9. Religion for Man, Not Man for Religion

Religion, as the term implies, began after the Fall; because it indicates a prior rebellion. A remedial system is for a sick subject. The original man could love, wonder, and worship as angels do now, without religion; but man, fallen and rebellious, needs religion to be restored to the love, worship, and enjoyment of God. Religion, then, is a system of means of reconciliation — an institution for bringing man back to God — something to bind man again to love and delight in God. [1]

It consists of two parts; — the things that God has done for us, and the things we must do for ourselves. The whole necessity in this case must come from the offended party. Man could propose nothing, do nothing to appease his Creator after he had rebelled against Him. Heaven, therefore, makes the offer; and man accepts, surrenders, and returns to God. The Messiah is a gift, sacrifice is a gift, justification is a gift, the Holy Spirit is a gift, eternal life is a gift, and even the means of our personal sanctification is a gift from God. Truly, we are saved by grace. Heaven, we say, does certain things for us, and also offers to us what we should do to inherit eternal life. It is all from God: for He has sent His Son; He has sent His Spirit; and all that they have done, or will do, is by free favor; and the offer concerning our justification and sanctification is equally divine and gracious as the mission of His Son. We are only asked to accept a sacrifice that God has provided for our sins, and then the pardon of them, and to open the doors of our hearts, so that the Spirit of God may come in and make its home in us. God has provided all these blessings for us and only requires us to accept them freely, without any price or idea of merit on our part. But He asks us to receive them sincerely, and to give our hearts to Him.

It is in the kingdom of grace, as in the kingdom of nature. Heaven provides the bread, the water, the fruits, the flowers; but we must gather and enjoy them. And if there is no merit in eating the bread that Heaven has sent for physical life and comfort, neither is there merit in eating the bread of life that came down from heaven for our spiritual life and consolation. Still, it is true, in grace as in nature — that whoever eats shall not die. Hence, there are conditions of enjoyment, though no conditions of merit, either in nature or grace. We will therefore speak in detail of the things God has done, and of the things we must do, as essential to our salvation. First, of the things God has done: —

_{1: The verb religio, with all its Latin family, means a binding again, or tying fast what was broken.}