Preface to Life of Faith

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3 NIV)

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A number of years ago I came upon a very old, leatherbound copy of William Romaine's The Walk of Faith (New York, Williams and Whiting, 1809). I was very moved by what I read and have since found digital copies of his three major works, and a hard copy of the works combined in The Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith, edited by Peter Toon in 1970. William Romaine (1714--1795) was an English pastor who had a great influence on the evangelical movement of his day, especially through his three works, The Life of Faith (1764), The Walk of Faith (1771), and The Triumph of Faith (1795). I have had a desire to update the language and to abridge some portions to make these works more accessible to modern readers. What follows in this post is my edited version of his preface to the first volume. When he speaks of "means" below he is referring to the "means of grace", that is, those things we do to grow in faith, like Bible reading, prayer, fellowship, and church ordinances.  

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PREFACE TO THE LIFE OF FAITH.

“The design of this little treatise is to display the glory and all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to encourage weak believers to glorify him more by depending and living more upon his all-sufficiency. Whatever grace he has promised in his word, he is faithful, and he is almighty to bestow, and they may receive it of him freely by the hand of faith. This is its proper use, as a hand or instrument, having first received Christ, to be continually receiving out of Christ's fulness. The apostle calls this 'living by faith,' a life received and continued, with all the strength, comforts and blessings belonging to it, by faith in the Son of God, and he also mentions the work of faith, its working effectually in the hearts and lives of believers, through Christ strengthening them, and its growing in them, yes, growing exceedingly from faith to faith, by the power of him who loves them.

“Faith is the gift of God, and he alone who gives it, can increase it. The Author of the faith is also the Finisher of it; and we do not use the means to set the Lord of all means aside. No, we use them that we may find him in them. It is his presence which makes the use of means to be effective. By this, and this only, can any reader of this little book be rendered stronger in faith.

“Look up to him in prayer, for his blessing. Entreat him of his grace to countenance this feeble attempt to promote his glory and his people's good. Beg of him to make your reading of it the means of your growth in faith, and to accompany it with the supply of his Holy Spirit to every believer, into whose hands it may fall. In this, and in all things, I desire to commit myself to my Lord and Master, whose I am, and whom I serve, and whatever good I have or do, to him be all the praise. Blessed be his name this day, henceforth, and through the day of eternity.”

~ William Romaine, April 24, 1793.

Abridged and edited by Sandy Young, 2022. Portrait of William Romaine is by Francis Cotes (oil on canvas, 1758) © National Portrait Gallery, London.