19. For which reason the ancient Christians adopted this form of baptism for their first creed, and afterwards they composed their other summary confessions according to the tenor of this. And we may see in what manner all the promises of the gospel are contained in the doctrine of the Trinity, in the exposition of Matt. xxviii. 19, by our church, for the instruction of those who offer their children for baptism, which is also read to them. The iustructor doth therefore undertake to explain these articles according to the doctrine of the Trinity, because they comprehend all the promises of the gospel, and must be believed to salvation.

It doth not appear at all probable that these articles of faith were composed by the apostles, and that each apostle dictated his particular article, when they were about to separate from one another at Jerusalem: for Luke mentions nothing of this in the acts of the apos

They are indeed called Symbolum Apostolorum, the apostles' creed; but not because they were composed by the apostles, but rather because they contain a brief compend of the doctrine of the apostles

We must therefore not look upon then as the infallible word of God, but only a brief compend of the doctrine of faith, believed and professed by the catholic church, gathered from the Jews and Gentiles, since they were composed according to the word of God, and particulaly by the ancient Christian church, while she was not yet infected with many errours, which sprang up afterwards. This creed, or confession of faith, and likewise all others, composed and explained according to the word of God, serve for symbols of the agreement of the church in the doctrine of the trnth; they are also means to preserve purity of doctrine, and to detect and restrain erroneous persons, who may arise in the church. But it is not sufficient to constitute a person a believer, and qualify him to be admitted to membership in the church, that he makes a verbal confession of this creed; for there is no heretic, however erroneous, who will not confess it verbally, and if he should be admitted into the church apon such a pretence, would he not excite much confusion and disturbance in the church? And therefore this creed must be received and confessed according to the exposition of the word of God, for it is only on account of the word of God that it is worthy to be believed and received.

It is not only the promise of the gospel, that is the object of faith, but also the Lord Jesus Christ himself proposed in the gospel; for

* The author means the exposition of the passage alledged in the form for the administration of baptism to infants.

"we believe in and on him," Acts xvi. 31, Eph. iii. 12, and "receive him by faith," John i. 12, and he dwells in our hearts by faith," Eph. ii. 17, and faith rests not in him, but passeth through him to the Father, and thus "we believe by him in God," 1 Peter i. 21.

III. We may now easily comprehend" what true faith is." Faith in general is a holding of the word or testimony of a person to he true; and when he saith something, in which we are interested, a depending on his words. In this sense is faith used here also: for by faith a person holds the testimony of God, that he will save sinners, who flee to Christ, to be true, and he depends upon it. The word faith denotes sometimes indeed the doctrine of faith: "Paul preached the faith which he once destroyed," Gal. i. 23. See also Acts vi. 7. Jude vrs. 3, but it commonly signifies a working act of the soul with respect to God, and Christ, and the word of promise, and in this sense do we speak of faith here.

The reason why the instructor asks just concerning "a true," or a saving and justifying faith, called also "an unfeigned faith," 1 Tim. i. 5, and "the faith of God's elect," Titus i. 1, is because some have only a pretended faith, and all faith is not saving ; for there is a bare historical faith, by which a person acknowledgeth the divine truths, with a certain persuasion of mind, to be true and divine, without being influenced thereby to an earnest endeavour after salvation, according to those truths. In this manner "Agrippa believed the This is called a historical faith, because prophets," Acts xxvi. 27. it is a holding of what is related in the bible to be true, as well with respect to that which hath happened, as to that which is promised concerning present and future matters. If any one will rather call this historical faith a speculative faith, or a faith of bare assent, we will not object to it. There are some, who, besides this historical faith, possess a temporary faith, by which they are exceedingly pleased with the divine mysteries, which they believe, are ravished with them, and have sometimes an unusual relish in them: "They receive the word anon with joy," Matt. xiii. 20. "They taste the heavenly gift," &c. Heb. vi. 4, 5. "They escape for a while the pollutions of the world," 2 Peter ii. 20. Heb. x. 29. This is called a temporary faith, net only because it usually endures but for a time, at most only while it fares well with the church, and the temporary believer can maintain a good name; but also because it is promoted and supported by the temporary things of honour, pleasure, and profit. And therefore we must not think with the Remonstrants, in order that they may defend their doctrine of the apostacy

of the saints, that a temporary faith is of the same nature with ą saving faith, as though there were no other difference between a temporary and a saving faith, than that the one ceaseth after a time, but the other endureth to the end: for a temporary faith is essentially different from a saving faith, in as much as it remains "without root in a stony heart, and doth not bring forth good fruits;" but it is altogether different with a saving faith. See Mar. xiii. 23. Luke viii. 15. The true believer "hath better things, and such as accompany salvation," Heb. vi. 9. Some have besides this also a faith of miracles, by which they trust, in consequence of some special promise of God, or some extraordinary impulse of the Holy Spirit, that some miracle will be performed, either by them, or upon them. See Ma xviii. 20. Mark ix. 22, 23. 24. A person may have. such a faith, and not possess a saving faith, as we may see MaL vii. 22. 1 Cor. xiii 2.

This saving faith consists in three acts of the soul, which it

exerts.

1. "In a knowledge of what God hath revealed to us in his word. It is scarcely possible that every believer should know all things; the best "knows but in part," 1 Cor. xiii 9. But if a person shall believe, it is necessary that he should know the fundamental truths. These are those (a) which the Holy Ghost himself calls the foundation ; (b) with the knowledge and belief of which salvation is inseparably connected ; (e) which are the foundation and support of other revealed doctrines, and (d) which teach the true practice of piety. We shall not explain these marks of the fundamental truths at present, for we have done this in our "mystery of God's covenants," page 5, 6, 7. We say now only, that in order to believe to salvation, we must know how great our sins and misery are, how we may be delivered from our misery, and how we shall express our gratitude to God for such deliverance.

Every believer knows and understands these things more or less, not only with a literal knowledge, but irradiated with the light of God; he sees into the things themselves, he beholds God and Christ and not only his word, although by the word, by which his mind is drawn forth toward the Lord, is united to him, changed into conformity to him, and warmed with love to him : "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shines in his heart, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 6. See also Psalm xxxvi. 9. 2 Cor. iii. 18. Heb. xi. 27.

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We will not determine precisely whether this knowledge be a proper act of faith. It is certain, that the soul, when she exerciseth faith, exerts a certain activity in knowing and contemplating her objects, as well as in any other act of faith. It is also abundantly evident, that no man can believe while he doth not know the object of his faith. We must therefore detest popery, which asserts that an implicit faith is sufficient, to wit, when a person only believes as the church believes, without knowing what the church believes, or whether her faith be good; yea, the papists conceive that faith can be described better by ignorance, than knowledge, and that ignorance is the mother of devotion. Arrant folly! but in this manner do they retain souls in blindness and in bondage. How can we believe a person, when we do not understand what he saith? "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. x. 17. Must we not then understand what we hear? Justifying and saving faith is called knowledge, Isaiah liii. 11. John xvii. 3. "The soul without knowledge is not good," Prov. xix. 2. Ignorance is the cause of every evil action. Because "the princes of this world knew not the wisdom of God, therefore they crucified the Lord of glory," I Cor. ii. 7, 8. "Ignorance alienates the sinner from the life of God," Eph. iv. 18. God will punish ignorance with flaming fire," 2 Thes. i. 8, and "he will not have mercy on a people of no understanding, nor show them any favour," Isaiah xxvii. 11.

2. The second act of faith i assent, or "a certain knowledge whereby a person holds for truth all that God reveals to him in his word." This assent we may also call a historical faith, (although it is wholly different from the historical faith of the unconverted, as we will see more particularly in the sequel). By which a person receives upon certain evidences, and upon the testimony of God, as a real, divine, and acceptable truth, that which is revealed to him in the word of God. "This is called "receiving the testimony of God, and setting to our seal that God is true," John iii. 33. "a full assurance of understanding," Coll. ii. 2, "an acknowledging of the truth," 2 Tim. ii. 35. Whereby the soul entertains such an assu-... rance of the invisible things, discovered in the word of God, as if she saw them with her eyes, and heard with her ears God speak of them to her with his own mouth; in consequence of which she can depend upon the promises of God as upon firm and immovable foundations, and expect happiness of every kind from him: for "this faith is a sure foundation of things hoped for, and an evidence of things not seen. By this faith Moses had respect unto the recompence of the reward, and endured as seeing him who is invisible,"

Heb. xi. 1, 26, 27. And therefore this faith is opposed to " doubting concerning the promises of God," Rom. iv. 18, 21.

The reason why our mind receives as true and divine all that God "hath revealed to us in his word, is not because the church, or our own human reason teaches and commands it; tor then our belief of the divine truth would not depend upon a divine authority, but upon men, and upon our own imagination. It is indeed true, that the church showeth us the truth and divinity of the scriptures, and that reason is the mean by which we apprehend it: but nothing that is human can persuade and oblige us to believe the truth and divinity of the scriptures but the believer holds all this to be true and divine, on account of the evidences of the truth and divinity which appear in the word itself, and offer themselves to the attentive inquiFer. Therefore we are directed, in order that we may believe, not to the church, or to our own reason, but only to the word of God. See Isaiah xxxiv 16. John v. 39. Acts xvii. 11. The evidences of the truth of scripture are particularly the credibility of the prophets and apostles, who testified, without regard to their private interest, "that which they had seen with their eyes, and handled with their hands," 1 John 1. 1, 2, 3, and they confirmed their testimony by every mean, yea, by suffering the most painful death. The evidences of the divinity of the holy scriptures are the prophecies of future events, which have been fulfilled in their proper time; and also the miracles, by which God confirmed his doctrine. To all this we must add a powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit, by which he illustrates those evidences, so that we can understand them, and by which he conveys and works the grace and truth which the scripture proposeth, in our hearts, and produces thus a perfect assurance. See how Paul teaches this, 1 Thess. i. 5, "Our gospel came not to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance," 1 Thess. ij. 13. "Ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe." And so "the Spirit beareth witness that the Spirit is the truth." 1 John v. 6. It is indeed true, that the mind suffers grievous assaults, when it exerciseth this faith, that the flesh and the devil attack one sometimes with horrible, yea, blasphemous injections, by which the faith of the soul is exceedingly shaken; but we must know that a historical faith hath also its imperfections, yea. that these shakings tend, by the wise and powerful ordination of God, to inroot this faith more firmly and deeply in the soul; since the soul, shaken in this manner, endeavours so much the more to surmount