ESSAY VI. 189 Thus you :see faith, together with its various concomitants, or consequent exercises of soul, is represented as our address or application to Christ for salvation byand with almost all the senses »r powers of nature : It is looking to him with the eye, it is hearkening to him with the ear, it is receiving or laying hold of bim with the hand, it is coming to him with the feet, it is know- ledge. of him in the head, trust iuhim_with the heart, calling upon himwith the tongue, and obeying himwith all thepowers of soul and body. Now it is well known, that therehave been great disputes about the particularinfluence which this act offaith has, inorder to interest us in the salvation of Christ : And here I will readily grant, that the word faith primarily and chiefly implies such a knowledgeof Christ, such a belief of his gospel, such a sense of our wants, and his sufficiency to supply them, as leads the soul 'to receive him under any of those characters inwhich the gospel sets hirn forth, and more particularly to trust in him for this salvation*: But there are 'many poor souls who have learned sincerely to address themselves to our Lord Jesus Christ, by one or two of these characters and representations of faith, but were never carried on so far as explicitly to make an address to Christ under all his distinct relations, or to perform every one of these actions in their addresses to Christ : And canI suppose where the soul is very sincere in its desires ofthe whole salvation of Christ, both in the holiness and the happiness of it, and seeks it from him, that such souls shall be excluded, because they have not well learned all the metaphors and figures under which these sacred things are exhibited in the gospel? Aagain, on the other hand, if one should say, faith savés usas it is an eye to look to Christ that we may be saved, hecan- not thence infer it does not save us as anear to hearken to hirn, as a hand to lay hold of him, or as a tongue to call upon him, or a heart to trust in him. Again, if another should say, faith saves us as an instrumentt to receive Christ, and his righte- # It may be observed here, that almost every character or action, where. by faith is Christ is represented in scripture, carries in it the notion of trust, hope or dependance, so that the original and most proper sense of the word " faith" is still maintained, and every sinner who sincerely applies himself to Christ for salvation, does certainly put forth an act of trust or hope in him, though he may not always no evidently anddistinctlyapprehend and judge of the inward acts of his own soul, or distinguish themso exactly. fi Perhaps there have been no greater quarrels upon this subject thanamongst those who have maintained that faith saves us as it is an instrument, whereby we receive Christ and his righteousness, and those who assert it is a condition upon which Christ has appointed us to be interested in his blessings : And though f think they may both be true, accordingto the representation I have made in this and other of these essays; yet we have no great reason to be fond of either of these terms, especially when they are made a matter of controversy, because they are neither ofthem theexpressions of scripture, which it our supreme rule of instruction in the matters of salvation.
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