The Being and Providence of One Living God, holy, gracious, merciful,
the creator and preserver of all things, and a father of the
righteous; the Moral Law in its[84] utmost height, breadth, and
purity, a State of Retribution after Death; the[85] Resurrection of
the Dead; and a Day of Judgment--all these were known and received by
the Jewish people, as established articles of the national faith, at
or before the proclaiming of Christ by the Baptist. They are the
ground-work of Christianity, and essentials in the Christian Faith,
but not its characteristic and peculiar Doctrines: except indeed as
they are confirmed, enlivened, realized and brought home to the _whole
being_ of man, head, heart, and spirit, by the truths and influences
of the Gospel.
* * * * *
Peculiar to Christianity are:
I. The belief that a Means of Salvation has been effected and provided
for the human race by the incarnation of the Son of God in the person
of Jesus Christ; and that his life on earth, his sufferings, death,
and resurrection, are not only proofs and manifestations, but likewise
essential and effective parts of the great redemptive Act, whereby
also the Obstacle from the corruption of our Nature is rendered no
longer insurmountable.
II. The belief in the possible appropriation of this benefit by
Repentance and Faith, including the aids that render an effective
faith and repentance themselves possible.
III. The belief in the reception (by as many as _shall be heirs of
salvation_) of a living and spiritual principle, a seed of life
capable of surviving this natural life, and of existing in a divine
and immortal state.
IV. The belief in the awakening of the spirit[86] in them that truly
believe, and in the communion of the spirit, thus awakened, with the
Holy Spirit.
V. The belief in the accompanying and consequent gifts, graces,
comforts, and privileges of the Spirit, which acting primarily on the
heart and will, cannot but manifest themselves in suitable works of
love and obedience, that is, in right acts with right affections, from
right principles.
VI. Further, as Christians we are taught, that these WORKS are the
appointed signs and evidences of our FAITH; and that, under limitation
of the power, the means, and the opportunities afforded us
individually, they are the rule and measure, by which we are bound and
enabled to judge, of _what spirit we are_.
VII. All these, together with the doctrine of the Fathers
re-proclaimed in the everlasting Gospel, we receive in the full
assurance, that God beholds and will finally judge us with a merciful
consideration of our infirmities, a gracious acceptance of our sincere
though imperfect strivings, a forgiveness of our defects through the
mediation, and a completion of our deficiencies by the perfect
righteousness, of the Man Christ Jesus, even the Word that was in the
beginning with God, and who, being God, became Man for the redemption
of Mankind.