en heard, the Gospel is the message God would have preached
world-wide, declaring to every individual that since no man can
through the Law be made righteous, but must rather become more
unrighteous, God sent his own beloved Son to shed his blood and die
for our sins, from which sins we could not be released by our own
effort.

9. It is not enough simply that Christ be preached; the Word must be
believed. Therefore, God sends the Holy Spirit to impress the
preaching upon the heart--to make it inhere and live therein.
Unquestionably, Christ accomplished all--took away our sins and
overcame every obstacle, enabling us to become, through him, lords
over all things. But the treasure lies in a heap; it is not everywhere
distributed and applied. Before we can enjoy it, the Holy Spirit come
and communicate it to the heart, enabling us to believe and say, "I
too, am one who shall have the blessing." To everyone who hears is
grace offered through the Gospel; to grace is he called, as Christ
says (Mt 11, 28), "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden," etc.

10. Now, with the belief that God has come to our rescue and given us
this priceless blessing, inevitably the human heart must be filled
with joy and with gratitude to God, and must exultingly cry: "Dear
Father, since it is thy will to manifest toward me inexpressible love
and fidelity, I will love thee sincerely, and willingly do what is
pleasing to thee."

The believing heart never sees God with jealous eye. It does not fear
being cast into hell as it did before the Holy Spirit came, when it
was conscious of no love, no goodness, no faithfulness, on God's part,
but only wrath and displeasure. But once let the Holy Spirit impress
the heart with the fact of God's good will and graciousness towards
it, and the resulting joy and confidence will impel it to do and
suffer for God's sake whatever necessity demands.

11. Let us, then, learn to recognize the Holy Spirit--to know that his
mission is to present to us the priceless Christ and all his
blessings; to reveal them to us through the Gospel and apply them to
the heart, making them ours. When our hearts are sensible of this work
of the Spirit, naturally we are compelled to say: "If our works avail
naught, and the Holy Spirit alone must accomplish our salvation, then
why burden ourselves with works and laws?" By the doctrine of the
Spirit, all human works and laws are excluded, even the laws of Moses.
The Holy