Chapter III
What the nature is of this special faith of application. That besides a spiri tual faith or wisdom to know all other divine truths savingly, there is a
special faith on Christ and God s free grace for justification ; or, that God
in Christ, as a saviour and justijier, is the object of that special faith which
is justifying.
That from a child thou hast known the liohj scriptures, which are able to wake
thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 TIM.
III. 15.
It is of justifying or saving faith that I profess to discourse. It con-
sisteth of two words : 1, justifying, or saving ; 2, faith. And so it calls for two things to be handled by him that will handle it thoroughly, as distinct
commonplace heads. The first is the doctrine of justification through
faith, as it is an act of God upon us, upon or through our believing. And,
secondly, there is the doctrine of the nature of that faith itself; and which
of these two a man begins to handle first (we living under the sunshine of
the gospel), it is not much material. Under that head of the doctrine of justification itself by faith, there are
these things
1. Whether, upon a man s believing, there is an act of justification
passeth from God, so as in a true sense a man may be said to be then
justified, so as not before ? And how that this may stand with God s
justifying of us with Christ when he rose, and with God s justifying of us
in Christ from everlasting ? Or if you will, whether that faith be only for
the manifestation of a man s justification to himself, or it be not also for
the alteration of a man s condition before God ?
2. That nothing but faith in man is that principle which God hath
ordained to receive this blessing, and faith only, and faith without works.
3. Under this head of justification comes the treating also of this, how
it is that faith is said to justify, or how God looks at it, whether as an
habit, or an act, or an instrument, or a condition, or what.
4. There are the objects of this faith, both Jesus Christ as the matter of
justification (which I have at large discoursed of in those treatises long since published to the world). And, secondly, there is God as justifying, for the soul believes on him that justifieth the ungodly. So that as Jesus
Christ is the author, and cause, and matter of justification in his death, and resurrection, and ascension, and intercession, &c., so God in his grace and mercy, and in all his acts therein, is also the object of faith ; and a
glorious justification it is, wherewith God justifies us. How great, how
free, how unlimited is it, and such as no sins can hinder ! A justification total at once, and eternal for ever. These things I have discoursed of
before in the first part.
Now concerning faith itself, by which we are justified (I taking it at pre-
CHAP. III.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 275
sent for granted that we are justified through faith, which is the language of the Scripture), that which now we are to do, it is to make the inquiry, what this faith is.
The first thing in the general which I pitch upon towards the inquiry after the true nature and notion of faith, is this, that the faith by which we are saved and justified is a special faith, pitched upon God s free-grace, and Christ as matter of justification to us, as its special object ; as you shall see out of this scripture, and many others also, in the proof of it.
The proof of this great truth I might have founded upon many scriptures, as you shall see anon ; but I did choose out this, because it clearly distin guished a special faith from a general faith, and distinctly puts the business of salvation upon that special faith. If you mark it here, he tells us, verse 16, that all Scripture is given by inspiration, and is profitabh for doctrine, &c. And that all the things revealed in the Scripture, be they what they will, are all of them able to make a man wise unto salvation, and so to
beget in him a wisdom, which indeed is nothing else but faith. Take
it in the general notion of assent, what prudence is to all virtues, that faith
is to all graces, it is wisdom to salvation. But yet there is in it a special faith, without which all the knowledge a man hath, yea, all the knowledge that is unto salvation, would not be unto salvation, were it not for this ; and that is (as the text hath it), faith in Jesus Christ, which is able to make thee wise unto salvation, saith he, through faith which is in Jesus Christ. So that these words which I have now read, they hold forth to us a twofold faith or wisdom, as you may call it, for the Scripture calls faith wisdom sometimes, and wisdom faith.
- There is first of all a general faith, respecting all divine objects, which
is here called wisdom, and wisdom unto salvation (in that sense unto sal vation as repentance is unto salvation, and as other graces are said to be unto salvation), which is a belief and knowledge of the Scriptures, and all
things revealed in them, and a having a man s heart suitably affected with the things according to the nature of them ; as to believe a God, and all the attributes of God, all the promises, and all the threatenings, or what soever else is contained in the book of God, which being taken by faith into the soul and heart of a believer, makes him wise unto salvation ;
this, I say, is properly called general faith. Faith (as I said before) is often called by the name of wisdom in the Scripture; as in Luke i. 17 it
is said, that John Baptist should go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the dis obedient to the wisdom of the just; that is, he should bring them to the
faith of their fathers, and to the same knowledge, joined with wisdom; to the same creed (for the materials of it) which the prophets and fathers
held, and were saved by, and the doctrine of which the Jews in those times had generally corrupted. All these spiritual things are taken into the soul, and apprehended by such a principle of wisdom in heavenly affairs as human wisdom serves to in earthly affairs. Faith is therefore
rightly called wisdom, because it superadds unto notional knowledge in
things spiritual, as wisdom in men superadds unto knowledge notional in
worldly businesses. That knowledge which constitutes a man a wise man, as such, in worldly matters, beyond a man simply knowing, is such a
degree or kind of knowledge as over and above the notion affects and
strikes the spirit of a man to act accordingly, and puts him on to practise ; whereas the like knowledge in others, though it may be more clear and
distinct for the notion, is overly, and affects not the man, nor is strong enough to overcome his affections to the contrary. Now, look what differ-
276 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
ence there is in this twofold knowledge about temporal things, the like
there is as to spiritual ; there Is an enlightening of the Holy Ghost, which
clears up the notion of all things spiritual to be known, unto which faith
is a farther special gift superadded, to affect and strike the heart with
them, as the gift of wisdom added to knowledge useth to affect in outward
affairs. Take then faith as it hath thus all the Scriptures, and all in them,
for its object, and as it thus strongly makes an impression on the heart to
act accordingly, and it is a wisdom unto salvation. But yet, secondly, there is a peculiar or a special faith, without which
the other is not, nor would be, of itself alone effectual unto salvation, and
that, you see, is faith in Jesus Christ, a faith of the promise of grace and salvation in and through Jesus Christ, as it is several ways expressed in the New Testament.
Now, you see, the apostle doth not only hold forth this distinction, but he doth withal shew that all the faith, and knowledge, and wisdom we
have, though never so spiritual (for even of such he speaks), will not make us wise unto salvation, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.
So that the observation to the scope in hand, which I raise out of these
words, and purpose to discourse of, is this, that that faith which doth save
the other may be unto salvation, as all graces are that which truly saveth and putteth me into the state of salvation, or upon which I am put into that state, is a special faith, which here is said to have Jesus Christ
for its object, or (which is all one) that hath the grace of God in Christ to
rely upon. Faith on the promises of salvation and justification through
Christ, and through the free grace of God in him, is that special faith without which all the true wisdom, the spiritual wisdom, spiritual faith,
believing all things else whatsoever, would not otherwise be unto salvation.
This, I say, is clearly the scope of the words, that besides that faith
whereby wo believe, and believe spiritually (yea, and unto salvation too),
all the things revealed in the word of God, there is a special faith by which we are saved, and by means of which all the rest of our faith in all
other things is wisdom unto salvation: is able to make thee wise unto
salvation, saith he, through the faith which is in Jesus Christ. Now, in the opening and treating of this point, I shall do these things
1. Give you some explication of it.
2. I shall deliver some concessions, some things that may and must be
yielded unto and granted, concerning this general faith, and the difference between it and special faith.
3. I shall offer some proofs of Scripture for to make the point good. 4. I shall urge some reasons why that Gcd hath not ordained to save
any man by the most spiritual faith of all things in the world, if a man
could be supposed to have it, without this other special faith of applica-
t: on. If a man, I say, did believe all the Scriptures, and all things in
them, and that with an affection answerable and suitable to such objects themselves therein revealed, yet that man would never be saved without a
special faith, which hath Jesus Christ and the grace of God in him for its object.
You shall find in your protestant writers a great deal of do about this
faith ; I would open to you that which I conceive to be the nature of it, and the sense wherein I would press it upon you. And,
1. To begin with the explication of it. I do not call it a special faith
because it hath a special root and principle created on purpose in the
hearts of men to be the root of it, so as that that general faith we speak of
should have one root, and this special faith another. No ; but the same
faith, for the root and principle of it, in the spirits of men, whereby I
ClIAP. III.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 277
believe all things else in the word of God, the power of God, the justice of
God, or whatever else, that wisdom whereby a man knows savingly all
things in the Scripture, all truths whatsoever, and the goodness of them, that faith whereby I truly and spiritually believe that there is a God, is
also the root of that faith whereby I am possessed of salvation, or whereby I am justified, with the same principle of faith whereby I believe all things else unto salvation, with the same principle also I believe on Jesus Christ, and on God as justifying. It is clearly the scope of Heb. xi. ; I will not
stand now to open it. You know the ordinary similitude that is given
: it was the same eye by which the Israelites beheld all the things in the wil
derness, and wherewith they did behold also the brazen serpent; and yet
notwithstanding they were cured by beholding the brazen serpent, and by nothing else. I confess this similitude will not in all things hold, but yet
it is that by which it is illustrated ; I only speak now by way of clearing of
this term, special faith, and not by way of confirmation. Abraham, by the same faith whereby he did believe in the promised Messias, in the seed in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, Rom. iv. 21, by the same faith he is said to have believed the power of God, that he was able
to give him a child.
Secondly, It is not called special in this sense, that only a faith on
Christ, and on God s free grace, is proper to the elect, but that wicked men and devils, and men that shall be damned, may have a true general faith upon all objects else whatsoever; it is not, I say, meant in that sense
neither, it is not meant subjectively special. There are they who say that
as for the belief of all things in the general in the word of God, that is common to devils, because in James it is said, They believe there is a
God, and tremble, James ii. 19; but, say they, to have a special faith to
believe in Jesus Christ, this is proper to the elect. But it is evident that
in every man that shall be saved the faith whereby he believeth all things in the word of God is a new kind of faith, and all things become new to him. The spiritual man judgeth all things spiritually, knoweth them
spiritually, and so believeth them spiritually, as you have it in 1 Cor. ii.
14, 15. And as the devils know there is a God, and believe that, so they know and believe that Jesus Christ is a Saviour: Mark i. 24, I know who thou art, saith the devil, even the Holy One of God; yet he did not know
this spiritually as a true believer.
Thirdly, It is not called special in respect of any special act that is
proper to it, and it alone; that is not the specialness neither which I
intend. Some by special faith mean that special act of assurance of a man s salvation, and make that to justify. The truth is, there are many
protestant writers, and holy and godly men, that have in all their opposi tions against the papists urged a special faith in this sense. But not to
insist on a long confutation, the faith of the apostles at first was not a
* believed, that they might be justified, Gal.
faith of assurance ; they
ii. 1G. Others by special faith understand that other act of trust or con
fidence, and going out of a man s self, and they say that therein lies this same specialness of faith. Now, I grant indeed that an act of trust, and
confidence, and reliance is required to faith, it is that which IJwould rather
call the act of particular application, as hereafter may be shewn. And
they contend for this as that special faith, in opposition to those which hold
that the general faith, the belief of the things themselves, as that Christ is
the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, and that God justifies the
ungodly, being spiritually believed, is that act upon which God justifies us. But I would not make the specialness of faith to lie in respect of any act
278 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
which this faith hath proper to it, since there are none such but what we find common to our faith on other objects. For if it be said that the act of saving faith is a trusting upon this object, viz., the grace of God for
salvation, why, this act of trusting is not proper and peculiar only to faith
justifying, nor hath only the grace of God justifying for its object, but it is
common to this faith to pitch upon other attributes of God. I rely upon God for all spiritual things else besides salvation and justification ; I rely upon him for his Spirit ; I go out unto Christ for holiness, and strength against sin, and for duty; I rely on him, and trust on him, and come unto him for temporal things; I trust him for to sanctify me; in a word, all the promises of good things are the object of that act of trust on God. The like may be said of assurance. I may have assurance from God of other
things as well as of my justification ; so as special faith, whereby we are saved or justified, which the apostle here speaks of, is not so called, because
i: hath a peculiar act appropriated to it.
Fourthly, and lastly, Therefore, that I call (and I think it ought to be
called, and only ought to be called so) a special faith, whereby we are jus tified, which hath, 1, an eminent special object, proper and peculiar, ap propriated to it; which hath, 2, a special aim; and, 3, which hath a special effect, or a special consequent rather, or, if you will, concomitant, or that which doth accompany it.
First, I say it is to be called special faith, in respect that God hath framed on purpose a peculiar and special object for it. Whether the act be believing the thing or object itself, in the truth and goodness of it, or
relying upon it, or call it what you will for the act of it, now that is clear in the text to be faith in Jesus Christ. Look over all the Scriptures, and
all the divine and spiritual truths in them, the belief of those things is not
special faith, though they may sanctify the heart, though the heart may be
ansvverably affected thereto, till it come to faith in Jesus Christ, or to trust in the special mercy and grace in God for pardon and justification. I will put both these together ; it is either, I say, the free grace of God, who is our justifier (for God as justifying is as niuch the object of faith as Christ himself, and more), which is the object of this special faith, or else Jesus Christ and his righteousness, as the matter of our justification and salva
tion, and faith as it respects these two as they are objects, and that for
justification, that I call, I say, special faith. I will not stand much to shew you, as I might do, that what in the Old Testament is called trusting in the mercy of God, and believing on the mercy of God, that in the New
is called believing on Christ, and how that both come to one. If there fore you will have the language of the New Testament, the special act of
justifying faith is to believe upon God as justifying
: To believe on him that justifieth the ungodly, so Kom. iv. 14, and to believe on the righteous ness, or on the blood and sanctification of Christ, or on Jesus Christ as for righteousness ; so the text speaks here, Through faith in Jesus Christ. These two make up the special object of faith.
And, secondly, the believing these, and on these, as for salvation, and having that special aim and intent so considered also, is called, and ought to be called, special faith. It is not coming unto God or to Christ for any thing else temporal and spiritual, but as coming for salvation and pardon of sin, believing that a man may be justified, as it is expressed, Gal. ii. 16. This, I say, is the peculiar aim of special faith, and in that respect it ought to be called special, as it comes to God for justification. And therefore, thirdly, there is a special consequent or concomitant, which doth accompany and follow upon it, and that is, it doth in a special
CHAP. III.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 279
manner justify and save a man, which no faith else, ^though never so
spiritual, upon any other object, is said to do. In Rom. iii. and in Rom. iv.
this is clearly made out ; the apostle speaks there, as you all know, of
faith as it doth justify, and that faith alone justifies without works ; and
as faith doth thus justify, what doth he make there to be the object of it ?
First, Jesus ; so chap. iii. 22, The righteousness of God, saith he,
which is by the faith of Jesus unto all and upon all them that do believe,
namely, on Jesus ; and ver. 26, he is said to be the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus; and ver. 28, he concludeth, that by such a faith, and
no other, a man is justified. And as he makes Jesus thus to be the object
of it, so God as justifying too ; so chap. iv. 5, To him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly ; namely, on God, who
is the justifier, whose righteousness it is, and so called, because he is the
bestower, the imputer of that righteousness, as you may read in the 21st
: The righteousness of God which is by
and 22d verses of the 3d chapter
the faith of Jesus, saith he, whom God hath set forth (ver. 25) to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, &c. And therefore this denomination of special faith (say I) it ought to have
: 1, because it hath a special object made and
from these three things
appointed for it, viz., the grace of God justifying and saving, and our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and his righteousness the matter of our salvation
and justification ; and, 2, in respect of the aim the heart hath in believing,
that it comes to these as for salvation and justification ; and, 3, that upon
thus coming God is said to justify, as faith genuinely and spiritually
pitcheth on these objects ; you have all these in that one place, Gal. ii. 16,
Knowing this, that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we
might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law :
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Here is, first, you
see, faith described by a special object, and therefore called the faith of
Jesus Christ, the faith in Jesus Christ, and again, the faith of Christ ; it
is three times so mentioned in relation to this special peculiar object, so
that the faith which justifies us is a special faith in respect of the object ;
secondly, it is a faith which hath a peculiar aim, which believeth in Jesus
: We believed in Jesus, that we might be
that the soul might be justified
justified, saith he. To come to Jesus Christ for anything else than for
salvation, and for justification, is not a special faith ; and then, thirdly,
there is a special concomitant, or that which doth accompany it, a special
effect, or call it what you will, and that is, that we are justified, though not
by the act of believing, yet upon believing, which is evident by this, for how else did they believe that they might be justified ? And it follows
after, By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified ; but oppositely
by and upon believing a man is. And it is this special relation to its
object which makes this faith (to speak in the Scripture language, and if you will you may call it by that name instead of special faith)
to be called precious faith. What is it that makes it so more precious than the belief of all things else whatsoever ? either of the truth, or power,
or faithfulness of God ; or be the thing what it will be, what is it that makes
it excel all such faith of any kind ? It is the object of it ; so you have it
in 2 Peter i. 1 : he writes to them (because none else are true Christians)
that have obtained like precious faith with us ; we translate it through
the righteousness, it is ev, in, or on the righteousness of God, and our
Saviour Jesus Christ. Faith, as it is pitched upon this as its special object, hath a special excellency, and is precious faith, and in this respect every
280 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
man s faith is as precious as that of the apostles themselves was, though they might excel in degree, yet its preciousness is not from its own degree of acting, but from the object that it is pitched upon, even because it is faith in God, and in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
And let me add this too, it is not only special, as we say of remedies of a disease, that there are many remedies for such a disease, Oh, but this is a special one, not only a sovereign one above all the rest, but it is the only special remedy ; for faith only as it is pitched upon the righteousness of Christ, and the free grace of God in him, so it only justifieth. So now I have expressed to you by way of explication what I mean by special faith in that sense wherein it doth differ from some who would have it called special in other respects. Now the consideration of this point is of exceeding great moment, both to direct your hearts what faith especially continually to exercise, as will appear in the use of it, and also especially to clear the doctrine of saving justifying faith. The papists and popish spirits, what have they done? They say that there is a general faith; that is, that faith which a man hath of all the Scriptures, and the things revealed in them, which they call fides catholica, catholic faith, and this they affirm to be the faith that justifies. They say, that faith saveth and
justifieth, or God doth save and justify me upon my believing that he is true, that he is omniscient, that he is all-powerful, as well as upon believ ing on his grace and mercy, and upon God as justifying. They say, that faith doth justify and save as well when it looks to the law, when it believes that God created the world, when it doth believe the first Adam, as well as when it believes the second Adam. They say, that to believe truly the justice of God condemning, is saving and justifying faith, as well as to believe the mercy and grace of God pardoning and saving. The truth is, according to their doctrine, to believe the devil to be an accuser, is a part of justifying faith, as truly as to believe that Christ is an intercessor and a Saviour ; to believe that of Moses, that Cursed is every one that continueth not in all that is written in the book of the law to do it, is part of justifying faith, as truly as to believe that Jesus Christ was made a curse ; and indeed to hold this, is consonant to all their principles. For how do they assert that faith justifies ? Say they, faith doth not justify us in relation to its
object, but either as it is a disposition, and so to believe the threatenings of the law, disposeth, say they, to faith, or else it justifies as all other graces do. Now, love to man they sny justifieth, as well as love to God. So the belief of all the stories in the Bible, they say, that justifies a man, as well as to believe in God that justifies, or in Jesus Christ that died. It
agrees, I say, with the principles of their doctrine, they make all to be parts of righteousness alike ; the whole wisdom whereby Timothy did know the scriptures (as they say) saved him, as well as faith in Jesus Christ ; whereas here the text is clear, that all the other were made wisdom to him unto salvation, but through faith which is in Christ Jesus ; that had he known all the rest never so much, or never so spiritually, they would not have saved him, had he not had special faith in Jesus Christ. In a word, that faith that sanctifies also justifies with them. Now the belief of all things in the Scripture is a means of sanctifying (as must be acknowledged), but that which doth justify us is a special faith, pitched upon the grace of God justifying, and upon our Lord Jesus Christ. So much now for the explication of this thing.
2. I come next, for the further explication of it, to some concessions, as I call them, or grants, some things that may and must be yielded to, as concerning faith upon these objects.
CHAP. III.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 281
(1.) That all other spiritual faith pitched upon any other object besides God as justifying, and Christ as for righteousness and salvation, is a saving faith in a large sense. I say that spiritual faith which hath all the Scrip
tures, and all things in the Scriptures for its object, may be called a saving faith in this sense, that it is unto salvation ; so the text is clear, The
Scriptures, they are able to make thee wise unto salvation. All things delivered in the Scriptures being believed, the faith and the belief of them
is unto salvation, it tends unto salvation ; but how ? As all things else
are said to be unto salvation that are true graces in a man, so it is called
repentance unto salvation, repentance unto life. Unto life it is true, without which God saveth no man, and which are in order to it ; but special faith pitched upon Jesus Christ, and upon the grace of God, is saving in a
higher sense than so ; for if you mark it, those other are said to be unto
salvation only because and by reason of special faith ; they would not be unto salvation, but only because joined with, or subservient to, or springing from faith in Jesus Christ : They are able to make thee wise unto salva
tion, saith he, through faith which is in Jesus Christ. It is called wisdom unto salvation, but yet in a more peculiar manner this special faith is the
faith which saveth us ; for the other is called only wisdom unto salvation, even through this faith. Now if that the other be unto salvation, as
through the faith in Jesus Christ, then the faith in Jesus Christ must be in
a special manner saving. Now how is that in a special manner saving, but because there is nothing else in man that doth receive salvation, and the
right to salvation, as I have shewn elsewhere?* All other general faith, that is, faith upon all other things else spiritually and truly apprehended, is
a wisdom unto salvation ; but it is not peculiarly said to be saving, or to be that which saveth us : we are only saved through faith on Christ and
his righteousness. To clear by the way likewise another thing, you shall
find that the apostle doth apply that place, Hab ii. 4, The just shall live
by faith, both unto that special faith in man which lays hold on the
righteousness of Christ for justification and salvation, and likewise to that
general faith, whereby we believe all things else in the word of God. He
applies it first unto justifying faith clearly in Rom. i. 17, where, speaking of the gospel, he saith, It is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, for, saith he, therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Now, in Heb. x. 38, he likewise saith, The just shall live by faith ; but
the faith he there means is a general faith, as believing that there is a God, and all spiritual objects else, as he opens it throughout that chapter, which,
in the general notion of it, he calls, the i substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen, in the following chapter, Heb. xi. 1. So that I say, in a large sense, it may be said that all graces as well as
this are unto salvation. In a large sense we may be said to live by that
general faith (as I may so call it) to live by the belief of anything else in
the word of God, with affections suited to that knowledge and that faith.
It helps us to mortify lusts, it helps us to quicken many graces in us :
whatsoever God sanctifies us by, that faith takes it in, and so in a sense it may be called a life of faith ; in temporal temptations it upholds us by many temporal promises, a thousand considerations there are in the word which are not the objects of special faith ; but now the faith by which we
live the life of justification and of salvation, the faith by which we live in God s sight (as the Scripture s expression is), is only a special faith, which,
in Rom. v. 18, is called, justification of life; and indeed this very dis-
* Jn Eph. ii. 8, in the 1st vol. of his Works. [Vol. II. of this edition. ED.]
OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
tinction and difference doth salve a great objection of the papists, and doth reconcile those two places, Rom. i. 17, and the whole eleventh chapter of the Hebrews.
(2.) The second concession, or grant, or caution (call it what you will), which also is a great truth, is this, that it is the same principle of faith by which we believe all things in the Scripture thus savingly and unto salva tion, and by which we believe on Jesus Christ too ; it is the same principle, or seed, or habit of faith by which we believe that Christ is the Son of God, and by which we believe on him for righteousness ; it is the same principle of faith by which we believe that God is (as the apostle saith, Heb. xi. 6), and by which we believe on him for justification. You have an instance in Abraham; by the same faith whereby he believed, and looked at the promised Messiah, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, whereby he was justified, and which was accounted unto him for righteousness, by the same faith he believed the power of God, that God was able, as the expression is in Rom. iv. 21. And this answers another objection also, a great one, which is used to be made ; for, say they, saving faith is commended to us in the Scripture by other acts than by the act of justifying; it is said to overcome kingdoms in Heb. xi. 33, and to have done all those great acts which were done in the Old Testa ment, which yet were not acts of justifying faith ; and the apostle doth make justifying faith, and the faith that did all those great acts, to proceed from one and the same root. We answer, indeed it is true that justifying faith is commended to us by other acts which it hath done besides that of saving men ; and the apostle s scope in Heb. xi. is to set out that faith whereby we are justified, by all things else which it doth, thereby to com mend it the more as justifying us, as indeed it must needs do. Just as the Scripture doth, it sets out Jesus Christ not only as a Saviour, but it sots him out also in a world of excellencies else, as that in him and by him all things were created also, and that he is the judge of all the world and of all mankind, that he is the head of all principalities and powers, of all the angels, and by a thousand excellencies besides, and all these are to commend him so much the more to us as a Saviour ; so the apostle sets out faith in this Heb xi. (and you shall find it likewise in other scriptures), that the faith that justifies us is said to do a world of exploits for us besides justifying. But yet it doth not justify us as doing any of those things ; as Christ he doth not save us as he is a head of all principalities and powers, or as all things were created in him and by him, but he saves us as dying upon the cross ; only it is the same Saviour that doth the one the other, and therein lies his excellency. So it is here as to faith, and that answers what the apostle s scope is in that Heb. xi. It is not so much to treat of faith as justifying, as to shew forth the excellency of that faith which dothjustify in other things, which it continually doth for them it justifies.
(3.) There is this also to be granted, that special faith it is not true in any man, and therefore saveth no man if joined with unbelief and denial of many other things besides believing on Christ for righteousness. There are, I say, many things which, if a man should deny and not believe, besides believing on Christ and on God that justifieth, he would not be saved, nor could he believe savingly with this special faith I now mention unless he believed them. In 2 Tim. ii. 18, the apostle saith that denying of the resurrection did
< overthrow the faiih of some ; for, saith he in 1 Cor. xv. 13, If there be no resurrection, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain, and ye are yet in your sins, and so you overturn the faith in Christ
CHAP. III.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITF. 283
; so that now a man cannot have a right saving, justi
for the pardon of sin
fying faith upon God as justifying, or upon the righteousness of Christ, if
he deny many other things. There are those that say they believe on
Christ as a Saviour, believe on him as an intercessor and mediator, and
yet, notwithstanding, deny him to be God. Now, although we are not
saved by believing that Jesus Christ is God, but by believing on his right
eousness, and on his satisfaction and obedience, as the scripture expresseth
it, yet, notwithstanding, we cannot savingly believe the one if we deny the
other. And the truth is, those that deny Jesus Christ to be God, they do
clearly, be they who they will be, take away the gospel and the foundation
thereof, and the satisfaction of the wrath of God for sin made by Jesus
Christ, which the gospel holds forth, and which is the object of our faith. That place in 2 Peter i. 1, which I quoted before to another purpose, is a
: To them,
place that affordeth abundance in it to the present purpose
* that have obtained like precious faith with us, in (or on) the
saith he,
righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Here you see he
describeth the faith of the primitive Christians, that special peculiar faith, which yet was common to all them that were true believers ; it was upon the righteousness of our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Now, here is
the question, Whether that our God and our Saviour be two distinct per
sons, or whether it be meant only of Jesus Christ? for in the original it is, and so Beza reads it, our God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. To decide
this, it is clearly meant one person, viz., Christ. For, first, the article
rov clearly carries it ; it is not said twice, as it would have been if two per sons had been intended ; it is not said, of our God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, but
* of our God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And then,
secondly, you shall find that this is the style of the New Testament, that when it speaks of God the Father, he is called God and the Father, and when it speaks of Christ, he is called God and our Saviour; as, for example,
speaking of God the Father in Eph. i. 3, saith he, the God and Father; Ciod and Father there are one person, and he speaks not of two, but of
one ; for (which also confirms the first reason) the article 6 it is put before
God, but not before Father, it is not the God and the Father, but the God and Father, speaking of one ; the like you have in 1 Cor. xv. 24, and in
Col. ii. 2. This, I say, is the proper style of the New Testament concern
ing God the Father. Answerably, when the Scripture speaks of Jesus
Christ, he is called God and our Saviour ; so you have it expressly in
Titus ii. 13, Looking for the appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ. As by God and the Father is meant God the
Father, so by God and our Saviour is meant Jesus Christ. Here now is
the faith, the common faith of the primitive Christians ; it is faith on the
righteousness of him who is our God and our Saviour, and men can never
truly believe upon his righteousness unto salvation unless they believe that he is a God as well as a Saviour, for he had never else been a Saviour had
he not been God, and his righteousness had never been the righteousness of a Saviour had it not been the righteousness of God ; and therefore to
deny him to be God is to deny his satisfaction, and he that denies the one
denies the other; denying the Lord that bought them, saith he in
2 Peter ii. 1. Now then, though special faith hath for its object Jesus
Christ as a Saviour, and his righteousness as that of a Saviour, yet a man
must believe other things too concerning Jesus Christ, as here he must
believe that he is God also. There are many other things a man must
believe, and believe them strongly too, which fall under the nature of
general faith, which yet are necessary to special faith, so that he who
OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
denies them cannot have true special faith. Take away Christ as being God, and you even take away the Saviour too, for they go both together ; and accordingly it was the general faith of all those primitive Christians to believe in the righteousness of Jesus Christ as God and as our Saviour.
(4.) The fourth concession or grant which I shall mention, which, though it seems to be all one with the other before, yet hath a difference, is this, that to this special faith on Christ and on the grace of God, there is the faith of other things requisite, either implicitly or explicitly. It is not only that he who denies some things, which are believed with a general faith, cannot have a true special faith, since the denial of the one cannot stand with the truth of the other, which was the meaning of the foregoing con cession ; but that unless a man believe many things, which yet are but the
objects of a general faith, either implicitly or explicitly, he can never come to have true special faith. We may see this in the instance of the eunuch in the confession of his faith, Acts viii. 37. He says no more but that he believed Jesus to be the Son of God, but yet withal, his faith was pitched upon Christ as a Saviour dying for sinners, for the occasion of his believing was Philip s interpreting to him the 53d chapter of Isaiah, which openly mentions Christ s being wounded for our sins ; and the eunuch adds in his
confession, that he believed Jesus to be that person who was intended, and he believed too that this person was the Son of God, as that which alone made his death and offering himself for sinners satisfactory unto God, for he accordingly desires to be baptized for remission of sins as obtained by Christ. His believing him to be the Son of God is indeed only mentioned, because this was the great thing necessary in order to his believing on him as a Saviour, but yet this last is as strongly implied and intended. To the same purpose we have another scripture, Heb. xi. 6,
< He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that dili
gently seek him. He that cometh to God is he that cometh to believe on him, cometh to him for salvation, for faith is often so expressed, though special faith lies in coming to God for mercy, believing upon his grace, believing on him that justitieth the ungodly ; yet a man must believe first that God is, and that spiritually, and he must be wise in that point savingly too. A man must believe also that God is just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, that he is true and faithful in his promises ; there fore a man is said, when he believeth, to set to his seal that God is true.
Yet, to believe the truth of God, to believe the justice of God, to believe that God is, all these belong to general faith, to the same faith wherewith I believe a thousand things else in the Scripture. Only let me say this,
it is not necessary that a man should believe all these explicitly, that is, in distinct propositions, especially not in a method and order, first this and then that ; as to say, First I came to believe that God was, and then I came to believe that God was true. But when God comes to reveal him self as a justifier, then, as when the sun in one beam sheweth the whole sun to the eye, so it is here, that often at once when God reveals himself as a justifier of the ungodly, to be believed on, he also with that beam
enlightens the soul with the knowledge of what other perfections are in him, which may conduce to represent him to us as a justifier of the ungodly. To illustrate this by the instance of Adam s first sin ; as in that there were many sins concurred, but that one sin which the Scripture reckoneth, that one disobedience by which we all fell, was eating the forbidden fruit, so it
is here : though there are many acts of believing, yet the one act which
justifies is that which regards Christ, and his blood and righteousness. When Abraham was to believe in the promised Messiah, in the promised
CHAP. IV. J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 285
seed, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, he believed
in the power of God too, as I said even now out of Rom. iv. 21 ; and it was
absolutely necessary for him so to do, for he knew, according to the pro mise, that the Messiah could not come unless he had Isaac. Now, though his faith looked at Christ especially, yet to support this faith that the Messiah should come, he believed in the power of God to give him Isaac ; his special faith was supported by his belief on the power of God ; arid yet his belief on the power of God, that God was able to do thus and thus, was not that which justified him, for it was but a general faith, and yet I say it
supported his special faith. You have the like in Heb. xi. 19, when he
thought to offer up Isaac : his eye was then upon Christ, whom God would
raise from the dead, but yet he believed that God was able to raise up Isaac, without which he should never have Christ, nor Christ should never have come. Abraham s faith was twice put to it, in believing on the power of God concerning Isaac : the one was for his being conceived and born, and the other was when he offered him up ; you have the one in Rom. iv. 19, and the other in Heb. xi. 18. So that now faith in the general of these truths, that the word of God, or the promises of God, are true, that God is faithful, that he is just, that he is powerful, all these they are the supports of special faith ; but yet
still that special faith which I am justified by, is only that whereby I believe upon the grace of Christ, and upon the grace of God as justifying. There
fore that which divines do say to clear the point of faith justifying alone, may be applied here. Faith, say they, doth not justify alone, as if it were
unaccompanied with other graces ; as the eye though it sees alone, yet if it were alone, if it were out of the head, it would not see. Now the same do
I say of this special faith, it would never come to justify us, if it were not
supported with acts of general faith. A great many of snch nerves meet
in this eye of special faith upon the grace and mercy of God, and concur therewith ; and though they are before that act, yet are in order unto justi fication. When men are humbled for sin, upon the sight of sin as sin, they could never be thus spiritually humbled for sin, if they did not know God
spiritually, and the goodness of God : I mean, take goodness in the general sense, as God is good and sin is evil, they could not see sin to be the
greatest evil, except they saw God to be the chiefest good ; for as God knows sin by knowing himself, as the schoolmen speak, so we know the
evil of sin in that light whereby we know the goodness of that God against whom we have sinned, and from whom sin hath drawn us ; but now a thousand of these acts, if you could suppose so many to precede, are not those whereby we are justified, but they are in order to justification. A
> man is never justified, till he be wrought upon to a special throwing of
i himself upon Christ and his righteousness, and upon God as justifying.