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it admitted of half a dozen senses. Wisdom was
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the angels were the sons of God; Adam was a son of God; the descendants of Seth were sons of God; Solomon was a son of God; and so is
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In which of these senses, or in what sense, was our Lord the Son of God? St. Peter knew, but there were those who did not know--the centurion who attended the crucifixion did not know, and yet he confessed that our Lord was the Son of God. He knew that our Lord had been condemned by the Jews for calling himself the Son of God, and therefore he cried out, on seeing the miracles which attended his death,
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His words evidently imply:
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I do not know precisely what he meant by so calling himself; but what he said he was, that he is; whatever he meant, I believe him; I believe that his word about himself is true, though I cannot prove it to be so, though I do not even understand it; I believe his word, for I believe _him_.
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Does he mean by
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believing on the word of another? As far as our experience goes of religious changes in individuals, he can mean nothing else; yet how _can_ he mean this with the gospels before him? He cannot mean it, because the very staple of the sacred narrative is a call on all men to believe what is not proved to them, merely on the warrant of divine messengers; because the very form of our Lord's teaching is to substitute authority for inquiry; because the very principle of his grave earnestness, the very key to his regenerative mission, is the intimate connection of faith with salvation. Faith is not simply trust in his legislation, as this writer says; it is definitely trust in his word, whether that word be about heavenly things or earthly; whether it is spoken by his own mouth, or through his ministers. The angel who announced the Baptist's birth said,
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Thou shalt be dumb because thou believest not my words. The {633} Baptist's mother said of Mary,
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Blessed is she that believed. The Baptist himself said,
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He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Our Lord, in turn, said to Nicodemus,
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We speak that we do know, and ye receive not our witness; he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. To the Jews,
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He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, shall not come into condemnation. To the Capharnaites,
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To St Thomas,
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Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. And to the apostles,
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Preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth not shall be damned. How is it possible to deny that our Lord, both in the text and in the context of these and other passages, made faith in a message, on the warrant of the messenger, to be a condition of salvation; and enforced it by the great grant of power which he emphatically conferred on his representatives?
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Whosoever shall not receive you, he says,
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It is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your Father.
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He that heareth you, heareth me; he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me.
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I pray for them that shall believe on me through their word.
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Whose sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; and whose sins ye retain, they are retained.
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Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
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I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.