faith; and he expresses it by the word trust; implying more than the cold assent of the mind. Rom. iii. 25. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." "It is not surely that we may merely believe that the death of Christ is a sacrifice for sin, that he is set forth as a propitiation, but that we may trust in its efficacy. It is not that we may merely believe that God has made promises to us, that his merciful engagements in our favor are recorded, but that we may have confidence in them, and thus be supported by them. This was the faith of the saints of the Old Testament. By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place, which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went.' His faith was confidence. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' Who is among you that feareth the Lord? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.' Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.' It is under this notion of trust that faith is continually represented to us also in the New Testament. In his name shall the Gentiles trust.' For, therefore, we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God,' &c. For I know whom I have believed,' (trusted,) &c. If we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.""(Watson's Institutes.)

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In the last place, we would remark, that the notion that saving or justifying faith implies no more than the assent of the understanding, resulting from the force of testimony, is encumbered by serious difficulties, in view of reason, experience, and the general tenor of revelation.

1. From this doctrine it would follow, either that all whose judg ments were convinced of the truth of Christianity, by Christ and his apostles, immediately embraced salvation; or, some genuine believers were not saved. The former position is contrary to the historic fact; the latter is contrary to the gospel promise.

2. This doctrine appears to be inconsistent with the depravity and the native inability of man to do anything toward salvation, without Divine grace imparted. For if faith be the condition of salvation, as all admit, and if it be the natural result of a mental exercise in the examination of testimony, then it will follow, that, as man can exercise his intellect at pleasure, independent of aid from Divine influence, he may believe of himself, and be saved by the mere exercise of his natural powers. According to this idea, to pray for faith, or for the increase of faith, would be absurd; for all that would be necessary would be an increase of diligence in the study of the evidences of Christianity, which might be effected as well without prayer as with it..

Again; this view of the subject would imply that no man can examine the evidences of Christianity so as to perceive their force, and study the doctrines of revelation so as to gain a general theoretical knowledge of their character, without being an evangelical believer or genuine Christian. This is contrary to the experience of thousands. To say that no man in Christendom has ever examined the evidences of Christianity so as to arrive at the satisfactory conclusion in his mind that the gospel is true, except such as have embraced salvation, is to manifest a far greater regard for a favorite theory than for the plain testimony of experience, observation, and Scripture. The great Bible truth is, that man is a being possessed of moral as well as intellectual powers. He has a heart as well as a head; and God requires both in the exercise of evangelical faith. That faith which has its seat in the head, without reaching the heart, will never reform the life or save the soul. It will be as "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal;" it may embrace "the form," but will be destitute of "the power" of religion. The faith which consists in the assent of the understanding alone is the "dead faith" spoken of by St. James, which includes no works of obedience. The faith which, passing through the understanding, fixes its seat deep in the heart, and trusts or relies on Christ for present salvation, is that faith which alone can justify and save a sinful soul.

QUESTIONS ON LECTURE XXII.

QUESTION 1. Is faith a prominent subject in [12. Are there degrees in faith?

Scripture?

2. Is it a subject well understood?
3. What is its etymological meaning?

13. How is this proved?

14.

Through what channel is faith derived? 15. How is this proved?

4. What is implied in St. Paul's defini-16.

tion?

Upon what ground or foundation is faith based?

How is this proved from Scripture? 18. How have theologians divided faith? 19. What are the two leading views in reference to the nature of justifying faith?

20. By whom has the first been adopted? Who have adopted the second?

21.

22.

23.

How can it be proved that saving faith implies more than mental assent? What serious difficulties encumber the opposite theory?

LECTURE XXIII.

JUSTIFICATION.

THE inquiry upon which we are now about to enter is of the deepest interest to all mankind. How may a fallen sinner recover from the miseries of his lapsed state? This was substantially the question propounded with so much feeling by the convicted jailer to the imprisoned apostles: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" And from the earliest ages there may be seen, in the history of all nations, evidences of the general concern of the wisest and most serious of mankind for a satisfactory knowledge of a certain and adequate remedy for the evils of the present state. The best informed among the heathen have generally exhibited some correct notions in reference to the connection between natural and moral evil. In their zealous pursuit of some mode of escape from the miseries and calamities "that flesh is heir to," they have generally adopted the principle, that natural evil is the effect of moral evil. Hence, their systems of philosophy and morals, their rigorous discipline and painful austerities, adopted and pursued with the vain hope that by these means they could eradicate from the soul the principle of evil, destroy the dominion of vice, and, by a restoration of the disordered moral faculties of man, prepare him for the enjoyment of pure and uninterrupted felicity. But every effort of human reason and philosophy to discover a mode of deliverance from the thraldom of sin, however flattering it may have appeared for a season, has terminated in disappointment or despair.

The light of nature may exhibit in its huge deformity the disease of sin; but an adequate remedy it has never been able to descry. It can lead man to the contemplation of what he is; it can show him his sinful and miserable condition, and teach him to sigh over his misfortunes; but it can never unfold the scheme of redemption, and teach him to smile at the prospect of a blissful immortality. To supply this grand desideratum, revelation comes to our aid. God alone was able to devise, and he has condescended to make known the plan by which "He can be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." In the present lecture, we propose a consideration of the Bible doctrine of JUS

TIFICATION.

In discussing this subject, there are two leading inquiries naturally

presenting themselves to view. First, what is implied in justification? Secondly, how may it be obtained? We will consider these questions in their order.

I. We inquire, what does justification imply? The Greek word rendered justification in the New Testament, is dizators, which means a judicial decision, or sentence of acquittal. The verb is dizugu, which means to judge, to render sentence, pronounce just, &c. According to the etymology of the word, to justify, in the Bible acceptation, is to acquit by a judicial sentence or decision.

The term is evidently forensic, having reference to law and judicial proceedings. There are, however, several different senses in which it may be taken. Referring to justification in a forensic sense, we would observe, that it may take place in three different ways.

1. An individual may be arraigned at the bar of justice to answer to a specific accusation; but, upon the examination of the testimony, it may appear that he has not been guilty of the thing alleged against him: here he is justified by the force of testimony, and a correct administration will announce the decision accordingly.

2. After the arraignment of an individual before the bar of justice, to answer to a certain accusation, it may appear, in the investigation of the case, that, although the special charge alleged against him may be established by the evidence, it neverthless is not contrary to the law: here he is justified by the force of law, and a correct administration will pronounce the sentence accordingly.

3. An individual may be arraigned at the bar of justice, tried and condemned for a crime; yet the executive power of the government may remit the penalty: here he is justified on the principle of pardon.

According to any of these three plans, a person may be justified in a civil sense. But in the scriptural acceptation of the subject, agreeably to what has already been established in reference to the fallen and guilty condition of all mankind, it is impossible that any can be justified on either the first or second hypothesis; for all men stand justly charged with, and condemned for, the violation of God's holy law. "All are concluded under sin;" and the Bible declares, that "all have sinned;" and that "all the world are guilty before God." Therefore, if justification ever be obtained by any, it must be on the ground of PARDON. Here is the only door of hope to a guilty world.

But we must inquire more particularly concerning the nature of that justification, on the ground of pardon, which the Scriptures develop. "Justification, in common language, signifies a viudication from any charge which affects the moral character; but in theology it is used for the acceptance of one, by God, who is, and confesses himself to be,

guilty.

To justify a sinner,' says Mr. Bunting, in an able sermon on this important subject, 'is to account and consider him relatively righteous; and to deal with him as such, notwithstanding his past unrighteousness, by clearing, absolving, discharging, and releasing him from various penal evils, and especially from the wrath of God, and the liability to eternal death, which by that past unrighteousness he had deserved; and by accepting him as if just, and admitting him to the state, the privileges, and the rewards of righteousness. Hence, it appears that justification, and the remission or forgiveness of sin, are substantially the same thing."-(Watson's Bib. Dic.)

We would here insert the definition of justification as given in the 9th article of religion in the discipline of the Methodist E. Church. "We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings; -wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort."

With the above general definition of justification before us, we now proceed to a more minute examination of its most important particulars.

1. We would show from the Scriptures that justification means pardon, or the remission of sin. This will appear from the following Scriptures:- Acts xiii. 38, 39. "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Rom. iii. 25, 26. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. iv. 5, 8. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness; even as David describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." In these quotations, "justification," "the forgiveness of sins," "the remission of sins," and the " imputation of sin," are all used as convertible terms;-exegetical of each other; hence, in Scripture language, they are synonymous. This leading position here established, will be found to extend throughout the New Testament, wherever the subject of justification is presented; and bearing it in mind, will tend greatly to facilitate the investigation.

non

2. We proceed to remark, that justification is not an abrogation of law, by the exercise of prerogative.