Part III
PART III.
Of the properties of Faith.
BOOK I.
Of the excellence and use offaith. That good works are not slighted by exalt
ing faith. -Of the excellence of faith, in that it gives all honour to God and Christ ; and that for this reason, God hath appointed it to be the grace
by which ice are saved. Of the excellency of faith, as it hath a general
influence on all our graces.
CHAPTER I.
The excellency of faith displayed in several particulars.
IN discoursing of the properties of faith, first, I will begin to shew the
excellency that is in faith above all obedience else. But before I come to
demonstrate the excellency of faith, I will first premise these few considera
tions to all, that I shall speak of faith s excellency, because men think faith
too much magnified and works slighted.
1. Faith, in itself, is of all graces the meanest and the lowest, a poorer and a more beggarly grace than to love, by far : for in loving God, we return
something to him, love for his love, we give as well as we take ; but in
believing we receive all from God ; so Gal. iii. 22, the promise is said to
be given to them that believe, and ver. 14, to be received by faith. We
lay but hold upon what he offers, Christ and the grace that is revealed through him. Now as prastantius est dare quam accipere, so to love and obey is, in
itself, better than to believe, it is more honourable for us. Believing is
passion rather than action, for indeed God puts Christ upon us and into
our hands, or we would not take him. We do but sit still, as it were, when we believe, and see what God will do in us and for us ; and therefore God
the rather chose to advance this grace, which is the weakling, to all the
rest. God chose to shew his power in this grace ; and that which is the
most foolish in the eyes of reason, hath God chosen to be his agent.
2. Therefore it is not faith, as it is a quality or an act simply in itself,
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that we shall or do commend it to you ; it is not for any worth in itself, but as it is an instrument singled out by God to do all by in us. As Peter said of himself, having healed the cripple, Acts iii. 12, Why marvel ye, or look ye so earnestly on us, as if by our own power or holiness we had done thus ? No ; be it known to you, that we are but the instruments. So may faith say, It is not any excellency or holiness in me above other
graces, that doth anything more than they ; I am but an instrument of conveyance. Thus a seal of wax is of itself of far less worth than a pearl or piece of gold, and yet it may ratify a covenant, which a piece of gold doth not do. Now he that believes hath set to his seal that God is true, John iii. 33 ; and so the covenant is struck up betwixt God and him, and therefore it is more precious than any grace else, yet but as an instrument, not in itself.
3. It is such an instrument as, in all that is attributed to it, Christ who
is the object of it, and God who is the worker by it, are magnified and
glorified when it is commended. So that in commending faith, and desir
ing you so earnestly and above all to believe, we do desire you but to set up Christ in your hearts above works, and above obedience, and to let him be all in all. We desire you but to magnify God s free grace above your own merits, and what you can earn, and to magnify God s power above your own. If God had used any other grace, some honour would have reflected upon it, and so much have been taken away from God ; but by grace ye are saved, and through faith (as the instrument), Eph. ii. 8. And why is it of faith, and not of any works or disposition in us else ? Lest any man should boast, ver. 9 ; for, Rom. iii. 27, boasting is clean excluded by the law of faith ; that is, an ascribing anything to a man s self, or to anything in a man, is excluded, for that is meant by boasting. Did not faith do all ? Or if works did anything, a man would boast ; for whatever faith is said to do, Christ is still as fully said to do, as if he did it without the help of faith ; for faith is but the bare fetching it from Christ, or receiv
ing it from him, or suffering Christ to do all in me. And therefore, what
is said to be done by faith, is all one in Scripture phrase, and in God s account, and in the believer s esteem, as to say, that Christ doth it ; so that Christ is no whit afraid you should attribute too much to faith.
1st, In Scripture phrase, therefore, to be justified by faith, and to be jus tified by Christ, is all one ; to be in Christ, and to be in the faith, is all one and the same ; for faith doth all by going to Christ. Memorable is that place, Acts iii. 16, when Peter speaks of healing the cripple, he says, Christ s name, through faith in his name, had made the man whole. What he attributes to faith is wholly attributed to his name, and to faith but as in his name, and his name manifested through it ; and so his blood, through faith in his blood, justifies : and therefore it is promiscuously called
< the righteousness of faith, and
< the righteousness of Christ ; for it is all one. Faith robs not Christ a whit ; and so to live by faith, and to have Christ live in me, is all one, Gal. ii. 20.
2dly, And thus it is in a believer s account also, for it is the very instinct of faith, the form of it, to attribute all to Christ ; it is not faith else ; it is the property of it to do so ; I live by faith, says Paul, Gal. ii. 20, yet not I, but Christ lives in me : faith still comes in with yet not I. And, 3dly, Thus it is in God s account ; and therefore Christ cares not how much he attributes to faith, for he doth but closely herein attribute all to himself: when he says, All things are possible to faith, Mark ix. 23, he derogates nothing from himself, he doth not put faith into commission with himself, but it is all one as to say, all things are possible to my power,
CHAP. I.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 461
which faith makes use of. Christ, when he had done a miracle, or par doned a man, would seem to put off all from himself, in saying,
* Thy faith hath saved thee, and thy faith hath made thee whole : which was enough to have made any man proud of his faith ; and had it been any other grace,
it would have done so ; but he knew that that faith which was in their
hearts whom he saved and healed, said within them, Lord, thou alone hast made me whole. Thus faith doth trust Christ, and Christ doth trust faith. So as when we attribute so much to faith, we do but attribute it to Christ, and desire you but to honour him.
Secondly, We will shew you the prerogatives and excellencies of faith, which (as the apostle says in another case) are
* much every way. 1. You will see what it doth, that works do not.
2. You shall see that all which works do, it doth, and much more also ; and therefore we commend it to you above all, and more than all.
1st, It is in a primary sense the sole instrument in the covenant of grace, and works and obedience are but subservient, and as a consequence annexed to it, though as necessarily annexed as the other. Our great busi ness in the covenant of grace is faith, as the form of the covenant of works
lay in doing. Therefore still the two covenants, and the righteousness conveyed by both, are differenced by doing and believing only
: Rom. x. 5, 6, and Gal. iii. 11-13, &c., Acts xvi. 30, 81, and the reason is couched in three
* Therefore it is of faith, that it might be of grace, and that the promise might be sure.
words, in Rom. iv. 16,
1. That it might be of grace, given freely, requiring nothing, but receiv
ing. If God had required giving again any thing from us as the condi
tion, then it had not been of grace, that is, not every way of grace, Rom.
xi. 6, if it had been by any works as the condition, then grace had been no
grace.
2. Therefore it is of faith, because this covenant is a promise. So it is
called, as in that place, so in Gal. iii. 14, 17-20. Thus he calls the covenant of the gospel throughout in that chapter, and therefore mentions
faith only as the instrument to lay hold of it, as answering thereunto ; for what is there should answer to it but faith ? For though it contains com mands, yet power to do what is commanded is also promised, to give a new
heart, &c. ; and therefore faith is that which alone answers to it, to lay hold on those promises.
3. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be sure; therefore it was both
necessary to be by way of promise from God to give all and do all, and to
require nothing but receiving and believing the promise from him, that the covenant might not depend on us, but on God and his promise, and upon nothing in us but receiving and believing the promise. God, in the cove nant of works, had to do with pure nature ; betwixt which and God, till there came a breach, there could be no cause of suspicion of God s love to man ; and therefore love was required, and not faith primarily ; but, in the covenant of grace, God hath to do with terrified consciences ; which, if
anything else than faith should have been required, could not have been raised up to any persuasion of God s love and favour. But now7
, a poor soul, though humbled, and seeing no worth in himself, and a soul in desertion that sees no righteousness of its own, yet may come to the promise to have
salvation sure to itself by faith, though for the present it hath nothing to
bring to the covenant. God requires humiliation indeed afore, because men will not believe else ; and he requires obedience after, as that which
necessarily follows upon faith, so as a man cannot truly believe but it will
follow, as heat follows light. Yet, upon believing, the bargain is struck up ;
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and though faith be the great^instrument, yet we say withal, that works are necessary to be in the person justified, yet not to justify. Thus heat
is as necessarily in the sun as light ; yet it makes not day by its heat, but by its light. Works of new obedience are required as necessary to the
possession of salvation, but faith is that alone which puts us into a condi
tion of having the title and right to it, by the blood and righteousness of
Christ. Obedience is necessarily required in all that are made sons, and so cry, Abba, Father ; for if he be a father, where is his honour ? But
it is faith alone that makes us sons, Gal. iii. 26. And though we are as
necessarily ordained to sanctification, as to faith and to salvation through both, 2 Thes. ii. 13, by which, as the necessary way, we come and are
brought to salvation as the goal, yet it is by faith alone that we are put into that estate : Eph. ii. 8, 9, By grace ye are saved through faith, and that not of works, &c. Then might some say, works are not required;
yes, says the apostle, as a necessary means you are ordained to come to
salvation by, which is the end of your faith, and which are a necessary condition of that estate, though faith alone puts us into it ; for he adds, ver. 10, We are his workmanship, created to good works, which God hath ordained we should walk in. They are the condition of the subject that
shall be saved, who must be made meet, not the condition of the promise of salvation itself. They are the condition of faith, or of the person believ
ing ; but as sight is that which saves us in heaven, by which we have all our happiness communicated to us, so is it faith that saves us here.
2dly. Accordingly faith doth all in us, till it hath brought us to salvation.
It carries along this great venture of a man s soul safe to heaven, and leaves
it not till it hath put it into Christ s hands in heaven, till itself ends in
sight. It begins and it ends with us, and stands by us, when else all would fail.
(1.) It begins, for it gives us the first ken of Christ and happiness. When the soul is bartered and tossed in the waves of humiliation at first, it is
faith climbs up to the top of the mast, and spies Christ out to get on board
him, when all was in despair, and thought to be cast away
: By faith we have access into this grace, Rom. v. 2. And,
(2.) When we are in the state of salvation, faith doth all; for whenas all
graces else would soon be overcome and cast out again by lusts, and would soon be tripped up from off their standing, faith is able to keep its legs and
standing, Rom. v. 2. Therefore, 1 Peter i. 5, we are said to be kept through faith unto salvation. If we were in any other grace s keeping, we were undone ; for how soon would all our love be non-plussed if that were the condition of the covenant ! How soon did all graces fail in Adam ! But faith is never non-plussed, it still trusts in God ; and there
fore above all armour else faith is commended, Eph. vi. 16, as that which stands us in stead when all else fail :
* above all, take the shield of faith. When a man s head-piece is cracked, his shield will hold, and he will safely lie under it when all weapons else are taken from him. Let lusts, devil, hell do what they will, the believer is secure, if lusts rage ; whereas other
graces left to themselves would say, Who shall deliver us ? Faith
raiseth up itself: I thank (saith the apostle, Rom. vii. 25) my God
through Jesus Christ, &c. Let Satan roar and cast in fiery darts, faith
quencheth them, Eph. vi. 16; we resist him, being stedfast in faith, 1 Peter v. 9. Let God frown and terrify us, and do what he will, faith can look upon him and trust him, Job xiii. 15. Thus faith fights it out
against all opposition. When a man comes to die, it is faith that resigns and delivers a man s soul into Christ s hands : These all died in faith,
CHAP. I.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 463
Heb. xi. 13 ; and salvation is therefore called the end of our faith,
1 Peter i. 9.
2. All the works in the world cannot unite you to Christ, and enable you to lay hold on him and justification by him; this is faith s work alone. That ties the marriage-knot betwixt Christ and you, as nothing makes man and wife but consent ; though there be love and kindness, yet that makes
the match. So doth faith : Hosea ii. 20, I will betroth thee to me in
faithfulness ; and thou shalt know the Lord, that is, believe in him ; as
Isa. liii. 11, By his knowledge he shall justify many. Faith on our
parts makes the match ; therefore (John vi.J 47 compared with all the
following verses) Christ calls believing eating his flesh, and drinking his
blood, whereby we are as nearly joined to Christ as to the meat we eat. Now, though all the members in you serve to many good purposes, yet you can make meat only yours by eating it, and you have but one mouth to do
it with, and no member else can let it down into your body to nourish it, so is there no grace can receive Christ but faith ; no duty, no performance can help thee to him. It is true indeed the union on Christ s part is in
order of nature first made by the Spirit; therefore, Philip, iii. 12, he is
said first to comprehend us ere we can comprehend him; yet that which makes the union on our part is faith, whereby we embrace and cleave to
him, and come to have any communion with him ; and it is faith alone
that doth it. Love indeed makes us cleave to him also, but yet faith first, for faith works love ; and we cannot love him till we believe he loves us, 1 John iv. 10, 16. And though love may cleave to him as to a lovely
object in general, yet our union to him, as to a head and husband, offered
to be ours, faith makes. Faith brings Christ into the heart, and then love
clings to him, which else it could not do. We are united not on to Christ
as good for us, but as given to us ; now faith makes that union of receiving him as given, though love makes the other. All communion, too, that is between Christ and us is by faith; by it we draw near to him, Heb. x. 22, by it he reveals himself to us. All our fellowship with him is transacted
by it ; it is as the priest between Christ and us, that deals between us and him for us.
3. Faith makes things it believes real and present, and to subsist to the
heart, and therefore it is called the subsistence of things hoped for, Heb.
xi. 1 ; and so causeth us to have a real communion and fellowship with
the person of Christ daily, insomuch as Christ is said to dwell in our
hearts by faith, Eph. iii. 17; whereas, though a man loves many that are
absent, let love cannot make them present to talk with them when he
would, though it may make pictures of them, and so please itself in them, but faith makes Christ present.
4. Faith is that mother-grace which begets children on all graces, and stirs them up, and sets a-work. I will not say that the first act of faith begets the habits of all graces first ; for he that believeth is born of God, 1 John
v. 1, and itself is a part of that image in righteousness begun. The
opinion that the first habits of all graces should arise from faith, hath risen
out of the experience godly men have had, that faith did first open the sluice, and set the wheel a-going, and stirred up their graces, which we attribute
to faith most gladly. It is that grace that begins all the acts that are
* work by love, Gal. v. 6.
begotten on other graces, therefore it is said to
I am sure it causeth the first love to God and Christ, for we cannot love him till he loves us ; and as to all that obedience to God which love works
in us, it is not love so much as faith that works by it ; and in this sense it
is said, James ii. 22, that faith worketh with works. (1.) Faith lets in
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all the strength we do) all with : The life I lead, says the apostle, Gal.
ii. 20, it is by faith in the Son of God. (2.) All the motives which
influence us to work, faith sets on : That I should live to him, says the
apostle, who gave himself for me, 2 Cor. v. 15, Gal. ii. 20. And 2 Cor.
* The love of Christ constrains us : but how ? because we thus judge (by faith namely) that Christ died for us. (3.) All accep tation of our works, when we have done them, are through faith, that stamps Christ s acceptation on them, mints them, and makes them current : Heb.
v. 14, 15, says he,
xi. G, Without faith it is impossible to please God ; as faith justifies our
person, so our works. (4.) When love, which is the fulfilling of the law,
falls short, then faith hath recourse to a righteousness, which makes it up ;
* fulfilled
therefore, Eom. viii. 3, the righteousness of the law is said to be
in us. How ? Bom. x. 4, Christ is the end of the law to every one that
believeth.
5. Whatever works doth or can do, faith doth it much more. It may
say as Paul said, in regard of the rest of the apostles, Are they apostles ?
* I am nothing, though I do all. Doth a man in working obey God ? In believing he doth much more, Kom. i. 5, Acts vi. 7. Doth works please him ? Faith much
so am I, in labours more abundant ; and yet says faith,
more, for it makes all accepted ; therefore in the Gospel Christ is taken
with nothing but their faith still ; he still speaks of that, and in one place wonders and cries, Great is thy faith ! Do works increase sanctification ? Rom. vi. 22, Having your fruit in holiness, &c. Faith doth it much
more, it is the instrument by which the heart is purified, and faith doth it
in a more nimble way, by going to Christ, Acts xv. Therefore, when the
apostle would exhort them to grow in all grace, he exhorts them to grow in faith. Do works glorify God ? Let your works so shine before men, that they may glorify your heavenly father. Faith doth it much more, Rom. iv. 20. Abraham was strong in faith, giving glory to God. It
sets up all his attributes, but especially free grace (for that faith only doth), which God ordained most to be admired, Eph. i. And as only faith glorifies that attribute, so faith only honours and magnifies Christ, and is created on purpose to do it. A few thoughts of faith glorify God more than a
thousand acts of obedience. Yea, the greatest glory our obedience doth
reflect upon God ariseth from this, that it proceeds out of faith, that we
should trust God so far as to venture all our obedience beforehand : 1 Tim.
iv. 10, Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in
the living God.