doings are the ground,—as well as credit or assent to the truthfulness of his communications. And it is a fact that the sole condition of salvation is habitually pre- sented in the Scriptures by the phrases, “ to believe wm or apon Christ Jesus ;” es or emi tov Xpirrov, and els To dvoua Xpicrov, and év to Xpicr@. John iii. 18: “ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” John i. 36: “ He that believeth on the Son hath ever-
lasting life.’ ‘John vu. 38: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Acts ix. 42; xvi. 31:
“And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (ez Tov Kupiov, &c.), and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Gal. ii, 16: “Hven we have believed am Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ.”
2. We are said to be saved by faith a or wpon Christ, -—mlatic els TOV X pirrov and ev Xpirt@ CA Chay ec QU pcx a Gerad ad k2.6) Col oa 4i)
3. This one special act of faith, which is the single yet indispensable condition of salvation, is in Scripture illustrated by a variety of paraphrases, describing in other words the nature of the thing to be done. These are such as, “Coming to Christ” John vi, 35, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” Receiving Christ: John 1 12, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons ot God, even to them that believe on his name.” Fleeing to Christ for refuge: Heb. vi. 18, ‘‘That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” Committing all our interests to his keeping: 2 Tim.
CHAPTER xv.
Faith in or on Christ, as the sole condition of salva- tion, the gospel preached by the apostles.
CHAPTER xv.
—
Faith in Christ, as set forth in Scrip-
ture, con-
sistent with the orthodox view of the At- onement.
214 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
1.12, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
4. The effects inseparable from this faith are of such a nature as to show that the faith itself is an act of the whole soul embracing Christ, relying upon him, and appropriating his whole work as the basis of our future lite and happiness. By faith we are united to Christ. He dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph. iii. 17.) It is by faith that we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and Tin him” (John vi. 56, &c.)
It must be remembered that this form of presenting the gospel is not one form among several others, but it is the one sole way in which the gospel was offered by
the apostles to sinners in their day, and it is the form in
which the gospel has always been presented, when it has been accompanied with the witness of the Holy Ghost, from the day of Pentecost until the present time. And if the Church doctrine of the literal substitution of Christ in the law-place of his people, and his vicarious suffering of their penalty in order to expiate them and propitiate God, is acknowledged, then all this Scriptural usage with respect to faith in Christ as the sole condi- tion of salvation is very plain. If his sufferings exhaust the penalty for which we were bound—-if his obedience merits an eternal reward for us—then all we can have to do is to accept and appropriate his finished substitu-
tionary work, and to trust wpon it implicitly as the legal
and meritorious foundation on which our entire hope is built. And such a faith, when once exercised, will immediately secure its end. The instant we believe, the righteousness of Christ in all its fulness and federal rights is ours for ever. And the instant we exercise such a faith, we are united forensically to its object in’an inef.-
NATURE AND EFFECT OF FAITH. 215
: ° Ud ° able and perpetual communion (coivwyia) of all relations, cartes