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Faith
CONCERNING FAITH
§ 1. FAITH is a belief of a testimony: 2 Thes. 1:10, “When he shall come
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that
believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” It
is an assent to truth, as appears by the 11th of Hebrews, and it is
saving faith that is there spoken of, as appears by the last verses of
the foregoing chapter: “And these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better
thing for us, that they, without us, should not be made perfect.” Mark
1:15, “Saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:
Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” John 20:31, “But these are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that, believing, ye might have life through his name.” 2 Thes. 2:13,
“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the
truth.” See also Heb. 11:6; 1 John 5:1, 4, 5; 1 John 4:2 and verse 15;
Mat. 16:16; John 1:49-50; John 3:33; John 8:24; John 17:8; 1 John 5:10;
Tit. 1:1; Col. 1:4; John 16:27; Rom. 10:9.
§ 2. It is the proper act
of the soul towards God, as faithful. Rom 3:3, 4, “For what if some did
not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is
written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest
overcome when thou art judged.”
§ 3. It is a belief of
truth from a sense of glory and excellency, or at least with such a
sense. John 20:29, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen
me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed.” Mat. 9:21, “She said within herself, If I may but touch
his garment, I shall be whole.” 1 Cor. 12:3, “Wherefore I give you to
understand, that no man, speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus
accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the
Holy Ghost.”
§ 4. It is a belief of the
truth from a spiritual taste and relish of what is excellent and divine.
Luke 12:57, “Yea, and why, even of yourselves, judge ye not what is
right?” Believers receive the truth in the love of it, and speak the
truth in love. Eph. 4:15, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up
unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
§ 5. The object of faith
is the gospel, as well as Jesus Christ. Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time
is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand: Repent ye, and believe
the gospel.” John 17:8, “For I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me; and they received them, and have known surely that I came
from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” Rom.
10:16-17, “But they have not obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord,
who hath believed our report? So then, faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God.”
§ 6. Faith includes a
knowledge of God and Christ. 2 Pet. 1:2-3, “Grace and peace be
multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord;
according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called
us to glory and virtue.” John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent.” See also John 4:10; 2 Cor. 4:4.
§ 7. A belief of promises
is faith, or a great part of faith. Heb. 11, “Now faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” etc. 2 Chr.
20:20, “And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the
wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said,
Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord
your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye
prosper.” A depending on promises is an act of faith. Gal. 5:5, “For we
through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.”
§ 8. Faith is a receiving
of Christ. John 1:12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
See also Heb. 11:19; Col. 2:5-7.
§ 9. It is receiving
Christ into the heart. Rom. 10:6-10, “But the righteousness which is of
faith, speaketh on this wise, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend
into heaven (that is, to bring Christ down from above)? Or who shall
descend into the deep (that is, to bring up Christ from the dead)? But
what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in they mouth, and in thy
heart (that is, the word of faith, which we preach), That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.”
§ 10. A true faith
includes more than a mere belief. It is accepting the gospel and
includes all acceptation. 1 Tim. 1:14-15, “And the grace of our Lord was
exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That is
a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
in to the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” 2 Cor. 11:4, “For
if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached; or
if you receive another Spirit, which ye have not received, or another
gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”
§ 11. It is something more
than merely the assent of the understanding, because it is called an
obeying the gospel. Rom. 10:16, “But they have not all obeyed the
gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who has believed our report?” 1 Pet.
4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of
God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel of God?” See also Rom. 15:18; 1 Pet. 1:2, 7, 8; 1
Pet. 3:1. It is obeying the doctrine from the heart; Rom. 6:17-18, “But
God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin; but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then
made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness,” etc.
§ 12. This expression of
obeying the gospel seems to denote the heart’s yielding to the gospel in
what it proposes to us in its calls. It is something more than merely
what may be called a believing the truth of the gospel. John 12:42,
“Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also, many believed on him; but,
because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be
put out of the synagogue.” And Philip asked the eunuch whether he
believed with all his heart? It is a fully believing, or a being fully
persuaded: this passage evidences that it is so much at least.
§ 13. There are different
sorts of faith that are not true and saving, as is evident by what the
apostle James says, “Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will
show thee my faith by my works.” Where it is supposed that there may be
a faith without works, which is not the right faith, when he says, “I
will show thee my faith by my works,” nothing else can be meant than
that I will show thee that my faith is right.
§ 14. It is a trusting in
Christ. Psa. 2:12, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: blessed are all they
that put their trust in him.” Eph. 1:12-13, “That we should be to the
praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ: in whom ye also
trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation; in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with
that Holy Spirit of promise.” 2 Tim. 1:12, “For the which cause I also
suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I
have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I
have committed unto him against that day.”
Many places in the Old
Testament speak of trusting in God as the condition of his favor and
salvation; especially Psa. 78:21-22, “Therefore the Lord heard this, and
was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up
against Israel; because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his
salvation.” It implies submission, Rom. 15:12, “And again, Esaias saith,
there shall be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise to reign over the
Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust.” 1 Tim. 4:10, “For therefore
we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God,
who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.” 2 Tim.
1:12, “For which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not
ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
Mat. 8:26, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Mat. 16:8, “Which
Jesus, when he perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why
reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?” 1 John
5:13-14, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life; and that
ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence
that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he
heareth us.” Believing in Christ in one verse is called confidence in
the text.
§ 15. It is a committing
ourselves to Christ, 2 Tim. 1:12, “For the which cause I also suffer
these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have
committed unto him against that day.” This is a scripture sense of the
word believe, as is evident by John 2:24. “Jesus did not commit himself
to them.” In the ουκ επιστευεν εαυτον αυτος.
§ 16. It is a gladly
receiving the gospel, Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his
word, were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about
three thousand souls.” It is approving the gospel, Luke 7:30, 35, “But
the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized of him. But wisdom is justified of all
her children.” It is obeying the doctrine, Rom. 6:17, “But God be
thanked, that ye were the servants of sin; but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” It is what may be
well understood by those expressions of coming to Christ, of looking to
him, of opening the door to let him in. This is very evident by
Scripture. It is a coming and taking the waters of life, eating and
drinking Christ’s flesh and blood, hearing Christ’s voice and following
him. John 10:26-27, “But ye believe not; because ye are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me.” John 8:12, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am
the light of the world; he that followeth me, shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Isa. 45:22, “Look unto me,
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is
none else.”
§ 17. Faith consists in
two things, viz., in being persuaded of, and in embracing, the promises.
Heb. 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced
them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
1 Cor. 13:7, “Charity believeth all things, hopeth all things.” If that
faith, hope, and charity, spoken of in this verse, be the same with
those that are compared together in the last verse, then faith arises
from a charitable disposition of heart, or from a principle of divine
love. John 5:42, “But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in
you,” with the context. Deu. 13:3, “Thou shalt not hearken unto the
words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God
proveth you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul.” 1 John 5:1, “Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ, is born of God: and every one that loveth him that
begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.”
§ 18. It is a being
reconciled unto God, revealing himself by Christ in the gospel, or our
minds being reconciled. 2 Cor. 5:18-21, “And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and
committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ; as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you
in Christ’s stead be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be
sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him.” Col. 1:21, “And you that were sometimes alienated, and
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.” It is
the according of the whole soul, and not merely of the understanding.
Mat. 11:6, “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me.” See
also John 14:21; John 16:27; 1 Tim. 1:14.
§ 19. There is contained
in the nature of faith a sense of our own unworthiness. Mat. 15:27-28,
“Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their
masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is
thy faith.” See concerning the centurion, Luke 7:6-9; this woman which
was a sinner, ib. Luke 7:37-38 and especially verse 50; the prodigal
son, Luke 15; the penitent thief, Luke 23:41. Consult also Hab. 2:4.
“Behold his soul which is lifted up, is not upright in him; but the just
shall live by his faith.” Pro. 28:25; Psa. 40:4, and Psa. 131.
§ 20. It is a being drawn
to Christ. None can come unto Christ, but whom the Father draws. The
freeness of the covenant of grace is represented thus, that the
condition of finding is only seeking, and the condition of receiving,
asking; and the condition of having the door opened, is knocking. From
whence I infer that faith is a hearty applying unto God by Christ for
salvation, or the heart’s seeking it of God through him. See also John
4:10. “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto
thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water.” And Luke 23:42, it is calling on Christ;
it is the opposite unto disallowing and rejecting Christ Jesus. John
12:46-48. “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on
me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and
believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to
save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath
one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge
him in the last day.” 1 Pet. 2:7, “Unto you therefore which believe, he
is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the
builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.”
§ 21. Love either is what
faith arises from, or is included in faith, by John 3:18-19. “He that
believeth not is condemned already; and this is their condemnation, that
men loved darkness rather than light.” 2 Thes. 2:10, 12, “And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. That they
all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.”
§ 22. The being athirst
for the waters of life is faith, Rev. 21:6. It is a true cordial seeking
of salvation by Christ. Believing in Christ is heartily joining
ourselves to Christ and to his party, as is said of the followers of
Theudas, Acts 5:36. And we are justified freely through faith, i.e. we
are saved by Christ only on joining ourselves to him. It is a being
persuaded to join ourselves to him, and to be of his party. John 8:12,
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life.” To believe in Christ, is to hearken to him as a prophet;
to yield ourselves subjects to him as a king; and to depend upon him as
a priest. Desiring Christ, is an act of faith in Christ, because he is
called the desire of all nations; Hag. 2:7, that is, he that is to be
the desire of all nations, when all nations shall believe in him and
subject themselves to him, according to the frequent promises and
prophecies of God’s Word: though there are other things included in the
sense, yet this seems to be principally intended. There belongs to faith
a sense of the ability and sufficiency of Christ to save, and of his
fitness for the work of salvation: Mat. 9:2 and 28, 29 and 21. Rom.
4:21, “And being fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he is able
to perform.” Of his fidelity, Mat. 14:30-31. “But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid: and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt?” Of his readiness to save, Mat. 15:22, etc. 1 Tim. 1:5, 12.
“Now the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of
a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: and I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me
into the ministry.” Of his ability, Mat. 8:2. “And behold, there came a
leper, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean.” Mat. 8:8, “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not
worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof: but speak the word only,
and my servant shall be healed….” See also Mat. 9:18, 28, and Mat. 16:8.
§ 23. It is submitting to
the righteousness of God, Rom. 10:3, “For they, being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” It is what
may be well represented by flying for refuge, by the type of flying to
the city of refuge. Heb. 6:18, “That by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” It
is a sense of the sufficiency and the reality of Christ’s righteousness,
and of his power and grace to save. John 16:8, “He shall convince the
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.” It is a receiving the
truth with a love to it. It is receiving the love of the truth. 2 Thes.
2:10, 12, “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might
be saved. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness.” The heart must close with the new
covenant by dependence upon it, and by love and desire. 2 Sam. 23:5,
“Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. This is all my
salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.”
§ 24. Upon the whole, the
best and clearest, and most perfect definition of justifying faith and
most according to the Scripture, that I can think of, is this: faith is
the soul’s entirely embracing the revelation of Jesus Christ as our
Savior. The word embrace is a metaphorical expression, but I think it
much clearer than any proper expression whatsoever. It is called
believing, because believing is the first act of the soul in embracing a
narration or revelation: and embracing, when conversant about a
revelation or thing declared, is more properly called believing, than
loving or choosing. If it were conversant about a person only, it would
be more properly called loving. If it were only conversant about a gift,
an inheritance, or reward, it would more properly be called receiving or
accepting, etc.
The definition might have been expressed in these words:
faith is the soul’s entirely adhering and acquiescing in the revelation
of Jesus Christ as our Savior — Or thus: faith is the soul’s embracing
that truth of God that reveals Jesus Christ as our Savior — Or thus:
faith is the soul’s entirely acquiescing in, and depending upon, the
truth of God, revealing Christ as our Savior.
It is the whole soul
according and assenting to the truth, and embracing of it. There is an
entire yielding of the mind and heart to the revelation, and a closing
with it and adhering to it, with the belief and with the inclination and
affection. It is admitting and receiving it with entire credit and
respect. The soul receives it as true, as worthy, and excellent. It may
be more perfectly described than defined by a short definition, by
reason of the penury of words: a great many words express it better than
one or two. I here use the same metaphorical expressions, but it is
because they are much clearer than any proper expressions that I know
of.
It is the soul’s entirely acquiescing in this revelation, from a
sense of the sufficiency, dignity, glory, and excellency of the author
of the revelation.
Faith is the whole soul’s active agreeing, according,
and symphonizing with this truth: all opposition in judgment and
inclination, so far as he believes, being taken away. It is called
believing, because fully believing this revelation is the first and
principal exercise and manifestation of this accordance and agreement of
soul.
§ 25. The adhering to the
truth and acquiescing in it with the judgment is from a sense of the
glory of the revealer, and the sufficiency and excellency of the
performer of the facts. The adhering to it and acquiescing in it with
the inclination and affection is from the goodness and excellency of the
thing revealed, and of the performer. If a person be pursued by an
enemy, and commit himself to a king or a captain to defend him, it
implies his quitting other endeavors, and applying to him for defense,
and putting himself under him, and hoping that he will defend him. If we
consider it as a mere act of the mind, a transaction between spiritual
beings, considered as abstracted from any external action, then it is
the mind’s quitting all other endeavors, and seeking and applying itself
to the Savior for salvation, fully choosing salvation by him, and
delivering itself to him, or a being willing to be his with a hope that
he will save him. Therefore, for a person to commit himself to Christ as
a Savior, is quitting all other endeavors and hopes, and heartily
applying himself to Christ for salvation, fully choosing salvation by
him, and acquiescing in his way of salvation, and a hearty consent of
the soul to be his entirely, hoping in his sufficiency and willingness
to save.
§ 26. The first act cannot
be hoping in a promise, that is, as belonging to the essence of the act.
For there must be the essence of the act performed, before any promise
belongs to the subject. But the essence of the act, as it is exercised
in justifying faith, is a quitting other hopes and applying to him for
salvation: choosing, and with the inclination closing with, salvation by
him in his way with a sense of his absolute, glorious sufficiency and
mercy. Hope in the promises may immediately follow in a moment, but it
is impossible that there be a foundation for it before the essence of
faith be performed, though it is the same disposition that leads the
soul to lay hold on the promise afterwards. It is impossible that a man
should be encouraged by a conditional promise to trust in Christ, if you
mean by trusting in Christ, a depending upon his promises to the person
trusting. For that is to suppose a dependence upon the promise
antecedent to the first dependence upon it, and that the first time a
man depends upon the promise, he is encouraged to do it by a dependence
upon the promise. The conditional promise is this: that if you will
trust in Christ, you shall be saved. And you suppose the essence of this
trust is depending upon this promise, and yet that the soul is
encouraged to trust in Christ by a dependence thereupon, which is to say
that the first time the soul depends upon Christ’s promises, it is
encouraged to do it by a dependence on his promises.
§ 27. Faith is the soul’s
entirely adhering to and acquiescing in the revelation of Jesus Christ
as our Savior, from a sense of the excellent dignity and sufficiency of
the revealer of the doctrine and of the Savior. God is the revealer, and
Christ is also the revealer. Christ’s excellency and sufficiency include
the excellency of his person, and the excellency of the salvation he has
revealed, and his adequateness to the performance, etc. — and the
excellency of his manner of salvation, etc. From the excellency and
sufficiency of the revealer and performer, we believe what is said is
true, fully believe it; and from the glorious excellency of the Savior
and his salvation, all our inclination closes with the revelation. To
depend upon the word of another person, imports two things: First, to be
sensible how greatly it concerns us, and how much our interest and
happiness really depend upon the truth of it. Second, to depend upon the
word of another, is so to believe it, as to dare to act upon it as if it
were really true. I do not say that I think these words are the only
true definition of faith. I have used words that most naturally
expressed it, of any I could think of. There might have been other words
used that are much of the same sense.
§ 28. Though hope does not
enter into the essential nature of faith, yet it is so essential to it
that it is the natural, necessary, and next immediate fruit of true
faith. In the first act of faith the soul is enlightened with a sense of
the merciful nature of God and of Christ, and believes the declarations
that are made in God’s Word of it, and it humbly and heartily applies
and seeks to Christ. And it sees such a congruity between the declared
mercy of God, and the disposition he then feels towards him, that he
cannot but hope, that that declared mercy will be exercised towards him.
Yea, he sees that it would be incongruous, for God to give him such
inclination and motions of heart towards Christ as a Savior, if he were
not to be saved by him.
§ 29. Anything that may be
called a receiving the revelation of the gospel is not faith, but such a
sort of receiving it, as is suitable to the nature of the gospel, and
the respect it has to us. The act of reception suitable to truth is
believing it. The suitable reception of that which is excellent is
choosing it and loving it. The proper act of reception of a revelation
of deliverance from evil, and the conferring of happiness is acquiescing
in it and depending upon it. The proper reception of a Savior is
committing ourselves to him and trusting in him. The proper act or
reception of the favor of God is believing and esteeming it, and
rejoicing in it. He that suitably receives forgiveness of his fault,
does with an humble sense of his fault rejoice in the pardon.
Thus, for
instance, he that reads a truth that no way concerns his interest, if he
believes it, it is proper to say he receives it. But if there be a
declaration of some glorious and excellent truth that does nearly
concern him, he that only believes it, cannot be said to receive it. And
if a captain offers to deliver a distressed people, they that only
believe what he says, without committing themselves to him, and putting
themselves under him, cannot be said to receive him. So if a prince
offers one his favor, he that does not esteem his favor, cannot be said
heartily to accept thereof. Again, if one offended offers pardon to
another, he cannot be said to receive it, if he be not sensible of his
fault, and does not care for the displeasure of the offended.
The whole act of reception
suitable to the nature of the gospel and its relation to us, and our
circumstances with respect to it, is best expressed (if it be expressed
in one word) by the word πισις or fides.
He that offers any of these
things mentioned, and offers them only for these proper acts of
reception, may be said to offer them freely, nay, perfectly so.
§ 30. For man to trust in
his own righteousness, is to hope that God’s anger will be appeased or
abated, or that he will be inclined to accept him into favor upon the
sight of some excellency that belongs to him, or to have such a view of
things that it should appear no other than a suitable and right thing
for God’s anger to be abated, and for him to be inclined to take him
into favor, upon the sight of, or out of respect to, some excellency
belonging to him.
§ 31. The word πισις,
faith, seems to be the most proper word to express the cordial reception
of Christ and of the truth, for these reasons. First. This revelation is
of things spiritual, unseen, strange, and wonderful, exceedingly remote
from all the objects of sense, and those things which we commonly
converse with in this world, and also exceedingly alien from our fallen
nature. So that it is the first and principal manifestation of the
symphony between the soul and these divine things, that it believes
them, and acquiesces in them as true. Second. The Lord Jesus Christ, in
the gospel, appears principally under the character of a Savior, and not
so much of a person absolutely excellent. And therefore, the proper act
of reception of him, consists principally in the exercise of a sense of
our need of him, and of his sufficiency, his ability, his mercy and
love, his faithfulness, the sufficiency of his method of salvation, the
sufficiency and completeness of the salvation itself, of the
deliverance, and of the happiness, and an answerable application of the
soul to him for salvation. This can be expressed so well by no other
word but faith, or affiance, or confidence, or trust, and others of the
same signification: of which, πιστις or faith is much the best and the
most significant. Because the rest, in their common significations,
imply something that is not of the absolute essence of faith. Third. We
have these things exhibited to us, to be received by us, only by a
divine testimony. We have nothing else to hold them forth to us.
§ 32. Justifying faith is
the soul’s sense and conviction of the reality and sufficiency of Jesus
Christ as a Savior, implying a cordial inclination of soul to him as
Savior. It is the soul’s conviction and acknowledgment of God’s power in
the difficult things, of his mercy in the wonderful things, of his truth
in the mysterious and unseen things, of the excellency of other holy
things, of the salvation of Christ Jesus. Faith prepares the way for the
removal of guilt of conscience. Guilt of conscience is the sense of the
connection between the sin of the subject and punishment: 1st, by God’s
law; and 2nd, by God’s nature and the propriety of the thing. The mind
is under the weight of guilt, as long as it has a sense of its being
bound to punishment, according to the reason and nature of things, and
the requirements of the divine government.
Faith prepares the way for
the removal of this. Therefore there must be in faith, 1. A belief that
the law is answered and satisfied by Jesus Christ; and 2. Such a sense
of the way of salvation by Christ, that it shall appear proper, and be
dutiful, and according to the reason of things, that sin should not be
punished in us, but that we nevertheless should be accepted through
Christ. When the mind sees a way that this can be done, and there is
nothing in the law, nor in the divine nature, nor nature of things, to
hinder it, then that of itself lightens the burden and creates hope. It
causes the mind to see that it is not forever bound by the reason of
things to suffer, though the mind does not know that it has performed
the condition of pardon. This is to have a sense of the sufficiency of
this way of salvation. When a man commits sin and is sensible of it, his
soul has a natural sense of the propriety of punishment in such a case,
a sense that punishment, according to the reason of things, belongs to
him: for the same reasons as all nations have a sense of the propriety
of punishing men for crimes.
The blood of bulls, and goats, and calves,
could never make them that offered them perfect as to the conscience,
because the mind never could have a sense of the propriety and beauty,
and fitness in reason, of being delivered from punishment upon their
account. This kind of sense of the sufficiency of Christ’s mediation,
depends upon a sense of the gloriousness and excellency of gospel things
in general: as the greatness of God’s mercy, the greatness of Christ’s
excellency and dignity and dearness to the Father, the greatness of
Christ’s love to sinners, etc. That easiness of mind which persons often
have, before they have comfort from a sense of their being converted,
arises from a sense they have of God’s sovereignty. They see nothing
either in the nature of God, or of things, that will necessarily bind
them to punishment, but that God may damn them if he pleases, and may
save them if he pleases. When persons are brought to that, then they are
fit to be comforted. Then their comfort is like to have a true and
immovable foundation, when their dependence is no way upon themselves,
but wholly upon God. In order to such a sense of the sufficiency of this
way of salvation, it must be seen that God has no disposition and no
need to punish us. The sinner, when he considers how he has affronted
and provoked God, looks upon it that the case is such, and the affront
is such, that there is need, in order that the majesty, honor, and
authority of God may be vindicated, that he should be punished, and that
God’s nature is such that he must be disposed to punish him.
Corollary.
Hence we learn that our experience of the sufficiency of the doctrine of
the gospel, to give peace of conscience, is a rational inward witness to
the truth of the gospel. When the mind sees such a fitness in this way
of salvation, that it takes off the burden that arises from the sense of
its being necessarily bound to punishment, through proper desert and
from the demands of reason and nature, then it is a strong argument that
it is not a thing of mere human imagination. When we experience its
fitness to answer its end, this is the third of the three that bear
witness on earth. The Spirit bears witness by discovering the divine
glory and those stamps of divinity that are in the gospel. The water
bears witness: that is, the experience of the power of the gospel to
purify and sanctify the heart witnesses the truth of it, and the blood
bears witness by delivering the conscience from guilt. Any other sort of
faith than this sense of the sufficiency of Christ’s salvation, does not
give such immediate glory and honor to Christ, and does not so
necessarily and immediately infer the necessity of Christ’s being known.
Nothing besides makes all Christianity to hang upon an actual respect to
Christ, and center in him. Surely, the more the sinner has an inward, an
immediate, and sole, and explicit dependence upon Christ, the more
Christ has the glory of his salvation from him.
In order to this sort of
sense of the congruity of our sins being forgiven, and of punishment’s
being removed by the satisfaction of Christ, there must of necessity be
a sense of our guiltiness. For it is impossible any congruity should be
seen, without comparison of the satisfaction with the guilt. And they
cannot be compared, except there be a sense of them both. There must not
only be such a sense of God’s being very angry, and his anger being very
dreadful without any sense of the reasonableness of that anger, but
there must be a proper sense of the desert of wrath, such as there is in
repentance. Indeed it is possible there may be such a sense of the glory
of the Savior and his salvation, that if we had more of a sense of guilt
than we have, we should see a congruity.
§ 33. Sinners, under
conviction of their guilt, are generally afraid that God is so angry
with them that he never will give them faith in Christ. They think the
majesty and jealousy of God will not allow of it. Therefore, there goes
with a sense of the sufficiency of Christ, a sense of God’s sovereignty
with respect to mercy and judgment, that he will and may have mercy, in
Christ, on whom he will have mercy and leave to hardness whom he will.
This eases of that burden.
§ 34. For a man to trust
in his own righteousness is to conceive hopes of some favor of God, or
some freedom from his displeasure, from a false notion of his own
goodness or excellency, and the proportion it bears to that favor, and
of his own badness and the relation it bears to his displeasure. It is
to conceive hopes of some favor of God from a false notion of the
relation which our own goodness or excellency bears to that favor,
whether this mistaken relation be supposed to imply an obligation in
natural justice, or propriety and decency, or an obligation in point of
wisdom and honor. Or if he thinks that, without it, God will not do
excellently, or according to some one at least of his declared
attributes, or whether it be any obligation by virtue of his promise:
whether this favorable respect be the pardon of sin, or the bestowment
of heaven, or the abating of punishment, or answering of prayers, or
mitigation of punishment, or converting grace, or God’s delighting in
us, prizing of us, or the bestowing of any temporal or spiritual
blessing. This excellency we speak of is either real or supposed; either
negative, in not being so bad as others and the like, or positive.
Whether it be natural or moral excellency, is immaterial: also, whether
the sinner himself looks upon it as an excellency, or suppose God looks
upon it as such. For men to trust in their own righteousness is to
entertain hope of escaping any displeasure, or obtaining any positive
favor from God, from too high a notion of our own moral excellency, or
too light a notion of our badness, as compared with or related to that
favor or displeasure.
§ 35. This is to be
observed concerning the scriptures that I have cited respecting faith,
that they sometimes affix salvation to the natural and immediate effects
of faith as well as to faith itself. Such as, asking, knocking, etc.
Rom. 10:12-14. In the 14th verse, faith is distinguished from calling
upon him.
§ 36. All trusting to our
own righteousness, indeed, is expecting justification for our own
excellency. But they that expect that God will convert them for their
excellency, or do anything else towards their salvation upon that
account, do trust in their own righteousness. Because the supposing that
God will be the more inclined to convert a man, or enable him to come to
Christ, for his excellency is to suppose that he is justified already,
at least in part. It supposes that God’s anger for sin is at least
partly appeased, and that God is more favorably inclined to him for his
excellency’s sake, in that he is disposed to give him converting grace,
or do something else towards his conversion upon that account.
§ 37. The difficulty in
giving a definition of faith is that we have no word that clearly and
adequately expresses the whole act of acceptance, or closing of the soul
or heart with Christ. Inclination expresses it but partially, conviction
expresses it also but in part, and the sense of the soul does not do it
fully. And if we use metaphorical expressions, such as embrace, love,
etc. they are obscure and will not carry the same idea with them to the
minds of all. All words that are used to express such acts of the mind,
are of a very indeterminate signification. It is a difficult thing to
find words to exhibit our own ideas. Another difficulty is to find a
word that shall clearly express the whole goodness or righteousness of
the Savior and of the gospel. To be true, is one part of the goodness of
the gospel. For the Savior to be sufficient is one part of his goodness.
To be suitable is another part. To be bountiful and glorious is another
part. To be necessary is another part. The idea of a real good or lovely
object, that is conceived to be real, possesses the heart after another
manner, than a very lovely idea that is only imaginary. So that there is
need of both a sense of goodness and reality, to unite the heart to the
Savior.
Faith is the soul’s embracing and acquiescing in the revelation
which the Word of God gives us of Jesus Christ as our Savior, in a sense
and conviction of his goodness and reality as such. I do not consider
the sense of the goodness and reality of Christ as a Savior, as a
distinct thing from the embracing of him, but only explain the nature of
the embracing by it. But it is implied in it: it is the first and
principal thing in it. And all that belongs to embracing the revelation,
an approbation of it, a love to it, adherence to it, acquiescence in it,
is in a manner implied in a sense of Christ’s goodness and reality and
relation to us, or our concern in him. I say, as our Savior, for there
is implied in believing in Christ, not only and merely that exercise of
mind, which arises from a sense of his excellency and reality as a
Savior, but also that which arises from the consideration of his
relation to us and of our concern in him: his being a Savior for such as
we are (for sinful men), and a Savior that is offered with his benefits
to us. The angels have a sense of the reality and goodness of Christ as
a Savior, and may be said with joy to embrace the discovery of it. They
cannot be said to believe in Christ. The spirit that they receive, the
notice that they have of Christ the Savior, is the same; but there is a
difference in the act, by reason of the different relation that Christ,
as a Savior stands in to us, from what he does to them.
§ 38. Objection. It may be
objected that this seems to make the revelation more the object of the
essential act of faith than Christ. I answer no, for the revelation is
no otherwise the object by this definition, than as it brings and
exhibits Christ to us. It is embracing the revelation in a sense and
conviction of the goodness and reality of the Savior it exhibits. We do
not embrace Christ by faith any otherwise, than as brought to us in a
revelation. When we come to embrace him as exhibited otherwise, that
will not be faith. A man is saved by that faith, which is a reception of
Christ in all his offices, but he is justified by his receiving Christ
in his priestly office.
§ 39. To believe is to
have a sense and a realizing belief of what the gospel reveals of the
mediation of Christ, and particularly as it concerns ourselves. There is
in faith a conviction that redemption by that mediation of Christ which
the gospel reveals, exists, and a sense how it does so, and how it may
with respect to us in particular. There is a trusting to Christ that
belongs to the essence of true faith. That quiet and ease of mind that
arises from a sense of the sufficiency of Christ, may well be called a
trusting in that sufficiency. It gives a quietness to the mind, to see
that there is a way wherein it may be saved, to see a good and
sufficient way, wherein its salvation is very possible, and the
attributes of God cannot be opposite to it. This gives ease, though it
be not yet certain that he shall be saved. But to believe Christ’s
sufficiency, so as to be thus far easy, may be called a trusting in
Christ, though it cannot be trusting in him that he will save us. To be
easy in any degree, on a belief or persuasion of the sufficiency of
anything for our good, is a degree of trusting. There is in faith not
only a belief of what the gospel declares, that Christ has satisfied for
our sins and merited eternal life, but there is also a sense of it: a
sense that Christ’s sufferings do satisfy, and that he did merit, or was
worthy that we should be accepted for his sake. There is a difference
between being convinced that it is so and having a sense that it is so.
There is in the essence of justifying faith, included a receiving of
Christ as a Savior from sin. For we embrace him as the author of life,
as well as Savior from misery. But the sum of that eternal life which
Christ purchased is holiness: it is a holy happiness. And there is in
faith a liking of the happiness that Christ has procured and offers. The
Jews’ despising the pleasant land is mentioned as part of their
unbelief. It must be as the gospel reveals Christ, or in the gospel
notion of him, the soul must close with Christ. For whosoever is
offended in Christ, in the view that the gospel gives us of him, cannot
be said to believe in him, for he is one that is excluded from
blessedness, by that saying of Christ, Mat. 11:6, “Blessed is he
whosoever is not offended in me.”
§ 40. There is implied in
faith, not only a believing of Christ to be a real, sufficient, and
excellent Savior for me, and having a complacency in him as such, but in
a complete act of faith, there is an act of the soul in this view of him
and disposition towards him, seeking to him, that he would be my Savior,
as is evident because otherwise prayer would not be the expression of
faith. But prayer is only the voice of faith to God through Christ, and
this is further evident as faith is expressed by a coming to Christ and
a looking to him to be saved.
§ 41. There is hope
implied in the essence of justifying faith. Thus there is hope that I
may obtain justification by Christ, though there is not contained in its
essence a hope that I have obtained it. And so there is a trust in
Christ contained in the essence of faith. There is a trust implied in
seeking to Christ to be my Savior, in an apprehension that he is a
sufficient Savior, though not a trust in him, as one that has promised
to save me, as having already the condition of the promise. If a city
was besieged and distressed by a potent enemy, and should hear of some
great champion at a distance, and should be induced by what they hear of
his valor and goodness, to seek and send to him for relief, believing
what they have heard of his sufficiency and thence conceiving hope that
they may be delivered: — then the people, in sending, may be said to
trust in such a champion, as of old the children of Israel, when they
sent into Egypt for help, were said to trust in Egypt. It has by many
been said that the soul’s immediately applying Christ to itself as its
Savior was essential to faith, and so that one should believe him to be
his Savior. Doubtless, an immediate application is necessary. But that
which is essential is not the soul’s immediately applying Christ to
itself so properly, as its applying itself to Christ.
§ 42. Good works are in
some sort implied in the very nature of faith, as is implied in 1 Tim.
5:8, where the apostle, speaking of them that do not provide for their
parents, says, “If any provide not for his own, and especially for those
of his own house, he hath denied the faith.”
§ 43. Faith is that inward
sense and act, of which prayer is the expression, as is evident by the
following:
1. Because in the same manner as the freedom of grace, according to the
gospel covenant, is often set forth by this, that he that believes,
receives, so it also oftentimes is by this, that he that asks, or prays,
or calls upon God, receives. Mat. 7:7-10; Luke 11:9, “Ask and it shall
be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto
you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” See also Mat. 21:21-22;
Mark 11:23-24. To the same purpose with that last-mentioned place in
Matthew, John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye
shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” See Psa. 86:5;
Psa. 145:18, “The Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that
call upon him in truth.” Joel 2:32. The prophet, speaking there of
gospel times, says, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; for in mount Zion and
in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the
remnant whom the Lord shall call.” Rom. 10:12-13, “For there is no
difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all, is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved:” quoting the forementioned place in Joel.
See also 1 Cor. 1:2-3.
2. The same expressions
that are used in Scripture for faith, may be well used for prayer also,
such as coming to God or Christ, and looking to him. Eph. 3:12, “In whom
we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”
3. Prayer is often plainly
spoken of as the expression of faith. As it very certainly is in Rom.
10:11-14. “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him, shall
not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the
Greek: for the same Lord over all, is rich unto all that call upon him;
for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How
then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?” Christian
prayer is called the prayer of faith, Jam. 5:15. And believing is often
mentioned as the life and soul of true prayer, as in the forementioned
place, Mat. 21:21-22; 1 Tim. 2:8, “I will that men every where lift up
holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” And Heb. 10:19, 22, “Draw near
in full assurance of faith.” Jam. 1:5-6, “If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask it of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not;
and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.”
Faith in God is expressed
in praying to God. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is expressed in
praying to Christ, and praying in the name of Christ, John 14:13-14. And
the promises are made to asking in Christ’s name, in the same manner as
they are to believing in Christ. John 14:13-14, “And whatsoever ye shall
ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the
Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” Chap.
16:23-24, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in
my name, he will give it you. Hitherto you have asked nothing in my
name: ask, and receive, that your joy may be full.”
§ 44. Trusting in Christ
is implied in the nature of faith, as is evident by Rom. 9:33, “As it is
written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone, and rock of offence;
and whosoever believeth on him, shall not be ashamed.” The apostle there
in the context is speaking of justifying faith, and it is evident that
trusting in Christ is implied in the import of the word believeth. For
being ashamed, as the word is used in Scripture, is the passion that
arises upon the frustration of truth or confidence. There is implied in
justifying faith, a trusting to Christ’s truth and faithfulness, or a
believing what he declares and promises, as is evident in that it is
called not only believing in Christ and believing on Christ, but
believing Christ. John 3:36, “He that believeth not the Son, shall not
see life.” Trusting in Christ is often implied in faith, according to
the representations of Scripture. Isa. 27:5, “Or let him take hold of my
strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with
me.”
§ 45. Why is this
reception or unition of the soul properly expressed by faith? Answer.
Not so much merely from the nature of the act, more abstractedly
considered, which is unition, reception, or closing, but from the nature
of the act, conjunctly with the state of the agent and the object of the
act, which qualifies and specifies the act, and adds certain
qualifications to the abstract idea of unition, closing, or reception.
Consider the state of the receiver: guilty, miserable, undone, impotent,
helpless, unworthy. And consider the nature and worth of the received:
he being a divine, invisible Savior; the end for which he is received:
the benefits invisible; the ground on which he is received or closed
with: the Word of God and his invitations and promises; the
circumstances of those things that are received: supernatural,
incomprehensible, wonderful, difficult, unsearchable: — Thus the proper
act of unition or reception in such a case is most aptly expressed by
the word faith. Fearfulness is opposite to faith, Mark 4:40. “Why are ye
so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” And Rev. 21:8, “But the
fearful and the unbelieving.” Justifying faith is sometimes called hope
in Scripture.
§ 46. The condition both
of the first and second covenant, is a receiving, compliance with, or
yielding to, a signification or declaration from God, or to a revelation
made from God. A receiving or yielding to a signification of the will of
God, as our sovereign Lord and Lawgiver, is most properly called
obedience. The receiving and yielding to a strange, mysterious
revelation and offer which God makes of mercy to sinners, being a
revelation of things spiritual, supernatural, invisible, and mysterious,
through an infinite power, wisdom, and grace of God, is properly called
faith. There is indeed obedience in the condition of both covenants, and
there is faith or believing God in both. But the different name arises
from the remarkably different nature of the revelation or manifestations
made. The one is a law; the other a testimony and offer. The one is a
signification of what God expects that we should do towards him and what
he expects to receive from us, while the other a revelation of what he
has done for us and an offer of what we may receive from him. The one is
an expression of God’s great authority over us, in order to a yielding
to the authority. The other is a revelation of God’s mysterious and
wonderful mercy, and wisdom, and power for us, in order to a reception
answerable to such a revelation.
The reason why this was not so fully insisted upon under the Old
Testament, under the denomination of faith, was that the revelation
itself of this great salvation, was not thus explicitly and fully made.
It must most naturally be
called faith. 1. Because the word that is the object of it, is a
revelation which most nearly concerns our interest and good, and that a
revelation not of a work to be done by us, but an offer made to us only
to be received by us.
If it were a manifestation otherwise than by testimony, a receiving of
it, and yielding to it, it would not so naturally be called faith, and
if a mere manifestation of something not nearly concerning us, it would
not naturally be called faith. For idle stories that do not concern us
are not the object of trust or dependence. If it were a manifestation in
order to something expected from us (some work to be done by us), a
yielding to it would not so properly be called faith. For yielding,
then, would imply something more than just receiving the testimony.
2. Because the person that
is the object of it is revealed in the character of a wonderful Savior.
A receiving of a person in the character of a Savior is a proper act of
trust and affiance. And a receiving a divine, invisible Savior who
offers to save us by infinite power, wisdom, and mercy, and by very
mysterious, supernatural works, is properly faith.
3. The benefits that are
revealed, which are the objects of faith, are things spiritual,
invisible, wonderful, and future. And therefore, embracing and depending
on these, is properly faith.
§ 47. Faith implies a
cleaving to Christ, so as to be disposed to sell and suffer all for him.
See John 12:42-43, “Nevertheless, among the chief rulers also, many
believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him,
lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they love the praise
of men more than the praise of God.” John 5:44, “How can ye believe,
which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh
from God only?”
§ 48. Faith is not all
kind of assent to the Word of God as true and divine. For so the Jews in
Christ’s time assented to the books of Moses, and therefore Christ tells
them that they trusted in Moses. John 5:45, “There is one that accuseth
you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” Yet the very thing that Moses
accuses them for was not believing in him, i.e. believing so as to yield
to his sayings, and comply with him, or obey him, as the phrase in the
New Testament is concerning Christ. And therefore Christ says in the
next verse, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for
he wrote of me.” There may be a strong belief of divine things in the
understanding and yet no saving faith, as is manifest by 1 Cor. 13:2.
“Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have no
charity, I am nothing.” Not only trusting in Christ, as one that has
undertaken to save us, and as believing that he is our Savior, is faith;
but applying to him, or seeking to him, that he would become our Savior,
with a sense of his reality and goodness as a Savior, is faith: as is
evident by Rom. 15:12, “In him shall the Gentiles trust.” Compared with
the place whence it is cited, Heb. 11:10, “To it shall the Gentiles
seek;” together with Psa. 9:10, “And they that know thy name, will put
their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek
thee.” Which agrees well with faith’s being called a looking to Christ,
or coming to him for life, a flying for refuge to him, or flying to him
for safety. And this is the first act of saving faith. And prayer’s
being the expression of faith confirms this. This is further confirmed
by Isa. 31:1-2, “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on
horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen,
because they are very strong: but they look not unto the Holy One of
Israel, neither seek the Lord.” When it is said, Psa. 69:6, “Let not
them that wait on thee, O Lord, be ashamed for my sake: let not those
that seek thee be confounded for my sake:” it is equivalent to that
scripture, “He that believeth shall never be confounded.” And when it is
said, Psa. 69:32, “And your heart shall live that seek the Lord;” it is
equivalent to that scripture, “The just shall live by faith.” So Psa.
22:26 and Psa. 70:4. And so Amos 5:4, “For thus saith the Lord unto the
house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live.” And verse 6, “Seek the
Lord, and ye shall live.” And Amos 5:8, “Seek him that made the seven
stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning.” Song
4:8, “Look from the top of Amana.” Isa. 17:7-8, “At that day shall a man
look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of
Israel, and he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands;
neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the
groves or the images.” Isa. 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all
the ends of the earth.” Jon. 2:4, “I will look again towards thine holy
temple.” Mic. 7:7, “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for
the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” Psa. 34:5, “They looked
unto him, and were lightened; their faces were not ashamed.”
§ 49. Faith is a taking
hold of God’s strength: Isa. 27:5, “O let him take hold of my strength,
that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.” Faith
is expressed by stretching out the hand to Christ: Psa. 68:31, “Ethiopia
shall soon stretch out her hands to God.” So Christ said to the man that
had the withered hand, “Stretch forth thine hand.” Promises of mercy and
help are often in Scripture made to rolling our burden, and rolling
ourselves, or rolling our way on the Lord. Pro. 16:3, “Commit thy works
unto the Lord, and thy thought shall be established.” Psa. 22:8 and
37:5, “He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver
him, seeing he delighted in him.” — “Commit thy way unto the lord; trust
also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.”
§ 50. That there are
different sorts of faith, and that all believing that Christ is the Son
of God and Savior of the world, etc. is not true and saving faith, or
that faith which most commonly has the name of faith appropriated to it
in the New Testament, is exceedingly evident by John 6:64, “But there
are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning, who
they were that believed not, and who should betray him.” Here are false
disciples that had but a temporary faith, that thought him to be the
Messiah, but would fall away, as Judas and others, are said to be those
that believed not, making an essential difference between their belief,
and that grace that has the term faith, or believing, appropriated to
it. Faith is a receiving of Christ into the heart, in such a sense as to
believe that he is what he declares himself to be, and to have such a
high esteem of him as an excellent Lord and Savior, and so to prize him,
and so to depend upon him, as not to be ashamed nor afraid to profess
him, and openly and constantly to appear on his side. See Rom. 10:8-13.
§ 51. Trusting in riches,
as Christ uses the expression concerning the rich young man, and as the
expression is used elsewhere, is an extensive expression, comprehending
many dispositions, affections, and exercises of heart towards riches. So
faith in Christ, or trusting in Christ, is as extensive. The soul’s
active closing or uniting with Christ, is faith. But the act of the
soul, in its uniting or closing, must be agreeable to the kind and
nature of the union that is to be established between Christ and the
saints, and that subsists between them, and is the foundation of the
saints’ communion with Christ. Such is the nature of it, that it is not
merely like the various parts of a building, that are cemented and
cleave fast together, or as marble and precious stones may be joined so
as to become one. But it is such a kind of union as subsists between the
head and living members, between stock and branches; between which, and
the head or stock, there is such a kind of union that there is an
entire, immediate, perpetual dependence for, and derivation of,
nourishment, refreshment, beauty, fruitfulness, and all supplies: yea,
life and being. And the union is wholly for this purpose. This
derivation is the end of it, and it is the most essential thing in the
union. Now such a union as this, when turned into act (if I may so say),
or an active union of an intelligent rational being that is agreeable to
this kind of union, and is a recognition and expression, and as it were
the active band of it, is something else besides mere love. It is an act
most properly expressed by the name of faith, according to the proper
meaning of the word so translated, as it was used in the days when the
Scriptures were written.
§ 52. Trusting in a prince
or ruler, as the phrase was understood among the Jews, implied in it
faithful adherence and entire subjection, submission, and obedience. So
much the phrase plainly implies, Jdg. 9:15, “And the bramble said unto
the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put
your trust in my shadow; and, if not, let fire come out of the bramble,
and devour the cedars of Lebanon.” We have an account of the fulfillment
of this parable in the sequel. How the men of Shechem did not prove
faithful subjects to Abimelech, according to their covenant or agreement
with him, but dealt treacherously with him, Jdg. 9:23. And how
accordingly Abimelech proved the occasion of their destruction. The like
figure of speech is used to signify the nation’s obedience to the king
of Assyria, Eze. 31:6. “All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his
boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring
forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.” So
also it signifies the subjection of the nations to Nebuchadnezzar; Dan.
4:11-12, “The tree grew, and it was strong: the beasts of the field had
shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs
thereof, and all flesh fed of it.” The benefit that those who are the
true subjects of Christ have by him, is expressed by the very same
things; Eze. 17:23, “In the mountain of the height of Israel will I
plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a
goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the
shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.” Our trusting in God
and Christ is often expressed by our trusting in his shadow, and under
the shadow of his wings, and the like: Psa. 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; Psa. 63:7;
91:1, Song 2:3; Isa. 4:6; 25:4. Here see Ruth 2:12 compared with chap.
1:16. John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: he
that believeth not the Son απειθων.” The force of the word may in some
measure be learned from Acts 5:36-37, and Acts 5:40. “And to him they
agreed or obeyed;” the word is the same in the Greek. And Acts 23:21,
“But do not thou yield unto them;” the word is the same in the Greek.
Acts 26:19, “I was not disobedient (απειθεις) to the heavenly vision;”
Rom. 1:30, “Disobedient to parents, απειθεις.” See also Acts 17:4, “Some
of them believed (in the Greek επεισθησαν) and consorted with Paul and
Silas.” Acts 14:2, “The unbelieving Jews, απειθουντες.” Eph. 2:2, “The
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, απειθειας.” We
may judge something of the force of the word πειθομαι, by the
signification of the word whence it comes; πειθομαι is the passive of
πειθω, which signifies, to counsel, to move or entice, draw or persuade
unto.
§ 53. That a saving belief
of truth arises from love, or a holy disposition and relish of heart,
appears by Phil. 1:9-10. “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet
more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment, that ye may approve
things that are excellent.” That this approving of the things that are
excellent, is mentioned as an instance of the exercise of that knowledge
and judgment that is spoken of as the fruit of love, appears more
plainly in the original, as the connection is evident, εις το δοκιμαζειν,
unto the approving. The same thing appears by 2 Thes. 2:12, “That they
all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.”
§ 54. It is fit that,
seeing we depend so entirely and universally, visibly, and remarkably,
on God, in our fallen state, for happiness, and seeing the special
design of God was to bring us into such a great and most evident
dependence; that the act of the soul, by which it is interested in this
benefit, bestowed in this way, should correspond, viz., a looking and
seeking to and depending on God for it; that the unition of heart, that
is the proper term, should imply such an application of the soul to God,
and seeking his benefits only and entirely, and with full sense of
dependence on him; and that as the condition before was obedience, or
rendering to God: — so now it should be seeking and looking to him,
drawing and deriving from him, and with the whole heart depending on
him, on his power and free grace, etc. Faith is the proper active union
of the soul with Christ as our Savior, as revealed to us in the gospel.
But the proper active union of the soul with Christ as our Savior, as
revealed to us in the gospel, is the soul’s active agreeing, and suiting
or adapting itself, in its act, to the exhibition God gives us of
Christ, and his redemption; to the nature of the exhibition, being pure
revelation, and a revelation of things perfectly above our senses and
reason; and to Christ himself in his person as revealed, and in the
character under which he is revealed to us; and to our state with regard
to him in that character; and to our need of him and concern with him,
and his relation to us; and to the benefits to us with which he is
exhibited and offered to us in that revelation; and to the great design
of God in that method and divine contrivance of salvation revealed. But
the most proper name for such an action, union, or unition of the soul
to Christ, as this, of any that language affords, is faith.
§ 55. The revelation or
exhibition that God first made of himself, was of his authority,
demanding and requiring of us, that we should render something to him
that nature and reason required. The act of the soul that is suitable to
such an exhibition, may be expressed by submitting, doing, obeying, and
rendering to God. The exhibition which God makes of himself since our
fall, in the gospel, is not of his power and authority as demanding of
us, but of his sufficiency for us as needing, empty, helpless, and of
his grace and mercy to us as unworthy and miserable. And the exhibition
is by pure revelation of things quite above all our senses and reason,
or the reach of any created faculties, being of the mere good pleasure
of God. The act in us that is proper and suitable to, and well according
to, such an exhibition as this, may be expressed by such names as
believing, seeking, looking, depending, acquiescing, or in one word,
faith.
§ 56. That believing, in
the New Testament, is much the same as trusting in the Old, is confirmed
by comparing Jer. 17:5. “Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and
maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord;” verse 7,
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, whose hope the Lord is” —
with Heb. 3:12. “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” It also is
confirmed by this: that trusting in God and hoping in him are used in
the Old Testament as expressions of the same import. So hope is often in
the New Testament used to signify the same thing that, in other places,
is signified by faith. Rom. 15:12-13, “And again, Esaias saith, There
shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the
Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust.” “Now the God of peace fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope
through the power of the Holy Ghost.” Compare Dan. 6:21-23 and Heb.
11:33-34.
It is manifest that trusting in God is a phrase of the same
import with believing in him, by comparing Isa. 49:23. “They shall not
be ashamed that wait for me;” with Isa. 28:16, and Rom. 9:33, and 10:11.
These places show that waiting for God signifies the same as believing
on him. And it is evident, by various passages of Scripture, that
waiting on God, or for God, signifies the same as trusting in him.
§ 57. That saving faith
implies in its nature divine love is manifest by 1 John 5:1, “Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God; and every one that
loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.” The
apostle’s design in this verse seems to be to show the connection there
is between a true and sincere respect to God, and a respect to and union
with Christ, so that he who is united to the Son, is so to the Father,
and vice versa. As he believes in Christ and so loves him, it is evident
that he is a child of God and vice versa. He whose heart is united to
the Father, is so to the Son too. He that loveth him that begat, loveth
him also that is begotten of him. (Compare 1 John 2:22-24 and chap. 4:15
with John 14:1 and John 15:23-24.) The same is further manifest again by
the following verses of this chapter, 1 John 5:3-5. “This is the love of
God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not
grievous;” i.e. this is a good evidence that we have true love to God:
that we are enabled to triumph over the difficulties we meet with in
this evil world, and not to esteem the yoke of denial of our worldly
lusts a grievous and heavy yoke, and on that account be unwilling to
take it upon us. “For whosoever is born of God, overcometh the world;
and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” This
is explaining what he had said before: that our love to God enables us
to overcome the difficulties that attend keeping God’s commands, which
shows that love is the main thing in saving faith, the life and power of
it, by which it produces great effects. This is agreeable to what the
apostle Paul says, when he calls saving faith, “faith effectual by
love.”
§ 58. Seeking God is from
time to time spoken of as the condition of God’s favor and salvation, in
like manner as trusting in him. Psa. 24:5-6, “He shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him; that seek thy face, O
Jacob.” See also Psa. 69:6, 32; Psa. 70:4; Isa. 11:10; Isa. 45:19; Amos
5:4, 6; Lam. 3:25; Mat. 7:7-8. And 1 Chr. 16:10, “Glory ye in his holy
name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” See the same
words in Psa. 105:3, Psa. 22:26, “The meek shall eat and be satisfied.
They shall praise the Lord that seek him. Your heart shall live for
ever.” Psa. 34:10, “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.”
They that seek God
are spoken of as those that love God’s salvation. Psa. 70:4, “Let all
those that seek thee, rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such as love
thy salvation, say continually, Let the Lord be magnified.” We have the
same words again, Psa. 40:16. The expression seems to be in some measure
parallel with trusting in God’s salvation. Psa. 78:22, “Because they
believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.” And hoping in
God’s salvation, Psa. 119:166, “I have hoped for thy salvation.” And
waiting for God’s salvation, Gen. 49:18, “I have waited for thy
salvation, O God.” Lam. 3:25-26, “The Lord is good unto them that wait
for him; to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both
hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” Mic. 7:7, “I will
wait for the God of my salvation.” Agreeably to this, despising the
pleasant land, is spoken of as an exercise of the spirit of unbelief;
Psa. 106:24, “Yea, they despised the pleasant land; they believed not
his word.”
§ 59. Flying, resorting,
or running to, as to a refuge, are terms used as being equivalent to
trusting; Psa. 62:7-8, “My refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times,
God is a refuge for us.” Psa. 91:2; Pro. 18:10, “The name of the Lord is
a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Psa. 71:1,
3, “In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust.” — “Be thou my strong
habitation, whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given
commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.” Heb.
6:18, “Who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.”
See also Isa. 60:8-9; Psa. 91.
§ 60. Waiting on the Lord,
waiting for his salvation, and the like, are terms used as being
equivalent to trusting in God in the Scripture. Psa. 25:2, “O my God, I
trust in thee; let me not be ashamed.” Verse 5, “On thee do I wait all
the day.” Verse 21, “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for on
thee do I wait.” Psa. 37:3, “Trust in the Lord.” Verse 5, “Trust also in
him.” Psa. 37:7, “Rest on the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” Psa.
27:13-14, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of
the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, and be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.”
See also Psa. 37:9, 34; Pro. 20:22; Psa. 39:7; Psa. 52:8-9; Psa. 59:9;
Psa. 62:1-2 and verses 5-8; Psa. 130:5-8; Mic. 7:7; Isa. 30:18; Isa.
40:31; Isa. 49:23; Isa. 51:5; Isa. 60:8; Lam. 3:24-26; Hab. 2:3-4; Gen.
49:18; Psa. 33:18-20; Psa. 40:1-4; Isa. 33:2; Zec. 11:11.
§ 61. Hoping in God,
hoping in his mercy, etc. are used as terms equivalent to trusting in
God. Psa. 78:7, “That they might set their hope in God.” Psa. 146:5,
“Happy is that man that hath the God of Jacob for his aid; whose hope is
in the Lord his God.” Jer. 14:8, “O the hope of Israel, and the Saviour
thereof in time of trouble.” Jer. 17:7, “Blessed is the man that
trusteth in the Lord; whose hope the Lord is.” Verse 13, “O Lord, the
hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed.” Jer. 17:17,
“Thou art my hope in the day of evil.” See also Jer. 50:7; Joel 3:16;
Psa. 39:7; Psa. 22:8-9; Psa. 38:14-15; Psa. 33:18-20; Psa. 147:10-11;
Psa. 119:49 and verse 14; Psa. 130:3 to the end; Lam. 3:21 and verses
23-26; Psa. 119:74, 166; Rom. 8:24; Rom. 15:12-13; Rom. 4:16 and verses
18-20; Gal. 5:5; Col. 1:23; 1 Tim. 1:1; Heb. 3:6. And 1 Pet. 1:3-5,
etc., “Hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of
Christ from the dead; to an inheritance incorruptible, etc. who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, wherein ye greatly
rejoice; that the trial of your faith being much more precious — whom
having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet
believing, ye rejoice, etc. receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls.” 1 Pet. 1:13, “Be ye sober, and hope to the
end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ;” verse 21, 22, “Who by him do believe in God, who raised
him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might
be in God: seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth
through the Spirit.” 1 Pet. 3:15, “And be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you.” Heb.
11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for.” Mat. 12:21, “In his
name shall the Gentiles trust;” — in the original ελπιουσι, hope.
§ 62. Looking to, or
looking for, are used as phrases equivalent to trusting, seeking,
hoping, waiting, believing on, etc. Num. 21:9, “And it came to pass,
that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of
brass, he lived;” together with John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have eternal
life.” Isa. 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth.” Psa. 123:1-2, “Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that
dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the
hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her
mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have
mercy upon us.” See also Song 4:8; Isa. 31:1; Isa. 8:17; Isa. 17:7-8;
Jon. 2:4; Mic. 2:2; Psa. 34:4-5; Isa. 22:11; Psa. 141:8; 2 Chr. 20:12;
Psa. 25:15.
§ 63. Rolling oneself, or
burden, on the Lord, is an expression used as equivalent to trusting.
Psa. 22:8, “He trusted in the Lord, that he would deliver him:” In the
original, “He rolled himself on the Lord.” Psa. 37:5, “Commit thy way
unto the Lord; trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass.” In the
Hebrew, Roll thy way upon the Lord. Pro. 16:3, “Commit thy works unto
the Lord, and thy thought shall be established.” In the Hebrew, Roll thy
works.
§ 64. Leaning on the Lord,
and staying ourselves on him, are of the same force. Mic. 3:11, “Yet
will they lean on the Lord.” Song 8:5, “Who is this that cometh up out
of the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?” See also Isa. 48:2; Pro.
3:5; Isa. 26:3; 2 Kin. 18:21; Isa. 36:6-7; 2 Chr. 32:8 (in the Hebrew,
leaned on the words of Hezekiah); Eze. 39:7; Heb. 11:21.
§ 65. Relying on God, 2
Chr. 13:18, “Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that
time, and the children of Judah prevailed; because they relied upon the
Lord God of their fathers;” compared with verses 14-15 wherein it is
said, “And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and
behind; and they cried unto the Lord, and the priests sounded with the
trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout, and as the men of Judah
shouted, it came to pass that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel, before
Abijah and Judah.” See also 2 Chr. 16:7-8.
§ 66. Committing
ourselves, our cause, etc. unto God, is of the same force. Job 5:8, “I
would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause, who doth
great things, and unsearchable, marvellous things without number.” See
also Psa. 31 at the beginning; 2 Tim. 1:12.
§ 67. The distinction of
the several constituent parts or acts of faith, in assent, consent, and
affiance, if strictly considered and examined, will appear not to be
proper and just, or strictly according to the truth and nature of
things. This is because the parts are not all entirely distinct one from
another, and so are in some measure confounded one with another. For the
last, viz., alliance, implies the other two, assent and consent, and is
nothing else but a man’s assent and consent with particular relation or
application to himself and his own case, together with the effect of all
in his own quietness and comfort of mind, and boldness in venturing on
this foundation in conduct and practice.
Affiance consists in these five
things: 1. Consent to something proposed, to be obtained by another
person, as good, eligible, or desirable, and so for him. 2. Assent of
the judgment to the reality of the good, as to be obtained by him; that
he is sufficient, faithful, etc. 3. The mind’s applying itself to him
for it, which is no other than the soul’s desiring him to possess us of
this good consented to, expressing these desires before him, that he may
see and take notice of them, i.e. expressing these desires with an
apprehension that he sees our hearts, and designedly spreading them
before him, to the end that they might be observed by him and gratified.
4. Hoping that the good will be obtained in this way, which hope
consists in two things, viz., expectation of the good in this way, and
in some, ease, quietness, or comfort of mind, arising from this
expectation. 5. Adventuring some interest on this hope in practice,
which consists either in doing something that implies trouble, or brings
expense or suffering, or in omitting something that we should otherwise
do: by which omission some good is foregone or some evil is brought
on.
If these acts cannot in strictness all take place at the same moment
of time, though they follow one another in the order of nature, yet they
are all implied in the act that is exercised the first moment, so far as
that act is of such a nature as implies a necessary tendency to what
follows. In these last three especially consists man’s committing
himself to Christ as a Savior. In the third and fourth especially
consists the soul’s looking to Christ as a Savior.
§ 68. In that consent to
the way or method of salvation, which there is in saving faith, the
heart has especially respect to two things in that method, that are the
peculiar glory of it, and whereby it is peculiarly contrary to corrupt
nature: 1. Its being a way wherein God is so exalted and set so high,
and man so debased and set so low. God is made all in all, and man
nothing. God is magnified as self-sufficient, and all-sufficient, and as
being all in all to us: his power and grace, and Christ’s satisfaction
and merits, being all. And man is annihilated: his power, his
righteousness, his dignity, his works, are made nothing of.
2. Its being
so holy a way: — a way of mere mercy, yet of holy mercy (mercy in saving
the sinner by showing no favor or countenance to sin): — a way of free
grace, yet of holy grace. Not grace exercised to the prejudice of God’s
holiness, but in such a way as peculiarly to manifest God’s hatred to
sin and opposition to it, and strict justice in punishing it, and that
he will by no means clear the guilty, and every way manifesting the
infinite evil and odiousness of sin, much more than if there had been no
salvation offered. Therefore, humiliation and holiness are the chief
ingredients in the act of consent to this way of salvation.
In these
things I have spoken only of a consent to the way or method of
salvation. But in saving faith is included also a consent to the
salvation itself, or the benefits procured. What is peculiarly contrary
to this in corrupt nature, is a worldly spirit. And therefore in order
to this act of consent there must be mortification to or weanedness from
the world, and a selling of all for the pearl of great price.
Lastly.
Besides all these, there is in saving faith a consent to Christ himself,
or a closing of the heart or inclination with the person of Christ. This
implies each of the three things forementioned, viz., humiliation,
holiness, and renouncing the world. It implies humiliation, for as long
as men defy themselves, they will not adore Jesus Christ. It implies
sanctification, for Christ’s beauty, for which his person is delighted
in and chosen, is especially his holiness. It implies forsaking the
world, for as long as men set their hearts on the world as their chief
good, and have that as the chief object of the relish and complacence of
their minds, they will not relish and take complacence in Christ, and
set their hearts on him as their best good. The heart of a true believer
consents to three things exhibited in the gospel of salvation. 1. The
person who is the author of the salvation. 2. The benefit, or the
salvation itself. 3. The way or method in which this person is the
author of this benefit.
§ 69. Faith implies a
cleaving of the heart to Christ, because a trusting in others is spoken
of as a departing of the heart from the Lord. Jer. 17:5, “Cursed is the
man that trusteth in man, whose heart departeth from the Lord.” So a
heart of unbelief is a heart that departs from the Lord. Heb. 3:12,
“Lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing
from the living God.” Faith has a double office. It accepts Christ from
God, and presents Christ to God. It accepts Christ in the Word, and
makes use of him in prayer. In the Word, God offers him to you as Lord
and Savior, to give you repentance and remission of sins. Now, when you
consent to God’s terms, this is to believe in him. — Faith presents
Christ to God, Eph. 3:12, “In whom we have boldness and access with
confidence, by the faith of him.” All religion lies in coming to God by
him, Heb. 7:25, “Wherefore he is able also to save them unto the
uttermost, that come unto God through him; seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them.” Dr. Manton, vol. 5, p. 382.
§ 70. We often read in the
New Testament of the calling of Christians, of their high calling; and
that effect of God’s Word and Spirit, by which they are brought to a
saving faith, is called their calling; and true believers are spoken of
as the called of God, called saints, etc. And this call is often
represented as an invitation, an invitation to come to Christ, to come
and join themselves to him, to come to follow him, to continue with him,
to be of his party, his society, seeking his interest, etc. To come to
him for his benefits, to come for deliverance from calamity and misery,
to come for safety, to come for rest, to come to eat and drink; an
invitation to come into his house, to a feast. And faith is often called
by the name of υπακοη, hearing, hearkening, yielding to, and obeying the
gospel, obeying Christ, being obedient to the faith, obeying the form of
doctrine, etc.
Hence we may learn the nature of saving faith: that it is
an accepting, yielding to, and complying with the gospel, as such a call
and invitation, which implies the hearing of the mind, i.e. the mind’s
apprehending or understanding the call; a believing of the voice, and
the offer and promises contained in it, and accepting, esteeming,
prizing the person and benefits invited to; and a falling in of the
inclination, the choice, the affection, etc.
§ 71. Faith, as the word
is used in Scripture, does not only signify dependence, as it appears in
venturing in practice, but also appears in the rest of the mind, in
opposition to anxiety; as appears by Mat. 6:25-34. “Take no thought —
shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” So Luke
12:22-32, “Take no thought — how much more will he clothe you, O ye of
little faith! Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure
to give you the kingdom,” compared with Phil. 4:6-7, and 1 Pet. 5:7.
This is agreeable to that phrase used in the Old Testament for trusting,
“Roll thy burden on the Lord.” Mat. 14:30-31, “But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying,
Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and
caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst
thou doubt?”
§ 72. The following
inquiries concerning saving faith are proper and important: 1. Whether
justifying faith, in its proper essence, implies, besides the act of the
judgment, also an act of the inclination and will? 2. Whether it
properly implies love in its essence? 3. What are the scripture
descriptions, characters, and representations of justifying faith? 4.
What is the true definition of justifying faith, a definition which
agrees with the scripture representation of faith, and takes all in? 5.
Whether the word faith, as used in the gospel, has a signification
diverse from what it has in common speech? 6. Why the word faith is used
to signify this complex act of the mind? 7. How far trusting in Christ
is of the nature and essence of faith? 8. Whether assent, consent, and
affiance, be a proper distribution of the various and distinct acts of
faith? 9. Whether hope, as the word is used in the New Testament, be
properly distinct from saving faith? 10. What does the word trust imply
in common speech? 11. What it implies as used in the Scriptures? 12. In
what sense faith implies obedience? 13. What is the nature of
self-righteousness? 14. How self-righteousness is peculiarly opposite to
the nature of faith? 15. In what sense there must be a particular
application in the act of saving faith? 16. Whether the first act of
faith is certainly more lively and sensible, than some of the weakest of
the consequent acts of saving faith? 17. In what sense perseverance in
faith is necessary to salvation? 18. What sort of evidence is it which
is the principal immediate ground of that assent of the judgment which
is implied in saving faith?
§ 73. Calling on the name
of Christ is often spoken of as the proper expression of saving faith in
Christ. Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13-14; 1 Cor. 1:2; Acts 9:14, 16, 21, 22.
Faith is trusting in Christ. See Doddridge’s note on Acts 16:31.
What in that prophecy of
the Messiah in Isa. 42:4 is expressed thus, “The isles shall wait for
his law,” is, as cited in Mat. 12:21. “In his name shall the Gentiles
trust.” Coming to Christ, and believing in him, are evidently used as
equipollent expressions, in John 6:29, 30, 35, 37, 40, 44, 45, 47, 64,
65. This coming, wherein consists believing, implies an attraction of
the heart, as is manifest by John 6:44-45. Christ, by eating his flesh
and drinking his blood, evidently means the same thing that he intends
in the same chapter, by believing in him, and coming to him. Compare
John 6:50, 51-54, 56-58, with John 6:29, 30, 35-37, 40, 44, 45, 47, 64,
65. Saving faith is called in Heb. 3:6 παρρησια και το καυχημα της
ελπιδος, “The confidence and the rejoicing of the hope.” Well expressing
the act of the whole soul that is implied in saving faith, the judgment,
the will, and affections. So in Heb. 10:23, “Let us hold fast the
profession of our faith.” In the original it is ελπιδος, hope.
Justifying faith is
nothing else but true virtue in its proper and genuine breathings
adapted to the case, to the revelation made, the state we are in, the
benefit to be received, and the way and the means of it, and our
relation to these things.
Faith is a sincere seeking righteousness and
salvation, of Christ, and in Christ. Rom. 9:31-32, “Hath not attained to
the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” See also the promises
made, both in the Old Testament and New, to them that seek the Lord. To
saving faith in Christ belongs adoration, submission, and subjection, as
appears by Isa. 45. “Unto me every knee shall bow,” with the foregoing
and following verses.
The general description of justifying faith is “a
proper reception of Christ and his salvation, or a proper active union
of the soul to Christ as a Savior.” I say, a proper reception, which
implies that it is a receiving him in a manner agreeable to his office
and character and relation to us, in which he is exhibited and offered
to us, and with regard to those ends and effects for which he is given
to mankind, was sent into the world and is appointed to be preached; and
in a manner agreeable to the way in which he is exhibited, made known,
and offered, i.e. by divine revelation, without being exhibited to the
view of ourselves; and the nature of his person, character, offices, and
benefits; and the way of salvation, as related to our faculties,
mysterious and incomprehensible; and in a manner agreeable to our
circumstances, and our particular necessities, and immediate and
infinite personal concern with the revelation and offer of the Savior. A
union of soul to this Savior and a reception of him and his salvation,
which is proper in these respects, is most aptly called by the name of
faith.
§ 74. That love belongs to
the essence of saving faith, is manifest by comparing Isa. 64:4. “Men
have not heard nor perceived by the ear, etc. what he hath prepared for
him that waiteth for him,” as cited by the apostle, 1 Cor. 2:9. “It is
for them that love him.” Now it is evident that waiting for God, in the
Old Testament, signifies the same with faith in God, or trusting in God.
Dr. Goodwin, in vol. 1 of
his Works, p. 286, says, “The papists say, wickedly and wretchedly, that
love is the form and soul of faith.” But how does the truth of this
charge of wickedness appear?
It was of old the coming to the sacrifice,
as one consenting to the offering, active in choosing and constituting
that as his offering, and looking to it as the means of atonement for
his sins, that interested him in the sacrifice, as appears by Heb.
10:1-2. “Could never make the comers thereunto perfect. For then, the
worshippers, once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins.”
Compare chap. 9:9.
Believing in one for any benefit, as sufficient for
the benefit, and disposed to procure it, and accordingly leaving our
interest with him, with regard to that benefit, is implied in trusting
in him, Job 39:11. “Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?
Or wilt thou leave thy labour with him? Wilt thou believe him, that he
will bring home thy seed, and gather it into thy barn?” As the whole
soul in all its faculties is the proper subject and agent of faith, so
undoubtedly there are two things in saving faith, viz., belief of the
truth, and an answerable disposition of heart. And therefore faith may
be defined, a thorough believing of what the gospel reveals of a Savior
of sinners, as true and perfectly good, with the exercise of an
answerable disposition towards him. That true faith, in the scripture
sense of it, implies not only the exercise of the understanding, but of
the heart or disposition, is very manifest. Many important things
pertaining to saving religion, which the Scripture speaks of under the
name of some exercise of the understanding, imply the disposition and
exercise of the heart also. Such as, knowing God — understanding the
Word of God — having eyes to see, and a heart to understand. And piety
is called wisdom. So men’s wickedness is called ignorance, folly, etc. A
being wise in one’s own eyes, implies a high opinion of himself, with an
agreeable or answerable disposition.
It is evident that trust in Christ
implies the disposition or will, the receiving and embracing of the
heart. For we do not trust in any person or thing for anything but good,
or what is agreeable to us; what we choose, incline to, and desire. Yea,
trusting commonly is used with respect to great good: good that we
choose, as what we depend upon for support, satisfaction, happiness,
etc.
§ 75. The following things concerning the nature of faith, are
extracted from Dr. Sherlock’s Several Discourses, preached at Temple
Church; discourse 14, page 257, etc. “Faith, as some thing, is no proper
subject for exhortation. For if faith is a mere act of the mind judging
upon motives of credibility, it is as reasonable to exhort a man to see
with his eyes, as to judge with his understanding. But then, if this be
the true notion of faith, how comes it that in every page we find the
praises of it in the gospel? What is there in this to deserve the
blessings promised to the faithful? Or whence is it that the whole of
our salvation is put upon this foot? How come all these prerogatives to
belong to faith, if faith be nothing else but believing things in
themselves credible? Why are we not said to be justified by light as
well as by faith? For is not there the same virtue in seeing things
visible, as in believing things credible? Tell me then, what is faith,
that it should raise men above the level of mortality, and make men
become like the angels of heaven? — But further, if it be only an act of
the understanding formed upon due reasons, how comes it to be described
in Scripture as having its seat in the heart? The apostle in the text
(Heb. 3:12) cautions against an evil heart of unbelief, and the same
notion prevails throughout the books of Scripture, and is as early as
our Savior’s first preaching. Faith, which is the principle of the
gospel, respects the promises and declaration of God, and includes a
sure trust and reliance on him for the performance. Beyond this, there
is no further act of faith. We are not taught to believe this, in order
to our believing something else. But here, faith has its full completion
and leads immediately to the practice of virtue and holiness. For this
end was the Son of God revealed, to make known the mind and will of the
Father, to declare his mercy and pardon, and to confirm the promises of
eternal life to mankind. He that believes and accepts this deliverance
from the bondage of sin, and through patience and perseverance in well
doing, waits for the blessed hope of immortality, and who passes through
the world as a stranger and pilgrim, looking for another country and a
city whose builder is God: — this is he whose faith shall receive the
promise, whose confidence shall have great recompense of reward.”
Here
Dr. Sherlock speaks of that true Christian faith, which is the principle
of the gospel, as including a sure trust and reliance on God. The same
author elsewhere, in the same book, page 251, speaks of reliance or
dependence on God, as arising from a principle of love to God, in the
words following: “The duties we owe to God are founded in the relation
between God and us. I observed likewise to you, that love naturally
transforms itself into all relative duties, which arise from the
circumstances of the person related. Thus, in the present case, if we
love God, and consider him as Lord and Governor of the world, our love
will soon become obedience. If we consider him as wise, and good, and
gracious, our love will become honor and adoration. If we add to these
our own natural weakness and infirmity, love will teach us dependence,
and prompt us in all our wants to fly for refuge to our Great
Protector.”
§ 76. That expression in
Psa. 50:5, “Gather my saints, that have made a covenant with me by
sacrifice,” seems to show that such is the nature of true faith in
Christ, that believers do therein, by the sincere, full act of their
minds and hearts, appoint Christ to be their sacrifice. As such, they
bring him an offering to God; i.e. they entirely concur with what was
done in his offering himself a sacrifice for sinners, as a real
sacrifice sufficient and proper for them, trusting in this sacrifice.
Faith is the believer’s coming to God and giving himself up to God,
hoping for acceptance by this sacrifice, and taking God for his God,
hoping for an interest in him as such by this sacrifice, that so God may
be his God, and he one of his people.
219. Justifying Faith is
more properly called faith than acceptance, because the things received
are spiritual and unseen, and because they are received as future, and
entirely the free gift of God.
244. Saving Faith. It does
not seem congruous, and in itself it is not proper, for God quite to
pass over sin, rebellion, and treachery, and receive the offender into
his entire favor, either without a repentance and sorrow, and
detestation of his fault, adequate to the aggravation of it (which can
never be), or if there be another that appears in his stead, and has
done and suffered so much as fully to satisfy and pay the debt, it will
not be proper to forgive him, whatever is done for him by his
representative for his expiation, unless there be an accepting of it by
the offender for that end, a sense of its being adequate to the offense,
and an applying of the mind to him, and a recumbence upon him for
satisfaction. This now seems to me evident from the very light of
nature.
254. Being of God. Faith.
Even the being of a God can be made most rationally and demonstratively
evident, by divine revelation and by gracious spiritual illumination,
after the same manner as we have shown the Christian religion, the
superstructure built upon that foundation, is evident. Suppose all the
world had otherwise been ignorant of the being of a God before, yet they
might know it, because God has revealed himself: He has shown himself,
he has said a great deal to us, and conversed much with us. And this is
every whit as rational a way of being convinced of the being of God, as
it is of being convinced of the being of a man who comes from an unknown
region, and shows himself to us, and converses with us for a long time.
We have no other reason to be convinced of his being, than only that we
see a long series of external concordant signs of an understanding,
will, and design, and various affections. The same way God makes known
himself to us in his Word. And if we have full and comprehensive
knowledge of the revelation made, of the things revealed, and of the
various relations and respects of the various parts, their harmonies,
congruities, and mutual concordances, there appear most indubitable
signs and expressions of a very high and transcendent understanding,
together with a great and mighty design, an exceeding wisdom, or most
magnificent power and authority, a marvelous purity, holiness, and
goodness. So that if we never knew there was any such being before, yet
we might be certain that this must be such a one.
256. Faith. Evidence for
God Seen in Creation. One that is well acquainted with the gospel, and
sees the beauties, the harmonies, the majesty, the power, and the
glorious wisdom of it and the like may, only by viewing it, be as
certain that it is no human work, as a man that is well acquainted with
mankind and their works may, by contemplating the sun, know it is not a
human work, or when he goes upon an island, and sees the various trees,
and the manner of their growing, and blossoming, and bearing fruit, may
know that they are not the work of man.
329. Believing vs.
Trusting. Faith is very often in the Scripture called trust, especially
in the Old Testament. Now trusting is something more than mere
believing. Believing is the assent to any trust testified, and trusting
always respects truth that nearly concerns ourselves, in regard of some
benefit of our own that it reveals to us, and some benefit that the
revealer is the author of. It is the acquiescence of the mind in a
belief of any person, that by his word reveals or represents himself to
us as the author of some good that concerns us. If the benefit be a
deliverance or preservation from misery, it is a being easy in a belief
that he will do it. So if we say that a man trusts in a castle to save
him from his enemies, we mean that his mind is easy, and rests in a
persuasion that it will keep him safe. If the benefit be the bestowment
of happiness, it is the mind’s acquiescing in it, that he will
accomplish it: That is, he is persuaded he will do it; he has such a
persuasion that he rejoices in confidence of it.
Thus, if a man has promised a child to make him his heir, if we say he
trusts in him to make him his heir, we mean he has such a belief of what
he promises, that his mind acquiesces and rejoices in it, so as not to
be disturbed by doubts and questions whether he will perform it. These
things all the world means by trust. The first fruit of trust is being
willing to do and undergo in the expectation of some thing. He that does
not expect the benefit, so much as to make him ready to do or undergo,
dares not trust it. He dares not run the venture of it. Therefore, they
may be said to trust in Christ, and they only, that are ready to do and
undergo all that he desires, in expectation of his redemption. And the
faith of those that dare not do so, is unsound. Therefore, such trials
are called the trials of faith.
But this is to be considered, that Christ does not promise that he will
be the author of our redemption, but upon condition, and we have not
performed that condition, until we have believed. Therefore, we have no
grounds, until we have once believed. Therefore, we have no grounds,
until we have once believed, to acquiesce in it that Christ will save
us. Therefore the first act of faith is no more than this, the
acquiescence of the mind in him in what he does declare absolutely. It
is the soul’s resting in him, and adhering to him, so far as his Word
does reveal him to all as a Savior for sinners, as one that has wrought
out redemption, as a sufficient Savior, as a Savior suited to their
case, as a willing Savior, as the author of an excellent salvation, etc.
so as to be encouraged heartily to seek salvation of him, to come to
him, to love, desire, and thirst after him as a Savior, and fly for
refuge to him. This is the very same thing in substance, as that trust
we spoke of before, and is the very essence of it. This is all the
difference, that it was attended with this additional belief, viz., that
the subject had performed the condition, which does not belong to the
essence of faith. That definition which we gave of trust before holds,
viz., the acquiescence of the mind in the word of any person who reveals
himself to us as the author of some good that nearly concerns us.
Trusting is not only believing that a person will accomplish the good he
promises: the thing that he promises may be very good, and the person
promising or offering may be believed, and yet not properly trusted in.
For the person to whom the offer is made, may not be sensible that the
thing is good, and he may not desire it. If he offers to deliver him
from something that is his misery, perhaps he is not sensible that it is
his misery; or he may offer to bestow that which is his happiness, but
he may not be sensible that it is happiness. If so, though he believes
him, he does not properly trust in him for it, for he does not seek or
desire what he offers, and there can be no adherence or acquiescence of
mind. If a man offers another to rescue him from captivity and carry him
to his own country, and if the latter believes the former will do it,
and yet does not desire it,
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