YOU THINK TO LIMIT GOD--THOMAS HOOKER

                                   (1586-1647)
 "You think to limit the Holy One of Israel, but that will not be; for his covenant is a covenant of grace, and the Lord, who is free, will not stand bent to your bow or give you grace when you say so; for it is not for us to know the times and seasons... Therefore, hear today, wait tomorrow, and continue in so doing, because you know not when God may bless his own ordinances. Complain not of delays, but wait; for God has waited for you a long time... God gives what, when, and how he will; therefore wait for it." The Poor Doubting Christian Drawn To Christ

IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

Charles Hodge (1797-1898)
If the righteousness be adequate, and if the imputation be made on adequate grounds and by competent authority, the person to whom the imputation is made has the right to be treated as righteous. And, therefore, in the forensic, although not in the moral or subjective sense, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ does make the sinner righteous. That is, it gives him a right to the full pardon of all his sins and a claim in justice to eternal life. 

That this is the simple and universally accepted view of the doctrine as held by all Protestants at the Reformation, and by them regarded as the cornerstone of the Gospel...has never been disputed by any candid or competent authority. This has continued to be the doctrine of both the great branches of the Protestant Church, so far as they pretend to adhere to their standards.