this Section asserts —

1st. That the ability of the Christian to do good works is not at all from himself, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ.

2d. That in order thereto, in addition to the grace implanted in regeneration, there is needed a continual influence of the Holy Ghost upon all the faculties of the renewed soul, w^hereby the Christian is enabled to will and to do of his good pleasure.

3d. That this doctrine of the absolute dependence of the soul is not to be perverted into an occasion to indolence, or to abate in any degree our sense of personal obligation. God^s will is exhibited to us objectively in the written word. The obligation to voluntary obedience binds our consciences. The Holy Spirit does not work independently of the Word, but through the Word, nor does he work irrespectively of our constitutional faculties of reason, conscience and free will, but through them. It hence follows that we can never honour the Holy Spirit by waiting for his special motions, but that we always yield to and co-work with him when we, while seeking his guidance and assistance, use all means of grace and all our own best energies in being and doing all that the law of God requires. It is never the

waiters for grace, but always the active seekers for grace and doers of his word, whom God approves. Luke xi. "9-13; James i. 22, 23.

In opposition to Pelagians, Romanists, and Arminians, our Confession asserts, that the ability of believers to do good works is not of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. It is to be' carefully observed, that a supernatural habit, or vital principle of grace, is infused or implanted in the souls of all true believers, in the day of their regeneration, whereby they are disposed and enabled to perform acts of holy obedience. — Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. But, notwithstanding this power or ability, which believers have received by habitual grace, there is required an actual influen^^iilf the Holy Spirit unto their performance of every sing^^racious holy act. Whatever furniture of habitual grace they may have received, there is an actual operation of the Holy Spirit in them necessary unto the actual gracious performance of every duty of obedience. This is confirmed — 1. By the express declaration of our Saviour : " Without me ye can do nothing." — John xv. 5. Here our Saviour explicitly affirms that believers, who are made partakers of habitual grace, cannot of themselves, by virtue of any grace they have already received, or without new supplies of grace from him, do anything that is spiritually good or acceptable to God. 2. By the acknowledgment of Paul, speaking in the name of believers : " Not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God." — 2 Cor. iii. 5. 3. By the prayers of the saints for new supplies of grace, to enable them to do the will of God. Paul prays on behalf of the Hebrews : " The God of peace make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight." — Heb. xiii. 20, 21. The necessity, and the efficiency of actual grace unto every acceptable act of holy obedience, cannot be more directly expressed.*

In opposition, on the other hand, to certain enthusiasts, who maintain that believers ought not to perform any duty in religion, unless the Spirit within move and excite them to these duties, our Confession asserts, that believers ought not to " grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit ; but they * Owen's Discourse concerning the Holy Spirit, book iv., ch. 6, 7.

ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them." This is so amply confirmed by the passages of Scripture to which the compilers of our Confession refer, that we feel it quite unnecessary to dwell upon it.