Necessary things.

Herman Witsius has written:

“Moreover those things which are necessary to be known by the person who would believe, are in general, the divinity of the scriptures, into which faith must be ultimately resolved; more especially, those things which regard the obtaining of salvation in Christ; which may summarily be reduced to these three heads: 1st. To know, that by sin thou art estranged from the life of God, and art come short of the glory of God, Rom. iii. 23. That it is not possible, that either thou thyself, or an angel from heaven, or any creature in the world, nay, or all the creatures in the universe, can extricate thee from the abyss of misery, and restore thee to a state of happiness. 2dly. That thou shouldst know Christ this Lord to be full of grace and truth, John i. 14. who is that only name given under heaven, whereby we can be saved, Acts. iv. 1. and in the knowledge of whom consists eternal life, John xvii. 3. 3dly. That thou sholuldst know, that, in order to thy obtaining salvation in Christ, it is necessary that thou be united to Christ, by the Spirit and by Faith, and give up thyself to him, not only to be justified, but also sanctified, and governed by his will and pleasure, proving what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, Rom. xii. 2.”

(Witsius, Herman. The Economy of the Covenants Between God and Man, Volume I, Kingsburg, CA: den Dulk Christian Foundation, 1990, p. 377.)