was not able to effect, Christ’s justice hath performed. And thus the justice and mercy of God do embrace each other: the grace of God not shutting out the justice of God in the matter of our justification, but only shutting out the justice of man (that is to say, the justice of our own works) from being any cause of deserving our justification.
36. [1]When we say that we are justified by faith only, we do not mean that the said justifying faith is alone in man without true repentance, hope, charity, and the fear of God (for such a faith is dead, and can not justify); neither do we mean that this, our act, to believe in Christ, or this, our faith in Christ, which is within us, doth of itself justify us or deserve our justification unto us (for that were to account ourselves to be justified by the virtue of dignity of something that is within ourselves); but the true understanding and meaning thereof is, that although we hear God’s Word, and believe it—although we have faith, hope, charity, repentance, and the fear of God within us, and add never so many good works thereunto—yet we must renounce the merit of all our said virtues, of faith, hope, charity, and all our other virtues and good deeds which we either have done, shall do, or can do, as things that be far too weak and imperfect and insufficient to deserve the remission of our sins and our justification, and therefore we must trust only in God’s mercy and the merits of his most dearly beloved Son, our only Redeemer, Saviour, and Justifier, Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, because faith doth directly send us to Christ for our justification, and that by faith given us of God we embrace the promise of God’s mercy and the remission of our sins (which thing none other of our virtues or works properly doth), therefore the Scripture useth to say that faith without works—and the ancient fathers of the Church to the same purpose—that only faith doth justify us.
37. By justifying faith we understand not only the common belief of the articles of Christian religion, and the persuasion of the truth of God’s Word in general, but also a particular application of the gracious promises of the gospel to the comfort of our own souls, whereby we lay hold on Christ, with all his benefits; having an earnest trust and confidence in God, that he will be merciful unto us for his only Son’s
- ↑ Comp. Homily Of Salvation, Part. II. p. 24, ed. Camb.
