thing more than that Christ loved all men and therefore him among the rest. He evidently believed himself to be a special object of the Saviour's love. It was this conviction which gave power to his faith. And a like conviction enters into the faith of every true believer. But to this it is objected that faith must have a divine revelation for its object. But there is no revela- tion of God's special love to individuals, and, therefore, no indi- vidual has any Scriptural ground to believe that Christ loved him, and gave Himself for him. Whatever force there may be in this objection, it bears against Paul's declaration and experience. He certainly did believe that Christ loved him and died for him. It will not do to say that this was a conclusion drawn from his own experience ; or to assume that the Apostle argued himself into the conviction that Christ loved him. Christ specially loves all who believe upon Him. I believe upon Him. Therefore Christ specially loves me. But a conclusion reached by argu- ment is not an object of faith. Faith must rest on the testimony of God. It must be, therefore, that God in some way testifies to the soul that it is the object of his love. This he does in two ways. First, by the general invitations and promises of the Gos- pel. The act of appropriating, or of accepting these promises, is to believe that they belong to us as well as to others. Secondly, by the inward witness of the Spirit. Paul says (Rom. v. 5), " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." That is, the Holy Ghost con- vinces us that we are the objects of God's love. This is done, not only by the various manifestations of his love in providence and redemption, but by his inward dealings with the soul. " He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." (John xiv. 21). This manifes- tation is not outward through the word. It is inward. God has fellowship or intercourse with the souls of his people. The Spirit calls forth our love to God, and reveals his love to us. Again, in Romans viii. 16, the Apostle says, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." This does not mean that the Spirit excites in us filial feelings toward God, from whence we infer that we are his children. The Apostle refers to two distinct sources of evidence of our adop- tion. The one is that we can call God Father ; the other, the testimony of the Spirit. The latter is joined with the former. The word is (rvfifiapTvpti, unites in testifying. Hence we are said to be sealed, not only marked and secured, but assured by the
104 PART HI. Ch. xvl — faith.
Spirit , and the Spirit is a pledge, an assurance, that we are, and ever shall be, the objects of God's saving love. (Eph. i. 13, 14 ; iv. 30. 2 Cor. i. 22.)
This is not saying that a man must believe that he is one of the elect. Election is a secret purpose of God. The election of any particular person is not revealed, and, therefore, is not an object of faith. It is a thing to be proved, or made sure, as the Apostle Peter says, by the fruits of the Spirit. All that the doc- trine of the Reformers on this subject includes is, that the soul in committing itself to Christ does so as to one who loved it and died for its salvation. The woman healed by touching our Sav- iour's garment, believed that she was an object of his compassion- ate love, because all who touched Him with faith were included in that number. Her faith included that conviction.
§8. Effects of Faith.
Union with Christ.
The first effect of faith, according to the Scriptures, is union with Christ. We are in Him by faith. There is indeed a fed- eral union between Christ and his people, founded on the cove- nant of redemption between the Father and the Son in the coun- sels of eternity. We are, therefore, said to be in Him before the foundation of the world. It is one of the promises of that cove- nant, that all whom the Father had given the Son should come to Him ; that his people should be made willing in the day of his power. Christ has, therefore, been exalted to the right hand of God, to give repentance and the remission of sins. But it was also, as we learn from the Scriptures, included in the stipulations of that covenant, that his people, so far as adults are concerned, should not receive the saving benefits of that covenant until they were united to Him by a voluntary act of faith. They are " by nature the children of wrath, even as others." (Eph. ii. 3.) They remain in this state of condemnation until they believe. Their union is consummated by faith. To be in Christ, and to believe in Christ, are, therefore, in the Scriptures convertible forms of expression. They mean substantially the same thing, and, therefore, the same effects are attributed to faith as are at- tributed to union with Christ.