Wesley Corpus

‘St. Paul often mentions a righteousness imputed.’ Not a righteousness, never once; but simply, righteousness. ‘What can this be but the righteousness of Christ’ (Page 190.) He tells you himself - ‘To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, faith is imputed for righteousness’ (Rom iv. 5). ‘Why is Christ styled Jehovah our Righteousness’ Because we are both justified and sanctified through Him. ‘My death, the cause of their forgiveness; My righteousness, the ground of their acceptance’ (page 190). How does this agree with page 45 - ‘To ascribe pardon to Christ's passive, eternal life to His active, righteousness, is fanciful rather than judicious.’ ‘He commends such kinds of beneficence only as were exercised to a disciple as such’ (page 195). Is not this a slip of the pen Will not our Lord then commend, and reward eternally, all kinds of beneficence, provided they flowed from a principle of loving faith -- yea, that which was exercised to a Samaritan, a Jew, a Turk, or an heathen Even these I would not term ‘transient bubbles,’ though they do not procure our justification. ‘How must our righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees Not only in being sincere, but in possessing a complete righteousness, even that of Christ.’ (Page 197.) Did our Lord mean this Nothing less. He specifies in the following parts of His sermon the very instances wherein the righteousness of a Christian exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees. ‘He brings this specious hypocrite to the test’ (page 198). How does it appear that he was an hypocrite Our Lord gives not the least intimation of it. Surely He ' loved him,' not for his hypocrisy, but his sincerity! Yet he loved the world, and therefore could not keep any of the commandments in their spiritual meaning. And the keeping of these is undoubtedly the way to, though not the cause of, eternal life. ‘“By works his faith was made perfect”; appeared to be true’ (page 200). No; the natural sense of the words is, ‘By’ the grace superadded while he wrought those ‘works his faith was’ literally ‘made perfect.’ ‘“He that doeth righteousness is righteous”; manifests the truth of his conversion’ (ibid.). Nay; the plain meaning is, He alone is truly righteous whose faith worketh by love.