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

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 exercise 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

If be

called the least in the kingdom of heav lieving be a commandment, it cannot be one of the least 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 shall we escape, if we neglect SO GREAT salvation?" And the Lord Jesus himself, when he declared, THAT BELIEVETH NOT SHALL BE DAMNED!"

"HE

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 of his mediation. Others, who would not be thought 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 speak as if they did not believe what, at those

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 us; 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

By saving faith, we undoubtedly embrace Christ for ourselves, in the same sense as Jacob embraced Jehovah as his 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 us, as well as others; and it is for the forgiveness of our 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.

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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. iii. 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 snbject 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 in