The gospel, my dear sir, is a salvation appointed for those who are ready to perish and is not designed to put them in a way to save themselves by their own works. It speaks to us as condemned already and calls upon us to believe in a crucified Savior that we may receive redemption through the blood, even the forgiveness of our sins. And the Spirit of God, by the gospel, first convinces us of unbelief, sin and misery; and then, by revealing the things of Jesus to our minds, enables us, as helpless sinners, to come to Christ, to receive Him, to behold him, or, in other words, to believe in Him.