If the sinner is passive in his conversion he can claim no reward, for it is the act of another. All action is the work of an agent, of a being who acts. And every being who acts is the beginner of the motion which constitutes the action. The bullet that kills the man, the explosion that makes it fly, the sparkles from the cap which produce the explosion, are not agents, all being equally passive; nor is it the finger operating upon the trigger that begins the motion; that also is a passive instrument; it is the mind giving to the finger direction and energy which is the mover in this business, and as such, is, properly speaking, the agent. But if we were super-naturally informed that the mind thus exerted was made to do so by the mysterious and irresistible impulse of a superior being, we should instantly declare _that being_ the agent, and the mind irresistibly influenced only a passive instrument, and no more to blame than the gunpowder. Now, if the sinner is passive he is no more to blame or praise than the passive instruments employed by the murderer. And if he is not passive, but active, then the thing is begun and done by himself _as the real agent_. Action implies motion, and where there is no power to begin motion there can not be action, _but rest_. If the sinner has power to begin that action called conversion, then he is a moral agent in his conversion, provided that he begins it with a knowledge of the right and the wrong in their relations to the subject, for action without knowledge of duty is not conversion to the service of God. In this case the moral element is wanting, the man acts blindly from impulse or passion; which is no more than saying that men must know what to _convert from_, and what to _convert to_, before they can act intelligently as rational moral agents. As such, the thing of first importance is to teach men the will of God upon the subject of conversion, that they may know what to do. Anciently men were told what to do. And the gospel of Christ tells men the same story yet. If the sinner is the agent in his conversion then he should give himself no rest until he learns his duty and does it. But if he is not, then he might just as well rest contented, for the passive stone that has no power to change its place _must rest_. To say that the sinner has the power to change is giving up the question. And when this is once given up all good people will go to work upon sinners to teach them their duty, and persuade them to turn, convert, to God. And the Lord will no longer be regarded by sensible skeptics as a very changeable being. The ancient Christians did not wrestle with God in the work of saving sinners. He was always willing that men should be saved, and is yet willing. If we were to wrestle with him in solemn prayer all our days he would not be more willing than he is at this moment.