"And so," continued the old man, "when it was given me to see and
accept this one passage first, in its completeness, all other parts of
Scripture seemed to fall at once into their places; and the prophecies;
the beautiful prophecies of future peace and joy to the earth, of the
destruction of death and of hell, all opened out to me, as being hidden
and shut up in Christ,--for Christ is all; and as I desired the
treasure, so I was drawn more and more towards Him who keeps the
treasure, and all this," he would add, "was done for me, through no
deserts or deservings of my own; for till this light was vouchsafed me,
I was as other unregenerate men, living only to myself, and for myself;
and more than this," he would say, "were it the Divine will to withdraw
the light, I should turn again to be dead and hard, as iron on the cold
anvil." In this way, Shanty often used to talk to Mrs. Margaret, and
after a while to Tamar; but the old lady for many years remained
incapable of entering so entirely as he could wish, into his views of
the sufficiency of the Redeemer. She could not give up entirely her
notions of the need of some works, not as evidences of the salvation of
an individual, but as means of ensuring that salvation, and accordingly
she never met with Shanty for many years, without hinting at this
discrepancy in their opinions, which hints seldom failed of bringing
forward an argument.
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