In the view of all who hold the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrines concerning the Spirit of God form a very important part of the Christian system. To the agency of this person of the Godhead, besides all that is ascribed to Him concerning the human nature of Christ, we are indebted for all that is spiritually good in man; He, in the economy of grace, being sent by God, on the intercession of Christ, to communicate the blessings purchased by Christ in his obedience and death. See HOLY GHOST.
Salvation begins on earth; and whenever a man believes in Christ, he is a partaker of it—is in a state of salvation. It forms an essential part of the Calvinistic system, that he who is in a state of salvation always remains so, and that the salvation begun on earth is in every case made perfect in heaven. Sce PERSEVERANCE OF SAINTS. Thus salvation is viewed as beginning in regeneration (q.v.), and as carried on in sanc tification (q.v.), and all its joys as connected with the progress of sanctification. Faith in Jesus Christ cannot be unaccompanied with repentance, and repentance is always renewed when the exercise of faith is renewed. For although all believers are saints or 7w/y, as set apart to God, and in contrast to what they previously were, yet there is none in this life free from temptation and sin; the successful tempter of our first parents, who assailed our Saviour with temptation and was defeated, being still the active enemy of man, against whom believers in Jesus Christ are called to contend, to watch, and to pray. See DEVIL. The sense of responsibility belonFs., to human nature; and the doctrine of a judgment (q.v.) to come may be considered as to a certain extent a doctrine of natural religion, as may also that of the immortality (q.v.) of the soul; but the clear and distinct enunciation of these doctrines belongs to the Christian revelation, to which belongs entirely the doctrine of the resurrection (q.v.) of the dead.
Of the moral part of C., which has already been referred to, it may be sufficient here to state, that it is as harmonious with the doctrinal as it is inseparable from it; that it is founded upon the attributes of God, and is perfectly illustrated in the character of Jesus Christ; and that it is divisible into two great parts--one, of the love of God, and the other, of the love of man, or of ourselves and our neighbors. See LAW, MORAL.
The means of grace, or of the attainment or the blessings of salvation, forni an important part of the Christian system. Of these the WORD OF Goo—or divine revela tion contained in the Bible (q.v.)—first claims attention as the means of conversion to Christ, and of edification in Christ, the instrument by which salvation is both begun and carried on in men. The ordinances of God's worship are among of grace. Thus prayer (q.v ) is oue of the chief means of grace. The sacraments (q v.) are means of grace, concerning the precise use of which, and their relative importance as compared with the other means, considerable difference of opinion prevails among Christians. The same remark applies also to the combination of Christians into an organized body or community, the church (q.v.) with its own laws or system of church government (q.v.) and church discipline (q.v.).
We have endeavored to sketch the outline of the system of C., as much as possible according to the general belief of Christians, merely indicating the points on which the chief differences of opinion exist. Some of the principal controversies will be found noticed under separate heads.
The truth of C. is established by many different evidences, distinct and independent, but mutually corroborative. It appeals to reason, and demands to have its claims examined and admitted. Nor is there any faith where there is not a mental conviction arrived at by a process of sound reasoning.
The evidences of C. are very generally divided into two great classes, internal and former consisting of those which are found in the nature of the Christian system itself, and in its adaptation to ,the nature and wants of man; the latter, of those which are derived from other sources. The boundary between the two classes, however, is by no means so distinct in reality as it appears in the definition of the terms. Of the multitude of books which have been written on the subject of the evidences of C., some are devoted mainly to one of these classes, and some to the other; whilst some are occupied with the of particular evidences or arguments, and some with the refutation of objections; and in particular of what may be called a preliminary objection—that a divine revelation can never be established by sufficient evidence at all.