Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament

¹ The medicine for all the wounds of the soul, and the one propitiation for the offenses of men, is to believe in Christ; nor can any one be cleansed at all, whether from original sin which he derived from Adam, in whom all men have sinned, and become by nature children of wrath; or from the sins which they have themselves added, by not resisting the concupiscence of the flesh, but by following and serving it in unclean and injurious deeds: unless by faith they are united and compacted into His Body, who was conceived without any enticement of the flesh and deadly pleasure, and whom His Mother nourished in her womb without sin, and “Who did no sin, neither was deceit found in His Mouth.” They verily who believe in Him, become the children of God; because they are born of God by the grace of adoption, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Wherefore, dearly Beloved, it is with good reason that the same Lord and our Saviour mentions this one sin only, of which the Holy Ghost convinces the world, that it believes not on Him. “I tell you the truth,” He says, “It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He shall come, He will convince the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on Me. Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you shall see Me no more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is already judged.”