178 THE OLIVE LEAF. CHAP. 



obvious. If the law had declared the ruin of man, 

 and at the same time had commanded men to obey 

 its precepts, and so work out their own righteousness 

 by their own efforts, it would have been as self- 

 contradictory as the conduct of the physician who 

 pronounced his patient incurable and at the same 

 time prescribed to him a regimen meant to restore 

 his health. In such a case the law would only bind 

 the soul with firmer chains and tantalize it with streams 

 that would dry up and fruits that would wither at its 

 touch. The full disclosure of man's ruin, therefore, 

 was only made when He was revealed who was to 

 remove it by His obedience and death. 



And so it is still in the experience of the Christian. 

 The full revelation of sin comes with the revelation of 

 Christ's atonement. The Spirit convinces of sin at the 

 same time that He convinces of righteousness. Were 

 the corruption of our nature revealed to us without the 

 corresponding revelation of the righteousness of Christ 

 justifying the ungodly who believe, the knowledge 

 would drive us to despair. But no sooner is our sin 

 shown to us than the Saviour, who can take away 

 our sin, is made known to us. No sooner do we see 

 our Saviour than we see our ruined, miserable con- 

 dition. And all through the Christian life^while the 

 heart learns to loathe itself, the Saviour becomes more 

 precious; and as the Saviour becomes more precious, 

 so does the sense of sin become more painful. The 

 gospel is thus a mirror revealing to us our true 

 character, the lowest depths of our sinfulness, be- 



