Two Eternities, One Faith
Posted at Reformation Scotland:
Faith should be recognised as very precious, because its presence or absence is what makes the difference between an eternity of happiness and an eternity of woe. But do we have enough faith? Shouldn’t we have stronger faith? Of course the answer is that more and stronger faith is a good thing, but for the purposes of obtaining eternal life, what matters more is to have genuine faith. What really makes faith precious is that it gets a grip of the Lord Jesus. In the following updated excerpt John Welch of Ayr (d. 1622) (husband of Elizabeth Knox and grandfather of John Welch of Irongray) explains this for our comfort and consolation.Two eternities
Jesus said, “He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). What should be dear to you but this eternal life? For if you would gain the whole world, and lose your own souls, I assure you, your gain would be very little. In the time of your life here, what should you be thinking on, but on these two eternities — the eternity of joy and the eternity of pain.
You see that it is sworn by Him who is truth itself, and who came out of the Father’s bosom, the one who will not trick you. His word is spirit and life, for He has the words of eternal life. He has sworn here, and what does He swear? “Verily, he that hears my word …” — and good for you, that you hear the words of God, for without hearing there is no faith — “… and believes in him that sent me, has everlasting life.”
You have eternal life! You have the eternity of peace and joy begun in your soul which shall never have an end, and you shall never come into condemnation. You have passed from death to life, you have gone over the back of death, and made it a stepping-stone to heaven, and you have come within the boundaries of eternal life. He that believes shall get a new heaven and a new earth, and shall dwell in the tabernacle of God for ever more. If you do not believe, the wrath of God abides on you for ever more, and you are already condemned (John 3:17).
I would like to tell you how to test whether you have a true saving faith. This is very needful for you to know. If you lack faith, there is nothing between you and hell but the small thread of your life. There are, in brief, four things by which you can tell if you have true faith or not. (1) By the manner by which God produced it in your heart, (2) by the seals or stamps of faith (if you have been sealed by the Spirit of promise), (3) by the fight and the battle you have, and (4) by the things which accompany faith.
If you have faith and its works in your heart, then you may rejoice, for Christ says, “Your names are written in the Book of Life.” You may rejoice that you are within the love of God, for those who have faith are within His love. You may rejoice that you are within the election, redemption, calling, justification and sanctification, and perseverance.
