generate character, or all vices. Others have supposed that faith is one of two necessary conditions of pardon, the other condition being obedience, the absence of either of which made the other nugatory, and effectually excluded from the Divine favour. Others, clearly perceiving that these views could not be reconciled, either with the general tenor of the Bible, or with many most decided and unequivocal texts, have talked disparagingly of holiness and obedience, and have treated of faith as if it were the channel of justification, merely in virtue of an arbitrary appointment of God, and without any reference to its moral effect on the human character.

4

In the observations which I am now to make, I shall point out the sources of some of the errors which have prevailed on this subject I shall explain what appears to me to be the correct view of Christian faith in its exercise and object-and I shall attempt to describe some of its counterfeits.

Doubtless the great source of error on this subject, is the corruption of the heart.

And our rea

There is a great fallacy in supposing that faith is an involuntary, act. The Bible speaks of faith as a duty, and of unbelief as a sin. There are some who object to this language, and prefer calling faith a privilege; and truly it is a most unspeakable privilege. But if" he who believes not "is condemned already, because he believ"eth not in the name of the only-begotten "Son of God," surely unbelief is a sin, and it is our duty to avoid this sin; John iii. 18. vi. 28, 29. According to the Bible, then, faith is an act of the will, for duty and sin imply the action of the will. son speaks in the same way. of any fact naturally and imperatively calls for the performance of a particular duty, who is the man that will most easily be persuaded of the truth of the fact? He who takes a pleasure in the performance of the duty, or he who detests it? Have not love and fear, and indolence and interest, very considerable influence over our belief? A surgeon who, in the midst of a tempestuous night, is assailed by a rumour, that a beggar, at the distance of ten miles off, has broken his leg, and claims his assist

If the belief

ance, will more readily admit of opposite evidence, than if the circumstances were entirely changed; that is, if the night were day, if the ten miles off were next door, and the beggar a rich nobleman. I do not mean merely to say that he would more willingly go in the one case than in the other, but that his conscientious belief could be more easily engaged in the one case than in the other. He who knew what was in man, after declaring, that he "who believeth on the Son is not condemned, but he that believeth not is con"demned already," adds immediately," and "this is the condemnation, that light is 66 come into the world, and men have loved "darkness rather than light, because their "deeds were evil;" thus most explicitly referring belief and unbelief to the state of the heart and affections. But though the sin of the heart is the root of all errors in religion, yet it is of importance to consider those errors separately, that we may know them, and be prepared for them; for it is by blinding our understandings that the deceitfulness of the heart operates.

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In the Bible, Christianity is given us as a whole; but men are apt to take confined and partial views of it. Faith is connected in Scripture, both with the pardon of sin and with the deliverance from the power of sin; or in other words, with justification and sanctification, according to common language. In its connection with justification, it is opposed to merit, and desert, and work of every description; " It was by faith that "it might be by grace, or gratuitous, or for nothing," Rom. iv. 16. Some exclusively take this view, which in itself is correct, but which does not embrace the whole truth. Faith, as connected with sanctification," purifieth the heart," "worketh "by love," and "overcometh the world," and produces every thing which is excellent and holy, as may be seen in that bright roll which is given in Heb. xi. Some again are so engrossed with this view of the sub. ject, that they lose sight of the former. This is a fruitful source of error. In order to understand thoroughly the separate parts of a whole, we must understand their connection with the other parts, and their specific purpose in relation to the whole. The

first of the two classes that have been described, call the other legalists, or persons who depend on their own performances for acceptance with God. And they are perhaps right in this accusation;-but they are not aware that they are very possibly guilty of the same offence. They are almost unconsciously very apt to think, that they have paid faith as the price of God's favour. The man who considers faith merely as the channel by which the Divine testimony concerning pardon through the blood of the Lamb is conveyed to his understanding, and operates on his heart, cannot look on faith as a work, because he views it merely as the inlet by which spiritual light enters his soul. Whilst he who considers the declaration, "he that believeth shall "be saved," as expressing the arbitrary condition on which pardon will be bestowed, without referring to its natural effects on the character, requires to be very much on his guard indeed against a dependance on his faith as a meritorious act. He will not to be sure speak of it in this way, but he runs great risk of feeling about it in this way. And it is not unworthy of ob