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314
FAITH
THE
WAy
TO
SALVATION.
{SERI/.
RV;tt,
sion
or pardon, God
is
just,
and
a
justifier of
him
hors
be
lieveth in
Jesus.
Where
is
boasting then
?
It
is
excluded.
By
what
law
?
Of
works ?
Nay, but
by
the
law
óf
faith ;
Rom.
iii. 25,
26, 27.
By grace ye
are
saved
through
faith,
and
that
not
of
yourselves,
it
is
the
gift
of
God;
not
of
works,
lest any
man should
boast,
Eph.
ii. 8,
9.
The
gospel concurs with the
law
in this
respect,
that
it
shews
us
our
own
guilt and
vileness,
our ruin and our
impotence
to
restore
ourselves,
and therefore
it
has
put
all
our
help
upon another.
God
has laid
our help upon
one
that
is
mighty to save,
Ps.
lxxxix.
19.
and
he
has
ordained
that
the
way
whereby
we
should derive this
salvation,
is by
renouncing
all
dependance upon
self,
and trusting
in
Christ and grace
for
all
that
we
enjoy
and
hope
for.
This
is
the business
of
faith
;
this
is
the very
nature
of that
christian virtue,
to disclaim
all self-
suffi-
ciency,
and
receive
all from
mere
mercy;
and therefore
it
is
appointed
to be
the means
of our justification under
the
gospel
;
therefore it
is
said
so
often
in
scripture,
that
we
arejustified
by faith,
that
divine
grace
may have
all
the
glory, Rom.
iv. 16.
Therefore
it
is
of
faith,
that
it
might
be
of
grace.
We are
ignorant and
foolish,
and
must derive
wisdom from
Christ
:
We are
guilty,
and
must
receive righteousness from him: We
are
unholy,
he
is
the spring
of
our sanctification
:
We are captives
and
slaves
to
sin
and Satan, and
we
must
have
redemp-
tion
from
him: He
is
made
of God
to us wisdom,
righte-
ousness, sanctification,
and redemption,
that
no
flesh
might glory
in his
presence,
but
he
that
glories,
must
glory
in
the
Lord,
1
Cor.
i.
Q,9,
30, 31.
Man, innocent man, had power and righteousness,
and
life
put
into
his own
hands
;
but
the
first
Adam
grew
vain
in his
self
-
sufficiency,
and
he foolishly sinned, and
lost
it
all
:
Therefore God,
in
order
to
our
recovery,
would
put
power and righteousness,
and
life
into
the
hands
of
another,
even
his own Son,
the second Adam,
that
we
might
go
out
of
ourselves,
and
seek
it
all
from
another
hand.
Now
faith,
or trust,
is
the
proper act of
the
soul, to
express
our
own
emptiness,
and our depend
-
ance
on
another
for all.
This
is
the language
of
faith,
"
Lord, I
am
a
sinful
and
guilty
creature;
I
have no righteousness, no merit,
to recommend me
to
thy
favour
:
I
have no power
to