PART FOURTH.

This assurance There is no me

OBS. XIV. Saving faith contains in its nature an assurance of the truth of its object. is essential unto the nature of faith. dium betwixt this and unbelief. This assurance has been called the assurance of faith, and objective assurance; in opposition unto another kind of assurance, which has been denominated the assurance of sense, and subjective assurance. The assurance of faith, or objective assurance, is a firm persuasion of the truth of the things believed, and is now under our consideration; but the assurance of sense, or subjective assurance, is the persuasion which the Christian has of his personal interest in the object of faith, which may afterwards be considered. The nature of that assurance which the Christian has of the truth of the object of faith, may be illustrated in the following instances:-"Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe, and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."* "Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God." "And the Eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." From the moment in which the

* John 6: 68, 69.

John 16: 30.

Acts 8: 36, 37.

Holy Spirit enters into the soul, and implants the grace of saving faith, the person firmly believes that there is a glorious reality and certain truth in the things which are made known to him in Divine revelation, as the articles which he credits. Some of those articles are the following:-That he is born into the world in a state of sin, guilt, pollution, and misery, in the sight of an holy God; and that he deserves the full and eternal execution of his wrath and curse, which are revealed from heaven against the transgressors of his law. That he has exceedingly

dishonored God, and laid himself obnoxious unto his displeasure, by a continued course of rebellion against his authority, in his actual transgressions. That he is utterly unable to deliver himself out of this condition, but must, for any thing that he can do, or all creatures accomplish for him, perish eternally, under the guilt of sin, and the righteous anger of God. That the Great Jehovah, from his infinite love, mercy and grace, and in the exercise of his infinite sovereignty and wisdom, did contrive, from all eternity, a scheme of salvation for sinners of Adam's family, through the substitution, incarnation, and mediation of his eternal Son. That he from all everlasting, set up his Son to be the Mediator between God and man; gave unto him the objects of his love to be redeemed, and entered into a covenant with him for their salvation. That the Son of God, having from all eternity engaged to be the Savior of sinners, did in the fulness of time actually assume their nature, obey the precept of the law in their room, suffer the wrath of God in their stead, and completely finished both his obeying and suffering work, which the Father gave him to do, in his death upon the cross. That the incarnation, obedience, sufferings and death of Christ,

or his complete righteousness, contain both infinite. satisfaction by which the demands of the law and justice of God are completely satisfied, and deliverance from the curse is secured to his people, and infinite merit, by which a title to life is procured for all those who are interested in him. That Christ having fulfilled all righteousness, the Father has lodged in him all the fulness of the new covenant, which he communicates to the souls of his people in grace and in glory. That the Holy Spirit of God takes up his dwelling in the souls of Christians, and implants faith in their hearts, in consequence of which they are united to the person of Christ, and renewed in the spirit of their minds, and are enabled to believe unto the saving of their souls. That the Lord Jesus Christ, his righteousness, fulness and salvation, are brought near unto the children of men in the Gospel; and that all the hearers of it are called, invited, commanded, and fully warranted by God, and by Christ, to exercise faith in him, and to receive this salvation from him. That it is the indispensable duty of all the hearers of the word, whatever be their moral state before God, to believe in, come unto, receive and rest upon Christ by faith, for their salvation; and that all who are enabled to believe in Christ shall have everlasting life; and that those who do not believe in Christ shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide on them. These, and such like things, are surely believed among all those who are privileged with saving faith. Whatever their views may be of their personal interest in the object of faith, or in that salvation which is revealed in the Gospel, yet they will, when faith is in exercise, firmly believe the truth of these things, which respect the object of faith. If the Christian's mind is in a

staggering state as to the truth of these and the like particulars, the exercise of faith is for the time suspended, and unbelief gains an ascendency in the soul; but no sooner does faith return to its exercise, than the Christian has a certain assurance of their truth. As a doubting or questioning the truth of these things is essential to unbelief, so a conviction or persuasion of their being true, is essential to saving faith. This assurance is supported in the soul by the never-failing faithfulness of the God of truth, which the Christian sees to be interposed, for the ratification of the things he believes concerning the object of faith. The solemn oath of the Great Jehovah, which the believer discerns to be employed to confirm the same thing, stands as an immoveable pillar of his assurance. The beauty and glory of the truths relating to the object of faith, and their intrinsic propriety and evidence, so strike the enlightened minds of believers, as convinces them of their truth. The manner in which the Spirit of God represents and applies these articles of faith to the soul, has such a commanding power on the mind, as renders it impossible for him not to believe, that they are the true sayings of God. The apostle seems to have this assurance, of which we are now speaking, in his view, when he says, "Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith." Let us come into the presence of God, and worship him in the ordinances of his grace, with a full persuasion and certain assurance of the truth of the glorious things which, are declared to us concerning the object of our faith.

OBS. XV. In the acts of faith there is a peculiar

Hebrews 10: 22,

application of its object unto the person himself who believes. Whatever it is that the person believes in the exercise of saving faith, is not credited in the way of mere speculation; but he discerns his particular concern in it, and believes it with application to himself. There is no faith that is saving in its nature, but it leads the person in whom it is, to this particular exercise concerning the things believed. A saving faith, both of the law and of the Gospel, may be considered, from the scriptural accounts, as a confirmation of this. If the Christian considers the operations of his mind, when he acts faith upon the law, he will find that this is the case with him. When the precept and the threatening are truly believed, the person is convinced that he himself is a sinner; is a criminal transgressor of the holy commandment, and that he deserves the execution of the threatening upon himself, in time and through eternity. The law is never believed by a true faith, if this conviction of personal guilt and danger is not produced in the soul. This is the tremendous and particular language of the law: "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."* And whosoever believes it, is convinced that he, having transgressed the law in instances innumerable, is undoubtedly exposed to its curse. He is fully persuaded in his own mind, that whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under it, and brings home both its charge of guilt and threatening of condemnation to him, in a way as particular and personal as Nathan did unto David, when the prophet said to the king, "Thou art the man." convinced sinners apply to themselves the language

* Galatians 3: 10.

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