they were not argumentative; we cannot account for their influence by any processes of logic. So far as we can judge from a very simple statement, they went straight to the heart; the faith which they called forth was a faith of the heart.”--(_Maurice._) 31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue[330] in my word, _then_ are ye my disciples indeed; [330] Rom. 2:7; Col. 1:23; Heb. 10:38, 39. 32 And ye shall know[331] the truth, and the truth shall make you free.[332] [331] Hos. 6:3. [332] ch. 17:17; Ps. 119:45; Rom. 6:14, 18, 22; James 1:25; 2:12. 33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in[333] bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? [333] Lev. 25:42. =31-33. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.= A promise and a condition. The thing promised is discipleship. “They should be--what? Saints? divines? doctors? No; but what is much better than any of the three--what all the three should wish to be raised into--_disciples_. They will then be learners, learners sitting continually at the feet of the true Teacher.”--(_Maurice._) The theology of Christ is a progressive theology; the promise to his followers is not that they shall be learned, acquiring the truth once for all, but learners, ever acquiring it more and more. This promise is conditioned on--what? Receiving his word? defending his word? No; but abiding in his word, _i. e._, living, moving, and having their being in it. The word of Christ cannot be accepted once for all; the soul, to be nourished on it, must abide in it, as the body abides in and is nourished by the atmosphere (comp. chaps. 5:38; 6:56; 15:4-10; 1 John 2:6, 10, 14, etc.; 3:6). To be Christ’s disciples indeed, we must _continue_ (Matt. 13:20, 21; John 6:66; Col. 1:23; Heb. 10:38; Rev. 2:7-11, 17) _in_ (John 15:1-7; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27) _the word of Christ_ (Matt. 11:29, 30; 1 Cor. 3:11; Gal. 1:8).--=And ye shall know the truth.= Living according to the word of Christ is the condition precedent to a true apprehension of the truth. Christ teaches that life precedes creed; the church has too often reversed this, making the creed precede life. But a creed that does not grow out of spiritual experience is dead. There is no virtue in the doctrine of native depravity except as an outgrowth of personal humility; nor in belief in a personal God, except as it is rooted in a living experience of faith in him.--=And the truth shall make you free.= This, too, the church has often reversed, bringing men into bondage unto a creed, instead of using the creed as an instrument to enlarge their intellectual independence.--=We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any one.= This is the language of pride, and it is not more true than the language of pride is ordinarily. Politically the nation had been in