ESSAY VI Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for righteousness. He believed the Lord's promise, that his seed should be numerous as the stars of the heaven. And because this act of faith was counted to him for righteousness, the apostle insinuates, that he was justified thereby, Rom. iv. 2, 3. But in this instance, as was observed concerning Noah, Abraham's faith had no doctrine of religion for its object, but a future event only which God promised should take place; namely, that he was to have a son, from whom a progeny, numerous as the stars of the heaven, was to descend. This appears from Rom. iv. 18. He, contrary to hope, believed with hope, that he should be the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, Gen. xv. 5.

So shall thy seed be.' 19. And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body now dead, being about an hundred years old, neither the deadness of Sarah's womb. 20. Therefore, against the promise of God, he did not dispute through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. 21. And was fully persuaded that what was promised, he was able certainly to perform. 22. Therefore, also it was counted to him for righteousness. And on an after occasion, Heb. xi. 17. By faith Abraham, when tried, offered up Isaac; he who had received the promises, offered up his only begotten. 18. Concerning whom it was said, Surely in Isaac a seed shall be unto thee: 19. Reasoning that God was able to raise him, even from the dead, from whence he received him even for a parable. In this, as in the former instance, Abraham's faith had no moral or religious truth for its object, but a matter of fact afterwards to happen, the credibility of which depended on God's veracity and power; namely, that the numerous seed promised to him was to spring from Isaac. For Abraham, whose conceptions of the perfections of God were very exalted, reasoned with himself, that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead: and that, to fulfil his promise, he would actually raise him, after being burnt to ashes on the altar.-Rahab's faith likewise, on account of which, ver. 31. She was not destroyed with the unbelievers, which James hath termed her justification, did not consist in her believing any particular revelation, which was made to her concerning the God of Israel; but in attending to, and reasoning justly on what she had heard concerning his wonderful works, so as to believe him to be the only true God and governor of the universe Josh. ii. 9. I know that the Lord hath given you this land.-10. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and

what you did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. 11. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Wherefore, since Rahab's faith in the God of the Israelites, as the only true God, led her to receive and conceal the Israelitish messengers at the risk of her life, her faith was perfected by that work: and on account of that work proceeding from her faith, she was justified, as the apostle James expressly affirms. Besides, it appears from the history that she persevered in the faith and worship of the true God. For after the sacking of Jericho, she dwelt among the Israelites, and was highly esteemed by them on account of her personal virtues ; in so much, that Salmon, a great man in Israel, married her, whereby she became one of our Lord's ancestors, being the mother of Boaz, who was the father of Jesse, and grandfather of David.The faith likewise of the other ancients, who are celebrated in this xith chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, did not consist in their believing any moral or religious doctrine which God had formerly revealed, but in their forming such just conceptions of the power and veracity of God, as led them firmly to expect the fulfilment of all the events which he had foretold; and of all the promises which he had made to Abraham, concerning his giving the everlasting possession of Canaan to his seed: So that by their faith in these promises, they were encouraged valiantly to withstand and subdue their enemies.-Of this kind was the faith of Moses's parents, which moved them to disregard the king's commandment, and to hide their son three months and the faith of Moses himself, which moved him to leave the court of Egypt, and to suffer persecution with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin moved him also to institute the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, that the destroying angel might not touch the first born of the Israelites. Of the same kind was the faith of the Israelites, by which they entered into and passed through the Red Sea and of Joshua, by which he expected the walls of Jericho to fall down, after being encompassed seven days; and of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson and Jephtha; of David also and Samuel, and of the prophets; who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, &c.-In short, the whole of the apostle's discourse in

this chapter, proceeds on the supposition, that faith is a disposition in the heart, leading those who possess it, to act suitably to their knowledge of the will of God respecting their conduct, whether his will was discovered to them by the light of nature, or by revelation.

The foregoing examples of persons who were justified by their faith in the declarations and promises of God, notwithstanding these declarations and promises related merely to temporal matters, prove, I think, that they who believe in God, according to the manifestation which he hath made of himself by the light of nature, may be justified even by that kind of faith; provided it leads them habitually to comply with the will of God, so far as they know it. It is no just objection to this, neither doth it support Owen's affirmation, mentioned p. 57. that some of the persons whose faith and obedience are praised by the apostle, were not justified thereby; such as many of the Israelites, who by faith passed through the Red Sea, but afterwards, by reason of unbelief, refused to go into Canaan, and for that sin were destroyed in the wilderness. And those who by faith compassed the walls of Jericho seven days, in expectation of their falling down, who cannot all be supposed to have been justified by that one act of faith. And perhaps some others who are said through faith to have subdued kingdoms. For since the apostle saith, ver. 39. All these, though well testified of through faith, have not received the promise. 40. God having foreseen some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect, he certainly means, that many of these persons were justified by their faith. And with respect to the rest, there can be no doubt, that in so far as their faith led them to obey God in the instances mentioned by the apostle, they did what was pleasing to God.But even on supposition, that a number of them were not justified by their faith, because it was only temporary, it were wrong, on that account, to conclude concerning the rest, who are said to have obtained a good testimony through faith, and who are to be perfected, that is, rewarded together with us, that their faith did not avail to their justification; unless it could be proved, that, like the Israelites who passed through the Red Sea, they did not persevere in their faith and obedience. In particular, the conclusion would most certainly be false, with respect to Noah, and Abraham, and Rahab. For of them it is testified in so many words, that they were justified by their faith, notwithstanding we know its objects were such moral and religious

truths only, as were discoverable by the light of nature, and such revelations as God was pleased to make to them personally, concerning certain temporal matters in which they were greatly interested.

Thus, from the accounts which the inspired writers have given of the faith necessary to justification, and from the example of those who are said in the scriptures to have been justified by their faith, it is abundantly evident, that justifying faith in different persons, must be different in respect of its objects, according to the opportunities and advantages bestowed on each.. Nevertheless, the principal of faith being the same in every dispensation, it may, by the assistance of the Spirit of God, be attained under every dispensation, and may be productive of holiness in the believer, in proportion to the extent and strength of his belief. If this account of the matter be just, it removes the greatest objection which infidels have raised against the gospel. For, by establishing faith as the condition or means of justification, it hath excluded none, not even the heathens, from the possibility of salvation. This liberal doctrine, the apostle Paul, if I mistake not his meaning, hath expressly taught, Rom. iv. 11. where he tells us, that Abraham received the mark of circumcision, as a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had in uncircumcision, in order to his being the father of all who believe in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be counted even to them.

But, while we contend, that persons may have the faith necessary to justification, who, through their want of revelation, are ignorant of Christ, and of the method of salvation, we are far from thinking, that any person can be justified otherwise than by Christ. All who are justified, are justified of God's free gift, through the merit of Christ's obedience to death. And that many will be justified in that manner, we are warranted to believe. For, as the apostle Paul hath excellently reasoned, Rom. v. 12. Since it was consistent with the justice and goodness of God, to subject all to death for the disobedience of Adam, notwithstanding the greatest part of mankind never heard either of Adam or of his disobedience, it is equally consistent with the justice and goodness of God, to bestow pardon and eternal life, at the judgment, on believers of all nations, on account of the meritorious obedience of Christ, notwithstanding many of them never heard till then, of the Person to whom they owe the great obligation, nor of his obedience to death, by which it was procured for them. And the rather, that the discovery

of the author of their salvation, and of the method by which he procured it, though not made to them till the judgment, will come in good time to lay a foundation for their gratitude and love to God and to Christ, throughout the endless ages of cternity.

But however consonant to reason and to the perfections of God it may be, that the benefit of Christ's obedience should be extended, at the judgment, to persons who in their lifetime never had an opportunity to know and believe on him, provided they are found to have been animated by a real principle of faith and piety; the case of those to whom Christ hath been offered in the gospel, but who have rejected him, is very different. Their unbelief having generally proceeded from evil dispositions, they can receive no benefit from Christ's obedience. So he himself hath taught us, John iii. 19. This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20. For every one who doth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Upon the whole, I affirm a second time, that by making faith the condition of men's justification, the gospel excludes none from salvation, but those who exclude themselves through pride of understanding, and vicious dispositions.

SECTION IV.

Of the propriety of making Faith the condition of men's Justification.

The propriety of making faith, and more especially the faith of the gospel, the condition or means of the justification of those to whom the gospel is offered, hath been called in question by the Deists, on this principle, That a man's belief is not in his own power, but depends on the evidence with which the thing to be believed is accompanied; and on his ability to comprehend and judge of that evidence. But however true this principle, rightly understood, may be, it is no less truc, On the one hand, that through indulged prejudices, and the prevalence of corrupt inclinations, and considerations of present interest, and even through inattention, men may render themselves blind to the clearest evidence: And, on the other hand, that by attention, impartiality, and willingness to know the truth, men may render themselves capable of discerning, and of being impressed with the evidence by which any doctrine or matter of fact is properly supported. In this view, to require the belief of the gospel