Article as Estius says because in it especially the Jews differed from Pagans or because it is the first Article of our Faith But he might questionless have added other Articles which the Devils as well believe and are convinced to be certain Truths They believed Jesus to be the Son of God Mat. 8.29 And that he was the Christ Luk. 4.41 The Devil that puts others upon questioning whether there be a God Or whether the Scriptures be the Word of God hath no doubt of these things himself He that would have Men Atheists or Infidels is far from being either himself Atheism and Infidelity are Sins which the Devil cannot be guilty of An Atheist or an Infidel is in that respect worse than the Devil himself Now certainly that Faith which the Devils have cannot be true Saving-Faith But the Devils have such a Faith as this they are clearly convinced that the Scriptures are the Word of God and that what God's Word holds forth is certainly true How absurd and irrational is it to suppose that the Devils that are Damned have that same Faith for the nature of it which the Scripture calls precious Faith and which it maketh the condition of Salvation And yet mistake me not I grant a Dogmatical Faith is included in Saving Faith As the Vegetative Soul is included in the Sensitive or as both these are included in the Rational Soul So a believing that there is a Christ that he is come in the Flesh and a believing the Word of Christ is included in our believing in him And indeed they that believe not what is spoken of him in the Gospel that believe not the Son of God his taking Mans Nature on him uniting it to his Person that there was such a one as Jesus Christ that was born of a Virgin that suffered was crucified at Jerusalem and rose again from the dead and ascended up to Heaven according to the Scriptures they that allegorize the true Christ out of Doors and only acknowledg a Christ within them they do not believe in that Jesus whom Paul preached whom all the Apostles preached whom the Father sealed I further grant that to believe with a Dogmatical Faith is part of Man's duty It is a setting to our Seal that God is true Joh. 3.33 And he that believeth not God hath made him a Lyer 1 Joh. 5.10 Think what an heinous Sin it is to give God the Lye If you deny his Truth you deny him to be God If he were not the God of Truth he were not the true God And further we must grant that the Word is a great gift of God that it is a wonderful favour that he is pleased thus to reveal his Mind and Will and make himself known to the Sons of Men. And that it is a work of the Spirit though but a common work which such may have as shall not be saved to bring Men to assent to the Truth All this is granted But yet though we know the Truth and cannot but assent to it in our Judgments if we do not embrace it with suituble Affections if we do not heartily cleave to it and sincerely submit to it our simple belief of the Truth is so far from being a Saving work that it will increase our Condemnation as our guilt is increased by it 3. True Saving-Faith is not a meer perswasion that my Sins are pardoned that I shall be Saved Some have gone this way Believe that your Sins are pardoned for Christ's sake and they are pardoned and you justifyed Believe that you shall be saved by Christ and you shall be saved A short cut to Heaven But how little need is there to teach Men Presumption or to encourage it But to shew you the Vanity of this conceit 1. All that hear the Gospel are bound to believe in Jesus Christ But all such are not bound to believe that they are pardoned justifyed and shall be saved 1 Joh. 3.23 This is his Commandment that we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ And what Duty is more pressed in the Gospel But where doth the Gospel command all to believe that they shall be saved How many alas that are in their Sins that are such as the Word of God condemneth Know ye not that the Vnrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Such as the Apostle speaketh of 1 Cor. 6.9 10. believe contrary to the Gospel if while such they believe that they are pardoned and shall be saved The Gospel calleth us to repent that our Sins may be blotted out And we have no ground to believe or hope that our Sins are pardoned till we repent When we find unbelief spoken of as the great condemning Sin we must not take it so as if Sinners were condemned because they would not believe that their Sins were pardoned Nor is it the sense of that Article in our Creed I believe the Remission of Sins that I believe my Sins are remitted Too many lay down this Conclusion that yet stand condemned by the Sentence of God's Word All impenitent Sinners are bound to believe that at present they are in a state of Wrath Heirs apparent of Hell that except they repent they shall perish they cannot be saved 2. Are we not justifyed by Faith Deny that and you deny plain Scripture Now we cannot be justifyed by Faith if we are first of all to believe that we are pardoned and justified Le Blanc Thes Theol. p. 212. §. 103. Quomodo enim possemus justificari per actum qui justificationem jam factam praesupponit Must we believe our Sins are pardoned that they may be pardoned Must we believe we are Justifyed that we may be Justifyed What can be more absurd Then we must believe what is not that it may be as we believe If the first Act of Faith be to believe that I am pardoned and justifyed then Remission and Justification must needs go before Faith The Act supposeth the Object In order of Nature Faith is before Justification otherwise we are not justified by Faith and in order of Nature at least we must be justified before we can truly believe that we are justified Therefore we cannot be justified by believing we are so It is a plain contradiction to say that we believe before we are justified and yet are justified before we believe 3. It cannot be the first Act of Faith to believe I shall be saved except instead of the Word some special Revelation besides the Word be the Ground of my Faith This is plain because it is not at all credible to me according to the Word that I shall be saved till I know I have Faith such a Faith as hath Salvation annexed to it by promise such a Faith as purifieth the Heart worketh by Love c. According to the Word only he that believeth with such a Faith shall be saved That I cannot believe according to the Word that I shall be saved till I find such a Faith
wrought and working in me Therefore this perswasion that I shall be saved cannot be the first Act of Faith If it be a perswasion grounded on the Word true Faith is presupposed to go before And the Apostle hath barred Mens expectation of special immediate Revelation here Rom. 10.17 where he concludeth that Faith cometh by hearing of the Word of God 4. Many have this confident perswasion that their Sins are pardoned that they shall be saved who have not true justifying Saving-Faith and therefore surely this cannot be the proper formal Act of true justifying Saving-Faith Many Hypocrites and meer out-side Professors yea many a wicked Man hath this perswasion How hard a thing is it to take down Sinners confidence Mr. Baxter We have need as one says to lay all our Batteries against this Bulwark of Presumption How many that will say they hope to be saved by Christ yea they never doubted of their Salvation in all their Lives They can argue that Christ died to Save Sinners and they are Sinners therefore he died to Save them If this be Faith the case of many a Presumer is not so dangerous but very happy 5. Many have true Faith and are justified and in a State of Salvation yet have not this perswasion that their Sins are pardoned dare not conclude that they are in God's Favour and such as shall be saved Therefore this cannot be the formal Act of Faith Faith could not be without its formal Act. If you make this the formal Act of Faith then you must say there is no true Believer but hath it Then there is no true Believer that walketh in Darkness But certainly a Soul may trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God while yet he walketh in Darkness and can see no Light Isa 50.10 Is it not the condition of many a dear Child of God to be in great doubts and full of fears about their Spiritual and Eternal Estate Should we not condemn the Generation of his Children many yea the greatest part of them as Children that have no Faith if we define Faith to be a believing that our Sins are pardoned and that we shall be saved Many a holy humble Christian goes on drooping even to his dying day and it is well if he come to this comfortable conclusion at last As one giveth this as part of the Character of a Christian H. Palmer Paradoxes p. 64. §. 73. He thinks sometimes God hath no Mercy for him and yet resolves to die in the pursuit of it And to tell poor troubled afflicted Consciences that they cannot have Faith who do not believe their Sins are pardoned is not the way to comfort them but to set them more on the Rack This would make the Hearts of many sad even such as God would not have made sad 6. Such a particular perswasion that my Sins are pardoned c. if it be sound and well-grounded is Knowledg and not Faith As the Apostle John hath it I think some nine or ten times Hereby we know Observe well 1 Joh. 5.13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have Eternal Life and that ye may believe on the Name of the Son of God Where he clearly distinguisheth believing on the Name of the Son of God from their knowing that they had Eternal Life or that they should be saved What follows that ye might believe on the Name of the Son of God is not spoken of the first Act or beginning of Faith but of continuance and progress in it And it is plain that this particular perswasion of which I am speaking if it be sound and have any good bottom depends on two several Propositions one of which is laid down in Scripture as this Proposition He that believeth shall be saved The other is of a Man 's own Conscience or from the knowledg a Man has of himself But I believe From whence this Conclusion follows therefore I shall be saved So that it is not an Act of Faith properly but a rational Conclusion presupposing these two things 1. That all true Believers shall be saved 2. That I know my self to be a true Believer Now can that be a right description of Saving-Faith which necessarily presupposeth a Man to have Saving-Faith before and to know that he hath it Thus I have indeavoured to remove these unsound and false Notions of Faith Now I come to shew what it is Indeed you may meet with diverse sound descriptions of Faith something differing in words that yet agree in the thing I would not be one of those that make differences where there are none or make differences wider than they are With the Learned Placeus Faith is tenax atque efficax persuasio veritatis eorum Thes Salmur Par. 1. p. 32. §. 36. c. An holding and effectual perswasion of the truth of those things which are revealed to us in the Word of God and particularly of the Gospel-Promise of Remission and Salvation by Christ And as he addeth it is so in the Vnderstanding that it affects and determines the Will Le Blanc that Judicious Writer describes it to be Thes Theol. in Folio p. 210. §. 89. Assensum firmum practicum atque fiducialem adhibitum omnibus c. A firm practical and fiducial Assent given unto all things which are revealed of God but especially to the Promises of the Gospel In the late Confession of Faith this account is given of Saving Faith Chap. 14. §. 2. By this Faith a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word for the Authority of God himself speaking therein and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth yeilding obedience to the Commands trembling at the Threatnings and embracing the Promises of God for this Life and that which is to come But the principal Acts of saving-Saving-Faith are accepting receiving and resting upon Christ alone for Justification Sanctification and Eternal Life by vertue of the Covenant of Grace In the shorter Catechism Faith in Jesus Christ is a Saving Grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for Salvation as he is offered to us in the Gospel Notwithstanding a difference in Expression yet here is an agreement in sense That I run not out too far I shall only note something of the Object of Faith and of the Acts of Faith The Object of Faith is thus distinguished There is the general and common or according to others the full and adaequate Object of Faith and that is the whole Word of God the Word of Truth so Faith assenteth to the whole Word of God as true Again there is the special Object of Faith and that is the Word of Promise so Faith consenteth to the terms or condition of the Promise and in this way relyeth on God and Christ for performance The Promise of Remission and Salvation by Christ Faith takes special
be advanced above all the World in our Affection so will he be preferred in our account and estimation Indeed how can we love him above all if we do not prize him above all 3. If Christ be precious to us then certainly we cannot endure to see or hear Christ vilified and dishonoured It will grieve us at Heart to see this Pearl trodden under Foot We could be more content to be vilified for him than to see him contemned How would it move us to hear and see a special Friend whom we most highly esteem reproached and abused As Jonathan was grieved for David because his Father had done him shame 1 Sam. 20.34 That Christ is generally so lightly esteemed yea so much dishonoured in the World and that many of ours make light of him this will be very greivous to us if indeed Christ be precious to us And as Jonathan took David's part there we shall be ready to plead for Christ We would not have him despised of any if we can help it We would be commending him to others and especially to ours 4. If Christ be precious in our account we shall be restless and unsatisfied till we have in some good measure cleared up our Interest and propriety in him As the Apostle Phil. 3.8 I count all things but loss for the excellency of the Knowledg of Christ Jesus my Lord. One that sees how precious Christ is cannot but earnestly desire to know further that he is his Jesus and his Lord. A Believer who sees his All bound up in Christ lose Christ and lose all how will he pray search use diligence to have his Interest in Christ evidenced and made sure As if a Man's title to House and Land and all he had in the World be in question he would not rest till he had got his title cleared 2. Saving Faith is Sanctifying Act. 26.18 Sanctified by Faith Act. 15.9 Purifying their Hearts by Faith No Salvation without Sanctification 2 Thes 2.13 God hath from the beginning chosen you to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth saving-Saving-Faith and Sanctification are linked together The one necessarily inferreth and draweth on the other Rolloc in loc pag. 295. Spiritus nos Sanctificans emanat quasi ex Christi sanguine fide apprehenso nobisque applicato Faith is nor only a part of Sanctification as it is a Grace and as other Graces are but as some call it a Mother-Grace and a Root-Grace from whence other Graces spring it is introductive of Sanctification and of other habitual Saving Grace As upon our first believing in Christ and accepting of him we are thereby interested in him and united to him not only to be justified by his merit but also to be sanctified by his Spirit As we are said to receive the promise of the Spirit through Faith Gal. 3.14 And Eph. 1.13 In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise Indeed it is by the special influx or operation of the Spirit that a Man puts forth the Act of Faith at first and upon this the Spirit is further given to dwell in him or a principle of Grace renewing sanctifying habits are wrought in him seated in his Soul still disposing and inclining unto gracious Acts to a life of Holiness and Obedience Christ is said to dwell in the Heart by Faith Eph. 3.17 He dwelleth in us by his Spirit And it is Faith that letteth in Christ and the Holy Spirit into the Heart to dwell there Thus Faith ushereth in the Spirit of Sanctification And so if any Man be in Christ by Faith he is a new Creature 2 Cor. 5.17 Compare Gal. 5.6 with 6.15 In the former you have Faith in the latter a new Creature Thou art not a true Believer if thou art not a new Creature And as we enter into a state of Sanctification by Faith So by Faith we make progress in it As the Life which the Apostle lived after he came in to Christ was by the Faith of the Son of God Gal. 2.20 He was still drawing vertue from Christ and receiving of his fulness even Grace for Grace As Faith hath respect to the several parts of the Word not only Doctrines and Promises but Commands and Threatnings too So it hath an influence on all other Graces and hath an hand in all acts of Obedience that a Believer performs as we see in Heb. 11. Therefore if you would know whether you have Saving-Faith enquire seriously whether you are Sanctified by Faith And to give you some help here 1. Where Sanctifying Faith is there is not only an outward but an inward change Sanctifying-Grace is properly and immediately seated in the Soul as its Subject and the Soul is really changed by it though not as to its substance yet as to its qualities The Heart is new-moulded There are new dispositions inclinations and affections in the Soul It acteth from a new Principle and aimeth at other ends The Body is not changed by Grace either in substance or quality immediately but being under the government of a Soul that is sanctified and being a part of one that is by Grace truly resolved for God and his Service it will certainly be engaged and used for God too according to Rom. 6.19 Indeed such cannot be sanctified who are not so much as outwardly reformed Such as were known to be common Swearers Sabbath-breakers Drunkards c. and are so still one may pronounce them Vnclean Vnclean 1 Cor. 6.11 Such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified To be sanctified and to live and continue in gross known Sin are estates directly opposite Yet there may be an outward reformation without true Sanctification Sanctification connotates a change of Heart and Life both Not a bare abstinence from the outward act of Sin but a mortifying of it and a dying to it Not a leaving it in practise only but a forsaking it in affection too That the Heart which was set upon its Lusts is now turned and set against them it now loaths what it was formerly in love with Now is thy heart purified Jer. 4.14 O Jerusalem wash thine Heart from wickedness that thou mayst be saved It is not enough to have hands washed but our Hearts must be cleansed if we would be saved Psal 24.3 4. Who shall ascend into the Hill of the Lord He that hath clean hands and a pure Heart What is it to live free from gross Sins to be no Extortioner Oppressor Swearer Drunkard Adulterer c. but to be like a whited Sepulchre which appears beautiful outward but within is full of all uncleanness as the Pharisees that outwardly appeared righteous unto Men but within were full of Hypocrisy and Iniquity What is it for one to change his Life and Course while his Heart and Mind is not changed Though he that was given to Stealing should steal no more and he that was given to Lying Cursing Swearing