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pursuit of that course of life which will enable us to obtain 
the full measure of benefit from His primary gifts ? 
That this is the tendency of the divine government of man, 
is plain from the use to which individual responsibility is put. 
We are not so much called to answer for the number of 
prayers we offer, of psalms we sing, or of oblations we present, 
as to how we act to our parents, children, masters, servants, 
neighbours, friends, or enemies ; in short, to all men, in-so far 
as our action touches them. All who are brought into the 
fellowship of Christ walk as He also walked; that same mind 
of righteousness, pity, purity, truth, and benevolence which 
was in Him is also in them, so that they are fruitful in 
every good work. They are required not only to be blame- 
less and harmless, the sons of God without blemish, in the 
midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom 
they are seen as lights of the world, but also to remember 
that “our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, gave Himself 
for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify 
unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of 
good works.” In all the Epistles of the New Testament, the 
fruit of faith is shown to be the fulfilling of every social duty. 
And there can be no question but that the finest examples 
of righteous, pure, true, and benevolent living have been 
the fruit of that thorough submission to the Saviour, which 
Paul expressed as, ‘‘ Christ liveth in me.” Without such 
works, faith is declared to be vain and dead. 
It is evident that, as the number of such persons increases 
in any community, the various forms of iniquity which too 
frequently appear in the intercourse of men to the dishonour 
and degradation of the perpetrators and to the mischief of 
others, must diminish, and, when they are universally pre- 
valent, must entirely cease. Then all the misery, and more 
than half the sorrow of life, would end, while the honour, 
pleasure, and strength of such a community would constantly 
increase. In such a state, however, there would be nothing 
beyond a purely natural life; that is, a life in harmony with 
our relations to our Maker and to our fellow-creatures. But 
there is no moral power capable of producing this state, but 
such a full submission to God as is comprehended in our 
accountability to Him. 
While we are without limit accountable to God, we see that 
a subordinate and secondary accountability runs through all 
our relations.to others. Children are liable to answer to their 
parents, and without this subordination it would be impos- 
sible to train them to the duties of life. No compact of any 
