"Presumptuous faith does not proceed in the right method; it
rashly imagines that the salvation promised in the gospel belongs to itself;
but this is either upon no foundation, or upon a false one.”
“ For sometimes these persons, without any trial or
self-examination, which they avoid as too troublesome, and inconvenient to
their affairs, foolishly flattering themselves, proudly lay claim to the grace
of our Lord; and securely slumber in this vain dream, without either enquiring,
or being willing to enquire, what foundation they have for this their
imagination. Sometimes again they lay
for a foundation of their confidence, either that perverse notion concerning
the general mercy of God, and easy way to heaven, of which nothing that I know
of is mentioned in the gospel covenant, or an opinion of the sufficiency of
their own holiness, because they are not so very vicious as the most
profligate, or the external communion of the church in religious worship, or
the security of their sleeping conscience, and the pleasing fancies of their
own dreams, which they take for the peace of God and the consolation of the
Holy Spirit. With these and the like vanities of their own imagination they
deceive themselves, as if these were sufficient marks of grace. “
“But true believers, from a deep sense of their misery,
panting after the grace of the Lord Jesus, and laying hold of it with a
trembling humility, dare not boast of it as already theirs, till, after a
diligent scrutiny, they have found
certain and infallible evidences of grace in themselves. It is with a profound humility, a kind of
sacred dread, and a sincere self-denial, that they approach, to lay hold on the
grace of Christ. Nor do they boast of having
laid hold of this, till after an exact examination, first of the marks of
grace, and then of their own hearts. But
it is otherwise in both these respects with presumptuous persons, who rashly
lay hold on what is offered them in that order, (for God does not offer
security and joy to sinners, before the soul is affected with sorrow for the
guilt of his past sins, and a due solicitude about salvation,) and then
presumptuously, boast of their laid hold on grace; but they cannot produce any
necessary arguments to make the same appear.”
“A living faith impresses on the soul, in such deep
characters, the image of what is right and good, that it accounts nothing more
lovely than to endeavour after it to the utmost of its power; it paints in such
lively colours, the most shiny holiness of the Lord Christ, that while the soul
beholds it with the supreme affection, it is transformed into its image (2
Corinthians 3:18) it so pathetically represents the love of a dying Christ,
that the believer accounts nothing dearer than in return, both to love and to
die to him (Galatians 2:20) the meditations of the promised happiness is so
deeply engraved on his mind, that he is ready, for the sake of it, to try all
things, to bear all things ( Corinthians 4:16-18) and thus it purifies the
heart itself, (Acts 15:9) in order to the practice of a sinner and constant
piety.”
Witsius, Herman. The Economy of the
Covenants Between God and Man. Vol. 1. Grand Rapdis: Reformation Heritage
Books, 2010. 386- 389 vols 2 print.
