the dominion of sin. Once sin reigned, and all his powers were submissive to its sway. But through grace a change, a radical change, has taken place, so that, "where sin reigned unto death, even there grace reigns through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord."

He also is dead to the condemnation of sin. The conscience, once guilty, has been purged. Once it testified to the turpitude of moral action, now to its purity. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

He is dead to the love of sin. Once he delighted in it, and took pleasure in iniquity; but now, since he has discovered "the exceeding sinfulness of sin," he delights in it no more. Viewing it as evil, and only evil, he abhors it, and can say with his Lord, "I hate it with a perfect hatred." And calling upon God in the integrity of his purpose, he exclaims, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

He is dead to the defilement of sin. He is freed from the pollution, the latent principle, the inbred power of evil. He has his heart emptied

of all that is sinful, and filled with all that is good, being "filled with all the fullness of God.”

(4) The Christian is dead to the world. Though a resident of this world, yet he regards himself but as a pilgrim and a sojourner here, as were his fathers before him. He is seeking for "a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Indeed, while here the Christian is a citizen of Heaven; as it is written, our conversation is in Heaven,” ἡμῶν τὸ πολίτευμα, i. e., "our citizenship." Hence, he is so detached from earth, and his affections are so placed upon things above, that it may be said, he is dead to this world. "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." The honors of earth do not attract him; its pleasures do not charm him; its love does not draw him; its maxims do not rule him; and its fashions do not control him. He has looked to the Cross, and by its power has been transfigured, so that, with the devoted Paul, he joyfully exclaims, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

2. The Christian's experience implies life. That cross which was the occasion of death to him, as above explained, is also a source of

higher life. For now he may say, "nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Christ is formed within him," a fountain of life, in his inmost soul, from which all his tempers, words, and actions flow. Christ is the Author of the believer's life: by His sacrifice He has made atonement, and "brought life and immortality to light." Christ imparts this life: "Ye that were dead in trespasses and sins hath He quickened.” Christ sustains the life given: "Because I live, ye shall live also," and "Without Me, ye can do nothing."

The believer, in another sense, is in Christ, and consequently a new creature; for "if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature." It is not that he receives new powers, which prior to his creation he did not possess; for in his fall he lost none of his original faculties, and in his restoration, he receives no additional powers: but the old are resuscitated and revived: in a word, are raised from a death of sin unto a life of righteousness.

This life is a life of liberty. He was once a servant of the devil, led captive by him at his will. But his prison-doors have been opened, his chains have been broken, and the captive is set free by Him whose province it is to "proclaim

liberty." And now he lives, the freedman of the Lord Jesus. "If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

It is a life of peace. Once his was a life turbulent like the ocean; now a life of security and quietude. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

It is a life of joy. Sin, and its never-failing attendant, Sorrow, being removed, "joy in believing" takes up its abode in the heart. The Christian's life is not gloomy. He rejoices, because he has good in possession-"the love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him"-and much more, because he anticipates what God has promised to do for him. True religion makes life here happy, and furnishes a hope that blooms for immortality.

It is a life of communion. The Christian leads not a solitary life. His "fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Christ Jesus." He is highly honored in being permitted to enter the presence-chamber of the Lord, and hold sweet communion with Him. Angels are his ministering spirits, and the "excellent of the earth" are his associates. Happy is his life, peaceful his death, and glorious his immortality.

II. The Medium through which this experience is obtained and retained.

"And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God."

It is through faith in the Son of God that this death unto sin, and this resurrection unto a new life of righteousness, is effected. An assent to the truths of revelation is certainly necessary; but this is not of itself sufficient. The "devils believe and tremble," yet are they not saved. We must trust and confide in Christ as our Saviour. We must rely on the Sacrifice which He has offered, and only on this, as the sole, but all-sufficient atonement. Thus we renounce every other hope, and commit our souls entirely to Him.

Mr. Saurin has the following appropriate remarks on the subject of faith:

"There is a desire to participate in the benefits of the death of Christ, a desire which animates us with a determination to share those benefits, whatever God may require, and whatever sacrifices we may be obliged to make, to possess them. This desire, we think, constitutes the essence of faith. The true believer inquires with the strictest scrutiny what God requires of him, and he finds three principal articles. Jesus Christ,