On Saving Faith and Repentance
Louis Berkhof wrote,
True saving faith is a faith that has
its seat in the heart and is rooted in the regenerate life...In
speaking of the different elements of faith we should not lose
sight of the fact that faith is an activity of man as a whole,
and not any part of man...In order to obtain a proper conception
of faith, it is necessary to distinguish between the various
elements which it comprises.
A) An intellectual element (notitia). There is
an element of knowledge in faith...The knowledge of faith consists
in a positive recognition of the truth, in which man accepts
as true whatsoever God says in His word, and especially what
He says respecting the deep depravity of man and the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus. Over against Rome the position must
be maintained that this sure knowledge belongs to the essence
of faith; and in opposition to such theologians as Sandeman,
Wardlaw, Alexander, Chalmers, and others, that a mere intellectual
acceptance of the truth is not the whole of faith.
B) An emotional element (assensus). When one embraces
Christ by faith, he has a deep conviction of the truth and reality
of the object of faith, feels that it meets an important need
in his life, and is conscious of an absorbing interest in it
– and this is assent.
C) A volitional element (fiducia). This is the
crowning element of faith. Faith is not merely a matter of the
intellect, nor of the intellect and the emotions combined; it
is also a matter of the will, determining the direction of the
soul, an act of the soul going out towards its object and appropriating
this. Without this activity the object of faith, which the sinner
recognizes as true and real and entirely applicable to his present
needs, remains outside of him. And in saving faith it is a matter
of life and death that the object be appropriated. This third
element consists in a personal trust in Christ as Saviour and
Lord, including the surrender of the soul as guilty and defiled
to Christ, and a recognition and appropriation of Christ as the
source of pardon and of spiritual life (Louis
Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1939), pp. 503-505).
Jonathan
Edwards wrote,
The apostasy of man
summarily consists in departing from the true God, to idols;
forsaking his Creator, and setting up other things in his room.
When God at first created man, he was united to his Creator;
the God that made him was his God. The true God was the object
of his highest respect, and had the possession of his heart.
Love to God was the principle in his heart, that ruled over all
other principles; and everything in the soul was wholly in subjection
to it. But when man fell, he departed from the true God, and
the union that was between his heart and his Creator was broken:
he wholly lost his principle of love to God. And henceforth man
clave to other gods. He gave that respect to the creature, which
is due to the Creator. When God ceased to be the object of his
supreme love and respect, other things of course became the objects
of it.The gods which a natural man worships, instead of the God that
made him, are himself and the world. He has withdrawn his esteem
and honour from God, and proudly exalts himself. As Satan was
not willing to be in subjection; and therefore rebelled, and
set up himself; so a natural man, in the proud and high thoughts
he has of himself, sets up himself upon God’s throne. He
gives his heart to the world, worldly riches, worldly pleasures,
and worldly honours: they have the possession of that regard
which is due to God (Jonathan
Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Edinburgh: Banner,
1974), Volume 2, Men Naturally Are God’s Enemies,
Sect. III, pp. 132-133).
