3. The Justice of God; by virtue whereof he neither can nor will condemn the Righteous, or acquit the guilty: he declares that man, that earthly Judge, that doth so, to be an abomination in his sight, Prov. 17.15. and denounceth a Curse against any such one Isai. 5.23. which justify the wicked for a reward, &c. he must and he will do that which is right. If he justifieth any person, the Law shall justify him; he will not pervert the Law nor wrest Judgment; and if the Law justifieth it shall find the person perfect, free from any guilt, perfectly righteous, fully conformable to it in all things. But when God comes to judge men, he finds none of this perfection in their righteousness, but manifold defects, and therefore, for, or upon the account of these he cannot justify them, he cannot in truth declare that he hath found the man righteous, that he hath seen no iniquity in him, that all his works are right before God; hence therefore, we shall find the Psalmist deprecating this kind of Judgment ⟨p. 25⟩or manner of proceeding, Psal. 143.2. Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh be justified: he knew that upon a strict Law Trial, the case must needs go against him. God is a God of Truth, and therefore as he weighs all the actions of the children of men, so he will declare concerning them, according as he finds them, and no otherwise: and upon this account we shall find Pauls conclusion to be full and positive, and universal, against all hopes of ever obtaining our Justification in such a way as this is, Rom. 3. 12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no not one: So that the conclusion stands, that our works cannot be the matter or meriting cause of our Justification; they must altogether lye by, and either we must find it somewhere else, or otherwise we must for ever despair of obtaining so precious a privilege as this of Justification is: but such is the wonderful kindness of God to the children of men, that though they can find none at home yet it is to be had from abroad; and therefore,
3. The Justice of God; by vertue whereof he neither can nor will condemn the Righteous, or acquit the guilty: he declares that man, that earthly Judge, that doth so, to be an abomination in his sight, Prov. 17.15. and denounceth a Curse against any such one Isai. 5.23. which justifie the wicked for a reward, &c. he must and he will do that which is right. If he justifieth any person, the Law shall justifie him; he will not pervert the Law nor wrest Judgment; and if the Law justifieth it shall find the person perfect, free from any guilt, perfectly righteous, fully conformable to it in all things. But when God comes to judge men, he finds none of this perfection in their righteousness, but manifold defects, and therefore, for, or upon the account of these he cannot justifie them, he cannot in truth declare that he hath found the man righteous, that he hath seen no iniquity in him, that all his works are right before God; hence therefore, we shall find the Psalmist deprecating this kind of Judgment ⟨p. 25⟩or manner of proceeding, Psal. 143.2. Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant, for in thy sight shall no flesh be justified: he knew that upon a strict Law Tryal, the case must needs go against him. God is a God of Truth, and therefore as he weighs all the actions of the children of men, so he will declare concerning them, according as he finds them, and no otherwise: and upon this account we shall find Pauls conclusion to be full and positive, and universal, against all hopes of ever obtaining our Justification in such a way as this is, Rom. 3. 12. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doth good, no not one: So that the conclusion stands, that our works cannot be the matter or meriting cause of our Justification; they must altogether lye by, and either we must find it somewhere else, or otherwise we must for ever despair of obtaining so precious a priviledge as this of Justification is: but such is the wonderful kindness of God to the children of men, that though they can find none at home yet it is to be had from abroad; and therefore,
