rest of the members that now live. Now that I conceive is not so much
his meaning,* as we having the same Spirit of faith with David, and them
before Christ died, with all the professors of religion from the beginning of
* Cf. as a7ite, in loc, and Webster and Wilkinson. — G.
440 commentahy on
ilic world to the end, tlic samo Spirit with you. Now the same spirit with the church in former times, one Spirit runs through the veins of the church in all ages; having the same spirit of faith, ho hath the same commanding act of faith. For there be two acts of faith : one we call eUcitus, which is, the inward proper act of faith ; and there is actus irnpemlionis, whereby it commands the exercises of other graces. As I believe in the proper exercise of grace in itself, and I not only believe, but courageously confess ; confession is not so much the proper act of faith, as it is commanded to be exercised by faith. Here is first the life of faith, and then the act and expression of faith with a parallel, David : as David bclieveth and speaks, so I believe and speak.
' We have the spirit of faith.' Faith is here the fundamental grace, the radical grace of all. AVe have faith, and a spirit of faith, and the same spirit of faith. So that faith is the radical grace, it being the grace that exercises all the rest. It is the grace of the new covenant, whereby we are knit to Christ : ' Whosever believeth shall not perish, but have everlasting life,' John iii. 15. It is the grace of union that knits us to the root, the foundation of lively Christianity. And therefore he mentions faith in the iirst place.
Think of faith as the first grace of the Spirit, that acteth and stirs up all other graces. It is the first, because it is the grace of union that knits ns to Christ. It is the grace required in the covenant of grace. It is the grace that giveth God all the glory, therefore fit to be the grace of the covenant. And [itj takes all from man, emptieth a man of all, and giveth all the glory to God, and Christ, whose righteousness we lay hold upon by faith ; being therefore the grace of the covenant, the grace of union, the grace of abasing man and glorifying God above all other graces, and the grace that acts and stirs up all other graces ; and all other graces do increase, or decrease, as faith increaseth or decreaseth. Therefore ' having received the spirit of faith, we also believe,' &c. Therefore above all other graces labour for faith.
But now we have not only faith, but ' the same Spirit of faith,' which sheweth the original whence faith cometli. The spirit of faith is an ex- cellent attribute to faith, to shew that faith as all other graces comes from the Spirit ; and if all other graces come from the Spirit, then the grace of graces, faith especially. The Spirit is either the Holy Ghost himself, called the Spirit, partly passively, because the Holy Ghost is breathed from the Father and Son, and partly actively, because the Spirit doth spirare, breathe into us. All the life and comforts we have is from the Spirit. The Holy Ghost comes a sjni-aiulo, not a generando. He doth breathe all grace and comfort into God's cMldren, and therefore [is] called the Spirit. Now as the Holy Ghost infuseth all grace and comfort, he works first a gracious disposition in God's children, which is called the Spirit. The Holy Ghost is called not only the Spirit, but a gracious disposition and temper of our soul, whereby our spirits are made suitable to the Holy Ghost ; for the Holy Ghost puts an impression upon every soul that comes to heaven, like itself, and sets a stamp of holiness upon it, and renews the image of Christ. Again, the Spirit is also called spirit, as to ' walk by the Spirit, and live by the Spirit ; ' that is, to live in an holy and gracious disposition wrought in us by the Holy Ghost. Now as in general a gracious frame of soul is called spirit, so every grace is called the grace of the Spirit ; as the ' spirit of faith,' and the * spirit of love,' and the ' spirit of a sound mind,' and the spirit of the * fear of the Lord,' and the ' spirit of counsel,' because
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP, IV, VER. 12, 13. 441
they issue immediately from the Spirit, and sanctification wrought in us by the Spirit of God. For the Spirit of God will infuse a divine nature into us, which we call the Spirit, being the seed of all grace. And then comes the spirit of all other graces. As in original sin there is the seed of all corruption, so in the Spirit the seed of regeneration is the seed of all grace, hope, and faith, and love, and whatsoever.
Now, as we say, though there be one general ocean, yet it hath several names according to the several coasts it washeth, and therefore called the British seas, the Irish seas, the ]Mediterrane- seas, the French seas. There is but one sea, yet [it ; hath its terms according to the several coasts. So the Spirit is one Spirit, but as it begets several graces, so it hath several names. As it giveth faith, it is called the spirit of faith ; as it enablcth us to sufl'er, the spirit of assistance, or supportation. There be also animal spirits in the veins, and vital spirits in the liver and heart. So it is with the Spirit of God. It is the spirit of such a grace and such a grace as there is occa- sion to use it. So that the apostle terms the work of God's grace in the hearts of his children a spirit of faith ; faith therefore is wrought by the Spirit of God, and that is the doctrine. The excellent grace of faith is fi'om the Spirit. For it is called from the work of it, ' a spirit of foith.'