Richard Baxter's Catholick theologie plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the dogmatical word-warriours who, 1. by contending about things unrevealed or not understood, 2. and by taking verbal differences for real,

SECT. XI. How faith Justifieth. (Book 11)

198. The common saying that faith justifieth as an Instrument might pass as tolerable, if too many did not strain it to a wrong sence, and raise * 1.1 unwarrantable Doctrines from it, and harden the Papists by unwaran∣table Answers. A Justifying Instrument properly is an efficient Instr••∣mental cause of Justification, which I have elsewhere too largely proved that faith is not, either Gods Instrument or ours, Physical or Moral, no•• any way efficiently justifieth us. But justifying, is one thing; to Receive justification is another thing, and to be justified is a third. Faith i•• no justifying act: But faith is in its Essence the Acceptance of an offered God, Christ, Spirit, for Life: This Acceptance is by the Covenant made the condition of our passive true Reception and Possession of Right (before opened): To be such a Condition performed, is to be a removens prohibe••s of the said Reception: which is strictly to be Dispositio materiae recipienti••▪ And so it may be called, 1. A Receiving Cause. 2. And a medi•••• or dispositive Cause of the effect, Justification as Received, but not as Given: (As I said Dr. Twisse chooseth to call it) But this causa Dispositiva is p•••• of the causa Materialis, viz. Qua disposita: A cause, or more properly a condition why I receive Justification, and by receiving it am Justified; which is their meaning who call it A Passive Instrument, that is, A ••••∣ceiving Instrument.

199. The plain easie truth is, that Faiths Nature which is to be [••••∣lieving Acceptance of Christ, and Life offered on that Condition] being •••• very essence is but its Aptitude to the office it hath to our Justification▪ by which the Question is answered, why did God promise us Christ and Life •••• the Condition of faith rather than another? Because of the congruity of its Nature to that office. But the formal Reason of its office as to our Justi∣fication is Its Being the performed Condition of the Covenant. And if God had chosen another condition, a condition it would have been. Now the true notion in Law being a Condition, Logicians would call this impro∣perly a Receiving cause, and more properly A Receptive Disposition of the matter, reducing it to Physical notions. But the most proper term is the plainest, [We are justified by that faith, which is the Believing Practical Ac∣ceptance of God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, as Given us on that con∣dition in the Baptismal Covenant, because (or as) it is made by God the con∣dition of his Gift thereby]. Understand this plain doctrine, and you have the plain truth.

200. They that say contrarily that Faith justifieth proximately as it is an Instrument, or a Receiving Accepting act, and not as a Condition of the Covenant, do evidently choose that which they vehemently oppose▪ viz. that the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 credere justifieth: For the very 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 credere or the •••••••• of Faith, is to be an Acceptance of Christ given. But if they will to avoid this, say that By Faith they mean [Christ believed in,] then they say that by Receiving Christ they mean not the receiving of him, but Christ him∣self: And why then do they not say so, but trouble the world with such unintelligible phrases: But to open the senselessness and co••se∣quents of that Doctrine would but offend. All know that Chri•••• •••• the object is connoted as essential to the act of Faith.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Note, that when we call faith an Accep∣ting it relateth to the Donation of the Co∣venant and the Donatum, which is a Jus ad benefi∣cia: Renovation is effe∣cted by faith as a second cause, but Pardon is Ac∣cepted by it: And we fully grant the Papists that Renovation and par∣don go together, what∣ever they call them. And some of themselves do speak just as we de Remis∣sione & Macula, which others are confounded about. Vid. Wotton's cita∣tions out of the School∣men de Macula: de Re∣concil. pec. And Brianson saith (in 4. q. 8. fol. 116. that sin as ••emitted or guilt, is [Tantum quaedam Relatio rationis, in quan∣tum est objectum intellectus & Voluntatis divinae: Quia postquam commissit peccatum Dei voluntas or∣dinat ipsum ad poenum cor∣respondentem peccato, & Intellectus praevidet pro om∣ni tempore donec poena de∣bita sit soluta. Videre peceata Dei, est ad ••oenam imput••re: Avertere faciem est, ad poenam non reser∣vare: August.—Ergo ni•• aliud est post actum c••ssan∣tem p••••catis off••nsa, Ma∣cula, reatus, nisi ista re∣latio rationis: S••d hujus Ordinatio ad ••oenam ut est disconveniens ipsi animae, dicitur ejus Macula: ut autem est obligatio forma∣liter ad istam poenam dici∣tur R••atus: Et ut est di∣vinae voluntatis, &c. di∣c••tur Offensa: Nil [n] aliud est Offendi vel Irasci in Deo, quam v••lle Vindicare ista poena]: But he after owneth that the culpa is another thing.