of works for the law of faith; and the righte oufness of the law for the righteousness of God. In order to diftinguifh the gofpel juflification from that of the law, and to fhew that it was founded in a righteousness of a different nature, the ancient believers used to call this which is by faith, the juftification of life; and this well agrees with the word of our Lord, Because I live,ye fhall live aljo. In the view of which righteoufnefs, the pureft deeds of the law may well be called dead works.

But no invention of felf-righteousness has been more fuccefsful, and has more fatally corrupted the gofpel, than the modern, prevalent and fpecious fcheme of admitting that we are juftified by faith, whilft, at the fame time, the faith of the creature is laid hold of and fubftituted for the faith of Chrift. This fentiment of our being juftified by our own faith in Chrift, inftead of the faith of Chrift, crept forward, in a great measure, through the careleffnefs of preachers and writers, in ufing the term generally, and not diftinguifhing faith, the fubftance and evidence, as it is in Chrift, from the anticipation, or, the exer cife of the believer towards him; but having fecretly gotten ground, it has of late been boldly advocated by fome who flood high, and have had great influence in the church.

The infpired writers, however, and particularly our apoftle, very carefully diftinguifh the faith by which a man is juftified, from every thing which might be confidered as righteoufnefs in the creature. Their language is this, Even the righteoufness of God which is

by faith of Jefus Chrift. Rom. iii. 22.—I live by the faith of the Son of God. Gal, ii. 20.Ye are all the children of God by faith in Chrift Ffus, chap. iii. 26.-In whom we have boldnefs and accefs, with confidence by the faith of him. Eph. iii. 12.-And be found in him, not having mine own righteoufnefs, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Chrif, the righteoufnefs which is of God by faith. Philip. iii. 9.-Thou holdeft faft my name, and haft not denied my faith. Rev. 11. 13. Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jefus, Rev. xiv. 12.—The reason why Paul fo particularly diflinguifhed the ground of justification, and his laying fuch firefs upon this view of its being the faith of Chrift, may be traced to his great commiffion to preach the gofpel among the Gentiles, in which this diftinction is exprefsly given, and with which it closes, in a manner that could not fail to make the molt folemn impreffion upon his mind, as though the whole weight of his embaffy reited upon his maintaining this truth. This may be feen, Acts xxvi. 18. Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I jend thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of fatar unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of fins, and inheritance among them which are Janilified, by faith that is in me.

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Some have infifted, that this manner of expreffion may naturally be underflood to mean faith in Chrift, or the faith by which men believe in him, and of which he is the

object.' [Dr. Hopkins.]But, when we mean faith in Chrift, is it natural to fay, faith that is in Chrift? If this had been the meaning, it doubtless would have been expressed in the active, and not in this paffive manner. Certainly no words could be used to establish the fenfe to be the faith of Chrift, more indifputably, than thofe frequently used by

Paul.

This argument has been used in favor of the believer's faith, that fince the apoftle ⚫ always means the faith of the believer, when he fays men are juftified by faith, except in thefe few places, it seems to be doing violence to thofe, to understand them in quite a different fenfe.'-But, it is taken wholly upon fuppofition, that the apoftle means the faith of the believer in those other places; the ftrength of this argument lies, in forcing a fenfe upon fome paffages which are lefs exprefs, and, from them, concluding against others, which are as exprefs as words can make them; this is reverfing the eftablished rule of finding how an author uses a word; which is, to take the paffages in which the word is ufed moft definitely, and from them determine its fense where it is ufed more freely.

Again, it is faid, that to fay the faith of Chrift, the faith of the Son of God, or faith that is in Chrift, &c. is a very obfcure and unufual way to exprefs the obedience and 'righteoufnels of Chrift.'-But to fome people, faith does not seem an obfcure and unufual, or an improper word whereby to ex

press the covenant righteousness of Chrift. Ic is faid, moreover, that this phrase must be * understood to mean the faith of the believ

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er, in a number of other places; the following are inftances of it, Acts iii. 16. Through 'faith in his name. In the original it is, Through the faith of his name. Rom. iii. 26. The juftifier of him that believeth in Fefus. In the origina! it is, Him who is of the faith of Jefus. But what evidence is there, that Peter and John meant their own faith, when they fay, And his name, through the faith of his name, hath made this man ftrong? Why may they not be underflood to mean as they faid, that the lame man was healed by the name, or through the faith of the name of Fefus Chrift; which is faith the evidence of things not feen? And the other paffage, Him who is of the faith of Jefus, is a phrafe similar to that of Rev. xiv. 12, and evidently intends, as there, him who keeps the word of God, and the teflimony of Fefus Chrift.

In the epiltle to the Galatians, Chrift's faith and the believer's faith are both mentioned in one text; and they are fo clearly diftinguifhed, the one as being the ground of our juftification, and the other as merely the circumftance; that, were it not for the ftrong bent of the human mind to felfrighteoufnefs, it would feem impoffible that, in this manner, by fubftituting the one for the other, the doctrine of the apostle could be fo flrangely miftaken and perverted. See chap. ii. 16. Knowing that a man is not juftified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus

Chrift, even we have believed in Jefus Chrift; that we might be justified by the faith of Chrift, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law fhall no flesh be justified. This is a clear statement of the glorious doctrine. We have believed in Jefus Chrift, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. This was the profeffion of evangelical Paul. How different from the modern profeffion! Some people who would be thought evangelical, are careful to vary from this profeffion only as it refpects the faith of Christ; and can find it agreeable to their own views of the way of juftification, by a fmall amendment like this: We have believed in Jefus Chrift, that we migh be justified by believing in Chrift.

Believing in Chrift is neceffary, doubtless, to our being juftified by Chrift; but to fubflitute our own faith for the faith of Chrift. and in this way seeking to be juftified, is not believing in Chrift; it is merely believing in our own faith. This way feems fo right to a man, that he can eafily pafs over the grofs abfurdity. We eat bread, and are fupported; not by the act of eating, but by the bread we eat-we run to a houfe, and are protected from the ftorm; not by our running, but by the house into which we enter-the brood gather themselves under the hen, and are warmed, nurtured, and fecured from the bird of prey; not by their coming thither, but by the parent wings of the fowl. Thus the weak and defenceless flock, hovering to Shiloh, before the storm and tempeft, are faved by the Lord God of Ifrael, under whofe wings