(•2) St. James. — The Epistle of St. James em])hasizes two practical consequences of faith. (a) It works in the heart as a new law, ol>edience to the perfect, royal law of liberty (1-* 2^). The point here is the contrast between the external compelling force of the older Law and the internal impelling force of the new, the ' word ' in the heart, able to save the soul (l-M. (b) It works in the conduct as good works. The controversy that has arisen over the supposed antagonism between St. Paul and St. James is barren, and need not detain us. ' Faith ' and ' works ' have two different con- notations in the two instances. St. James means by 'faith' not self-surrender so much as mental assent, and by ' works ' not the legal deeds enjoined by the Law, but acts of mercy and kindness promiJted by the law of love in the soul. The motive and interest of the two apostles differ ; there is no room for opposition. Faith to St. James, as to St. Paul, is the pre-condition of good works, and the condition of acceptance with God. Like St. Paul also, he sees justifying energy active in the con- crete circumstances of life — ' a man is blessed not through but in his deed.' Further, there is no suggestion of merit in these good works of faith. The sub-apostolic age was not slow to materialize both ' the new law ' and the ' merit of works,' but St. James is not responsible, f
(3) St. Peter. — From the speeches (Ac 3) and First Epistle we gather three features, {a) In justification the pardon of sins and cleax'ing of guilt are explicitly connected with Christ's suffer- ings (Ac 3^**^-, 1 P V-' 2-^) ; also, as the righteous suffering for the unrighteous, Christ ' brings us to God ' (3^^). (b) The gift of grace is the result of Christ's Resurrection (1 P 1-^) ; it is the ground and guarantee of the new life and of the gift of strength
* We are not here concerned with the ' Rabbinic ' form of St. Paul's argumentation nor with the character of his judgment on Gentile and Jew, but onl}' with his thought.
t For a different view of St. James's position, see Piepen- bring, Jesus et les Apotres.
to overcome Satan, (c) The coming of grace into the heart finds its necessary complement in the life of love for the brethren. In the Second Ejiistle both freedom from sins and the power to work the righteousness of God depend upon faith in and knowledge of Christ (P- »). Knowledge here is akin to the Johannine idea— the inner personal apprehension of the saving Spirit of Christ.
(4) St. John.— The Epistles and Apocalypse do not share in the fullness of volume of mystical idealism pervading the Gospel. Yet the essential elements are here— the unity of life with God in Christ, the significance of Christ's Person, Death, Resurrection, fellowship with Him in 'sonship.' Especially emphatic is the writer on the two facts, that it is God's love to sinners, not sinners' love to God, that is the ground of faith and healing ; that in sonship are to be included religious as well as moral ideals. In the Apocalypse the same ideas are central — but under sacrificial designations : Christ's Sacrifice (the Lamb) and Resurrection (alive for evermore) are the source of the stream of life proceeding from the very essence of God which, received by man, is in him a life of un- interrupted sacrifice.
(5) Hcbrcics. — This Epistle is a continuation of the Pauline 'apologia' for the gospel as against the claims of the Old Covenant. What is done in Romans for grace as against law is here done for Christ's sacrifice as against Levitical offerings. Justification by faith is expounded in connexions different from those St. Paul and St. John have in view, and the exposition stands midway between theirs, filling up an evident lacuna. Some scholars assert that the problem is here less deeply discussed, justification being narrowed to forgive- ness and faith to spiritual insight apart from spiritual grasp. That would be to leave Hamlet out of the play. The author has a definite aim, and, notwithstanding an obscuring vocabulary and analogies, elaborates it admirably. His aim is to demonstrate the accessibility of God through Christ's sacrificial work. His demonstration puts in bold relief two aspects hitherto untouched in apostolic thought : [a) justification as a subjective fact as well as an objective act ; (h) the principles of its mode. The justilication of Christ (above, §3. i.) is constituted by His sinlessness, effected as a si)iritual fact in His own experience. The justification of the sinner as a spiritual fact in his experience is effected after the same manner as in Christ, and by Christ : viz. in ' the purging of the conscience from dead works to serve the living God,' and in resisting unto blood (y^-"'-). These aspects are set forth in detail and give the book its character. In both Christ and the believer the inner experience is identical (a) 'through eternal Spirit ' (y'-*) and (/3) through their vital union : ' he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one' (2'^). The word 'sanctify' is used in this Ejiistle in its Hebraic sense of ' conse- crate.'* Just as in St. Paul the justified are ac- cepted and become members of the Body of Christ, so in virtue of membership in the New Covenant, the believer, according to Hebrews, is set in right relation to God, receives forgiveness, cleansing of conscience, and is ayLa^o/xeuos, even TereXeiui/xevos : ' by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified' (10"). The faculty in man rendering this possible is faith, whose full content it takes ' hope ' (6"* 7^*^), ' obedience ' (5** 11), as well as ' faith ' ( 1 1^), to express. It is not merelj' spiritual perception of the unseen ; it is rather the power of soul which makes the unseen future present, the