in Scripture, is presented to us under two leading views: the
first is that of _assent_ or _persuasion_; the second, that of
_confidence_ or _reliance_. The former may be separate from the latter,
but the latter cannot exist without the former. Faith, in the sense of
an intellectual assent to truth, is, by St. James, allowed to devils. A
dead, inoperative faith is also supposed, or declared, to be possessed
by wicked men, professing Christianity; for our Lord represents persons
coming to him at the last day, saying, “Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name” &c, to whom he will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
And yet the charge in this place does not lie against the sincerity of
their belief, but against their conduct as “workers of iniquity.” As
this distinction is taught in Scripture, so it is also observed in
experience: assent to the truths of revealed religion may result from
examination and conviction, while yet the spirit and conduct may remain
unrenewed and sinful.
2. The faith which is required of us as a condition of salvation always
includes confidence or reliance, as well as assent or persuasion. That
faith by which “the elders obtained a good report,” was of this
character; it united _assent_ to the truth of God’s revelations with a
noble _confidence_ in his promise. “Our fathers trusted in thee, and
were not confounded.” We have a farther illustration in our Lord’s
address to his disciples upon the withering away of the fig tree: “Have
faith in God.” He did not question whether they believed the existence
of God, but exhorted them to confidence in his promises, when called by
him to contend with mountainous difficulties: “Have faith in God; for
verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be
thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall believe (trust) that these things which he saith shall
come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.” It was in reference to
his simple confidence in Christ’s power that our Lord so highly
commended the centurion, and said, “I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel,” Matt. viii, 10. And all the instances of faith in the
persons miraculously healed by Christ, were also of this kind: their
faith was belief in his claims, and also confidence in his goodness and
power.
3. That faith in Christ which in the New Testament is connected with
salvation, is clearly of this nature; that is, it combines assent with
reliance, belief with trust. “Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name,”
that is, in dependence upon my interest and merits, “he shall give it
you.” Christ was preached both to Jews and Gentiles as the object of
their trust, because he was preached as the only true sacrifice for sin;
and they were required to renounce their dependence upon their own
accustomed sacrifices, and to transfer that dependence to his death and
mediation,--and “in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” He is said to be
set forth as a propitiation, “through faith in his blood;” which faith
can neither merely mean assent to the historical fact that his blood was
shed by a violent death; nor mere assent to the general doctrine that
his blood had an atoning quality; but as all expiatory offerings were
_trusted in_ as the means of propitiation both among Jews and Gentiles,
faith or trust was now to be exclusively rendered to the blood of
Christ, as the divinely appointed sacrifice for sin, and the only refuge
of the true penitent.
4. To the most unlettered Christian this then will be very obvious, that
true and saving faith in Christ consists both of assent and trust; but
this is not a blind and superstitious trust in the sacrifice of Christ,
like that of the Heathens in their sacrifices; nor the presumptuous
trust of wicked and impenitent men, who depend on Christ to save them in
their sins; but such a trust as is exercised according to the authority
and direction of the word of God; so that _to know_ the Gospel in its
leading principles, and to have a cordial _belief_ in it, is necessary
to that more specific act of faith which is called _reliance_, or in
systematic language, _fiducial assent_. The Gospel, as the scheme of
man’s salvation, declares that he is under the law; that this law of God
has been violated by all; and that every man is under sentence of death.
Serious consideration of our ways, confession of the fact, and sorrowful
conviction of the evil and danger of sin, will, under the influence of
divine grace, follow the cordial belief of the testimony of God; and we
shall then turn to God with contrite hearts, and earnest prayers, and
supplications for his mercy. This is called “repentance toward God;” and
repentance being the first subject of evangelical preaching, and then
the injunction to believe the Gospel, it is plain, that Christ is only
_immediately_ held out, in this divine plan of our redemption, as the
object of trust in order to forgiveness to persons in this state of
penitence and under this sense of danger. The degree of sorrow for sin,
and alarm upon this discovery of our danger as sinners, is no where
fixed to a precise standard in Scripture; only it is supposed every
where, that it is such as to lead men to inquire earnestly, “What shall
I do to be saved?” and with earnest seriousness to use all the appointed
means of grace, as those who feel that their salvation is at issue, that
they are in a lost condition, and must be pardoned or perish. To all
such persons, Christ, as the only atonement for sin, is exhibited as the
object of their trust, with the promise of God, “that whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” Nothing
is required of such but this actual trust in, and personal apprehension
or taking hold of, the merits of Christ’s death as a sacrifice for sin;
and upon their thus believing they are justified, their “faith is
counted for righteousness,” or, in other words, they are forgiven.
5. This appears to be the plain Scriptural representation of this
doctrine; and we may infer from it, (1.) That the faith by which we are
justified is not a mere assent to the doctrines of the Gospel, which
leaves the heart unmoved and unaffected by a sense of the evil and
danger of sin and the desire of salvation, although it supposes this
assent; nor, (2.) Is it that more lively and cordial assent to, and
belief in, the doctrine of the Gospel, touching our sinful and lost
condition, which is wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God, and from
which springeth repentance, although this must precede it; nor, (3.) Is
it only the assent of the mind to the method by which God justifies the
ungodly by faith in the sacrifice of his Son, although this is an
element of it; but it is a hearty concurrence of the will and affections
with this plan of salvation, which implies a renunciation of every other
refuge, and an actual trust in the Saviour, and personal apprehension of
his merits: such a belief of the Gospel by the power of the Spirit of
God as leads us to come to Christ, to receive Christ, to trust in
Christ, and to commit the keeping of our souls into his hands, in humble
confidence of his ability and his willingness to save us.
6. This is that qualifying condition to which the promise of God annexes
justification; that without which justification would not take place;
and in this sense it is that we are justified by faith; not by the merit
of faith, but by faith instrumentally as this condition: for its
connection with the benefit arises from the merits of Christ and the
promise of God. If Christ had not merited, God had not promised; if God
had not promised, justification had never followed upon this faith; so
that the indissoluble connection of faith and justification is from
God’s institution, whereby he hath bound himself to give the benefit
upon performance of the condition. Yet there is an aptitude in this
faith to be made a condition; for no other act can receive Christ as a
Priest propitiating and pleading the propitiation and the promise of God
for his sake to give the benefit. As receiving Christ and the gracious
promise in this manner, it acknowledgeth man’s guilt, and so man
renounceth all righteousness in himself, and honoureth God the Father,
and Christ the Son, the only Redeemer. It glorifies God’s mercy and free
grace in the highest degree. It acknowledges on earth, as it will be
perpetually acknowledged in heaven, that the whole salvation of sinful
man, from the beginning to the last degree thereof, whereof there shall
be no end, is from God’s freest love, Christ’s merit and intercession,
his own gracious promise, and the power of his own Holy Spirit.
7. Faith, in Scripture, sometimes is taken for the truth and
faithfulness of God, Rom. iii, 3; and it is also taken for the
persuasion of the mind as to the lawfulness of things indifferent, Rom.
xiv, 22, 23; and it is likewise put for the doctrine of the Gospel,
which is the object of faith, Acts xxiv, 24; Phil. i, 27; Jude 3; for
the belief and profession of the Gospel, Rom. i, 8; and for fidelity in
the performance of promises.
first is that of _assent_ or _persuasion_; the second, that of
_confidence_ or _reliance_. The former may be separate from the latter,
but the latter cannot exist without the former. Faith, in the sense of
an intellectual assent to truth, is, by St. James, allowed to devils. A
dead, inoperative faith is also supposed, or declared, to be possessed
by wicked men, professing Christianity; for our Lord represents persons
coming to him at the last day, saying, “Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name” &c, to whom he will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
And yet the charge in this place does not lie against the sincerity of
their belief, but against their conduct as “workers of iniquity.” As
this distinction is taught in Scripture, so it is also observed in
experience: assent to the truths of revealed religion may result from
examination and conviction, while yet the spirit and conduct may remain
unrenewed and sinful.
2. The faith which is required of us as a condition of salvation always
includes confidence or reliance, as well as assent or persuasion. That
faith by which “the elders obtained a good report,” was of this
character; it united _assent_ to the truth of God’s revelations with a
noble _confidence_ in his promise. “Our fathers trusted in thee, and
were not confounded.” We have a farther illustration in our Lord’s
address to his disciples upon the withering away of the fig tree: “Have
faith in God.” He did not question whether they believed the existence
of God, but exhorted them to confidence in his promises, when called by
him to contend with mountainous difficulties: “Have faith in God; for
verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be
thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his
heart, but shall believe (trust) that these things which he saith shall
come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.” It was in reference to
his simple confidence in Christ’s power that our Lord so highly
commended the centurion, and said, “I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel,” Matt. viii, 10. And all the instances of faith in the
persons miraculously healed by Christ, were also of this kind: their
faith was belief in his claims, and also confidence in his goodness and
power.
3. That faith in Christ which in the New Testament is connected with
salvation, is clearly of this nature; that is, it combines assent with
reliance, belief with trust. “Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name,”
that is, in dependence upon my interest and merits, “he shall give it
you.” Christ was preached both to Jews and Gentiles as the object of
their trust, because he was preached as the only true sacrifice for sin;
and they were required to renounce their dependence upon their own
accustomed sacrifices, and to transfer that dependence to his death and
mediation,--and “in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” He is said to be
set forth as a propitiation, “through faith in his blood;” which faith
can neither merely mean assent to the historical fact that his blood was
shed by a violent death; nor mere assent to the general doctrine that
his blood had an atoning quality; but as all expiatory offerings were
_trusted in_ as the means of propitiation both among Jews and Gentiles,
faith or trust was now to be exclusively rendered to the blood of
Christ, as the divinely appointed sacrifice for sin, and the only refuge
of the true penitent.
4. To the most unlettered Christian this then will be very obvious, that
true and saving faith in Christ consists both of assent and trust; but
this is not a blind and superstitious trust in the sacrifice of Christ,
like that of the Heathens in their sacrifices; nor the presumptuous
trust of wicked and impenitent men, who depend on Christ to save them in
their sins; but such a trust as is exercised according to the authority
and direction of the word of God; so that _to know_ the Gospel in its
leading principles, and to have a cordial _belief_ in it, is necessary
to that more specific act of faith which is called _reliance_, or in
systematic language, _fiducial assent_. The Gospel, as the scheme of
man’s salvation, declares that he is under the law; that this law of God
has been violated by all; and that every man is under sentence of death.
Serious consideration of our ways, confession of the fact, and sorrowful
conviction of the evil and danger of sin, will, under the influence of
divine grace, follow the cordial belief of the testimony of God; and we
shall then turn to God with contrite hearts, and earnest prayers, and
supplications for his mercy. This is called “repentance toward God;” and
repentance being the first subject of evangelical preaching, and then
the injunction to believe the Gospel, it is plain, that Christ is only
_immediately_ held out, in this divine plan of our redemption, as the
object of trust in order to forgiveness to persons in this state of
penitence and under this sense of danger. The degree of sorrow for sin,
and alarm upon this discovery of our danger as sinners, is no where
fixed to a precise standard in Scripture; only it is supposed every
where, that it is such as to lead men to inquire earnestly, “What shall
I do to be saved?” and with earnest seriousness to use all the appointed
means of grace, as those who feel that their salvation is at issue, that
they are in a lost condition, and must be pardoned or perish. To all
such persons, Christ, as the only atonement for sin, is exhibited as the
object of their trust, with the promise of God, “that whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” Nothing
is required of such but this actual trust in, and personal apprehension
or taking hold of, the merits of Christ’s death as a sacrifice for sin;
and upon their thus believing they are justified, their “faith is
counted for righteousness,” or, in other words, they are forgiven.
5. This appears to be the plain Scriptural representation of this
doctrine; and we may infer from it, (1.) That the faith by which we are
justified is not a mere assent to the doctrines of the Gospel, which
leaves the heart unmoved and unaffected by a sense of the evil and
danger of sin and the desire of salvation, although it supposes this
assent; nor, (2.) Is it that more lively and cordial assent to, and
belief in, the doctrine of the Gospel, touching our sinful and lost
condition, which is wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God, and from
which springeth repentance, although this must precede it; nor, (3.) Is
it only the assent of the mind to the method by which God justifies the
ungodly by faith in the sacrifice of his Son, although this is an
element of it; but it is a hearty concurrence of the will and affections
with this plan of salvation, which implies a renunciation of every other
refuge, and an actual trust in the Saviour, and personal apprehension of
his merits: such a belief of the Gospel by the power of the Spirit of
God as leads us to come to Christ, to receive Christ, to trust in
Christ, and to commit the keeping of our souls into his hands, in humble
confidence of his ability and his willingness to save us.
6. This is that qualifying condition to which the promise of God annexes
justification; that without which justification would not take place;
and in this sense it is that we are justified by faith; not by the merit
of faith, but by faith instrumentally as this condition: for its
connection with the benefit arises from the merits of Christ and the
promise of God. If Christ had not merited, God had not promised; if God
had not promised, justification had never followed upon this faith; so
that the indissoluble connection of faith and justification is from
God’s institution, whereby he hath bound himself to give the benefit
upon performance of the condition. Yet there is an aptitude in this
faith to be made a condition; for no other act can receive Christ as a
Priest propitiating and pleading the propitiation and the promise of God
for his sake to give the benefit. As receiving Christ and the gracious
promise in this manner, it acknowledgeth man’s guilt, and so man
renounceth all righteousness in himself, and honoureth God the Father,
and Christ the Son, the only Redeemer. It glorifies God’s mercy and free
grace in the highest degree. It acknowledges on earth, as it will be
perpetually acknowledged in heaven, that the whole salvation of sinful
man, from the beginning to the last degree thereof, whereof there shall
be no end, is from God’s freest love, Christ’s merit and intercession,
his own gracious promise, and the power of his own Holy Spirit.
7. Faith, in Scripture, sometimes is taken for the truth and
faithfulness of God, Rom. iii, 3; and it is also taken for the
persuasion of the mind as to the lawfulness of things indifferent, Rom.
xiv, 22, 23; and it is likewise put for the doctrine of the Gospel,
which is the object of faith, Acts xxiv, 24; Phil. i, 27; Jude 3; for
the belief and profession of the Gospel, Rom. i, 8; and for fidelity in
the performance of promises.