terest in them, that the sinner is apt to disbelieve; so it is these, and not that, on which the faith of the believer primarily terminates. Perhaps what relates to personal interest may, in general, more properly be called hope than faith, and its opposite, fear, than unbelief.

To believe ourselves in a state of salvation, (however desirable, when grounded on evidence,) is far inferior, in its object, to saving faith. The grand object on which faith fixes, is the glory of Christ, and not the happy condition we are in, as interested in him. The latter, doubtless, affords great consolation; and the more we discover of his excellence, the more ardently shall we desire an interest in him, and be the more disconsolate while it continues a matter of doubt. But if we be concerned only for our own security, our faith is vain, and we are yet in our sins. As that repentance which fixes merely on the consequences of sin, as subjecting us to misery, is selfish and spurious, so that faith which fixes merely on the consequences of Christ's mediation, as raising us to happiness, is equally selfish and spurious. It is the peculiar property of true faith, to endear Christ: Unto you that believe, HE is precious. And, where this is the case, if there be no impediments, arising from constitutional dejection or other accidental causes, we shall not be in doubt about an interest in him. Consolation will accompany the faith of the Gospel Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus

Christ.

All those exercises of faith which our Lord so

highly commends in the New Testament-as that of the centurion, the woman of Canaan, and others are represented as terminating on his all-sufficiency to heal them, and not as consisting in a persuasion that they were interested in the divine favor, and, therefore, should succeed. Speak the word only, says the one, and my servant shall be healed; for I am a man in authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. Such was the persuasion which the other entertained of his all-sufficiency to help her, that she judged it enough if she might but partake of the crumbs of his table-the scatterings, as it were, of mercy. Similar to this is the following language:-If I may but touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole.-Believe ye that I am ABLE to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.-Lord, if thou wilt, thou CANST make me clean.—If thou CANST do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said, If thou CANST believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. I allow that the case of these people, and that of a sinner applying for forgiveness, are not exactly the same. Christ had no where promised to heal all who came for healing; but he has graciously bound himself not to cast out any who come to him for mercy. On this account, there is a greater ground for faith in the willingness of Christ to save, than there was in his willingness to heal; and there was less unbelief in the saying of the leper, IF THOU WILT, thou canst make me clean, than there

would be in similar language from one who, convinced of his own utter insufficiency, applied to him for salvation. But a persuasion of Christ being both able and willing to save all them that come unto God by him, and, consequently, to save us, if we so apply, is very different from a persuasion that we are the children of God, and interested in the blessings of the Gospel.

That the belief of the truth which God hath revealed in the Scriptures concerning Christ is saving faith, is evident from the following passages:-Go preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. Believing, here, manifestly refers to the Gospel to be preached, and the rejection of which would subject the unbeliever to certain damnation.— These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, ye might have life through his name. Believing unto life is here described as a persuasion of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of God; and that on the ground of what was written in the Scriptures. Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved. This language plainly denotes that a real belief of the word is connected with salvation. Peter confessed, Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus

answered, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Here it is plainly intimated that a belief of Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the living God, is saving faith; and

that no man can be strictly said to do this, unless he be the subject of a spiritual illumination from above. To the same purpose are those express declarations of Paul and John :-If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.-Whoso believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. -Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?— Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.-He that hath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true.-No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.Again, While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. The light they then had was that of the Gospel; and had they believed it, they would have been the children of light, or true Christians. Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.— These things I say, that ye might be saved. Our Lord could not mean less, by this language, than that, if they believed those things which John testified, and which he himself confirmed, they would be saved; which is the same thing as declaring it to be saving faith. Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, (because our testimony among you was believed,) in that day. The words in a parenthesis are evidently intended to give the reason of the phrase them that believe, and intimate that it was the belief of the Gospel testimony that denominated them believers. God

1 John v. 5: iv. 15. John xii. 36: v.

hath chosen us to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth. It cannot be doubted, that, by the belief of the truth, is here meant faith in Christ; and its being connected with sanctification of the Spirit, and eternal salvation, proves it to be saving. Mark xvi. 16. John xx. 31. Luke viii. 12. Matt. xvi. 16, 17. Rom. x. 9. John iii. 33. 1 Cor. xii. 3. 33, 34. 2 Thess. i. 10 : ii. 13. If the foregoing passages be admitted to prove the point, (and if they do not, we may despair of learning any thing from the Scriptures,) the duty of unconverted sinners to believe in Christ cannot fairly be called in question; for, as before said, it is admitted on all hands that it is the duty of every man to believe what God reveals.

But to this statement it is objected, that Christianity having at that time great opposition made to it, and its professors being consequently exposed to great persecution and reproach, the belief and acknowledgment of the Gospel was more a test of sincerity than it now is. Men are now taught the principles of the Christian religion from their youth, and believe them, and are not ashamed to acknowledge them, while yet they give no evidence of their being born of God, but of the contrary. There is some force in this objection, so far as it respects the confession of Christ's name; but I do not perceive that it affects the belief of the Gospel. It was no more difficult to believe the truth at that time than at this, though it might be much more so to avow it. With respect to that traditional assent