glorified bodily nature of the Lord is certainly present in the Lord's Supper with power and efficacy; it is not, however, in, with and under the bread and wine, but merely along with them and at their side. For the bread and wine are on earth, and the body and blood of Christ are in heaven, and the almighty Word (of the institution and promise) of Christ does not unite (at the consecration, & 188. OBS. 2) the heavenly with the terrestrial, but the Faith of man attracts the body of the Lord (or, rather, only a virtue going forth from the exalted body of Christ), down to itself. The bread and wine are only the tokens and pledges of the reception of the supersensual and heavenly food, but not the means by which it is received. While the bodily mouth receives bread and wine, the spiritual mouth or Faith receives the heavenly food, and hence the unbeliever receives nothing but bread and wine.-The unsoundness of this view is shown by the following considerations: 1. In the passage 1 Cor. 10: 16, the apostle does not say, as Calvin's view would require, if it were correct, that Faith, but that bread is the communion of the body of Christ. 2. If, according to 1 Cor. 11: 27, 29, he who eats and drinks unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of Christ, and thereby eats and drinks condemnation [judgment] to himself, that body and blood must undoubtedly have been received in the Sacrament by the unbeliever also. 3. Such a spiritual reception, through faith alone, may also occur in modes unconnected with the Sacrament: bread and wine are not absolutely necessary to it, and the Sacrament loses its character as a necessary institution. 4. Finally, Calvin's view does not do justice to the words of the institution.

§ 191. The Church, viewed as an Institution of saving Grace.

1. The administration and distribution of the Means of Grace, and the spiritual charge of the new life wrought by them [pastoral supervision care of souls], are confided to the Church (§ 161. 3). It is, conseqnently, the task of the latter to promote the external and internal extension and growth of the kingdom of God, and to "trade with the talents" (Matt. 25: 16) intrusted to it, in order that rich results may be obtained. While the Church is engaged in performing this task, in which not only its appointed ministers, but all its members also, are interested, according to their respective opportunities, gifts and abilities, it is not abandoned to itself. For the Church is, at the same time, authorized to rely with confidence on the omnipotent protection

of its King and Head, who conducts it through struggles and trials to victory and glory, as well as on the protecting care and support of the Spirit who operates in it, and who conducts it from error and weakness to truth and power.

2. The Church is catholic, that is, universal or general, in its nature and design, since it is the divine purpose that it should embrace all nations and tongues on the face of the whole earth. It is, at the same time, one Church only, because Christ, the Head, is one. It is true that this one universal Christian Church has been divided, in the issue, into several particular Churches. This result has, however, by no means destroyed its unity and universality, as these Churches, although separated on earth, are inwardly united and made one, by one and the same Head in heaven and one and the same Spirit who worketh in all through the Word and the Sacraments. This unity, which is hidden at present, clouded and disturbed by human errors, infirmities and passions, must necessarily be made visible hereafter; the coming of the time in which it will appear visibly, is accelerated by that inward growth of the several churches, on which the increased strength and purity of the truth which they possess and the expulsion of the errors which they retain, depend. Although such disunion, which is occasioned by man alone, still exists, and is a hinderance and a lamentable circumstance, the over-ruling Spirit of God has, in the mean time, thence derived advantages for us; for it has afforded an opportunity, under the superintendence of the Spirit, for the most ample development of the numerous and varied religious peculiarities and wants of the several Churches, and produced a salutary emulation among them.

3. The true Church exists where the "Gospel is preached according to its pure intent and meaning, and the Sacraments are administered in conformity with the Word of God." A false or spurious Church may therefore be defined to be one which no longer retains any thing whatever that belongs to sound doctrine and the right use of the Sacraments; thanks be unto God that none of this description is found among the existing Christian particular churches! The difference between them may be direct and very decided, with respect to many particular points: still,

this difference does not directly involve the vital question whether one of them is absolutely true or false; it is merely that difference which arises from the greater or less degree of purity, depth and extent in the knowledge which they respectively possess, and from the greater or less degree of propriety and scriptural truth observed in their use of the Sacraments. Every Church has a claim to be considered a true Church in so far as it possesses these two signs: in every Church in which the Word and the Sacraments still remain, believers can be saved, who conscientiously apply the truth which that Church may offer, while it is equally true that they may find salvation with less difficulty and with greater certainty in one Church than in another.

OBS. There is also a distinction made between the visible and the invisible Church. The former is the external union of all those who are baptized in the name of Christ and who confess his name; among these there are many pretended and nominal Christians. The latter, on the contrary, is the communion of all the true and living members of the external church, who confess Christ not only with the mouth, but also with their whole heart. While this distinction is made, the fact ought, under no circumstances, to be overlooked, that the invisible Church has no existence without the visible Church, and that it is not separate from, or above the latter, but exists in it, and in it alone. For the Means of Grace have been granted, not to the invisible but to the visible Church, and the believer can have part in the grace of God in so far only as he is a member of the visible Church, and by virtue of that connection alone.

$192. The Way of Salvation.-(Calling, Illumination, Conversion.)

1. The Holy Spirit conducts sinners to Christ by means of the Word and the Sacraments, in order that they may obtain in him the remission of their sins, the renewal of their life, and eternal salvation. The way which leads to these, is called the Way of Salvation, or the Order of Salvation. The Holy Spirit commences his work in the heart of man by the Calling (Vocation) which he extends, that is, he sets forth to man through the preaching of the Gospel, God's counsel of salvation, inviting him

to be reconciled to God through Christ, and to share in the glory of the kingdom of God which Christ has founded (Luke 14 : 16-24; Matt. 22:1-14; 11: 28-30; 2 Cor. 5: 19, 20). When man does not close his ears and harden his heart against this call of the Holy Spirit, further instructions, derived from the Word of God, lead to his Illumination, the power of which is seen in his deep knowledge and conviction of his own misery and sinfulness, and of the exceeding riches of the grace of God in Christ. Such knowledge is followed by Conversion, which is to be viewed in two aspects, a negative, and a positive. In the former aspect, Conversion is a turning away from sin, or Repentance; in the latter, it is a turning to God, or Faith.

2. Repentance is wrought by the Holy Ghost by means of the Law, which sets forth both our own sinfulness and unworthiness, and also the justice and holiness of God. True repentance consists, first, of a knowledge and confession of sins, considered as sins, that is, as acts of rebellion against God meriting his curse (Jer. 3 13; Ps. 51: 3, 4); secondly, of heart-felt sorrow on account of these sins, that is, not sorrow occasioned by the unwelcome consequences of sins, but sorrow occasioned by the sins themselves, which deserve our hatred and abhorrence (2 Cor. 7 : 10); and lastly, of a longing after grace and the remission of sins (Acts 16: 30; Ps. 51 : 1, 2, 9-12); it does not consist of ungodly despair. This longing is, besides, the bond which connects repentance and faith. Faith is wrought by the Holy Ghost by means of the Gospel, which directs us to the Redeemer who delivers from all the misery of sin. A true and living Faith consists, first, of a knowledge of the grace of God in Christ, together with an assent to, and trust in, the divine plan of salvation (Heb. 11 1; Matt. 8: 2); secondly, of a confident and sincere approach to Christ in order to obtain grace (and, consequently, of a diligent use of the Means of Grace appointed by him, namely, the Word and the Sacraments, Heb. 4:16); and lastly, of a willing and grateful acceptance of the grace offered, as well as of a conscientious application of the grace received,—of which the evidence is seen in a holy and Christian life (James 2: 17; Matt. 7:16).

§ 193. Continuation. (Justification, Sanctification.)

1. When the sinner, thus disciplined and guided by the Spirit, turns to God and anxiously seeks salvation, God turns to him and grants it. The sinner's conversion, manifested in his repentance and faith, is then succeeded by his Justification and Sanctification, which proceed from God. Justification is the blotting out of the guilt of sin, or a release from the merited penalty, and is founded on the atoning and vicarious sufferings and death of Christ (§ 155. 2, OBS.). God imputes the merit and righteouness of Christ to the repenting and believing sinner, releases him, on account of these, from all guilt and punishment, and declares him to be righteous and acceptable to Himself. Justification is effected without any aid which we afford, and without any merit derived from our works, and not for the sake of our faith, but by grace alone for Christ's sake, through that faith which accepts the offered merit of Christ (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 1: 6; Rom. 3: 23–28; Gal. 3: 11).

2. The heart that is reconciled to God through justification by faith, now constitutes the appropriate field wherein Sanctification grows upward-it is the renewal of the whole life and conduct according to the good pleasure of God, after the example of Christ, through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is founded on the power of that new life, of which Christ furnished the manifestation in his own life, and which he communicates to us, the members of his body, and makes our own (John 15 : 5), in order that we might be thereby entirely renewed (2 Cor. 5: 17, 18), and be prepared for eternal life.

3. Not one of these gracious operations of the Spirit, however, is at once completed or brought to a termination; we cannot, on the contrary, remain the children of God and grow in grace, unless all these operations, from our Calling to our Sanctification, are daily renewed, strengthened and enlarged. The cause of the urgent necessity of such a daily renewal and increase, lies in the circumstance that our spiritual life is exposed to dangers on all sides (the lust of the flesh, the allurements of the world, the temptations of the adversary) by which we are often overcome, in consequence of our infirmities, errors and precipitance.