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he brought into the temple; they cried out, Men of Ifrael, help, this is the man that teacheth all men every where, against the people, and the law, and this placeTM. From all which it is moft manifeft, that the apostle must be fully acquainted with, and be aware of this popular objection to his doctrine; and which he here makes answer to; partly by way of deteftation and abhorrence, God forbid; a way of fpeaking he often makes ufe of, when vile objections were made to his doctrine, or fuch wicked confequences drawn from it, as were abominable to him; as when he obferves, What shall we Jay then? Shall we continue in fin that grace may abound? God forbid: How shall we that are dead to fin live any longer therein? Again; What shall we fay then? Is the law fin? God forbid : Nay, I had not known fin but by the law. Once more; If while we seek to be juftified by Chrift, we ourselves alfo are found finners, Is therefore Chrift the minister of fin? God forbid and partly he replies to this objection, by afferting the contrary, yea, we establish the law; in like manner as Chrift had done before, in a paffage already referred to, I am not come to deftroy, but to fulfil; and indeed, he is not destroying, but the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes".

By faith here we are to understand either the grace or the doctrine of faith, or both. Faith may be confidered as a grace; which, by an infpired writer is defined to be the fubftance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not feen'. It is a grace peculiar to the chosen of God, and precious; it is a fruit and effect of electing love, and fo an evidence of it; and is therefore ftiled The faith of God's elect. It is a gift of God, an inftance of his grace; and a special blessing of the everlafting covenant; it is not obtained by the industry, power and will of man; it is implanted in the heart by the Spirit of God, and the power of his grace; whence it is faid to be the faith of the operation of God". This grace has a confiderable place and concern in the juftification of a poor finner before God, in the court of confcience. This is the eye of the foul, by which it fees and looks unto the righteousness of Chrift for juftification; for that in the gospel is revealed from faith to faith"; it is the hand of the foul, by which it receives the bleffing from the Lord, even righteousness from the God of its falvation; or in other words, by which it receives abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness": Hence fuch as are poffeffed of it, are faid to be justified by it; not by it as an habit implanted in them by the Spirit of God; for, as fuch, it is a branch of fanctification; nor as an act performed by them; for as fuch, it is their act and deed, under the influence of the Spirit of God; but relatively, organically, or objec

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tively confidered; that is, as it relates to, and is concerned with, or has for its object Chrift's righteousness; or as it is a means of apprehending and receiving that as its juftifying one; for faith itself doth not make us righteous; it is not our righteousness, nor does it give us one; no, nor an intereft in Chrift's; but it is that grace by which we claim our interest in Christ's righteousness; by which we have the knowledge and perception of it, and poffefs that fpiritual peace, joy and pleafure which arife from it: it is that grace by which we live on Christ as the Lord our righteousness; who was delivered into the hands of justice and death for our offences; and was raifed again for our juftification". Now faith, confidered as having fuch an hand in this affair, is no way contrary to the law of God; that is not made void by it; nor is obedience to it, on the account of faith, rendered unneceffary and infignificant, as will be fhewn hereafter.

Again; By faith may be meant the doctrine of faith; and that either as it may intend in general the whole gospel, or in particular, the doctrine of juftification by faith in Chrift's righteousness. The whole gospel fometimes goes by the name of faith, and is called, The faith once delivered to the faints; our most boly faith; and the faith of the gospel; because it contains things to be believed at once, upon the credit of the revealer, and not to be difputed by carnal reafon: it proposes, and points out the great object of faith, Jefus Chrift; its language is, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be faved: it is the means, in the Spirit's hands, of begetting and implanting the grace of faith in the hearts of God's elect: Faith comes by hearing, and bearing by the word of God. Yea, the word preached is unprofitable, unless it be mixed with faith by them that bear it d. Now there is an entire harmony and consistency between this doctrine of faith and the law of God. The law is fo far from being made void by it, that whatsoever is against that, is alfo contrary to found doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the bleffed God, committed to the truft of his fervants. Moreover, fince the apoftle is manifeftly infifting, in the context, upon the doctrine of a finner's juftification before God, it is reasonable to fuppofe, that this is what he principally defigns by faith; and it is not to be wondered at, that this should be so called; fince the grace of faith is of so much use in it, to the apprehenfion, knowledge and comfort of it; and fince it is fo fundamental an article of faith, that he that goes off from it, is faid to be removed unto another gofpel; Chrift is become of no effect unto him: and whosoever seeks to be justified by the law, is fallen from grace'; that is, from the doctrine of it. Now by this particular doctrine alfo, the law is not made null and void; nor are good works, done in obedience to it, ufelefs and unprofitable.

Rom. iv. 25.

• Heb. iv. 2.

Jude 3. Phil. i. 27.
1 Tim. i. 9-11.

D Acts xvi 31.
f Gal. i, 6. and v. 4.

e Rom. x. 17.

By

By the law, I apprehend, we are to understand not the ceremonial law, that law which food only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and earnal ordinances imposed on them, the Jews, until the time of reformation; that is, the gospeldifpenfation, or times of the Meffiah; which law only had a shadow of good things to come, but not the very image of the things; and could never, by its daily or yearly facrifices, make the comers thereunto perfect; and therefore there was a difannulling of the commandment, for the weakness and unprofitableness of it. This law is indeed made void and useless; Chrift has broken down the middle wall of partition which ftood between, separated and distinguished between Jew and Gentile, he has abolished in his flesh the enmity, that which was the cause of fo much enmity between the people of Ifrael and the nations of the world, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; wherefore no man fhould now judge or condemn chriftians in respect of meat or drink, or of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the fabbath days, which are a fhadow of things to come; but the body is of Chrift; he is the fum and substance of all these ceremonies: nor was this law abolished and made void until it was fulfilled in and by Chrift; for every type and figure, every fhadow and facrifice, every office and ordinance. pertaining to that difpenfation, had their entire accomplishment in him. But by the law in this our text, I judge, the moral law is intended; that law which was written in Adam's heart in innocence; fome remains of which are to be observed in fallen man, and even among the Gentiles, deftitute of a divine revelation; and because of the depravity of human nature, and the treachery of human memory, and because this law was fo much obliterated, and almoft erased out of the hearts of men; a new edition of it was delivered to Mofes in writing, calculated particularly for the people of the Jews; and which is oppofed unto, and contradiftinguished from the gofpel of Chrift; the law was given by Mofes, grace and truth came by Jefus Chrift". The fum of this law is love to God and to our neighbour; and is established by fanctions of rewards and punishments, promifing life in cafe of obedience, and threatening with death in cafe of difobedience.

but

Now to make void the law, according to the import of the word here used, is to deftroy and abolish it, to render it idle, inactive, weak, ufelefs, and infignificant"; and to establish it, according to the notation of the word in the text, is to make it stand, to plave it upon a fure basis and firm foundation, or to make it effectual to answer the ends and purposes for which it is defigned. Upon

Heb. ix. 10.

1 Co.ofs. i. 16, 17.

h Heb. x. 1.
John i. 17.

1 Heb. vii. 18.

* Ephes. ii. 14, 15.

a Karagyeμm, inutilem reddimus, five otiofam & ignavam, omnibusque viribus deflitutam. Hoc enim ayor vocant Græci quafi egy cui opponitur egy. Beza in loc.

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ftabilimus, id eft, firmam & efficacem reddimus ut opponitur ra xatαgyen. Ib.

Upon the whole, the observation on the text, or the doctrine of it, is this; that the moral law is not made null and void, but is established both by the grace and doctrine of faith. The propofition confifts of two parts, a negative and an affirmative. I fhall first confider the one, and then the other.

First, The negative part of the propofition is, That the law of God is not made void either by the grace or doctrine of faith.

1. Not by the grace of faith. It is certain, indeed, that believing and working, or faith and works, are continually opposed to, and contradiftinguished from each other in the business of justification; every one that has read his Bible, with any care, will be able to obferve this. How often does the apostle say, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law; and that a man is not juftified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ? Even we, says he, have believed in Jefus Chrift, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified". And again; To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. But then it should be known, that faith is not opposed to the doing of good works, in obedience to the law of God, from right principles, and with right views; but to trufting to, and depending upon them, and glorying in them, as the matter of justification before God, and acceptance with him; for that there is an entire agreement and confiftency between faith in Chrift, and works done in obedience to the law upon gospel principles, will clearly appear from the following hints. Let it be obferved then,

That that faith only is right, which looks to and lays hold upon Chrift's righteousness for juftification, that is attended with good works, as fruits of righteousness; for as the apostle James fays, What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man fay be bath faith, and have not works? Can faith fave him? Faith, if it bath not works, is dead, being alone: and fuch a faith can never be true and genuine, nor of any use and advantage; though good works do not, and cannot justify a man's perfon before God; yet they justify a man's faith, or evidence the truth of it before men; they are fruits of faith, and so teftimonies of the reality of it. A man may fay, adds the fame apostle, thou haft faith and I have works: fhew me thy faith without thy works, and I will fhew thee my faith by my works'. Yea, he further observes, that by works faith is made perfect; and that, as the body without the spirit is dead; fo faith without works is dead alfo". Not that the effence, perfection, and life of faith lie in, or flow from works; but

because,

Rom. iii. 28. James ii. 18.

9 Gal. ii. 16.
James ii. 22, 26.

• Rom. iv. 5.

• James ii. 14, 17.

because, as one rightly judges ", works are second acts, neceffarily flowing from the life of faith; and faith is faid to be perfected by them, not with an effential perfection, as the effect is perfected by the caufe; but with a complemental one, as the cause is made perfect, or rendered actually complete in the production of the effect. Faith is not an idle, inactive, inoperative grace; but a very industrious, active, and working one; it works by love to God and Christ, to fellow-chriftians and fellow-creatures; and love, by which faith works, takes a large compass of operation; it is very extenfive, both as to its objects and its acts. Hence that which is perfect, as it is in Chrift, is the fulfilling of the law; and though love is imperfect in the faints, yet so far as it acts aright, it acts in agreement with the law; and therefore the law can never be made void by that faith which operates by it. Owe no man any thing, faith the apostle, but to love one another; for he that loveth another, bath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not bear false Witness; Thou shalt not Covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this faying; namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law *.

Again; As faith without works is dead; fo, on the other hand, works without faith, are dead works alfo; yea, Whatsoever is not of faith is fin; and without faith it is impoffible to please God, or to perform any duty acceptable` unto him. Hence the law, and obedience to it, can never be made void by this grace, and the exercise of it, or its concern in justification; fince the end of the commandment is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good confcience, and of faith unfeigned.

Befides, believers, or fuch as have true faith in Chrift and his righteoufnels, are the only perfons that are capable of yielding spiritual obedience to the law, or of performing good works in a spiritual manner. Men may as foon expect to gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thiftles, as to imagine that good works, such as are in all their circumstances fo, can be performed by an evil man. Men must become the workmanship of God, and be created in Christ Jefus, in order to perform good works; which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them'; they must be made new creatures, and put on the new man; which after God is created in, as, unto righteousness and true bolinefs; and fuch as are born again, who

w Fides illa quæ fine charitatis operibus exiftit dicitur mortua, Jac ii 26. Non quia fidei vita ab operibus fluit, fed quia opera funt actus fecundi ex fidei vita neceffario fluentes. Fides ex operibus dicitur perfici, Jac. ii. 22. Non effentiali perfectione, ficut effectum perficitur a caufa; fed compli'mentali, ficut caufa perficitur, aut actu completa redditur, in productione effecti.

Amef. Medulla Theolog 1. 2. c. 7. §. 35. 36. p. 242, 243. y Rom. xiv. 23. * 1 Tim. i. 5.

* Rom. xiii 8-10 Ephes. ii. 10.

• Ephes. iv. 24.

7. Heb. xi. 6.'

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