g baptized into Christ is Paul's explanation of how we
become the children of God by faith. "Ye are all sons of God, through
faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ
did put on Christ." We come to Christ, then, in baptism. This is the
first overt act in the "obedience of faith." Our faith, repentance and
baptism bring us to Christ; then He, as the Great Physician, heals our
sin-sick soul. There is no healing virtue in these things that bring us
to Him; but they are conditions of our healing because they are means
of our reaching the Physician.

The remedy for sin is the Physician's own blood. That is the only thing
in the universe of God that can heal the disease of sin, and remove the
ruinous consequences. "The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses
from all sin." The blood of animal sacrifices could not take away sin.
"For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take
away sins." Since animal sacrifice could not meet the demands of the
law, God prepared a body for His Son in which to make a sacrifice.

"Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
But a body thou didst prepare me."

Hence we are redeemed from the curse of sin, not with corruptible
things, "but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot, even the blood of Christ." "And without the shedding of
blood there was no remission."

It is plain, therefore, that the blood of the Physician is the only
remedy. This remedy is freely given when we come to Him.

Jesus said: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth may in him
have eternal life." The Israelites were commanded to look upon the
brazen serpent; and they that looked were healed. They had to have
faith, in order to look with a view to being healed. Looking was the
thing commanded. It was the result of faith. In looking they were
healed. But there was no virtue in the looking. Looking, in and of
itself, had no power to heal. Still it was essential to the healing.
Neither had the thing looked upon any power to heal. There was no
virtue in the serpent. The healing power lay back of that. It was in
God, who had promised. God did the healing. But while there was no
healing virtue in the look nor in the thing looked upon, they were
necessary to the healing, because to this end were they commanded. They
were, therefore, necessary to bring one to the point in