he dead_,
thou shalt be saved."--Rom. 10:9. "If Christ hath not been raised your
faith is vain; _ye are yet in your sins_."--1 Cor. 15:17.

Chalmers, the great Scotch preacher, in a letter to a friend made
plain what believing on Christ means: "I must say that I never had so
close and satisfactory a view of the gospel salvation, as when I have
been led to contemplate it in the light of a simple offer on the one
side, and a simple acceptance on the other. It is just saying to one
and all of us, There is forgiveness through the blood of My Son: Take
it, and whoever believes the reality of the offer takes it.... We are
apt to stagger at the greatness of the unmerited offer and cannot
attach faith to it till we have made up some title of our own. This
leads to two mischievous consequences: It keeps alive the presumption
of one class who will still be thinking that it is something in
themselves and of themselves which confers upon them a right of
salvation; and it confirms the melancholy of another class, who look
into their own hearts and their own lives, and find that they cannot
make out a shadow of a title to the divine favor. The error of both
lies in their looking to themselves when they should be looking to the
Saviour. 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth.'--Is. 45:22. The Son of man was so lifted up that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John
3:14, 15). It is your part simply to lay hold of the proffered boon.
You are invited to do so; and you are entreated to do so; nay, what is
more, you are commanded to do so. It is true, you are unworthy, and
without holiness no man can see God; but be not afraid, only believe.
You cannot get holiness of yourself, but Christ has undertaken to
provide it for you. It is one of those spiritual blessings of which He
has the dispensation, and which He has promised to all who believe in
Him. God has promised that with His Son He will freely give you all
things (Rom. 8:32); that He will walk in you, and dwell in you (2 Cor.
6:16); that He will purify your heart by faith (Acts 15:9); that He
will put His law in your mind and write it in your heart (Heb. 8:10).
These are the effects of your believing in Christ, and not the
services by which you become entitled to believe in Him. Make a clear
outset in the business, and understand that your first step is simply
confiding acceptance of an offer that is most free, most frank, most