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,…

First, If there were such a formal Justification, then all the elect were made blessed and happy, their sins were not imputed to them: for so in Adam when accounted sinners, they are wretched and miserable, because sin is laid to their charge.¹ And if the elect before they believe or repent were thus happy, how then at the same time could they be children of wrath? and so God imputing their sins to them, Can God impute their sins to them, and not impute them to them at the same time? It is true, if we say, That Christ by his sufferings obtained at Gods hand, that in time the elect should believe and be justified, this is easily to be conceived; but it is very difficult to understand, how that all our sins should be at the same time done away in Christ (who is considered as one person with us) and yet imputed to us.

First, If there were such a formal Justification, then all the elect were made blessed and happy, their sins were not imputed to them: for so in Adam when accounted sinners, they are wretched and miserable, because sin is laid to their charge.¹ And if the elect before they believe or repent were thus happy, how then at the same time could they be children of wrath? and so God imputing their sins to them, Can God impute their sins to them, and not impute them to them at the same time? It is true, if we say, That Christ by his sufferings obtained at Gods hand, that in time the elect should beleeve and be justified, this is easily to be conceived; but it is very difficult to understand, how that all our sins should be at the same time done away in Christ (who is considered as one person with us) and yet imputed to us.

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Secondly,¹ I do not see how this Doctrine doth make our justification by faith to be any more then declarative, or a justification in our conscience only, and not before God, and so by believing our sins should be blotted out in our sense only, when they were blotted out before God by Christs death already. And so our Justification by faith, shall be but a copy fetched out of the Court roll, where the sentence of Justification was passed already, whereas the Scripture speaks to this purpose, That even before God, and in his account, till we do believe and repent, our sins are charged upon us, and they are not cancelled or blotted out, till God work those graces in us. Therefore this opinion may symbolize too much with the Adversary; and indeed none of the meanest Antinomians