Of Faith. The Faculty of Believing implanted in the Soul. Of what Nature its Objects are. The Necessity of Faith; Its End, Its Use and Excellency. It is the Mother and Fountain of all the Vertues.

FAITH and Repentance are the Principal Vertues, which we ought to exercise in the Kingdome of Evangelical Righteousness: because by them alone a Sinner is restored to the Capacity and Power of living in the Similitude of GOD, in the Practice of his Divine and Eternal Vertues. For without Faith it is impossible to please GOD, because we can never believe that he is the Rewarder of all those that diligently seek him, without that Credit which is necessary to be given to the Discovery of his Love to them that are defiled by the Guilt of Sin. For as long as we think GOD to be an infinite and Eternal Enemy to all Offenders, we cannot use any Endeavor to please him, because we Know there is no Hope of Reconciliation, and the vanity of the Attempt appears like a Ghost that always haunts us, and stands in our Way to oppose and discourage us, in the Atchievment we would undertake. For to Fight with Impossibility is so Foolish a thing that Nature it self keeps us back from doing it. Till therefore we believe our Reconciliation possible, we have no Strength at all to endeavour our Salvation. Our Despair oppresseth and frustrates our Desires, with the inevitable Necessity of our Eternal shame, and Guilt, and misery.

TO believe that GOD will be so Gracious, as to pardon our horrible Apostacy and Rebellion, is a Work so Great, that GOD accepteth it instead of all other Works of Innocence and Piety: to believe that he hath given his Eternal Son to dy for us, and that he so Loved us as to come down from Heaven to suffer the wrath of GOD in our stead, is so much against the Dictates of Nature and reason, that GOD imputeth this Faith alone for Righteousness, not as if there were no Good Works necessary beside, but by this alone we are justified in his Sight, and our Justification cannot be ascribed to any other Work of ours whatsoever.