tion to the merits of our Redeemer, and in the apostolical writings is very frequently treated of in this connexion: for these momentous reasons-because the merciful scheme of divine government revealed to us in the Scriptures, which admits the penitent to forgiveness, and rewards the imperfect holiness attainable by human beings, exists in virtue of his mediation; and because his vicarious interposition in our behalf has mightily reinforced our motives to the love of God, and consequently to the obedience of his commandments. But it would appear from the explanation which some have given of the faith which justifieth, that the efficacy of our Lord's atonement for sin is its exclusive object; or that a simple dependence on the expiatory virtue of his sacrifice is the amount and substance of the faith imputed to us for righteousness. It is true, and should in all justice be acknowledged, that those who thus speak and write concerning the faith which saves us, commonly hold it to be productive of a holy life, but while they allow that limitation in their notion of it to which we advert, they fail, as we conceive, and necessarily must fail, to make out the connexion between faith and holiness in a definite and satisfactory manner. Now, undeniably, the faith which the Apostles inculcated as the instrument of justification before God, was substantially the same faith as that which had been demanded by their Master before them. It could be no otherwise distinguished from the belief which he had himself required, than as it implied a clearer knowledge of the design of his mission, and the nature of his kingdom, than had been communicated previous to his resurrection. The faith, however, which Christ himself demanded from those before whose eyes he wrought his miracles, and exhibited the proofs of his divine commission, was a belief that he was the predicted Messiah. When Jesus had said unto Martha, the sister of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" she replied 66 Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world:"*-implying that such was the belief which he required her to confess, and by avowing which she signified her *John xi. 25—27. persuasion that he had power to restore life to Lazarus, and to all the dead.* Lord, to whom shall we go?" was the language of Peter to his Master," thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe, and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." On another occasion, Jesus, commending the faith of his disciples, said—" For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God." But, surely, a belief in Jesus as the Christ-a belief that he came forth from God, carries with it a general and unreserved assent to his communications, whether uttered by his own lips, or imparted through his accredited messengers-men who, “with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,"§ evinced themselves "ambassadors for Christ." It implies a conviction of the truth of the whole Gospel, as expounded in the discourses of our Lord himself, and the writings of his Apostles. The faith which justifieth, therefore, cannot be limited to the efficacy of our Lord's atonement, central and vital as that doctrine is to the system of Christianity: for the Gospel is John xi. 25. John xvi. 27. † John vi. 68. R not only an announcement of mercy, or a declaration of privileges, but an exposition of duties. It is not a body of doctrines only, but a collection of precepts; and the act of faith is equally involved in consenting to the authority of the precepts, as in admitting the truth of the doctrines. Inasmuch, indeed, as faith in the Gospel is considered as the fruit and evidence of a desire to do the will of God, it must appear to regard more particularly the precepts contained in it. At least, it can scarcely be questioned, that the bias of a depraved mind is equally at work in evading the evidence of the divine commandments delivered in the Bible, as in disputing the proof of any of its doctrines; and that an upright heart towards God must be no less needful in dealing with the former than with the latter. In the judgment of most Christians, indeed, it is the authority of the Gospel as a rule of conduct which is the principal cause of scepticism and unbelief. This was the reason, we are assured by Christ himself, why the Jews rejected the instruction which he offered them :-"Ye love darkness rather than light, because your deeds are evil:"-so ungrounded is the opinion, that the demand of faith in the Son of God would be satisfied by a simple reliance on the efficacy of his atonement for our sins, and his prevailing intercession for the guilty. But yet fartherthough it may be convenient to assume a distinction between the doctrines and the precepts in the Scriptures, it were superficial thinking indeed to consider the act of faith as limited to the doctrines of the Gospel. For what are the precepts but doctrines taught in a preceptive form? Alter the wording of the precept, and you change it into a doctrine: "Love thy neighbour as thyself" is a precept: "it is right and obligatory to love thy neighbour as thyself" would be a doctrine. We repeat, then, that to "believe in Jesus Christ" is to receive as infallibly true the substance of divine communications in the New Testament. In the sacred volume, however, the necessity of repentance is as positively and distinctly laid down as the propitiatory nature of the death of Christ, in virtue of which repentance is available to the absolution of the transgressor. The obligation, the indispensableness of good works is as fully and undeniably taught as the utter incapacity of mankind to merit eternal life by performing them. A gradation of rewards and punishments in a future state is as unequivocally set before us |