Riches from the Past
So that in our justification is not only God’s mercy and grace, but also his justice, which the Apostle calleth the justice of God; and it consisteth in paying our ransom and fulfilling of the law. And so the grace of God doth not shut out the justice of God in our justification, but only shutteth out the justice of man, that is to say, the justice of our works, as to be merits of deserving our justification.
Thomas Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury during the 16th century, through the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and part of the reign of Mary I. It is no exaggeration to classify Archbishop Cranmer as among the English Reformation’s chief architects and liturgists. He wrote the 1549 and 1552 editions of the Book of Common Prayer, from which the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which we use in our liturgy, draws heavy inspiration. Over the course of Cranmer’s life, he became more convinced of continental Reformed and Protestant thought before briefly succumbing to Roman-Catholic doctrine to save his life from Queen Mary. He soon recanted his recantation and was burned at the stake as a Protestant martyr, thrusting his right hand, with which he had signed the documents disavowing the Reformation, into the fire first.
He is thought to be the primary author of both the 39 Articles of Religion, a foundational Anglican doctrinal text to which our parish and communion subscribes, and the first Book of Homilies. These Homilies were written to ensure sound preaching across the Church of England. Priests with less training could read them in place of their own words if they lacked ability. The Homilies are described by the 39 Articles as “containing most godly and
wholesome doctrine” in Article 35, and thus hold significant weight within Anglicanism. And of the Homilies, the Homily on Justification in particular is commended in Article 11 on justification as being an extension of the Article itself. If a person is looking for a sound treatment of the doctrine of justification, or how man is made right with God, they couldn’t do much better than this homily.
NOTE: This rendering of the text is taken from Monergism.
AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK OF HOMILIES’ HOMILY ON JUSTIFICATION
But here may man’s reason be astonied, reasoning after this fashion. If a ransom be paid for our redemption, then it is not given us freely: for a prisoner that payeth his ransom is not let go freely; for, if he go freely, then he goeth without ransom; for what is it else to go freely than to be set at liberty without payment of ransom? This reason is satisfied by the great wisdom of God in this mystery of our redemption; who hath so tempered his justice and mercy together, that he would neither by his justice condemn us unto the everlasting captivity of the devil and his prison of hell, remediless for ever without mercy, nor by his mercy deliver us clearly without justice or payment of a just ransom, but with his endless mercy he joined his most upright and equal justice. His great mercy he shewed unto us in delivering us from our former captivity without requiring of any ransom to be paid or amends to be made upon our parts; which thing by us had been impossible to be done.
And, whereas it lay not in us that to do, he provided a ransom for us, that was, the most precious body and blood of his own most dear and best beloved Son Jesu Christ; who, besides his ransom, fulfilled the law for us perfectly. And so the justice of God and his mercy did embrace together, and fulfilled the mystery of our redemption. And of this justice and mercy of God knit together speaketh St. Paul in the third chapter to the Romans: All have offended and have need of the glory of God, but are justified freely by his grace by redemption which is in Jesu Christ; whom God hath set forth to us for a reconciler and peacemaker through faith in his blood, to shew his righteousness. And in the tenth chapter: Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness to every man that believeth. And in the eighth chapter: That which was impossible by the Law, inasmuch as it was weak by the flesh, God sending his own Son in the similitude of sinful flesh by sin damned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, which walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. In these foresaid places the Apostle toucheth specially three things, which must go together in our justification: upon God’s part, his great mercy and grace; upon Christ’s part, justice, that is, the satisfaction of God’s justice, or the price of our redemption by the offering of his body and shedding of his blood with fulfilling of the law perfectly and throughly; and upon our part, true and lively faith in the merits of Jesu Christ; which yet is not ours but by God’s working in us.
So that in our justification is not only God’s mercy and grace, but also his justice, which the Apostle calleth the justice of God; and it consisteth in paying our ransom and fulfilling of the law. And so the grace of God doth not shut out the justice of God in our justification, but only shutteth out the justice of man, that is to say, the justice of our works, as to be merits of deserving our justification. And therefore St. Paul declareth here nothing upon the behalf of man concerning his justification, but only a true and lively faith; which nevertheless is the gift of God, and not man’s only work without God. And yet that faith doth not shut out repentance, hope, love, dread, and the fear of God, to be joined with faith in every man that is justified; but it shutteth them out from the office of justifying. So that, although they be all present together in him that is justified, yet they justify not all together. Nor that faith also doth not shut out the justice of our good works, necessarily to be done afterward of duty towards God, (for we are most bounden to serve God in doing good deeds commanded by him in his holy Scripture all the days of our life;) but it excludeth them so that we may not do them to this intent, to be made good by doing of them.
For all the good works that we can do be unperfect, and therefore not able to deserve our justification: but our justification doth come freely, by the mere mercy of God; and of so great and free mercy that, whereas all the world was not able of their selves to pay any part towards their ransom, it pleased our heavenly Father, of his infinite mercy, without any our desert or deserving, to prepare for us the most precious jewels of Christ’s body and blood, whereby our ransom might be fully paid, the law fulfilled, and his justice fully satisfied. So that Christ is now the righteousness of all them that truly do believe in him. He for them paid their ransom by his death. He for them fulfilled the law in his life. So that now in him and by him every true Christian man may be called a fulfiller of the law; forasmuch as that which their infirmity lacketh Christ’s justice hath supplied.
CONCLUSION
All glory be to Christ, that he has fulfilled what we could not. That the hand of faith alone lays hold of Christ’s merits and that we can have salvation in Him! That we cannot climb up to God on our own merits, but that God reaches down to Earth to lift us up to Him. And praise be to God that He gives us a charge to fulfil on Earth: to do the good works He gives us, to participate in the renewal of His creation and make disciples of such a great Saviour. What a wonderful and beautiful truth; I encourage us all to meditate on it day and night. I guarantee we will not plumb the full depth of its implications on this side of eternity. What an incredible saviour our Lord Christ is indeed.
Daniel Liegmann