IGNORANT, alas, on the side of that which God taught—being ignorant of God’s righteousness, they sought to establish their own righteousness.
“Secret things,” the lawgiver had said, “belong to our God;” that is to say, the law was given as a condition to the enjoyment of the blessing; but what God might do in grace, under the consequences of a broken law, remained in the secrecy of His supreme will. Upon this another principle is distinctly revealed, namely, that when the fulfillment of the taw was impossible, then, if the heart turned to God, He would accept. It was no longer the law, it was faith. If so, it is Christ who is its object. The testimony of God was the hope when all was ruined.
The word of faith as being the hope was that which Paul announced, that if any one confessed with his mouth the Lord Jesus, and believed in his heart that God had raised Him from the dead, he should be saved. Precious, simple, and positive assertion! borne out, if it were needed, by the Old Testament, “Whosoever believeth in Him shall not be ashamed.” The words heart and mouth, are in contrast with the law.
Observe it does not say, if you love in your heart, or if your heart is what it ought to be towards God, but, “if you believe in your heart.” A man believes with his heart when he really believes with a heart interested in the thing. His affections being engaged in the truth, he desires, when grace is spoken of, that that which is told him should be the truth. He desires the thing, and at the same time he does not doubt it. It is not his having part in it that he believes, but in the truth of the thing itself, being concerned in it as important to himself. It is not the state of his affections, a very serious consideration in its place, but the importance and the truth of that which is presented, its importance to himself, as needing it for his salvation, a salvation that he is conscious of needing, that he cannot do without, a truth of which he is assured, as a testimony from God Himself. God affirms to such a one that salvation belongs to him, but it is not that which he has to believe in as the object of faith; it is that of which God assures every one that believes.
This faith is manifested by the confession of the name of Christ. The faith of the heart produces the confession of the mouth. It is to say that Christ has conquered. It is a confession that brings in God, in answer to the name of Jesus. He believes in Christ unto salvation, he has the faith that justifies.
The human heart perplexes itself so much the more because it is sincere, so long as there is any unbelief and self-righteousness remaining. It is impossible that an awakened soul should not feel the necessity of having the heart set right and turned to God, and hence he thinks to make the favor of God depend on the state of his own affections, whereas God loves us while we are yet sinners. The state of our affection is of all importance, but it supposes a relationship already existing. God’s love has done something, according to our necessities, and according to the divine glory. It has given Jesus, and Jesus has accomplished what was required in order that we might participate in divine righteousness, and thus He has placed every one who, acknowledging that he is a lost sinner, believes in Him, in the secure relationship of a child, and of a justified soul before God, according to the perfection of the work of Christ. Salvation belongs to this soul according to the declaration of God Himself: loved with such love, saved by such grace, enjoying such favor, let it cultivate affections suitable to the gift of Jesus, and to the knowledge of Him and of His goodness. J. N. D.