Ch. 22. Good .l-2e ks; James. Coed Works: Ch. 2; 18. Yea; a man may fay, Thou haft faith, and I have works : thew me thy faith without thy works, and I will thew thee myfaith by my works. I S. Any one may fay to this Man, if thy Religions be found, it will have life and power, andbe known by, its fruits : Cant} thoit Thew and jutifie thy Religionor Belief, without any good works or fruits, as I can do mine by them ? 19. Thou believeftthat there is one God, thou doeft well the devils alfo believe, and tremble. 19. It is apart of thy Religion to believe that there is One God : This is well doue : it is a moil fundamental truth, but it. faveth not the Devils that believe it and tremble. 20. But wilt thou know, O- vain man, that .- faith without works is dead ? 21. Was, not. Abraham our Mather juflified by works, when he had offered Ifaac his fonupon the altar? 20, 21. But art not thou a vain Man, that know& not that Faith is but a dead Opinion, nneffèttual to jattiñe and rave, if it be uneffe- dtual to Works? Daft thou not difcern how plainly the Scripture confuteth thee ? Was it not Doing inFaith, or a Faith that caufed wor- king Obedience, by which .Abrahamwas jufti- fied,- wh6 was the Father ofthe Faithful ? when he offer'd his Son lieue, and God "Paid., Gen. 22. 16. Becaufe thou haft done th,:r thing, . and hall not withheld thy Son, thy. only Son, in ále,Jlrgr will blefs thee, &c. 22. Seeft thou how faith wrought with his works, and byworks was faith made perfeft? 22. You may fee that his Faith made him obey God's Command, and the obedient wor- king of it did conftitute it a found effeítual Faith, without which it could not jufifie him. 23. And the fcripture was fulfilled which faith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righ- teoufriefs: and he was called the friend of God. 23. And this is the true fenfe of the Scri- pture, which faith, .Abraham believed,&c. that fo, he fo far believed and trufted God, as to offer up his Son ; and this trutt working by fuch Obedience, or thisprafkical effe&ual tract, was fo accepted by God, that though he was not.perfed without Sin, God accounted him a Righteous Man, that was meet for the free Sal- vation of his Grace, and to be called the friend ofGod. 2.4. Ye fee then how that by works a man is juflified, and not by faith only. 24. You fee then that by fuch neceffary do- ing God's Will, which is the produtf of an effectual Faith, and Iheweth it to be lively and fincere, and not a dead Opinion, a man is ac- counted jaft by God, according to the Cove- nant ofGrace through Chritt, and not only by bare believing , or not by believing only without obeying. 2g. Likewife alto, was not Rahab the harlot juflified by works, when the had received the meffengers, and had fent them out anotherway? 25. And was it not by Doing by Faith, or a Faith tattling Obedience, that Rahab was jußi. fiedt - 26. For as the body without the fpirit is dead, fo faith without works is dead alto. 26. For as it is a dead fpiritlefs body that cannot tlir, fo it is a dead, notional, uneifh- ítual belief; that commandeth not a Man's life and a&ion : It's dead in it Pelf, and dead as to Mens Juftification and Salvation. Annotations. Othing but Mens mifunderflanding the plain drift and fenfe 'of Paul's Epillles, could make fo many take it for a mat- ter ofgreat difficulty to reconcile Paul and games, where there -is noconfiderable Thew of contradifion. I have thew'd the fcope and fenfe of Paul before theEpilde to the Romans, r. That his arguing is to prove that it is not the Law ofMofen that can jufftfie any Man as a meer doer of it; nor any works at all in coma mutative Jultiçe,_making the reward to be of debtfor the value of the works, and not of free grace; but that Juitideation mutt needs be ofGod's free gift, 'and therefore by theMerits ofour Redeemer ; and therefore thatafzducial accepting ;a/al-Heal Belief ofGod's free gift, Co- venant or PromifeofGrace and Glory, for, in, and with Chrift, is the Conditionon our part, (tobe performd by his Grace) which is our moral Qualification, or receptive difpofition, on which God byhis Covenant giveth us right to the 'forefaid free gifts (Chrift's Graceand Glo- ry). This Faith Paul never defcrib'd by force one tingle Phyfical a& of the Soul, but as a Moral aót of the Man ; as weufe the word in humane converfe : As if one fay, If you wili omit me as yourPhyfician, I will cure you ; if you takeme for your Tutor, I will teach you, Here to craft or tale him, fignifieth a cor,fertin* trail, to be mediandand to be taught by fach a one.
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