An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of…

As if he had said; There is no reason (O Job) that thou shouldest at any time (as thou oftentimes hast) proclaim thy own righteousness, as if that added any thing to God. Job was not ignorant of that; But the speech of Elihu had this scope in it, to reprove him for complaining that his goodness profited himself nothing, because though he was far from wickedness, yet he was afflicted, whereas many wicked men prospered and lived in full content; to which point his other friends had not answered. And further, Elihu urgeth Job with this, because he had so industriously defended his own righteousness, as if he would intimate that God was a gainer by it; whereas if God at any time rewardeth our good deeds, that proceedeth from his own goodness and Free Grace, not from any obligation which we have put upon him, by what we have done, how well soever we have done it. If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? This supposition, if thou be righteous, hath in it ⟨p. 39⟩a grant, if not an affirmation, that a man may be righteous; For though all men naturally, or in nature, are unrighteous, yet thorough grace all men, that is, all men who receive grace are righteous: And they who receive grace are righteous under a three-fold notion. First, they are righteous by an imputed righteousness, or by the righteousness of another accounted to them; and thus every godly man is righteous, because freely justified. Secondly, they that have grace are righteous by an Inherent Righteousness, by a stock or a principle of Righteousness planted in them at their Conversion. In conversion, not only the acts, but the state and nature of a man is changed. He who before was nothing but a bundle of unrighteousness, becomes a righteous man; that is, he hath a righteous principle planted in him and abiding with him. Thus a godly man is righteous, because he is sanctified. Thirdly, every man that hath grace, is a Righteous man by a righteousness flowing out from him, or by a practical righteousness; he is righteous by the doing of Righteousness; The former is Righteousness by Conversion, this is Righteousness by Conversation; and this slows from the former, as the Apostle John speaks in his first Epistle (Chap. 3.5.) He that doth righteousness, is righteous; that is, he is in a righteous state through Justification, and hath righteousness planted in him through Sanctification;

As if he had said; There is no reason (O Job) that thou shouldest at any time (as thou oftentimes hast) proclaim thy own righteousness, as if that added any thing to God. Job was not ignorant of that; But the speech of Elihu had this scope in it, to reprove him for complaining that his goodness profited himself nothing, because though he was far from wickedness, yet he was afflicted, whereas many wicked men prospered and lived in full content; to which poynt his other friends had not answered. And further, Elihu urgeth Job with this, because he had so industriously defended his own righteousness, as if he would intimate that God was a gainer by it; whereas if God at any time rewardeth our good deeds, that proceedeth from his own goodness and Free Grace, not from any obligation which we have put upon him, by what we have done, how well soever we have done it. If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? This supposition, if thou be righteous, hath in it