188. Thus also such men, teach that Christ strippeth a Christian of two things, His Sins, and his Righteousness: Or that Two things must be 1cast away, for Christ; Sins and Righteousness: But they should speak better, if they would not deceive; nothing is to be cast away as evil but Sin. Righteousness, truly such, is Good, and never to be cast away. If it be no Righteousness, why do they falsely say that we must cast away our Righteousness. To cast away a false conceit of Righteousness, is not to cast away Righteousness, but Sin only. Indeed besides Sin, we are said justly to cast away that which would be the Object and Matter of Sin: And the phrase is fitlyer applied to a thing Indifferent, than to a thing necessary, least it seduce. There is nothing so Good, which may not be made the object of Sin, not Christ or his Righteousness, or God himself excepted; But we must not therefore say that we must cast away God or Christ, because we must not thus objectively abuse them: So Holiness and true Righteousness (Inherent or imputed) may be objects of sinful pride and boasting; But it is not edifying Doctrine therefore to say that we must cast away Inherent and Imputed Righteousness: But yet true self-denial requireth that we deny our Righteousness (Inherent or Imputed) to be that which indeed it is not. And so when men accounted the Jewish observations to be a Justifying Righteousness in competition with, and in opposition to Christ, Paul counteth it as loss, and dung, and nothing in that respect: when yet elsewhere he saith, I have lived in all good Conscience to this day. And Christ himself fulfilled that Law and Righteousness. So if a man will conceit, that his common Grace will justify him without Holiness, or his Holiness, without Pardon and the Righteousness of Christ, he must deny this Righteousness; that is, he must deny it to be what it is not, and must cast away (not it, but) the false conceits of it: And so if any Libertine will say that Christs Righteousness imputed to him, will justify him, without faith, or be instead of Holiness to him, he must deny Imputed Righteousness thus, to be what indeed it is not.
188. Thus also such men, teach that Christ strippeth a Christian of two things, His Sins, and his Righteousness: Or that Two things must be 1cast away, for Christ; Sins and Righteousness: But they should speak better, if they would not deceive; nothing is to be cast away as evil but Sin. Righteousness, truly such, is Good, and never to be cast away. If it be no Righteousness, why do they falsly say that we must cast away our Righteousness. To cast away a false conceit of Righteousness, is not to cast away Righteousness, but Sin only. Indeed besides Sin, we are said justly to cast away that which would be the Object and Matter of Sin: And the phrase is fitlyer applyed to a thing Indifferent, than to a thing necessary, least it seduce. There is nothing so Good, which may not be made the object of Sin, not Christ or his Righteousness, or God himself excepted; But we must not therefore say that we must cast away God or Christ, because we must not thus objectively abuse them: So Holiness and true Righteousness (Inherent or imputed) may be objects of sinful pride and boasting; But it is not edifying Doctrine therefore to say that we must cast away Inherent and Imputed Righteousness: But yet true self-denyal requireth that we deny our Righteousness (Inherent or Imputed) to be that which indeed it is not. And so when men accounted the Jewish observations to be a Justifying Righteousness in competition with, and in opposition to Christ, Paul counteth it as loss, and dung, and nothing in that respect: when yet elsewhere he saith, I have lived in all good Conscience to this day. And Christ himself fulfilled that Law and Righteousness. So if a man will conceit, that his common Grace will justifie him without Holiness, or his Holiness, without Pardon and the Righteousness of Christ, he must deny this Righteousness; that is, he must deny it to be what it is not, and must cast away (not it, but) the false conceits of it: And so if any Libertine will say that Christs Righteousness imputed to him, will justifie him, without faith, or be instead of Holiness to him, he must deny Imputed Righteousness thus, to be what indeed it is not.
- 1That all that are saved have inherent Righteousness or Holiness, none of us all deny: nor yet that in tantum we are Righteous by it: Nor that a man accused as being an Infidel, Atheist, Impenitent, ungodly, an Hypocrite, &c. must be justified by pleading all the contraries in himself, or else perish: And all agree that this inherent Righteousness is imperfect, and in us found with sin: and therefore that no man can be justified by it without pardon of sin; nor at all against the charge of being a sinner, and condemnable by the Law of Innocency. And what remaineth then, but to trouble the world with contending de nomine, whether this imperfect Righteousness shall be called Righteousness: and the giving of it called Justifying or making us righteous so far?
