Wesley Corpus

It is utterly excluded; seeing whatever is previous to justification is not good or holy, but evil and sinful. Although, therefore, our Church does frequently assert that we ought to repent, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance, if ever we would attain to that faith whereby alone we are justified; yet she never asserts (and here the hinge of the question turns) that these are good works, so long as they are previous to justi fication. Nay, she expressly asserts the direct contrary, viz., that they have all the nature of sin. So that this “horrid, scandalous, wicked, abominable, venomous, blasphemous doc trine,” is nevertheless the doctrine of the Church of England. 6. It remains to consider what occurs in the Homilies, first with regard to the meritorious cause of our justification, agree able to the eleventh; and then with regard to the condition of it, agreeable to the twelfth and thirteenth Articles:-- “These things must go together in our justification;--upon God’s part, his great mercy and grace; upon Christ's part, the satisfaction of God’s justice; and upon our part, true and lively faith in the merits of Jesus Christ.” (Homily on Salva tion. Part I.) “So that the grace of God doth not shut out the justice (or righteousness) of God in our justification; but only shutteth out the righteousness of man,--as to deserving our justification. “And therefore St. Paul declareth nothing on the behalf of man, concerning his justification, but only a true faith. “And yet that faith doth not shut out repentance, hope, love, to be joined with faith (that is, afterwards; see below) in every man that is justified: Neither doth faith shut out the righteousness of our good works, necessarily to be done after wards. But it excludeth them so that we may not do them to this intent,--to be made just (or, to be justified) by doing them. “That we are justified by faith alone, is spoken to take away clearly all merit of our works, and wholly to ascribe the merit and deserving of our justification unto Christ only.” (Ibid. Part II.) “The true meaning of this saying, ‘We be justified by faith only, is this, “We be justified by the merits of Christ only, and not of our own works.’” (Ibid. Part III.) 7. Thus far touching the meritorious cause of our justifica tion; referred to in the Eleventh Article.