Richard Baxter's Catholic theology plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriors who,…Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who,…

P. We are not contending for its preeminence, but its truth and necessity in a subordinate place. Indeed we have one Justification by our Judges sentence, which hath many parts and causes: God as Donor is one cause, and God as Judge another; And Christ as meriting is the only meritorious cause of the Justifying Gift and Covenant, and Christ as Intercessor another cause, and Christ as Judge another; And our Righteousness as it is our Right to Impunity and life another, and our faith and Repentance are conditions: All this is sure.

P. We are not contending for its preheminence, but its truth and necessity in a subordinate place. Indeed we have one Justification by our Judges sentence, which hath many parts and causes: God as Donor is one cause, and God as Judge another; And Christ as meriting is the only meritorious cause of the Justifying Gift and Covenant, and Christ as Intercessor another cause, and Christ as Judge another; And our Righteousness as it is our Right to Impunity and life another, and our faith and Repentance are conditions: All this is sure.

Lib. But the Justification by faith is our Universal Justification; and that can be only by Christs Righteousness: And we are not to trust to a Righteousness mixed of Christs and ours; nor doth Christs Righteousness need to be patched up with our menstruous rags.

Lib. But the Justification by faith is our Universal Justification; and that can be only by Christs Righteousness: And we are not to trust to a Righteousness mixt of Christs and ours; nor doth Christs Righteousness need to be patcht up with our menstruous rags.

P. 1. No question but Christs Righteousness is perfect, and ours imperfect, and ours is no patch or supplement to Christs: He is not made righteous by our righteousness, but we by his. 2. But that which is perfect in him, is not made perfectly ours; nor formally ours in it self, as distinct from its merited effects. It is not ours as it is Christs. Christ that is our Righteousness, is also made of God to us wisdom and sanctification: And will you say therefore, that we are not to be Wise or Holy, by any Wisdom or Holiness of our own, for fear of adding our patch to Christs? 3. You use to say that Christs Righteousness is ours as Adams sin is ours; and say some, as Adams Righteousness would have been, had he persevered. But 1. Adams Righteousness would have indeed made an Infant initially just by propagation, that is, the innocent Child of an innocent Parent: But as soon as that Infant had the use of Reason and Choice, he must also have a Righteousness of his own, or perish: And this is no patch to Adams righteousness. And indeed in his Infancy he must have a seminal Holiness of his own to justify him, as well as the relation of a Son of Adam. 2. So also, though we are guilty of Adams sin by propagation, yet we have with that guilt, 1. An inherent pravity of our own, 2. And at age our actual sin: And both these are our unrighteousness, as well as Adams sin imputed to us. Even so Christ the second Adam is a Root of a righteous seed: Our Contract by faith is as to him, what our Natural propagation is as to Adam; that is, the Condition of our Interest in his merits: We have as believers an initial righteousness in our relation to Christ; But we have