_A Summary of the Christian Faith by Henry Eyster Jacobs, D.D., LL.D Copyright, 1905, BY THE BOARD OF PUBLICATION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA. Chapter XVII. Pages 186-205 -------------------- CHAPTER XVII. FAITH IN CHRIST. 1. _How are the fruits of the Mediatorial Office ap- plied by the Holy Ghost_? Through faith in Christ. Eph. 2:8--"For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." Rom. 3:25--"Whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood." 2. _How has the doctrine of the Holy Scripture on this subject been summarized in the Augsburg Confession_? "Men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven --------------------End of Page 186-------------------- for Christ's sake, who, by His death hath made satisfac- tion for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteous- ness in His sight (Rom. 3 and 4)." (Article IV.) 3. _What distinctions have been made by theologians with respect to faith_? They distinguish between (a) Subjective and Objec- tive; (b) Human and Divine; (c) Direct and Discursive; (d) Faith as an act, and faith as a habit; (e) Explicit and Implicit; (f) Crude faith (_fides informis_) and Faith en- ergized by love (_fides formata caritate_). 4. _How do they distinguish between Subjective and Objective Faith_? The former is believing; the second is what is believed. The former is faith in the proper sense of the term, and is its usual meaning in Scripture; the second is faith by metonomy, according to which an object is named for its contents. As it is said that Jerusalem went out to hear John the Baptist (Matt. 3:5), when the meaning is that its inhabitants went out, so "faith" in a very few passages of Scripture, but very frequently in the usage of the Church stands for what is believed. Jude 3--"Contend earnestly or the faith." Gal. 1:23--"Preacheth the faith." 5. _What is Human Faith_? It may be mere opinion. Hence in popular usage "be- lieve" often means no more than "suppose"; or "be of the opinion." "Are you sure of this?" we ask of one who has reported something to us; and are apt to hear the answer, "Well, I believe it," meaning no more than, "I have sufficient evidence to warrant the opinion." Refer- ing to this in his Introduction tot he Epistle to the Ro- mans, Luther says: "Faith is not man's opinion and dream, which some take to be faith.... When they hear the Gospel, they im- mediately devise from their own powers the imagination --------------------End of Page 187-------------------- in their hearts, to which they give expression in the words `I believe.' This they regard the right faith. Nevertheless it is nothing but man's thought and imagin- ation." Or it may be Historical Faith, i.e., a persuasion of the truth of facts, outside of the range of one's experience, upon the ground of clear testimony. "Faith does not signify merely the knowledge of the history" (Augsburg Confession, Art. XX). Such also is the mere intellectual apprehension of the dogmas of the Church, as when it amounts to no more than the recitation by rote of the Catechism, or the mastering of a system of Dogmatics. "Very many other passages they corrupt in the schools, because they do not teach the righteousness of faith, and because they understand by faith merely _a knowledge of history and dogmas_, and do not understand by it that virtue which apprehends the promise of grace and of righteousness" (Apology, 158). 6. _What is Divine Faith_? Let Luther answer: "Faith is a divine work in us, which transforms us, and begets us anew of God. It makes us entirely different men in heart, mind, sense and all powers, and brings with it the Holy Spirit.... Faith is a living, wide-awake confidence in God's grace, that is so certain that one who has it is ready to die a thousand times for it.... Pray God to work faith in thee; other- wise thou shalt remain eternally without faith, though thou thinkest and doest whatever thou wilt or canst" (In- troduction to Romans). "Faith is that my whole heart takes to itself this treas- sure. It is not my doing, not my presenting or giving, not my work or preparation" (Apology, 91). "Faith is when my heart and the Holy Ghost in the heart says, The promise of God is true and certain" (Apology, 103). --------------------End of Page 188-------------------- 7. _What is the distinction between Direct and Dis- cursive Faith? This distinction does not respect faith itself, for what is called "direct" and what is called "discursive," are es- sentially the same; but it has respect to difference of ability for examining self and recognizing faith when present. "Discursive faith" is that which is a subject of reflection and analysis by a mature Christian, as distin- guished from the faith of a child who believes without thinking of the faith itself, but simply of the object which faith apprehends. Direct faith is occupied with the ob- ject of faith, viz., Christ, while discursive faith is occu- pied with the direct faith. 8. _What is the distinction between faith as a habit and faith as an act_? The one is a state or a condition or fixed relation to- wards Christ; the other is an act prompted by the state, and emerging from it. The confidence which we have in a fellowman, the love which a husband has for his wife, or a parent for his child, lies deeper than the con- scious acts which give it expression. The child of God has faith in Christ when asleep as well as when awake; when his mind is concentrated on business, or on in- tricate mathematical calculations, just as truly as when reading the Holy Scriptures, receiving the Lord's Sup- per, in prayer, or driven to the divine promises for com- fort under the stress of some overwhelming affliction. 9. _What is the distinction between Explicit and Im- plicit Faith_? Explicit Faith is where what is believed is known; Implicit, where the acceptance of what is known carries with it the acceptance of particulars that are unknown. Thus the Old Testament saints believed many things im- plicitly, which we believe explicitly. The scholastics have abused this principle in teaching that one who accepts --------------------End of Page 189-------------------- the authority of the Church, accepts thereby all that the Church teaches or has taught or will teach. According to this a servant girl or hostler who cannot read, if he be in subjection to the Roman Catholic Church, holds im- plicitly to all the Decrees and Canons of Trent, even though he have never seen or heard of them, or thought on most of the subjects they discuss. 10. _What is the distinction between "Crude Faith" and "Faith energized by Love"_? This distinction Protestants repudiate; but it is neces- sary to know it in order to understand the discussions of the Reformation. It is based upon the scholastic definition of "faith," as mere assent to what the Church teaches. As such faith manifestly could not justify, they found the justifying virtue of faith in the love by which it might be pervaded (Gal. 5:6). The Reformers held that men are justified, neither on account of their love nor their faith, but that when justified on account of Christ through faith, love inevitably followed. Love, therefore, instead of being the condition of the efficacy of faith, is the fruit of the justification received through faith. "Faith alone receives remission of sins, justifies and regenerates. Then love and other good works fol- low" (Apology, 139). 11. _When you say that the fruits of the Mediatorial Office are applied through faith, what do you mean_? That faith is never the ground of salvation, but only the organ through which the salvation provided by God is applied. The Augsburg Confession very clearly draws this distinction when it says that "men are justified for Christ's sake through faith," "_propter Christum per fid- em_" not _propter fidem per Christum_. 12. _In what then does the value of faith lie_? Entirely in its object, as the value of a ring is that of the gem which it contains, or that of a vessel is often no --------------------End of Page 190-------------------- more than that of the precious substance which it en- closes. 13. _What then is the proper object of the faith through which the Holy Ghost Brings salvation_? Before answering this, it would be well to consider the various objects with which faith may be occupied. 14. _State some of these objects_. "In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, various and di- verse objects of faith are described, as the article of Cre- ation, the prediction of the coming flood, the hiding of Moses, the institution of the Passover, the passage of the Red Sea, the fall of the walls of Jericho, etc. In the Gos- pels, where faith is commended, very frequently its ob- jects are described, as the cure of diseases or certain bod- ily deliverances. The example of the faith of Abraham which Paul cites (Rom. 4:3), is seen by a reference to Gen. 17:5 to be the promise concerning the fruitfulness of his body and the external bodily seed. Now, we do not deny that there are various objects with respect to even earthly things, with which faith is occupied. But the ques- tion here is, What is the object, with respect to which faith justifies? Sometimes Scripture speaks of the ob- ject of faith in general; at other times, it defines the ob- ject by the apprehension of which faith justifies. The question is different when we afterwards treat of the ex- ercises of faith, under the cross, in obedience, in prayer, and in expectation of bodily and spiritual things, after the person has been already reconciled by faith. There is a difference between faith apprehending Christ, who is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth, and the exercises of faith which are directed towards other objects, nevertheless these exercises al- ways presuppose, as their foundation, that God has been reconciled by faith" (Chemnitz, Loci). 15. _Now we are ready to learn the proper object which --------------------End of Page 191-------------------- faith apprehends, so as to obtain the fruits of Christ's Mediatorial Office_? "When we speak of Justifying Faith, we must keep in mind that these three things concur: the _promise_, and that _gratuitous_, and the _merits of Christ_, as the price or propitiation" (Apology). In other words: "Promise, grace and Christ's merit." All are summarized in the words: "The grace of God promised because of the merits of Christ," or "The merits of Christ gratuitously offered in the promise of the Gospel." (See Augsburg Confes- sion, Art. IV, above, under 2.) Our faith rests entirely upon God's promise and that promise has been made be- cause of nothing within us that deserves it, but solely be- cause of Christ's merits. All these objects are combined in justifying faith. 16. _Cite a few of the many statements of our Confes- sions on this subject_. "The Law requires of us our works and our perfec- tion. But the Gospel freely offers, for Christ's sake, to us who have been vanquished by sin and death, reconcilia- tion, which is received not by works but by faith alone. This faith brings to God not confidence in our own merits, but only confidence int he promise, or the mercy promised in Christ." "As often as we speak of faith we wish an object understood, viz., the promised mercy. For faith justifies and saves only because it receives the promised mercy." "The Propitiator profits us, when by faith we apprehend the mercy promised in Him, and present it against the wrath and judgment of God" (Apology, 91, 92, 101). "Faith alone is the means or in- strument whereby we lay hold of Christ, and thus in Christ of that righteousness which avails before of God, for the sake of which this faith is imputed to us for right- eousness (Rom. 4:5)." "Faith justifies because in the promise of the Gospel, it lays hold of and accepts the --------------------End of Page 192-------------------- merit of Christ; for if we are to be justified thereby, this must be applied and appropriated by faith" (Formula of Concord, 501, 572). 17. _What Scriptural proofs of this can be given_? Rom. 3:22--"The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ." v. 26--"The justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." Phil. 3:9--"And be found in him having the righteousness which is from God by faith." Acts 16:31--Rom. 3:24--"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom. 4:16--"It is of faith that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed." The argument may also be stated thus: The Word of God is divided into Law and Gospel. But the Law can- not be an object of justifying faith (Gal. 3:22; Rom. 3:21-27; 10:5, 6). There remains then only the Gos- pel, or the gratuitous promise of the forgiveness of sins and righteousness before God for Christ's sake. 18. _It is not an arbitrary matter, however, to restrict the faith, which receives the forgiveness of sins to the one article concerning the merits of Christ gratuitously given, and to ignore other articles of faith_? The other articles are not ignored or disparaged. Faith accepts every word of God that is offered it. It is an atti- tude of heart and mind that believes everything that it learns comes from God. But the question here is con- cerning the particular object which gives to faith all its justifying power. "As the sum, scope and goal of all Scripture is Christ, in His Mediatorial Office (Luke 24:27-44; Rom. 10:4; John 5:39, 46; Heb. 10:7), so faith, in assenting to all the Word of God, regards the scope of all Scripture, and refers all other articles to the promised grace because of Christ as Mediator. In vain is faith occupied with other articles of Scripture, if it do not hold Christ, the Head (Col. 2:19). To this effect, this item is added in the definition of faith. For the article of Redemption cannot be thoroughly understood, unless we be acquainted with the other parts of God's Word that precede; and yet we must firmly hold that faith justifies --------------------End of Page 193-------------------- only with respect to the one object, viz., Christ" (Chem- nitz), and this one object in a particular relation, i. e., the promise of gratuitous reconciliation for the sake of Christ as Mediator. 19. _Are the acts of Justifying Faith, with respect to its object, of one kind_? "Some are common and general; others special. The general are directed towards the object considered in itself, without application to the believer; as when; with respect to the merit of Christ, one believes that Christ suffered, died, rose again; or, with respect to the grace of God, that God, from pure grace and mercy, wishes to forgive sins. The special are such as are directed to their object with an application to the believer. Such act of faith, with respect to the merit of Christ, is when one be- lieves that Christ has suffered and died for him; or, with respect to the grace of God, that he will receive grace and forgiveness of sins." "The general are common to true believers and hypocrites, and necessary for justification; for no one can believe that Christ died for him, without believing that Christ died" (Bechmann). 20. _Analyze faith into its elements_. While faith, properly speaking, is nothing but confi- dence, theologians generally enumerate three elements: Knowledge, Assent and Confidence. 21. _What of the first_? An explicit acquaintance with the objects of faith is presupposed. The fact of redemption as taught in Holy Scripture must be known in order that there should be acts of faith. Rom. 10:14--"How shall they believe in him whom they have not heard." Heb. 11:6--"He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him." Luke 1:77; Eph. 1:17; Is. 53:11. 22. _What of the second_. Assent is a judgment of the intellect by which what is taught in Holy Scripture concerning the Mediatorship of --------------------End of Page 194-------------------- Christ and the grace of God is approved as true. By a general assent, the universal promises concerning the grace of God and merit of Christ are judged to be true. By a special assent, man is led by the workings of the Holy Spirit, to apply the general propositions concerning the Mediatorship of Christ and the grace of God to him- self, and thus to believe that Christ actually died for him (See above, under 20.) 1 Tim. 1:15--"Faithful is the saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (General Assent) "of whom I am chief" (Special Assent). Gal. 2:20--"Who loved me and gave himself for me" (Special Assent). Illustrate further from explanation of the Creed in our Catechism. 23. _What of the third_? Confidence is an act or attitude of the will produced by the work of the Holy Ghost, whereby man relies upon the merits of Christ offered in the gratuitous promise of the Gospel, and commits himself with security to the provi- sions which God has therein made for his salvation. "Con- fidence involves the reliance of the entire heart and will upon the merit of Christ" (Koenig). 24. _What does this confidence imply_? A sincere and earnest desire for the mercy of God ac- quired by Christ's merits. The confidence of hypocrites is vain, because they do not really desire the grace of God and forgiveness. The promise is, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6). 25. _What are some of the characteristics of confidence with respect to its object_? (a) It has as its object a _present good_. The ungodly confide in their riches, which they esteem a present good; the godly, in an Omnipresent and everlasting God. This good, our theologians have noted, while present sometimes really and physically, is at other times present only mor- ally, as by promise and efficacy, or is apprehended as --------------------End of Page 195-------------------- though present. Thus the godly in the Old Testament trusted in a Messiah that was to come. Heb. 11:13--"Not having received the promises, but having seen and greeted them from afar." We trust in redemption, which two thousand years ago was purchased; but its merit and efficacy extend to the present (Heb. 13:8). (b) This object is also a _personal_ good, or one pertain- ing to the person who exercises the confidence. For this reason, it has been called "appropriative," since it takes the object to itself, as its own. Thus we take the merit of Christ and His offering for sin. (c) It is a good which is received in order to obtain some other good, and that, too, one which can be secured only with great difficulty. A general has confidence in his army, for his success in a campaign. A patient has con- fidence in a physician for bringing him possible relief from a disease. A student relies upon his scholarship, for enabling him to pass tests and gain standing. Thus men put their confidence in the mediation of Christ, as a means of obtaining from God grace, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. All these elements are comprehended in the definition, "Confidence is an act whereby the will rests in Christ as Mediator, not only as a present good, but as our own, and the cause of another good, viz., the obtaining of re- mission of sins and life everlasting" (Baier). 26. _How is confidence distinguished from Hope_? Confidence refers to a present; hope to a future good. Confidence relies on it as something that now is; hope, as something that is to come. Confidence is directed to- wards a means; hope towards the end itself. "Hope ex- pects future blessings and deliverance from trouble; faith receives the present reconciliation and concludes in the heart that God has forgiven my sins, that He is now gracious to me" (Apology, 144). --------------------End of Page 196-------------------- 27. _Scriptural proofs that faith includes confidence_? (a) The frequent use of the Greek preposition _eis_ with the accusative after the verb _pisteuein_, which very liter- ally rendered into English is "to believe into," i. e., "to believe into him" or "believe into his name." John 3:16--"Whosoever believeth _into_ him." John 1:12--"Them that believe _into_ his name." Acts 10:43--"Every one that believeth _into_ him shall receive remission of sins." This cannot mean simple intellectual assent but an act of the will directed towards an object. Here an examina- tion of the force of the prepositions used with the verb _pisteuein_ and noun _pistis_ would be profitable. (b) From the names applied to faith. It is called _Hypostasis_ (Heb. 11:1), "assurance of things hoped for" (R. V., A. R. V.); "giving substance to things hoped for" (Marginal Reading, R. V., A. R. V.). See Thayer's Lexicon. _Plerophoria_. Rom. 4:21--"Being fully assured that what he had promised." Col. 2:2 -"The full assurance of the understanding." _Pepoithesis_. Rom. 8:38--"I am persuaded that neither death, nor life," etc. 2 Tim. 1:12--"I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him." _Parrhesia_. Heb. 4:16--"Let us draw near with boldness." The word means literally "freedom of speech." Our Catechism paraphrases the passage, "That we call upon him with all cheerfulness and confidence, even as beloved children entreat their affectionate parent." To these Scriptural proofs, to which a number of others were added by the Reformers, we may add the every day usage of our language in which every one understands the expression, "I do not believe in such a man," or "in a particular school of medicine as Allopathy or Homoeo- pathy," as meaning, "I have no confidence in it." --------------------End of Page 197-------------------- 28. _How have the three elements of faith been some- times distinguished_? By an Augustinian formula, that "_Credere Deum," "Credere Deo," and "Credere in Deum," are three dis- tinct things. The former means "to believe that there is a God"; the second, "to believe what God says"; the third, "to commit oneself to God, or have confidence in God." In all our dealing with fellow-men, we learn, first of all, to know, then to approve, and then to rely upon or entrust oneself to. The relations between bride and groom, pa- tient and physician, capitalist and confidential clerk, fur- nish illustrations from every day life as to how faith is at length attained. Sometime, however, knowledge is regarded as presup- posed, but not as an element of faith. Then the definition becomes: "Faith is assent joined with confidence, or con- fidence joined with assent, and consisting of these acts united, is called by the name now of the former, and again of the latter, the other always being connotated" (Baier). 29. _Are there degrees of faith_? Luke 17:5--"Lord, increase our faith." Mark 9:24--"I believe; help thou mine unbelief." 2 Thess. 1:3--"Your faith groweth exceedingly." Our Lord rebukes his disciples as "of little faith," Matt. 6:30; 8:26 and Matt. 15:28, commends the Syrophenician woman, as "of great faith." 30. _Is the efficacy of faith in proportion to its degree_? Not with respect to justification, since all the efficacy of faith comes from the object which it apprehends, viz., the righteousness of Christ. The weakest faith and the strongest partake of all that Christ is, and thus equally justify. But when the question is concerning the comfort which faith receives and concerning its efficiency as an in- strument for advancing the Kingdom of God, the rule obtains: "According to your faith, be it done unto you." Matt. 9:29. 31. _Has faith then, more than one office_? It has two, one receptive or apprehensive, by which --------------------End of Page 198-------------------- man takes to himself the righteousness of Christ, and the other operative, by which the justified man is active in works of love. 32. _How does the Augsburg Confession treat of the operative office or energy of faith_? "Also they teach that this faith is bound to bring forth good fruits, and that it is necessary to do good works commanded by God, because of God's will, but not that we should rely on those works to merit justification before God" (Art. VI). "Because through faith the Holy Ghost is received, hearts are renewed and endowed with new affections, so as to be able to bring forth good works" Art. XX). 33. _What classical passage from Luther's Introduc- tion to the Epistle to the Romans should be kept in memory_? "Oh, it is a living, active, busy thing that we have in faith. It is impossible for one who has faith to do other- wise than incessantly to do good. He asks not whether good works are to be done, but before the question can be asked, he has already done them, and is always busy ... Faith is a living, wide-awake confidence in God's grace, that is so certain, that one who has it, is ready to die a thousand times for it.... It is as impossible, therefore, to separate works from faith, as it is to separate heat and light from fire." To this may be added a paraphrase of Luther by Tyndale ("Introduction to Romans"), "Where the Spirit is, there it is always summer, and there are always good fruits." "Faith keepeth not holiday, neither suffereth any man to be idle, wheresoever she is." 34. _What is the meaning of Gal 5: 6, "In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircum- cision but faith working through love"_? The reference is not to faith as an object that is to justify, but to faith regarded as having justified. The --------------------End of Page 199-------------------- thought is: Wherever there is faith, there is justification, and wherever there is justification there is love, and wherever there is love, it inevitably expresses itself in works. Faith works through love, because through faith man being brought into right relations with God, the love of God is shed abroad in his heart, and sets in motion all his powers. 35. _Where do we learn concerning the means em- ployed by the Holy Ghost to work faith_? Under Regeneration (Chapters XXI; XXIV, I). 36. _Can faith be lost_? (a) There are passages of Scripture that directly af- firm this: Gal. 3:4--"Ye are severed from Christ, ye that would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace." 1 Tim. 1:18--"Some made ship- wreck concerning the faith." Rev. 2:5--"Remember, therefore, whence thou hast fallen, and repent." Luke 8:13--"These have no root who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." (b) There are examples of those who fell: David, Solo- mon, Peter, Alexander, Hymenaeus, Philetus, Demas, as well as of those who committed the sin against the Holy Ghost (see Chapter VIII, 57-60). (c) Numerous parables and figures are employed to en- force this truth. There are the allegories concerning the degenerate vineyard (Is. 5:1-4), the fruitless tree (Matt. 3:10), the dead branch of the vine (John 15:6), the broken shoots of the olive (Rom. 11:17-21), the barren fig tree (Luke 13:6-9), the salt which has lost its savor (Matt. 5:13), the bad leaven (Matt. 16:6; 1 Cor. 5:6,7), adulterated silver (Is. 1:21; Ez. 22:18), water that has become lukewarm (Rev. 3:16); the parables of the house where the unclean spirit had been expelled (Luke 11:24); the lost sheep and lost coin (Luke 15); the figures of the race (1 Cor. 9:24, 26; Gal. 5:7); the struggle between the flesh and spirit (Gal. 5:16, 17). (d) There are most direct and explicit warnings. The entire section, 1 Cor. 9:26--10:13, is an argument in --------------------End of Page 200-------------------- which the Apostle first states how deeply he realizes the possibility of his own fall, and ends, "Let him that think- eth he standeth, take heed lest he fall." So also Heb. 4:11. "Let us, therefore, give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience." Cf. in O. T. Ex. 18:24. 37. _Can faith, if lost, be restored_? That it is sometimes never restored is clear from Heb. 6:4-6. This, however, does not occur from God's will (Ez. 18:32; 33:11; 2 Peter 3:9). (See above, Chapter VIII, 58.) That it is sometimes restored is clear from the cases of David and Peter, the constant admonitions given the fallen to repent, and the example of other re- turns commended by our Lord (Matt. 18:21, 22; cf. John 6:37). The perpetual intercession of Christ (1 John 2:1) is another proof. 38. _Can one know whether he have faith_? There are circumstances when it may and frequently does happen that amidst severe temptations, true children of God doubt concerning the presence of a faith which they, nevertheless, truly have. If Christ on the cross felt that He was abandoned (Matt. 27:46), doubt and uncer- tainty can be expected in those within whom the rem- nants of sin remain, whose experience is that of Paul as described in Romans 7, and whose prayer must always be that of Mark 9:24 (see above, 29). "Concerning the presence, operation and gifts of the Holy Ghost, we should not and cannot always judge from sense, i. e., as to how and when they are experienced in the heart, but because they are often covered and occur in great weak- ness, we should be certain from and according to the promise that preaching and hearing the Word of God is an office and work of the Holy Ghost, whereby he is cer- tainly efficacious" (Formula of Concord, 583). Cf. Chap- ter XXI, 37. 39. _Faith, then, must be more than mere probability_? Faith in itself, then is, in its ideal and normal condition, --------------------End of Page 201-------------------- is certainty. This is involved in what has been said above concerning confidence (see above, 25-27). 40. _Upon what does this certainty depend_? Not upon man's ability to read the secret will of God, or upon any new personal revelation, but upon what God has already revealed in the Gospel. Rom. 10:6-9--"The righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down), or who shall descend into the abyss (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith which we preach, that, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thy heart, that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. 4:16--"It is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end, that the promise may be sure to all the seed." Heb. 6:18; 1 John 5:13. 41. _In what respect does the Gospel bring a certainty that cannot be found in the Law_? "If eternal life could be apprehended by doubt, no promise would be more fitting than that of the Law; for, on account of the condition of perfect obedience annexed to it, it leaves consciences in perpetual doubt. But as it is not doubt, but faith which justifies, God has offered the gratuitous promise of the Gospel, which relies not upon our works, but upon the mercy of God because of the obedience of His Son as Mediator" (Chemnitz). 42. _How do the Sacraments afford an argument for the certainty of faith_? Because, as we shall see later, it is their office to offer and apply to the individual the gratuitous promise of the Gospel which is offered in general in the read and preached Word. 43. _What examples of certainty of faith are recorded in Holy Scripture_? Abraham (Rom. 4:18-21), David (Ps. 23:4; 27:1; 31:5), Paul (Rom. 8:37-39); 2 Tim. 2:7,8). 44. _All this shows that one can and should have cer- tainty of faith, but how is this obtained_? Rom. 8:17--"The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God." --------------------End of Page 202-------------------- 1 John 5:19--"He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in him." Gal. 4:6--"Because ye are sons, God sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba Father." This is no new and peculiar revelation, but the answer of the Holy Spirit working within man's heart, through the Word and Sacraments, to the individual assurance of God's grace tendered through these means. 45. _Explain this more fully_. The testimony of the Holy Spirit through the Word is: "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." "God will have all men to be saved." "Come unto me, all ye that labor." Through the Sacraments: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." "Given and shed for thee for the remission of sins." The answer of man's heart, "Jesus is Lord," and still more so that of Thomas, "My Lord and my God," can come only from the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 12:3). When man from his heart exclaims, "Lord, I believe," or "I know whom I have believed," or "I am persuaded that nothing can separate me from the love of God," it is the confession of a testimony which the Holy Spirit has given within. There is thus, first, the external assurance of Word and Sacraments; secondly, the presence and efficacy of the Spirit always attending them; thirdly, the effect of this efficacy in the faith of the heart that is wrought; fourthly, the consciousness of this faith resulting from the same working; and fifthly, its expression or confession. 46. _By what term is this witness of the Spirit some- times designated_? Sealing. Eph. 1:13--"In whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance." 1 Cor. 1:22-- "God who also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Eph. 4:30--"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were sealed unto the day of redemption." As a seal is affixed to an important document as a mark --------------------End of Page 203-------------------- of authenticity, so the testimony of the Spirit is referred to as sure evidence of the certainty of faith. 47. _Can the presence of faith be decided by self-ex- amination_? 2 Cor. 13:5--"Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" Such examination includes reflection on one's attitude towards sin and the law, on one's special assent and confi- dence in the Gospel, and on the question as to whether the fruits of faith be present. 48. _But what if such examination result in the revela- tion only of one's spiritual poverty, and faith itself be hidden_? If there be hungering and thirst after righteousness and the desire for grace and faith, that of itself is faith, even though weak and struggling with doubt. 1 John 3:20--"If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things." 2 Tim. 2:13--"If we are faithless, yet he abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself." The very longing for such righteousness is a proof of the presence of the Holy Spirit. 49. _Against what must we guard in every such self- examination, whether daily or before partaking of the Lord's Supper_? Against putting the assurance of faith in place of faith itself and its contents. Man is not justified by faith in his faith, but by faith in the promise of God gratui- tously given through the merits of Christ as Mediator. Men must constantly be warned that justification comes not "on account of" or "because of" our faith, but solely "through faith on account of Christ." 50. _What was Luther's advice to Brenz when troubled by doubts concerning the assurance of faith_? "I am accustomed, for the better understanding of this point, to conceive this idea, that there is no quality in my --------------------End of Page 204-------------------- heart at all, call it either faith or charity; but instead of these I set Christ Himself, and I say, '_There is my right- eousness_.'" The highest achievement of faith is to be so absorbed in looking to Christ as to forget itself. The children of Israel, who were bitten by serpents in the wilderness (Num. 21:6-9), were healed upon the condition of look- ing upon the brazen serpent. Their attention was occu- pied, not with an analysis of the act of looking, but with the object of their gaze itself. So, important as self-ex- amination is, Luther warns against its abuse, and seeks to turn morbid habits of introspection away from their ordinary channel to the righteousness outside of and above man in the merits of his Redeemer (Chapter XXI, 37). 51. _Is there salvation without faith_? "The answer is given in Mark 16:16; Heb. 11:6; John 3:6; 5:18. If God then were to save one without faith, He would act contrary to His own word, and would deny Himself, which is impossible. For Paul writes (2 Tim. 2:13), 'He cannot deny himself.' Just as im- possible, therefore, as it is for divine truth to lie, so im- possible is it for one to be saved without faith. This is entirely different, however, from the question as to whether in death or after death, God could give faith, and he could then be saved by faith. Who will doubt that He could so do? But that He actually so does, no one can prove" (Luther to von Rechenberg, De Wette's Luther's Briefe, II. 455). --------------------End of Chapter on Page 205-------------------- This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by William Alan Larson and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (260) 452-2123 Fax: (260) 452-2126