But penitence must not stop with hating and bemoaning sin, and
longing for deliverance. The penitent sinner must resolutely turn from
sin towards Jesus Christ the Saviour. He must believe that he took
upon Himself the punishment due to his sins, and by His death atoned
for them; that he satisfied a violated law, and an offended Law-giver;
that thus he has become his Substitute and Redeemer, and has taken
away all his sins. This the penitent must believe. Thus must he cast
himself upon Christ, and trust in Him with a childlike confidence,
knowing that there is now, therefore, no condemnation. Having this
faith, he is justified, and "_being justified by faith, he has peace
with God_."

True penitence always grows into faith, and true faith always
presupposes penitence. Where one is, there the other is, and where
both are, there is conversion. Penitence, therefore, is not something
that goes before conversion, and faith something that follows after,
and conversion an indefinable something sandwiched in between, as some
seem to imagine; but penitence and faith are the constituent elements
that make up conversion.

In the next place we would inquire: Who need this change? We
answer, first, all who are not in a state of loving obedience to God;
that is, all who are not turned away from and against sin and Satan,
and turned toward holiness and God. On the other hand, all who really
hate sin, mourn over it, strive against it, trust in and cling to
Christ as their personal Redeemer, need no conversion. No matter
whether they can tell where and when and how they were converted or
not. All who know by blessed experience that they now have in their
hearts the elements of penitence and faith, are in a state of