be recognised as the "just God and the Saviour." As righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The christian sees and gladly acknowledges this now; but all will be constrained to do so by and bye. This leads us to consider,—

Thirdly, THE MEANS DEVISED AND PUBLISHED FOR THIS END. "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." By his righteousness here, we understand the perfect work of his beloved Son, who was made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them that were under the law; who was manifested to put away our sins, and in whom was no sin; who being in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, yet humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross; whom God hath made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This work of Jesus comprises his obedience to the law as a substitute. He undertook our cause. He assumed our obligations. He became responsible for us. Therefore he took our nature, came into our world, stood forth as our representative, and acted as our substitute. What the law required of us, he performed. What the law threatened to inflict on us, he endured. For us he lived and wrought. For us he suffered and died. That as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many might be made righteous. By the one offence of our first representative death entered into the world; so by the one righteousness of our second representative and substitute were life and immortality procured and brought to light. The Shepherd lived and died for his flock. The Head acted and suffered for his body. The Husband obeyed and wrought out a robe of righteousness for his bride. But His sufferings as a sacrifice are included also. Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us a sacrifice and an offering to God for a sweet smelling savour. The Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all. Therefore it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief. The horrors of Gethsemane, and the agonies of Calvary, were our deserts. Into one cup was put all that our sins deserved that cup was put into the hands of Jesus; and though it threw him into an agony and a bloody sweat, yet he took it, drained out its very dregs, and then crying, "It is finished!" returned it to his Father. He suffered much in his body, but he suffered more in his soul. Had he not been divine as well as human, he had sunk under the dreadful weight of woe,-he had been consumed, as were the sacrifices of old. But he outlived the whole. He completed the work. He did all, and he

suffered all that law or justice could require, and then, but not until then, he dismissed his spirit on the cross. His acquittal as our Surety may also be considered as included in this righteousness. The work was finished when he died. But he was laid in the tomb. He entered the territory of death. He lay quietly in the grave until the morning of the first day of the week. Then the Father sent the angel to break the seal, roll away the stone, unswathe the body, and prepare for his resurrection. Then the soul, committed to his Father on the cross, returned to earth, reassumed the body, and he appeared a conqueror. The debt was paid. The Creditor was satisfied. Justice was pleased. The end of the law was answered. Now the Surety comes forth. Can any make a second claim? Not one. Has he met every demand? Every one. Was the sacrifice sufficient? Yes, it perfected for ever all who were set apart to share in its benefits. Was the work of the Substitute sufficient? Yes, he obtained eternal redemption for us. Therefore God highly exalted him, and gave him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess him Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore he hailed his disciples with, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; go ye, therefore, and preach the gospel to every creature." Victorious Saviour! I praise, I bless, I magnify thy thrice blessed name, that thou didst glorify thy Father upon earth, and finish the work which he gave thee to do. This perfect work

It was

God

of Christ is called God's righteousness, because God devised it. God's own thought. It was his own plan; his own contrivance. No one could ever have had such a thought but God. No one could ever have contrived such a plan but God. It bears the impress of Divinity upon it, and will reflect eternal glory upon God's most holy name for ever. in our nature wrought it. He who wrought out and brought in this righteousness was Immanuel,-God with us. He was God manifest in the flesh. Over all God, and blessed for evermore. As no one but God could devise the plan, so no one but God could execute it. It must be man's work, but it required God's strength; and if Jesus had not been God as well as man, he had never been able to perform it. Man committed the sin, and the God-man atoned for it. Man robbed God of his rights, and the God-man restored that which he took not away. God accepts it. The plan was the offspring of the mighty intellect of the entire Godhead. The Father prepared a body, and gave commandment unto the Son to carry it out. The Son became incarnate, and produced the stupendous work. And now the Father accepts it, and justifies through it all who exercise confidence in it. God imputes it. Yes, God, who imputed righteousness to Abraham when he believed, imputes this glorious work of Jesus to every one who now believes, whether Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, young or old, bond or free, for there is no difference. Glorious truth! The righteousness of Christ is mine. As a believer, all that Jesus did, and all that Jesus suffered, is placed to my account. The righteousness of God is mine. I may claim it, trust in it, plead it before God, expect to be admitted to heaven on the ground of it, and make it my boast and glory for ever.

Observe, then, there was an exchange of persons. The person of Jesus was accepted instead of the persons of his people. He, having taken their nature, was permitted to stand in their place. He was admitted to be their substitute, he was accepted as their surety, and he made an atonement as their sacrifice. There was a transfer of obligation. As Jesus took our place, represented our persons, was accepted as our substitute, he came under our obligations. Our debts became his debts, and he must

pay them. Our delinquencies became his delinquencies, and he must atone for them. And as he undertook to save us, he must do all, and provide all, that was necessary to accomplish so glorious a work. There was the production of righteousness. He finished the transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness. Which righteousness is now to all, and upon all them that believe, without difference. So that Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness unto every one that believeth. He is now of God, made unto us righteousness, so that believers are complete in him, who is the head of all principalities and powers. There was the publication of the good news. And this is the news, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the chief. That he has atoned for sin, provided a righteousness for sinners, and whosoever will may come and receive salvation at his hands, for he will in no wise cast out. Glorious news this! Just suited to the sinner's case; for it is not, do and live, nor come and bring something to Jesus, but believe and live, come and receive all you need from Jesus. He has all you want, and if you are willing to receive it, he has it for you. There was the clearing of God's character in the justifying of the ungodly. That is an extraordinary expression, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Yes, if he believes in Jesus, though he has never done one good work, he is justified; for faith embracing Christ does more by one simple act than ten thousand good works could do. It brings into the possession of the soul a perfect, spotless, changeless, unlosable righteousness, in which the soul will be accepted in God's presence, acquitted at God's bar, and admitted into God's glory for ever.

Reader, believest thou this? Are you justified? Have you come to Jesus as a poor, lost, naked, and wretched sinner? Have you received Christ as your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? Have you been stripped of all your own righteousness? If not, be assured of this, that Christ will never allow his glorious robe to be a covering for thy filthy rags. You must part with all, and as empty, naked, and bare, put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you are justified, and being justified, if you understand the gospel, you will say with Paul, "He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." You are either justified or condemned. You either have the righteousness of God, which will meet all the demands which can be made upon you in time or eternity; or you are trusting to your own poor, polluted, and wretched righteousness, which will afford you little comfort in life, no support in death, nor any title to heaven when you leave this world. See to it, then, see to it, that you have faith in Christ. That you renounce all righteousness, as a ground of justification before God, but the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus. Found in Christ you are safe, and safe for ever; but if death find you out of Christ, the Judge of all will condemn you to eternal flames.

Cheltenham.

WARFARE WORK.
Fight the fight, Christian,
Jesus is o er thee;

Run the race, Christian,

Heaven's before thee.

Thee from the love of Christ,

Nothing can sever;

Mount, when thy work is done,

Praise Him for ever.