Justifying Faith – It’s Nature and Power

Why should faith save and justify more than any other grace? Ans. 1. Because of God’s sanction. He hath appointed this grace to be justifying: and he doth it, because faith is a grace that takes a man off himself, and gives all the honor to Christ and free grace, Rom 4:20., “Strong in faith giving glory to God.” Therefore God hath put this honor on faith, to make it saving and justifying. The king’s stamp makes the coin pass for current; if he would put his stamp upon leather as well as silver, it would make it current; so God having put his sanction, the stamp of his authority and institution upon faith, this makes it to be justifying and saving. A. 2. Because faith makes us one with Christ, Eph. 3:17. It is the espousing, incorporating grace, it gives us coalition and union with Christ’s person: other graces make us like Christ, faith makes us members of Christ. – Thomas Watson