DISCOURSE IX. ON SALVATION THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST. EPHESIANS ii. S. For by grace are ye saved through faith. 1T is the fashion of the age in which we live, to treat this Scripture - doctrine with scorn and contempt. Men of fine parts, improved by conversation with the world, can perceive, it seems, at first glimpse, without the fatigue of a painful enquiry, that there is no merit in believing, no danger in disbelieving. I am not addressing myself to these enlightened spirits; but, I trust, to plain sober men, who are ever willing to listen to Reason, and to follow wherever she leads. Reason surely will tell us That, when it has pleased God to reveal himself to us by the mouth of his Son, it cannot be safe, or even decent, to shut our ears against the heavenly voice, and turn our back on this divine Instructor! - no But we shall be told, perhaps, that No such instruction has ever been given; or, if it has, that it contains nothing new, thing but what wise and discerning men could easily have discovered for themselves. Whatever is more than this, ought to be imputed, it seems, to Bigotry and Superstition. Either the books which contain such doctrines are not genuine; or the passages from which they are taken have been interpolated; or they are wrongly translated; or, perhaps, only misinterpreted or misapplied. By some or other of these artifices every peculiar doctrine of Christianity is easily evaded; and it may seem of little importance to admit or reject a religion which is supposed to contain nothing but what we know already. But neither is the supposition true, nor the conclusion justly drawn. It is not true that The our religion contains nothing new. Bible is a treasure of knowledge to every attentive and impartial reader. It is weakly argued, That because the doctrines of Religion are conformable to Reason, therefore Reason alone is a full and sufficient guide. The experience of ages has long since detected the fallacy of this argument. Let us see then how this subject will appear, when seen in a juster point of view. It It may, I presume, be true that God has revealed his past and future dispensations towards man in an extraordinary manner. must be true that, if he has spoken to us at all, he requires us to attend to what he says. It must be true that he says nothing trifling, nothing superfluous; nothing, in short, but what, in some way or other, it concerns us to know. Are we quite sure then that we act like wise men when we reject the doctrine proposed to us without inquiry? or, which is the same thing, without a serious and careful inquiry? Again, If we admit the existence of a revelation from God, it may be true that the books which contain it, require to be studied with care. It may be true that our first care should be employed in guarding against the influence of our prejudices and passions. It must be true that the word of God is neither to be accommodated to our preconceived opinions (those very opinions, perhaps, which it was meant to reform) nor conâned within the sphere of natural knowledge, which it was designed to extend and enlarge. These, we will allow, are only possibilities; but it is the part of Prudence to guard even against possible evils. How then shall we be justified either in neglecting the Scriptures or in abusing them?—either in slighting and overlooking the instructions contained in them, or in eluding and perverting these very instructions, lest we should find something in them which we care not to know ? Consider well the consequences of either supposition. You have enquired, we will say, carefully and honestly; and you find after all, that the faith of a Christian has no reasonable foundation. Why then you have lost, yet not wholly lost, your time and your pains. You have at least the satisfaction of knowing that you have no neglect to answer for, either to God or yourselves. But if, on the other hand, the revelation which you reject, after a slight, perhaps, and superficial enquiry, should appear to be what it pretends to be, the voice of God speaking to man, →→ on this supposition, what have you not to fear? The Scriptures have pointed out to us no other road to Heaven but FAITH IN CHRIST. It is the natural means, it is the appointed means, of Christian salvation. It is the avowed design of Christianity to save us from sin,- from the guilt and from the punishment of sin. From the guilt we are saved by repentance and reformation; from the punishment we are saved by that all-sufficient sacrifice which has been offered for us upon the cross. Now faith is the natural means of bringing us to repentance; it is the appointed means by which we partake in the Christian sacrifice, 1. Faith is the natural means of saving us from a life of sin, and converting us to a life of piety and virtue. For what but the hopes. and fears of futurity, will enable us to subdue |