Nothing, in fact, could appear to exceed Coleridge's admiration of his friend Wordsworth. When we have sometimes spoken complimentarily to Coleridge of himself, he has said that he was nothing in comparison with him." And it was from the minds of these wanderers that proceeded those pure and purifying ideas of Catholicity which have been since taken up by the Tractarians, claimed as their property, corrupted in their handling, and abused to their sectarian purposes. "The writings of Coleridge," says Dr. Carlyon with justice, "are of an enduring character. His writings-political, moral, and metaphysical-are getting more and more authoritative; and however true it may be that men, as Mr. Poole observes, are, for the most part, more prone to ape the vices, than to emulate the virtues, of distinguished individuals, yet the early frailties of Coleridge are calculated to put others on their guard, rather than to excite imitation; inasmuch as they exhibit, in striking imagery, the baneful tendency of wayward passions on the mind and body-bringing the former into imaginings alike revolting to right reason and religion, and the latter into diseases which not only shorten life, but introduce, amidst the brightest visions of the future, remorse, such as Christianity alone-and that but rarely has been found, as in the case of Coleridge-can overcome." Dr. Carlyon is a good and faithful member of the Church of England, zealous for her Sabbaths, her ordinances, her ministers, and her temples. "It is," says he, "undoubtedly true, that the clergy of the Church of England have ever shown themselves to be their own and the Bible's best apologists. Their writings, from the earliest dawn of the Reformation to the present day, exhibit such stores of divinity as may safely challenge comparison with the proudest achievements of literature in every other department; and no prudent layman, in his zeal to defend the Church, will think of throwing himself into their ranks unless clad in the panoply which they have provided for him. Their watchmen may not have been at all times equally upon the alert; but their present earnestness is duly estimated, and they have the satisfaction of finding that in proportion as they have been up and stirring,' the Protestant strength of the empire has been preparing to rally around them. The intrinsic excellence of a Church built upon the foundation of the holy Apostles, and of which Christ Himself is the corner-stone, is getting to be better known; and many who have hitherto regarded her, in a religious point of view, with unbecoming lukewarmness, are yet sensible that in the union of Church and State the safety of the British empire mainly consists. The parties most clamorous against her have never yet agreed wherein she is deficient; and far less would they agree, if they were able to effect her destruction, what to set up in her stead. Still, it has never been the arrogant boast of the Church of England that she is infallible; she only claims the merit of sincerity; and it has been well observed, that her own genuine and dutiful children know best wherein she is faulty, and do most lament her not being in circumstances, of late years, to come up to her own excellent rules of reformation, and her having lost any ground of which she was at any time possessed, by her over-lenity, and who bestow most pains to put her in her own right road again, against the torrent of opposition which they meet with from all sorts of enemies from within and from without; but most certain it is, that she cannot be so easily undone by her open, professed, and avowed enemies, as by her own clergy and people, or such as pretend to be of her communion." With the caution implied in the last sentence, we dismiss this article. 657 THE MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST, MAN'S ONLY JUSTIFICATION BEFORE GOD. No. II. III. BEING arrived at that stage of our reflections in which we see that man contributes no part of his own justification, but that it is the "free gift of God by grace," we at once encounter the question, What, then! are we not to try to do anything for ourselves? Are we to sit still, and leave all in the hands of God alone? Does it make no difference whether we do well or evil? "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Now, this question appears, at first sight, to flow naturally out of the conclusion we had last come to; but the fact is, that it is not at all the necessary result of that conclusion, but it takes its rise from a source deep-seated in the heart of man. What that source may be, we have not now time to enquire: somewhat it is of that ancient pride which led man, instead of trusting himself in the hands of God, to pluck the forbidden fruit, that he might be as God; that pride which, in like manner, would reject all means which depend upon God alone—which make God, and not man, chief agent-which return all the glory to God, instead of begetting it for man. We say that the question flows not from our last conclusion; for, is it necessary, because justification comes solely from Christ, to suppose that man is, therefore, to make no effort to receive it? Were we told that a certain physician could cure us from a certain deadly disease, should we hesitate to receive the cure at his hands because none of the credit of it was to accrue to ourselves? And yet this is our conduct with regard to justification, when, in the madness of our egotism and pride, we ask, What! and am I to do nothing? Is my share in this transaction to be lost sight of? Know, O vain man, that there is something to be done by thee-a work which will be much to thee, but little before God; and, therefore, as it is much, and difficult of attainment to thee, see that thou do thy diligence, lest thou fall short of the mark; and as it is little and worthless in the eye of God, see that thou boast not thyself in it, but "when thou hast done all that is commanded thee, say, I am an unprofitable servant." Now, whereas Christ is the grand reservoir in which are the Waters of Life, which all who drink shall live, yet is it necessary for each who would live, first to drink: and so, also, as justification is in Christ alone, yet it is necessary for each man separately to appropriate it to himself, and the means whereby he must do this is faith; for faith was the sole condition on which Christ worked his miracles of cure on earth, and it is the sole condition on which He offers eternal life now, for "we are justified by faith." *"He," says Christ, "that believeth on Me, shall never thirst;"*"He that believeth hath everlasting life ;” "He that believeth, though he were dead, yet shall he live;" "Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die;" §"Whoso believeth on Him,' says St. Paul, "shall not be ashamed;" and "Christ is the justifier of him that believeth;" "Thy faith," again saith Jesus, "thy faith hath made thee whole;" "thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." Such being the importance and the power of faith, it will be well that we have a distinct and correct idea of what faith is. Now, faith is that state of mind in which man, knowing that he has no power of himself to come to God, yet believes that by Christ he is made at once able and fit to draw near as a son and heir of God, so that by faith he believes that Christ in this world doth enable him to do the will of God, and that, for the next world, "He will save to the uttermost all them that come to God through Him." But it may be said, since faith is a commandment, on obedience to which we are saved, is it not, therefore, a good work, received by God as part of our justification: for, is it not said, "Ye are justified by faith?" Now, to suppose that faith is justification, is to confound the condition on which a thing is granted with the thing that is granted. But we shall proceed to show, by three considerations, that faith is no part of that righteousness which is received by God in our justification: and, 1st, Faith is not in itself essentially righteousness; for, whereas the Apostle hath said in one place that we are justified by faith," he hath also said in another, **"We are justified freely by grace." Now, if faith be righteousness, then have we a claim on God's justice, and are no longer justified by grace; but the Apostle never does say that faith is righteousness, ++" for what saith the Scripture? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." It saith not, it was righteousness; for Abraham was but mortal, and we know not how much weakness and sin might have been mingled with his very faith: but, we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness." §§"Now, to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." That is, if faith be a good work, and therefore righteousness, then the reward is no longer the free gift of God, but is owed to us as a debt by God, and therefore it would not be true to say that we are justified by grace. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted to him for righteousness;" that is, that to him who doth not trust to his own good works or righteousness, but knowing himself *John vi. 47. † John xi. 25, 26. We have not time here to take more than a very brief and imperfect view of faith. We hope, on a future occasion, to speak more at large on the subject. § Rom. ix. 33. ** Rom. iii. 24. §§ Rom. iv. 4. Rom. iii. 26. Rom. iv. 3. Rom. iv. 5. Rom. v. 1. ‡‡ Rom. iv. 9. to be "ungodly," believeth that Christ's righteousness justifies him, to him his faith is not righteousness, but counted for righteousness : so that the Apostle, when he says "We are justified by faith," does not mean that faith is righteousness (which would be saying that we are justified by our own righteousness, whereas he saith that we are saved (not by works of righteousness which we have done"), but he meaneth, that we are justified by faith, in that by faith we lay hold of and appropriate to ourselves the righteousness of Christ, which is counted to us for our own righteousness through faith. * 66 2dly, Faith is not a work of righteousness which renders us actually righteous. To suppose that it is, is a contradiction, and a moral absurdity; for, as faith "believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly," part of the essence of faith is to believe that we are ungodly." Now, if faith rendered us actually righteous, then it would have to believe that we are actually righteous and actually ungodly at the same time;† so that its activity would be suicidal, and its very existence its own destruction: for, if it rendered us actually righteous, then, the instant it comes into being, belief in our own sinfulness, which is part of its essence, must vanish, and belief in the necessity of Christ's atonement, which is the rest of its essence, must vanish also; so that the very instant of its birth would be the instant of its annihilation. Faith is not, therefore, a work of righteousness which, in itself, renders us actually righteous. 3dly, Supposing, even, that faith were either righteousness itself, or had any power of rendering us actually righteous, still we could not claim the merit of justifying ourselves by it, unless we could show that it is our own, unprompted, unaided work, wrought by ourselves, in ourselves, and for ourselves: whereas, what saith St. Paul? "Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith;" and again, §“I pray God that He may fulfil in your hearts the work of faith with power;" and again, "To another is given faith by the same Spirit;" and "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, faith" "Be not deceived;" **" Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights." Is, then, faith, that most perfect gift, not from above, but the work of man? To say this, were to boast; and faith boasts not-for, ++"where is boasting? it is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith." Faith, therefore, is no part of that righteousness which is received by God in our justification, but is the sole condition on which justification * Titus iii. 5, 7. It may be said that faith, as the means of receiving justification, will be in the same dilemma, for that it must believe that we are sinful and yet righteous. Yes, but not actually righteous: the true faith is, that we remain actually ungodly, but righteous by imputation-ungodly in ourselves, righteous in Christ. Heb. xii. 2. 1 Cor. xii. 8, 9. ** James i. 17. § 2 Thess. i. 11. Gal. v. 22. |