"My beloved brother,

"It gave me joy to hear what you say in your letter, and I trust blessing is attending the Word. The great thing, I believe, for the present testimony is a holy, consistent life, which is before all men-a carrying into practice the precious truth we have and proclaim. Of course, it has always been so, but it is especially so now, as knowledge has increased, and many can tell a good deal about truth, and preach, etc., while leading worldly lives, or worse, so that this has ceased to be a test of one's Christianity. At one time, for a man to talk about Christ and know a little of the Bible was a pretty sure sign of real godliness; but no more now. The testimony must be in the uprightness of life, meekness, humility, heavenliness of walk, and every mark of Christ dwelling in us. God will be with them who do this to the end, and use their testimony.

"The passage, 'O wretched man that I am!' does ,not, I believe, refer at all to the question of the redemption of the body at the Lord's coming, but to a present deliverance from the power of sin. As the first chapters of the epistle were occupied with the deliverance from the guilt of sin, so now the sixth and seventh with the deliverance from the power. It is the passage of the Red Sea, where the people pass out from under the bondage to Pharaoh. They are now free to go and serve God -they are no longer under their old taskmaster. So we, having now learned that not only ' we are justified freely by His grace,' but that also we are 'dead to sin,' and 'dead to the law,' which is the strength of sin, we can go forth to serve God in newness of spirit, ' reckoning ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord.' , " This sets us in all the blessed state of the eighth chapter, where, in the liberty of sons, we can not only enjoy God and His grace, but also feel everything- which is unsuited to Him-our own weak, sinful body, a sinful world, a groaning creation,- in a word, every thing which jars with the peace and holiness of His presence. This makes us groan and long for the only event that will set everything right,-1:e., the coming of the Lord Jesus.

"Ver. 29 and 30 of the eighth chapter show God's purpose toward them that believe. He has predestinated them 'to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren.' He did not predestinate us to be angels, and make Christ the Archangel, but He did to make us like His Son, so as to make His Son 'the first-born,-1:e., the chief one of an immense family, where love is the prevailing element. Grand, blessed purpose! This being so, all whom He has called are like Christ in His eyes:He is no more under our sins on the cross, and therefore we are justified from them:He is glorified, and therefore we are glorified. All that is true of Him as the Man who suffered for sin, and rose again, and is now in the glory, is true of us who believe on Him. Who, then, will accuse? God Himself is for us.

" May the Spirit of God fill our souls with the reality of all this grace, and make goodly fruit to abound in us. …..

"Yours affectionately, in Him,"