Let us know for a certainty that free justification is the very head, heart, and soul of all Christian religion, and true worship of God; without the true and joyful knowledge thereof, our religion is headless, our profession and worship heartless, and our very zealous conversation is a mere corruption of the Gospel, and rottenness, like a body without a soul that stinketh before God. Briefly in a word, as the perfect righteousness of Christ is only worthy to be acknowledged for the wedding garment; because all the righteousness of our imperfect sanctification is {as the Prophet saith} as filthy, menstrous, stained rags – Isaiah 64:6; so true faith of free justification, being the having on of this wedding-garment, because it alone doth truly abolish all the filthy nakedness of our sins out of God’s sight, and it alone doth make us perfectly holy, and sufficiently righteous in the sight of God freely, without works. Therefore it alone doth make us fit brides, and is only meet to marry us to so glorious a Bridegroom, as is the King of glory – Christ Jesus. John Eaton {Honeycombe of Free Justification by Christ Alone – 1642, Taken from Supralapsarian.com}
The glory of the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ is also the Gospel of the glory of His grace. This justification of sinners who are beyond any help of themselves or any other human being or any angel or creature at all is glorious because of its utter freeness to sinners and because of its free-grace that God gives sinners. There is no true religion apart from a free justification since this is the only way that the Gospel is truly by grace alone. There can be no conditions of this free justification that man can fulfill since that would mean that it could not be by grace alone. The glory of this free justification is that all the conditions of it are fulfilled by Christ and in Christ.
As the author above notes, regardless of our conversation (even if zealous), our profession, and our worship there is no true religion apart from free justification. Without a free justification out life (conversation) is that of a filthy person regardless of holy it is on the outside. Regardless of our profession it comes from a deceived heart if not based on the true Gospel and way of reconciliation with God. Regardless of our way of worship and correctness of worship apart from a free justification there is no true worship at all. Regardless of our supposed morality there is nothing that an unjustified person can do to please God and even the good works are as “filthy, monstrous, stained rags.” The person must be justified before the person’s works are pleasing to God.
When any sinner stands before God, there is nothing but the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ that will cover the sinner in truth. It is Christ alone who can take away the wrath of the Father by His suffering and His blood, all else is nothing but stacking on more sin. It is Christ alone who can impute to sinners His perfect righteousness and clothe them in His perfect white robe. All else is nothing but a “filthy, monstrous, stained rag” of a covering. The Father is not pleased to look upon sinners and see their filthy and stained rags, but instead He is only pleased to behold sinners in Christ. It is Christ alone who can shine forth the glory of God back to Him in a way that pleases Him. It is Christ alone who is perfectly loved of the Father and loves the Father perfectly. It is Christ alone who is perfect in every single way and so all who are in Him are seen as perfect in the eyes of the Father as He beholds them in His Beloved.
The “gospel” that is “preached” throughout our land is really a false gospel because it is always giving sinners something that they can do that will cause God to be moved to save them. What a blight upon the professing Church and what a blight upon our nation is this false gospel of putting conditions upon men as if they could fulfill them. All are born dead in sins and trespasses and there is not one condition that they can fulfill in their own strength. After all, what can dead sinners do to help themselves be made alive? Dead sinners are dead and can do nothing that will make them more worthy to be saved. This is not to say that sinners should not seek the Lord by sitting under preaching, reading the Scriptures, and crying out to God for mercy for they should do those things. But not one of those things makes them the slightest bit more worthy to be saved. Sinners are not saved because they come up with faith, but sinners are regenerated and then they have faith. There is nothing in the sinner (including faith) when God by free-grace regenerates the sinner according to His good pleasure. Sinners are utterly and totally helpless with no ability at all and they should seek the Lord knowing that. God saves those whom He pleases and He does so by His mercy and not according to those who run or those who try to fulfill a condition. The Gospel is totally of free-grace and of free-grace alone.
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