Part 16 (2/2)

”There is no such thing as previous merit,” said No. 1; ”all is of grace.”

”Not merit, I know,” said Charles, ”but”----

”We must not bring in the doctrine of _de condigno_ or _de congruo_,”

said No. 2.

”But surely,” said Charles, ”it is a cruel thing to say to the unlearned and the mult.i.tude, 'Believe, and you are at once saved; do not wait for fruits, rejoice at once,' and neither to accompany this announcement by any clear description of what faith is, nor to secure them by previous religious training against self-deception!”

”That is the very gloriousness of the doctrine,” said Freeborn, ”that it is preached to the worst of mankind. It says, 'Come as you are; don't attempt to make yourselves better. Believe that salvation is yours, and it is yours: good works follow after.'”

”On the contrary,” said Charles, continuing his argument, ”when it is said that justification follows upon baptism, we have an intelligible something pointed out, which every one can ascertain. Baptism is an external unequivocal token; whereas that a man has this secret feeling called faith, no one but himself can be a witness, and he is not an unbia.s.sed one.”

Reding had at length succeeded in throwing that dull tea-table into a state of great excitement. ”My dear friend,” said Freeborn, ”I had hoped better things; in a little while, I hope, you will see things differently. Baptism is an outward rite; what is there, can there be, spiritual, holy, or heavenly in baptism?”

”But you tell me faith too is not spiritual,” said Charles.

”_I_ tell you!” cried Freeborn, ”when?”

”Well,” said Charles, somewhat puzzled, ”at least you do not think it holy.”

Freeborn was puzzled in his turn.

”If it is holy,” continued Charles, ”it has something good in it; it has some worth; it is not filthy rags. All the good comes afterwards, you said. You said that its fruits were holy, but that it was nothing at all itself.”

There was a momentary silence, and some agitation of thought.

”Oh, faith is certainly a holy feeling,” said No. 1.

”No, it is spiritual, but not holy,” said No. 2; ”it is a mere act, the apprehension of Christ's merits.”

”It is seated in the affections,” said No. 3; ”faith is a feeling of the heart; it is trust, it is a belief that Christ is _my_ Saviour; all this is distinct from holiness. Holiness introduces self-righteousness. Faith is peace and joy, but it is not holiness. Holiness comes after.”

”Nothing can cause holiness but what is holy; this is a sort of axiom,”

said Charles; ”if the fruits are holy, faith, which is the root, is holy.”

”You might as well say that the root of a rose is red, and of a lily white,” said No. 3.

”Pardon me, Reding,” said Freeborn, ”it is, as my friend says, an _apprehension_. An apprehension is a seizing; there is no more holiness in justifying faith, than in the hand's seizing a substance which comes in its way. This is Luther's great doctrine in his 'Commentary' on the Galatians. It is nothing in itself--it is a mere instrument; this is what he teaches, when he so vehemently resists the notion of justifying faith being accompanied by love.”

”I cannot a.s.sent to that doctrine,” said No. 1; ”it may be true in a certain sense, but it throws stumbling-blocks in the way of seekers.

Luther could not have meant what you say, I am convinced. Justifying faith is always accompanied by love.”

”That is what I thought,” said Charles.

”That is the Romish doctrine all over,” said No. 2; ”it is the doctrine of Bull and Taylor.”

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