mysterious subject is again referred to in the
sixteenth chapter, which treats of the church, and, like the earlier
Confession used by Knox's congregation at Geneva and our later
Confession, identifies that invisible but real church, which is "the
bodie and spouse" of Christ Jesus, with the elect of all ages, nations,
and tongues, so that "as without Christ Jesus there is nouther life nor
salvation, so sal there nane be participant therof bot sic as the Father
hes given unto His Sonne," and who in time come unto Him.[117] Many
individual expressions occurring in these chapters can be clearly traced
to one or other of Calvin's Confessions, or to the earliest edition of
his Institutes;[118] but the only Confession I can remember in which a
similar, though shorter, history of the preparation for the coming
Redeemer is given, is the 'Summa Doctrinae' of John Alasco,[119] which
may be regarded as the Confession of Faith, not only of the ministers
but also of the members of the church of the foreigners in London. Knox
was brought into contact with them both in London and in Frankfort,
agreed with them generally in opinion, and largely adopted their forms
and arrangements in matters of worship and discipline.

[Sidenote: Justification.]

A group of chapters[120] treats of the nature and work of the Holy
Spirit, the cause of good works, the works which are reputed good, the
perfection of the Law of God, and the imperfection of man. Those who
have overlooked the explicit statement in the third chapter concerning
the depravity of man have generally overlooked or failed to perceive the
full significance of the emphatic statements in the twelfth chapter
regarding our entire dependence for spiritual renovation, and all good,
on the Holy Spirit. The words are: "Of nature we are so dead, so blind,
and so perverse, that nether can we feill when we ar pricked, see the
licht when it shines, nor assent to the will of God when it is reveiled,
unles the Spirit of the Lord Jesus quicken that quhilk is dead, remove
the darknesse from our myndes, and bowe our stubburne hearts to the
obedience of His blessed will;"[121] and again, "As we willingly spoyle
ourselves of all honour and gloir of our awin creation and redemption,
so do we also of our regeneration and sanctification."[122] These
statements, however they may be viewed by others, seem to me no less
explicit than those of the later Confession, which have been sometimes
contrasted with