Chapter XI: Section II: The Application Of Christ’s Redemption In Its Actual (5)

The question, how much conviction a man needs to insure his
salvation, may be answered by asking how much excitement one needs
on a burning steamer. As, in the latter case, just enough to
prompt persistent effort to escape; so, in the former case, just
enough remorseful feeling is needed, to induce the sinner to
betake himself believingly to Christ.

On the general subject of Repentance, see Anderson, Regeneration,
279‐288; Bp. Ossory, Nature and Effects of Faith, 40‐48, 311‐318;
Woods, Works, 3:68‐78; Philippi, Glaubenslehre, 5:1‐10, 208‐246;
Luthardt, Compendium, 3d ed., 206‐208; Hodge, Outlines of
Theology, 375‐381; Alexander, Evidences of Christianity, 47‐60;
Crawford, Atonement, 413‐419.

2. Faith.

Faith is that voluntary change in the mind of the sinner in which he turns to Christ. Being essentially a change of mind, it involves a change of view, a change of feeling, and a change of purpose. We may therefore analyze faith also into three constituents, each succeeding term of which includes and implies the preceding:

A. An intellectual element (_notitia, credere Deum_),—recognition of the truth of God’s revelation, or of the objective reality of the salvation provided by Christ. This includes not only a historical belief in the facts of the Scripture, but an intellectual belief in the doctrine taught therein as to man’s sinfulness and dependence upon Christ.

_John 2:23, 24_—“_How when he was in Jerusalem at the passover,
during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs
which he did. But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that
he knew all men_”; _cf._ _3:2_—Nicodemus has this external faith:
“_no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with
him_.” _James 2:19_—“_Thou believest that God is one; thou doest
well: the demons also believe, and shudder._” Even this historical
faith is not without its fruits. It is the spring of much
philanthropic work. There were no hospitals in ancient Rome. Much
of our modern progress is due to the leavening influence of
Christianity, even in the case of those who have not personally
accepted Christ.

McLaren, S. S. Times, Feb. 22, 1902:107—“Luke does not hesitate to
say, in _Acts 8:13_, that ‘_Simon Magus also himself believed_.’
But he expects us to understand that Simon’s belief was not faith
that saved, but mere credence in the gospel narrative as true
history. It had no ethical or spiritual worth. He was ‘_amazed_,’
as the Samaritans had been at his juggleries. It did not lead to
repentance, or confession, or true trust. He was only ‘_amazed_’
at Philip’s miracles, and there was no salvation in that.” Merely
historical faith, such as Disciples and Ritschlians hold to, lacks
the element of affection, and besides this lacks the present
reality of Christ himself. Faith that does not lay hold of a
present Christ is not saving faith.

B. An emotional element (_assensus, credere Deo_),—assent to the revelation of God’s power and grace in Jesus Christ, as applicable to the present needs of the soul. Those in whom this awakening of the sensibilities is unaccompanied by the fundamental decision of the will, which constitutes the next element of faith, may seem to themselves, and for a time may appear to others, to have accepted Christ.

_Mat. 13:20, 21_—“_he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is
he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;
yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and
when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word,
straightway he stumbleth_”; _cf._ _Ps. 106:12, 13_—“_Then believed
they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgat his works;
they waited not for his counsel_”; _Ez. 33:31, 32_—“_And they come
unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my
people, and they hear thy words, but do them not; for with their
mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain.
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath
a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they
hear thy words, but they do them not_”; _John 5:35_—Of John the
Baptist: “_He was the lamp that burneth and shineth; and ye were
willing to rejoice for a season in his light_”; _8:30, 31_—“_As he
spake these things, many believed on him_ (εἰς αὐτόν). _Jesus
therefore said to those Jews that had believed him_ (αὐτῷ), _If ye
abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples._” They believed
_him_, but did not yet believe _on_ him, that is, make him the
foundation of their faith and life. Yet Jesus graciously
recognizes this first faint foreshadowing of faith. It might lead
to full and saving faith.

“Proselytes of the gate” were so called, because they contented
themselves with sitting in the gate, as it were, without going
into the holy city. “Proselytes of righteousness” were those who
did their whole duty, by joining themselves fully to the people of
God. Not _emotion_, but _devotion_, is the important thing.
Temporary faith is as irrational and valueless as temporary
repentance. It perhaps gained temporary blessing in the way of
healing in the time of Christ, but, if not followed by complete
surrender of the will, it might even aggravate one’s sin; see
_John 5:14_—“_Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a
worse thing befall thee._” The special faith of miracles was not a
high, but a low, form of faith, and it is not to be sought in our
day as indispensable to the progress of the kingdom. Miracles have
ceased, not because of decline in faith, but because the Holy
Spirit has changed the method of his manifestations, and has led
the church to seek more spiritual gifts.

Saving faith, however, includes also:

C. A voluntary element (_fiducia, credere in Deum_),—trust in Christ as Lord and Savior; or, in other words—to distinguish its two aspects:

(_a_) Surrender of the soul, as guilty and defiled, to Christ’s governance.

_Mat. 11:28, 29_—“_Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me_”; _John 8:12_—“_I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in the darkness_”; _14:1_—“_Let not
your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me_”;
_Acts 16:31_—“_Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be
saved._” Instances of the use of πιστεύω, in the sense of trustful
committance or surrender, are: _John 2:24_—“_But Jesus did not
trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men_”; _Rom.
3:2_—“_they were intrusted with the oracles of God_”; _Gal.
2:7_—“_when they saw that I had been intrusted with the gospel of
the uncircumcision._” πίστις = “trustful self‐surrender to God”
(Meyer).

In this surrender of the soul to Christ’s governance we have the
guarantee that the gospel salvation is not an unmoral trust which
permits continuance in sin. Aside from the fact that saving faith
is only the obverse side of true repentance, the very nature of
faith, as submission to Christ, the embodied law of God and source
of spiritual life, makes a life of obedience and virtue to be its
natural and necessary result. Faith is not only a declaration of
dependence, it is also a vow of allegiance. The sick man’s faith
in his physician is shown not simply by trusting him, but by
obeying him. Doing what the doctor says is the very proof of
trust. No physician will long care for a patient who refuses to
obey his orders. Faith is self‐surrender to the great Physician,
and a leaving of our case in his hands. But it is also the taking
of his prescriptions, and the active following of his directions.

We need to emphasize this active element in saving faith, lest men
get the notion that mere indolent acquiescence in Christ’s plan
will save them. Faith is not simple receptiveness. It gives
itself, as well as receives Christ. It is not mere passivity,—it
is also self‐committal. As all reception of knowledge is active,
and there must be attention if we would learn, so all reception of
Christ is active, and there must be intelligent giving as well as
taking. The Watchman, April 30, 1896—“Faith is more than belief
and trust. It is the action of the soul going out toward its
object. It is the exercise of a spiritual faculty akin to that of
sight; it establishes a personal relation between the one who
exercises faith and the one who is its object. When the
intellectual feature predominates, we call it belief; when the
emotional element predominates, we call it trust. This faith is at
once ‘An affirmation and an act Which bids eternal truth be
present fact.’ ”

There are great things received in faith, but nothing is received
by the man who does not first give himself to Christ. A conquered
general came into the presence of his conqueror and held out to
him his hand: “Your sword first, sir!” was the response. But when
General Lee _offered_ his sword to General Grant at Appomattox,
the latter returned it, saying: “No, keep your sword, and go to
your home.” Jacobi said that “Faith is the reflection of the
divine knowing and willing in the finite spirit of man.” G. B.
Foster, in Indiana Baptist Outlook, June 19, 1902—“Catholic
orthodoxy is wrong in holding that the authority for faith is the
church; for that would be an external authority. Protestant
orthodoxy is wrong in holding that the authority for faith is the
book; for that would be an external authority. Liberalism is wrong
in holding that the reason is the authority for faith. The
authority for faith is the revelation of God.” Faith in this
revelation is faith in Christ the Revealer. It puts the soul in
connection with the source of all knowledge and power. As the
connection of a wire with the reservoir of electric force makes it
the channel of vast energies, so the smallest measure of faith,
any real connection of the soul with Christ, makes it the
recipient of divine resources.

While faith is the act of the whole man, and intellect, affection,
and will are involved in it, will is the all‐inclusive and most
important of its elements. No other exercise of will is such a
revelation of our being and so decisive of our destiny. The
voluntary element in faith is illustrated in marriage. Here one
party pledges the future in permanent self‐surrender, commits
one’s self to another person in confidence that this future, with
all its new revelations of character, will only justify the
decision made. Yet this is rational; see Holland, in Lux Mundi,
46‐48. To put one’s hand into molten iron, even though one knows
of the “spheroidal state” that gives impunity, requires an
exertion of will; and not all workmen in metals are courageous
enough to make the venture. The child who leaped into the dark
cellar, in confidence that her father’s arms would be open to
receive her, did not act irrationally, because she had heard her
father’s command and trusted his promise. Though faith in Christ
is a leap in the dark, and requires a mighty exercise of will, it
is nevertheless the highest wisdom, because Christ’s word is
pledged that “_him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out_”
(_John 6:37_).

J. W. A. Stewart: “Faith is 1. a bond between persons, trust,
confidence; 2. it makes ventures, takes much for granted; 3. its
security is the character and power of him in whom we believe,—not
our faith, but his fidelity, is the guarantee that our faith is
rational.” Kant said that nothing in the world is good but the
good will which freely obeys the law of the good. Pfleiderer
defines faith as the free surrender of the heart to the gracious
will of God. Kaftan, Dogmatik, 21, declares that the Christian
religion is essentially faith, and that this faith manifests
itself as 1. doctrine; 2. worship; 3. morality.

(_b_) Reception and appropriation of Christ, as the source of pardon and spiritual life.

_John 1:12_—“_as many as received him, to them gave he the right
to become children of God, even to them that believe on his
name_”; _4:14_—“_whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall
become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life_”;
_6:53_—“_Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his
blood, ye have not life in yourselves_”; _20:31_—“_these are
written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God; and that believing ye may have life in his name_”; _Eph.
3:17_—“_that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith_”;
_Heb. 11:1_—“_Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a
conviction of things not seen_”; _Rev. 3:20_—“_Behold, I stand at
the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me._”

The three constituents of faith may be illustrated from the
thought, feeling, and action of a person who stands by a boat,
upon a little island which the rising stream threatens to
submerge. He first regards the boat from a purely intellectual
point of view,—it is merely an _actually existing boat_. As the
stream rises, he looks at it, secondly, with some accession of
emotion,—his prospective danger awakens in him the conviction that
it is a _good boat for a time of need_, though he is not yet ready
to make use of it. But, thirdly, when he feels that the rushing
tide must otherwise sweep him away, a volitional element is
added,—he gets into the boat, trusts himself to it, accepts it as
his _present, and only, means of safety_. Only this last faith in
the boat is faith that saves, although this last includes both the
preceding. It is equally clear that the getting into the boat may
actually save a man, while at the same time he may be full of
fears that the boat will never bring him to shore. These fears may
be removed by the boatman’s word. So saving faith is not
necessarily assurance of faith; but it becomes assurance of faith
when the Holy Spirit “_beareth witness with our spirit, that we
are children of God_” (_Rom. 8:16_). On the nature of this
assurance, and on the distinction between it and saving faith, see
pages 844‐846.

“Coming to Christ,” “looking to Christ,” “receiving Christ,” are
all descriptions of faith, as are also the phrases: “surrender to
Christ,” “submission to Christ,” “closing in with Christ.” Paul
refers to a confession of faith in _Rom. 10:9_—“_if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord._” Faith, then, is a taking
of Christ as both Savior and Lord; and it includes both
appropriation of Christ, and consecration to Christ. The voluntary
element in faith, however, is a giving as well as a taking. The
giving, or surrender, is illustrated in baptism by submergence;
the taking, or reception, by emergence. See further on the
Symbolism of Baptism. McCosh, Div. Government: “Saving faith is
the consent of the will to the assent of the understanding, and
commonly accompanied with emotion.” Pres. Hopkins, in Princeton
Rev., Sept. 1878:511‐540—“In its intellectual element, faith is
receptive, and believes that God _is_; in its affectional element,
faith is assimilative, and believes that God is a _rewarder_; in
its voluntary element, faith is operative, and actually _comes_ to
God (_Heb. 11:6_).”

Where the element of surrender is emphasized and the element of
reception is not understood, the result is a legalistic
experience, with little hope or joy. Only as we _appropriate_
Christ, in connection with our _consecration_, do we realize the
full blessing of the gospel. Light requires two things: the sun to
shine, and the eye to take in its shining. So we cannot be saved
without Christ to save, and faith to take the Savior for ours.
Faith is the act by which we receive Christ. The woman who touched
the border of Jesus’ garment received his healing power. It is
better still to keep in touch with Christ so as to receive
continually his grace and life. But best of all is taking him into
our inmost being, to be the soul of our soul and the life of our
life. This is the essence of faith, though many Christians do not
yet realize it. Dr. Curry said well that faith can never be
defined because it is a fact of life. It is a merging of our life
in the life of Christ, and a reception of Christ’s life to
interpenetrate and energize ours. In faith we must take Christ as
well as give ourselves. It is certainly true that surrender
without trust will not make us possessors of God’s peace. F. L.
Anderson: “Faith is submissive reliance on Jesus Christ for
salvation: 1. Reliance on Jesus Christ—not mere intellectual
belief; 2. Reliance on him for salvation—we can never undo the
past or atone for our sins; 3. Submissive reliance on Christ.
Trust without surrender will never save.”

The passages already referred to refute the view of the Romanist, that saving faith is simply implicit assent to the doctrines of the church; and the view of the Disciple or Campbellite, that faith is merely intellectual belief in the truth, on the presentation of evidence.

The Romanist says that faith can coëxist with mortal sin. The
Disciple holds that faith may and must exist before
regeneration,—regeneration being completed in baptism. With these
erroneous views, compare the noble utterance of Luther, Com. on
Galatians, 1:191, 247, quoted in Thomasius, III, 2:183—“True
faith,” says Luther, “is that assured trust and firm assent of
heart, by which Christ is laid hold of,—so that Christ is the
object of faith. Yet he is not merely the object of faith; but in
the very faith, so to speak, Christ is present. Faith lays hold of
Christ, and grasps him as a present possession, just as the ring
holds the jewel.” Edwards, Works, 4:71‐73; 2:601‐641—“Faith,” says
Edwards, “includes the whole act of unition to Christ as a Savior.
The entire active uniting of the soul, or the whole of what is
called coming to Christ, and receiving of him, is called faith in
the Scripture.” See also Belief, What Is It? 150‐179, 290‐298.

Hatch, Hibbert Lectures, 530—“Faith began by being: 1. a simple
trust in God; then followed, 2. a simple expansion of that
proposition into the assent to the proposition that God is good,
and, 3. a simple acceptance of the proposition that Jesus Christ
was his Son; then, 4. came in the definition of terms, and each
definition of terms involved a new theory; finally, 5. the
theories were gathered together into systems, and the martyrs and
witnesses of Christ died for their faith, not outside but inside
the Christian sphere; and instead of a world of religious belief
which resembled the world of actual fact in the sublime unsymmetry
of its foliage and the deep harmony of its discords, there
prevailed the most fatal assumption of all, that the symmetry of a
system is the test of its truth and the proof thereof.” We regard
this statement of Hatch as erroneous, in that it attributes to the
earliest disciples no larger faith than that of their Jewish
brethren. We claim that the earliest faith involved an implicit
acknowledgement of Jesus as Savior and Lord, and that this faith
of simple obedience and trust became explicit recognition of our
Lord’s deity and atonement just so soon as persecution and the
Holy Spirit disclosed to them the real contents of their own
consciousness.

An illustration of the simplicity and saving power of faith is
furnished by Principal J. R. Andrews, of New London, Conn.,
Principal of the Bartlett Grammar School. When the steamer
Atlantic was wrecked off Fisher’s Island, though Mr. Andrews could
not swim, he determined to make a desperate effort to save his
life. Binding a life‐preserver about him, he stood on the edge of
the deck waiting his opportunity, and when he saw a wave moving
shoreward, he jumped into the rough breakers and was borne safely
to land. He was saved by faith. He accepted the conditions of
salvation. Forty perished in a scene where he was saved. In one
sense he saved himself; in another sense he depended upon God. It
was a combination of personal activity and dependence upon God
that resulted in his salvation. If he had not used the life‐
preserver, he would have perished; if he had not cast himself into
the sea, he would have perished. So faith in Christ is reliance
upon him for salvation; but it is also our own making of a new
start in life and the showing of our trust by action. Tract 357,
Am. Tract Society—“What is it to believe on Christ? It is: To feel
your need of him; To believe that he is able and willing to save
you, and to save you now; and To cast yourself unreservedly upon
his mercy, and trust in him alone for salvation.”

In further explanation of the Scripture representations, we remark:

(_a_) That faith is an act of the affections and will, as truly as it is an act of the intellect.

It has been claimed that faith and unbelief are purely intellectual states, which are necessarily determined by the facts at any given time presented to the mind; and that they are, for this reason, as destitute of moral quality and as far from being matters of obligation, as are our instinctive feelings of pleasure and pain. But this view unwarrantably isolates the intellect, and ignores the fact that, in all moral subjects, the state of the affections and will affects the judgment of the mind with regard to truth. In the intellectual act the whole moral nature expresses itself. Since the tastes determine the opinions, faith is a moral act, and men are responsible for not believing.

_John 3:18‐20_—“_He that believeth on him is not judged: he that
believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not
believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is
the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved
the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. For
every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the
light, lest his works should be reproved_”; _5:40_—“_ye will not
come to me, that ye may have life_”; _16:8, 9_—“_And he, when he
is come, will convict the world in respect of sin ... of sin,
because they believe not on me_”; _Rev. 2:21_—“_she willed not to
repent._” Notice that the Revised Version very frequently
substitutes the voluntary and active terms “disobedience” and
“disobedient” for the “_unbelief_” and “_unbelieving_” of the
Authorized Version,—as in _Rom. 15:31_; _Heb. 3:18; 4:6, 11;
11:31_. See Park, Discourses, 45, 46.

Savages do not know that they are responsible for their physical
appetites, or that there is any right and wrong in matters of
sense, until they come under the influence of Christianity. In
like manner, even men of science can declare that the intellectual
sphere has no part in man’s probation, and that we are no more
responsible for our opinions and beliefs than we are for the color
of our skin. But faith is not a merely intellectual act,—the
affections and will give it quality. There is no moral quality in
the belief that 2 + 2 = 4, because we can not help that belief.
But in believing on Christ there is moral quality, because there
is the element of choice. Indeed it may be questioned, whether, in
every judgment upon moral things, there is not an act of will.

Hence on _John 7:17_—“_If any man willeth to do his will, he shall
know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak
from myself_”—F. L. Patton calls attention to the two common
errors: (1) that obedience will certify doctrine,—which is untrue,
because obedience is the result of faith, not _vice versa_; (2)
that personal experience is the ultimate test of faith,—which is
untrue, because the Bible is the only rule of faith, and it is one
thing to receive truth through the feelings, but quite another to
test truth by the feelings. The text really means, that if any man
is willing to do God’s will, he shall know whether it be of God;
and the two lessons to be drawn are: (1) the gospel needs no
additional evidence; (2) the Holy Ghost is the hope of the world.
On responsibility for opinions and beliefs, see Mozley, on Blanco
White, in Essays Philos. and Historical, 2:142; T. T. Smith,
Hulsean Lectures for 1839. Wilfrid Ward, The Wish to Believe,
quotes Shakespeare: “Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought”;
and Thomas Arnold: “They dared not lightly believe what they so
much wished to be true.”

Pascal: “Faith is an act of the will.” Emerson, Essay on Worship:
“A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples. Man’s religious faith
is the expression of what he is.” Bain: “In its essential
character, belief is a phase of our active nature, otherwise
called the will.” Nash, Ethics and Revelation, 257—“Faith is the
creative human answer to the creative divine offer. It is not the
passive acceptance of a divine favor.... By faith man, laying hold
of the personality of God in Christ, becomes a true person. And by
the same faith he becomes, under God, a creator and founder of
true society.” Inge, Christian Mysticism, 52—“Faith begins with an
experiment and ends with an experience. But even the power to make
the experiment is given from above. Eternal life is not γνῶσις,
but the state of acquiring knowledge—ἴνα γιγνώσκωσιν. It is
significant that John, who is so fond of the verb ‘to know,’ never
uses the substantive γνῶσις.” Crane, Religion of To‐morrow,
148—“ ‘I will not obey, because I do not yet know’? But this is
making the intellectual side the only side of faith, whereas the
most important side is the will‐side. Let a man follow what he
does believe, and he shall be led on to larger faith. Faith is the
reception of the personal influence of a living Lord, and a
corresponding action.”

William James, Will to Believe, 61—“This life is worth living,
since it is what we make it, from the moral point of view....
Often enough our faith beforehand in an uncertified result is the
only thing that makes the result come true.... If your heart does
not _want_ a world of moral reality, your head will assuredly
never make you believe in one.... Freedom to believe covers only
living options which the intellect cannot by itself resolve.... We
are not to put a stopper on our heart, and meantime act as if
religion were not true”; Psychology, 2:282, 321—“Belief is
consent, willingness, turning of our disposition. It is the mental
state or function of cognizing reality. We never disbelieve
anything except for the reason that we believe something else
which contradicts the first thing. We give higher reality to
whatever things we select and emphasize and turn to with a
will.... We need only in cold blood act as if the thing in
question were real, and keep acting as if it were real, and it
will infallibly end by growing into such a connection with our
life that it will become real. Those to whom God and duty are mere
names, can make them much more than that, if they make a little
sacrifice to them every day.”

E. G. Robinson: “Campbellism makes intellectual belief to be
saving faith. But saving faith is consent of the heart as well as
assent of the intellect. On the one hand there is the intellectual
element: faith is belief upon the ground of evidence; faith
without evidence is credulity. But on the other hand faith has an
element of affection; the element of love is always wrapped up in
it. So Abraham’s faith made Abraham like God; for we always become
like that which we trust.” Faith therefore is not chronologically
subsequent to regeneration, but is its accompaniment. As the
soul’s appropriation of Christ and his salvation, it is not the
result of an accomplished renewal, but rather the medium through
which that renewal is effected. Otherwise it would follow that one
who had not yet believed (_i. e._, received Christ) might still be
regenerate, whereas the Scripture represents the privilege of
sonship as granted only to believers. See _John 1:12, 13_—“_But as
many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children
of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were born, not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God_”; also _3:5, 6, 10‐15_; _Gal. 3:26_; _2 Pet. 1:3_;
_cf._ _1 John 5:1_.

(_b_) That the object of saving faith is, in general, the whole truth of God, so far as it is objectively revealed or made known to the soul; but, in particular, the person and work of Jesus Christ, which constitutes the centre and substance of God’s revelation (Acts 17:18; 1 Cor. 1:23; Col. 1:27; Rev. 19:10).

The patriarchs, though they had no knowledge of a personal Christ, were saved by believing in God so far as God had revealed himself to them; and whoever among the heathen are saved, must in like manner be saved by casting themselves as helpless sinners upon God’s plan of mercy, dimly shadowed forth in nature and providence. But such faith, even among the patriarchs and heathen, is implicitly a faith in Christ, and would become explicit and conscious trust and submission, whenever Christ were made known to them (Mat. 8:11, 12; John 10:16; Acts 4:12; 10:31, 34, 35, 44; 16:31).

_Acts 17:18_—“_he preached Jesus and the resurrection_”; _1 Cor.
1:23_—“_we preach Christ crucified_”; _Col. 1:27_—“_this mystery
among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
whom we proclaim_”; _Rev. 19:10_—“_the testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy._” Saving faith is not belief in a dogma, but
personal trust in a personal Christ. It is, therefore, possible to
a child. Dorner: “The object of faith is the Christian
revelation—God in Christ.... Faith is union with objective
Christianity—appropriation of the real contents of Christianity.”
Dr. Samuel Hopkins, the great uncle, defined faith as “an
understanding, cordial receiving of the divine testimony
concerning Jesus Christ and the way of salvation by him, in which
the heart accords and conforms to the gospel.” Dr. Mark Hopkins,
the great nephew, defined it as “confidence in a personal being.”
Horace Bushnell: “Faith rests on a person. Faith is that act by
which one person, a sinner, commits himself to another person, a
Savior.” In _John 11:25_—“_I am the resurrection and the
life_”—Martha is led to substitute belief in a person for belief
in an abstract doctrine. Jesus is “_the resurrection_,” because he
is “_the life_.” All doctrine and all miracle is significant and
important only because it is the expression of the living Christ,
the Revealer of God.

The object of faith is sometimes represented in the N. T., as
being God the Father. _John 5:24_—“_He that heareth my word, and
believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life_”; _Rom. 4:5_—“_to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly, his faith is reckoned for righteousness._” We can explain
these passages only when we remember that Christ is God
“_manifested in the flesh_” (_1 Tim. 3:16_), and that “_he that
hath seen me hath seen the Father_” (_John 14:9_). Man may receive
a gift without knowing from whom it comes, or how much it has
cost. So the heathen, who casts himself as a sinner upon God’s
mercy, may receive salvation from the Crucified One, without
knowing who is the giver, or that the gift was purchased by agony
and blood. Denney, Studies in Theology, 154—“No N. T. writer ever
_remembered_ Christ. They never thought of him as belonging to the
past. Let us not preach about the _historical_ Christ, but rather,
about the _living_ Christ; nay, let us preach _him_, present and
omnipotent. Jesus could say: ‘_Whither I go, ye know the way_’
(_John 14:4_); for they knew _him_, and he was both the _end_ and
the _way_.”

Dr. Charles Hodge unduly restricts the operations of grace to the
preaching of the incarnate Christ: Syst. Theol., 2:648—“There is
no faith where the gospel is not heard; and where there is no
faith, there is no salvation. This is indeed an awful doctrine.”
And yet, in 2:668, he says most inconsistently: “As God is
everywhere present in the material world, guiding its operations
according to the laws of nature; so he is everywhere present with
the minds of men, as the Spirit of truth and goodness, operating
on them according to laws of their free moral agency, inclining
them to good and restraining them from evil.” This presence and
revelation of God we hold to be through Christ, the eternal Word,
and so we interpret the prophecy of Caiaphas as referring to the
work of the personal Christ: _John 11:51, 52_—“_he prophesied that
Jesus should die for the nation; and not for the nation only, but
that he might also gather together into one the children of God
that are scattered abroad._”

Since Christ is the Word of God and the Truth of God, he may be
received even by those who have not heard of his manifestation in
the flesh. A proud and self‐righteous morality is inconsistent
with saving faith; but a humble and penitent reliance upon God, as
a Savior from sin and a guide of conduct, is an implicit faith in
Christ; for such reliance casts itself upon God, so far as God has
revealed himself,—and the only Revealer of God is Christ. We have,
therefore, the hope that even among the heathen there may be some,
like Socrates, who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit working
through the truth of nature and conscience, have found the way of
life and salvation.

The number of such is so small as in no degree to weaken the
claims of the missionary enterprise upon us. But that there are
such seems to be intimated in Scripture: _Mat. 8:11, 12_—“_many
shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the
sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into the outer darkness_”;
_John 10:16_—“_And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and they
shall become one flock, one shepherd_”; _Acts 4:12_—“_And in none
other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name
under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved_”;
_10:31, 34, 35, 44_—“_Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine
alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God.... Of a truth I
perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation
he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to
him.... While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on
all them that heard the word_”; _16:31_—“_Believe on the Lord
Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house._”

And instances are found of apparently regenerated heathen; see in
Godet on _John 7:17_, note (vol. 2:277), the account of the so‐
called “Chinese hermit,” who accepted Christ, saying: “This is the
only Buddha whom men ought to worship!” Edwards, Life of Brainard,
173‐175, gives an account “of one who was a devout and zealous
reformer, or rather restorer, of what he supposed was the ancient
religion of the Indians.” After a period of distress, he says that
God “comforted his heart and showed him what he should do, and
since that time he had known God and tried to serve him; and loved
all men, be they who they would, so as he never did before.” See
art. by Dr. Lucius E. Smith, in Bib. Sac., Oct. 1881:622‐645, on
the question: “Is salvation possible without a knowledge of the
gospel?” H. B. Smith, System, 323, note, rightly bases hope for
the heathen, not on morality, but on sacrifice.

A chief of the Camaroons in S. W. Africa, fishing with many of his
tribe long before the missionaries came, was overtaken by a storm,
and while almost all the rest were drowned, he and a few others
escaped. He gathered his people together afterwards and told the
story of disaster. He said: “When the canoes upset and I found
myself battling with the waves, I thought: To whom shall I cry for
help? I knew that the god of the hills could not help me; I knew
that the evil spirit would not help me. So I cried to the Great
Father, Lord, save me! At that moment my feet touched the sand of
the beach, and I was safe. Now let all my people honor the Great
Father, and let no man speak a word against him, for he can help
us.” This chief afterwards used every effort to prevent strife and
bloodshed, and was remembered by those who came after as a peace‐
maker. His son told this story to Alfred Saker, the missionary,
saying “Why did you not come sooner? My father longed to know what
you have told us; he thirsted for the knowledge of God.” Mr. Saker
told this in England in 1879.

John Fiske appends to his book, The Idea of God, 168, 169, the
following pathetic words of a Kafir, named Sekese, in conversation
with a French traveler, M. Arbrouseille, on the subject of the
Christian religion: “Your tidings,” said this uncultured
barbarian, “are what I want, and I was seeking before I knew you,
as you shall hear and judge for yourself. Twelve years ago I went
to feed my flocks; the weather was hazy. I sat down upon a rock,
and asked myself sorrowful questions; yes, sorrowful, because I
was unable to answer them. Who has touched the stars with his
hands—on what pillars do they rest? I asked myself. The waters
never weary, they know no other law than to flow without ceasing
from morning till night and from night till morning; but where do
they stop, and who makes them flow thus? The clouds also come and
go, and burst in water over the earth. Whence come they—who sends
them? The diviners certainly do not give us rain; for how could
they do it? And why do I not see them with my own eyes, when they
go up to heaven to fetch it? I cannot see the wind; but what is
it? Who brings it, makes it blow and roar and terrify us? Do I
know how the corn sprouts? Yesterday there was not a blade in my
field; to‐day I returned to my field and found some; who can have
given to the earth the wisdom and the power to produce it? Then I
buried my head in both hands.”

On the question whether men are ever led to faith, without
intercourse with living Christians or preachers, see Life of
Judson, by his son, 84. The British and Foreign Bible Society
publish a statement, made upon the authority of Sir Bartle Frere,
that he met with “an instance, which was carefully investigated,
in which all the inhabitants of a remote village in the Deccan had
abjured idolatry and caste, removed from their temples the idols
which had been worshiped there time out of mind, and agreed to
profess a form of Christianity which they had deduced from the
careful perusal of a single Gospel and a few tracts.” Max Müller,
Chips, 4:177‐189, apparently proves that Buddha is the original of
St. Josaphat, who has a day assigned to him in the calendar of
both the Greek and the Roman churches. “Sancte Socrates, ora pro
nobis.”

The Missionary Review of the World, July, 1896:519‐523, tells the
story of Adiri, afterwards called John King, of Maripastoon in
Dutch Guiana. The Holy Spirit wrought in him mightily years before
he heard of the missionaries. He was a coal‐black negro, a heathen
and a fetish worshiper. He was convicted of sin and apparently
converted through dreams and visions. Heaven and hell were
revealed to him. He was sick unto death, and One appeared to him
declaring himself to be the Mediator between God and man, and
telling him to go to the missionaries for instruction. He was
persecuted, but he won his tribe from heathenism and transformed
them into a Christian community.

S. W. Hamblen, missionary to China, tells of a very earnest and
consistent believer who lived at rather an obscure town of about
2800 people. The evangelist went to visit him and found that he
was a worthy example to those around him. He had become a
Christian before he had seen a single believer, by reading a
Chinese New Testament. Although till the evangelist went to his
house he had never met a Baptist and did not know that there were
any Baptist churches in existence, yet by reading the New
Testament he had become not only a Christian but a strong Baptist
in belief, so strong that he could argue with the missionary on
the subject of baptism.

The Rev. K. E. Malm, a pioneer Baptist preacher in Sweden, on a
journey to the district as far north as Gestrikland, met a woman
from Lapland who was on her way to Upsala in order to visit Dr.
Fjellstedt and converse with him as to how she might obtain peace
with God and get rid of her anxiety concerning her sins. She said
she had traveled 60 (= 240 English) miles, and she had still far
to go. Malm improved the opportunity to speak to her concerning
the crucified Christ, and she found peace in believing on his
atonement. She became so happy that she clapped her hands, and for
joy could not sleep that night. She said later: “Now I will return
home and tell the people what I have found.” This she did, and did
not care to continue her journey to Upsala, in order to get
comfort from Dr. Fjellstedt.

(_c_) That the ground of faith is the external word of promise. The ground of assurance, on the other hand, is the inward witness of the Spirit that we fulfil the conditions of the promise (Rom. 4:20, 21; 8:16; Eph. 1:13; 1 John 4:13; 5:10). This witness of the Spirit is not a new revelation from God, but a strengthening of faith so that it becomes conscious and indubitable.

True faith is possible without assurance of salvation. But if Alexander’s view were correct, that the object of saving faith is the proposition: “God, for Christ’s sake, now looks with reconciling love on me, a sinner,” no one could believe, without being at the same time assured that he was a saved person. Upon the true view, that the object of saving faith is not a proposition, but a person, we can perceive not only the simplicity of faith, but the possibility of faith even where the soul is destitute of assurance or of joy. Hence those who already believe are urged to seek for assurance (Heb. 6:11; 2 Peter 1:10).

_Rom. 4:20, 21_—“_looking unto the promise of God, he wavered not
through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory to
God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was
able also to perform_”; _8:16_—“_The Spirit himself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are children of God_”; _Eph.
1:13_—“_in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise_”; _1 John 4:13_—“_hereby we know that we
abide in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his
Spirit_”; _5:10_—“_He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in him._” This assurance is not of the essence of faith,
because believers are exhorted to attain to it: _Heb. 6:11_—“_And
we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto
the fulness of hope_ [marg.—‘_full assurance_’] _even to the
end_”; _2 Pet. 1:10_—“_Wherefore, brethren, give the more
diligence to make your calling and election sure._” _Cf._ _Prov.
14:14_—“_a good man shall be satisfied from himself._”

There is need to guard the doctrine of assurance from mysticism.
The witness of the Spirit is not a new and direct revelation from
God. It is a strengthening of previously existing faith until he
who possesses this faith cannot any longer doubt that he possesses
it. It is a general rule that all our emotions, when they become
exceedingly strong, also become conscious. Instance affection
between man and woman.

Edwards, Religious Affections, in Works, 3:83‐91, says the witness
of the Spirit is not a new word or suggestion from God, but an
enlightening and sanctifying influence, so that the heart is drawn
forth to embrace the truth already revealed, and to perceive that
it embraces it. “Bearing witness” is not in this case to declare
and assert a thing to be true, but to hold forth evidence from
which a thing may be proved to be true: God “_beareth witness ...
by signs and wonders_” (_Heb. 2:4_). So the “seal of the Spirit”
is not a voice or suggestion, but a work or effect of the Spirit,
left as a divine mark upon the soul, to be an evidence by which
God’s children may be known. Seals had engraved upon them the
image or name of the persons to whom they belonged. The “seal of
the Spirit,” the “earnest of the Spirit,” the “witness of the
Spirit,” are all one thing. The childlike spirit, given by the
Holy Spirit, is the Holy Spirit’s witness or evidence in us.

See also illustration of faith and assurance, in C. S. Robinson’s
Short Studies for S. S. Teachers, 179, 180. Faith should be
distinguished not only from assurance, but also from feeling or
joy. Instance Abraham’s faith when he went to sacrifice Isaac; and
Madame Guyon’s faith, when God’s face seemed hid from her. See, on
the witness of the Spirit, Short, Bampton Lectures for 1846;
British and For. Evan. Rev., 1888:617‐631. For the view which
confounds faith with assurance, see Alexander, Discourses on
Faith, 63‐118.

It is important to distinguish saving faith from assurance of
faith, for the reason that lack of assurance is taken by so many
real Christians as evidence that they know nothing of the grace of
God. To use once more a well‐worn illustration: It is getting into
the boat that saves us, and not our comfortable feelings about the
boat. What saves us is faith in _Christ_, not faith in _our_
faith, or faith in _the_ faith. The astronomer does not turn his
telescope to the reflection of the sun or moon in the water, when
he can turn it to the sun or moon itself. Why obscure our faith,
when we can look to Christ?

The faith in a distant Redeemer was the faith of Christian, in
Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Only at the end of his journey does
Christian have Christ’s presence. This representation rests upon a
wrong conception of faith as laying hold of a promise or a
doctrine, rather than as laying hold of the living and present
Christ. The old Scotch woman’s direction to the inquirer to “grip
the promise” is not so good as the direction to “grip Christ.” Sir
Francis Drake, the great English sailor, had for his crest an
anchor with a cable running up into the sky. A poor boy, taught in
a mission school in Ireland, when asked what was meant by saving
faith, replied: “It is grasping God with the heart.”

The view of Charles Hodge, like that of Alexander, puts doctrine
before Christ, and makes the formal principle, the supremacy of
Scripture, superior to the material principle, justification by
faith. The Shorter Catechism is better: “Faith in Christ is a
saving grace, whereby we receive and rest _on him alone_ for
salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.” If this relation
of faith to the personal Christ had been kept in mind, much
religious despondency might have been avoided. Murphy, Natural
Selection and Spiritual Freedom, 30, 31, tells us that Frances
Ridley Havergal could never fix the date of her conversion. From
the age of six to that of fourteen she suffered from religious
fears, and did not venture to call herself a Christian. It was the
result of confounding _being_ at peace with God and being
_conscious_ of that peace. So the mother of Frederick Denison
Maurice, an admirable and deeply religious woman, endured long and
deep mental suffering from doubts as to her personal election.

There is a witness of the Spirit, with some sinners, that they are
_not_ children of God, and this witness is through the truth,
though the sinner does not know that it is the Spirit who reveals
it to him. We call this work of the Spirit conviction of sin. The
witness of the Spirit that we are children of God, and the
assurance of faith of which Scripture speaks, are one and the same
thing, the former designation only emphasizing the source from
which the assurance springs. False assurance is destitute of
humility, but true assurance is so absorbed in Christ that self is
forgotten. Self‐consciousness, and desire to display one’s faith,
are not marks of true assurance. When we say: “That man has a
great deal of assurance,” we have in mind the false and self‐
centered assurance of the hypocrite or the self‐deceiver.

Allen, Jonathan Edwards, 231—“It has been said that any one who
can read Edwards’s Religious Affections, and still believe in his
own conversion, may well have the highest assurance of its
reality. But how few there were in Edwards’s time who gained the
assurance, may be inferred from the circumstance that Dr. Hopkins
and Dr. Emmons, disciples of Edwards and religious leaders in New
England, remained to the last uncertain of their conversion.” He
can attribute this only to the semi‐deistic spirit of the time,
with its distant God and imperfect apprehension of the
omnipresence and omnipotence of Christ. Nothing so clearly marks
the practical progress of Christianity as the growing faith in
Jesus, the only Revealer of God in nature and history as well as
in the heart of the believer. As never before, faith comes
directly to Christ, abides in him, and finds his promise true:
“_Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world_”
(_Mat. 28:20_). “Nothing before, nothing behind; The steps of
faith Fall on the seeming void and find The Rock beneath.”

(_d_) That faith necessarily leads to good works, since it embraces the whole truth of God so far as made known, and appropriates Christ, not only as an external Savior, but as an internal sanctifying power (Heb. 7:15, 16; Gal. 5:6).

Good works are the proper evidence of faith. The faith which does not lead men to act upon the commands and promises of Christ, or, in other words, does not lead to obedience, is called in Scripture a “dead,” that is, an unreal, faith. Such faith is not saving, since it lacks the voluntary element—actual appropriation of Christ (James 2:14‐26).

_Heb. 7:15, 16_—“_another priest, who hath been made, not after
the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless
life_”; _Gal. 5:6_—“_For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through
love_”; _James 2:14, 26_—“_What doth it profit, my brethren, if a
man say he hath faith, but have not works? Can that faith save
him?... For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so
faith apart from works is dead._”

The best evidence that I believe a man’s word is that I act upon
it. Instance the bank‐cashier’s assurance to me that a sum of
money is deposited with him to my account. If I am a millionaire,
the communication may cause me no special joy. My faith in the
cashier’s word is tested by my going, or not going, for the money.
So my faith in Christ is evidenced by my acting upon his commands
and promises. We may illustrate also by the lifting of the trolley
to the wire, and the resulting light and heat and motion to the
car that before stood dark and cold and motionless upon the track.
Salvation by works is like getting to one’s destination by pushing
the car. True faith depends upon God for energy, but it results in
activity of all our powers. _Rom. 3:28_—“_We reckon therefore that
a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law._” We
are saved only by faith, yet this faith will be sure to bring
forth good works; see _Gal. 5:6_—“_faith working through love._”
Dead faith might be illustrated by Abraham Lincoln’s Mississippi
steamboat, whose whistle was so big that, when it sounded, the
boat stopped. Confession exhausts the energy, so that none is left
for action.