ABRAHAM'S FAITH.

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him?" The stress of the question rests on, which is not translated. He says, moreover, that faith without works is dead," being alone;" and this is the very doctrine which is constantly and strenuously inculcated by the Apostle Paul. But then it is added, (verse 24,) "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." I grant that if Paul and James are speaking of the same thing, viewed in the same light, it is impossible that their testimony can be reconciled. The former, in the most peremptory terms, again and again excludes the works of the law (springing from whatever source,) from the cause of our justification, declaring, most emphatically, that "by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified," Rom. iii. 20. What shall we say to these things? Look at the illustration which James brings forward. Exercise your common sense on the passage just as you would in studying any uninspired book. In what sense was Abraham justified by works, when he offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Was it by the merit of that transaction that his guilty soul was pardoned and accepted by God? By no means. If you read the history you will find that this proceeding was required by Jehovah not for the justification of his soul, but the trial of his faith. His justification had taken

place many years before, when he was called out of his country, and obeyed-not knowing whither he went. Even when God appointed circumcision, twenty-five years before the offering of Isaac, he received in this rite "a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed to them also," Rom. iv. 11. Thus Abraham had been long justified, and that by a righteousness not personal, but imputed the "righteousness of God"-which is by faith. What, then, is the meaning of the Apostle James? Why, if he speaks of justification as in the sight of God, as a change of state, a change from condemnation to reconciliation, in that case he teaches that this change is not effected by the sort of faith of which the Antinomians of his day boasteda faith cold, inactive, inoperative, dead-a faith which was "alone," unaccompanied by works, naked as a barren tree, and motionless as a corpse-neither arousing the feelings, nor stimulating the conduct, nor transforming the character-by such a faith no man ever has been, and no man ever will be justified.

But, as it was the faith of Abraham that was put to the test on the interesting occasion alluded

JUSTIFYING FAITH.

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to by James, and as his ready obedience furnished an illustration and justification of his character as a believer not to enlighten the infinite mind of God, of course, but to edify his people in all ages

so, in this sense, before his fellow-men, no person is justified by saying he has faith, while he can exhibit no fruit on the tree, no vital motion in the body, no stream issuing from the fountain. For how can he meet the challenge of the Apostle, and show his faith without his works? As well might he think of shewing the sun without its light.

Thus, my dear Friend, I trust you see that the two Apostles are in harmony. Truth is one. There is no discordance in the principles of revelation. For holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and that blessed teacher cannot contradict himself. You also perceive that genuine faith works by love-love to God and man. "We are not our own," says the sacred writer, "we are bought with a price; therefore, let us glorify God in our bodies and our spirits which are his." "The love of Christ constraineth us, for we thus judge, that if ONE died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died and rose again." It is by drawing down on

the soul from the cross of Christ this sacred, self-mortifying and sanctifying influence, that faith "purifieth the heart" and "overcometh the world." May I not, now, confidently put the triumphant question of the Apostle. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law," Rom iii. 31.

PENANCE.

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LETTER XI.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

IF the brief, and necessarily imperfect, illustrations of the Atonement and Justification given in my last letter be correct, then the Roman Catholic doctrine of Penance must be false; and the practices which it enforces must be not only useless to the sinner, but highly offensive to God. Thus have I been striking the tree of Human Merit at the root. If I have succeeded in felling it, as I trust I have, then all its various wide-spreading branches, and the unclean birds that nestled in them, must come down, crashing and screaming, to the ground.

For what purpose does a man perform penance? Is it not to atone for his sins? You say not for his mortal sins, but for venial; and for the temporal punishment which remains due for mortal sins, after the eternal punishment is remitted at the confessional.

You will permit me to refer you to your Catechism on this subject:

Q. What is the fifth thing necessary for the sacrament of Penance?

L