in our room and ⟨stead, fulfilled the whole⟩ terms of the covenant of works: that is, in a word, he obeyed all the commands of the law, and endures the curſe of it, and thereby brings in a complete law-righteouſneſs; whereby guilty ſinners are juſtified before God: And this is the righteouſneſs by which we are exalted, by his alive and paſſive obedience he magnifies the law and makes it honourable, and the Lord declares himſelf to be well pleaſed for his righteouſneſs ſake.
5thly, Although Chriſt obeyed the law, and ſatisfied juſtice, and thereby brought in an everlaſting law righteouſneſs for a whole elect world; yet the elect of God are never exalted by virtue of this righteouſneſs till in a day of power they be brought to receive it by faith and ſubmit to it for juſtification before God. We diſclaim that Antinomian error of an actual juſtification, from eternity, or yet of a formal juſtification, bearing date from the death of Chriſt. We own indeed, with all protestant ſound diivnes, that it was the purpoſe of God to juſtify his elect from eternity, and that all the elect were repreſented by Christ in his obedience unto death: But that they are actually juſtified before converſion, or before their application by faith unto the blood of Jesus, is impoſsible; becauſe the ſentence of the broken law ſtands always in force againſt them, till they actually believe in the Son of God; for he that believes not, is condemned already. And how can they be both juſtified and condemned at the ſame time? Till then, they are children of wrath, even us others.
