from the free grace of God. The term
grace is sometimes used to denote the influence of the Holy Spirit
on the heart, and sometimes to denote the free favor of God, as
opposed to all merit on the part of his creatures. It is to be
understood in the latter sense when this effectual call is said to
be "of God's free and special grace alone, not from anything at all
foreseen in man." Previous to their vocation, men can perform no
work that is spiritually good; and, after their conversion, their
best works are imperfect, and cannot entitle them to any reward. God
is not, therefore, influenced to call them on account of any good
works which they have already done, nor from the foresight of
anything to be afterwards done by them.—2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5. To
manifest that this call is entirely owing to the free grace of God,
and to display the exceeding riches of his grace, God is sometimes
pleased to call the very chief of sinners.

7. That in this calling the sinner is altogether passive, until he
is quickened and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Here it is proper to
distinguish between regeneration and conversion; in the former the
sinner is passive—in the latter he is active, or co-operates with
the grace of God. In regeneration a principle of grave is implanted
in the soul, and previous to this the sinner is incapable of moral
activity; for, in the language of inspiration, he is "dead in
trespasses and sins." In conversion the soul turns to God, which
imports activity; but still the sinner only acts as he is acted upon
by God, who "works in him both to will and to do."

SECTION 3. Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated and
saved by Christ through the Spirit, who works when, and where, and
how he pleases. So also are all other elect persons, who are
incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.

Exposition of 10.3

The Holy Spit usually works by means; and the Word, read or
preached, is the ordinary means which he renders effectual to the
salvation of sinners. But he has immediate access to the hearts of
men, and can produce a saving change in them without the use of
ordinary means. "As infants are not fit subjects of instruction,
their regeneration must be effected without means, by the immediate
agency of the Holy Spirit on their souls. There are adult persons,
too, to whom the use of reason has been denied. It would be harsh
and unwarrantable to suppose that they are, on this account,
excluded from salvation; and to such of them as God has chosen, it
may be applied in the same man her as to infants."

SECTION 4. Others not elected, although they may be called by the
ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the
Spirit, yet they never truly come unto Christ, and therefore cannot
be saved: much less can men not professing the Christian religion be
saved in any other way whatever, be they ever so diligent to frame
their lives according to the light of nature and the law of that
religion they do profess; and to assert and maintain that they may,
is very pernicious, and to be detested.

Exposition of 10.4

The doctrines stated in this section are the following—

1. That though those who are not elected have the external call of
the gospel addressed to them, in common with those who are elected,
yet "they never truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be
saved."

2. That there are "common operations of the Spirit," which produce
convictions of sin, by means of the law in the conscience; and
joyous emotions, by means of the gospel, in the affections of men in
their natural state; which do not issue in conversion.

3. That those cannot be saved who are totally destitute of
revelation. "Though the invitation which nature gives to seek God be
sufficient to render them without excuse who do not comply with it
(Romans 1:20), yet it is not sufficient, even objectively, for
salvation; for it does not afford that lively hope which makes not
ashamed, for this is only revealed by the gospel; whence the
Gentiles are said to have been without hope in the world.—Ephesians
2:12. It does not show the true way to the enjoyment of God, which
is no other than faith in Christ. It does not sufficiently instruct
us about the manner in which we ought to worship and please God, and
do what is acceptable to him. In short, this call by nature never
did, nor is it even possible that it ever can, bring any to the
saving knowledge of God; the gospel alone is the 'power of God unto
salvation, to every one that believeth.'—Romans 1:16. We are
persuaded there is no salvation without Christ (Acts 4:12); no
communion of adult persons with Christ, but by faith in him
(Ephesians 3:17); no faith in Christ without the knowledge of him
(John 17:3); no knowledge but by the preaching of the gospel (Romans
10:14); no preaching of the gospel in the works of nature; for it is
that mystery which was kept secret since the world began." Romans
16:25.

Let us be thankful that we are favored with the revelation and free
offer of Christ in the gospel. Let us give all diligence to make
sure our election, by making sure our calling; and if we have,
indeed, been made "partakers of the heavenly calling," let us "walk
worthy of the vocation with which we are called," and "worthy of
God, who has called us unto his kingdom and glory."



11. Of Justification

SECTION 1. Those whom God effectually calls he also freely
justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning
their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as
righteous: not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but
for Christ's sake alone: nor by imputing faith itself, the act of
believing, or any other evangelical obedience, to them as their
righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of
Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his
righteousness by faith: which faith they have not of themselves; it
is the gift of God.

SECTION 2. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his
righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it
not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all
other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love.

Exposition of 11.1–11.2

The doctrine of justification by faith holds a most important place
in the Christian system. It was justly termed by Luther—the test of
a standing or of a falling Church. In the Church of Rome this
doctrine was most grossly corrupted; and it was eminently through
the preaching of the scriptural doctrine of justification that the
reformation from Popery was effected. Even in the Protestant
Churches, however, pernicious errors in regard to this subject have
been widely disseminated, and at different periods have produced
much acrimonious controversy. In our Confession, the scriptural
doctrine of justification is accurately discriminated from the
various forms of error; and, in the progress of our exposition, we
shall point out the errors to which the statements of the Confession
are opposed.

I. Justification is a judicial act of God, and is not a change of
nature, but a change of the sinner's state in relation to the law.
The Church of Rome confounds justification with sanctification, and
represents justification as a physical act, consisting in the
infusion of righteousness into the souls of men, making them
internally and personally just. But though justification and
sanctification be inseparably connected, yet they are totally
distinct, and the blending of them together perverts both the law
and the gospel. Justification, according to the use of the word in
Scripture, must be understood forensically; it is a law term,
derived from human courts of judicature, and signifies, not the
making of a person righteous, but the holding and declaring him to
be righteous in law. The forensic sense of the word is manifest from
its being frequently opposed to condemnation.—Deuteronomy 25:1;
Proverbs 17:15; Romans 5:16; 8:33, 34. Condemnation lies not
infusing wickedness into a criminal, or in making him guilty, but in
judicially pronouncing sentence upon him according to his
transgression of the law; so justification does not lie in infusing
righteousness into a person, but in declaring him to be righteous on
legal grounds; and, like the sentence of a judge, it is completed at
once.

Socinians, and some others, represent justification as consisting
only in the pardon of sin. In opposition to this, our Confession
declares that God justifies those whom he effectually calls, not
only "by pardoning their sins," but also "by accounting and
accepting their persons as righteous." The pardon of sin is
unquestionably one important part of justification. It consists in
the removal of guilt, or the absolution of the sinner from the
obligation to punishment which he lay under by virtue of the
sentence of the violated law. The pardon which God bestows is full
and complete. It includes all sins, be they ever so numerous, and
extends to all their aggravations, be they ever so enormous. Thus
says the Lord, "I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have
sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me." Jeremiah
33:8. All the sins of the believer are at once pardoned in his
justification; his past sins are formally forgiven, and his future
sins will not be imputed, so that he cannot come into
condemnation.—Psalm 32:1, 2; John 5:24. But the pardon of sin alone
would only restore the believer to such a state of probation as that
from which Adam fell; he would be under no legal charge of guilt,
but still he would have no legal title to eternal life. But when God
justifies a sinner, he does not merely absolve him from guilt, or
from a liableness to eternal death; he also pronounces him
righteous, and, as such, entitled to eternal life. Hence, it is
called "the justification of life;" and they who "receive the gift
of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Romans
5:17, 18.

II. No man can be justified before God, in whole or in part, on the
ground of a personal righteousness of any kind. Romanists,
Socinians, and Pelagians, maintain that we are justified either by a
personal inherent righteousness, or by our own works. In opposition
to this, our Confession teaches that persons are not justified "for
anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake
alone." That we cannot be justified by an inherent righteousness, is
manifest,—1. Because we can only be justified on the ground of a
perfect righteousness, and our inherent righteousness is imperfect;
for the Scripture says, "There is no man that sins not." 1 Kings
8:46. 2. Because the righteousness by which we are justified is not
our own.—Philippians 3:9. 3. Because the sentence of justification
must, in the order of nature, though not of time, precede the
implantation of inherent holiness. 4. Because, if we were justified
by an inherent righteousness, it could not be said that God
"justifies the ungodly." Romans 4:5.

That we cannot be justified by our own works is no less manifest,—1.
Because our personal obedience falls far short of the requirements
of the law. The law demands obedience in all respects perfect; but
"in many things we offend all." James 3:2. 2. Because our obedience,
though it were commensurate to the high demands of the law, could
not satisfy for our past transgressions. The law requires not only
the fulfillment of its precept, but also the endurance of its
penalty: "Without shedding of blood there is no remission." Hebrews
9:22. 3. Because we are justified freely by grace, and grace and
works are diametrically opposed.—Romans 3:24; 11:6. 4. Because
justification by works not only makes void the grace of God, but
also renders the death of Christ useless, and of no
effect.—Galatians 2:21. 5. Because we are justified in such a way as
excludes all boasting.—Romans 3:27. 6. Because justification by
works is in direct contradiction to the uniform testimony of
Scripture. The Apostle Paul fully discusses the subject of
justification in his Epistles to the Romans and to the Galatians;
and in both of these Epistles he explicitly declares, that "by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of
God." Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16. In answer to this argument, it
has been often urged, that the works which the apostle excludes from
the ground of the sinner's justification before God, are only works
of the ceremonial, not of the moral, law. This "witty shift," Calvin
says, the "wrangling disputants" of his time borrowed from Origen
and some of the old writers; and he declares it is "very foolish and
absurd," and calls upon his readers to "maintain this for a certain
truth, that the whole law is spoken of, when the power of justifying
is taken away from the law." "The reference," says Mr Haldane, "is
to every law that God has given to man, whether expressed in words
or imprinted in the heart. It is that law which the Gentiles have
transgressed, which they have naturally inscribed in their hearts.
It is that law which the Jews have violated, when they committed
theft, adulteries, and sacrileges, which convicted them of impiety,
of evil speaking, of calumny, of murder, of injustice. In one word,
it is that law which shuts the mouth of the whole world, as had been
said in the preceding verse, and brings in all men guilty before
God."

Others have contended that the works which the apostle excludes from
any share in our justification are merely works not performed in
faith. This allegation is equally groundless; for the apostle
excludes works in general—works of every sort, without distinction
or exception (Ephesians 2:9, 10); and the most eminent saints
disclaim all dependence upon their own works, and deprecate being
dealt with according to their best performances.—Psalm 143:2;
Philippians 3:8, 9.

Arminians maintain that faith itself, or the act of believing, is
accepted as our justifying righteousness. In opposition to this our
Confession teaches, that God does not justify us "by imputing faith
itself, the act of believing, as our righteousness." And in
confirmation of this, we observe, that faith, as an act performed by
us, is as much a work of obedience to the law as any other; and,
therefore, to be justified by the act of faith, would be to be
justified by a work. But this is contrary to the express
declarations of Scripture, which exclude all sorts of works from the
affair of justification.—Galatians 2:16. Besides, faith is plainly
distinguished from that righteousness by which we are justified. We
read of "the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ;" and of "the righteousness which is of God by faith." Romans
3:22; Philippians 3:9. No language could more clearly show that
righteousness and faith are two different things. "Nothing," says Mr
Haldane, "can be a greater corruption of the truth than to represent
faith itself as accepted instead of righteousness, or to be the
righteousness that saves the sinner. Faith is not righteousness.
Righteousness is the fulfilling of the law."

Neonomians allege, that though we cannot fulfill that p