Glorious Mystery - Chapter 10

Here we are dealing with the "principle and spring" (p. 120) of assigning the divine honour to Jesus Christ - faith in him. In the Old Testament this was also the case, not just faith in God generally, but with respect to Christ. Here are some truths of that:

1. Genesis 3:15 - this verse conatins and expresses: "the only means of delivery from that apostasy from God"

2. The person of Christ was this "seed of woman" and this cannot be argued against, but some have tried in two ways. a) In Gen. 3:15 we hear only of a natural hostility between men and snakes in general - but not even Jews are guilty of this error who read it to refer to the Messiah! If it was only about a rule of nature and not a prohecy God would have given man no relief from the darkness into which they had just fallen. b) In Gen. 3:15 we hear of another way of salvation proposed to that of one in Christ. But if this is true, God has promised to send someone who is not Christ and so who must be rejected.

3. By the expiatory sacrifices established in the Old Testament. But some will argue these sacrifices were the inventions of men - not so, for: a) otherwise all the form of acceptable religion was from the will of man. b) All expiation sacrifices were foreshadowig the death of Christ - on which they all depended.

4. Our first parents believed in the promise of salvation through God's promise (Abel, enoch, Noah etc.). If you reject this message (and think it could be found in nature) you must prove three things. a) that there is another way of salvation. b) that men could find it without suernatural guidance. c) that you can participate in the BENEFITS of this promise without fulfiiling the obligations of it.

5. People (Enoch and Noah are mentioned) declared the promise of God to be true as they practiced expiatory sacrifices (Luke 1:70).

6. All other promises God gave afer gen. 3:15 were given to declare and confirm this promise: "or the way of salvation by the mediation of his Son" (p. 124).

7. Those who rejected the promise in Gen. 3:15 in the Old Testament: "were in no better condition than those have been, or would be, who have so fallen off or should so apostatize from Christian religion after its religion and profession."

8. Two things are evident from these considerations: a) No one could be saved any other way than by Jesus Christ, as was made known in Gen 3:15. b) faith in Christ was required from the entrance of sin into the world.

In Jesus' incarnation faith in him "is far more evidently and manifestly revealed and required." (p. 126) And this is the beginning of all divine honour and worship of Christ. This is our duty such that our eternal state rests on our believing or non-believing. It is heinous a crime to believe that to believe in Christ is just to believe the doctrine of the gospel, as if it was not expedient that he should be believed on before the age of the gospel. We are not only "to assent unto the truth of the doctrine revealed by him, but also to place our trust and confidence in him for mercy, relief and protection - for righteousness, life and salvation - for a blessed ressurection and eternal reward." (p. 127).

Proved by the our faith being called to be '"in him" or "on his name"' (p. 127) We are called to believe the doctrines revealed by Paul but not to believe in Paul as we are to believe in Jesus (1 Cor. 1:13, 15). John 14:1 tells us we are to believe in God the Father and Jesus seperately but with the same kind of faith. See also John 11:25-27; Gal. 2:20.

Confirming that it is our duty to believe in Christ: 1. Rom 10:14, we do not have a duty to believe in him on whom we do not call, we do have a duty to believe in him on whom we do call. 2. We are baptised into the name of Jesus as distinct from the person of the Father.

Faith in Christ may be considered in two ways:

1. in his person - a) each person of the Trinity is equally the object of faith, because they each partake of the divine nature which obliges us to believe. b) believing in Christ does not exclude the other persons, but includes them. Some considerations here... i) Christ is the object of faith becasue he has a divine nature. ii) this does not take anything away from the Father or the Holy Spirit - for all divine honour in believing is given solely to the divine nature. iii) there are three things to be considered in the faith we are called to have in Jesus: a) his divine nature is the object of this faith, if he had not this "I could not believe in him" (p. 131) b) in putting our faith in Jesus, we receive him as God AND man in the same person. this fits with point a) in that: "We believe in him because he is God; but we believe in him as he is God and man in one person" (p. 131). this last point gives us a distinct faith in Jesus from the Father as he is the only person of the Trinity to have flesh. c) Our motivation to this faith are the things which Jesus has done for us. Two things stated in regards to what has been said: i) the honour and faith given to the Son is equally placed on the Father and the Holy Spirit, due to their nature, but is peculiarly placed on Jesus as he is God and man, and as he has fulfilled the mediatorial role. ii) All of Christ is honoured and believed on here.

2. in his office as mediator - this is not different to, or contradictory to, point 1. If you deny points 1 and 2, you "renounce the Gospel" (p. 133). In his office Christ leads us to the Father: "No comfortable, refreshing thoughts of God, no warrantable or acceptable boldness in an approach and access unto him, can anyone entertain or receieve, but in this exercise of faith on Christ as the mediator between God and man." (p. 134)