into hell; mortification of the flesh in His sepulchre; newness of life in His resurrection; immortality also in His resurrection; the inheritance of a celestial kingdom in His entrance into heaven; protection, security, and the abundant supply of all blessings, in His kingdom; secure anticipation of judgment in the power of judging committed to Him.  In fine, since in Him blessings are treasured up, let us draw a full supply from Him, and none from another quarter.

III.—­THE MERIT OF CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOUR

It may be proved both from reason and from Scripture that the grace of God and the merit of Christ (the Prince and Author of our salvation) are perfectly compatible.  Christ is not only the minister, but also the cause of our salvation, and divine grace is not obscured by this expression.  Christ, by His obedience, truly merited this divine grace for us, which was obtained by the shedding of His blood, and His obedience even unto death, whereby He paid our ransom.

It is by the secret operation of the Holy Spirit that we enjoy Christ and all His benefits.  In Christ the Mediator the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be seen in all their fulness.  As salvation is perfected in the person of Christ, so, in order to make us partakers of it, He “baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire,” enlightening us into the faith of His Gospel, and so regenerating us to be new creatures.  Thus cleansed from all pollution, He dedicates us as holy temples to the Lord.

But here it is proper to consider the nature of faith.  The true knowledge of Christ consists in receiving Him as He is offered by the Father, namely, as invested with His Gospel.  There is an inseparable relation between faith and the Word, and these can no more be disconnected from each other than rays of light from the sun.  John points to this fountain of faith thus:  “To-day, if ye will hear His voice,” to “hear” being uniformly taken for to “believe.”  Take away the Word and no faith will remain.  Hence Paul designates faith as the obedience which is given to the Gospel.

The mere assent of the intellect to the Word is, according to some, the faith insisted on in Scripture, but this is a mere fiction.  Such as thus define faith do not duly ponder the saying of Paul, “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness.”  Assent itself is more a matter of the heart than the head, of the affection than the intellect.

IV.—­OF REPENTANCE

Repentance follows faith and is produced by it.  In the conversion of the life to God we require a transformation not only in external works, but in the soul itself, which is able only after it has put off its old habits to bring forth fruits conformable to its renovation.  Repentance proceeds from a sincere fear of God, and it consists of two parts, the mortification of the flesh and the quickening of the spirit.  Both of these we obtain by union with Christ.  If we are partakers in His resurrection we are raised up by means of it to newness of life, which conforms us to the righteousness of God.  In one word, then, by repentance I understand regeneration, the only aim of which is to form us anew in the image of God, which was sullied and all but effaced by the transgression of Adam.