*Without faith we cannot be thus saved. For we cannot rightly serve God, unless we love him. And we cannot love him, unless we know him; neither can we know God, unless by faith. Therefore _salvation by faith_, is only in other words, the love of God by the knowledge of God: or, the recovery of the image of God, by a true spiritual acquaintance with him. 4. Faith, in general, is, a divine, supernatural ἔλεγχος¹ of things not seen, not discoverable by our bodily senses, as being either past, future or spiritual. _Justifying faith_ implies, not only a divine ἔλεγχος, that God _was in_ Christ, _reconciling the world unto himself_, but a sure trust and confidence, that Christ died for _my_ sins, that he loved _me_ and gave himself for _me_. And the moment a penitent sinner believes this, God pardons and absolves him. ¹ Evidence, or Conviction. And as soon as his pardon or justification is witnessed to him by the Holy Ghost, he is saved. He loves God and all mankind. He has _the mind that was in_ Christ, and power to _walk as he also walked_. From that time (unless he make shipwreck of the faith) salvation gradually increases in his soul. For _so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground.――And it springeth up, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear._ 5. The first sowing of this seed, I cannot conceive to be other than instantaneous: whether I consider experience, or the word of God, or the very nature of the thing――however I contend not for a circumstance, but the substance; if you can attain it another way, do. Only see that you do attain it; for if you fall short, you perish everlastingly. *This beginning of that vast, inward change, is usually termed _The new birth_. Baptism is the outward sign of this inward grace, which is supposed by our church, to be given with, and through that sign to all infants, and to those of riper years, if they repent and believe the gospel. But how extremely idle are the common disputes on this head? I tell a sinner, “You must be born again.” “No, say you, he was born again in baptism. Therefore he cannot be born again now.” Alas! What trifling is this? What if he was _then_ a child of God? He is _now_ manifestly a child of the devil. For the works of his father he doth. Therefore do not play upon words. He _must_ go through an entire change of heart. In one not yet baptized, you yourself would call that change, _the new birth_. In him, call it what you will; but remember mean time, that if either he or you die without it, your baptism will be so far from profiting you, that it will greatly increase your damnation.