The Dutch theologian Alexander Comrie has a wonderful little book called “The A.B.C. of Faith” which describes several biblical metaphors for saving faith.
Excerpted from The ABC of Faith by Alexander Comrie
We should now proceed to the letter I, but we have been unable to find any particular descriptions of faith under this letter in the Dutch language. Under the letter K several descriptions of faith will also come before us, which are doubly worthy of our consideration.
Firstly, faith is here called a KIESON – CHOOSING.
‘Choose you this day whom ye will serve…’ (Josh. 24:15). ‘I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me’ (Ps. 119:30). Compare also verse 173, ‘Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.’ Isa. 56:4 speaks of the eunuchs that choose the things that please God. In order now with your Christian consideration to speak of saving faith as a ‘choosing’ we will make an observation by way of introduction, and then draw forth the matter itself.
The observation is, that in almost all the places where ‘choosing’ is mentioned, this choice has as its object the Word, the commandments of God, that in which God takes delight; so that your Christian consideration can conclude with me, that though Jesus Christ is the object of saving faith, as the great High Priest in the justification of the sinner before God’s tribunal, yet that same saving faith also has other objects of its saving exercises. O, yes! what God has revealed in His word, is an object of the saving exercise of faith. I do not need to bring anything else by way of confirmation of this point, than the eleventh chapter of Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews; whoso reflects upon that, and the very learned and godly commentary thereon by the great [John] Owen, shall not only be confirmed therein, but shall receive much light about faith in its various exercises; were this borne in mind to a greater extent, men would frequently not be so ready to judge the exercises of themselves and others, on the ground that Jesus Christ does not appear in them outwardly revealed.
Now, concerning the matter itself: though man is dead in trespasses and sins, yet God deals not with him as though he were a block, but as a reasonable creature, placing the matters concerning his eternal salvation in his choice, and through His irresistible grace, making him capable of choosing aright. See Deut. 30:19, ‘I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:’ and Psalm 110:2–3: ‘The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.’ So then this ‘choice’ of the soul shall, by God’s enabling grace consist in:
Firstly, a calm downsitting, a separating oneself in quiet solitude from all that is in the world, and a placing of oneself under the all-seeing eye of God, in order to weigh two great matters.
a. The soul considers what sin is and what its wages are. He seeks to draw off sin’s mask; as long as poor man lives in careless indifference, sin has a flattering and bewitching influence over the soul; sinful deeds are relished; the vain man delights in his trappings, the wanton in his light companions, a drunkard in his wine, the worldling in his treasures, the proud in his offices and abilities; each rejoices therein.
But the soul now begins to realise that all is but temporal, passing away, and accompanied by many sorrows. Yes, that sin, though it has many supporters, is nothing but a strengthening of himself against the Almighty, a running upon the thick bosses of his bucklers; that it lays him under God’s wrath and curse; yes, that it will bring him, if he continues in this sinful way, inevitably into hell, into everlasting ruin, where nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth shall by experienced by way of reward for this brief vanity, since God shall for all these things bring him into judgment (Eccl. 11:9).
b. On the other hand he considers virtue, the way of godliness; how that this brings satisfaction and joy to the soul, though not by way of merit; he sees with David, that in the keeping of them there is great reward, and he contemplates the life which God will grant in His sacred presence to all such as have sought Him in truth and without hypocrisy. If a choice is to be made, then the one must be compared with the other and looked at with great care, that choice be not made of that which shall cause eternal regret; the soul sets sin against virtue, and life against death; considers what are the moving principles of his actions and omissions; for fear frights away, and love attracts. Fear and hope are the two chief sensations upon which every godly minister must seek to work.
Secondly, ‘choosing’ will mean that a man inclines to the one, and rejects the other, after this calm consideration. The soul now chooses Christ and the way of godliness above that is in the world. Yes, the soul comes to this conclusion, to forsake henceforth all her former ways, and to seek her salvation and life always in God; for she will now ask herself, ‘Soul, to what are you desires more inclined, unto sin and worldly pleasure, or unto Jesus and the life of God?’ And then she will cry out, ‘Unto Jesus and Him only – all the rest is but loss and dung.’ The soul now comes with Moses to esteem even ‘the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt’ (Heb. 11:26).
Thirdly, he who chooses rightly, rest in his choice; his soul does not lust against for the fleshpots of Egypt; the eyes which have seen shall not look back, it is never to be repented of; but the soul has a steadfast intention, always to remain with the Lord; neither death nor life can draw his heart away.
Finally, it means an inward rejoicing over his choice, and a thanking God for His enabling grace to make that choice, as we find concerning Judah, that they rejoiced at the oath.
Other matters which do not serve our purpose, we pass by; desiring that God will grant to unregenerate sinners, who have not yet made the choice, grace to choose life, that they may live eternally. And that the Lord’s children might renew their choice, and rejoice in God at their choice.
Reference: Alexander Comrie, The ABC of Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zoar Publications, 1978), 124–126.
