Verse 2 Access by faith. Faith is thus represented not as an act by which the soul can merit a reward, but only as a way by which it may gain access to favor. Pardon is a gift. Faith in the repenting sinner does not make him deserve it it is only a necessary prerequisite to render him a proper object of its bestowal. It is very plain that a man cannot properly be forgiven for past rebellion against God, unless he is now ready to turn to him with feelings of confidence and love. Faith is, therefore, the preliminary to salvation, rendered necessary by the very nature of the case; not the merit by which salvation is earned. Thus it is, in the language of this passage, the mode by which we gain access to the grace wherein we stand.