We can see the transition from (2) to (3) in the expression used by St. Peter when speaking of the work of God among the Gentiles. He says that God made no distinction, ' cleansing their hearts by faith ' or ' by the faith ' (15^).
This leads us to note that in Acts faith is made the medium for healing, cleansing, and salvation. The largest result of faith is announced by St. Paul when he promises to the jailer salvation for him- self and his household as the blessing given to faith in Jesus Christ. The gift of the Holy Spirit is associated with faith in Christ, as in the case of Cornelius and his friends who welcomed the preach- ing of the gospel by St. Peter, so that ' while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word ' (10"). More generally the gift of the Holy Spirit follows baptism and the laying on of hands, as in the case of the disciples of John the Baptist (19'^) and the Samaritans whom Philip had led to believe in Jesus Christ (8").
It is noteworthy that in describing both Stephen and Barnabas it is said of each that he was ' full of faith and of the Holy Spirit ' (6' ll^^), and probably it is implied that each had received not only the permanent gift of the Spirit {duspeav, 2^") but also the graces (xapiV/xara, 1 Co 12") imparted by Him through a full and obedient faith.
2. In the Epistle of St. James.— This Epistle must have been written either in the very earliest apostolic times or in a period that is almost post-apostolic. The whole Epistle is practical and undogmatic, and lajs the chief emphasis on ethical observance. The writer appreciates the value of faith when he refers to those who are ' rich in faith ' (2^) and to the ' prayer of faith ' (5^^) ; but in the section of the Epistle which deals with faith and works, it is not too much to say that he looks upon faith with a measure of suspicion. In this argument (2^'*-^) the writer evidently defines 'faith' in his own mind as intellectual assent to Divine truth, and with his undogmatic prepossessions he becomes almost antidogmatic in tendency. The Apostle describes this faith not as false or feigned, but as having such reality only as the faith of demons in the oneness of God. To him ' faith ' is far from being an enthusiastic acceptance of a Divine Ke- deemer.
If the Epistle Avas written in very early times, the argument must move more on Judaic than on Christian grounds, and a certain corroboration of this is found in the fact that the illustrations are taken from OT examples like Abraham and Kahab, and that the typical example chosen is belief in the unity of God, which was the war-cry of the Jew as it became in later days that of the Muhammadan. If the later date is chosen, then time must be left for a general acceptance of Christian truth so that ' faith ' had become assent to Christian dogma. In either case the argument of the Epistle cannot be regarded as a direct polemic against the teaching of St. Paul. The two writers move in different spheres of thought, so that, while words and phrases are alike, theu* definitions are as the poles asunder. An instance of this is found in the words with which St. James closes the section on 'faith.' The Apostle has already declared : 'Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself ' (2"), so now
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he sums up : ' As the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead ' (2-^). Here we find tliab so far from faith being the in- spiration of works, as St. Paul might suggest, St. James teaches that works are tlie inspiration of faith. Faith may be a mere dead body unless works prove to be an inner spirit to make it alive. This declaration agrees with the writer's whole attitude, for throughout this letter he insists that the practical carrying out of * the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ' is found in obedience to 'the royal law ' : ' Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' This practice of the will of Christ makes faith to be alive.
3. In the Epistles of St. Paul. — In the writings of St. Paul ' faith ' and ' grace ' are the human and the Divine sides of the great experience that revolu- tionized his own life and the lives of many to whom the gospel was brought. Occasionally faith is spoken of as being directed to God, but commonly it is directed to Jesus Christ. Thus in Gal 2^'' St. Paul writes : ' Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of thelaw,save (but only, ^dr/iij) through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ.' Here the reiteration is singular, but the insistence on ' faith in Christ ' is characteristically Pauline. To St. Paul the only faith that is of value is the faith that rests on Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made in the likeness of men, died for our sins, and rose again from the dead. The Death of Christ occupies so large a place in his thought that he is determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Co 2^), while he insists so strongly on the Resurrection as to declare : ' If Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain ' (15'^).