John Gill · 8 of 53

Chapter 6. Of Faith in God and in Christ · Part 3

3c4. In these it seems to be next to none, and as if there was none at all; hence these words of Christ to his apostles, “How is it that you have no faith?” and again, “Where is your faith?” (Mark 4:40; Luke 8:25), that is, in act and exercise; otherwise they had faith as a principle of grace in them, though so little exercised by them as scarcely to be discerned; yet little faith, even that which is the least, differs from no faith. Where there is no faith there is no desire after God, nor after Christ, nor after salvation by him, and communion with him; such neither desire him nor the knowledge of his ways; but where there is ever so small a degree of faith there is a panting after God, a desire to see Jesus, and to have fellowship with him, and a view of interest in him: where there is no faith there is no sense of the want of it, nor complaint of it, nor desire of it, and an increase; but where there is faith, though of the least degree, the soul is sensible of the deficiency of it, and complains of its unbelief, and prays for an increase of faith; as the poor man did, “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

3c5. In some faith is weak; in others strong: of Abraham it is said, that he was “strong in faith”, and staggered not at the promise through unbelief; but “believed in hope against hope”; these circumstances showed the strength of his faith. But of others it is said, “him that is weak in the faith receive ye; but not to doubtful disputations” (Rom. 4:18, 20; 14:1). See an instance of strong faith in (Hab. 3:17-19).

3c6. Faith, as to its exercise, differs in the same individuals at different times; as in Abraham, the father of all them that believe, and who was so eminent for his faith; and yet what unbelief and distrust of the power and providence of God did he discover, as to the preservation of him in Egypt and in Gerar, which put him on undue methods for his security? and in David, who sometimes in the strongest manner expresses his faith of interest in God, and in his favour, and at other times was strangely disquieted in his soul, and ready to imagine that he was cut off from the sight of God: and in Peter, who not only strongly asserted his faith in Christ as the Son of God, but so confident was he, that though all men forsook him he would not; and yet, that night denied him thrice, intimidated by a servant maid and others!

3c7. In some it arises to a plerophory (confidence), a full assurance of faith; as it is expressed in Hebrews 10:22 which signifies going with a full sail, in allusion to ships when they sail with a prosperous gale; so souls, when they are full of faith, as Stephen was, move on towards God and Christ in the exercise of it with great spirit and rigor, bearing all before them that stand in the way; being fully persuaded of the love of God to them, and that nothing can separate them from it, and of their interest in Christ, as having loved them and given himself for them; and therefore can say with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” and with the church, “My beloved is mine and I am his”; but this is not to be found in all believers; and where it is, it is not always in the same plerophory, without any doubt, hesitation, and mixture of unbelief.

3d. Fourthly, The seat of this grace, in the subjects of it, is the whole soul of man; it is “with the heart” man believes in Christ for righteousness, life, and salvation; says Philip to the eunuch, “If thou believest with all thine heart”, &c. It has been a dispute among divines, whether faith has its seat in the understanding, or in the will, or in the affections; it seems to possess the whole soul, or the whole soul is in the possession of it, and according to its various actings faith has a concern in each faculty; as it lies in the knowledge of divine things, and presents truth to the mind, and is the evidence of things unseen, it has to do with the understanding; and the apostle says of it as such, “by faith we understand”, &c. (Heb. 11:1-40; 1:3), and sometimes the strongest acts of faith, even assurance of interest in Christ as the Redeemer and Saviour, is expressed by knowledge of him; “I know that my Redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25), as it is an act of choice, preferring Christ, as a Saviour, to all others; and of affiance, trust, and dependence on him, it is an act of the will; “though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:—he also shall be salvation” (Job 13:15, 16), and neither of these acts can be without love to Christ, and a strong motion of the affections towards him, saying, “Whom have heaven but thee?” &c. Faith works by love.

4. The causes of faith, from whence it springs, and how it comes to pass that any who are naturally in a state of unbelief, and shut up in it, should be possessed of this grace.

4a. First, the efficient cause is God; hence it is called the “work of God” (John 6:29), which he works by his power and grace in the hearts of men; it is expressly said to be of “the operation of God” (Col. 2:12), it is a very considerable part of the “good work” of grace, which is begun, carried on, and performed, by the Spirit of Christ; and from it the whole is denominated the “work of faith”, which is wrought and finished with the “power” of God (2 Thess. 1:11), and it is also called “the gift of God”, who deals forth to every man “the measure of faith” as he pleases (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 12:3). All the three divine Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, are concerned in it.

4a1. God the Father; as he is the “God of all grace”, so of this: “No man”, says Christ, “can come unto me”, that is, believe on him, as it is explained (John 6:35), “except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him; and except it were given unto him of Father” (John 6:44, 45, 65; see Matthew 16:16, 17).

4a2. The Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, has a concern in it, it is prayed and wished for, as from God the Father, so from the Lord Jesus Christ; and is obtained through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; nay, Christ is expressly called, “the Author and Finisher of faith” (Eph. 6:23; 2 Pet. 1:1; Heb. 12:2).

4a3. The Holy Spirit is, with the Father and the Son, the co-efficient cause of faith; not only faith is given by the Spirit, as it intends the faith of miracles, but the special grace of faith is reckoned among the fruits of the Spirit; and from hence he is called “the Spirit of faith”, because it is his gift, and of his operation (1 Cor. 12:9; Gal. 5:22; 2 Cor. 4:13).

4b. Secondly, the moving cause of faith is, the free grace of God; it is not of men themselves, the produce of their free will, and power; but it is “the gift of God”; a gift of his pure grace, unmerited, and unmoved to it by anything in the creature; hence those that believe are said to have “believed through grace”; it is a fruit of electing grace, and flows from that; the same grace that moved God to ordain any of the sons of men to eternal life, bestows the grace of faith upon them in consequence of it (Acts 18:27; 13:48), and this is owing to sovereign and distinguishing grace, according to which it is bestowed on some and not on others, as it seems good in the sight of God (Matthew 11:25, 26).

4c. Thirdly, the word and ministers of it are the usual means and instruments of faith in the hand of God, and are used by him; the end of the word being written is, that men “might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God” (John 20:31), and the word preached is, the word of faith; and so called, with other reasons, because faith comes by it (Rom. 10:8, 17), this has often been the effect and consequence of hearing the word preached (Acts 17:4; 18:8), and the ministers of it are the instruments by whom and through whose word, doctrine, and ministry, others believe (John 1:17, 20; 1 Cor. 3:5), but this is only when it is attended with the power and Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:4, 5).

5. The effects of it, or the various things which are ascribed unto it in some sense or another, which show the usefulness and importance of this grace. As,

5a. First, various blessings of grace are attributed to it; and with which it is, on some account or another, connected; by it access is had unto them, and an enjoyment of them, and comfort from them.

5a1. Justification; hence we read of being “justified by faith” (Rom. 3:30; 5:1; Gal. 2:16; 3:8), not by it, or through it, as a work of righteousness done by men, for then they would be justified and saved by works contrary to the Scriptures (Rom. 4:2, 6; Titus 3:5). Nor as a grace of the Spirit of God wrought in men; for that is a part and branch of sanctification; and would tend to confound justification and sanctification, which are two distinct things; the one an act of God’s grace towards men, the other a work of his grace in them: nor as a cause of it; for it is “God”, and not faith that “justifies” (Rom. 8:33), for though men are said to be justified by faith, yet faith is never said to justify them: nor as a condition of justification; for God “justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5), nor as a motive; for that is the free grace of God; “being justified freely by his grace” (Rom. 3:24), nor as the matter of it; that is the righteousness of Christ: faith and righteousness are two different things, and are frequently distinguished; that by which men are justified are the obedience and blood of Christ (Rom. 5:9, 19), but faith is neither of them; faith is a man’s own, but justifying righteousness is another’s; “not having on mine own righteousness” (Phil. 3:9), faith is imperfect; but the righteousness by which men are justified is perfect, or it cannot be reckoned righteousness (Deut. 6:25), it is not the το, “credere”, or act of faith, but the object who, or what, is believed in, that is imputed for righteousness; it is Christ and his righteousness, the object of faith, by which men are justified; faith objectively, or the object of faith, Christ, who is sometimes called faith (Gal. 3:23), he is made righteousness unto them; faith only relatively considered, as it relates to Christ, receives the blessing of his justifying righteousness from him, being revealed from faith to faith, and given to it, and put into its hands; which faith puts on as a robe of righteousness, and rejoices and glories in it.

5a2. Adoption; faith, as before observed, receives the adoption of children from Christ, the power he gives to become the children of God; and therefore said to be, “the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26), that is, manifestatively; faith does not make them the children of God, but makes them appear to be such.

5a3. The remission of sins; “God has set forth Christ to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, for the remission of sins” (Rom. 3:25), not that faith has any virtue or merit in it to procure it: nor is it for the sake of faith that God forgives sins; but for his own name’s sake, for Christ’s sake, whose blood was shed for it; but faith receives the remission of sins, as flowing from the grace of God through the blood of Christ (Acts 10:43).

5a4. Sanctification and purification are ascribed to faith. So it is said of such that receive the forgiveness of sins, that they also receive an inheritance “among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me”, in Christ (Acts 26:18), and again, “purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9), not that faith has such virtue in it as to sanctify and purify from sin; but as it has to do with the blood of Christ which cleanses from all sin.

5a5. Eternal life and salvation are connected with faith; yea, it is life eternal to know Christ, that is, to believe in him; nay, he that believes in him “has everlasting life” (John 17:3; 6:47), not that faith is the procuring and meritorious cause of it; for “eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord”, and faith looks unto the mercy of Christ for it (Rom. 6:23; Jude 1:21).

5b. Secondly, by faith souls have communion with God, with Christ, and with his people, in his word and ordinances.

5b1. They have access to God at the throne of grace, and can use freedom, boldness, and confidence with him, in asking of him what they stand in need of; “in whom”, says the apostle, “we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him”; that is, by faith in Christ (Eph. 3:12). Christ is the way of access to God; there is no coming to him but by Christ the Mediator, and by faith in him; faith gives freedom and boldness to speak to God; faith presents Christ’s righteousness, pleads his blood, and brings his sacrifice in its arms, and boldly enters into the holiest of all thereby; and goes to God, even up to his seat, and lays hold on him, and claims interest in him, and will not go without a blessing.

5b2. The inhabitation of Christ in the hearts of his people is through faith; the apostle prayed for the Ephesians, that, says he, “Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph. 3:17), not in their heads by fancy and notion; but in their hearts by faith: there is a mutual indwelling of Christ, and believers in each other; he dwells in them by faith, and they dwell in him by faith; “he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him” (John 6:56 that is, who feeds by faith upon him; Christ and believers are not only inhabitants in the same house, and dwell under the same roof, but they mutually dwell in each other by faith, which is expressive of great nearness, intimacy, and communion.

5b3. Believers feed and live upon Christ by faith; “he”, says Christ, “that eateth me”, his flesh and blood by faith, “even he shall live by me”, a life of grace, which will issue in eternal life; yea, such as thus feed on Christ “have eternal life” (John 6:54, 57), and a most comfortable life this is, which a believer lives by faith on Christ, and so a very desirable one; “the life which I now live in the flesh”, says the apostle, “I live by the faith of the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20), nor did he desire any other; a better and a more comfortable life cannot be lived in this world; “the just shall live by faith”; not upon his faith; but by faith on Christ (Rom. 1:17).

5b4. It is by faith that believers stand, and walk, and go on comfortably in their Christian race; “thou standest by faith”, in a gospel church state, in a profession of Christ, and in the enjoyment of his word and ordinances: “by faith ye stand”; keep your ground; turn not back, nor are moved from the hope of the gospel (Rom. 11:20; 2 Cor. 1:24). “We walk by faith, and not by sight”; so did the apostle, and so he directs others; “as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him” (2 Cor. 5:7; Col. 2:6), go on believing in him till ye receive the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

5b5. Faith makes Christ precious to souls; “to them that believe he is precious” (1 Pet. 2:7). Faith beholds the glories of Christ’s person; the riches of his grace; the treasures and wonders of his love; which render him altogether lovely and the chiefest among ten thousands.

5b6. “Faith works by love” (Gal. 5:6), both by love to Christ and by love to his people; the clearer views a soul has of Christ by faith the more it loves him; and the more closely it cleaves unto him, leans upon him, and embraces him by faith, the more its affections are drawn out to him; and the more it feeds on him by faith, and the more tastes it has of him that he is gracious, the more are its desires to him, and to the remembrance of him; and it cannot but love all that bear his image, and partake of his grace; these precious sons of Zion are precious to whom Christ is precious, and are the excellent in the earth, in whom is the delight of such, even such who are Christ’s Hephzibah and his jewels.

5b7. It is faith which makes the word useful and the ordinances pleasant and delightful. Where faith is wanting the word is of no use: “the word preached did not profit them, not bring mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Heb. 4:2), the word is compared to food, which though notionally received, yet if not heartily digested by faith, does not nourish; it is only when Christ is held forth, and seen in the galleries, and shows himself through the lattices to faith, that the ordinances are amiable and lovely, or when he is fed upon by faith in them; as the Israelites by faith kept the passover, a type of Christ our passover, sacrificed for us; so believers keep the feast of the Lord’s Supper in commemoration of that sacrifice, and when they do it in faith, it is with joy and comfort, and to great usefulness.

5c. Thirdly, there are various other useful things ascribed to faith, as the effects of it: as,

5c1. It makes not ashamed. It is said, “he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa. 28:16), after another Saviour, or to lay another foundation, being satisfied with Christ. In some places in the New Testament the phrase is rendered, “shall not be ashamed” and “shall not be confounded” (Rom. 9:33; 10:11; 1 Pet. 2:6), such who believe shall not be ashamed of their faith and hope in Christ; or of their profession of him; nor of the reproaches, sufferings, and persecutions they endure for his sake; nor shall they be confounded by any of their enemies; nor meet with a disappointment in their expectations here or hereafter (Ps. 22:5).

5c2. It fills the soul with joy on hearing the word, the good news of salvation by Christ; so the jailer, on hearing the word of salvation preached, “rejoiced, believing in God” (Acts 16:31-34), and indeed, a sight of Christ by faith will fill a soul “with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8), hence we read of the “joy of faith”; for as faith increases joy does; wherefore the apostle prays that the Romans might be filled “with all joy and peace in believing” (Phil. 1:25; Rom. 15:13).

5c3. It is by faith that saints get the victory over Satan, and the world, and every enemy; faith holds up Christ, the shield, whereby it keeps off every fiery dart of Satan, yea, quenches them; though he, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; yet the true believer so resists him, being stedfast in faith, that he cannot get an advantage over him, but is obliged to flee from him (Eph. 6:16; 1 Pet. 5:9), and though the world is a very powerful enemy, yet “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith; who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4, 5).

5c4. It is by faith that saints are kept unto salvation, and are saved by grace through it. “Salvation” is the “end of” their “faith”, and what it issues in; and they are “kept by the power of God through faith”; the power of God supporting their faith that it fail not, until they are brought “unto salvation”, to the full enjoyment of it (1 Pet. 1:5, 9), nor does this at all detract from the grace of God; since faith itself is a gift of grace, and gives all the glory to it (Eph. 2:8, 9).

6. The properties or adjuncts of faith, which may lead more into the nature and excellency of it, and serve to confirm what has been said concerning it

6a. It is the first and principal grace, it stands first in order, and takes the precedence of other graces; “now abideth faith, hope, charity”, which last, though the greatest, yet not as to quality and use, but as to quantity or duration; faith is not only of the greatest importance in duty, service, and worship, without which it is impossible to please God; but it has the greatest influence on other graces, it sets them all at work, and as that is in exercise so are they more or less

6b. It is a grace exceeding precious, even the least degree of it; as it is in the least believer, it is “like precious faith”, as to its object, nature, and acts, with that in the greatest; it is more precious than gold that perisheth, for richness, brightness, splendor, and glory; it makes poor men rich, and is more bright and glorious than pearls and rubies, and all desirable things; it is more valuable than gold, because that perishes, but this does not; and it makes Christ precious, or shows him to be so, to them that believe (2 Pet. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:7; 2:7).

6c. It is but “one”; as there is but one Lord to be believed in, and to be subject to, so but “one faith”; as but one doctrine of faith, that faith once delivered to the saints, so but one grace of faith; though there are different sorts of faith, there is but one that is special, spiritual, and saving, the faith of God’s elect; though there are many subjects of it in whom it is, and many are the acts of it, and there are different degrees, as to the exercise of it, yet the grace itself is but one and alike in all (Eph. 4:5; 2 Pet. 1:1).

6d. Though faith is called “common” faith, common to all God’s elect, yet every man has his own faith; “the just shall live by his faith”, and not another’s (Hab 2:4). The faith of one man is of no service to another in the business of salvation; and no further useful to another than for imitation and encouragement to believe also; hence we read of “thy faith”, and “my faith”, as distinct from one another (Jam. 2:18). Christ said to Peter, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32), meaning his particular, personal faith; not but that Christ has the same regard to all his people, and equally intercedes for them on the same account.

6e. It is true, real, and unfeigned (1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5). There is an hypocritical faith, which lies only in profession, in saying that a man believes, when he does not, as Simon Magus; and there is a believing with the heart, even with all the heart, as the eunuch did (Acts 8:13, 37; see Rom. 10:9, 10).

6f. It is a grace that cannot be lost; it flows from, and is secured by, the firm and immutable decree and purpose of election; it is given in consequence of that, and remains sure by it; it is a gift of God, and one of those gifts of his which are without repentance, is irreversible and irrevocable; it is confirmed by the prevalent intercession of Christ, and which he himself is the Author and Finisher of.

6g. It is indeed but imperfect; yet may be increased; as knowledge is imperfect; “We know but in part”; so faith is imperfect; it has its τα υστερηματα, “its deficiencies”, or something “lacking” in it, to be perfected by prayer to God, saying, “Lord, increase our faith”; by the ministry of the word, and by a constant attendance on ordinances; and sometimes “faith grows exceedingly”; (1 Thess. 3:100; 2 Thess. 1:3).

6h. According to the apostle’s account of it, “it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1), it realizes things, and gives them a subsistence, and makes them appear solid and substantial; it brings distant things near, and future things present; it makes difficult things plain and easy, and unseen things visible and gives a certainty to them all.