6. It is most evident, from what has been advanced, that works cannot possibly justify a sinner; because, before we can perform any good work, we must be engrafted into Christ by faith: and it is equally clear, that justification is entirely the gift of God, freely conferred on man and preceding all human merit. How shall a dead man see, hear, stand, walk, or do any good thing, unless he be first raised from the dead, and endued with a new principle of life? So neither canst thou, O man, who art dead in sins, do any work that is good or acceptable, unless thou be first raised unto life by Jesus Christ. Thus righteousness proceeds only from faith in Christ. Faith is like a new-born babe, weak and naked, poor and destitute, and laid before the eyes of the Saviour; from whom, as from its author, it receives righteousness and sanctification, godliness, grace and the Holy Ghost.
7. The naked child is thus clothed with the mercy of God. He lifts up his hands, receives all from God, and is made a partaker of grace and health, truth and holiness. It is, therefore, this receiving of Christ in the heart, that makes a man holy and happy.
8. Righteousness proceeds therefore solely from faith, and not from works. Indeed, faith receives the whole Christ, and accepts him, together with all that he has. Then sin and death, the devil and hell, must flee, and are unable any longer to preserve their ground. Nay, so effectually and so powerfully do the merits of Christ justify the sinner, that if the sins of the whole world were charged on one man, they would not avail to condemn him, if he believed in Christ.
9. Inasmuch, therefore, as Christ lives and dwells in thy heart by faith (Eph. 3:17), never, O believer! indulge the thought, that his indwelling in thee, is a dead work unattended with any vital power. Rather believe that it is a quickening principle, a mighty work, and an effectual transforming of thy mind. Faith effects two things: it first engrafts thee into Christ, and gives him freely to thee, with all that he has; and then, it renews thee in Christ, that thou mayest grow, flourish, and live in him. The wild graft is introduced into the stock, for no other end than that it may flourish and bear fruit. As by the apostasy of Adam and the temptation of the devil, the seed of the serpent was sown in man, growing up into a tree and bearing the fruits of death; even so by the divine word and the Holy Spirit, is faith sown in man, as the seed of God. See Chap. II. In this seed all divine virtues and properties are, in a most wonderful manner, comprehended; which gradually expand themselves from day to day. This tree is adorned with a profusion of heavenly fruit; as love, patience, humility, meekness, peace, chastity, righteousness. And thus the whole kingdom of God descends into man. For true and saving faith renews the whole man, purifies the heart, sanctifies the soul, and delivers from the love of the world. It unites with God; it hungers and thirsts after righteousness; it works love; and it brings peace, joy, patience, and comfort in adversity: it overcomes the world; it makes us sons of God, and heirs of the treasures of heaven; and it constitutes us joint-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. But if any one should not be conscious of that joyfulness which faith imparts and does not experience its consoling influences, let him not, on that account, despair; but rather let him trust in the grace which is promised in Christ: for this promise ever remains sure, immovable, and everlasting. And though, through the infirmities incident to human nature, he should stumble and fall; yet, if the sinner return by unfeigned repentance, and more cautiously watch against the sin which so easily besets him, the grace of God will not be withdrawn. For Christ is and will ever be Christ and a Saviour, whether the faith that embraces him be strong or weak. A weak faith has an equal share in Christ with a strong faith, for faith, whether it be weak or strong, possesses the whole Christ. The grace which is promised is common to all Christians, and is eternal, and on this grace faith must rely, whether it be weak or strong. The Lord will revisit thy soul in his own time, with a sense of his gracious favor, and of his abundant consolations, although, at the present, he may think fit to put a veil over it in thy heart. Ps. 37:23, 24; 77:7-10. Upon this subject, see Book II.
Chapter VI.
Showing How The Vital Power Of The Word Of God Should Be Manifested In Man Through Faith.
Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.—John 17:21.
Inasmuch as man's whole welfare depends on his regeneration and renewal, it was the will of God that all those changes which ought to take place in man spiritually and by faith, should be also outwardly set forth in the words of Holy Scripture. Since the Word is the seed of God (Luke 8:11) within us, it is necessary that it should also spring up and spiritually bear fruit. That must be accomplished in us by faith, which is declared without us in the letter of Scripture; and if this effect be not produced, then the Word is evidently to us but a dead seed, destitute of life and energy. Hence, we ought in faith and in spirit to learn by our own happy experience the truth of that which the Scriptures have outwardly declared.