224i PREVAILING INADEQUATE CONCEPTIONS [CH.JV.

with God, and le its CAUSE ; but to FOLLOW it, and 00
its EFFECT. That in short, it is by FAITH IN OHJIIST
only* that Tie is to le justified in the sight of God;
to be delivered from tlie condition of a child of wrath,
and a slave of Satan; to be adopted into the family of
God; to become an heir of God and a joint-heir with
Christ, entitled to all the privileges which belong to this
high relation; here, to the Spirit of Grace, and a par-
tial renewal after the image of his Creator ; hereafter,
to the more perfect possession of the Divine likeness, and
an inheritance of eternal glory.

And as it is in this way that, in obedience to the
dictates of the Gospel, the true Christian must ori-
Tke true gina% become possessed of the vital spirit
CliMan's and living principle of universal holiness;
practical u$eSOy m order to grow in grace, he must also

ifardSnes^&J in ^ same scil0011 gliding, in the
ofChristi- consideration of the peculiar doctrines of
<JM%. the Gospel, and in the contemplation of
the life and character and sufferings of our blessed
Saviour, the elements of all practical wisdom, and
an inexhaustible storehouse of instructions and mo-
tives, no otherwise to be so well supplied. From
the neglect of these peculiar doctrines arise the
main practical errors of the bulk of professed Chris-
tians. These gigantic truths, retained in view,
would put to shame the littleness of their dwarfish
morality. It would be impossible for them to make
these harmonize with their inadequate conceptions
of the wretchedness and danger of our natural state,
which is represented in Scripture as having so
powerfully called forth the compassion of God, that*
he sent his only begotten Son to rescue us. Where

4 Here again let it be remarked, that faith, where genuine, is
Aiways accompanied with repentance, abhorrence of sm, &c.