N03467:248
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.
And the Reason may be plain from what has been said. We need not wonder that that in Faith, that especially respects Sin, should be especially the Condition of Remission of Sins; or that this Motion, or Exercise of the Soul, as it rejects and flies from Evil, and embraces Christ as a Saviour from it, should especially be the Condition of being free from that Evil; in like manner as the same Principle or Motion, as it seeks good, and cleaves to Christ as the Procurer of that Good, should be the Condition of obtaining that Good. Faith with Respect to Good is accepting, and with Respect to Evil it is rejecting; ⟨p. 114⟩Yea this rejecting Evil, is it self an Act of Acceptance; 'tis accepting Freedom or Separation from that Evil; and this Freedom or Separation is the Benefit bestowed in Remission. No Wonder that that in Faith which immediately respects this Benefit, and is our Acceptance of this Benefit, should be the special Condition of our having it: 'Tis so with Respect to all the Benefits that Christ has purchased. Trusting in God through Christ for such a particular Benefit that we need, is the special Condition of obtaining that Benefit. When we need Protection from Enemies, the Exercise of Faith with Respect to such a Benefit, or trusting in Christ for Protection from Enemies, is especially the Way to obtain that particular Benefit, rather than trusting in Christ for something else; and so of any other Benefit that might be mentioned. So Prayer, (which is the Expression of Faith) for a particular Mercy needed, is especially the Way to obtain that Mercy.*
And the Reason may be plain from what has been said. We need not wonder that that in Faith, that especially respects Sin, should be especially the Condition of Remission of Sins; or that this Motion, or Exercise of the Soul, as it rejects and flies from Evil, and embraces Christ as a Saviour from it, should especially be the Condition of being free from that Evil; in like manner as the same Principle or Motion, as it seeks good, and cleaves to Christ as the Procurer of that Good, should be the Condition of obtaining that Good. Faith with Respect to Good is accepting, and with Respect to Evil it is rejecting; ⟨p. 114⟩Yea this rejecting Evil, is it self an Act of Acceptance; 'tis accepting Freedom or Seperation from that Evil; and this Freedom or Seperation is the Benefit bestowed in Remission. No Wonder that that in Faith which immediately respects this Benefit, and is our Acceptance of this Benefit, should be the special Condition of our having it: 'Tis so with Respect to all the Benefits that Christ has purchased. Trusting in God through Christ for such a particular Benefit that we need, is the special Condition of obtaining that Benefit. When we need Protection from Enemies, the Exercise of Faith with Respect to such a Benefit, or trusting in Christ for Protection from Enemies, is especially the Way to obtain that particular Benefit, rather than trusting in Christ for something else; and so of any other Benefit that might be mentioned. So Prayer, (which is the Expression of Faith) for a particular Mercy needed, is especially the Way to obtain that Mercy.