as an instance of justification by works, goes on to say, "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness."a Now it was not till about forty years after this imputation of righteousness, that Abraham offered up Isaac (see Gen. xv. 5, 6, and xxii. 1, &c.); and therefore, from St. James's own words, it appears that he had been justified about forty years before. Consequently this act was not the cause, but the evidence of his justification. "Ye see, then, how that by works a man is justified," that is, is shown to be justified; for the word is sometimes used in this sense. Thus David addresses God, "That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest ;" and our Lord tells the Pharisees, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts ;" and Christ is said to have been "justified in the Spirit." This explanation is confirmed by the fact that St. James says, "Was not our father Abraham justified by works, when he had offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?". On turning to Genesis xxii. 12, we read that God then said, "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." Hence we see that this act proved the sincerity of his faith, and thus showed his justification, and to this the words of St. James seem to refer; his object being to point out the effects of real faith, and thus to warn those who "profess that they know God; but in works they deny him."f

And this leads me to notice the nature of true justifying faith. It is not the mere assent of the mind to the doctrines of the Bible: it has more to do with the heart than with the head; for "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;"s and by it God purifies the heart (see Acts xv. 9). Faith in general-"faith toward God" means a belief of whatever God declares in his word; it is the taking God at his word.* Faith in Christ

a Jam. ii. 22, 23.

e Jam. ii. 21.

b Psam. li. 4.
f Titus i. 16.

c Luke xvi. 15: g Rom. x. 10.

d 1 Tim. iii. 16. h Heb. vi. 1.

Is not this two-fold view of the nature of faith also suggested by Heb. xi. 6? "But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must

"faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ"a-means a belief of what the Scriptures declare respecting him. Faith in Christ is therefore a firm persuasion of the truth of the statements of Scripture respecting the merciful intentions of God towards mankind, and their fulfilment in all that Christ has done and suffered. It is such a cordial belief of this as leads to sincere trust in and dependence upon the righteousness and death of Christ as a full satisfaction for sin, and as the sole ground of acceptance unto salvation. It is the offering before God with heart-felt sincerity the merits and the satisfaction of his Son Jesus Christ as the only plea for mercy, and as the sole ground why sentence of condemnation should not be passed upon us, accompanied with a belief, based upon the promises of God as set forth to us in Scripture, that this plea is not offered in vain. For in the idea of faith is included not merely a persuasion of the truth of what is revealed, but also a persuasion that we are ourselves deeply interested in it; it is not a vague generality, but has a personal application to ourselves. Thus the Scripture declares that "God so loved the

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believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." must believe that" God "is," i. e., exists-here is "faith toward God;" and also "that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him," i. e., of course in his own appointed way (John xiv. 6)—here is "faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." And is not a two-fold view of repentance also suggested by the somewhat varied expressions of "repentance toward God" (Acts xx. 21), and "repentance from dead works" (Heb. vi. 1)? Does not the former imply a change of mind (μeravoα) with respect the character and attributes of God," and the latter "a change of mind with respect to sin," involving a hatred of it, and a turning from it?

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a Acts xx. 21.

The charge delivered in 1843 by the Bishop of Lincoln (Dr. J. Kaye) contains a clear statement of the nature of faith at pp. 27-30. This charge (published by Rivington), also contains an excellent exposition of several of our doctrinal articles, with a clear statement of some of the essential differences between the doctrines of the Anglican and Roman churches. Strange, indeed, it is that the perverse ingenuity of men of undoubted talent and learning should have been expended in fruitless attempts to prove that there is no essential difference between the doctrines of the two churches, when the fact is that (as the learned Hooker observes) "we disagree about the nature of the very essence of the medicine whereby Christ cureth our disease." (Disc. on Justification, s. 5). This is clearly shown in "The Churches of England and Rome Compared," by Dr. R. Mant, Bishop of Down and Dromore, a Tract published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, (No. 109.) A cheap and excellent tract for general

D

world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."a By faith, the sinner believes that God has really loved the world, and is willing to save all sinners-himself included. The first act of faith is a belief that Christ died for the whole world, that is, for all sinners; the next (arising out of it) is, that he died for him, as forming a part of the world. Then, as he is part of the world, he believes that God loved him, and is willing to save him. Feeling that he neither has done, nor can do, anything to merit salvation, and believing that all who rest their hopes of salvation on Christ alone, shall be saved, he does thus commit the keeping of his soul to him. And, knowing that his sole dependence is on Christ alone, he looks for the fulfilment of the promise, and thus has a sober hope and humble expectation of salvation,-and that, simply because God has promised it to all who will accept it on these terms. We find this exemplified in the experience of St. Paul, who says, "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."b And again, in the immediate prospect of death, he says, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Brethren, if any of you really feel your need, and are anxiously seeking salvation, you may this day obtain rest and peace: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." *You can do nothing to make yourselves more worthy, if

distribution on the important subject of justification is, "The Doctrine of Justifi. cation briefly stated," by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. J. B. Sumner); being No. 619 on the list of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The same may be also said of two Tracts on "Justification" and "Sanctification," by Rev. M. Brock (J. Nisbet). And also of the instructive little narrative "The True Cross," by the Rev. C. Malan (Nisbet). Our Church's Homily on Salvation (as indeed are all the homilies) is also published in a cheap and separate form, by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

c 2 Tim. i. 12.

d Acts xvi. 31.

a John iii. 16. b Gal. ii. 20. * If it be here objected by any persons that no allusion is made to the Sacrament of Baptism, which occupied a prominent position in the teaching of the Apostles (Acts ii. 38; xvi. 33; xxi. 16, &c.), let it be remembered that the present discourse is addressed to persons who are supposed to have been already admitted to the Sacrament of Baptism in their infancy, and who have therefore received the "pledge

you delay for months, or even for years; and your labours so to do will bring you neither rest nor peace. Remember, we are received not as worthy, but as unworthy; not as deserving life for our works, but as under condemnation for our sins. We are justified under the character of " ungodly ;" for it is written, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."a If you could make yourselves godly by your own efforts, there would be no need of the gospel of Christ; for "they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." It is because you are sinners, and "man cannot make himself righteous by his own works, neither in part nor in the whole," that you are invited to cast your burden on the Lord. If you can really bring your proud hearts to submit to accept of mercy as grievous sinners, utterly lost and undone, nothing hinders you from obtaining it this very day. But, if pride and self-righteousness, with "an evil heart of unbelief,"d combine to persuade you against this humbling plan, pray, brethren, pray earnestly and constantly that the Holy Spirit may remove every obstacle, and, working in you unfeigned faith, may lead you to receive and to embrace the promises of the gospel. And remember that faith is not to be given up after the beginning of conversion, but is to be maintained (by a diligent use of the appointed means of grace) in every step of our progress, even to the last hour of our lives; for sinners" are justified by faith only,'e not that they may live in sin and forgetfulness of God, but in order that (being freed from the terrors of the law, and from the constant anxiety which would necessarily arise from a sense of their short-comings if their salvation depended upon their own merits and worthiness), they may 66 serve him with

to assure" them (Church Catechism) that so soon as they "repent and believe the Gospel, (Mark i. 15,) they are entitled to the full privileges and benefits of the Christian Covenant, viz., "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark xvi, 16.) See the Rev. Wm. Goode's "Better Covenant," Disc. i. pp. 31-33. The unbaptized are of course to be exhorted, so soon as they repent and believe the Gospel, to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, by which "the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed." (27th Article.)

a Rom. iv. 5.

b Matth. ix. 12.

d Heb. iii. 12.

e Homily on Salvation, pt. ii., p. 23.

e 11th art.

out tear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of" their "life."a Were a legal obedience the ground of our acceptance, it would cause, through our continual short-comings, such fear and bondage as would completely paralyze all love and zeal toward God (see Rom. vii. 7-13; 1 Jno. iv. 17, 18).* For how

a Luke i. 74, 75."

Faith is the very first act of Evangelical obedience (John vi. 28, 29) which man can perform; and it is precious in the sight of God inasmuch as "he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John v. 10, 11). Now as "the Lord looketh on the heart," (1 Sam. xvi. 7,) he knoweth whether a man thus believes or not. The "peaceable fruits" of such faith are thus described by the Apostle, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us." (1 John iii. 16—19.) The following passage from a beautifully written work, "Beulah ; or the Rest of Man in the Rest of God," by the Rev. C. I. Yorke, (published by Hatchard; and also by the Religious Tract Society,) will help to illustrate this subject: "The love of God is the eternal chain which alone binds together in happiness all intellectual creatures: the knowledge of God is the knowledge of that essential goodness in which the human spirit was constituted to delight. In a word, God is both its author and its end; and it is out of its native element, lone, fatherless, and forsaken, until it is reunited unto him. But how is this re-union to be effected? By means which God has himself devised, and which are of such a nature, that they most effectually anchor the soul in that resting-place which, veiled from the world by the mists of folly, is nevertheless the only one for angels or for men. Faith in Christ is the general means for accomplishing this re-union: 'Ye believe in God:' said Christ, 'believe also in me.' Without faith in Christ there is no connection between a glorious God and a miserable sinner; or rather the connection is like that between a debtor and his creditor, a criminal and his judge, a rebel and his king. But Christ, infinitely glorifying the just sovereignty of God by the vastness of his propitiation, unites to God all those who are spiritually united with himself. And this spiritual union-the union of the conscience, the affection, and the judgment, the union of the whole inner man-is faith. Faith and the profession of a creed have, indeed, by some men been confounded; and thus they have expressed apprehensions lest the bonds of moral obligation should be loosened. No mistake can be more enormous. True faith and this profession are precisely the opposites to each other. The latter is nothing but a shadow and a name, empty and superficial: it may make men formalists or bigots, but can never make them children of God. But the former being a spiritual union with Christ, perfect in kind though varying in degree, must of necessity produce, or