N03467:165
Discourses on various important subjects, nearly concerning the great affair of the soul's eternal…
Discourses on various important subjects, nearly concerning the great affair of the soul's eternal salvation, viz. I. Justification by faith alone. II. Pressing into the Kingdom of God. III. Ruth's resolution. IV. The justice of God in the damnation of sinners. V. The excellency of Jesus Christ. : Delivered at Northampton, chiefly at the time of the late wonderful pouring out of the spirit of God there. / By Jonathan Edwards, A.M. Pastor of the Church of Christ in Northampton. ; [Three lines from Deuteronomy]
Boston: printed by S. Kneeland and T. Green, 1738
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Indeed, neither Salvation it self, nor Christ the Saviour, are given as a Reward of any Thing in Man: They are not given as a Reward of Faith, nor any Thing else of ours: W• are not united to Christ as a Reward of our Faith, but have Union with him by Faith, only as Faith is the very Act of uniting, or closing on our Part. ⟨p. 75⟩As when a Man offers himself to a Woman in Marriage, he don't give himself to her as a Reward of her receiving him in Marriage: Her receiving him is not considered as a worthy Deed in her, for which he rewards her▪ by giving himself to her; but 'tis by her receiving him, that the Union is made, by which she hath him for her Husband: 'Tis on her Part the Unition it self.—By these Things it appears how contrary to the Scheme of the Gospel of Christ, their Scheme is, who say that Faith justifies as a 'Principle of Obedience, or as a leading Act of Obedience; or (as others) the Sum, and Comprehension of all evangelical Obedience: For by this 'tis the Obedience or Virtue that is in Faith, that is the Thing, that gives it its justifying Influence; and that is the same thing as to say, that we are justified by our own Obedience, Virtue or Goodness.
Indeed, neither Salvation it self, nor Christ the Saviour, are given as a Reward of any Thing in Man: They are not given as a Reward of Faith, nor any Thing else of ours: W• are not united to Christ as a Reward of our Faith, but have Union with him by Faith, only as Faith is the very Act of uniting, or closing on our Part. ⟨p. 75⟩As when a Man offers himself to a Woman in Marriage, he don't give himself to her as a Reward of her receiving him in Marriage: Her receiving him is not consider'd as a worthy Deed in her, for which he rewards her▪ by giving himself to her; but 'tis by her receiving him, that the Union is made, by which she hath him for her Husband: 'Tis on her Part the Unition it self.—By these Things it appears how contrary to the Scheme of the Gospel of Christ, their Scheme is, who say that Faith justifies as a 'Principle of Obedience, or as a leading Act of Obedience; or (as others) the Sum, and Comprehension of all evangelical Obedience: For by this 'tis the Obedience or Virtue that is in Faith, that is the Thing, that gives it its justifying Influence; and that is the same thing as to say, that we are justified by our own Obedience, Virtue or Goodness.