alike, being sinners, need a Saviour, and that Christ alone is the Saviour of the world. All the rest we leave in the hands of the Just and Merciful God.

Christ Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. Except through Him no one can draw nigh unto God ¹ or come to a true knowledge of Him, or know the truth, or have spiritual life. This is so, not because of an arbitrary decree of God, but because the Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only Word of God and hence the only perfect revealer of God. Therefore it is only through Him that any creature can attain to the knowledge of God (معرفة اْلله), which is life eternal, ² the life of the spirit, and is communicated through Christ ³ to those who by living faith are grafted into Him. No one, therefore, can be saved who finally rejects God's mercy and the 'free gift' ⁴ of eternal life which He offers us in the Lord Jesus. The means of salvation is true and heartfelt faith in Christ and confidence in His perfect atonement for the sins of the whole world. This faith leads to earnest and believing prayer for God's grace, that we may be able to abstain from sin, may be clothed with holiness, may follow Christ, and walk in the light of life. ⁵ Thus, too, the prophets and saints who lived before the birth of Christ, such as Adam,

Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, David, and others; obtained salvation only through Christ. And, although in those times it was not possible for people to become as well informed regarding His atonement and the way of salvation through Him as it became possible after His appearance, yet they were not altogether unaware of it, nor were they devoid of faith in Him. On the contrary, the Most Merciful God, when Adam had fallen into sin, gave the promise of Christ's coming, ¹ as we have already pointed out. As time went on, He gave other promises to Abraham, ² Jacob, ³ and others, teaching men not only that Christ would come among Isaac's ⁴ descendants, but also that the blessing of salvation and the knowledge of God would be bestowed through this ⁵ the one and only Saviour. Moses, David, and the other true prophets, who lived before Christ's incarnation, were inspired to predict His coming and His atonement. ⁶ Moreover, the sacrifices which God had appointed for the children of Israel in the Taurat to offer year by year had reference to Christ, implying that He would 'give ⁷ his life a ransom for many' and would bear ' our sins ⁸ in his body upon the tree', thus obtaining for those who truly believe in Him forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation. This is