What is meant by the Corinthians being in the Faith?

Page  [unnumbered]It seemes at first sight,* a strange manner of speaking, as if Faith were some locall thing that did comprehend in it all beleevers; as the place doth containe in it the thing that is pla∣ced there; the house, the inhabitant; but we may learne, that to be in the Faith, is no∣thing else, but to have Faith to bee in them; and the exhortation is in effect no more, then if the Apostle had said, Examine your selves whether Faith bee in you, or whether God hath wrought Faith in you: and I proove my exposition,

1. By other Scripture phrases, namely, because to be in the Spirit, is to have the Spirit in them; so to be in Christ,,* is to have Christ to be in them, namely, by Faith: to dwell in loue, is to haue the love of God,* and our neighbour dwelling in them:* to be in the flesh, is to haue the corruption of nature dwelling, and raigning in them.

2. I prove it by other phrases commonly vsed in our English tongue, as when a man loves a mayd, we say he is in love; when hee hates his neighbour, we say, he is in malice; when a man is drunke, we say, he is in drink: so that the beeing of the Corinthians in the Faith, is the being of Faith in the Corinthi∣ans, or the having of Faith in them: the rea∣son of which manner of speech, I take to bee one of these; either because he had before spo∣ken Page  [unnumbered] of Christ being in him, and answerable to that would speake of their beeing in the Faith; or else, because hee would intimate to vs the certainty of the Corinthians beeing be∣leevers, and of their having of Faith; even so surely, as if they had bin in the faith it self.