"But," said the lawyer, "here is a passage found in the tenth chapter of Romans, which, in my opinion, will be difficult for you to explain. The passage referred to reads as follows: 'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the {272} dead, thou shalt be saved.' Now, then, it looks to me as if salvation is here promised through faith alone. How do you explain it?" "Very easily. Let us thoroughly examine this passage in all its different phases. In the first place, this letter was written by Paul to individuals who were already members of the church. They had rendered obedience to the laws of salvation, and having complied with those requirements were entitled to salvation, providing their testimony remained within them like a living spring; and in order that they should not become lukewarm, Paul exhorted them to continue bearing testimony of the divinity of Christ, and not let their hearts lose sight of the fact that God had raised His Son from the dead, and inasmuch as they kept themselves in this condition, salvation would be theirs. This is the only sensible view one can take of this passage. Unquestionably Paul was speaking to sincere members of the church, who had been correctly initiated into the fold of Christ, not aliens living 1800 years after." "That appears to be correct, but further on in the same chapter we find this expression: 'For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' It appears to me here that reference is not made to those who had embraced the gospel and those who had the faith, but salvation is made general to whomsoever shall call upon the name of the Lord." (Rom. x: 13.) "Exactly, but the next verse gives an explanation so simple that none can fail to understand it: 'How, then, shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher? So, then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.' In other words, if there is faith, there have been works, and having true faith, no person will remain in that condition without complying with further works of salvation to which that faith urges him." "I see," said Brown, the others remaining silent, but interested; "you are right." "Now, then, gentlemen," said Durant, "I maintain as before stated, that faith is the first principle of the gospel leading to salvation, but it will not bring us to the summit of the ladder--water--without the other principles." "Well, suppose we accept this as the first round in the ladder, where will we find the second?"