Chapter VI
That where there is true and unfeigned faith, the soul is prevailed on to con
sent to give itself to Christ in all services and obedience. That yet this
choosing of Christ to be our King and Lord, and submitting to him accord
ingly, is not that act of faith which justifies a man.
I will now explain what it is for a man to believe unfeignedly, or accord
ing to the very law and nature of faith : and I shall open it to you briefly. Thou comest to believe in Jesus Christ ; let me ask thee this question, What is it thou aimest at in thy coming to him ? what wouldest thou have from him ? what wouldest thou have with him ? what is thy intent, thy business with him ? The soul will say, I would have pardon of sin, and I
believe on him for the forgiveness of my sins ; for blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven ; [and forgiveness lies only in him. Why now,
818 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
according to the law of faith, according to that ingenuity* and unfeignedness of faith, what will be the issue of it ? Thou wilt let fall all the weapons that are in thy hand against God presently. It floweth, I say, naturally, from the very law of believing. As, for example, if a traitor, having been a rebel against his prince, should come to him for his sovereign grace and
favour, to pardon and forgive him, he comes to seek pardon of his prince, who may choose whether he will pardon him or no ; and then certainly the very law of his coming to him for grace, requireth (and requireth it
naturally, and it cannot be otherwise) that this man should come nakedly, and come upon his knees, and lay aside all his hostility, and his weapons which he hath used against him. So it is likewise with the soul that comes to Jesus Christ for the pardon of sin ; it is against the law of faith to do
otherwise, as truly as it is against the law of arms for a man in a treaty for
peace to come and practise any?act of hostility. This you shall find in the
Scripture to be natural unto faith, and to flow from it as naturally as any thing can do, Hos. xiv. 2. There the prophet sets them a-work to seek by way of faith, mercy at the hands of God : Take with you words, saith
* and turn to the Lord ; say unto him (this now is the voice of faith),
he,
1 Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously ; and, ver. 3, they coming thus unto God, say, Asshur shall not save us, i. e., no creature shall help us, for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. We look for help from thee
alone, and we come to thee for grace ; take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously. What follows upon this ? what follows as a natural and
* Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols ? God doth not come in here, and
necessary consequent upon it ? Bead the 8th verse,
say, Ephraim, you must leave your idols ; but Ephraim saith it himself, and he saith it as finding it inconsistent with what he is seeking for : I am
seeking for grace at the hands of God, and to have all iniquity taken away, what have I therefore to do any more with idols ? This is the voice of
faith, and the law of faith. So again, when you come to believe, let me ask
you, What do you come for ? do you come for pardon ? what is it in God that should move him to give you pardon ? Oh his free grace, his infinite love ! What kind of love is it you seek for, as that which only must pardon you ? A love unchangeable, such a love as is not bestowed upon the rest of the world, which millions of nobles, and great ones in the world, have no interest in ; a love that continueth to everlasting, a love that freely accepts you for nothing in yourself. This indeed and in truth is the aim of your faith, for you can have pardon from no other principle in God, but from such a love as this. If that faith now aims to have from God such a
love, out of which, and out of no other a man can be pardoned, and castoth himself upon God for this, and without this is never quiet ; if faith come
to God for this, if it be faith unfeigned, if it keep to the law of faith, if it be faith without guile, if there be a true heart in this faith, if there be an honest heart (for that is another expression that Luke hath, Luke viii. 15, and he means not only in respect to commands, and the like, but in rela
tion to the word of the gospel, holding forth Christ to us, to believe on him),
if, I say, a man have an honesty of faith, and an ingenuity* of faith, and cometh unto God for such a love, it must needs frame and fashion in a natural way the heart to a suitable disposition unto God. I find in Acts
xi. 26, where Barnabas bids them by faith to abide by the Lord, it is said, he exhorted them with purpose of heart to do it. There is a purpose of heart that is always the ingredient in the nature and being of faith, for
faith you must know is seated in the whole man, hath its effect upon the * That is, ingenuousness. ED.
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 819
whole heart, therefore it draws out all in a man, that as the will doth trust
in Christ, so there is a cleaving to him with a genuine purpose of heart. Whatever now faith would have from God, and comes to God for, it comes
to God upon the terms of the law and nature of the thing, to return in its
proportion that to God again ; the heart behaves itself accordingly, and must needs do so when it comes to believe. Abraham when he believed
upon God for to have his Son Jesus Christ (for he saw his day, and knew that he was to be put to death, or at least that he was to be saved by him), would he have God s Son from God ? doth he believe this in earnest ? and doth he come to God for salvation through his Son to be given for him ?
This faith now being honest faith, faith unfeigned, genuine faith, saith he, God shall have my son again ; and though Abraham had not that distinct
thought when he first believed, yet there was seminally in his heart, when God called him to give up his son to God ; and you have it there in James
ii. 22. Further, when the soul comes to Jesus Christ for pardon, I ask
thee again (and do but consider it), what is it that thou dost come to Christ
to be pardoned through ? I come to him to be pardoned through his
blood, and through his sufferings, his having borne the wrath of God, which
is the only all-sufficient sacrifice of himself, offered up to God when he bore our sins upon the cross. Dost thou so ? The very law and nature
of faith, if it be genuine, hath this seed and principle in it, which I say is
naturally and essentially an ingredient in it, that it will make thee to say, as the apostle himself cries out in Rom. vi. 2, 3, &c. How shall I then
live in that which Jesus Christ died for ? Do I come for every part of
Christ s obedience to be counted mine ? Certainly then the very law of
faith frames the heart to this, to conform myself to that obedience of his, to apply myself thereto. The law of faith seminally doth all this, and it
is not only in the case of assurance of the love of God, but in the case of
depending upon the love of God ; not only in the case of assurance that
Christ died for me, but in depending upon this, that Christ died for me. Thus faith hath a thousand ways whereby it sanctifies the heart, by going to Christ for virtue, by looking to the example of Christ, by looking to its oneness with Christ, and the like ; but the truth is this, that that which we call sanctification (or call it what you will), is contained seminally in
the very law of faith, when it is actually drawn out and exercised. You
call it repentance, and sanctification, and the like, but seminally it lies in
believing, and in the very law of believing, if it be faith unfeigned, if it be a true and genuine act of faith, which I take it is the reason why all is
ascribed to believing. It is not as if the soul when it comes to believe, and
sees itself lost without Christ, &c., concludes, I must repent to perform a
condition of my justification
: no ; but the very nature of the thing doth
it ; for if a man come to God otherwise, he may be answered as Isaac answered Abimelech, Gen. xxvi. 27, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing you hate me, and have sent me away from you ? Or, as Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, Judges xi. 7, Did not you hate me, and expel me from my father s house ? and why are you come unto me now, when ye are in distress ? If any man comes thus to God, can he think he shall be
accepted ? So that, I say, repentance and sanctification, take the acts of
it, they are all seminally included in faith, and flow from it, if it be faith
unfeigned, and without guile, if it be faith that resteth upon Christ for the blessedness of having our sins covered. But let me add this for caution s
sake, though this is what the law of faith, when the soul comes to treat with Christ for justification, requireth ; yet it is not that upon which, and
that act for which God doth justify us ; but rather, I say, whatever God
320 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
respecteth in faith, trusting on him is certainly that act which he hath
singled out for the purpose of our justification.
The soul, in treating with Jesus Christ for justification, according to
this law of faith mentioned, doth apply itself to all, and the whole that is
in Christ, or of Christ, or belonging to Christ, and doth give up the whole soul to God and to Jesus Christ. If a man do believe with faith unfeigned, this is withal included in the very nature of it ; although indeed when I come to Jesus Christ as a justifier, for that is my particular business with
him, I believe on him that justifieth the ungodly; yet being come, faith
corresponds or applies itself to all that is in Christ, or of Christ, or belong ing to him any way. I shall endeavour to explain and prove this. You have often heard it, and I find it in some discourses urged that faith is not
only a believing on Christ, but a taking and a receiving of Christ, and that therein also lies the act of justifying ; but I do not urge it so; for I take it, that the formal act of justification is when the soul resteth and believeth on the Lord Jesus, and the Scripture carries it so throughout. Yet withal
notwithstanding this taking of Christ, this applying the whole soul to whole
Christ, and all that is of him, or in him, or belonging to him, is essential
to this faith, it is included in it, even in the very nature of the faith itself,
if it be unfeigned faith, if it be honest faith, if it be faith that is faithful, as I may so express it. I shall endeavour to explain this by degrees.
(1.) I lay this down for a most certain truth and principle, that God hath ordained the spirit of faith to be that great principle in the soul till it come to heaven, whereby the soul shall immediately treat with Jesus Christ or God in Christ, all those ways whereby he is to be treated withal by the soul ; so that all sorts of transactions between God and Christ pass through the cognisance of faith, and are let first into the soul by faith. So that as Jesus Christ himself is a mediator between God and us, in bringing us to God, so the spirit of faith in the soul is that whereby the soul doth treat with Christ, is both the spirit of faith which the Holy Ghost who acts the soul in the ways of believing, and the principle of faith in the soul itself. When you come to deal with Jesus Christ, or with God through Christ, all
things else are shut out of doors, and there is none that appears, or are seen together, but God and Christ, and the spirit of faith in the soul, and the soul acting faith towards God thereby ; so that whatever excellency is
in Christ s person (besides his being a Saviour, or the object of justification), whatever relation besides God hath put upon him to bear towards the soul, and ordained him to be unto it (as there are multitudes of them, as an
head, an husband, a prophet, lord, and king), all these that faith which doth justify is also ordained to take in, and unto these all doth the soul that comes to Christ for justification suitably apply and demean itself, it
being, as was said, the only eminent principle that is ordained to treat with Christ ; so as although the consequent of believing may be love, and mourning for sin, &c., yet that which transacts all with Christ as he is a king, as he is a priest, as he is a prophet, as he is excellent and glorious in himself, is faith : and it is faith that transacts all these first and primarily, nakedly and immediately, with Christ, and then love and all other things arise. Hence therefore faith that comes to Christ for justification is such
as is fitted to take in and apply itself to all that is put upon Jesus Christ
in his relation to us, and all that faith shall be instructed in, it apprehends
it and closeth with it. For otherwise there should be something in Christ ordained by God to be to the soul, which the soul should not have a prin
ciple to take in or apprehend ; for whatsoever Christ is ordained to be to
the soul, the soul apprehends it only by faith. Yet,
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 821
(2.) Although all such applications of the soul to Christ by faith, as of
consenting to be Christ s, the taking the person of Christ to be mine, &c., are the proper peculiar acts of faith, yet are they not that formal act of
faith as justifying ; but the Scripture puts this upon what is here mentioned,
seeing and believing on him ; and although the soul is thereby married to
Christ as an husband, as Kom. vii. 8, To bring forth fruit to God,
1 yet to take him under that notion as an husband, is a conjugal act, whereas
justification is a forensical act in God, and believing upon him is answer
able. And then again, to take him upon consideration of his excellencies
as an husband, is an act of love, and so if this was the justifying act, love would go before faith, whereas love ariseth from the acts of faith. Yet,
(3.) Although thus to take Christ, and to receive Christ as a lord, and
as a king, and a husband, and apply the soul accordingly to him, be Dot
that formal act of faith as justifying, yet all such acts do flow from, and
are contained in, the very nature of that act of faith that seeketh justifica tion from Christ, and this according to the law of faith before mentioned, so
as if it be faith unfeigned, faithful faith, that soul who comes to Christ for
justification, if it comes truly to him as such, doth withal necessarily take him as a lord, as a king, as a husband, in all his relations, and accordingly
applies the soul wholly to him. You shall find therefore in John i. 12 that which is elsewhere called believing on his name, is there called receiving of him : As many as received him, to them he gave power to be the sons of God, even to as many as believe on his name. He that doth believe on the
Son, he also receiveth him ; and how receiveth him ? He receives him as he is a Lord as well as he is a Saviour ; that is clear and evident from what is the occasion of this speech in the verse before, for that which others
are blamed for in that llth verse is, because they received him not as such : He came unto his own ; that is, he came unto his own house, as a lord and master over his own house (for so indeed the phrase implies, the
t<$ ra 76/a, to his own, as it is elsewhere translated ; so in John
phrase
xix. 27 John is said to have received Mary, Christ s mother, g/ g ra, 75/a, to his own home or house ; the like you have Acts xxi. 6) ; and his own received him not. They did not receive him as one that came as a Lord, and that was to be the Lord over his own house, Heb. iii. 6, as we are
said to receive a king when we acknowledge him, and are subject to him
as such. Now then you see he explains the one by the other, believing on
his name by receiving of him, and receiving of him by believing on his name ; now from hence I infer that whosoever believes on the name of Jesus Christ for salvation, it is in the nature of that act to receive him also
as a head, as a lord, as a husband, as a king, &c. And that which further
* As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord
explains this is Col. ii. 6,
* so walk ye in him. All obedience is but walking in
(mark the words),
Christ, as faith is receiving of Christ, and that as Jesus the Lord ; now what is said of receiving Jesus as a Lord, it is true of receiving him under
any other relation he bears towards us, wherein the word doth manifest
him, as a husband, as a head, as a prophet, as a king, &c.
(4.) The next thing I add to explain this, is, that yet it may be, that at the first when a man comes to believe on Christ for salvation, he hath not those distinct thoughts of taking Jesus Christ as a king, and as a husband, and the like, though still it is included in the very nature of that act of
faith that comes to him for justification (if that faith be genuine), so as the heart doth virtually and implicitly do all this in the very coming to Christ
for justification. And as to thisjfort, Christ is pleased to deal with some men in their coming to him so distinctly, as haply to propound all of Christ
VOL. VIII. X
322 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART. II. BOOK I.
at first, and to carry on the soul in that way and manner in the whole
treaty with him. Thus it was with Paul from the first, who sought Christ s
: Lord, saith he, what wilt thou nave me to do ? Acts ix. 6 ; and Philip, iii. 8, I count all things but loss and dung, that I may win Christ : I have, says he, and do so at present too. He had done so from the very first, and what was the order and
person first, and then his righteousness
design of his faith ? That I may win Christ (says he) ; he mentions that
first, that he may have his person first, and that being found in him he
might have his righteousness, and not his own. And I myself have known
some, that when they have seen their lost condition, have come unto Jesus
Christ, and looking about for a warrant for them in particular for this, they have found this ground, that God hath commanded them to believe, and so
authorised them to go to the Lord Jesus, of which being assured, and then
going to Jesus Christ, he told them that he could not deny them his right
eousness, because he is his Father s servant : and it is true they had his
warrant, and so he must give it them ; as if I have a ticket from the king, to have so much money from the lord treasurer, he being but a servant, and I having the king s warrant, he cannot deny to pay it to me ; but
withal, the soul thus coming to Christ, authorised by the command of God
so to do, Christ hath yet dealt thus with that soul : It is true (saith he), I
cannot deny you that righteousness which you come to me for, for I am
appointed by my Father to give it unto all that come to me for it. But know withal, that my Father hath appointed me to be as a king to you, to
be as a lord, to be as a head to you. I say, thus distinctly hath the thing been driven, and the treaty been made. But,
Secondly. All souls are not thus distinctly dealt withal, but they have
: for, first, many poor souls, when they first come to Jesus Christ, their minds are swallowed up so much about pardon of sin, that their present thoughts did then only in an explicit way look
this virtually and implicitly
upon Christ as a Saviour, though that act of faith in coming to him only as
a Saviour, being such a faith as is genuine, and true, and in earnest, and
ingenuous (at the same time that the soul seeks salvation by him), it
includes a disposition to be anything Christ would have it to be towards
him, or a submission to Christ in anything which he is ordained by God to
be unto the soul ; yet so as that they have not such explicit thoughts^at that moment drawn forth, they do not make such an explicit consent of
taking him to be their king, and their head, and the like, to make a mar
riage with him ; I say, they have not these distinct thoughts drawn out in
their first coming to Christ, whether it be in respect to the taking and
receiving him as a lord and husband, or whether in respect to the taking Christ himself the Saviour, many cannot say, that the revelation of Christ
to them was under the consideration of God s offering, or giving Christ
unto them, and that so they did receive Christ and take him ; but they can
say, they have come to him, and yet in their very coming (as the truth of
it is) they do take him ; but because taking of him implies a looking at him
as given, yea, the phrase to take him, implies an apprehension in them,
that he is given to them as theirs, for a man is to take only what is his
own, and so in common understanding it would seem to imply that the
faith of a believer hath for its ground a thought that God hath given Christ
for him in particular, which many truly believing souls cannot find ; they must therefore come to him as given by God for sinners, &c.
Thirdly. Neither doth God so drive on this treaty about justification, that
he should keep off and suspend to justify the soul coming to Christ for salva
tion, till the soul first doth distinctly apprehend that it must have his per-
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 323
son before it can have his righteousness, and that he is to be to it a Lord and King, as well as a Saviour. We cannot conceive that God should for
bear to justify the soul, till it comes to have such distinct thoughts, for such distinct apprehensions of Christ many poor souls cannot tell how to make out at the first, neither doth Christ drive on the treaty of the soul
with him in such distinct terms. But as was said, this is in the very nature
of the act ; and though they come to Christ only for justification, yet if it
be a coming unto him in good earnest, they do, by that very act, take whole
Christ, and all that is in him, and all that he is ordained to be to the soul. For as it is in marriage, though a woman marries one that is rich that all her debts may be paid, yet she marries him, and takes him as an husband, to all other ends and purposes else. Or I may illustrate it by a comparison of the contrary, which your ears may well bear, for we use to illustrate one
contrary by another. Those that are properly conjurors, they never make a distinct and explicit contract with the devil, but by going to him to do such and such things for them, they take the devil to be their head, and
they give their souls up to him by an implicit covenant, even by their very
going to him. So doth the soul by going to Jesus Christ in earnest, to be
justified by him, and that according to the law of believing, though it comes
to him at first for nothing but justification, yet because the law of believing doth require a man to take whole Christ, the soul doth it, and doth apply itself to that law, that whatsoever the word doth reveal concerning Christ, the soul corresponds with it. And if faith be genuine and ingenuous, it
naturally includes this in it. If I seek salvation from him who, being all
excellency and glory, became nothing, and emptied himself of all for those who are saved by him, who gave his whole self to purchase that salvation which I seek, the law of faith then requires that I should submit, and apply my whole self to him, and to all in him. But yet so it is, that the soul is drawn out to do all this, as upon coming to Christ, he is revealed to the
soul, and it is instructed in him. In John i. 12, he having said, As many as received him, then, as it were, thinking that this needed an explanation, he mentions by way of interpretation, even as many as believed on his name ; and this explication is on purpose to relieve many a poor soul, who
thinks with itself, Alas, I cannot remember that I did thus distinctly receive him as my Lord and Head, or that I saw God the Father giving of him to
me, to be such unto me. Ay, but hast thou believed on him ? Then thou
hast received him : As many as received him, even those that believe on
his name. The like you have in Luke xiv. 26, compared with Mat. x. 37 : He that hateth not father and mother, is not worthy to be my disciple ; so it is in Luke. But in Mat. x. 37, He that loveth father and mother more than me, is not worthy of me. Because whosoever comes unto Jesus
Christ, and gives up himself to be a disciple to him, the very nature of the
thing is to come to him for himself, and upon his so doing, he hath Christ
himself. It is, you see, made all one. Now I say, it is all virtually con
tained in our coming to him for justification, because that the soul, when
it comes to him in earnest, comes with that truth and with that unfeignedness that still, according as Christ is revealed, what he is ordained to be to
the soul, so it doth and would apply itself to him ; and this is evident also
by this, that these poor souls that come thus to Christ distinctly for justifi
cation, though they cannot say, I remember when I was married to Jesus
Christ, I cannot remember when I took him as my Lord, and King, and
Head, &c., under such distinct ideas, or that the treaty was so driven on,
yet they do all to him that a wife should do to a husband, they seek to
please him and content him ; they do all to him as servants should do to
324 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
a master ; and this by reason of coming to him for justification, and depend ence upon him thereon, though it may be they had not, in their first closing with him, such distinct thoughts, that they came to him as a husband and
as a master ; and though they cannot say, that they have put forth an act
of taking Christ as an husband or lord, under that distinct notion, and
that such a formal contract hath passed, yet such a seminal, virtual dispo sition of their souls they express abundantly in supposition, and tendency of their desires towards him, wishing, Oh that he would be a husband to
me, and how infinitely should I rejoice if I might be so happy in him ! And though I cannot say that I have taken him under this thought, yet my soul renounceth all other lords, according to that in Isa. xxvi. 13.
Again, the truth is, that faith as to our perception is a confused thing at
first; it is like the chaos, but yet like to that it hath the seeds of all things in it towards Jesus Christ ; and even as in making the world God brought forth one thing after another out of that confused lump first, he said, Let there be light, and then light started up, &c., and he was six days in
perfecting of the whole so it is in faith ; it is, I say, a confused lump at
first, but there is the substance in it of all that ever the soul shall be to
Christ, or that Christ shall be to the soul ; and in drawing forth these, God doth not tie or keep himself to any constant method ; he doth not make every soul to say distinctly, I will first take Christ, and then take
his righteousness. No ; but many a poor soul (it may be) comes to Jesus Christ first for his righteousness, and by coming to him for his righteous ness, the truth is, he takes Jesus Christ himself; and yet in the natural way of method, and in the dependence of the things, a man hath first
Christ, and then his righteousness. And besides, the order of these act
ings in the soul is as the ministry is under which a man liveth ; for there
is that obediential principle in faith, that whatsoever the word of God shall
call for at your hands, faith is ready to apply itself to Christ accordingly. There is many a poor soul cannot say, I have taken Christ to be my husband, and yet it will shew conjugal dispositions ; it will say, Oh that he were my husband ! and if he were my husband, how infinitely should I
! It cannot say, I have taken Christ for my Lord, when I began first to believe ; but this it can say, Other lords besides him have ruled over me, but I have renounced them all; I will make mention only of his name. So that the truth is, this taking Christ as a Lord is virtually and
rejoice
seminally in every soul that comes to Jesus Christ for salvation, for it takes whole Christ; and as it relies only upon him, so it receives all that
is in him, and all that belongs unto him ; and God, who judgeth righteous judgment according to the real substance of the thing, and stands not upon
formal thoughts and explicit contracts, or distinct apprehensions in the
person believing, as if the want of them should make void what is sub
stantial, justifies a man upon that faith which God sees and knows to have such a true genuine principle in it.
Having thus explained my meaning as clearly as I could, I shall now
prove the substance of this truth from the Scripture. The covenant of grace under the law directed believers to look on God as their God, and to avouch him to be such; David calls him Lord, Ps. ex. 1. And in so doing, the
very nature and law of faith requires and causeth the heart, according to
this principle, to apply itself to Christ as to a father and as to a lord, which the prophet refers to, and interprets it, Mai. i. 6, If I be a father, where
is my honour ? and if I be a master, where is my fear ? It is impossible the heart should come to God to be a Father (if it come to him in earnest), or come to Jesus Christ to be a Saviour, but it will turn to him, as it is in
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 325
Jer. iii. 19, Thou shalt call me Father, and not turn away from me. And Jesus Christ, he expresseth this to be the believer s case all along in his
preaching, as in that place I quoted even now, Mat. x. 38, He that loveth father and mother better than me, he is not worthy of me ; that phrase doth necessarily imply that he that comes to Jesus Christ takes Christ, and he hath Christ, whole Christ ; it is the very nature of the act to do so ; for why else doth he speak of that man as possessing himself, for he doth not say, He is not worthy of my righteousness, but, he is not worthy of me ; so that it is there implied that the soul takes Christ himself under all
relations. Why ? Because he parts with all other relations for him ; he hates father and mother in comparison of Christ, and it is because he comes
to Jesus Christ to be all these to him ; and this Christ argues from the nature of the thing itself, as is imported in that phrase,
* he is not worthy of me ; i. e., he deals unworthily and unsuitably to what he came to me
for. And hence it comes to be made inconsistent with faith, and against the nature of the act, for a man believing to go on in any sin : John v. 44, How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another ? And when Christ speaks of the soul s coming to him for rest, Mat. xi. 28, he mentions
his yoke, as elsewhere taking up his cross ; and in Luke xix. 14, he ex
presseth their unbelief by this, that they would not have him to reign over them. Our Lord and Saviour Christ, he was a mean man in view, and all the world contemned him, and the gang of the world was against him, and he that would keep his correspondency with the world, and hold in with the world, and have honour from the world, he would never believe on him; for if he did believe on him in earnest, he would let go all his correspondency with the world, and take Jesus Christ, ipso facto, as his Lord and as his Master.
And the apostles preached accordingly, as you shall find in Acts ii. 36 :
* Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same
Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. He would have them know this, [and know this assuredly, that God had made him, as Christ the Messiah to save them, so he had made him Lord ; and in Acts v. 31 you have the like : Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour. Whoever therefore comes unto him as to a Saviour, if he come in earnest to him for salvation, if it be faithful faith, if it keep to the law of faith, he doth also necessarily apply himself to Christ as to a prince ;
for, mark it, for what end doth the apostle quote this ? They had said, ver.
29, We ought to obey God rather than men; and then they give this reason for it, because he is exalted to be a prince (they say), therefore we
ought to obey him ; and upon those terms we and others also have believed on him. In like manner they add, verse 32,
v We are his witnesses of
these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him; that is, that have received Jesus Christ as a Prince
as well as a Saviour, giving that as a true description of believers. Hence
therefore faith is not only opposed to doubting, but it is opposed to dis
obedience. You have an express place for it in ] Peter ii. 7, Unto you which believe he is precious
: but unto them which be disobedient, a stone
of stumbling, &c. Unbelief, you see, and unbelievers, are expressed by
being disobedient. Why ? Because virtually and seminally taking Jesus
Christ as a Lord and a King, in all things to obey him, is contained in the
very nature of faith. You have it in your very creed I believe in Jesus
Christ the Lord and the same is imported too in that text (though it be not the whole meaning of it), Eph. iii. 17, That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. This phrase imports an having received him into the
326 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
heart by faith, as a Lord into his own house; and so it answers to that in John i. 11, He came to his own, &c. ; elg ra 76/a, to his own house, as Lord over it. There is in a believing soul a door of faith opened, Acts xiv. 27, to receive the King of glory; thus the heart sets open all its
doors, as you have the expression, Ps. xxiv. 9, Lift up your heads, ye gates ; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors ; and the King of glory shall come in; and gives up all the keys unto Jesus Christ, and sets him up a throne, there to dwell and rule. And that is the reason why, though heaven is his throne, and earth his footstool, yet he delights to dwell in a broken and humble spirit, and in a believing heart, because he can rule
there, and he may do what he will in that heart ; and accordingly we are said to receive him when we do believe. Hence therefore you shall find in Scripture that all the profession of faith and of Christianity is expressed to us by this very thing, calling of Jesus Christ Lord. You have it in 1 Cor. xii. 3, No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. He was speaking of their being converted to the faith, and he expresseth it by calling Jesus the Lord. To the same purpose is the
apostle s exhortation, Heb. iii. 1,2, Let us look to Jesus, the Apostle of our profession, to guide us, as well as to him our high priest to save us. And answerably he speaks, Heb. v. 9, that he becomes the author of eternal salvation to them that obey him; and it is such salvation as is eternal in the issue. In 2 Cor. v. 15 you shall see it is made the very law of believing
: The love of Christ constrains us ; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and, saith he, he died for
all, that they which live should not henceforth live to themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. You see it is included in the very nature of the thing. Do I believe that Jesus Christ died for me ? or, do I come to Jesus Christ to be saved by his death and by his resurrec tion, I myself being a dead creature without him ? Thy heart then cannot but judge that it is the very law of the thing, that therefore I should live to him that died for me and rose again. Compare this now with Rom. xiv. 7: None of us, saith he, liveth to himself, that is, none of us that are true believers; for to this end, verse 9, Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. Do I come to Jesus Christ now to be justified by his death, and by his resurrec tion ? Why, he that died and rose again both died and rose again that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. Hence therefore, saith he, none of us liveth to himself; the natural and necessary law of the thing requires that we should live unto Christ. So that, I say, if it be faithful
faith, if it be faith that is genuine, and that keeps to the law of believing, according to the nature of the object, when it comes to Jesus Christ, to be justified by his death and by his resurrection, by the like reason it gives itself up to Jesus Christ, as to a lord and king, and all the relations that God hath set forth in his word that Jesus Christ is ; therefore in 2 Cor. viii. 5 you have an expression of the soul s resigning itself up perfectly unto Jesus Christ, that it giveth up itself and all that is in it unto the Lord, and applies itself to him as to a lord and king. This they did, saith he; first, they gave their own selves to the Lord, and then unto us, by the will of God; that is, unto us the apostles, to guide them and direct them, but they gave their own selves up first to him. For faith causeth the heart to apply itself to the law of believing, and to all that is revealed concerning Christ in the word. It takes whole Christ, and gives up the whole soul, and that is included in the very nature of faith; so that a man cannot believe in deed and in truth unless he doth thus. Therefore now,
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 327
why should we make repentance, and sanctification, and such things con
ditions of the covenant of grace (as many do), whereas they are all
seminally included in faith ; and it is impossible for a man to believe but
all these things must follow. God shall not need to stand treating with
sinners in such a manner as this, You come to me for salvation, therefore
thus and thus I expect you should do. God need not insist on such
things as conditions ; for if the soul doth come to him for salvation, all
this is included in faith itself, and they are part of salvation itself; and when God bids me do all these things, he doth but bid me be saved. If a
prince should say to one, I will give thee my daughter in marriage if thou
wilt but marry her and take her for thy wife, will a man now say that this
is a condition? No; it is that without which he cannot come to enjoy
her, without which she cannot be his wife, or he have communion with
her; the very law and nature of the thing requires it. So it is here, and
therefore is faith made the sole condition (if I may call it a condition, for
there is no need to call it so much), because it virtually includeth all these. He that believeth truly, according to the law of faith, he takes whole Jesus
Christ, and gives up his whole soul to him, to be ruled and disposed by him
for ever. As for instance, 1. Dost thou come to Jesus Christ to be justified ? and dost thou do it
in earnest ? Thou dost take Jesus Christ to be the fountain of grace to
thee for evermore, thou dost come to him with a resolution to be nothing in thy own account to eternity, and that Jesus Christ shall be all in all to
thee, and do all in thee, and for thee, and thon reckonest thyself to be a
cypher, and that for evermore.
2. Dost thou come to Jesus Christ to be saved and justified by him in
earnest ? Thou comest to take Jesus Christ, with all the life of Christ, and all that belongs unto him. As when one takes a husband, she casts her fortune with him, as we say, to live with him ; so dost thou in receiv
ing Christ. This is Paul s phrase in 2 Cor. iv. 10, That the life of Jesus may be made manifest in our body ; he speaks it when he was persecuted. And what life was that ? It was a life of persecution to which he cheerfully submitted. Thus thou dost subject thyself unto a conformity to all that
did accompany the life of Christ personally here upon earth ; thou sayest as Ruth to Naomi, Ruth i. 16, Entreat me not to return from following of thee : for whither thou goest, I will go ; and where thou lodgest, I will
: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Thou
lodge
takest Jesus Christ to follow him all the world over, with all the disgrace that shall accompany him ; thou takest Jesus Christ with losses, and with
crosses, with all inconveniences, with his crown of thorns as well as with
his crown of glory, as oftentimes hath been expressed ; and Christ need not make a bargain with thee to do so, it is contained in the thing itself,
if thou come to him in earnest. Thou takest Jesus Christ with all his
graces, the meekness of Christ to subdue thy pride, &c. For there is
nothing in thee naturally but is contrary to Christ ; thou takest him to have every thought brought in subjection to him. Thou takest him with
all his offices ; thou takest him as thy prophet, that is, whatsoever truth Jesus Christ shall reveal to thee and thou knowest not what truths he may reveal to thee in this world, afore thou goest out of it, for which thou
mayest suffer, and be called even to lay down thy blood thou receivest it,
yea, and thou wilt watch and observe where truth is, and where the Spirit of God stirs abroad in the hearts of his people, so as a child may lead thee, as the prophet says, Isa. xi. 6 ; thou wilt take the least hint of light, the
least beam, and neglectest nothing that riseth up in the church to consider
OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART II. BOOK I.
it ; and so thou takest him as a king also to rule thee, and to be under no sceptre but under his, and under no government but under his : Isa. xxvi. 13, Other lords have ruled over us, but we will make mention only of thy name. Dost thou come to Jesus Christ in earnest for justification ? Thou art pleased with him in all things, with all the counsels of Jesus Christ, all his decrees and purposes, all the ways of his providence, all that is
nothing ^ _ belongs to him ; and this is all included in the very nature of faith. If I believe in earnest, if that my faith be suited to the object that faith believes upon, though God may draw these things out of the lump, out of the matter or chaos of faith, by degrees, one thing after another, yet it is all there, even when the soul first comes to lay hold upon Christ ; therefore we are said to go on from faith to faith, and that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, Rom. i. 17.