Pilgrim's Progress: Part 3 Ignorance's Confession and Christian's Response

Christian has been making a good response to Ignorance's Confession of Faith. Previously we saw that the Faith of Ignorance as described by his own confession was both FANTASY for not founded upon the word of God and FALSE for it takes away from the justification based upon the personal righteousness of Jesus Christ and instead applies it to our own. And further it is False for it makes Christ not the justifier of the person but of his works and then the works the justifier of the person. Now as a final point Christian shows this faith is a DECEPTIVE FAITH.

Christian: How dost thou believe?

Ignorance: I believe that Christ died for sinners; and that I shall be justified before God from the curse, through his gracious acceptance of my obedience to his laws. Or thus, Christ makes my duties, that are religious, acceptable to his Father by virtue of his merits, and so shall I be justified.

Christian: Let me give an answer to this confession of thy faith.

1. Thou believest with a fantastical faith; for this faith is nowhere described in the word.

2. Thou believest with a false faith; because it taketh justification from the personal righteousness of Christ, and applies it to thy own.

3. This faith maketh not Christ a justifier of thy person, but of thy actions; and of thy person for thy action’s sake, which is false.

4. Therefore this faith is deceitful, even such as will leave thee under wrath in the day of God Almighty: for true justifying faith puts the soul, as sensible of its lost condition by the law, upon flying for refuge unto Christ’s righteousness; (which righteousness of his is not an act of grace by which he maketh, for justification, thy obedience accepted with God, but his personal obedience to the law, in doing and suffering for us what that required at our hands;) this righteousness, I say, true faith accepteth; under the skirt of which the soul being shrouded, and by it presented as spotless before God, it is accepted, and acquitted from condemnation.

This Faith is deceitful for in the great day of judgment you will still be under the wrath of GOD and will not stand but fall. True Justifying faith covers one in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and thus covered we will be spotless before God, ACCEPTED and Acquitted from condemnation.

And so Ignorance's confess of Faith thus shown to be described a:
FANTASY FAITH,
FALSE FAITH,
and DECEIVING FAITH

Ignorance is not done yet - he has a couple of remaining arguments which we consider in the next post, Lord willing.