Intro.
Having discussed some of the basic principles of the Christian religion, I believe it would be beneficial to explain why these things must be so, and why it is necessary. The Christian religion is the only religion of Trinitarianism, and yet there are many groups of heretics that claim to believe in the Trinity: Roman Catholicism, Arminianism, and Antinomianism being the chief of these heresies. We however affirm that belief in the Trinity is belief in the true God, and no one can believe in the true God and be unconverted. The work of Regeneration is such that God reveals Himself to us, so that we are no longer ignorant of His person, His work, or His attributes. He who says He believes that God is three in one, and yet denies the work of the three persons, or the attributes which God reveals Himself by cannot say that he believes the true God. To believe the gospel is to believe in God. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.” (Rom. 1:16) One cannot be both saved, and devoid of the knowledge of God, for the work of salvation requires knowledge of man, knowledge of sin, and knowledge of God. We are born again by the Word of God as James says, and the apostle Paul also affirms by saying that they cannot believe unless they have heard the Word, and they cannot hear without the Word being properly expounded to them by the preaching of the gospel. Those who truly believe the gospel cannot be without knowing who God is and how He saves us, for this is the first, and principal thing that prepares the heart for conversion. Those who deny God’s election show that they do not know the Father. Those who mistake Christ’s intercession show that they do not know the Son, and those who take upon themselves the work of regeneration do not know the Spirit. It is one thing to be weak pertaining to the knowledge of doctrine, it is quite another to oppose it. Our opponents are always about making excuses for heresy, saying things like, “They just have bad theology.” Or, “Perfect doctrine doesn’t save, Jesus saves.” Or the worst, “They actually mean the opposite of what they’re preaching.” As if we should take Arminians and Antinomians for imbeciles without wits rather than carnal men and heretics preaching a carnal gospel. Rather than battle for their souls, we assume that their conversion is sincere, because we fear to challenge them, being naturally inclined to the fear of man, and not the fear of God. But we must be vigilant, and be on our guard against heresy and error, and as the apostle Paul says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them.” (Rom. 16:17) Either doctrinal matters are of great weight and importance or heresy is now permissible. But we know that God cannot change, and He abhors heresy as much now as in the early church. But the shame of the modern church heresy is not only permissible but even tolerated and promoted in many congregations and even Reformed churches. Heretics like C.S. Lewis, Karl Barth, and others like them are respected, and held in esteem rather than warned against. There is a terrible tendency in our days to assume that a religious, conservative lifestyle with a profession of faith is all that it takes to enter into heaven. So long as you’re not involved in any heinous outward transgression, you get a free pass even from pastors today. This is not how it was in times of Reformation. We ought to be wary of the damnable sins of the mind as much as of the damnable sins of the flesh.
Eph. 2:3 says, “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” We are not only to rebuke carnal sin, but intellectual sin as well, which is just as ready to damn a person as carnal sin if not more so. Luther said, “The white devil of heresy is worse than the black devil of carnality.” Therefore let us be diligent to study the scriptures, confirm that these things are so, and pray for the Spirit to guide us into all truth, which if we be of His elect, He will surely do so.

Doctrine.
Therefore we ought to faithfully distinguish between a true genuine faith, and a false faith. We are not as many seeking to add works to faith, to say that the faith that justifies requires works, or that those who have faith will be devoid of works. Although the truths of the gospel are believed by all who are truly of Christ, yet heresy and false doctrine is subtle and their ideals and false doctrine often sounds dangerously similar to articles of truth. Let us therefore be diligent to search the scriptures that we might know the certainty of the things of God, and also maintain a reverence and thankfulness to God for the Christian creed and confession which rightly distinguishes truth from error. Be ready to look into both the word of God and the Westminster Confession and catechisms in order to rightly discern truth that you might be well equipped also to combat the lies of the devil. This being said, let us observe the first part of faith which is repentance from sin.
Repentance.
1 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Christ indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” Our faith and hope being founded upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ are founded upon God. The LORD says, “Look to me, and be saved all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Often, when we think of faith, we think primarily of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the object of our faith, and desire. We sometimes forget that it was the Father who called us to faith, and accepts our faith, and the Spirit who applied that faith, and created it with mighty power inside us. Our faith is in God and in God alone. He has elected and called us, and redeemed and renewed us. He has left nothing undone as pertaining to our salvation. He has justified us, adopted us, is sanctifying us and will also glorify us. Our faith is in God who is three persons in one, and therefore our faith has three parts to it, though it be but one faith. We must repent of sin, believe in Jesus Christ and live a holy life. Faith therefore is comprised of repentance, trust, and obedience. None of these primary principles of faith exist without the other, and a lack of one is a lack of all. They cannot be without each other. One either believes in God, or they are still dead in their sins. Therefore this hopefully will clear up a lot of controversy pertaining to the nature of faith and repentance, and the necessity of obedience for salvation apart from being saved by the works of the law. We can say with confidence that an unholy man is unregenerate, and we can say with equal confidence that it is by faith alone that we are delivered from wrath, justified and made righteous before God. Faith is the principal and chief grace that God graciously bestows upon us as the necessary antecedent to the giving of all other graces. When God desires to make a soul beautiful by the working of His Spirit He first works faith in them so that they are able and willing to receive it from His hand alone.
Every grace in a believer’s life is given to Him by God and draws its strength and power from faith. When Jesus began His public ministry, he preached saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Now if faith is what is required for communion with God, (which we readily affirm that it is) why did Jesus not simply say, “Believe on Me, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand?” or, “Take up your cross and follow Me, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Why, but because repentance is the first element of faith, and the preliminary sign of the sincerity of faith.
Repentance is the acknowledgement of sin, and the realization that we are vile and wretched creatures destitute of righteousness, and condemned to an eternal punishment on account of our sins. It is the accepting as true what account the scripture makes of us, that we are by nature dead, and rightfully deserve the curse of the law. Therefore William Tyndale says, “Now saith the text, Romans 10 “The end of the law,” or the cause wherefore the law was made, “is Christ, to justify all that believe:” that is, the law is given to utter sin, to kill the consciences, to damn our deeds, to bring to repentance, and to drive unto Christ; in whom God hath promised his favor, and forgiveness of sin, unto all that repent and consent to the law that it is good.” We must be brought under the acknowledgement of the curse of the law before we can be redeemed from it. We must be brought to a realization that we have nothing good in ourselves and must call out to God for mercy. The unbeliever does not understand this, because this is wrought in the mind of the elect only. Therefore Jesus says, “Repent!” for repentance is a turning of our minds from the darkness of dead works, to the beholding of the light of Jesus Christ as He is revealed and freely offered to us in the gospel. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6)
We should understand then that repentance is the changing of the mind. God the Father is the source of all Wisdom, and the Father of lights. Through the Father all knowledge of the Son is conveyed to whom He has elected to be delivered from sin, and upon whom His grace is bestowed, their eyes are opened, their minds are enlightened, and they see themselves as dust, and nothingness before Him. When God revealed Himself to Job, it brought Job to repentance, and notice carefully what Job says, ““I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6)
Repentance is self-abhorrence, and nothing less. This is why we must be vigilant against the false gospel which is commonly propagated in these our days which boasts of free-will and personal merit. Or another false gospel that supposes that assent to the truth of the gospel is not enough to constitute of Christian. All the enemies of the Christian religion assert that faith itself is never enough. As we will see, true faith is antithetical to free will and boasting in works. Faith boasts only of God’s mercy. When the sinner is broken and convicted for sin, he is brought to great despair, and lowliness. He cannot think highly of himself, for in repenting he realizes the great danger of his sinful life, the guilt he is under on account of his sin, the righteousness of God’s law, and the just enforcement of God’s law to punish him in hell forever. The proud in heart are quicker to take the side of the reprobate than the Lord’s side. They incessantly demand that if God should choose His own elect, he would be unjust to destroy the others without giving them a chance. This proves they have not known Him, nor experienced repentance, for in knowing ourselves to be wicked, we acknowledge mankind to be wicked, and God’s law which condemns the world- good and righteous. You cannot think both man and God righteous at the same time. You must believe one or the other. Either God is righteous and man deserves damnation, or man is righteous and must acquire faith by his own will. But I hope we are seeing here that if our repentance be true we could not possibly think God unjust for condemning the world for sin. Repentance is vital for faith, and true faith cannot be without the acknowledgement of our sin and misery which brings our spirits low. Therefore Edward Taylor the Puritan poet writes, “We cannot expect to reach heaven, but by the gates of the bottomless pit.” The bottomless pit is self-despairing repentance and is necessary for salvation because it is an ingredient in true faith without which there is no hope of seeing God. Therefore when a preacher says that repentance is necessary for salvation he is saying nothing else than that faith alone is required for salvation, for it is repentance that drives us to repair to Christ.
The principal work of the Father pertains to the mind, and therefore Christ mediates for us by execution of His prophetic office in showing us the mind of the Father, and reveals to us the way of salvation. To approach before the living God without a Mediator means damnation because of the filth of our sin. We cannot even begin to understand God without Christ revealing it to us, for God is incomprehensible, and unknown to the hypocrite. Therefore when speaking of an unbeliever the scriptures often refer to them as those who do not know God. Therefore if we would have any hope of redemption, we must in all our seeking after God be accompanied by a Mediator. Without Christ revealing to us the mind of God, we are left in ignorance and sin. Therefore our faith is in God when it is fixed upon Christ and grounded upon His person and work, as opposes to sinful works of the flesh, which works are all regarded as worthless and washed away by the tears of repentance. The first step upon the path to salvation is repentance. The Westminster divines understood these deep mysteries, and gave us great insight into understanding the scriptures through their Confession and Catechisms. (Along with scripture, I highly recommend you become well acquainted with the Westminster standards.) The Westminster Shorter says this regarding repentance unto life. “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.”
And is this not exactly what we are trying to prove here: that these three ingredients are necessary for true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ- even repentance, trust, and obedience?
So we see then that the true sense of our sin and the great distance between us and God by nature is necessary if we are to possess true faith, and be accepted into heaven.
“And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.” (Ez. 20:43)

Trust.
We should also observe the second element of faith which is trust and adore the glorious work of the Trinity in redeeming us from this misery through faith in Christ the Son. When once we have rightly understood our sinful nature, and our estate of sin and misery, this is only the very beginning of walking in the path of salvation. When a sinner is broken for sin, and abhors himself, and knows himself to be what he is, and what scripture manifestly declares him to be, then and only then it is that the offer of the gospel is made effectually to his soul. He knows himself to be condemned by the law, and knows that he can never be justified by it. He now despairs of and fears of saving himself more than he was ever fond of it before. Once he was self-righteous, now he is self-despairing. This is what makes the soul ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ.
As the Westminster Larger Catechism says, “Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.” A sinner can never believe the gospel, nor put his trust on the Lord Jesus Christ until he first repents, and knows himself to be guilty before God. But when once he understands his darkness, the light of Christ beams down upon Him with radiant warmth and he is thereby enabled to receive Jesus Christ as His Mediator and Advocate, and trust in Him alone for salvation. The first ingredient of faith which is repentance requires knowledge of God and sin, the second requires knowledge of Christ, and the gospel both of which are manifested by the preaching of the Word of God. We must know and understand that Christ died to satisfy the Father’s justice in order to pardon us, and rose again to justify us, and that He ‘ever lives to make intercession for us.’ This is the work of Christ’s Priestly office, whereby He fulfills the law of perfect obedience with full love and grace, and both takes upon Himself the sins of His people, and offers the Father His obedience in our stead. For if our works are shown to the Father, we will surely die, and perish forever. Therefore faith apprehends the mercy of Christ as a High Priest, and Christ fulfills His office in bearing the guilt of our sin upon His own body on the cross, in destroying the guilt forever by His death, and by rising again to present His obedience to the Father on our behalf. This understanding is all part of faith. We must know these things if our faith is to be full and fruitful.
Christ’s work as High Priest principally pertains to the will. Hebrews 10:5-10 says, “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”
Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
and again, “has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Heb. 1:2-3)
Christ came to do His Father’s will. By that will we have been sanctified, for by our own will we could have no hope. Christ came to fulfill that which we could never hope to imagine accomplishing ourselves. Our wills are clean contrary to God’s will. Christ came to earth therefore to be our Mediator and deliver us from the will of the devil, to whose service our wills were naturally inclined. Christ came and performed all that was written in the law as a positive command. He kept all the commandments, and also gave Himself as the sacrifice. He also took upon Himself all that was written against us for our sin and transgression. For it is written, “Cursed is every man who continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”  (Gal. 3:10) and again in verse 13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)” and again in Col. 2:14, “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
He did all that was required in the keeping of the law, and made atonement for the breakers of it by taking upon Himself their punishment. God’s wrath and vengeance is ever set against us apart from the Mediation of Christ as Priest. He came to do His Father’s will, so that God would be well pleased for His righteousness sake, and His wrath would not consume us. And just as Christ as prophet declares judgment upon the world for its wickedness, so Christ as Priest judges them by making intercession for His people, and leaving the rest in their misery.
So we see then that Christ Himself is the perfection of the Father’s will. Apart from Him there is no priest, there is no Advocate, and there is no redemption. As it is written, “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.” (Isa. 59:16) So after we are renewed in the mind to know God, to know ourselves, and know His will, we are enabled by His almighty power to receive Christ as offered to us in the gospel. The act of our will is not an act of merit, but an act of receiving Christ’s merit imputed to us through the Spirit who enables us. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” God offers to us freely the best gift that could ever be given or received- even His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, and Christ also offers Himself to us, and takes us by the hand pulling us out of our sin and misery. All of Salvation therefore brings glory to God alone, for it is the work of God from beginning to end.

Obedience.
We should also observe the third ingredient of our faith which is obedience from a purified heart and adore the marvelous work of the Trinity in enabling us to this great work through the work of the Spirit. After we have repented from sin, and received the Lord Jesus Christ, do we then desire to continue in sin? Certainly not. Regeneration consists of the renewal of the mind, the will, and also the heart. Understanding that Christ has died for us, we are now made willing subjects of Him, and are ruled by His law according to His Spirit. This is why numerous times the apostle says, “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” And Jesus says the greatest commandment of all is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” This is the completion of our faith, and the seal of our salvation. “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Eph. 1:13-14) Here Paul says after having trusted in Him you were then sealed with the Spirit of promise. Not only are our minds renewed, but our will is renewed, and our hearts also made willing subjects of Christ the King. Psalm 110:3 says, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.” Christ works in our hearts effectually, tenderly, and also with great power. He does not approve of sin, or permit us to continue in it, and so He reveals to us its odiousness, He intercedes for us so that we are not destroyed because of it, and He also rules us by His Spirit so that we are more and more enabled to turn away from it. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” [Ps. 23:3] The work of Christ is the destruction of sin, and the undoing of the works of sinful man and the devil. Col. 2:15 says, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Christ works in our hearts with power, and effectually subdues the mind, will and heart by His Spirit according to His will, for His own dwelling place. How can man boast of might, and strength of will? Job 9:19-20 says, “If it is a matter of strength, indeed He is strong;
And if of justice, who will appoint my day in court? Though I were righteous, my own mouth would condemn me; though I were blameless, it would prove me perverse.”
Isaiah 45:9 likewise says, “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?”
But we who are delivered from such pagan notions submit to Him as to a righteous King who ever leads us into the paths of righteousness for His own sake. Both our service and reward is to do His will.
The principal work of the Spirit pertains to the heart, and therefore Christ Mediates for us by execution of His Kingly office in ruling us, guiding us, and protecting us from the assaults of the enemy. As the Shorter Catechism states, “Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.” Obedience therefore is part of the life of faith, and inseparable to it. Without the work of the Spirit, salvation is incomplete. Therefore when someone professes to be a Christian, but does not live, nor desire to live a sanctified and holy life according to God’s law, we must conclude that the work of faith has not yet begun in them. Repentance leads to trust, and trust to obedience. As Paul says, “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” We are made willing to obey God as His servants of righteousness having been freed from the guilt of sin which is declared to us, from the punishment of sin which was suffered for us, and also from the dominion of sin which is subdued in us. “Sin shall not reign over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14) Having been born again of the Spirit, we are no longer subject to the condemnation of the law, but are made willing to serve God by obedience to the law without fear. Our obedience is not a papist, or legalistic obedience, but a true and sincere obedience that comes from the heart. Those attempting to be justified by their works can in no wise be said to glorify God, for their works are for selfish gain. But we, knowing ourselves to be justified and fully forgiven, do dedicate our works to the glory of God, who delivered us from sin, and deserves our praise, adoration, worship and service. We love and adore Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior who has delivered us from the greatest evil and made us partaker of the highest good- even enjoyment of God, and communion with Himself, and the promise to be with Him forever in heaven. The Christian therefore does not obey because he feels he must in order to be saved, but rather because he can do no other, He being led by the love of Christ is constrained to obey, and loves to obey for the sake of Christ who enables Him. As David says in Psalm 119:174, “I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.” The only obedience that is acceptable to God is that which is according to His will, enabled unto by Christ, and that which comes from a sincere heart of faith.
The Spirit works in our hearts, and bends our will by renewing our affections. We once hated the law: both its commands, and its curse, but now are set free by Christ to love His law which rules us in righteousness. We must confess therefore that we did not have the will to obey God, nor was violence done to our will when our hearts were turned to Him, but we were sweetly captivated by the voice of God, and by the power of the Spirit when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me.” These three commands of Christ, “Repent, believe, and take up your cross and follow me” contain the whole substance of true religion.
We are made willing by the Spirit, and He leads us gently in the paths of righteousness for His own name’s sake. When once the law condemned us, now it commends us to God, for we are enabled by His Spirit, by the authority of Christ the King of righteousness to keep His commandments, and please Him by diligent observance of the same. So we see then that faith and works are not contrary to each other, for faith without works is a dead faith, and works without faith is a dead work. We understand that good works are a consequence of faith, not the cause of faith. A mind that assents to the truths of the gospel is truly a sanctified mind, for to submit to Christ’s doctrine is also to submit to His will, which we do freely and willingly before we are found to do one good work.

Application.
Is repentance necessary for true faith? Then let us live in continual repentance!
Though repentance is often related to conversion it is not excluded only to that time when we were first delivered from sin. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” [Matt. 5:3] There is always going to be some manner or form of corruption inside us warring against the Spirit, and therefore there will always be need for sincere repentance. That is why Calvin said, “The whole of the Christian life is repentance.” Because we are weak by nature, we must be constantly asking God for forgiveness, asking Christ for intercession, and asking the Spirit for new life to walk in the ways that please Him. While we live in the flesh, there will often be times that we stumble into sin, and walk away from the path of goodness. Yet the true saint does not fall back into perdition, but repents of his sin, and returns to the path of obedience. Repentance is a turning of the mind away from dead works, and therefore there is room every day for repentance. We should keep a guard over our hearts, and minds that we might search for what is pleasing to God, and know what is pleasing to God, that our minds would be renewed and we would not so ignorantly fall into the temptation of sin. The life of the saints is a life of repentance, contrition and true sorrow for sin. Yet this is not opposed to a life of joy and confidence, but its life and strength. If we are to be joyful in Christ, we must be sorrowful in ourselves for sin, and even sorrowful for the sins of the world, for all the manifold offenses that they commit against him. In these our days, I do not know how a saint could live without sorrow seeing how ungodly and wicked the world is, and also how liable our flesh is to turning away from God. In God lies all our hope, blessing and eternal joy, and for our minds and hearts to be turned away from Him toward the vanity of the world is a grievous error. We need to be about repenting for our weakness, and asking God to further enable us to live for Him and His glory.

Is trust in Christ also necessary for true faith? Then let us apprehend His mercy, and receive the forgiveness of sins!
After we are broken for sin, then we are made ready to lean on Christ for the healing of our soul. This is applicable both for our first repentance, and also for every day of our lives, whether we have sinned, or are walking in obedience. Christ’s mercy pours forth from the cross, and grants us life and confidence before God. There should never be a time that we doubt whether Christ is willing to receive us if we come to Him with a broken heart. As it is written, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.” (Ps. 51:17)
and again, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” And again, “mercy triumphs over judgment.” God is not willing that any broken sinner who begs for mercy should be turned away. Though we are great sinners, His mercy is even greater. Though we are dead, He has given us life. Though we deserve damnation, He has offered us salvation. Therefore it is repeated throughout scripture saying, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord,
and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” (Isa. 55:7) and again, ““Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’ Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die O house of Israel?’ (Ezk. 33:10-11)
We see then that God is not willing that we should perish on account of sin. He certainly is willing that the wicked should perish on account of His divine decrees and justice, but we see here that the antecedent to receiving the mercy of Christ is to acknowledge that our transgressions and sins lie upon us, and to pine away in them, and mourn because of them, which brings us to Christ, and His offer of free mercy. Since Christ’s mercy is so free, let us cling to Him in love, and fully apprehend His offer of salvation. Let us make no delay to trust fully upon Him for righteousness, for He has made a full atonement for all who come to Him in true faith, and will certainly bear with their weaknesses, and lift them out of their troubles. As Isaiah 40:11 says, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.” And also Heb. 4:14-16, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Is obedience also necessary for Salvation? Then let us pursue holiness with all our might!
Heb. 12:14 says, “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” This is in context of our bringing fruit to God after being corrected and chastised on account of our sin. Therefore the apostle declares that without fruit worthy of repentance- that is holiness no man shall see the Lord. We cannot hope to see the kingdom of heaven unless we run for it, and fight for it, and strive to enter therein. When one said unto Christ, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” Jesus said unto him, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” [Luke 13:23-24]
And again the apostle Paul exhorts us to diligent obedience saying, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” (1 Cor. 9:24-25) Here he compares our race to that of an athlete who must contemplate diet, exercise, and habits in order to maximize their strength and ability in order to run. This is how our obedience ought to be, and even more so. If men are so willing to sacrifice so much of their time, energy and life in order to run one race, how much more willing ought we to be to run the race that is set before us, which they run for a temporal crown that passes away with this world, but we for an eternal reward which never fades away, and is reserved in heaven to be revealed on the last day. Heb. 11:6 says, “He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” To know God is to love God, and to love Him is to obey Him. God has not only pardoned our sins, and invited us into His kingdom of glory, but He also promises to reward our obedience, and give us crowns at the end of our race. Rev. 2:10 says, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” Let your obedience be worthy of your calling, and your faithfulness worthy of your King who has so freely offered you mercy. He has done all for us, and therefore let us do all we can for Him, daily dying to sin, taking up the cross of mortification, following Christ the King in the ways of new obedience, and walk even as He walked.