afterwards produces, lest any one should be led to confound faith with its fruits, or to ascribe that to faith and works conjointly, which properly belongs to faith alone. Consider then a person coming in this penitent manner to Christ, and trusting in the promises of his God ; is it unreasonable that such a person should be saved ? Who in all the world should be saved so soon as he, who implores deliverance from his lost estate ? Who should reap the benefits of Christ's death, but he, who makes that his only plea and dependence ? Who may so justly hope to experience God's fidelity, as he who rests upon his promises ? Who, in short, should enjoy all the bless- ings of redemption, but he who seeks redemption in God's appointed way ? Surely, if it be reasonable that Christ should " see of the travail of his soul," and that God should fulfil his own word, then is it most reasonable that he who believes in Christ should be saved.
With respect to the condemnation of unbelievers, we readily acknowledge that that also would be unreasonable, on a supposition that unbelief were nothing more than a dissent from certain proposi- tions, through a want of sufficient evidence to esta- blish their divine authority. But unbelief is a sin of the deepest dye ; and the person who is under its dominion is in a state as offensive to God as can well be conceived. For, in the first place, he rejects that which has been established by every kind of evidence which a revelation from heaven can admit of: and, in rejecting it, he shews that he is lifted up with pride and presumption : for he not only takes upon him to sit in judgment upon God, but denies his own state to be so dangerous and depraved as God has repre- sented it. If he acknowledges himself to be a sinner, he still feels neither his guilt nor his helplessness as he ought, but " goes about to establish a righteousness of his own, instead of submitting to the righteousness of God." That wonderful method which the infinite -wisdom of God has contrived for the restoration of our fallen race, he accounts " foolishness ;" and