C H A P. 28. Holt, Faith is an Inffrurnent. man may be abafed : & if they have been unhappy,in falling upon the mnédium to that end ; Yet their Intention was honett. But when Faith is called an Inftrument in juflificatiQn , juflificatión is not taken for an at of accepting & pardoning alone; for'they knew , that it was God only that accepteth & pardoneth , &that it is he only who Juflifieth; but they took juttiiication in a more comprehenfive fenfe , as including Chriú's Righteoufnefs , the only formal ground of juftification , in reference to which , Faith is faid.to ac`tasan Inftrument receiving. And this may fatisfie fuch as will not have the myfteries of God cart in a pure Philofophical mould, becaufe fome fuch termes are ufed for explications fake. Mr. Baxter Confef. p. 95. faith. Such as fay, faith juflifieth qua inftrumen- turn , de maß certaflI, make it to juflifie , as an aElion. And in his poßfcript. to Mr. Cartwright. Thofe that make faith to j ei ffsf e , as an Injrument , or as apprehenfro Chrifti , do fet up the T credere , which they cry down ; for that , which they call inftrumentality , is the apprehenfve all , & apprehendere & credere are here all one. They contradia thernfelves in fay ing, that Paul exclu- der all works, becaufe faith (fay they) juflifieth not as a work : for to jußifie qua in(trumentutn, or qua apprehenfioChrtfti, is to jufli fie as a work or as this work. And fo this doElrine fcts up juflification by works di' that in an un- lawful fenfe; for it ,nal.eth the formal reaf'OnofFaiths juflifying to be its appre- henfion , that is , that it is fuch an aEtion; or its inftrumentality, which is an operation. I Anf. This is no new Objec.t ion; for Scblichtingius the Socinian Cont. Meifnerum p. i 30.. did objet the fame upon the matter. It is true, when we fay faith juftifieth as an Inftrument , we make it to juftifie as an action, taking qua, fpecifcativè; as he himfelf alto mutt do , when he faith it juftia fiethasaConditionPoteftative, for a poteflative condition isfomeabtion performed , & himfelf , as we heard , called it aflio voluntaria de futuro. But h. knoweth , that when it is faid , that Faith juttifieth , as an Inftru- ment, the meaning is but more emphatically to chew , that it is the Righ- teoufnefs of Chrift , which faith apprehendeth , by which we are juRified that they , who cry up the aó credere, make that the Righteoufnefs by which we are juflified : fo that the rá credere in their fenfe, who will have it imputed to us for Righteoufnefs , refpedeth immediatly the benefite to wit , Pardon , Acceptation &c. Faith as an Inftrument, or apprehenfion in our fenfe , refpeð Chrid & his Righteoufnefs immediatly, which it re- ceiveth as an Inttrument, in order to the benefite , which is had upon the account of Chriit & his Righteoufnefs , made ours ; In our fenfe, faith is no more, but as the hand receiving bread, and as the mouth eating it in order to food & nourishment thereby ; in their fenfe , faith is made the very food & nourishment , or meat it felf that nourisheth : When we fay , that- Faith Juftifiethasan Inftrument , itisbut, as if we faid , man liveth by his hands taking meat , and by his mouth eating it ; when they fay , that faith juflifieth as a work , & that the ó credere is imputed for Righteoufnefs, it is , as if they faid, the hand & the mouth'are the very food, or the meat itfelf by which we live and are nourished : we Iooking,upon Faith as an Inftrument, as upon the hand and mouth,as infruments of nourishment,. afcribe7. t..
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