'j'jfc^M*' a^.» Prefented to The Cornell University, 1869, Goldwin Smith, M. A. Oxon., Regius Profeffor of Hiftory in the Univerfity of Oxford. arW37621 Faith and works Cornell University Library 3 1924 031 856 564 olln.anx Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031856564 FAITH AND WOEKS. FAITH AND WOEKS, REV. W. Ai'b'CONNOE, B.A., OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN, RECTOR OF SS. SIMON AND JUDE, MANCHESTER. \6yov Thy i/iiy. — Hvang. Johan. viii. 43. LONDON : SAUNDBES, OTLEY, AND CO., 7 (late 66), BROOK STREET, W. 1868. 'P [All Rights reserved.'^ CORNEI LIBRARY A (?}n^ FEINTED BY J. E. TiTLOK AND CO., LITTLE QUJiEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. CONTENTS l-AGJJ Faith and Wouks . . 1 Justification by Faith . . 47 How Chkist Fulfilled the Law . . . . 77 foegiving, the tisst of being foegiven . 90 The Wedding Gaement ... . 116 The Supeestition of the Phakisees .... 133 FAITH AND WOEKS. The question whether faith is an extraordinary and supernatural gift has no prominent settlement in Scripture. It is either taken for granted or passed oyer as not necessary to be entertained. The place which faith occupies in the teaching of Jesus may, therefore, be profitably discussed without deciding beforehand that its origin is divine, — more especially since such a decision, if arrived at, would have a possible tendency to di- minish the sense of human responsibihty, under the expected or imagined influence of an over- poWering inspiration. The silence of Scripture may be safely imitated. In our bodily frames there are some organs which work independently E 2 FAITH AND WOEKS. of our will or consciousness, and others wMcli we put in motion voluntarily and with conscious de- sign. NoWj in preserving physical life our part is not to rest satisfied because the processes of respiratioUj digestion, and assimilation are going on without our care, but to supply proper food, air, and exercise, by the use of the organs which are placed under our control. And the measures which we take to effect these purposes are taken, not because we disregard the inner unconscious functions, but because we assume them, and trust to their continuance. Just in the same way, there are involuntary and unconscious, and voluntary and conscious functions in the mind. The former are beyond our knowledge and control ; the latter are placed under our superintendence and manage- ment. The laws by which the mind grows, by which it takes in and assimilates external impres- sions, we have nothing to do with. But we have everything to do with the character of the impres- sions which we furnish to it, and the habits which we fix upon it. And the pains which we take to present pure images to the mind and to avoid im- FAITH AND WORKS. pure ones, tg contract good habits of thought and to shun bad ones, are taken, not because we ignore the inward process which a power not our own is Qonducting, but because we admit and believe in it. According to these analogies, it may be very beneficial to discuss the external and intelli- gible side of faith. The opinion, rather implied than distinctly avowed by some persons, that faith is whoUy mys-. terious in its origin and nature, so that it is quite independent of reason or external influences, and cannot be explained or accounted for in a way that would be intelligible to an unbeliever, seems to proceed from a confusion between faith and its objects, belief and the things believed, and to base itself on the phenomena of matured belief rather than on those of its first stages, which are naturally an easier subject of investigation. The act of the mind when it assents to certain Chris- tian doctrines, as, for instance, to the Incarnation of the Son of God, and the Atonement, may be contemplated and comprehended while the doc- trines themselves lie beyond the range of obser- 4 FAITH AND WORKS. vation or compreliension ; althouglij wlien the mind gets into a state of fusion with its tenet, when the doctrine interpenetrates and colours and characterizes the mind, it is only natural that the incomprehensibleness of the doctrine should conceal the reasonableness of its original adoption. The belief that Jesus was the Son of God is proved by His life, miracles, and doctrines. These avowedly appeal to our reason and affections. The consent of the understanding to the mys- teries which He teaches is a voluntary deference to authority which has demonstrated itself to be more than human. Both are rational acts, since a reason can be assigned for either. But, how- ever these matters may be regarded, the essential poiut, which it concerns us most to know, must always stand, so long as we read the Scriptures and employ our understandings, or even our eyes, in the full noonday of clearest observation. The really important question in connection with the subject is this, — ^Whether there is any faculty, or condition, or frame of the mind, natural or inspired, or partly one and partly the other (let JPAITH AND WOEKS. 5 it he called faith, or trust, or confidence, or resig- nation to God's wiU, or acquiescence in tte plan of salvation), whicli, of itself, without external ac- tions, renders men accepted by God ; or whether, in order to reach this acceptance, in addition to the inward faculty or frame, external works are also required. This is the practical issue, in which all differences of opinion about faith culminate at last. Now, this question, stated as it has been, is capable of two very different meanings. It may be under- stood as expressing uncertainty whether there is any attitude or relation of man towards his God which, without its having any tendency to affect or without actually affecting the conduct, gains the divine favour ; or it may be understood as raising the issue whether there is any attitude or rela- tion which, considered apart from its natural and actual results in the conduct, without taking their worth or their existence into the account, secures our salvation. Faith without works may signify faith that has no tendency to produce works, and never does produce them ; or it may mean faith that has a tendency to produce works, and that 8 PAITH AND WOEKS. otject is to bring tlieiii into agreement. It is evi- dent that if the doctrine that we are saved by a faith which has no tendency to produce work?, and does not produce them (if there be- such a doctrine), were substituted for the former of those two, it could hot possibly be reconciled with the latter, and consequently cannot be reconciled with portions of Scripture. Now, in the first place, it is both Scriptural and reasonable to say in an absolute sense that a man is saved by faith. Even though no passage can be found in the Bible which states that we are justified by faith without works, as opposed to faith accompanied by its proper works, yet, as faith is often put forward absolutely, in distinc- tion from some other principle, and we are said to be saved by faith and not by that other prin- ciple, it must be inferred that the essential cha- racter of faith, apart from any manifestation of it, is the saving or justifying medium. Besides, it is reasonable to say that we are saved by faith, considered singly. Works cannot be of any moment in God^s sight. If I profess friendship FAITH AND WOEKS. 9 for a man like myself, it is only right that I should prove it by my actions^ for he has no other means of judging of the reality of my friendship. Or he may stand in need of my good ofi&ces, and if I withhold them I have no claim to be called his friend. But God does not stand in need of our works, and He knows our hearts. Therefore, if we have faith, it is all that He requires : He sees it exist, and needs no proof of it. And yet it should not be said, in a universal and unqualified sense, that God does not need our good offices. Absolutely, and with regard to the possibilities of His omnipotence. He does not need them ; but relatively and instrumentally He does. He could work without means, but He chooses to work by means, and, so choosing, He Requires the pliability and willing co-operation of the instruments He adopts. His Kingship is to be made known ; His children are to be fed and instructed ; all His creatures are to be assisted ia their distress; temptations must be overcome; the poisonous weeds of falsehood and sin must be plucked forth. For all this God wants our 10 FAITH AWD WOEKS. aid. It is by deeds of charity and kindness^ by the practice of Christian virtue, by discounten- ancing evil in others and suppressing it in our- selveSj that God's providence is carried on upon earth. That starving family want meat and drink to save them from destruction. That homeless stranger is dying for the soft accents of brotherhood. In this way God Himself, in the persons of the sick, the poor, the prisoner, is in need of assistance. Good works are not the idle parade of loyalty, they are not the superfluous evidence of faith ; they are the light of a dark world, which Christians are required to hold forth ; they are the taxes by which the government of Christ's kingdom is supported. It is, however, true that God does not need the evidence or the aid of our works in connec- tion with our finding favour in His sight. Faith is all that He requires. But He requires a large and unreserved faith. He wiU not be satisfied with an indolent careless assent or a selfish de- pendence. It is evident throughout the New Testament history that the quality or disposi- FAITH AND WOEKS. ll tion which attracts the attention of Jesns varies in degree, is insufficient in its lower stages, and succeeds in gaining its end only when it reaches a certain measure of intensity. The formal pos- session of faith is not enough. The Apostles are frequently rebuked as men of " little faith " (Matt. viii. 26). Littleness of faith is in pro- portion to the admixture of doubt or double- mindedness (Matt. xiv. 31). Faith may be so adulterated that it becomes inoperative (Matt, xvii. 20, vii. 22, 23; 1 Cor. xiii. 2). It may die out (Luke viii. 13). Greater indications of faith (or indications of a greater faith) succeed, while lesser indications are unsuccessful. Jesus grants to a greater faith what He would refuse to a lesser (Matt. xv. 28).' A higher display of faith is met by a higher type of miracle (Matt. viii. 7, 10, 13). The faith, therefore, that justifies or saves must be perfect faith. An idle opinion, or a certainty that is accompanied by practical indifference, or that is encroached on or over- grown by the lusts and cares of life, will not suffice. It must be a conviction of the whole 12 FAITH KSB WOEKS. orce and importance of the truth, in all its con- sequences and duties, as well as of the truth itself. It must, in fact, be such a faith as wo^ld act if it had the opportunity. Setting aside the considera- tion, whether a man is exposed to temptation or not, the faith, in the abstract, which can save him must be such that it would protect him from it if he were. He may be poor, but it must be of such a kind as would show him to be liberal if he were rich. He may be rich, but his faith must be so strong that he shall have the spirit that befits poverty. He may be alone and ob- scure, but it must be such that if he were illus- trious and in the midst of crowds it would keep him in the path of duty. If it be such, God sees it and is satisfied. Regarded by itself, alone, ab- stractly, such faith justifies. Whether a man possessed of faith of this kind could possibly pass through life without any opportunity of manifest- ing it, is a point that is not at all necessary to be decided. Faith in its own nature is a sufficient medium of justification; only it must be full- grown and perfect faith. FAITH AND WOEKS. 13 There are two forms of expression used in reference to faith which^ by suggesting an imagi- nary difference, tend to cause, or to perpetuate and extend, grave and fundamental misconceptions on the subject. We speak sometimes of faith strong enough to produce works, and sometimes of faith of such a kind as to produce works. The two expressions mean the same identical thing. Faith differs in quantity, not in quality, — in de- gree, not in kind. The expression, " faith of such a kind," naturally suggests the idea that there are different kinds of faith, or more probably got into use from the preconceived notion that there are. The common division of faith into different kinds is in reality a division of the different kinds of persons who believe, or of the things which are believed. St. James does not distinguish the faith of devils from the faith of good men, save in degree. The whole force and appUcation of his argument would be lost if they were not the same in kind. You believe in a God, he argues, yon only go so far as devils go in this. If you would differ from them, you must go farther. 14 FAITH KHB WORKS. What is called historical faitli is ordinary faith^ described by its particular object at the time. Faitli to work miracles, or to be worked on miraculously, is ordinary faith described by its then particular work or result. Difference of circumstances in those who believe, or diflference of objects or operations on which the belief is exercised, does not imply, and cannot occasion, any difference in the original faculty of belief or faith. The only difference with regard to the faith itself in all these, and all other such oases, is difference of strength, singleness, or degree. Scripture uniformly assumes that there is only one kind of faith (Heb. xi.). Th ^one talent was of the same kind as the ten. The oil in the lamps of the foolish virgins was the same as that in the lamps of the wise: it differed only in quantity. The flame emitted by both was the same : it differed only in duration. The soil on which the com was sown was the same in all parts of the field : it differed only in that there was more or less of it for the corn to take root in. The plants that came up were the same in kind; FAITBC AND WORKS. 15 they differed only in tliat some of them had all the soil to themselves, and all the rain and sun- shine, while others shared them with stones and weeds. So faith in a good man, in a good and honest heart, is the same in kind with faith in a bad man, if he has any. In the case of the good man it possesses all, or a large portion of his heart and mind. In the case of the bad man it occupies only a small portion of his heart and mind, the remaining and far larger portion being given to the objects of sense, and to thoughts and cares of the world. If at one time I behold poverty and am moved to compassion, and re- lieve it, and if at another time I see poverty and am moved to compassion, but am prevented from relieving it by indolence or avarice, the compas- sion is essentially the same in both cases. It differs in that it is strong in one case and weak in the other. The priest and the Levite felt pity for the wounded traveller, as well as the Samaritan. It was the uneasiness of an emotion to which they did not intend to yield that drove them to the other side of the way. It was the same emotion. 16 FAITH AUD WORKS. yielded to by the Samaritan, that brought him to the side of the wounded man. St. James ob- viously implies that the only difference in faith is that sometimes it is attended by works and sometimes it is not — that is, that sometimes it is strong and effective, and sometimes weak and ineffective, or that sometimes it reigns alone and with authority in the heart, and sometimes it is driven from its throne by low and sordid interests. The objection will probably be made that St. James, in his Epistle, does not treat of saving or genuine faith, but of dead faith. It is true that he does not treat of saving or genuine faith ; but the want of genuineness and saving power lies in the absence of works, that is, in the want of strength and fiilness in the faith to influence the actions. The epithet "dead" when applied in the New Testament to an abstract faculty or principle means simply "inoperative" (Rom. vii. 8, viii. 10; James ii. 17, 20, 26). The idea that St. James is dealing in his Epistle with a differ- ent kind of faith from saving or genuine faith is thoroughly uascriptural. He deals with the only FAITH AND WORKS. 17 kind of faith ever mentioned or alluded to in Scripturej as is sufficiently apparent from the fact that he is writing to well-instructed Christians (i. 17, .18), and that all that he requires to render the faith of which he treats perfect is the addi- tion of works. If it were false faith, works could not make ii perfect. We are continually warned in Scripture to prove our faith by our works. Not a single passage can be found in which we are warned to prove our works by our faith, it being taken for granted that the faith which pro- duces works is of the right kind. There is no command, or intimation, or hint that we must substitute one kind of faith for another. There is one application of the faculty of faith that demands a special -notice. By limiting the object of faith to the death of Christ, and its end to our personal pardon, a scheme of salvation is obtainable wholly disconnected with works of righteousness. If we are instantaneously and iiTCversibly pardoned and saved by throwing ourselves upon the death of Christ, it is quite evident that the after-life, whatever it may be, c 18 FAITH AND WORKS. can have no influence on the foregone conclu- sion. Now, in order to establish this doctrine of salvation wholly independent of works, actual or implied, the death of Christ must be regarded as a bare historical fact. If its moral character be taken in, moral consequences will be involved, and the future fruits of righteousness wiU be comprehended in the idea of the faith or trust that rests on the Atonement. Therefore, in order to establish such a doctrine, the moral and spiritual bearings of the death of Christ must be shorn down until it is reduced to the hard, lifeless proportions of its material emblem, the brazen serpent that was raised in the wilder- ness, and until the saving of the soul becomes as passive and mechanical a process as the miraculous healing of the body. It is only by preventing the priuciples of moral obedience from being included in the idea of this limited faith that it can be effectually hindered from ranking amongst its consequences. The result will then be that the entire practical portion of Scripture wiU be irreparably disjoined from the FAITH AND WOKKSi 19 doctrinal, the description of a final judgment according to works wiU become an isolated and wL-olly unaccountable phenomenon^ and the one essential principle derived from Scripture will be opposed to the whole stream and current of Scripture and to the whole analogy of nature. But, in fact, the faith that is concerned with the Atonement and with personal salvation only is not a special kind of faith, but a mere limitation of the mind and conscience to a superficial and narrow view of a most pregnant subject. It is a repetition under the Christian scheme of the fatal and prevalent error of the Jews under the older dispensation, who alienated sacrifice from obedience (1 Sam. xv. 22; Hos. vi. 6; Amos V. 21-24; Micah vi. 8; Is. i. 14-17, Iviii. 6, 7; Matt. ix. 13, xii. 7). The death of Christ is never presented to us by itself for our trust or reliance. We cannot fix our attention on it alone without mutilating the personality of Jesus^ as well as the integrity of our own faculties. Faith in Christ means faith in the sum of all that He was, and did, and taught^_andLsufiered. If c2 20 FAITH AND WOEKS. we believe or trust in less, we do not exercise the whole faculty nor comprelLend tlie whole object. Such expressions as "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts xvi. 31) must be interpreted in the proper fulness of the three terms, " Believe," " Lord Jesus Christ," and " saved." " Believe " must be taken in at least that broad practical sense in which it could only have been understood by those to whom it was first addressed, accord- ing to their habits of thought and language. " Lord J esus Christ " meant a history, an exam- ple, and a body of precepts, as well as a Person or an event. " Saved " could only mean, to Christian or Pagan, redeemed from the sordid- ness of sin into the nobleness of virtue. To believe in Jesus is not to depend upon a supreme magnificent God, arrayed in the splendours of eternity, for an easy deliverance from toil and trouble, nor upon a Sacrifice whereby the favour of that great Being can be attained as by a charm ; but it is, in addition to all besides, to look up to, as our Guide and Friend, a poor, brave. FAITH AUD WOEKS. 21 righteouSj persecutedjworld-liated Man, who offers us His own example and fortunes as the wisest and happiest lot that earth affords. We cannot divorce the moral element from the faith, the life, or the salvation. Even if we concentrate our faith on the death of Christ as ordained by God, we lose that half of the lesson which throws light upon the other half, if we forget that He was slain by men because He rebuked their evil ways. We do not, in fact, believe in a cha- racterless Saviour. His character and commands are intensified on the Cross. Thence, with more emphatic voice than ever. He cries, "Take up your cross and follow me." Belief in Christ crucified is belief that the unknown and un- imaginable Majesty of Heaven and the true majesty of earth were represented by One who died on a cross. Most truly does it require a renewed heart to receive this doctrine. St. Paul always speaks of the Crucifixion as something morally affecting his life. " God forbid," he says, "that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 22 FAITH AND WORKS. the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. vi. 14). Faith in the death and atonement of Christ, apart from their moral character, is, therefore, not a distinct kind of faith, but an imperfect' stage or degree of faith. Let us enumerate the steps which we have made in our inquiry. Faith is the medium of salvation. Faith is not distinguished into dif- ferent kinds, but by different degrees. The faith that saves must be perfect in degree. Faith perfect in degree is equivalent to what is variously called strong, great, or much faith. The next step will be to ascertain what is meant by strong faith. It follows from man's mental constitution, and is seen by daily observation, that the amount of force exerted upon the con- science or reason by truth is in proportion to the fulness in which it is williugly contem- plated, and to the constancy with which it is kept present before the mind. Whatever the absolute importanpe of particular ideas may be, their relative importance, that is, their actual influence on our thoughts and conduct, is regulated pre- FAITH AND WORKS. 23 cisely by the reception we give them. The most insignificant subject^ if it impregnates our whole mental being, becomes all in all to us. Mind has the power of making the most essentially trifling fact or dogma momentous, or the most mo- mentous one trifling. The most momentous fact, if we refuse to think about it, is nothing to us, our belief in it is weak and idle. The most trifling fact, if we continually dwell upon it, is everything to us. Whatever we think most about, quite irrespective of its intrinsic worth, seems most important to us. Some ideas are fleeting and transitory : they pass, cause no effect, leave no impression. Others are lasting, perpetually recurring and forming the character, or rather constituting and being the character by their continual presence. What we think most about we mentally and morally are, and what we mentally and morally are, we say and do in our outward lives. The earth yields . figs or thistles just in proportion as it supports fig-trees or thistle-trees. The actions of men are good or bad just in proportion as they render 24 FAITH AND WORKS. themselves good or bad by choosing and che- rishing good or bad thoughts and principles. Men have favourite ruling ideas. It does not so much matter, as to the effect produced, what the ideas are, as how much we cherish and encourage them. Many a man is governed all his life by an idea which to all others appears unworthy of a moment's serious consideration. But, trifling and weak as it seems to others, it is powerful to him who entertains it, because all the strength of his nature is imparted to it. Every truth and every falsehood has a certain inherent moral direction belonging to it which it communicates to the mind that is identified with it. This direction the mind, by its living power, transmutes into motion. There are some truths whose direction is more in agreement with the structural and constitutional tendencies of the mind than that of others. These as they fall in with and recreate the original disposition, wiU strengthen it, bring it forth into action, and increase their influence by repetition. There are also falsehoods whose tendency is in unison FAITH AND WOEKS. 25 with, the implanted evil bias of tlie mindj and they also develope into acts and grow more powerful as they are repeated in practice. But there are again fragmentary views of truth, facts torn from tlieir moral sources and connections, one-sided representations, which, address them- selves to the emotions and the imagination, and because of th.eir disconnection with fundamental innate principles are weakened by repetition, or occupy the attention without ever influencing the conduct. The deep-rooted eternal practical principles of .Christianity, of which all its facts are instances, of which its most awful central fact is the imprinting afresh its original noble- ness on human nature by God's own hand, of which all its precepts are imperfect utterances — the principles of judgment, mercy, and faith — constitute the mind that receives and keeps them perpetually and prominently in its consciousness a mind of strong faith or of much faith. The mind that seldom contemplates them, or fills their place with distorted shadows of them, or with appeals to passion or to sense, or with idle for- 26 FAITH AHD WORKS. mal obedience to liunian commands^ is a mind of weak faith or of little faith. Weak faith or little faith means true Christian doctrine little or seldom thought about; true Christian doctrine much or contiuually thought about is strong faith. This is the faith that is the actual me- dium of salvation. If a faith abiding and potential be that which is indispensable to the salvation of man, we might expect that the necessity for it would be very strongly inculcated, and that the de- scription of it would form a prominent and constantly-recurring topic in the teaching of Christ and His Apostles. But how can faith be described ? How can its different degrees be distinguished and separately held up to notice ? Even if there were various kinds of faith, how would it be possible to discriminate them by any intrinsic and essential marks ? We can- not explain motives or feelings in themselves. The faintest joy or sadness could not be made known in distinction from the most violent and strongest by any description of the mere feeUngs. FAITH AND WOEKS. 27 We can distinguish them and their degrees only by the effects which they produce. The breeze and the storm possess no internally distinctive qualities by which their difference can be ex- plained. If we wished to describe them, we should say that the one rustled the leaves or fanned the cheek, while the other tore down the monarchs of the forest, and lined the shore with wrecks. There is no conceivable way of showing the difference,, save by pointing to the different results. The wind blows, and we hear the soimd thereof. If we did not hear the sound, we should not know of its existence. With the effects produced our knowledge begins and ends. So it is with all spiritual emotions and princi- ples ; we know of them only by their effects. I may feel an emotion of pity so weak and feeble that caprice or selfishness prevents its acting, and so hides its existence from the observer; or I may feel it in so strong a degree as to deny myself in order to relieve the object of it, and thus manifest it to the world. It would be impossible to distinguish one from the other 28 FAITH AND WOEKS. except by referring to tlie outward visible results. So the love of God and of Christ may be so feeble that it falls before the least temptation, or so strong that it animates every action. So faith may be so cowardly and so partial that each form of worldliness triumphs over it, or it may become so mighty in its fulness, and so plant itself on the eternal verities of heaven re- produced in the human soul, that it overcomes the world in its most seductive form. In all these cases the only mode of distinguishing is by the consequences, the visible tangible results. In this manner the Bible describes perfect, saving faith to us. In this way works are necessary, that it may be known that we have perfect faith. Faith is aU that God demands from us, but it must be perfect faith, and we could not know what perfect faith meant unless it were described by its effects. This manner of iudicating true faith is only one phase of the general method of the new covenant. Law had failed in two directions : it had neither instilled the right principle, nor produced the FAITH AND WOEKS. 29 right conduct. The Gospel aims at instilling the right principle as its main object^ and; as the only- means — the only means intelligible to us and appealing to our reasoUj not denying but taking for granted the secret, inward, spiritual process which God conducts — of doing this efficiently, it describes and demands the right conduct. The reason of this is plain when we remember that the name of any mental quality or motive is a word conventionally representiug certain actions, together with the habit of mind which produces them, and that the actions are the only intelU- gible part of the definition. If the virtues by which Jesus wished His people to be distinguished were taught to them by their current names only, His teaching would be liable to all the ambi- guities of language which degeneracy of morals invariably either follows from or introduces. Words are subject to the same kind of abuse and depravation as law. Their meaning may be frittered away by subtlety, or lost in vague gene- ralities, exploded in idle sentiment, or evaded by trivial performances. Such names of principles 30 PAITH AND WOEES. as friendsliip, patriotism, magnanimity, and all terms, in fact, -whicli aspire at expressing tlie inward glow that accompanies a lofty thought, whose sense, in consequence, is in danger of evaporating into sound, and whose utterance is to some extent a waste of the emotion, and may possibly be regarded as a compensation for the absence of the practice, are omitted in the teach- ing of Jesus and His disciples, and in their place we have only an account of the sober deeds that testify to the existence of the principles them- selves in the hearts of the doers. The fate of the only rhetorical word which the translators of our English Bible needlessly imported in order to give greater distinction to a simple enumeration of the daily duties that love inspires might be sufficient to prove the wisdom of this rule (1 Cor. xiii.). Jesus has, therefore left the qualities that mark His followers, represented, not by an ambi- tious terminology, but by the abiding features of nature and by His own example. He describes the quality by the one unchanging and infallible test of its existence, its strength, and its purity. FAITH AND WOEKS. 31 — action. The character which He wished to impress on His disciples He illustrated by pointing out to them the practice or attitude of some class or object for their imitation. Trust in God for the necessaries of life He exemplified by the lilies of the fieldj and the fowls of the air. Docility and innocence He instanced by the demeanour of children. To show to what extent Christians of all ranks should minister to each other. He washed His disciples' feet. He expressly recorded the universal lesson that the goodness or badness of the heart can be known only by the goodness or badness of the outward life. But a good heart in the Christian idea is not merely a heart free from evil habitSj nor one acquainted with the truths of religion, but a heart thoroughly impregnated with those truths to the exclusion of all beside. When, therefore, we are taught to know the tree by its fruits, the meaning is that we are to know perfect faith by its works, perfect faith being not pure doctrines only, but pure doctrines em- braced with the whole heart and mind. John the Baptist described repentance by its fruits. 32 FAITH AND WOEKS- St. Paul proved tte superiority of his ministry, that isj the greatness of his faith, by his labours and sufferings (2 Cor. xi. 28). The account given of faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews (xi.) first adverts in figurative language to the sub- jective certainty of the mind engrossed with the truths of revelation, and then describes this con- dition by its appropriate achievements. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, in various ways proved the faith that was in them by their obedience. " These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and con- fessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country." Their rejec- tion of this world proved the largeness of their yearning for the invisible, their works proved the fulness of their faith. St. Paul's description of love (1 Cor. xiii.) is a more delicate and searching application of the same test. The objective accomplishments of eloquence, prophecy, know- ledge, faith, and zeal are contrasted with the FAITH AND WORKS. 33 subjective condition of tlie mind wholly surren- dered in all its thoughts, feelings, and affections to righteousness, and manifesting itself in those unsuspicious, uncensorious, unselfish dispositions which, so far as they prevail, sweeten the inter- course of life. Showy and official acts are not so certain a proof of perfect pervasive faith as those minute courtesies of religion which flow forth with the ease and constancy of nature, and tell that the whole fountain of the heart is softened and purified. The ever-repeated enforcement of good works, therefore, which we find in Scripture, must be understood as the Divine plan- for en- abling believers to know with certainty whether they are keeping the true objects of faith, as re- vealed by Jesus, before their minds constantly and with singleness of aim. " Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will hken him unto a wise man which built his house on a rock " (Matt. vii. 24) . " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them" (John xiii. 17). " Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a D 34 FAITH AND WOEKS. hearer of theword, and not a doer, lie is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass : for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty^ and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's rehgion is vaia. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this. To visit the- fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world " (James i. 22-27). St. James, the principal object of whose Epistle is to distinguish weak, transient, mixed faith from faith strong, constant, and pure (i. 2-8), has . no other mode of indicating the latter than by the works which it does, and he ascribes the deficiency of the former to superficial views of truth. The unworking believer is such because the objects of faith take but a slight hold on his mind. But he who pierces into the depths, FAITH AND WOEKS. 85 and imbibes tbe principle^ of God's law, that prin- ciple in the light of which all earthly laws vanish, and which is therefore freedom, and who con- tinues in it, will become a doer of the work. " My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him. Sit thou here in a good place ; and say to the poor. Stand thou there, or sit here un- der my footstool : are ye not then partial in your- selves, and are become judges of evil thoughts ? Hearken, my beloved brethren. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him ? But ye have despised the poor. . . . If ye have respect to persons, ye com- mit sin, and are convinced of the law as trans- gressors. . . . What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works ? can faith save him ? If a brother or d2 36 FAITH AND WOEKS. sister be naked^ and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them. Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled ; notwiths'tanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body ; what doth it profit ? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.* Yea, a man may S9.y, Thou hast faith, and I have works : show me * Alford translates vexpd naff iavriiv " dead in itself," a turn' of thought which cannot possibly be made to fit in with the line of argument. The Apostle's position is, that faith without works is unprofitable. He tates as an illustration words of kindness and goodwill, indispensably good in themselTCS, so far as they go, and asks what would they profit to a needy person if un- accompanied by deeds of charity ? So, he argues, faith, if it have not works, is dead or unprofitable ; and then, guarding against the inference which might be drawn if the word were left un- quahfied, that such faith is absolutely dead, he adds "by itself," " in its singleness." The remark may also be ventured that neither by the inherent force of the words, nor by common usage, does the expression xaff kiuiT6 mean " in itself." In a philosophical treatise it might, perhaps, be casually used to express such an idea. (Though compare Plato, Theaetet. p. 251, Teub. Lips.) The following passages are the result of a few hours' reading in a single volume of a single author, and will show the popular meaning of the expression : — Ta tudria SokiT 6epiMlv€ii/ -rhv &v6piinrov, ouk oura 8^ ttov dep/xaivovTa Kal irpoir- ^iKKovTO, tV 9spit.irr]Ta.- ko9' eourb "^hp cKaaroi/ avTuiii \fivxpiy idTW. . . . T6 Se ^Se'ws (-^v KaX iKapSos ouk ^laee'i/ iCTui, aWa ravvavriov 6 Mpmros rois irep\ civrhv irpdypLaaiv rjSov^v Kal X'^P'" SuTwep iic vrryrjs toB ^Bovs, irpoaTiBriaiv. (Plut. de Yirt. et Vit 1.) FAITH AUD WOEKS. 37 thj faith without thy works, and I will show thee iny faith hy my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, vain man, that faith without works is dead ? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness : and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Eahab .the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body OuK &yvou 5e, Htl Kal Sici kSttovs irvpeTTOvffLv &v6puvotf Kol Si' iyKaiireis Kal Silt irepiifii^fis. 'AXA' S>