1. They diagnosed the plight of man as one, not merely of guilt for sins, but also of pollution in sin and bondage to sin. And by bondage to sin they meant, no bondage to sins – particular weaknesses of character and bad habits – but the state of being wholly dominated by an inbred attitude of enmity to God. They sought to expose the sinfulness that underlies sins, and convince men of their own utter corruption and inability to improve themselves in God’s sight. This, they held, was a vital part of the work of a gospel preacher; for the index of the soundness of a man’s faith in Christ is the genuineness of the self-despair from which it springs.

2. They analyzed the issue of sin in terms of God’s hostility in the present, as well as his condemnation in the future. Their constant aim was to make men feel that to be in a wrong relationship with God was intolerable here and now; hence, contrary to common belief, they made even more of the first thought than they did of the second.

3. They stressed that the goal of grace is the glory and praise of God, and our salvation is a means to this end. God, they said, has chosen to redeem us, not for our sakes, but for his own name’s sake.

4. They stressed the sufficiency of Christ. They did not teach men to trust a theory of the atonement, but a living Redeemer, the perfect adequacy of whose saving work they never tired of extolling.

5. They stressed the condescension of Christ. He was never to them less than the divine Son, and they measured his mercy by his majesty. They magnified the love of the cross by dwelling on the greatness of the glory which he left for it. They dwelt on the patience and forbearance expressed in his invitations to sinners as further revealing his kindness. And when they applied Revelation 3:20 evangelistically (as on occasion they did), they took the words ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock’ as disclosing, not the impotence of his grace apart from man’s cooperation (the too-prevalent modern interpretation), but rather the grace of his omnipotence in freely offering himself to needy souls.