The true doctrine of justification asserted and vindicated, from the errors of Papists, Arminians,…The true doctrine of justification asserted and vindicated, from the errours of Papists, Arminians,…

when Bellarmine arguing against the holiness of the Protestants Doctrine, and bringing this for a paradox above all paradoxes, That I must be justified by faith, and yet justifying faith be a believing that I am just and righteous; which is (saith Bellarmine) besides and against all reason; He answereth among other things, That Christ and the elect are as one person, and therefore an elect man is justified before faith in Christ, as the principle of righteousness before God; and then he is justified by faith as an instrument, perceiving his justification in that righteousness of Christ. So that faith as it goeth to the act of justification, is considered in respect of that passive application, whereby a man applieth the righteousness of Christ to himself, not of that active application whereby God applieth to man the righteousness of Christ: For this application is only in the mind of God.

when Bellarmine arguing against the holiness of the Protestants Doctrine, and bringing this for a paradox above all paradoxes, That I must be justified by faith, and yet justifying faith be a believing that I am just and righteous; which is (saith Bellarmine) besides and against all reason; He answereth among other things, That Christ and the elect are as one person, and therefore an elect man is justified before faith in Christ, as the principle of righteousnesse before God; and then he is justified by faith as an instrument, perceiving his justification in that righteousnesse of Christ. So that faith as it goeth to the act of justification, is considered in respect of that passive application, whereby a man applieth the righteousnesse of Christ to himself, not of that active application whereby God applieth to man the righteousnesse of Christ: For this application is only in the minde of God.

To this purpose the learned Zanchy in his Explication of the ⟨p. 176⟩second Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, upon those words, vers. 5. [And you being dead in sin, he hath quickened together with Christ] doth in the first place distinguish of a two-fold quickening, One whereby we are freed from the guilt of sin, and invested with a title or right to eternal life; The other from the power of sin, whereby we are made spiritually alive to God. The former is Justification, the later Sanctification. Now (saith he) this two-fold blessing is to be considered in Christ, and in our own persons. In the first respect, God did quicken us in Christ, when by his death (sin being expiated) he freed from guilt all the elect that have been and shall be, considering them as members in Christ their head. In the later respect, God doth it, when having given us faith, he gives us also remission of sins, and imputeth Christs righteousness to us. And afterwards the fore-quoted Author, making this Objection to himself, How Christ could be said to be freed from the guilt of sin, who had no sin? He answereth, The person of Christ is considered two ways; First, in it self, as God-man, and so Christ was not bound by any guilt. Secondly, as appointed head, and so representing our persons. In this respect, as God laid our iniquities upon him,