, by my own
reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him.
But that the Holy Spirit hath called me by His Gospel, enlightened me
by His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith; in
like manner as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole
Christian Church on earth, and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ
in the true faith. In which Christian Church He daily forgives me
abundantly all my sins and the sins of all believers, and will raise
up me and all the dead at the last day, and will grant everlasting
life to me and to all who believe in Christ. This is most certainly
true."

"Grace first contrived the way
To save rebellious man;
And all the steps that Grace display
Which drew the wondrous plan.

"Grace taught my roving feet
To tread the heavenly road;
And new supplies each hour I meet,
While pressing on to God.

"Grace all the work shall crown
Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise."

CHAPTER XXI.

JUSTIFICATION.

Among all the doctrines of our holy Christian faith, the doctrine
of Justification by Faith alone, stands most prominent. Luther calls
it: "The doctrine of a standing or a falling church," _i.e._, as
a church holds fast and appropriates this doctrine she remains pure
and firm, and as she departs from it, she becomes corrupt and falls.
This doctrine was the turning point of the Reformation in the
sixteenth century. It was the experience of its necessity and efficacy
that made Luther what he was, and equipped him for a Reformer.
Naturally, therefore, it occupies the chief place in all our
Confessions, and is prominent in all the history of our Church.

In these chapters on the "Way of Salvation," it has been
_implied_ throughout. There is indeed no doctrine of salvation
that is not more or less connected with or dependent on this one.

Some time ago we noticed a statement of a certain bishop in a
large Protestant Church, declaring that "not Justification, but the
Divinity of Christ, is the great fundamental doctrine that conditions
the standing or falling of a church." At first sight this seems
plausible. But when we come to reflect, we cannot but see that the
true doctrine concerning the Person of Christ is not only implied, but
embraced in the