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him clearer than that a misapprehension in regard to the nature of faith must carry with it an entire misconception of that gospel which assures salvation to him, and to him only, that believeth. If faith be looked upon as something more than a recognition of the gospel as true-of the testimony on which it rests as trust-worthy-if it be regarded as something tangible, and possessed of an existence and of qualities apart from its object; how evident is it that the mind must, of necessity, be turned away from the soul-satisfying, saving truth, and turned in upon itself, to find comfort in its supposed possession of a saving faith. The great facts of the gospel, with their blessed meaning, which are designed and fitted to afford instant relief to the sinner under his most poignant sense of guilt, the moment he understands and counts them to be true, must, of necessity, be disregarded; while the anxious questions, Have I faith? Have I believed aright? plainly evince the inquirer's solicitude to find a Saviour within himself, and his disbelief of the sufficiency of Him who came into the world to save sinThat man, it has been truly said, must be ignorant of the grace of the gospel, who does not see, in the blood of Christ, sufficient to give him hope, though he view himself as the greatest infidel on earth. The consideration of his being a believer forms no part of that truth which comforts the self-condemned, even as his faith forms no part of that righteousness on the ground of which he hopes for acceptance with God. Those whom God comforts, 66 are begotten again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead:" "they are filled with all peace and joy in believing" this: the sole ground of their hope, is, that "whereof they have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel:" to this they point with confidence as a solid and sufficient reason of the hope that is in them; and the idea that by any possibility their hope may prove delusive, so long as this stands true in their consciences, they are taught to repel with abhorrence, as the suggestion of him who was a liar from the beginning, and abode not in the truth. But if faith be "not the belief of any sentence that can be thought upon, or that can be expressed in words”—if "many things about truth in the understanding being presupposed, faith be mainly and principally an exercise of the heart

and will," it demands for itself a distinctive consideration; an anxious eye must be had to it, and until the sinner find himself this believing, willing, loving creature, the gospel has no word of peace or hope for him; it can only work wrath, and give the knowledge of sin. And when the sinner comes to think himself possessed of this holy disposition, when he hopes he has attained an interest in Christ, is it the gospel, think you, the faithful word of Him who was called the friend of publicans and sinners, which is the spring of his comfort, and daily the rejoicing of his heart? or does his peace spring rather from a survey of himself-is it rather the confidence of him who trusts in himself that he is righteous, and despises others?

To suit this altered sense of the word faith, the gospel is denied to be a divine testimony, making its appeal to the faith of men, and assuring salvation to him that believeth: though the word of the God of truth, declares him a believer, who sets to his seal that God is true, and him only an unbeliever who makes God a liar, by disbelieving the record which God hath given of his Son. Instead of a divine proclamation of forgiveness, assured to every one that believeth, "of faith, that it might be by grace," ," "unto all and upon all them that believe, because there is no difference," on the score of moral fitness, among men, the gospel is represented as an offer, holding forth the promise of forgiveness to him whose will has been renewed by some antecedent grace, and who is thus better disposed than other men: and it is this offer which faith accepts. Men are instructed to enter on a course of pious labor for the attainment of this grace, though it is fair to say, some question the propriety of this, while fully persuaded that this grace is necessary; yet the word of truth declares that it is "not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy;" and "if it be of works, then is it no more of grace," thus excluding all acts of will, whether renewed or unrenewed, even any the least cooperation of his own, in the business of making a sinner's peace with God. Yet how often is the salvation of the sinner made to depend on some motion of his will, and faith itself repre

* Guthrie's Christian's Great Interest.

sented as dependant upon choice? And how often are texts of Scripture perverted to sustain this system of self-dependance; to show that it is not a disbelief of what God has spoken, but an indisposition to make a right improvement of their knowledge, which excludes the sinner from the blessings of Christ's purchase? Thus it is said, "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life," John v. 40. That this text is designed to teach that it is not unbelief, but a want of will, which renders men indifferent to the salvation of Christ, seems to be pretty generally admitted, the only difference of sentiment being as to whether or not men possess any ability of will to come to Christ. But if we turn to the Scripture from which this text is taken, we find that the Saviour is charging upon the Jews the guilt of their unbelief, "that whom the Father had sent, him they believed not." After having pointed to the testimony of John-to the works which he himself wrought in attestation of his mission, to the Father's voice from heaven (according to Dr. Campbell's translation,) he adduces yet another source of evidence, "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me, and ye will not come to me that ye might have life." Thus the words which were designed to make known the Saviour's unutterable kindness to the sons of men-to point to him as the Giver of life; believing in whom, the chief of sinners is justified without a motion of his will, in order to peace with God: are made to suggest only the uneasy question, am I willing? Have I closed with Christ? the proud thought; I am thus willing, I have performed the appropriating act; or to stir the angry strife of contending parties. Not as an incidental result, then, but as the necessary and direct effect of this system, men's eyes are turned away from that work of surpassing grace which Jesus finished in his death, to gather comfort from supposed evidences of a work of grace within themselves; while those who can discover no such favorable signs; who are forced to regard themselves only as meet objects of divine wrath, as sinners and enemies, ungodly and without strength; though it is to such that He commends his love, are beaten off from any part, or hope, in the revealed mercy of God. If the amazing facts and truths of the gospel-the love of God to sinners, as

such, "the grace of Him, who, when he was rich for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich"-the glad tidings of great joy, that "He has made peace by the blood of His cross," that sinners might be blessed in Him, are brought forward it is only to animate the efforts and stimulate the religious pride of the devout inquirer, or as subservient to that mysterious moral change which is to be inwrought in conversion, and to which men's attention is principally directed.

In the words of one who has ably exposed the corruptions of the system referred to, "It would seem, from the generality of pulpit harangues, that all who have a disposition to attend preaching, believe the gospel, and so need very little instruction on that head. The grand end is, to awaken warm fits of affection, under the pretence of cultivating the religion of the heart. The presence of these fancies is called communion with God; their absence, desertion: a conceit that they possess them, faith; and a fear about them, unbelief; which they are taught to pray against: and thus, thus it is, that trifles, rather delusions, are set up and caressed; while infinite worth is slighted and despised."

In conclusion, while the writer is fully persuaded that no force of argument will avail to open the eyes of any to the simplicity of the truth here vindicated: "that this is part of that knowledge which no man can communicate to his neighbor;" yet, believing that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," he would earnestly entreat the reader to examine the doctrine defended in the following pages, by that infallible standard; believing it to be of the last importance to every man to come to a Scriptural conclusion as to the points at issue. Those who are religious teachers especially, he would earnestly exhort to consider well whether they be obnoxious to that heaviest woe which the word of God pronounces against any human being: that woe which was denounced against the religious teachers, and leaders in devotion, of the most devout nation the world has ever known-"Woe unto you, lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge, ye enter not in yourselves, neither do ye suffer others to enter in ;" whether they be engaged in holding forth that truth which stands on the testimony of God, to be believed or disbelieved;

or whether, denying that the salvation of men stands in the persuasion of what God has spoken, they are found fighting against God, and laboring to extinguish the best-the only hope of mankind. H. W.

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