ASSURANCE OP FAITH

The objection, however, may be here raised that the real point of the difficulty is not yet reached. It will be admitted, some are ready to reply, that the true believer may know he is saved, but the question is, How can he know he is a true believer? Is he not compelled, in the nature of the case, to look at his own heart and life before he can be assured of his interest in the blood of Christ? As Professor Lindsay has put it in his expository Lectures on the Epistle to the Hebrews (which are for the most part admirable), "When the question is. What is the ground of a sinner's acceptance? the answer is, Christ's righteousness received by faith alone. When the question is, What is the ground of a true saving faith? the answer is. The testimony of God applied to the conscience by the Holy Ghost. But when the question is. Has some particular man, A or B, really believed the Gospel and obtained pardon? it must obviously be something connected with the man himself to which you look for an answer. Has the Gospel produced its legitimate influence upon his dispositions and life? Is he bringing forth fruits meet for repentance? Is he yielding a diligent and cheerful obedience to the commandments of Christ?"

To this the troubled Christian might fairly respond, What is the legitimate influence of the Gospel upon my dispositions and life, and how far does it extend? What are fruits meet for repentance, and how abundant and constant must be their growth and manifestation? What is a diligent and cheerful obedience to the commandments of Christ, and where is the standard to determine whether the obedience is sufficiently diligent and cheerful to entitle me to assurance of salvation? With all deference for Dr. Lindsay's ability as a scholar and writer, I am bold to say that assurance can never, never be obtained in this manner; for in proportion as a child of God is conscientious and painstaking in his walk, so is he made aware of the evils of his nature and his deficiencies in meeting the full measure of his obligations. The holiest saints on earth are invariably those who most clearly perceive and most promptly confess the vileness of their hearts and their failures in duty; and they would be the first to confess that if assurance is derived from anything found in them or done by them, it is a privilege entirely beyond the reach of their experience.

The fact is, assurance does not depend upon our conduct, but our conduct greatly depends upon our assurance. Let no one infer from this that it matters not how a Christian lives, for whatever gives the slightest encouragement to sin; whatever leads any to suppose that the least iniquity in the soul or life is a little thing; whatever tends to dampen the ardor of a fervent aspiration to be perfectly conformed to the will of God,—is utterly contrary both to the letter and the spirit of the Gospel. Its solemn language is, "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy."¹ But the calling here does not depend upon the holiness, although the holiness depends upon the calling. The divine order is, first faith and then works; first grace and then government; first privilege and then responsibility; first relationship and then affection; first life and then activity; first salvation and then holiness. "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;"² but mark, as dear children; and the exhortation is based upon the fact stated in the preceding verse—that "God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."³ So you will find that all the exhortations addressed to the disciples of Jesus in the New Testament take it for granted that faith is already exercised; that grace is already received; that privilege is already enjoyed; that relationship with God as the Father of believers is already established; that life is already bestowed; that salvation is already secured. They are not asked to pray, and work, and give, and be holy, in order to be saved, but because they are saved; and salvation is not made to hang upon their discernment of themselves as true believers, but upon their discernment of Christ as the. only and all-sufficient Saviour.

It is nowhere written in the Bible, Believe that thou art a believer, and thou shalt be saved, but, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."⁴ It is nowhere said, He that believeth himself to be a believer hath everlasting life, but, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life."⁵ Do you ask, then, how you may know that you are a believer? I reply, You cannot know it by looking at yourself, but only at the Saviour who speaks to you in His word. If a friend of undoubted veracity were to tell you of something that had occurred within his personal knowledge, you would not think of your own heart and life to find out whether you believed him, but only of his unspotted reputation for truthfulness. If a common liar were to relate a wonderful story as a fact, you would not watch the operations of your own mind, and the expressions of your own face, to discover whether you doubted or believed his statement, but you would remember his bad character, and for this reason dismiss what he has said as unworthy of credit. If you were dangerously ill, and your physician, who through long years of practice had never been known to deceive a patient, should at length declare that the crisis of the disease had been safely passed, that all your symptoms were encouraging, and that you were on the way to speedy recovery, you would not be occupied with thoughts about yourself to learn whether you believed him, but your attention would be instantly turned from self to think of his skill, his integrity, and his cheering words. You would not first feel glad, and then believe him, but you would first believe him, and then feel glad. You would not first look for signs of returning health, and then accept his declaration as true, but you would first accept his declaration as true, and then look for signs of returning health. You would not say, "Doctor, I wish I could believe you; I am trying to believe you; how can I believe you? how can I know that I believe you? "but immediately upon the announcement of the good news you would believe him, and straightway rejoice.

So it was with those who became the disciples of Jesus in the earliest and best days of the Christian Church. They heard the good news of the love of God for a lost world, and of the death of Christ for sin, and of His resurrection for the justification of His people, and without any delay they believed, and at once were made happy in the assurance of salvation. Among them were physicians, and lawyers, and merchants, and mechanics, and farmers, and priests who gave up their office, and women, composing a great company, having the same sinful nature with which we are born into the world, and bearing on their weary souls the same cares that burden us, and knowing "that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble,"⁶ were called to help them in the struggle of life. Some of them had been fornicators, and idolaters, and adulterers, and effeminate, and abusers of themselves with mankind, and thieves, and covetous, and drunkards, and revilers, and extortioners; and yet it could be said to them, "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."⁷ This wondrous change from the deepest degradation to the highest blessedness was brought about by simply believing upon the testimony of God that Christ had put away their sins; and there is not the slightest evidence that they doubted their acceptance, or that they worried themselves in trying to discover whether their faith was of the right kind, and whether it was sufficiently strong. They were troubled about other questions, which they referred to the decision of the inspired apostles, but there is no proof that they ever asked how they might know they were true believers and thus obtain full assurance of faith.

On the other hand, there is abundant proof that they were strangers to the fear and uncertainty that make up the gloomy experience of at least nine-tenths of the people of God in modern times. Whoever they were, whatever they had been, wherever they lived, they had an assurance of salvation which must have formed at once an unfailing fountain of joy to their hearts and an effective instrument for achieving an easy victory over the world. Thus in writing to the Romans the apostle says in his salutation, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints."⁸ If they did not know that they were beloved of God, called to be saints, it is obvious that they could not know that the Epistle was intended for them. In the same strain he goes on to say, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."⁹ ''Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."¹⁰ "What shall we say then? Shall Ave continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"¹¹ "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."¹² "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."¹³ ''Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."¹⁴ "Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."¹⁵ "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's."¹⁶ "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly."¹⁷ Is it possible that those to whom such language was addressed could doubt their safety, or need anything else to give them perfect assurance? In the first Epistle to the Corinthians the same apostle sends his salutations "unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints," and he describes them as "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the clay of our Lord Jesus Christ."¹⁸ "Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."¹⁹ "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"²⁰ "All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's."²¹ "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?"²² "Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."²³ "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."²⁴ "When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."²⁵ "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."²⁶ "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."²⁷

Turning to the second Epistle to the Corinthians, we find the apostle saying, "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."²⁸ "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God."²⁹ "For we know [not suppose, nor hope, but know] that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."³⁰ "All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ."³¹ "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."³² To the Galatians he says, "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."³³ To the Ephesians he says, "He hath made us accepted in the beloved: in whom we have redemption through his blood;"³⁴ "Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."³⁵ To the Philippians he says, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ."³⁶ To the Colossians he says, "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son."³⁷

"And ye are complete in him."³⁸ To the Thessalonians he says, "Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us [mark the past tense] from the wrath to come."³⁹ To Timothy he says, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."⁴⁰ To Titus he says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."⁴¹ To the Hebrews he says, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren."⁴² "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."⁴³

Having thus hurriedly passed through the Epistles which the Holy Ghost dictated to Paul, it only remains to glance at the testimony given by the other inspired apostles. James says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth."⁴⁴ Peter, writing to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, declares that they were "elect according to the foreknowledge of God,"⁴⁵ and blesses "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"⁴⁶ "whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."⁴⁷ John writes not only to the fathers and the young men who were strong, but to "little children, because," he says, "your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake; "and again, "I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father."⁴⁸ '' Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him."⁴⁹ "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life."⁵⁰ "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness [or the wicked one]. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life."⁵¹ Jude addresses "them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called;"⁵² and the beloved disciple raises an ascription of praise, in behalf of all his brethren, "unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father."⁵³

It is plain from these passages that the Holy Ghost sent His communications to the early disciples as to those who were already saved and who knew they were saved. Indeed, He manifestly designed to give them assurance of this fact; and they could obtain assurance only by believing His word. When it is said, "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,"⁵⁴ and, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself,"⁵⁵ we are to remember that the witness-bearing of the Holy Ghost is not apart from the word, but that it consists in leading the soul to rest with unwavering confidence upon the testimony of that word. When our Lord said to those who received Him as their Saviour, "Rejoice because your names are written in heaven,"⁵⁶ and, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom,"⁵⁷ bow were they assured of salvation? Clearly, by believing His word; and if they did sincerely believe Him, they not only hoped, but they knew, that their names were written in heaven, and that they would at length reign in the kingdom. They could not know it in any other way. Suppose Christ should now descend from heaven in visible form and say the same thing to you; would you believe Him? Suppose He should send an angel to you as He did to Cornelius to announce the same thing; would you believe Him? Suppose He should write the same thing in a letter and convey it to your mind in that form; would you believe Him? Why not believe Him, then, when He says the same thing in a book, and says it to you no less personally and directly than He did to those who received Him, while He was on the earth, as the Son of God?

Surely you know whether you believe that He lived here below, and died upon the cross, and arose from the grave, and ascended up to heaven; and whether He lived, and died, and arose, and ascended, as the Saviour of all who believe that thus He put away sin; and if you so believe, you may know that you are a child of God, because it is written, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God."⁵⁸ You have already confessed with the mouth that this Jesus is your Lord—or you are only waiting a suitable opportunity to confess Him—and you do sincerely believe that God raised Him from the dead for the justification of all His people; and hence you may know that you are delivered from the wrath to come, because it is written, '' If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."⁵⁹ You know whether you are trusting in Him alone for salvation, or whether you expect to enter heaven on the ground that you are good, or on the ground that you have joined the church, or on the ground of something else you are doing; and if you can truthfully say that your trust is in Jesus and in none but Jesus, you may know that you have passed out of death into life, because it is written, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."⁶⁰

The question here is not whether you are a sinner, for it is certain that you are a sinner, and that you will remain a sinner as long as you live, but it is simply this, Do you believe that Christ is your Saviour? If you do, although the flesh is still in you, "ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit."⁶¹ In other words, although you are a sinner, you are not a sinner; and if you say this is a contradiction in terms, so it is a contradiction in terms to say that you are mortal and at the same time immortal, and yet both statements are strictly true. As the great Bacon has described the believer in one of his striking Christian "paradoxes and seeming contradictions," "He hath within him both flesh and Spirit, yet he is not a double-minded man; he is often led captive by the law of sin, yet it never gets dominion over him; he cannot sin, yet can do nothing without sin." Or, to quote a far higher authority, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us;"⁶² but the same apostle says, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."⁶³ "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened." If the Christian had not leaven in him, he could not be told to purge it out; and yet the very reason assigned for purging it out is that he has not leaven. The truth is, our "old man" is essentially corrupt, but our "new man "which is created in Christ Jesus is essentially holy; and the moment we are in Him by faith alone, twenty things are said of our sins. First, they are blotted out;⁶⁴ second, they are borne by another;⁶⁵ third, they are cast behind God's back;⁶⁶ fourth, they are cast into the depths of the sea;⁶⁷ fifth, they are washed away with cleansing blood;⁶⁸ sixth, they are covered;⁶⁹ seventh, they are finished;⁷⁰ eighth, they are forgiven;⁷¹ ninth, they are not beheld;⁷² tenth, they are not imputed;⁷³ eleventh, they are not remembered;⁷⁴ twelfth, they are pardoned;⁷⁵ thirteenth, they are passed away;⁷⁶ fourteenth, they are purged;⁷⁷ fifteenth, they are put away;⁷⁸ sixteenth, they are remitted;⁷⁹ seventeenth, they are removed;⁸⁰ eighteenth, they are subdued;⁸¹ nineteenth, they are sought for and not found;⁸² twentieth, they are taken away.⁸³ The believer in Christ may know upon the sure testimony of God that all this is true as it respects both the sin of his nature and the sins of his life; and hence the believer may know in the same way that he is saved.

But it may be asked whether there are not certain evidences of conversion found in the Scriptures. Undoubtedly there are, but they are not given that we might derive from them the assurance of salvation. It was never intended that we should receive assurance by believing ourselves to be Christians, but by believing that Christ is our all-sufficient Saviour. Look at any of the evidences of regeneration mentioned in the Bible, and a moment's reflection will convince you that they were not designed to furnish assurance for which so many sad hearts are longing and striving. Take, for example, the text, "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."⁸⁴ This cannot give assurance, for there is not a Christian in the world whose love does not fall far below the measure of his desire and his duty. Take the text, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren."⁸⁵ This cannot give assurance, for there is no test to decide who are the brethren, and no standard to determine how fervent our love must be, or how far it must extend in covering the faults of those who claim to be Christians. Take the text, "He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him."⁸⁶ This cannot give assurance; for every true Christian, unless deluded by Satan, will confess that he fails to observe them in many particulars; that when he would do good evil is present with him; and that "no mere man, since the fall, is able, in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God; but doth daily break them, in thought, word, and deed." Whatever purpose, therefore, these evidences may serve, it is a self-righteous and fruitless task to look to them for assurance.

Still, it may be urged that we are commanded to examine ourselves. But not, I reply, to discover whether we are Christians. In the first passage where this command is given the context plainly shows that the examination refers only to the question whether the disciples of Christ were pursuing a course of conduct unbecoming those who came to the Lord's table. "Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup."⁸⁷ The question of personal salvation is not at all involved; but they were exhorted to examine their ways, and put from them, as the dear children of God, detected evil; "for if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged."⁸⁸ In the second passage we read, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith,"⁸⁹ but here again the context clearly shows that the question under discussion was about the apostle's right to exercise his high office, and not at all about personal salvation. "Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me," he says, "examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; "for the fact that they were in the faith was conclusive proof that Christ had owned his ministry, and therefore that he was not an impostor in claiming to be an apostle. Self-examination as conducted in the manner and to attain the ends for which it is usually urged is the most painful and profitless exercise that can engage the soul, and I would confidently appeal to the experience of every conscientious and intelligent Christian to testify whether this is not true. If you expect to get assurance in this way, you might as well expect to get health by looking at disease, to get light by looking at darkness, to get life by looking at a corpse. Self-judgment is quite another thing, and daily should we consider our ways: not to find a ground of assurance, but to confess and forsake all that is evil as judged by the word of God.

It may, however, occur to the reader that there are numerous passages in the Scriptures which warn us against the danger and deception of apostasy. Want of space forbids an examination of these passages, but without going into details, it is sufficient to state that Scripture cannot contradict itself; and having already shown by the abundant testimony of the Holy Ghost the safety of the believer in Jesus, it is certain that the same Spirit cannot teach a directly contrary doctrine. Such passages, which are often wrested from their proper meaning by those who are "unskilful in the word of righteousness,"⁹⁰ are sometimes given to expose hypocrites, and sometimes to put true Christians on their guard "against the wiles of the devil,"⁹¹ but never to shake the confidence of the believer. "To all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi"⁹² (the home of the redeemed and rejoicing jailer) the inspired apostle writes, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."⁹³ In other words, God had worked salvation in them, and now they were commanded to work it out—to work, not for salvation, but from salvation already received; to work, not for life, but from life already bestowed. And if anything can arouse us to ceaseless activity, to sustained enthusiasm, to practical holiness, and to personal love in the service of our divine Master, it is the knowledge of the fact that through His pitying grace and precious blood He has freely, fully, and forever saved us. Then we will understand the deep meaning of the words,

"I'm a poor sinner, and nothing at all
And Jesus Christ is my all in all.''

Then we can say, in the confidence and joy of a simple faith, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."⁹⁴

"Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."⁹⁵

"Can it be right for me to go
     On in this dark, uncertain way?
Say 'I believe,' and yet not know
     Whether my sins are put away?

"Not know my trespasses forgiven,
     Until I meet Him in the air!
Not know that I shall get to heaven
     Until I wake and find me there!

"Not know my state till on my brow
     Beams the celestial diadem!
Why, surely all the world will know
     That I'm a pardoned sinner then.

"Most clouds and darkness veil my brow
     Until I dwell with saints in light?
And must I walk in darkness now,
     Because I cannot walk by sight?

"And shall I just begin to say,
     'Father, Thine every word is true,'
And cast my doubts and fears away.
     When all the world will own it too I

"Is this the way to treat the God
     Who bids me love and trust Him now?
Is this the way to use the word
     Given to guide me here below?

How can I forth to sinners go.
     And tell of grace so rich and free,
If all the while I do not know
     Whether that grace has smiled on me?

"How can it be my joy to dwell
     On the rich power of Jesus' blood.
If all the while I cannot tell
     That it has sealed my peace with God?

"How can I be like Christ below—
     How like my Lord in witness shine—
Unless with conscious joy I know
     His Father and His God as mine?

"Oh, crush this cruel unbelief;
     These needless, shameful doubts remove;
And suffer me no more to grieve
     The God whom I do really love."

1) 1 Pet. i. 15, 16.

2) Eph. v. 1.

3) Eph, iv. 32.

4) Acts xvi. 31.

5) John iii. 36.

6) 1 Cor. i. 26.

7) 1 Cor. vi. 11.

8) Rom. i. 7.

9) Rom. iv. 5.

10) Rom. v. 1, 2.

11) Rom. vi. 1, 2.

12) Rom. vi. 6.

13) Rom. viii. 1.

14) Rom. viii. 34.

15) Rom. xiii. 11.

16) Rom. xiv. 8.

17) Rom xvi. 20.

18) 1 Cor. i. 7, 8.

19) 1 Cor. i. 30.

20) 1 Cor. iii. 16.

21) 1 Cor. iii. 21-23.

22) 1 Cor. vi. 2, 3.

23) 1 Cor. vi. 20.

24) 1 Cor. X. 13.

25) 1 Cor. xi. 32.

26) 1 Cor. xii. 27.

27) 1 Cor. xv. 58.

28) 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.

29) 2 Cor. iii. 3.

30) 2 Cor. v. 1.

31) 2 Cor. v. 18.

32) 2 Cor. v. 21.

33) Gal. iii. 26.

34) Eph. i. 6, 7.

35) Eph. ii. 13.

36) Phil. i. 6.

37) Col. i. 12, 13.

38) Col. ii. 10.

39) 1 Thess. i. 9, 10.

40) 2 Tim. i. 7.

41) Tit. iii. 5-7.

42) Heb. ii. 11.

43) Heb. ix. 28.

44) James 1. 17, 18.

45) 1 Pet. i. 2. 3

46) 1 Pet. i. 3.

47) 1 Pet. i. 8, 9.

48) 1 John ii. 12, 13.

49) 1 John iii. 2.

50) 1 John v. 13.

51) 1 John v. 19, 20.

52) Jude 1.

53) Rev. i. 5, 6.

54) Rom. viii. 16.

55) 1 John v. 10.

56) Luke x. 20.

57) Luke xii. 32.

58) 1 John v. 1.

59) Rom. x. 9.

60) John vi, 47,

61) Rom. viii. 9.

62) 1 John i. 8.

63) 1 John iii. 9.

64) Isa. xliii. 25.

65) 1 Pet. ii. 24.

66) Isa. xxxviii. 17.

67) Micah vii. 19.

68) 1 John i. 7.

69) Rom. iv. 7.

70) Dan. ix. 24.

71) Col. ii. 13.

72) Num. xxiii. 21.

73) Rom. iv. 8.

74) Heb. viii. 12.

75) Micah vii. 18.

76) Zech. iii. 4.

77) Heb. i. 3.

78) Heb. ix. 26.

79) Acts x. 43.

80) Ps. ciii. 12.

81) Micah vii. 19.

82) Jer. i. 20.

83) Isa. vi. 7.

84) 1 John iv. 7.

85) 1 John iii. 14.

86) 1 John iii. 24.

87) 1 Cor. xi. 28.

88) 1 Cor. xi. 31.

89) 2 Cor. xiii. 5.

90) Heb. v. 13.

91) Eph. vi. 11.

92) Phil. i. 1.

93) Phil. ii. 12, 13.

94) 2 Tim. i. 12.

95) Jude 24, 25.