Precious faith considered in its nature, working, and growth

The first thing is, in general faith is a grace of the holy Spirit. The famous St. Austin once let drop a strange word: It is said (saith he) God worketh all in all, but not, he believeth all in all; therefore, that we believe, is our own, but that we work good, it is Gods, who giveth the holy Spirit to believers; but the good man soon called it back again,¹ Profec•o non dicerem, truly I should not have said it, if I had then known faith to be the gift of God. The Pelagians of old understood by grace only, their own freewill, and the Gospel-doctrine; hence that impious saying of theirs refuted by St. Austin, à Deo habemus, quòd homines sumus, à nobis ipsis, quòd justi sumus: faith with them was but the issue of their own free-will, and it is no other with the Socinians. Peccatum originis (saith the Racovian Catechism) nullum p•orsus est, quare ⟨p. 7⟩nec liberum arbitrium vitiare potuit, there was not so much as a bruise of free-will in the fall; we have a free power of our own to believe, but what saith the Scripture? Unto you [Greek or Hebrew] it is gratuitously given to believe, Phil. 1.29. and faith is called the Spirit of Faith, 2 Cor. 4.13. because it is not from our own spirit; and in express terms, the grace of God, Acts 11.23. it lodges in mans heart, as a beam of that eternal grace which is in Gods: and to make this clear I shall offer three things.

The first thing is, in generall faith is a grace of the holy Spirit. The famous St. Austin once let drop a strange word: It is said (saith he) God worketh all in all, but not, he believeth all in all; therefore, that we believe, is our own, but that we work good, it is Gods, who giveth the holy Spirit to believers; but the good man soon called it back again,¹ Profec•o non dicerem, truly I should not have said it, if I had then known faith to be the gift of God. The Pelagians of old understood by grace only, their own freewill, and the Gospel-doctrine; hence that impious saying of theirs refuted by St. Austin, à Deo habemus, quòd homines sumus, à nobis ipsis, quòd justi sumus: faith with them was but the issue of their own free-will, and it is no other with the Socinians. Peccatum originis (saith the Racovian Catechism) nullum porsus est, quare