39-I QUESTIONS CONCERNING JESUS. cessary ingredient of christianity. For in these places of scrip- ture, these two considerations will offer themselves; first, that the sense of these words must be "plain, familiar; and easy tobe understood; otherwise it couldnot be made a necessary article, or a fundamentalof the christian faith. It must have also, secondly, " someapparent connexion with and influence into our salvation," otherwise the belief of it would not have been made so grand a requisite in order to be saved ; for it is scarce to be imagined that the blessed God would appoint any mere arbitrary and- unopera- tive speculations to be the terms of our enjoyinghis favour. Now both these considerations will give us some assistance toward our Mindingout the true sense of this title. The texts of scripture, wherein a belief of Jesus to be the Son of Godseems to be inade thegreat necessary term of salva- tion, are such as these; John iii. 18. " He that believeth not is condemned already, because he bath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John xx. 21. " These things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name." 1 John v. 13. " These things have I written to you that believeon the name of the Son et' God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." 1 John iv. 15. " Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him." 1 John ii. 23. " Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Fa- ther." Acts viii. 37. "'And Philip said to the eunuch, if thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest be-baptized ; and he an- swered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God ; and hebaptizedhim." Now if believing or not believing Christ to be the Son of God has salvation and damnation annexed :o it by the sacred writers, then surely it is of considerable importance to knowwhat this name means, that we may not include too little in it, andby leaving out some important part, expose ourselves to that anathe- ma ; nor include too much in it, and so be tempted to lay our weaker neighbours under the like condemnation for want of suffi- cient knowhdge. But blessed be God, since it is a name of such importance, he has not confined this name precisely to one single abstruse and difficult idea, but has affixed it to several ideas in scripture, that so if we receive it in the most important sense, we may be secured from the scriptural condemnation, though we should not happen to understand and receive it in all the sublime senses which may be applied to it. Let it be noted also, that perhaps the various imaginations and reasonings of men may have affixed more senses to this phrase than scripture has ever done i Yet, in order to give this
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