from the torments of hell fire through faith in Christ's atonement.

The salvation which requires a man to be born again, is a salvation of a very different character, and commences in this life. The foregoing allusions to the kingdom of heaven are not, however, the only grounds for concluding that this is the true salvation. Everywhere we constantly find allusions to the gift of eternal life as an existing state of mind, since persons still in the body are spoken of as being dead in sins, &c.

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses
and sins."
(Ephes. 2: 1.)
"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in
you, the
body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness.
"But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.

(Rom. 8:6.)

(1 Tim. 4:6.)

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him,
having forgiven you all trespasses. (Col. 3:13.)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word,
and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed
from death unto life."
(John 5: 24.)

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying,
he shall never see death."

(John 8:51.)

"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

(Rom. 8:13.)

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall (John 11:25.)

never die.

Believest thou this?"

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

(Rom. 6:23.)

We see from the foregoing that those who are still unconverted are spoken of frequently as being dead or in death, whilst those in whom the new life has been awakened are alluded to as having life.

The full meaning of this birth into life, whereby is denoted the change from selfish worldliness and want of faith in God, to a life of simplicity, disinterested benevolence, and faith in the goodness of God, can hardly be realised by those who have never given the matter a thought. Many men look upon the expressions as the cant phraseology of religious enthusiasts, having no practical application to every-day life.

It is, however, easily conceivable that men who in early life were pure-minded and simple in their tastes—enjoying the quiet beauties of nature, and finding pleasure in mere existence may become, in course of time, so steeped in the cares and dissipations of life as to lose every trace of their former selves. The outer man is still the same perhaps, but the inner man has undergone a marked change, and who can say that it is a change for the better? Such a man may now be so absorbed with the selfish contemplation of his own mercenary schemes, or the gratification of his bodily appetites, that he is dead to all the beauties of nature, to all that is pure and good. Perhaps experience of the world has made him cruel and callous; seeing no interests but the present; determined only to enjoy life, and caring not at whose cost; utterly sceptical of any future state or any over-ruling Providence-if, indeed, he ever gives it thought; and, in short, hardened in heart and unhappy within. Let us imagine the effect of a complete change in the character of this man-a return to his former self, and we can at once say that it would be like a new awakening, in fact, a new birth. His surroundings may

continue the same. The same beauties of nature, and the same goodness of heart, in those near to him, may still meet his gaze, but he now sees with very different eyes. He is once more alive to a thousand capacities of true enjoyment within himself, which formerly were lost to him. Of what use is beautiful scenery to a man whose thoughts are busy with other topics—with base intrigues or mercenary speculations? Nature shows the same lovely tints to him that she does to the pure-minded lover of nature, and the joyous lark carols as merrily to both; but there is just this difference, that the one is dead to such charms whilst the other is alive to them.

The converse of the picture is equally true. Take a man of pure aspirations and simple tastes to a low music hallinto an atmosphere tainted with tobacco smoke, filled with dissolute men and women, shouting foul language, and reeking with drink-and expect such a man to enjoy himself! The expectation, of course, is vain. He dwells in a different world of thought, and it is impossible for him to exist in such an uncongenial atmosphere. The surroundings that are agreeable to the roué are simply disgusting to the pure-minded man; whilst the former is equally dead to the attractions of the latter. To him they appear insufferably stupid. When, however, the libertine. comes to see that he is ever going farther away from true happiness, and when the miserable folly of his career strikes home to him, he may once more enjoy what he was formerly blind to. Those enjoyments may have surrounded him all the time, but as the inner change had not been made, he was truly dead to them.

In this sense, the expressions which I have quoted about death in sin are intelligible enough; but it is clear that there can be no birth into a new life, in the sense here alluded to, without repentance. This must be—in the case of every wrong-doer—a sine quá non to true happiness or true salvation. Salvation by repentance is, in fact, a necessary

corollary to the love and mercy of the Creator. Were it otherwise, we should find that one breach of any of the commandments which Christ enjoined-defrauding, bearing false witness, or adultery-would involve the utter perdition of the guilty one. God is, however, a God of mercy; and forgiveness of sins, we are told, is the reward of repentance (see ante pp. 88-89). Moreover, it is impossible to conceive of any salvation for evil-doers-consistent with our notions of Divine mercy-excepting as a consequence of repentance, and it is equally impossible for an evil-doer in this world to be happy in his change of life without repenting of the wrong he has done. The same conditions are here necessary both for happiness and salvation in the sense in which they are here understood.

"John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins."

(Mark 1 : 4.)

After Christ's resurrection, when he gave his final commands to his disciples, he told them

"That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations." (Luke 24: 47.) "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9.) "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of." (2 Cor. 7.) It is needless to quote other passages on this point. All will admit that repentance of previous wrong-doing is a necessity, even for those who believe that faith in Christ's atonement is the one thing needful to salvation At the risk of repetition I will here summarise the conclusions as they now stand on the subject of Salvation according to Christ.

I. That salvation according to Christ is synonymous with happiness, and the highest happiness is only attainable by the cultivation of the inner qualities of heart and mind,

enjoined by Christ, and summarised on p. 113 ante, benevolence exemplified by beneficence, and accompanied by faith in God and repentance for wrong done.

2. That although it is impossible to suppose that those who conform to these requirements and yet lack faith in God will be eternally lost, yet their want of faith must materially diminish their chances of present and future happiness; and to the extent that happiness and salvation are used as synonymous terms (but not otherwise) can we say that faith in God is essential to salvation.