IX. Natural and governmental consequences of both faith and unbelief
By natural consequences are intended consequences that flow from the constitution and laws of mind by a natural necessity. By governmental consequences are intended those that result from the constitution, laws, and administration of moral government.
1. One of the natural consequences of faith is peace of conscience. When the will receives the truth and yields itself up to conformity to it, the conscience is satisfied with its present attitude, and the man becomes at peace with himself. The soul is then in a state to really respect itself, and can as it were behold its own face without a blush. But faith in truth perceived, is the unalterable condition of a man's being at peace with himself.
A governmental consequence of faith is peace with God:
(1.) In the sense that God is satisfied with the present obedience of the soul. It is given up to be influenced by all truth, and this is comprehensive of all duty. Of course God is at peace with the soul so far as its present obedience is concerned.
(2.) Faith governmentally results in peace with God in the sense of being a condition of pardon and acceptance. That is, the penalty of the law for past sins, is remitted upon condition of true faith in Christ. The soul not only needs present and future obedience as a necessary condition of peace with self; but it also needs pardon and acceptance on the part of the government for past sins as a condition of peace with God. But since the subject of justification or acceptance with God is to come up as a distinct subject for consideration, I will not enlarge upon it here.
2. Self-condemnation is one of the natural consequences of unbelief. Such are the constitution and laws of mind, that it is naturally impossible for the mind to justify the heart's rejection of truth. On the contrary, the conscience necessarily condemns such rejection and pronounces judgment against it.
Legal condemnation is a necessary governmental consequence of unbelief. No just government can justify the rejection of known truth. But on the contrary all just governments must utterly abhor and condemn the rejection of truths and especially those truths that relate to the obedience of the subject, and the highest well-being of the rulers and ruled. The government of God must condemn and utterly abhor all unbelief, as a rejection of those truths that are indispensable to the highest well-being of the universe.
3. A holy or obedient life results from faith by a natural or necessary law. Faith is an act of will which controls the life by a law of necessity. It follows that when the heart receives or obeys the truth, the outward life must be conformed to it, of course.
4. A disobedient and unholy life results from unbelief also by a law of necessity. If the heart rejects the truth, the life will not be conformed to it of course.
5. Faith will develop every form of virtue in the heart and life as their occasions shall arise. It consists in the committing of the will to truth and to the God of truth. Of course as different occasions arise, faith will secure conformity to all truth on all subjects, and then every modification of virtue will exist in the heart and appear in the life as circumstances in the providence of God shall develop them.
6. Unbelief may be expected to develop resistance to all truth upon all subjects that conflict with selfishness; and hence nothing but selfishness in some form can restrain its appearing in any other and every other form possible or conceivable. It consists, be it remembered, in the heart's rejection of truth and of course implies the cleaving to error. The natural result of this must be the development in the heart and the appearance in the life of every form of selfishness that is not prevented by some other form. For example, avarice may restrain amativeness, intemperance, and many other forms of selfishness.
7. Faith governmentally results in obtaining help of God. God may and does gratuitously help those who have no faith. But this is not a governmental result or act in God. But to the obedient He extends his governmental protection and aid.
8. Faith is a necessary condition of, and naturally results in heart-obedience to the commandments of God. Without confidence in a governor, it is impossible honestly to give up the whole being in obedience to him. But implicit and universal faith must result in implicit and universal obedience.
9. Unbelief naturally because necessarily results in heart-disobedience to God.
10. Faith naturally and necessarily results in all those lovely and delightful emotions and states of feeling of which they are conscious whose hearts have embraced Christ. I mean all those emotions that are naturally connected with the action of the will and naturally result from believing the blessed truths of the gospel.
11. Unbelief naturally results in those emotions of remorse, regret, and of pain and agony which are the frequent experience of the unbeliever.
12. Faith lets God into the soul to dwell and reign there. Faith receives not only the atonement and mediatorial work of Christ as a redeemer from punishment, but it also receives Christ as king to set up his throne and reign in the heart. Faith secures to the soul communion with God.
13. Unbelief shuts God out of the soul in the sense of refusing his reign in the heart.
It also shuts the soul out from an interest in his mediatorial work. This results not from an arbitrary appointment, but is a natural consequence. Unbelief shuts the soul out from communion with God.
These are hints at some of the natural and governmental consequences of Faith and Unbelief. They are designed not to exhaust the subject, but merely to call attention to topics which any one who desires may pursue at his pleasure. It should be here remarked that none of the ways, commandments, or appointments of God are arbitrary. Faith is a naturally indispensable condition of salvation, which is the reason of its being made a governmental condition. Unbelief renders salvation naturally impossible: it must therefore render it governmentally impossible.
No comments:
Post a Comment