nsed, the individual born anew, through the Holy Spirit present in
the sacred cleansing of water and of the blood of Christ.

Peter (1 Pet 1, 2) speaks of the sanctification of Christians as the
"sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" upon us by the Holy Spirit
through the public preaching of the Gospel. This sprinkling radically
differs from the Jewish sprinkling of water, or of the ashes of a red
heifer, or of the blood of a dead lamb or goat, round about the altar
and upon the applicants for purification. In the sanctification of
Christians, the true consecrated water and the sprinkled blood of
Christ are combined; that is, the message concerning the shed blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ is "sprinkled," so to speak, upon the soul, and
wherever that Word touches the soul it is effective. The blood in this
case is not the ineffective, lifeless blood of a slain animal, but the
potent, living blood of the Son of God. Under its application the soul
cannot remain impure. Christ's blood purifies and heals from sin and
death; it strikes at their very foundation, and entirely releases us
from their power and grants us eternal life for soul and body.

32. Note, this text is a grand sermon on the witness Christians have
here on earth, which the apostle in concluding explains and extols in
beautiful and comforting words. He calls it a witness that God himself
bears to his Son and that serves to assure us of being the children of
God and possessors of eternal life. For he says: "And the witness is
this, that God gave unto us eternal life," etc. This is indeed an
excellent witness, which God himself witnesses and declares to you,
and the Holy Spirit brings and reveals to you. God cannot lie nor
deceive, he is the eternal, unchangeable truth, as already mentioned.
If you believe this witness, you certainly have received and possess
it, as John again says: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the
witness in him."

FAITH TO BE IMPLICIT.

33. The true, saving doctrine of the Christian faith is this: There
must be witness and confidence of heart so absolute as to leave no
room for doubt that, through Christ, we are God's children and have
remission of sins and eternal life. By way of showing us how God
earnestly enjoins such faith upon us and forbids us to have any doubts
on the subject, John says, "He that believeth not God hath made him a
liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne
concerning his