communion with Christ, is by his grace reconciled to God; while, being purified by his blood, he obtains remission of sins, and being clothed with his righteousness, as if it were his own, he stands secure before the heavenly tribunal. Where remission of sins has been previously received, the good works which succeed are estimated far beyond their intrinsic merit; for all their imperfections are covered by the perfection of Christ, and all their blemishes are removed by his purity, that they may not be scrutinized by the Divine judgment. The guilt, therefore, of all transgressions, by which men are prevented from offering any thing acceptable to God being obliterated, and the imperfection, which universally deforms even the good works of believers, being buried in oblivion, their works are accounted righteous, or, which is the same thing, are imputed for righteousness. IX. Now, if any one urge this to me as an objection, to oppose the righteousness of faith, I will first ask him, Whether a man is reputed righteous on account of one or two holy works, who is in the other actions of his life a transgressor of the law. This would be too absurd to be pretended. I shall next inquire, If he is reputed righteous on account of many good works, while he is found guilty of any instance of transgression. This, likewise, my adversary will not presume to maintain, in opposition to the sanction of the law, which denounces a curse on all those who do not fulfil every one of its precepts.[149] I will further inquire, If there is any work which does not deserve the charge of impurity or imperfection.[150] But how could this be possible before those eyes, in which the stars are not sufficiently pure, nor the angels sufficiently righteous? Thus he will be compelled to concede, that there is not a good work to be found, which is not too much polluted, both by its own imperfection and by the transgressions with which it is attended, to have any claim to the honourable appellation of _righteousness_. Now, if it be evidently in consequence of justification by faith, that works, otherwise impure and imperfect, unworthy of the sight of God, and much more of his approbation, are imputed for righteousness,—why do they attempt, by boasting of the righteousness of works, to destroy the righteousness of faith, from which all righteousness of works proceeds? But do they wish to produce a viperous offspring to destroy the parent? For such is the true tendency of this impious doctrine. They cannot deny that justification by faith is the beginning, foundation, cause, motive, and substance of the righteousness of works; yet they conclude, that a man is not justified by faith because good works also are imputed for righteousness. Let us therefore leave these impertinences, and acknowledge the real state of the case; if all the righteousness which can be attributed to works depends on justification by faith, the latter is not only not diminished, but, on