o atone for sin and
merit the divine favor_. Afraid of God's judgments, they set
themselves to do commanded duties, and place their dependence on these
doings of their own.

Duties done by men have nothing meritorious in them. The design of
many things which God hath enjoined is to serve as a schoolmaster to
bring men to Christ. None are intended to save by any virtue in them.
By nothing which man can do is God made his debtor. Neither doth ought
done by man recommend to the divine favor if perverted and made the
ground of hope toward God.

The sinner's best recommendation to the divine favor is a sense of his
own demerit, which leads him humble and self abased to cast himself on
grace in a mediator. His most prevalent prayer is that made by the
publican--"God be merciful to me a sinner." Sinners are invited to
the Savior, and encouraged to hope in him--"Look unto me and be ye
saved all the ends of the earth. It is a faithful saying, that Christ
came into the world to save sinners." But he saves only those who
receive and trust in him. If we go about to establish our own
righteousness, relying on our own doings as the ground of our
acceptance with God, he will give to us according to our works
--"Behold all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about
with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye
have kindled: This shall ye have from mine hand, ye shall lie down in
sorrow." *

*Isaiah l. 11.

Not that sinners are to neglect the means of grace, or indulge in sin.
When God promised his church to give them a new heart, and cause them
to walk in his statutes, he declared that those blessings should be
given in answer to prayer--"Yet for this will I be inquired of by the
house of Israel to do it for them." And when the apostle teaches how
to seek renewing grace, he directs to "lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness, the ingrafted
word."

Saving grace is perhaps, never given till it is asked of God. Sinners
are made to see their need of this divine gift and led to cry to God
for it. It is then when they ask that they receive. That they shall
not ask in vain, is intimated with sufficient clearness in the word of
truth. "Whosoever shalt call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
If thou knewest the gift of God--_thou wouldest have asked of him_,
and he would have given thee living water."

Yet the sinner merits nothing by any doings of his.