Writings and Sermons on the Gospel

Chapter 1

21. Thus our poor souls are by nature Satan’s palace, of which he is

represented as having peaceable possession, because there is a willing subjection to him, or, which is in effect the same thing, to the dominion of sin. But it follows in the next verse, “When a stronger than he shall co

Chapter 2

17. The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, was God as revealed in the

promises of the covenant of grace—God in Christ reconciling sinners to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. In a word, the same righteousness of God which is now, under the New Testament, more clearly manife

Chapter 3

1. The faith under consideration is a saving grace; of which the apostle

speaks in Eph. ii. 8, “By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” in 1 Tim. i. 16, “For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-

Chapter 4

2. The subject of our present inquiry is the act of believing in the name of

Jesus Christ, abstracting from such things as accompany or follow it. Regeneration, for example, must be considered as, in the order of nature, before believing; faith, or believing, being an act of a soul that is spirit

Chapter 5

3. The subject of our present inquiry is not, what this or that person takes

to be his own exercise in believing, but what is that which, in the Scripture account, constitutes believing in the Lord Jesus Christ? or, it is not what a believer’s own faith appears to himself, through a cloud of unbe

Chapter 6

1. It may be observed, that there is no salvation for poor sinners of

Adam’s family, but in Jesus Christ, as held forth in this record: “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”—Acts iv. 12. All the advantag

Chapter 7

2. This record of God is an exhibition of the all-sufficiency of his Son

Jesus to accomplish our salvation. “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”—Heb. vii. 25. His obedience unto death, even the death of the cr

Chapter 8

3. In this record of God we have a free gift and grant of Christ crucified,

and of eternal life in him, to sinners of mankind without distinction. This grant is sometimes expressed in the most formal manner; as in Isa. xlix. 6: “He said” (the Father said to the Son), “It is a light thing that th

Chapter 9

4. That the record of God, which faith receives, is the Gospel, as

contradistinguished from the Law. The Law is a perfect rule of righteousness; there is nothing good in man’s nature, dispositions, or actions, but what it requires. All the commands of God, therefore, not excepting those

Chapter 10

2. There is a certain order, according to which, and not otherwise, we are

to expect the enjoyment of the promised blessings of the covenant of grace. Thus, we are not to expect the attainment of a holy walk, before faith in Christ; nor assurance of sense, or experience of the comforts of the H

Chapter 11

3. The surety-righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ is the only proper

condition of all the promises taken together. The redemption which we have through his blood, includes all the blessings of the new covenant. Hence, though we find one of those blessings promised to those who have begun

Chapter 12

4. Sometimes the promised blessing is connected with such characters as

infallibly evidence persons to be already partakers of that blessing; as when it is said, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that -- 42 of 375 -- fear him.” Now, this godly fear is such as

Chapter 13

5. If the Gospel promise be conditional, then the condition of it either is

or is not promised. If our opponents should say that it is not promised at all, they will fall into gross error; for it is evident that faith, repentance, prayer, and whatever has been represented as a condition, are inc

Chapter 14

6. It seems absurd to represent faith as a condition necessary to warrant

the application of the promises to ourselves, not only because faith is a promised blessing, but also because, properly speaking, it is itself the only application of the promises to ourselves, as yea and amen in Christ.

Chapter 15

1. As it is a covenant of works, it sets before us the sinfulness and misery

that we are under as the children of the first Adam, in whom we sinned and died. As it reveals the wrath of God from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, and declares us all dead men, it is the grea

Chapter 16

2. Our Lord Jesus, having in his flesh perfectly fulfilled the Law as a

covenant or condition of life (in which sense, through his fulfilment of it, believers are dead to it), still enjoins it on them as the rule of their thoughts, words, and actions. In this injunction all his authority, as

Chapter 17

1. We are far from saying, that every one who professes to hold this

doctrine, with respect to faith’s appropriation of Christ crucified, is a true believer. Persons may hold this, as well as other truths, in unrighteousness. They may have evangelical heads with legal hearts. Such is the

Chapter 18

2. The appropriation of which I speak, is the appropriation of a whole

Christ and of his whole salvation to ourselves. A persuasion that Christ is mine for present pardon, and not mine for present sanctification, is not faith, but a mere delusion: Because Christ can be no otherwise received

Chapter 19

3. There are several misrepresentations with respect to the ground of this

appropriation. The first we take notice of, is that which makes particular election or particular redemption the ground of it. It is evident, that the ground of our faith must be something that may be known before, or in

Chapter 20

4. The appropriating persuasion or assurance, which we hold to be in the

nature of saving faith, is carefully to be distinguished from the knowledge of our being believers, and already in a state of grace. For, though the mind must ever be conscious of its own act; yet whether that act be suc

Chapter 21

1. This record is a declaration that there is no salvation in any other than

Christ crucified. Now, the faith that corresponds with this declaration must carry in it, that the person has no hope or confidence of salvation but what he has in Christ crucified; and therefore if he may have this fait

Chapter 22

2. The Gospel record is an exhibition of Christ crucified to every sinner

of mankind, as an all-sufficient Saviour. If a traveller, ready to faint with -- 53 of 375 -- hunger, comes into a house, and the head of the family, being acquainted with his condition, causes proper food to be set be

Chapter 23

3. In this record of God concerning his Son, there is a free gift and grant

of Christ crucified, and of eternal life in him, to sinners of mankind. We may endeavour to represent the manner of the grant in a simile. Suppose that a great and generous prince had made a grant to a certain class of p

Chapter 24

4. The record of God concerning his Son Jesus Christ, considered as the

ground of saving faith, is the Gospel as contradistinguished from the Law. Saving faith, though it set to its seal that God is true in all that he speaks, can never rest till it come to the Gospel strictly taken. Here is

Chapter 25

2. It is, undoubtedly, an essential part of the character of a believer, that

he is a person who breaks off his sins by repentance; yet his doing so is neither faith nor the previous condition of faith, or of a sinner’s believing application of the promise to himself; for the promise which the per

Chapter 26

3. The phrase, taking or accepting of Christ, is ambiguous. There is an

accepting of Christ by way of trusting or believing in him for all the good of the promise; and there is an accepting of him by way of resolution or engagement to submit to his authority and government.25 Both are essent

Chapter 27

4. The madman alluded to in the exception never uttered anything more

extravagant or farther from common sense, than a representation of the old Protestant doctrine as founding its claim to spiritual blessings upon some presumptuous, confident persuasion; since according to that, which is,

Chapter 28

1. To understand faith or believing in Christ as including appropriation, is

most agreeable to the sense in which the word is used in Scripture. To believe is to give credit to a testimony. The different acceptations of the word arise from the different lights in which the testimony is considered

Chapter 29

2. There are several express descriptions and representations of saving

faith in Scripture, which are necessary to be attended to. Remarkable is that in Heb. xi. 1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” In the first place, it appears from this tex

Chapter 30

3. This appropriating persuasion makes faith differ specifically, or in

kind, from whatever else bears that name.26 In the times of the apostles, some, who were destitute of saving grace, had the faith of miracles. There was, indeed, in this faith, an application of a promise, or rather pred

Chapter 31

4. This appropriating persuasion is implied in the metaphorical

representations which we have, in Scripture, of saving faith. Faith is called a “receiving.” “To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name.”—John i.

Chapter 32

12. Faith being called a receiving, implies that there is a giving on God’s

part, in the external dispensation of his word, previous to our believing; for “no man can receive anything, except it be given him from heaven.” We receive Christ when we believe, as in 1 John v. 11, that God “hath give

Chapter 33

5. That this appropriating persuasion is of the nature of saving faith, is

manifest from those things which are represented as opposite to it. For, that staggering at the promise, or doubting, which is opposed to faith, Rom. iv. 20, Matt. xxi. 21, James i. 6, is not a staggering at, or doubting

Chapter 34

6. This doctrine concerning the appropriation of faith is most consonant

to other articles of Scripture truth. It accords with the doctrine of mans natural inability for any act or exercise that is spiritually good; for, in setting about the performance of any duty, we must either see strengt

Chapter 35

7. We might show that there is an appropriation in the nature of saving

faith, from examples of the exercises of it. Several of these examples have been already taken notice of. To this purpose we might transcribe almost all the professions of faith made by the saints recorded in Scripture.

Chapter 36

1. Endeavouring to attain the knowledge of what is taught in the Word

concerning Christ. They who are neglecting to seek the true knowledge of what the Scriptures testify of Christ, are neglecting to believe in him. Knowledge is so necessary to faith, that the former is often put for the l

Chapter 37

2. Endeavouring to have a deep impression of, and subjection of heart

unto, the authority of God speaking in his Word. We do not truly receive the testimony of God concerning his Son, unless we receive it on account of the authority of the Testifier. People may seem to have an esteem of ma

Chapter 38

3. Another thing, included in this duty of believing is, that we should be

exercised in applying and taking home the word of the Gospel to ourselves, as a word directed to us in particular. As the word of the Law can be of no use for reproof or conviction, without application to ourselves; neit

Chapter 39

4. Another thing that belongs to the duty of believing, is, that we should

essay to avow or profess to God, to our own souls, and also, as there is occasion, to men, that we do believe, and that we desire to be delivered from our unbelief. Though this avowal may not be necessary to the existenc

Chapter 40

5. Another thing included in this duty of believing in the name of Jesus

Christ is, that we should be careful to continue in this faith. For this end it is necessary that we learn to distinguish between truth and error in doctrine; that we may be established in the former, and that we may giv

Chapter 41

6. Another thing included in our obedience to this commandment is, that

we should study to grow in faith. True believers are far from resting in what faith they have already attained; but are still pressing towards a greater measure of it; they are keeping up the cry of the disciples, “Lord,

Chapter 42

7. The diligent use of means is also included in the duty of believing in

the name of Jesus Christ. They that hear the voice of wisdom, or believe the word of Christ, are “watching daily at his gates, waiting at the posts of his doors.” The commandment of God to believe in the name of his Son

Chapter 43

8. It is included in obedience to this commandment, that we should

ascribe the work of faith, in the beginning, the continuance, the increase, and the finishing of it, to the almighty agency of the Holy Spirit. Faith is not of ourselves; nay, we are naturally full of aversion to it. Wha

Chapter 44

1. It is so, because our obedience to this commandment lays the

foundation of our obedience to all the other commandments. Believing in Jesus Christ the Son of God is the first and immediate duty of every Gospel hearer. In believing, the person puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, and so i

Chapter 45

2. It is so, because our obedience to it in so peculiar and signal a manner

gives glory to God. The glory that faith gives to God, is that of the highest manifestation of his name and perfections that was ever made to his creatures, namely, the manifestation thereof in the obedience and death of

Chapter 46

1. From what has been said, we may learn how precious and necessary

faith is, as it is our obedience to God’s great commandment. By it we are made partakers of precious Christ, and of the precious promises. Hence the apostle calls it “precious faith.” “Simon Peter, a servant and an apost

Chapter 47

2. Hence we see what is our great business under a Gospel dispensation,

—it is, to believe on the name of Jesus Christ the Son of God,—it is, to accept of the free grant of eternal life in him. You are this moment either believing, or despising and rejecting it. If you now believe, you will

Chapter 48

1. Wherever this faith is, it produceth peace, hope, and joy. There is no

genuine or lasting peace to the soul of man, but what is attained by the faith of Christ. Persons may seem for a time to have peace of mind, arising from some conceit, or vain opinion of their own righteousness; but sinc

Chapter 49

2. Wherever this faith is, it produceth true holiness in heart and life: we

are “sanctified by the faith that is in Christ.” Faith in the blood of Christ, by purging the conscience from dead works, and making it good, purifies the heart unto the unfeigned love of God and man. “Now, the end of th

Chapter 50

1. Love to Christ is the immediate effect of this faith; because faith is

such an apprehension of the love of Christ to us poor sinners as cannot fail, according to the measure of it, to make us love him who first loved us,—so the poor woman’s believing apprehension of much being forgiven her,

Chapter 51

2. Another inseparable attendant of true faith in Christ, is our love to one

another. Hence they are joined together in the text: “This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” The person who has truly believ

Chapter 52

3. Another inseparable attendant of true faith is repentance, or the soul’s

turning from sin unto God. Christ is set forth in the Gospel as a Saviour from sin as well as from wrath; and the promise, which is in him “Yea, and in him Amen,” is a promise of deliverance from sin; and therefore, by t

Chapter 53

4. Patience under the cross is also the fruit of this appropriating faith. By

that faith which rests on the promise, and embraces the good things of it as the greatest realities; which makes distant things near, and future things present; the soul waits with composure and tranquillity under sensib

Chapter 54

5. Another fruit of true faith is a due esteem of the Word, as indeed the

Word of God: “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”—Job xxiii. 12. The Word is more necessary to faith, than outward food is to the subsistence of our natural life or health. This esteem of

Chapter 55

6. Another fruit of true faith is prayer. As soon as a person believes on the

Son of God, it may be said of him, as it was said of Paul at his conversion, “Behold he prayeth.” Before he believed, his praying was but a lifeless form; but now he prays indeed,—he now comes to God as his Father in Chr

Chapter 56

7. Another fruit of true faith is a single regard to God’s declarative glory.

While a man is an unbeliever, all he does proceeds from natural self, as its principle; and, as the stream cannot rise higher than the fountain, it returns to self, as its end. But, being united to Christ by faith, he be

Chapter 57

1. It begins to bring forth fruit as soon as it exists in the soul. It is ever

attended with all the other graces of the Spirit, such as love, humility, the fear of the Lord, godly sorrow for sin, patience. Each of these is in the believing soul, if not in actual and sensible exercise, yet in the h

Chapter 58

2. It perseveres in bearing these fruits unto the end. As the being of true

faith, wherever it is, can never fail, by reason of our Lord’s preservation of it, and intercession for it, John vi. 40, Luke xxii. 31; so it shall never altogether cease to bear fruit. “Blessed is the man that trusteth

Chapter 59

XIII. Some instances of a decline from the Doctrine of the

Reformation.—Causes of that decline. On the eternal Sonship of Christ (Postscript). Remarks on the characters of Mr. Hervey and Mr Marshal, from Hayley’s life of the celebrated Cowper. -- 110 of 375 -- SOME POINTS OF G

Chapter 60

27. Peace I leave with you. And that it should be so taken here, is most

agreeable to the connection; for the apostle had been showing in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that God had given the Israelites a promise of a temporal rest in the land of Canaan; but that they were excluded

Chapter 61

20. We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us,

we pray you in Christ's stead, Be ye reconciled unto God. “In these words,” says Mr. Bellamy, “you are invited to be reconciled to God, and not to believe, that God is reconciled to you.”49 But If we are not to believe t

Chapter 62

24. The Hebrew word there rendered despised, is, in other places, justly

rendered refused or rejected, Jerem. vi. 30. Isai. liv. 6. Hence it is manifest, that the promise or gift of the land of Canaan was made even to those who were not permitted to enter into it because of their unbelief; fo

Chapter 63

13. Accordingly towards the end of the seventy years, it was the mind of the

Lord’s people, particularly of Daniel, that faith and prayer were necessary means of obtaining the promised deliverance, Dan. ix. 2, 3. Mr. Bellamy observes, “that those who had the faith of miracles, and could say to th

Chapter 64

17. Faith is said in Rom. iv. 20, 21. to be that by which a person does not

doubt of God’s promise through unbelief, but gives glory to God by a firm persuasion, that he who hath promised is able also to perform.” “4. From those things which are in scripture opposed to true faith, as its contrar

Chapter 65

18. Thou shalt be secure. The original word signifies, Thou shalt trust, or,

as the Geneva translation has it, Thou shalt be full of confidence. Confidence belongs to the essence of faith in the second sense, or, as signifying a persuasion, that God makes us a grant of Christ and of eternal life

Chapter 66

1. The immediate effect of the death of Christ is not a possibility of

reconciliation, but reconciliation itself. The reconciliation, effected by the death of Christ, includes both the appeasing of God’s wrath against us and the procuring of the removal or slaying of our enmity against God.

Chapter 67

2. The view that saving faith obtains of God in the glass of the gospel, is

a view of him, not as reconcilable, but as actually reconciled. Faith apprehends God as in Christ reconciling us to himself, not imputing our trespasses unto us. The language of faith is not, that God is, on his part, wi

Chapter 68

3. This view of the gospel of Christ, as if it represented God as only

reconcilable, not reconciled, flatters men’s legal pride, and derogates from the perfection of the satisfaction of Christ. Is God, as yet, only reconcilable to us? Is he not reconciled by the death of his Son? By what ot

Chapter 69

4. If the gospel represented God as only reconcilable, not reconciled, it

would afford us no ground at all for the hope of salvation. The doctrine, which makes any works of righteousness done by us the federal or proper -- 181 of 375 -- condition of our reconciliation to God, is destitute of

Chapter 70

1. None can be more express than Mr. Marshal in asserting the

unchangeable righteousness of the law. “The principal duties,” says he, “of love to God above all and to each other for his sake, whence all the other duties flow, are so excellent, that I cannot imagine any more noble w

Chapter 71

2. It is unjust to infer, that Mr. Marshal denied the obligation men are

under, in point of duty, to have their heart reconciled to the holy and righteous law of God; because he teaches, that true reconciliation of heart to that law cannot be attained by men, in their present fallen state, wi

Chapter 72

3. When Mr. Marshal teaches that men cannot have a sincere love to the

law according to its spirituality and vast extent, while they have no believing view of reconciliation with God through Christ; he evidently means, while they consider themselves as under the curse of God. To be under th

Chapter 73

4. When Mr. Marshal says, that, “if we look upon God as contrary to us,

as hating us, as purposing to damn us; our own innate self-love will breed hatred and heart-risings against him in spite of our hearts;” he speaks of men’s legal attempts to reconcile themselves to holiness by their natu

Chapter 74

1. It appears to be inconsistent with that conviction of sin and misery

which is supposed and implied in the first act of faith. When a man has this conviction, as Luther in his commentary on the epistle to the Galatians observes, “the law reveals to him his sin, his blindness, his misery, h

Chapter 75

3. The falsehood of the opinion in question appears from the necessity of

the faith of the gospel as the appointed mean of reconciling our hearts to the law. That the faith of the gospel has this effect is certainly the doctrine of the Bible; as, by that faith, men apprehend, that they are del

Chapter 76

4. We have no ground to believe that the Holy Spirit acts in fallen men,

(particularly in adults) as a sanctifying Spirit, reconciling them to the law, otherwise than as a Spirit of faith, causing them to know and receive the gospel. We are truely reconciled to the law no farther than as we a

Chapter 77

1. He complains, “that many look upon the notion of loving God for

himself as a mere chimera.”95 But who are they that do so? Not Mr. Marshal, who tells us, “that the duties of love to God above all, and to each other for his sake, are of the greatest excellency; that we are to love eve

Chapter 78

2. Mr. Bellamy represents his opponents as holding, that it is not the duty

of unregenerate men, previous to the knowledge of the way of reconciliation to God through Christ, to love God on account of the goodness and excellency of his nature:97 whereas Mr. Marshal could not declare, that it is

Chapter 79

3. He represents it as the doctrine of his opponents, that men may have

faith in God as their reconciled God, and may love him, without regeneration. “Your faith,” says he, meaning that which is taught by Mr. Marshal, “may exist in an unregenerate heart: from the principles of nature we may

Chapter 80

2. Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us. Coloss. iii. 13. As Christ

forgave you, so also do ye, 1 John iv. 11. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. According to these and other texts, the appropriating faith of the love of God in Christ to us is the most effect

Chapter 81

2. When we speak of repentance being after justification, we speak of the

order of nature, not of the order of time: for no justified person or true believer is impenitent. Farther, we speak of the formal exercise of repentance, not of the root of it. The root of repentance, being nothing else

Chapter 82

3. Repentance is either legal or evangelical. Legal repentance is a sorrow

for sin and some forsaking of it, proceeding only from a fear of the judgment of God denounced in his law. Evangelical repentance is a godly sorrow for sin and a thorough renunciation of it, proceeding from faith’s appre

Chapter 83

4. When God is said to forgive the sin of his people, it is to be

understood, first, of the act of his free grace in bringing them into an unalterable state of actual justification, Coloss. ii. 13. Secondly, of the removal of rods, with which they have been visited, in the way of fathe

Chapter 84

I. The actual exercise of evangelical repentance does not go before our

state of justification in the sight of God; because there is no acceptable performance of good works before the attainment of that privilege. The force of this argument lies in the evidence of two positions, which are, T

Chapter 85

II. The exercise of evangelical repentance is not before justification in the

sight of God; because it is not before justifying faith. In the first place it appears, that, if evangelical repentance be not before justifying faith, it is not before justification: For faith and justification before G

Chapter 86

13. Hose. xiv. 1, 2. Jerem. iii. 14, 22. Isai. lv. 7. propose the exceeding

riches of the grace of God in Christ in order to excite us to repentance. But if repentance go before faith, such passages tend to deceive us. For we are led, by the most natural construction of these texts, to believe,

Chapter 87

III. The exercise of evangelical repentance is not before justification in

the sight of God; because it is not before the exercise of love to God. Here two things are to be proved: one is, that repentance springs from love to God: the other, that love to God follows a state of forgiveness. The

Chapter 88

IV. This doctrine, that a state of pardon goes before the exercise of true

repentance, is most agreeable to the order according to which God hath promised to bestow these blessings upon his people. Hosea xiv. 4. I will heal their backslidings: v. 6. Ephraim shall say, what have I to do any more

Chapter 89

43. Through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of

sins. But, says Mr. Bellamy, he shall not receive that blessing from the -- 224 of 375 -- Lord, till he first get the exercise of true repentance. But how is he to get repentance? he has it not of himself. And while he

Chapter 90

23. Jam. i. 10. Hence these words, as they stand connected in this passage,

cannot be understood of evangelical repentance as it is our act or exercise.121 But the following expression that they may receive, may be connected with the words at the end of the verse, by faith that is in me; and may

Chapter 91

1. As the worker of faith, the Holy Spirit enables us to embrace the

promise as yea and amen to us in Christ: among which promises are those of adoption: Jerem. iii. 13. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the host of na

Chapter 92

2. As our helper in prayer, the Holy Spirit enables us to call God our

Father by the direct act of faith. When our Lord directs us to approach to God in prayer, saying, Our Father, he intimates, that some apprehension of God as our Father in Christ is necessary to acceptable prayer; and the

Chapter 93

1. Mr. Bellamy teaches, that sinners are not warranted to look to Christ as

their own Saviour, immediately, or till they be so and so qualified. For, according to him, a person must not only be convinced of sin, but his heart must be reconciled to the Divine law: he must love it, and call upon a

Chapter 94

2. Mr. Bellamy appears to hold, that, under the operation of the Holy

Spirit, sinners attain heart-reconciling views of God's law in its holiness and spirituality, before the gospel be believed or come into view. On the contrary, his opponents hold, that the Holy Spirit makes use of the go

Chapter 95

3. Mr. Bellamy’s convert speaks much of his reconciliation to the law, but

little or nothing of his being divorced from or dead to the law as a covenant. Whereas his opponents represent our death to the law in this view as essential to saving conversion, and as most difficult to be attained. A

Chapter 96

4. The faith attained in conversion, according to Mr. Bellamy, is only a

general belief of God’s willingness to receive sinners that return to him by Jesus Christ. But, according to his opponents, there is, in the faith of every true convert, some measure of real confidence or trust, upon the

Chapter 97

1. The work of saving conversion is not effected by the word without the

Spirit, nor by the Spirit without the word. Some persons have better natural parts and natural tempers than others, and are also more conformable in the general tenor of their conduct to the letter of the law. At the sam

Chapter 98

13. Zechar. x. 12. Yet it does not follow, that the Holy Spirit, in this work,

acts upon man as a stock or a stone; because he does not act without the word, nor otherwise than in opening the understanding to understand the word and in determining the will to receive it. The whole design of his --

Chapter 99

2. The spiritual light of saving knowledge, which is attained by the work

of the Holy Spirit in conversion, is the true spring of all gracious affections. We grant, that it is not every sort of knowledge of religious truth, that is so: for persons may have much knowledge by the light of nature

Chapter 100

3. The more that true converts are humbled under a sense of their own

impotence or natural inability to do any thing spiritually good; and the more lively they are in the exercise of faith in Jesus Christ as their righteousness and strength: they are the more active in every good word and

Chapter 101

4. True converts seek to partake of the benefits of Christ’s purchase

universally and in the way of union to his person. They are not for dividing the benefits of Christ from one another. They desire sanctification as well as pardon; a present as well as a future salvation. Nor are they fo

Chapter 102

5. The work of the Holy Spirit in conversion is a secret work, though

every member of the church ought to seek and may attain the certain knowledge of his own conversion. It is still represented in scripture as a hidden and mysterious work, Eccles. xi. 5. As thou knowest not what is the wa

Chapter 103

8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof but

canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Hence every one is enjoined to use diligence, all diligence in order to attain the knowledge of his effectual calling or c

Chapter 104

I. Some, who acknowledge, that there are three persons in the Godhead,

deny the eternal and incomprehensible generation of the second Person, or that he is called the Son of God on that account, alleging, that this appellation is founded in his Mediatorial office, in his incarnation, or in

Chapter 105

19. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he had not only

broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his own Father,139 making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seet

Chapter 106

II. Some, who teach the doctrines of particular election, effectual calling

and the perseverance of the saints, seem to waver in their adherence to that of particular redemption. Amesius and the other champions against the Arminians in the seventeenth century considered all these doctrines as in

Chapter 107

21. And therefore if Christ died for all the individuals of mankind, we must

either suppose that they all, in the event, obtain these spiritual blessings; a supposition which is manifestly false; or we must suppose, that the death of -- 258 of 375 -- Christ fails of obtaining its end; a thought

Chapter 108

III. Some who profess to teach Calvinistic doctrine, have offered such

explanations of the inability of fallen man to do what is spiritually good as appear to deviate from the principles of the reformation. The common objection of the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians is to this purpose: “To sup

Chapter 109

1. There are indispositions and inabilities of body and mind, which are

not, in themselves, contrary to the holy law of God; such as the inability of an idiot to acquire knowledge, the inability of the blind to read the scriptures, the inability of the heathens to comply with the offers of s

Chapter 110

2. If the spiritual impotence, which man has contracted by the fall, be no

more than the want of inclination or willingness to do what is spiritually good; then it is no more than such inability as that of a man in perfect health to go out of his house; or that of a good scholar to write, when

Chapter 111

3. It is much to be observed, that, according to the Scripture, man’s

spiritual impotence lies in the understanding as well as in the will, 1 Corinth. ii.14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because

Chapter 112

4. It is a dangerous error to say, “That if men are unable to understand,

believe and love the gospel in a saving manner, then they must be unable to shut their eyes against it, to disbelieve and reject it.” For, according to the scripture, men’s natural inability to perform any duty, instead

Chapter 113

IV. Another instance of defection from the doctrine of the reformation is,

that many professing, in other respects, to hold Calvinistic doctrine, teach that such a knowledge of God is attainable by means of the works of creation and common Providence, together with tradition, as is sufficient f

Chapter 114

1. Human generation bears some sort of analogy to and is some shadow

of the eternal generation of the Son of God. The son amongst men is of the same nature with the father and bears his image or likeness. So the eternal Son is of the same nature with the eternal Father: he is the brightne

Chapter 115

2. There is an infinite disproportion and difference between the Divine

generation of the Son and human generation. By human generation the Father and the Son, though of the same specific nature, are two beings. But by this Divine generation, the Father and the Son are of the same numerical

Chapter 116

3. The generation of the Son does not imply any inequality to the Father.

For, according to this generation, the Father and the Son possess the same individual Godhead or Divine nature; and they possess it eternally: so that there can be no priority of the father to the Son.

Chapter 117

4. The Divine essence is neither the principle nor the term of this

generation. It is not the principle, or that which begets; for that is the person, as such, of the Father: nor is it the term, or that which is begotten; for that is the person, as such, of the Son. Hence our saying, tha

Chapter 118

5. The manner of this eternal generation is to us absolutely

incomprehensible. If it be asked, How the Son comes to be of the same numerical or individual nature with the Father, and yet co-equal and co- eternal with the Father; we must answer, that we cannot tell. Nor is it any j

Chapter 119

I. The eternal generation of the Lord Christ is plainly asserted in various

passages; as in the second Psalm ver. 7. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said to me: Thou art my Son: This day have I begotten thee. Here God the Father himself condescends to tell us upon what ground Christ is

Chapter 120

II. This truth appears from those texts which represent Christ as the only

begotten Son of God, John 1. 14. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. See also John iii. 16. 18. l. John iv. 9. Others are called sons of God, as the angels on account of their creation a

Chapter 121

III. This truth appears from these texts which represent the sending of

Christ to be our Saviour as the greatest demonstration that ever was given of the love of God to mankind, in this respect, that the Person sent was his only begotten Son, his own, his proper Son, John iii. 16. Rom. viii.

Chapter 122

IV. Christ is also called the Son, where there appears to be no reference to

his Mediatory office, as in Prov. xxx 4. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? Wh

Chapter 123

V. The title Son of God is continually distinguished from such titles as

Jesus Christ, the sent of God, High Priest, &c. signifying his Mediatory office, Matth. xvi. 16. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Acts viii. 37. John vii. 29. I am from him, as his eternal Son; and he hath

Chapter 124

VI. This truth appears from Matth. xxviii. 19. and 1 John v. 7. Father and

Son are correlates; and if the second Person was not a Son previous to the Mediatory office; neither was the first Person a Father previous to it: if the one be not the eternal Son, neither is the other the eternal Fathe

Chapter 125

2. Ignorance is another great bar to our attainment of communion with

Christ. Eccl. x. 15. “The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go up to the city.” Sometimes persons are ignorant of the matter of their duty, or prejudiced against it; as Paul

Chapter 126

3. Unbelief is another great bar to our attainment of communion with

Christ. He is set forth to us in the gospel as made of God into us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Unbelief holds him to be utterly unfit to answer these purposes. Unbelief treats the record of God

Chapter 127

4. Attachment to the world and the things of it, is a great bar to the

attainment of communion with Christ in his ordinances. Many decline waiting on God in his ordinances, when they find, that the profits, pleasures or honours of this world are not to be had in that way. The case of such i

Chapter 128

5. Another great bar to the attainment of comfortable communion with

Christ, is a sense of guilt, and prevailing apprehensions of God’s wrath. Men are naturally under the dominion of the guilt of sin. While the time of God’s forbearance and of the outward favours of his providence continu

Chapter 129

6. Another bar to the attainment of communion with Christ in his

ordinances, particularly in the solemn ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, is the difficulty of the right observation of it; the great danger of unworthy communicating. Those that rest in a form of godliness, find little dif

Chapter 130

7. Another bar in the way of communion with Christ in the ordinances of

the Lords supper is the fear, that, if they should go forward to his holy table, and afterwards be so overcome by some corruptions or temptation as to prove a reproach to their holy profession it would be better that the

Chapter 131

8. It is a great and terrible difficulty in the way of some of the Lord’s

people who are essaying to make a solemn approach to him in his ordinances, that they are assaulted with horrible suggestions of Satan. For that adversary, besides the deep hand he has in aggravating the difficulties alr

Chapter 132

1. Beware of carelessness about the deliverance of your soul from the

guilt and power of sin. Careless persons, inattentive to the concerns of their souls, indifferent about the truths revealed and the duties enjoined in God’s word, not knowing the plague of their own heart, neglecters of

Chapter 133

2. Beware of thinking to roll away the stones by your own wisdom and

strength. Jerem. ix. 23. Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But Let him glory in this, that he understandet

Chapter 134

3. Beware of the devices of Satan in this matter. One of these devices is,

to make you think the guilt and power of your sins which are the real bars to your attainment of communion with God, to be no bars at all, or so trivial, that you yourselves may remove them at any time. O remember, that

Chapter 135

1. To be faithful is to keep or improve what we are entrusted with to the

ends for which we are entrusted with it. Faithfulness in this respect is illustrated in the parable of the talents. A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return, and he called

Chapter 136

2. To be faithful is to act according to the obligations we are under to the

Lord, as our God and Redeemer. We may take notice of two kinds of obligations that we are under to the Lord. In the first place, we are under obligations to him in virtue of his authority over us, and also on account of

Chapter 137

3. To be faithful is to persevere in the way of duty amid trials and

temptations. This is our Lord's commendation of his disciples: “Ye are they,” said he to them, “who have continued with me in my temptations.” When persons have become followers of Christ and are steadfastly adhering to

Chapter 138

1. This faithfulness is merely an effect of the divine mercy. Every one, as

a child of Adam, is unfaithful and deceitful. The character of natural men is that they are “deceiving and being deceived.” Therefore if any attain to be faithful, it must be through the riches of divine distinguishing m

Chapter 139

2. The grace whereby the Lord’s people are enabled to be faithful, was

procured by the death of Christ. He laid down his life that he might have a company of faithful followers. Hence the martyrs, who loved not their lives unto the death, are said to “overcome by the blood of the Lamb.”

Chapter 140

3. The mercy of the Lord actually takes effect on them, making them

faithful in their effectual calling and progressive sanctification. The Lamb’s followers are said to be “chosen and called and faithful,” no real faithfulness is in our depraved nature or can proceed from it. “In me,” sa

Chapter 141

4. The Lord employs means to stir up his people to faithfulness.

Particularly he makes use of the commands of the Scripture, of the calls, exhortations, promises and threatenings of the divine word. He also stirs up his people to faithfulness by means of their mutual exhortations. 2 S

Chapter 142

1. The excellency of the gift, not merely life, but a crown of life;—an

honourable and glorious life. The Lord here makes use of that which among men is esteemed the highest honour, to set forth the glory which he has in reserve for them who are faithful unto death. The greatest object of st

Chapter 143

2. The consideration that this crown is the free gift of divine grace is a

great encouragement to faithfulness. This crown is not procured by the faithfulness of the saints, but was fully procured by the price of Christ’s blood. It cost him very dear, but it comes to them freely. It is called a

Chapter 144

3. It is an encouragement to faithfulness that it is a certain pledge and

evidence that in Christ we have a right and title to the crown of life. It is a great truth that none of us may expect the crown of life but such as are found faithful unto death. But it is equally true that every one wh

Chapter 145

1. Erring from the words of knowledge is direct rebellion against the

authority of God, whose law binds us to believe whatever he reveals. The language of obstinate error is, I prefer my own wisdom and my own will in such a particular to the wisdom and will of God himself. Besides, it is a

Chapter 146

2. Supposing the erroneous not to be so far given up to a desperately

wicked and reprobate mind, as openly to deny the authority and majesty of God shining in the holy Scriptures; supposing them to be such as allow the -- 306 of 375 -- Scriptures to be the word of God, the only rule of f

Chapter 147

3. Error proceeds from the corrupt bias which the human heart received at

the fall. The understanding was then involved in darkness, and the will possessed with the love of it. It has ever since been the case with respect to spiritual and eternal things, that men have loved darkness rather tha

Chapter 148

4. Erring from the words of knowledge is that which chiefly begins and

keeps up divisions in the church of God. That it must be so, is evident, if we only consider what is the true unity of the church, namely, the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God; a joint or unanimo

Chapter 149

5. Error is ruining to the souls of men. Heresies are among the works of

the flesh; of which the apostle says, “They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Hence the apostle Peter represents the unlearned and unstable as wresting the scriptures unto their own destruction. W

Chapter 150

II. We are next to enquire, what is the instruction which causeth to err

from the words of knowledge? By this instruction we are to understand, as was hinted before, the various methods that are taken to ensnare church-members, or to seduce them from the faith, love and profession of the trut

Chapter 151

III. We come now to offer some explanation of the duty of ceasing to hear

the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. This duty implies knowledge and care to distinguish good and wholesome instruction from that which is of dangerous tendency. So Christ says concerning his

Chapter 152

1. That the persons of whom we speak, are upon good grounds,

persuaded that the church-communion from which they are in a state of separation, is so far chargeable, in her profession and obstinately continued practice, with the instruction that causeth to err from the words of kno

Chapter 153

3. That the two churches are in a stated opposition to one another as to

some articles of truth or duty, held by the one, and rejected by the other. These things being supposed, we say, it is unwarrantable for church members to attend upon, or countenance the administration of public ordinanc

Chapter 154

1. The attendance of church-members, on public ordinances, in a church-

communion from which they are in a state of separation, is directly contrary to the divine command in the text, and in other places of scripture. For, in the supposed case, the public administrations of such a church com

Chapter 155

2. The attendance of church-members, on the dispensation of public

ordinances, in a church-communion from which they are in a state of separation, is inconsistent with the weight and importance of a warrantable separation. When a particular church hates to be reformed; when its obstinac

Chapter 156

3. An occasional attendance on public administrations in a church-

communion from which we are in a state of separation, tends to subvert the order and discipline of the church of Christ. It can not be denied, that the errors and offences of those church-communions from which we are jus

Chapter 157

4. Occasional attendance on the public administrations in a church-

communion, from which we are warrantably in a state of separation, does not comport with that watchfulness and jealousy over our own hearts, which are so suitable to our condition in the militant church. For these are mi

Chapter 158

5. An occasional attendance on the public administrations from which we

are justly in a state of separation, is contrary to the due exercise of charity towards our fellow church-members: for supposing (what we are far from -- 317 of 375 -- allowing to be ever the case in fact) that a churc

Chapter 159

6. An occasional attendance on the public administrations in different and

opposite church-communions, is contrary to the right manner of attending on gospel ordinances; which our Lord enjoins upon us, when he says, “Take heed how ye hear.” For in the first place, this occasional attendance on

Chapter 160

1. Should it not be our end in attending on public ordinances, that we

may not sin against God? But how can we pretend to do what is inconsistent with our holy profession, and therefore sinful, that we may not sin? Shall we dishonor God, that we may honor him? Shall we do evil, that good ma

Chapter 161

2. Can you be said to be destitute of ordinances while you have the Bible

in your hands, and Catechisms, and other helps towards the right understanding of it, while you have daily opportunity of family worship, and of meditation and prayer in secret; and also of family catechising, and of fam

Chapter 162

3. Have you not had too little regard to the enjoyment of pure ordinances,

in your removals from place to place? Have not the situations you have chosen for your families, been rather where they might get large worldly estates, than where they might have a prospect of obtaining the green pastur

Chapter 163

4. While you continue in the practice of an occasional attendance on the

public administrations of church communions that are in a stated opposition to a seasonable testimony for the doctrine and order of the church of Christ, is not your adherence to that testimony thereby rendered doubtful

Chapter 164

2. Nor is occasional hearing a proper way of coming at the knowledge of

the peculiar principles of a particular church: for you may frequently hear the public discourses of its preachers, without ever getting any proper or satisfactory account of those principles. It would be unjust to lay e

Chapter 165

3. To prove all things, in the sense of the apostle, is to bring every

doctrine or practice to the touchstone of the written word. If you are duly exercised in doing so, you will pay a suitable regard to the other part of the exhortation; namely. Hold fast that which is good: you will take

Chapter 166

1. Be careful to attain a competent knowledge of the several articles of

the present truth and testimony of Jesus. Study to know these, not merely as contained in our subordinate standards, such as, our Judicial Testimony, our Catechisms and Confession of Faith, but also according to what the

Chapter 167

2. Study to have distinct views of the testimony for truth, to which you

adhere, being the cause of God. It is his cause, because every article of revealed truth is a letter of his name; and the denial of it is an open contempt of his authority, and an impeachment of his veracity. It is this

Chapter 168

3. Let your attendance, on gospel ordinances, while you have them in

purity, be regular and exemplary. Carelessness in this respect is rebellion against the Lord’s command, and evidences a criminal neglect of his declarative glory, and of the welfare both of the church and of your own pre

Chapter 169

4. Beware of resting in any knowledge of the truth which is not saving

and experimental, and which has not a sanctifying effect on the heart and life. The truth, received into the heart by faith and love, is a root and principle of holy obedience, according to Ephes. iv. 21, 22, 23, 24. “If

Chapter 170

5. Continue in the exercise of faith and of prayer. Remember that ye owe

all your steadfastness to the free grace of God in Christ Jesus. The more steadfast your views of him, whose name is the Lord our Righteousness, you will be the more steadfast in your holy profession. Behold your strengt

Chapter 171

2. In looking away from ourselves and every other creature to Jesus

Christ for righteousness and salvation according to his call, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Considering ourselves as poor sinners to whom God speaks in the word of the gospel, let us be persua

Chapter 172

3. On the brink of eternity we should be exercised in embracing the

promises, “as all yea and amen in Christ.” The promises are all in Christ in two ways: first in respect of his righteousness, which is the condition of all the promises, on the account of which we are to look for their f

Chapter 173

4. We should be exercised in depending upon the grace and Spirit of

Christ for carrying on and completing the work of our sanctification. Our -- 330 of 375 -- hearts soon fail; they are never to be trusted. But Christ by his grace and Spirit is the strength of our heart, the strength o

Chapter 174

5. My dear friend, it becomes us in all things to be resigned to the will of

God in Christ. This resignation is not of ourselves, but in this, as in any other respect, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for us. If it be his will to spare you, which, with submission to the Lord’s wil

Chapter 175

6. When we are leaving the church on earth we should offer up some

petitions for her welfare—that the Lord may still take care of his own cause —that he may still have a seed to serve him. I am, dear and much esteemed friend, ever yours, John Anderson. -- 331 of 375 -- Notes

Chapter 176

2. Rom. vi. 23. The gift of God, by way of eminence; his gift to poor

sinners, who, in themselves, are as worthy of eternal death, as the labourer is worthy of his wages. That which is most worthy of God, as being of all his gifts the freest, the richest, and the most glorifying to all his

Chapter 177

4. Faith receives Christ as Priest, King, and Prophet: though as Christ, in

the order of his offices was first a Priest, undertaking to satisfy for sin; then as a Prophet and King, to rule and guide his people to eternal life; so faith, in order of nature, first looketh on him as a Priest for re

Chapter 178

5. Some have quarrelled this expression, that Christ’s priestly office is the

foundation of his prophetical and kingly offices. But, whatever may be said about the mode of expression, the sentiment appears exceedingly just. Christ would have had no business among sinning men, more than among falle

Chapter 179

6. The doctrine contained in these words of the apostle, “He that cometh

to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. xi. 6), is far more sublime than anything that can be known by the light of nature. For,—1. To “believe that God is,” is

Chapter 180

10. This is agreeable to that scriptural definition of justifying faith which

we have in our Larger Catechism: “Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God; whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself an

Chapter 181

12. Faith, as it respects the kingly office of Christ, is the soul’s resting on

him for sanctification, and for deliverance from all evil. The language of it is, The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us. But the absolute surrender of ourselves, or our re

Chapter 182

15. There is, perhaps, some inaccuracy, or at least ambiguity, of

expression, in many valuable authors, about the state of men under the covenant of works. It is certainly true, that all men are under the covenant of works, if this implies, that they are under the curse of it as a brok

Chapter 183

17. If it be objected, that in the Gospel there are promises of life upon

condition of our obedience, as in Rom. viii. 13: “If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live;” we answer, The promises of the Gospel are not made to the work, but to the worker; and to the w

Chapter 184

18. To say that the grant of Christ and all his salvation in the promise is

not free and unconditional, because what is thus granted cannot be actually possessed and enjoyed unless it be believed, or, in other words, received, is to say in effect, that there never was, nor can be, any such thing

Chapter 185

19. He calleth you: “Go, then, unto him, I beseech you; and if he come

and meet you (as his manner is), then do not you unadvisedly say with Peter, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”—Luke v. 8. But say -- 337 of 375 -- in plain terms, O come unto me, for I am a sinful man, O

Chapter 186

21. This is agreeable to the definition of faith, given in the first part of the

Marrow of Modern Divinity, ch. ii., sect, iii., § 2. “As Paul and Silas said to the jailer, so say I unto you, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved; that is, Be verily persuaded in your heart, that J

Chapter 187

22. Because “this general testimony was given out, just for every one’s

faith to make it particular to himself.” 23. “The declarations and promises of the Gospel are made to men with relative words, or terms suited for appropriation; such as, You, Your, Thou, Thee, Thy; and when these enter

Chapter 188

25. Justifying faith (as the author of Lutherus Redivivus, p. 129,

intimates) is not our taking Christ in all his offices, by way of promise or covenant of obedience, or subjection to him; but our taking him,—that is, our believing or trusting him, for the benefits of every office. 26.

Chapter 189

28. Mr M‘Knight’s Six Sermons on Faith, pp. 92, 93. Similar to this is

the reasoning of Bellarmine. “Fides specialis misericordiae,” says he, “sequitur justificationem. Igitur fides specialis misericordiae non est fides justificans. Fiducia qua quis coufidet remissa esse peccata pendet a bo

Chapter 190

29. Mr M‘Knight’s Sermons on Faith, p. 88. To the same purpose,

“Omnino temere,” says Bellarmine, “tanquam ex verbo, possunt homines credere, sibi remissa esse peccata;” i.e.,—“Men cannot believe, as if warranted by the Word, that their sins are forgiven them, without the utmost rash

Chapter 191

33. Considering our natural aversion to the believing application of

Christ to ourselves as sinners, upon no other footing than the free grant of him in the Gospel, there is great propriety in the following exhortation of Luther, in his commentary on these words, in Gal. ii. 20, “He loved

Chapter 192

39. The design of these letters is not to treat of everything supposed or

implied in saving faith, but chiefly to explain and vindicate the truth on this head so far as appears necessary to obviate Mr. Bellamy’s objections. It may, however, be of use to observe, that, besides a deep and abidin

Chapter 193

41. Vide Observations Gersch. Carmichael in opus Puffendorf de officio

hominis et civis. 42. “Some worthy divines,” says Mr. Ralph Erskine, “make faith the condition of the covenant of grace; but their sound explication of what they mean shows, that they dare not make it the proper conditio

Chapter 194

46. It has been asserted, that the immediate duty of the hearer of the

gospel is to believe, in the first place, his personal election to eternal life. It is indeed a precious article of gospel-truth, that God, of his mere good pleasure, hath elected a certain number of mankind to everlasti

Chapter 195

4. It may be farther observed, that saving’ faith, if it were, in the first

instance, a person’s belief of his own election; would infer the present interest of the person in the salvation of Christ exhibited in the gospel from his eternal election. But the order in which faith proceeds is quite

Chapter 196

48. Answer. It is granted; that none actually receive the water of life but

such as are made willing to do so. But it does not follow, that the call or invitation and the promise implied in it are exhibited and directed to no other. Nay, they are exhibited and directed to all the hearers of the

Chapter 197

51. In Dr. Preston’s treatise of faith we have the following paraphrase of

our Lord’s commission to his apostles and with them to the ordinary ministers of the word. Go and preach the gospel to every creature, Mark xvi. 14. “Go and tell every man without exception, that here is good news for hi

Chapter 198

52. The sense, which Luther had, of the difficulty of attaining faith’s

appropriation of Christ, appears from the following passage taken from his commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Discoursing on these words in Gal i. 4. Who gave himself for our sins, he says: “Weigh diligently eve

Chapter 199

64. The Gospel worthy of all acceptation by Mr. Fuller. It is with no

small regret, that the writer of these letters finds himself under the necessity of opposing an author who has done excellent service to the cause of truth by his letters on the Moral tendency of the Calvinistick and Soc

Chapter 200

65. The terms, which the Scripture uses in speaking of saving faith, are

sometimes such as signify knowledge, Isai. liii. 11. or assent, John, vii. 24. Sometimes such as signify confidence, Heb. iii. 6. According to the Hebrew idiom, words signifying knowledge are often to be taken as compreh

Chapter 201

67. Luther, in his commentary on the epistle to the Galatians, often

expresses the deep sense he had of the necessity and importance of this doctrine. On chap. i. 4. he says: “Except thou be found in the number of those that say, Our sins; who have this doctrine; and teach, hear, learn, l

Chapter 202

68. Morte Christi, ait Arminius, factum est, ut Deus jam possit, justitia

non obstante, hominibus peccatoribus peccata remittere, et Spiritum gratiae largiri. Interea jus suum integrum manet, illa bona, illis quibus visum, et istis conditionibus quas praescribere volet, impartiri. It is pity t

Chapter 203

71. The substance of what is here advanced is expressed by Dr. Owen in

the following words of His Theologoumena: Omnis Dei revelatio ad faedus aliquod pertinet. Duo autem sunt faedora Deum inter et homines; operum unum, gratiae alterum. Ex prioris faederis tenore Deus placabilis non est. Re

Chapter 204

102. This doctrine, “That God is to be loved for himself,” and “That the

manifestation, which he makes of himself in the hearts and consciences of his rational creatures, and in the works of creation, is a sufficient means of bringing them to love him for himself,” is no other than natural re

Chapter 205

105. Psal. lxxiii. 23, 24, 25. It is true, that hypocrites may have a strong

conceit, that God loves them, exciting such natural emotions and affections, as they take to be love to God. But that conceit is widely different from the faith, which believers have, of the love of God in Christ to them

Chapter 206

108. Essay on the nature, &c. page 119, 68. where Mr. Bellamy adds,

“Nor can any future penitency make any imaginable satisfaction.” It is strange, if he meant hereby to insinuate, that, when his opponents insist upon repentance as a fruit and evidence of justifying faith, they had said

Chapter 207

109. This view of the text, under consideration, is the most suitable to the

apostle’s design, which is, to guard the doctrine of justification by the free grace of God in Christ against the corruptions of legal teachers. For though men’s good works and qualifications be ever so positively exclud

Chapter 208

110. We may add here the judgment of two eminent writers on this text.

“Who can deny, that the ungodly is said by Paul to be justified, because he had been ungodly; and in the very act of justification could be considered no otherwise in himself? With his justification he is indeed endowed

Chapter 209

114. God’s eternal and unchangeable will to justify the elect, upon the

account of a righteousness wrought out by Christ and imputed to them, has been called by judicious divines active justification. Nota est distinctio, says Witsius, inter justificationem activam et passivam. Ilia est sent

Chapter 210

116. The Greek particle rendered for denotes the proof of a thing, which,

as Amesius observes, “is taken from the following effect, as well as from the antecedent cause. That the woman’s love,” adds he, “is here pointed out as the effect of the pardon of her sins, is evident from the whole dis

Chapter 211

118. It is proper to understand this verse of justification, aa being a

privilege distinct from regeneration and sanctification, which are promised in the two following verses. So this passage is understood by Polanus and Junius. See Pool’s Synopsis. -- 357 of 375 -- 119. “Let them that wi

Chapter 212

120. It is a reason for not understanding the word repent here of gospel-

repentance, that such repentance is included in the import of the next expression, be converted: But though it were granted, that the word repent here may be understood of gospel-repentance; yet this passage will not ans

Chapter 213

121. The first expression, to open the eyes of the blind, is used to describe

the work and office of our Lord Jesus, Isai. xlii. 7. But it is no where said to be our act. The next expression, to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, is parallel to bringing out the pr

Chapter 214

122. The text in Luke xiii. 3. does not hold for a connection between

repentance and pardon, but only between not repenting and perishing. There is a great difference between these two connections. Let the argument be this, Except ye repent, ye shall perish. Therefore if ye do repent, ye s

Chapter 215

123. This expression might be rendered, who will have mercy; the

copulative particle vau being frequently put for the relative pronoun, as in Psalm cxviii. 27. God is the Lord who &c. or we may read with Dr. Lowth, For he will have mercy,—for he will pardon. So this particle must be u

Chapter 216

125. Dial. ii. p. 79.

126. “Though the ministers of the gospel are to declare the warrant that sinners have in the word to believe in Christ as their Saviour, it does not follow, that all sinners have ability to believe; for we are to disting

Chapter 217

132. The opinion expressed in Mr. Bellamy’s words, just now quoted,

reminds one of the Popish notion taken notice of in a former letter, namely. That faith justifies as well by believing the threatenings, the commands and histories, as by believing the promises of the word. Mr. Bellamy’s

Chapter 218

136. In a letter to Walleus, written in the earlier part of his life, he has

these words concerning the Socinians: Christianitatem (quantum ego intelligo) nomine retinent, re destruunt. Itaque hos a Mahumetistis non longe separo. 137. “Right reason,” says a truly philosophical writer, “gives its

Chapter 219

141. David Pareus observes that one person is said in scripture to die for

another, —1. When he dies for the sake or for the good of another. In this sense Paul speaks of his suffering for the church, for the Corinthians or the Colossians, that is, for their benefit, or, as he sometimes express

Chapter 220

142. This principle. That nothing can be justly ascribed to the virtue of

Christ’s mediation, which might have taken place, consistently with the honour of God’s law and justice, without that mediation,—is to be firmly maintained. So the scripture represents the exercise of God’s mercy in pard

Chapter 221

144. Licet dubium non sit, impotentiam istam voluntariam esse et

culpabilem, ut nemini nisi homini soli ejus causa adscribenda sit. Non potest tamen dici absoluta, solam hominis voluntatem prohibere quo minis credat, quia, ut negative id quoque prohibet carentia et privatio gratia, qu

Chapter 222

151. It is not meant by any thing here advanced, that ministers should not

make use of reasoning in their sermons: for that would be to say, upon the -- 365 of 375 -- matter, that they should not deal with their hearers as rational creatures at all. Reasoning is continually necessary,—particu

Chapter 223

152. Habuit se ad Theologiam philosophia in scholis quorundam saltern

Patrum, ut socia; in gymnasiis scholasticorum, ut domina,: in reformatorum cathedris, ut ancilla: That is, Philosophy was to Theology in the schools of the Fathers, a sister or equal; in the disputations of the Schoolmen

Chapter 224

153. The practise of the Protestant churches in requiring their ministers

and other members to make a solemn profession of adherence to their public Formulas or confessions of faith is warranted by all those passages of scripture in which we are enjoined to confess Christ before men; to hold f

Chapter 225

158. This Sermon was published shortly after it was preached, to which

was prefixed the following Preface by the Author:— -- 369 of 375 -- “The substance of the following discourse was delivered on the Monday after a communion Sabbath. Some, it seems, have represented it as of a schismati

Chapter 226

160. The different sentiments of the Synod of Philadelphia and New-

York, now the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church in America, and the Associate Presbytery, may be seen in the New Castle Presbytery’s Warning, published 1755; and Mr. Arnot’s reply, in the second part of the Det

Chapter 227

162. Let none from hence conclude that the ministers and people

belonging to the Associate Presbytery, judge that the administrations of those that are not of their communion, are invalid. The validity of ordinances is derived from their agreeableness to the word. The Lord will never

Chapter 228

164. From “The Evangelical Repository, Vol. 12.” 1853.

-- 373 of 375 -- Contents Title Page Biographical Sketch The Scripture Doctrine of Saving Faith Author's Preface Table of Contents Discourse One - The Object of Saving Faith. Discourse Two - The Act of Saving Faith. Dis