written: 'This ¹ is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who willeth that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, one Mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.' And again: 'The ² blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin . . . . My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.' Thus David says in the Book of Psalms: 'Bless ³ the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.' And in the first chapter of the book of the Prophet Isaiah it is written: 'Come ⁴ now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' So, too, in the Epistle to the Hebrews it is thus written: 'We ⁵ have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. . . . He, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made the footstool of his feet. For by one

offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.'

Accordingly it is evident that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for sinners all that was necessary; so that, in order to share in the salvation which Christ offers, man has no need first of all to strive, by means of rites and ceremonies and good deeds and works of merit, to work out salvation in some measure for himself in order to deserve Christ's offer of redemption, and thus to become fully justified, and be held worthy to draw nigh to God. On the contrary, since by these means and by his own merits no man can possibly purify his heart and conscience and obtain forgiveness of his sins and make himself a good man, or deserve to be permitted to come to God, therefore the most merciful God, of His great mercy, has deigned to permit the penitent sinner in that condition, though defiled by sin, to come with all his sins and with all his inward defilement to the fountain of salvation ¹ which Christ has opened, and there to be cleansed from his sins by the atonement ² of the Son of God.³ This salvation and eternal life are freely bestowed, upon only one condition, that the repentant sinner with all his heart believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, accept salvation gratefully from Him, trust fully in His mediation and atonement, love Him and obey His commandments, being faithful to Him until death. Thus it is written in the holy Scriptures