Part I: The Subject Shown to Be Important, Stated, and Explained
God, having blessed mankind with the glorious Gospel of his Son, hath spoken much in his word, as it might be supposed he would, of the treatment which it should receive from those to whom it was addressed. A cordial reception of it is called, in Scripture, receiving Christ, allowing him, believing in him, &c.; and the contrary, refusing, disallowing, and rejecting him; and those who thus reject him are, in so doing, said to judge themselves unworthy of everlasting life. John i. 12. i. 16. Psa. exviii. 22, Matt. xxi. 42. 1 Peter 1. 7. Acts xiii. 46. These are things on which the New Testament largely insists: great stress is there laid on the reception of the truth. The same lips which commissioned the apostles to go and preach the Gospel to every creature, added, He that BELIEVETH AND IS BAPTIZED, SHALL BE SAVED; BUT HE THAT BELIEVETH NOT, SHALL BE DAMNED. Jo as many aS RECEIVED HIM, to them gave he power to become the sons of God; but to them who received him not, but refused him, and rejected his way of salvation, he became a stumbling-stone, and a rock of offence, that they might stumble, and fall, and perish. Thus the Gospel, according to the different reception it meets with, becomes a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. Mark xvi. 16. 1 Peter ii. 8. 2 Cor. ii. 16. The controversies which have arisen concerning faith in Jesus Christ, are not so much an object of surprise, as the conduct of those who, professing to be.Christians, affect to decry the subject as a matter of little or no importance. There is not any principle or ex- -ercise of the human mind of which the New Testament speaks so frequently, and on which so great a stress is laid. And, with regard to the inquiry, whether faith be required of all men who hear, or have opportunity to hear the word, it cannot be uninteresting. If it be not, to inculcate it would be unwarrantable and cruel to our fellow-sinners, as it subjects them to an additional charge of guilt: but, if it be, to explain it away is to undermine the Divine prerogative, and, as far as it goes, to subvert the very intent of the promulgation of the Gospel, which is, that men should believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and, believing, have life through his name. John xx. 31. This is, doubtless, a very serious thing, and ought to be seriously ‘considered. Though some good men may be implicated in this matter, it becomes them to remember, that whosoever breaketh one of the least of Christ’s commandments, and teacheth men so, shall be
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called the least in the king dom of heav. eed fee Jieving be a commandment, it cannot be one of —
deast: the important relations which it sustains, as well as the dignity of its object, must prevent this: the knowledge of sin, repentance for it, and gratitude for pardoning mercy, all depend ‘upon our admitting it. And, if it be a great - commandment, the breach of it must be a great sin; and whosoever teaches men otherwise, is a partaker of their guilt; and, if they perish, will be found to have been accessary to their eternal ruin. Let it be considered, whether the ‘apostle to the Hebrews did not proceed upon such principles, when he exclaimed, ‘‘ How shail we escape, if we neglect so GREAT ‘salvation 2” And the — Lord Jesus himself, when he declared, “HE ‘THAT BELIEVETH NOT SHALL BE DAMNED!”
In order to determine, whether faith in Christ be the duty of all men who have opportunity to hear the Gospel, it will be necessary to determine what it is, or wherein it consists. Some have maintained, that it consists in a persuasion of our interest. in Christ, and in all the benefits and blessings Lot. his fnetiation Others, who would not be t ought to go so far,-for the sake of many Christians whom they cannot but observe, upon this principle, to be, generally speaking, unbelievers, yet maintain what fully implies it. Though they will allow, for the comfort of such Christians, that assurance is not of the essence of faith, understanding by assurance, an assured persuasion of our salvation; but, that a@ reliance on Christ is sufficient; yet, in almost all other things, they Sppak as if they did not believe what, at those
ve times, they say. It is common for such persons to call those fears which occupy the minds of Christians, lest they should miss of salvation at last, by the name of unbelief; and to reprove ’ them for being guilty of this God-dishonoring sin, exhorting them to be strong in faith, like Abraham, giving glory to God; when all that is meant is, that they should, without doubting, believe the goodness of their state. If this be saving faith, it must inevitably follow, that it is not the duty of unconverted sinners; for they are not interested in Christ, and it cannot possibly be their duty to believe a lie. But, if it can be proved that the proper object of saving faith is, not our being interested in Christ, but the glorious Gospel of the ever-blessed God, (which is true, whether we believe it or not,) a contrary inference must be drawn; for it is admitted on all hands, that it is the duty of every man to believe what God reveals.
I have no objection to allowing that true faith hath in it the nature of appropriation; if, by this term, be meant an application of the truths believed to our own particular cases. ‘‘ When the Scriptures teach,” says a pungent writer, “‘ we are to receive instruction, for the enlightening of our own minds; when they admonish, we are to take warning; when they reprove, we are to be checked; when they comfort, we are to be cheered and encouraged; and when they recommend any grace, we are to desire and embrace it; when they command any duty, we are to hold ourselves enjoined to do it; when they promise, we are to hope; when they threaten, we are to be terrified, as if the judgment were denounced against ws; and when they forbid any sin, we are to think they forbid it unto us. By which application we shall make all the rich treasures contained in the Scriptures wholly our own, and in such a powerful and peculiar manner enjoy the fruit and benefit of them, as if they had been wholly written for us, and none other else beside us.”’*
By saving faith, we undoubtedly embrace Christ for ourselves, in the same sense as Jacob embraced Jehovah as Ais God, Gen. xxviii. 21; that is, to a rejecting of every idol that stands in competition with him. Christ is all-sufficient, and suited to save ws, as well as others; and it is for the forgiveness of owr sins that we put our trust in him. But this is very different from a persuasion of our being in a state of salvation.
My objections to this notion of faith are as follow:
Nothing can be an object of faith, except what God has revealed in his word: but the interest that any individual has in Christ, and the blessings of the Gospel, more than another, is not revealed. God has no where declared, concerning any one of us, as individuals, that we shall be saved: all that he has revealed on this subject - respects us as characters. He has abundantly promised, that all who believe in him, love him, and obey him, shall be saved; and a persuasion, that, if we sustain these characters, we shall be saved, is, doubtless, an exercise of faith: but
* Downame’s “Guide to Godliness,” p. 647. whether we do them or not, is an object not of faith, but of consciousness. ‘“‘ Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” ‘* Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. My little children, let us not love in word and in.tongue, but in deed and in truth: hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.” 1 John ii. 3. 5. 1. 18, 19. If any one imagine that God has revealed to him his interest in his love; and this in a special, immediate, and extraordinary manner, and not by exciting in him the holy exercises of grace, and thereby begetting a consciousness of his being a subject of grace, let him beware, lest he deceive his soul. The Jews were not wanting in what some would call the faith of assurance: We have one Father, said they, even God: but Jesus answered, If God were your Father, ye would love me.
The Scriptures always represent faith as terminating on something without us; namely, on Christ, and the truths concerning him: but, if it consist in a persuasion of our being in a state of salvation, it must terminate, principally, on something within us; namely, the work of grace in our hearts; for to believe myself interested in Christ, is the same thing as to believe myself a subject of special grace. And hence, as was said, it is common for many who entertain this notion of faith, to consider its opposite, unbelief, as a doubting whether we have been really converted. But, as it is the truth and excellence of the things to be interested in, and not his interest in them, that the sinner is apt to disbeheve; so it is these, and not that, on which the faith of the believer primarily terminates. Perhaps what relates to personal interest may, in general, more properly be called hope than faith, and its opposite, fear, than unbelief.
To believe ourselves in a state of salvation, (however desirable, when grounded on evidence:) is far inferior, in its object, to saving faith. The grand object on which faith fixes, is the glory of Christ, and not the happy condition we are inj, as interested in him. The latter, doubtless, affords great consolation; and the more we discover of his excellence, the more ardently shall we desire an interest in him, and be the more disconsolate while it continues a matter of doubt. But if we be concerned only for our own security, our faith is vain, and we are yet in our sins. As that repentance which fixes merely on the consequences of sin, as subjecting us to misery, is selfish and spurious, so that faith which fixes merely on the consequences of Christ’s mediation, as raising us to happiness, is equally selfish and spurious. It is the peculiar property of true faith, to endear Christ: Unto you that believe, HE ts precious. And, where this is the case, if there be no impediments, arising from constitutional dejection or other accidental causes, we shall not be in doubt about an interest in him. Consolation will accompany the faith of the Gospel: Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
All those exercises of faith which our Lord so highly commends in the New Testament — as that of the centurion, the woman of Canaan, and others — are represented as terminating on his all-sufficiency to heal them, and not as consisting in a persuasion that they were interested in the divine favor, and, therefore, should succeed. Speak the word only, says the one, and my servant shall be healed; for I am a man in authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he docth it. Such was the persuasion which the other entertained of his all-sufficiency to help her, that she judged it enough if she might but partake of the crumbs of his table — the scatterings, as it were, of mercy. Similar to this is the following language : — If I may but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole. — Believe ye that I am asx to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. — Laord, tf thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. — If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. I allow that the case of these people, and that of a sinner applying for forgiveness, are not exactly the same. Christ had no where promised to heal all who came for healing; but he has graciously bound himself not to cast out any who come to him for mercy. On this account, there is a greater ground for faith in the willingness of Christ to save, than there was in his willingness to heal; and there was less unbelief in the saying of the leper, Ir rHov wit, thou canst make me clean, than there gat! OF ALL ACCEPTATION. 13
would be in similar language from one who, convinced of his own utter insufficiency, applied to him for salvation. But a persuasion of Christ being both able and willing to save all them that come unto God by him, and, consequently, to save us, if we so apply, is very different from a persuasion that we are the children of God, and interested in the blessings of the Gospel.
That the belief of the truth which God hath revealed in the Scriptures concerning Christ is saving faith, is evident from the following passages : — Go preach the Gospel to every creature. fle that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. Believing, here, manifestly refers to the Gospel to be preached, and the rejection of which would subject the unbeliever to certain damnation. — These things 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. Believing unto life is here described as a persuasion of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God; and that on the ground of what was written in the Scriptures. Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved. ‘This language plainly denotes that a real belief of the word is ‘connected with Salvation. Peter confessed, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered, Blessed art thou, Simon Barzjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Here it is plainly intimated that a belief of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the living God, is saving faith; and that no man can be strictly said to do this, unless he be the subject of a spiritual illumination from above. ‘To the same purpose are those express declarations of Paul and John : — Jf thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. — Whoso believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. — Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? — Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. — He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true — No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. — Again, While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. The light they then had was that of the Gospel; and had they believed “it, they would have been the children of light, or true Christians. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. — These things I say, that ye might be saved. Our Lord could not mean less, by this language, than that, if they believed those things which John testified, and which he himself confirmed, they would be saved; which is the same thing as declaring it to be saving faith. Christ 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..’The words in a parenthesis are evidently intended to give the reason of the phrase them that believe, and intimate that it was the belief of the Gospel testimony that denominated them believers. God hath chosen us to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. It cannot be doubted, that, by the belief of the truth, is here meant faith in Christ; and its being connected with sanctification of the Spirit, and eternal salvation, proves it to be saving. ‘Mark xvi. 16. John xx. 31. Luke viii. 12. Matt. xvi. 16, 17. Rom. x. 9. 1 John v. 5: iv. 15. John iii. 33. 1 Cor. xii. 3. John xii. 36: v. 33, 34. 2 Thess. i. 10: 11. 13.
If the foregoing passages be admitted to prove the point, (and if they do not, we may despair of learning any thing from the Scriptures,) the duty of unconverted sinners to believe in Christ cannot fairly be called in question; for, as before said, it is admitted on all hands that it is the duty of every man to believe what God reveals.
But to this statement it is objected, that Christianity having at that time great opposition made to it, and its professors being consequently exposed to great persecution and reproach, the belief and acknowledgment of the Gospel was more a test of sincerity than it now is. Men are now taught the principles of the Christian religion from their youth, and believe them, and are not ashamed to acknowledge them, while yet they give no evidence of their being born of God, but of the contrary. There is some force in this objection, so far as it respects the confesston of Christ’s name; but I do not perceive that it affects the belief of the Gospel. It was no more difficult to believe the truth at that time than at this, though it might be much more so to avow it. With respect to that traditional assent we
which is given to Christianity in some nations, it is of the same nature as that which is given to Mohammedanism and Paganism in others. It is no more than that of the Jewish nation, in the time of our Lord, towards the Mosaic Scriptures. They declared themselves to be Moses’ disciples, and had no doubt but they believed him; yet our Lord did not allow that they believed his writings. Had ye believed Moses, says he, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. John v. 46. The same is, doubtless, true of all others who assent to his Gospel, merely from having been educated in it. Did they believe it, they would be consistent,-and embrace those things which are connected with it. It is worthy of remark, that those professors of Christianity who received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, are represented as not believing the truth, and as having pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thes. ii. 10,12. To admit the existence of a few facts, without possessing any sense of their humiliating implication, their holy nature, their vast importance, or the practical consequences that attach to them, is to admit the body without the spirit. Paul, notwithstanding his knowledge of the law, and great zeal on its behalf, while blind to its spirituality, reckoned himself to be without the law. Rom. vii. 9. And such are those professing Christians, with respect to the Gospel, who receive not the love of the truth, that they may be saved.
It is further objected, that men are said to have believed the Gospel, who, notwithstanding, were destitute of true religion. Thus, some among the chief rulers are said to have believed Jesus, but did not confess him; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. It is said of Simon, that he belteved also; yet he was in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Agrippa is acknowledged, by Paul, to have believed the prophets; and faith is attributed even to the devils. The term belief, like almost every other term, is sometimes used in an improper sense. Judas is said to have repented, and hanged himself; though nothing more is meant by it than his being smitten with remorse, wishing he had not done as ‘he did, on account of the consequences. Through the poverty of language, there is not a name for every thing that differs; and, therefore, where two things have the same visible appearance, and differ only in some circumstances which are invisible, it is common to call them by the same name. Thus men are termed honesé who are punctual in their dealings, though such conduct, in many instances, may arise merely from a regard to their own credit, interest, or safety. Thus the remorse of Judas is called repentance; and thus the convictions of the Jewish rulers, of Simon, and Agrippa, and the fearful apprehension of apostate angels, from what they had already felt, is called faith. But as we do not infer, from the application of the term repentance to the feelings of Judas, that there is nothing spiritual in real repentance, so neither ought we to conclude, from the foregoing applications of the term believing, that there is nothing spiritual in a real belief of the Gospel.
“‘ The objects of faith,” it has been said, ‘“are Q* not bare axioms or propositions. The act of the believer does not terminate at an axiom, but at the thing; for axioms are not formed, but that, by them, knowledge may be had of things.” To. believe a bare axiom or proposition, in distinction from the thing, must be barely to believe that such and such letters make certain words; and that such words, put together, have a certain meaning: but who would call this believing the proposition? To believe the proposition, is to believe the thing. Letters, syllables, words, and propositions, are only means of conveyance; and these, as such, are not the objects of faith, but the thing conveyed. Nevertheless, those things must have a conveyance, ere they can be believed in. The person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, for instance, are often said to be objects of faith; and this they doubtless are, as they are objects held forth to us by the language
‘of Scripture: but they could not meet our faith, - unless something were affirmed concerning them in letters and syllables, or vocal sounds, or by some means or other of conveyance. To say, therefore, that these are objects of faith, is to say the truth, but not the whole truth. The person, blood, and righteousness of Christ, revealed in the Scriptures as the way of a sinner’s acceptance with God, are, properly speaking, the objects of our faith; for without such a revelation, it were impossible to believe in them.
Some writers have considered faith in Christ as a dependence on him, a receiving him, a coming to him, and trusting in him for salvation. There is no doubt but these terms are frequently used, in the New Testament, to express believing. ‘* As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” — ‘‘ He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shali never thirst.” — “‘ That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.” — ‘‘T know whom I have trusted, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.” John i. 12: vi. 35. Eph. i. 12. 2 Tim. i. 12, Whether these terms, however, strictly speaking, convey the same idea as believing, may admit of a question. They seem, rather, to be the immediate effects of faith, than faith itself.. The author of the Epistle to the
Hebrews describes the order of these things, in what he says of the faith of Enoch: — He that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Here are three different exercises of mind: First, believing that God is; second, believing that he
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him; third, coming to him: and the last is represented —
as the effect of the former two. The same may be applied to Christ. He that cometh to Christ must believe the Gospel testimony, that he is the Son of God, and the Savior of sinners — the only name given under heaven, and among men, by which we must be saved. He must also believe the Gospel promise, that he will bestow eternal salvation on all them that obey him; and under the influence of this persuasion, he comes to him, commits himself to him, or trusts the salvation of his soul in his hands. This process may be i. ie so quick as not to admit of the mind being conscious of it; and especially as, at such a time, it is otherwise employed than in speculating upon its own operations. So far as it is able to recollect, the whole may appear to be one complex exercise of the soul. In this large sense, also, as comprehending not only the credit of the Gospel testimony, but the soul’s dependence on Christ alone for acceptance with God, it is allowed that believing is necessary, not only to salvation, but to justification. We must come to Jesus, that we may have life. Those who attain the blessing of justification, must seek it by faith, and not by the works of the law — submitting themselves to the righteousness of God. This blessing is constantly represented as following our union with Christ: and he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. John v.40. Rom. ix. 31,32: x.3. 1 Cor. vi 17
Let it but be granted that a real belief of the Gospel is not merely a matter presupposed in saving faith, but that it enters into the essence of it, and the writer of these pages will be far from contending for the exclusion of trust or dependence.
The term trust appears to be most appropriate, or best adapted of any, to express the confidence which the soul reposes in Christ for the fulfilment of his promises. We may credit a report of evil tidings as well as one of good; but we cannot be said to trust it. We may also credit a report, the truth or falsehood of which does not at all concern us; but that in which we place trust must be something in which our well-being is involved.
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The relinquishment of false confidences which the Gospel requires, and the risk which is made in embracing it, are likewise better expressed by this term than by any other. A true belief of ‘Re record which God has given of his Son, is accompanied with all this; but the term belief does not, of itself, necessarily convey it. When Jacob’s sons brought the coat of many colors to him, he credited their story; he believed Joseph to be torn in pieces; but he could not be said to trust that he was. When the same persons, on their return from Egypt, declared that Joseph was yet alive, Jacob, at first, believed them not. But, on seeing the wagons, he was satisfied of the truth of their declaration, and ¢rusted in it too — leaving all behind him on the ground of it.
But, whatever difference there may be between credit and trust, they agree in those particulars which affect the point at issue: the one, no less than the other, has relation to revealed truth as its foundation. In some cases, it directly refers to the divine veracity, as in Ps. cxix. 42, “JF trust in thy word.” And where the immediate reference is to the power, the wisdom, or the mercy of God, or to the righteousness of Christ, there is a remote relation to veracity; for neither the one nor the other would be objects of trust, were they not revealed in a way of promise. And from hence it will follow, that, trusting in Christ, no less than crediting his testimony, is the duty of every sinner to whom the revelation is made.
If it be asked, What ground could a sinner who shall, at last, prove to have no interest in ot the salvation of Christ, ever possess for trusting in him” let it be considered what it was for
which he was warranted or obliged to trust.
Was it that Christ would save him, whether he
believed in him or not? No — there is no such promise; but an explicit declaration of ‘the con- ‘ trary. To trust in this, therefore, would be to trust in a falsehood. That for which he ought to have trusted in him was, the obtaining “of mercy, in case he applied for it. For this there was a complete warrant in the Gospel declarations. I may add, if any man distrust either the power or willingness of Christ to save those that come to him, and so continue to stand at a distance, relying upon his own righteousness, or some false ground of confidence, to the rejection of him, it is criminal and inexcusable unbelief.
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