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 C. K. OGDEN 
 
 
 

 
 POSTHUMOUS WORKS 
 
 REV. RALPH WARDLAW, D.D, 
 
 EDITED BY HIS SON, 
 
 THE REV. J, S. WARDLAW, A.M. 
 
 VOL. IV. 
 
 A. FULLARTOH & CO.: 
 
 44 SOUTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH; 
 
 AND 11.'. NEWGATE STRKET, LONIK)N.
 
 LECTURES 
 
 EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, 
 
 REV. RALPH WARDLAW, D.D. 
 
 EDITED BY HIS SOX, 
 
 THE REV. J. S. WARDLAW, A.M. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 A. FULLARTOX & CO.: 
 
 44, SOUTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH; 
 AND 115 NEWGATE STKEET, LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCLXI.
 
 EDINBUKOH: 
 FUI.t.ARTON AND MACNAB. PKINTKKS I. KITH WALK.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 To a mind such as that of my late revered father, 
 the EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS could not fail to present 
 peculiar attractions; and to the study of it he devoted 
 a large measure of time and attention. Of such study 
 these Lectures are a result. They were delivered to 
 the people of his charge most if not all of them twice 
 during the course of his ministry. It was his design 
 to publish them, and they were in part prepared for the 
 press. This is the main ground for their finding a place 
 in this Series. 
 
 x 
 
 It is right to mention, that several of the Lectures 
 indicated as they occur have already appeared in 
 the Author's SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY. It was thought 
 desirable to reproduce them, with slight modifications, 
 in order to the completeness of these volumes; which 
 may be read by many who are not likely to peruse the 
 Work referred to.
 
 vi PREFACE. 
 
 If, from the necessary absence of all discussion of 
 those views on certain great doctrinal points to which 
 prominence has recently been given, and which have 
 awakened the interest of thoughtful minds, these Lec- 
 tures should be pronounced behind the times; it is still 
 confidently hoped, that they will prove a valuable contri- 
 bution to the analysis and elucidation of this most im- 
 portant part of GOD'S HOLY WORD. 
 
 It has been found necessary, in many instances 
 as with the Lectures on Proverbs to curtail the clos- 
 ing appeals and to make occasional abbreviations in 
 other parts. The latter, however, has been done very 
 sparingly. 
 
 Where any question hinges on the particular word 
 or form of expression in the original, the Greek has 
 been given at the foot of the page for the convenience 
 of the reader; and any note introduced is indicated in 
 the usual way. 
 
 J. S. WARDLAW. 
 
 LONDON, May 24, 1861.
 
 LECTURE I, 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 is a certain class of theologians, who are enamoured 
 of the principle, and discover a constant proneness to insist 
 upon it, that all necessary acquaintance with the scheme of 
 Christian doctrine may be derived, exclusively, from the FOUR 
 GOSPELS. It is not my intention to dispute the position. 
 On the contrary, I readily admit, that the essential doctrines 
 of salvation ur>'. to be found in the historical writings of the 
 Evangelists. But the principle by which those who hold it 
 are led to give these writings a preference to the other and 
 later writings of the inspired Apostles, is, in every view of 
 it, must unwarrantable. The evangelical historians, it is 
 very manifest, could not, as simple narrators, go beyond a 
 statement of what was done, and taught, and suffered by 
 their divine Master, during the life of which they record the 
 memoirs. If, therefore, it can be shown, that it did not 
 enter into the plan of Jesus to give a clear and full disclo- 
 sure of those great truths which constitute the peculiarities 
 of the New Testament revelation, during the period of his 
 own personal ministry; but that he purposely reserved 
 such disclosure, to be sxibsequently made, by the agency of 
 his promised Spirit, when He himself had " left the world, 
 and gone to the Father:" it will at once be apparent how 
 utterly at variance the principle in question is with what 
 this course of procedure gave reason to expect. Xow, such 
 happens to be the very state of the case. Those who hold 
 
 I. A
 
 2 LKCTUKE I. 
 
 tin- principle of which I speak, are accustomed to regard 
 in iid other light than that of a "teacher come from 
 God;" from which the conclusion is sufficiently natural, 
 that, din-in-,' his mini-try, he taught all that he had it in 
 commi-sinn tn teach. But he sustained another character 
 than that of a mere teacher. He was " the Mediator between 
 .nid men." He came to atone for human guilt, to 
 " put a\vav sin l>y the sacrifice of himself." This was the 
 " work given him to do." His life on earth was rather the 
 time for the doing of the work, than for the full development 
 of the scheme of doctrine involved in it, and of which indeed 
 it formed the essential basis. That the period for communi- 
 cating truth, the truth which it was the divine purpose to 
 iweul through him to mankind, was not confined to his 
 '.'. al abode on earth, but extended beyond it; and that 
 such communication was to form a part of his mediatorial 
 functions in heaven, we learn from the express words of our 
 Lord himself, addressed to his disciples shortly before he took 
 his final leave of them: "I have yet many things to say 
 unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, 
 tin- Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: 
 f-ir lie shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall 
 hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to 
 He shall glorify me : for he shall receive of mine, 
 and shall show it unto you," John xvi. 12 14. 
 
 X-ithing can be more explicit than this. It was under 
 tin- superintending influence of the promised Spirit that the 
 narratives of the Saviour's life were themselves composed, 
 It h;is by some been imagined, that to the composition of 
 historical memoirs, a mere relation of facts, inspiration 
 wa< hardly, if at all, necessary. But reason itself might 
 teach us, and the dictate of reason is confirmed by the Ian- 
 just cited from the lips of Jesus, that this is a mis- 
 take, the result of inconsiderate precipitation. When I say 
 so, I would be understood as using the word inspiration in 
 - largest sense; i,,,t as meaning, restrictedly, the direct 
 
 mnumcation to the mind of unknown truths,' or of distant 
 events; but such a supernatural and infallible influence as
 
 INTRODUCTORY. . 3 
 
 secured its subjects from all error, in relating what was 
 known, as well as in revealing what was unknown. There 
 were two things, indeed, l)y which, in the sacred narratives 
 of the Evangelists, such, influence was rendered indispensable. 
 These were the assurance of correct statement, and the as- 
 surance of appropriate selection. It was necessary, in the 
 first place, that the writers should be secured from all liabil- 
 ity to mistake and inaccuracy, in the recollection, and in the 
 consequent narration, both of actions and incidents, and of 
 sayings and discourses. The actions and incidents were not 
 those of any ordinary biography, but of the life of one, whose 
 doings were invariably associated with the great object of his 
 mission the salvation of a lost world, and the daily occur- 
 rences of whose public course bore, every one of them, the 
 same relation. The sayings and discourses were not those of 
 a benevolent and persecuted fellow-man merely, in the dic- 
 tates of whose wisdom we had no interest beyond that im- 
 parted by extraordinary human sagacity, and by whose autho- 
 rity we were bound only in so far as they might recommend 
 themselves to our own judgments as worthy of acceptance 
 and submission, they were the sayings and discourses of 
 one who came with an accredited commission from heaven ; 
 who " spoke to the world the things which he had heard of 
 the Father;" and on the certain accuracy of whose recorded 
 instructions results the most momentous depend. In these 
 circumstances, it becomes indispensable to our confidence 
 and peace, that we be not left to the possible failure and 
 tivachery of memories like our own; but that we have the 
 assurance of such a divine aid to those memories, as takes 
 away the possibility of their having, in any instance, mis- 
 given, in the recording either of facts, or of occasional senti- 
 ments, or of more prolonged conversations and addresses. 
 And it was necessary, in the second place, that the minds of 
 the writers should be guided by a wisdom superior to their 
 own, in the selection of the materials for such a history. 
 Their narratives are not a full detail, but rather, as they 
 have been already designated, memoirs, select portions from 
 a vast accumulation of materials ; an accumulation, short as
 
 4 LECTUKE I. 
 
 the time was, so prodigious, that one of the narrators has 
 
 saiJ There are also many other things which Jesus did, 
 
 tin- which, if they should be written every one, I suppose 
 that the world itself would not contain the books that 
 should be written." From such a mass, therefore, what 
 may, with propriety, be called the inspiration of selection 
 jiiisite, to give us the assurance, that those sayings 
 and doings have been chosen for permanent record, which 
 are really the most important, and in. all respects the most 
 suitable for the purposes of a divine revelation. Surely, in 
 of such importance, a case involving, to so great an 
 extent, the honour of God and the everlasting destinies of 
 n,,.]^ nothing could have been more unsatisfactory, than to 
 find ourselves left to the memories of fallible men in regard 
 to accuracy, and to the judgments of fallible men in regard 
 to selection. 
 
 But, if there be one description, or one department, of in- 
 spiration that deserves to be considered as higher than ano- 
 ther, there can be 110 hesitation in assigning the highest 
 place to that which may be termed doctrinal inspiration, 
 or what has sometimes been denominated the inspiration of 
 -'/'(// : inasmuch as this consists in the direct convey- 
 ance to the mind of what had never been previously uttered 
 in the ear or seen by the eye; and what, therefore, the mind 
 could not, in the nature of the thing, recall by any act of 
 i-y, either natural or assisted. The " leading into all 
 truth" is something superior to "bringing all things to re- 
 membrance." In the latter case, there is memory, although 
 it is memory supernaturally assisted, and secured from error : 
 that which is written being that which had actually been 
 :md heard. But in the former there is, if I may so 
 express it, nothing that intervenes, between the inspired man 
 and the inspiring Deity. There i* no intermediate party: 
 there is no memory: there is no power of discovery or of 
 invention. The mind of God communicates itself directly 
 to the mind of man: the thoughts of the one are trans- 
 1, without a perceptible medium, to the other. Now, 
 this was the kind of inspiration necessary, in regard to ev i y
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 5 
 
 tiling beyond what had actually been said and done ly Je- 
 SH-. or said and done to Jesus, during the attendance of the 
 chosen witnesses upon his ministry; in regard to all that 
 was comprehended in the " many things he had to say unto 
 them, which they could not then bear," but which were re- 
 served for promised communication at an after period. And 
 these "many things" comprehend, without question, that 
 perfect acquaintance with the entire system of New Testa- 
 ment truth, as well as with the constitution of his church, 
 ami with the principles, and laws, and services, of his spir- 
 itual kingdom, which was necessary to the thorough fulfil- 
 ment of their commission, as the accredited ambassadors of 
 Christ and instructors of mankind. 
 
 No person by whom such considerations are duly and 
 candidly weighed, will undervalue the Apostolic Epistles; 
 will speak lightly of their inspiration; will hold them up, 
 disparagingly, in contrast with the Gospels, as if in the latter 
 we had the Lord's own statements of truth, and in the former 
 only the opinions and commentaries of his followers. So 
 far is this from being a just principle of comparative esti- 
 mate, that, if comparison were at all admissible, the balance 
 ought to turn in favour of the Epistles; forasmuch as, in 
 them we have the results of that fulness of divine commu- 
 nication, which the Saviour engaged to bestow on his Apos- 
 tU-s after his ascension to the Father. I need not say how 
 faithfully and gloriously He accomplished his promise on the 
 memorable day of Pentecost; when, by the light and the fire 
 of the Divine Spirit, their minds were cleared of all the dark- 
 md doubt, and confusion in which they had previously 
 been wrapt, and, to their equal delight and amazement, were 
 made " to see all things clearly ;" while, at the same moment, 
 their hearts were inflamed with a holy fervour, and nerved 
 with a mighty energy, such as dissipated all their fear of 
 man, unbarred and threw open the doors which that fear had 
 secured, and bore them on, like " sons of thunder," through 
 all difficulty and all resistance! 
 
 It is not in the Gospels by themselves, nor in the Epistles 
 iry themselves, but in the one and the other conjointly, con-
 
 6 LECTURE I. 
 
 neoting both, at the same time, with the Scriptures of the 
 Oll Testament, that we are to look for the complete mani- 
 festation of the mind and will of God. All were given by 
 tin- same Spirit. Prophets and Apostles had the same 
 theme, and wrote of it under the same influence. Their 
 theme was the one Saviour, and the common salvation: 
 of which salvation," says one of the latter, in full harmony 
 with the spirit of these re-marks, "the prophets have in- 
 cjtiired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace 
 that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner 
 if, time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
 when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the 
 glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that 
 not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the 
 things which are now reported unto you by them that have 
 preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent di >wn 
 from heaven ; which things the angels desire to look into," 
 1 iVt. i. 10 12. Of the entire volume of revelation it may 
 now be said, in terms originally used in application to the 
 <'aiioii of the Old Testament "All scripture is given by in- 
 spiration of God, and is profitable for instruction, for convic- 
 tion, for reformation, and for education in righteousness;'"" 
 that the man of God" (the Christian minister) "may be per- 
 fect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works:" that is, 
 fully qualified for every department of his ministerial duty. 
 And that which is fitted to perfect the teacher, is no lesfl 
 fitted to perfect the taught. But if it be proper or sale to 
 i present any one portion of the divine Oracles as entitled, 
 more than another, to special attention and study, one should 
 think it must be that portion which contains the latest dic- 
 tates of the Holy Spirit, the clearest and fullest shining of 
 apostolic light, the largest and richest communications of 
 invaluable treasures, which were "put into the earthen 
 Is, that the excellency of the power might be of God 
 and not of men."
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 7 
 
 The words of the Saviour, on which we have been com- 
 menting, the words containing his promise of future illu- 
 mination, were addressed to the eleven Apostles (the trai- 
 tor having retired ere they were uttered) before his death. 
 But to that number, you are well aware, the Author of the 
 Epistle, on the exposition of which we are about to enter, 
 did not belong. Was he, then, on that account, the less 
 highly endowed, or the less eminently qualified for his work ? 
 By no means. Though not one of those Avho were called to 
 their office during Christ's ministry on earth, it was yet di- 
 rectly from Him that he received his commission. You 
 know his remarkable history. The Lord's predestinating eye 
 was upon him, while pursuing his wild career of persecuting 
 fury against the infant church, " breathing out threatenings 
 and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." As a 
 " chosen vessel," ordained to " bear his Xame to the Gentiles, 
 and kings, and the children of Israel," he was miraculously 
 arrested on his way to Damascus, by the power and the grace 
 of the glorified Redeemer. He " saw that Just One, and 
 heard the voice of his mouth." He received from His own 
 lips liis apostolic charge. He records the terms in which it 
 ran : " I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make 
 thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which 
 thou hast seen, and of those things in the which 1 will ap- 
 pear unto thee ; delivering thee from the people and from 
 the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their 
 eves, and to turn them from darkness unto light, and from 
 the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgive- 
 ness of sins, and inheritance among them that are sanctified, 
 by faith that is in me."* Thus called, thus commissioned, 
 lie was not, in official qualifications, " a whit behind the chief- 
 est apostles." Having received his office directly from 
 Christ, from Him too he received, through no created me- 
 dium of communication, all his knowledge of the mind and 
 will of God. He had nothing at second hand. In vindicat- 
 ing his official authority against the cavils of his adversaries, 
 
 * Acts xxvi. 1618.
 
 8 LECTUHE I. 
 
 he repeatedly and emphatically adverts to this. After intro- 
 Og himself to the Galatiau believers, as "an apostle,, not 
 of isiHi, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the 
 Father who raised biffi from the dead," he says "I certify 
 yon, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is 
 not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither 
 was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye 
 have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' re- 
 ligion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of 
 Cod and wasted it: and profited'" in the Jews' religion above 
 many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly 
 /ealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased 
 Cud, who set me apart from my mother's womb, and called 
 me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach 
 him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with 
 i!esh and blood: neither went I up to Jerusalem to them 
 who were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and 
 returned again unto Damascus." t He thus acted immedi- 
 ately upon the commission which he had received; a com- 
 mission evidently accompanied witb what alone could quality 
 him for its execution, a full communication to his mind of 
 the doctrines of Christian truth, and the principles and pre- 
 < ] it s of Christian duty. The expression, in the verses just 
 cited "I conferred not with flesh and blood" does not 
 signify, as it is often interpreted, that he did not consult his 
 own c-.nvonience, or his own advantage; but that he had 
 not recourse to man, to any human instructor. The words 
 tl>a follow contain its explanation: "neither went I up to 
 Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me." 
 
 All this his personal conversion and his official appoint- 
 ment and qualifications was wonderful grace to Saul, and 
 
 N'it. as some heedless English readers might be apt to fancv. 
 although to that he was in a fair way but made proji- 
 ' T e oi*(r. The word expresses the idea of increase or advance- 
 whether in good or in evil. Examples are needless. The same 
 lisli \vonl is used to translate the noun xetxw in 1 Tim iv 15 
 ' that thy profiting" \. e. thy progress in knowledge and other min- 
 isterial qualifications "may appear unto all." 
 t Gal. i. 1, 11 17.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 9 
 
 wonderful kindness to the church. Deeply did he fuel liis 
 own obligations, and many a time does he extol the mercy of 
 which he had been so undeserving an object : " Unto me, 
 who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, 
 that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ:" "And I thank Christ Jesus oxir Lord, 
 who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, put- 
 ting me into the ministry ; who was before a blasphemer, and 
 a persecutor, and injurious but I obtained mercy:" "For 
 I ai the least of the apostles, who am not meet to be called 
 an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by 
 the grace of God I am what I am."* And while the sub- 
 ject of the change himself thus felt and owned his obliga 
 tions, the whole church of God was sensible of the value of 
 the acquisition, as a most encouraging exemplification of the 
 power and riches and sovereign freeness of gospel grace, as 
 a deliverance from the virulent malice and the frantic vio- 
 lence of a ringleader in persecution, and as a transference 
 of a devotedly zealous and efficient auxiliary from the side of 
 error to the side of truth: "They glorified God in me!"t 
 And good cause they had, when "he who persecuted them 
 ill times past became a preacher of the faith which before he 
 destroyed.'' And what abundant reason has the church of 
 God, in all successive ages, to unite with the early saints of 
 Judea in their grateful adorations ! How incalculable the 
 amount of our debt to this instrument of spiritual good, and 
 to that Lord by whom the instrument was prepared ! What 
 shall we say of the self-denying and indefatigable zeal, and 
 of the painful and perilous labours, so extensive and so mul- , 
 tiplied, of his ministry, as the Apostle of the Gentiles! And 
 what shall we say of all the riches of instruction, consola- 
 tion, direction, admonition, and encouragement, which, his in- 
 valuable writings, forming so large a portion of the ^NCw TY>- 
 tament revelation, have afforded, and continue to afford, to 
 the Christian mind ! 
 
 How wonderful the ministry of this most wonderful man ! 
 
 * .[>}}. :\\. 8: 1 Tim. i. 1214: 1 Cor. xv. 9, 10. f Gal. i. 24.
 
 , LECTURK I. 
 
 Truly might he say, that he "served God ''/'//< liis *l>irit in 
 th- gospel of his Son." His whole soul was in his work. 
 He "counted all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord." Never did man give 
 fuller proof of his sincerity. Never did man act more con- 
 scientiously upon principle, or verify more thoroughly the 
 declaration "To me to live is Christ." His standard of 
 the value of time was, the amount of opportunity it afforded 
 him of serving Christ; and if Christ were but "magnified," 
 mi matti-r to him " whether it was by life or by death." Who 
 ran ivad the enumeration of his toils and suffering, an enu- 
 ni"ration extorted from him by the necessity of self-defence 
 against the false insinuations of his enemies, without a 
 deep conviction of the sincerity and tlie ardour of his zeal? 
 He is speaking of those "false apostles" and "deceitful 
 worker*,'' wu " sought to exalt themselves by traducing and 
 lowering him: "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as 
 a i'>ol,) I am more: in labours more abundant, in stripes 
 ali'.ve measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of 
 the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice 
 was I Ix-atei! with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered 
 shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep : in 
 journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in 
 perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in 
 perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the 
 BM, i'i perils among false brethren: in weariness and pain- 
 fulnes-;, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
 often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are 
 without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all 
 the. churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is 
 olfended, and I burn not?"* Of his "care of all the churches/' 
 of the depth of interest he felt in all their concerns, his 
 spirits rising or sinking according to the complexion of the 
 riding-! respecting their prosperity or their declension, which 
 from day to day reached him, his various epistles contain 
 abundant and impressive manifestation. With his whole 
 
 * 2 Cor. xi. 2329.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 11 
 
 heart he enters into the peculiar circumstances of each:- - 
 and, while he indulges his sympathies, and points his ap- 
 peals, and urges his remonstrances, and administers his con- 
 solations, his encouragements, his admonitions, and his coun- 
 sels, as they are specially requited, he is, at the same time, 
 so guided by the superintending Spirit under whose inspira- 
 tion he writes, as to put on record what was then, and would 
 be in future ages, instructive and profitable to all. 
 
 In the writings of this Apostle there is a fulness of state- 
 ment, a closeness of argumentation, and a comprehensive- 
 ness of view, on the great subjects of evangelical truth, 
 combined with a richness of spiritual unction, and the union 
 of a melting tenderness with a sublime loftiness of devotional 
 feeling; by which, perhaps, they are more remarkably char- 
 acterized than any other portions of the New Testament. 
 He has, it is true, what may, without impropriety, be called 
 his faroi/i'ite topics, topics on which he dwells with pecu- 
 liar zest, which he vindicates with more than ordinary solici- 
 tude, to which, at every point where they present themselves, 
 he fondly reverts, and which he presses upon attention with 
 the earnestness of a spirit burdened with a sense of their 
 paramount importance. Of these the one which decidedly 
 takes the lead is the doctrine of FREE SALVATION, of justifica- 
 tion by grace through faith, of the absolute unconditional 
 sovereignty of the mercy of God in its exercise to sinners 
 through Jesus Christ. And for the special predilection dis- 
 covered by him for this theme it is not difficult to assign a 
 natural and adequate reason. Inspiration, so far as we can 
 trace its mysterious influence, does not appear to have inter- 
 fered either with the peculiarities of constitutional tempera- 
 ment and disposition, or with those tendencies of the mind 
 to which particular circumstances might be considered as 
 naturally giving rise. In the writings of John and of Paul, 
 respectively, you see the man as well as the Apostle. The same 
 truths are taught ; the same duties are inculcated ; the same 
 faults are reproved; the same errors are exposed; the same 
 counsels and the same comforts are administered. Yet the 
 manner is so different, that it is impossible to mistake the
 
 12 LECTURE I. 
 
 ,me for the other, to imagine Paul's Epistles written by 
 .J,,hu, or John's by Paul And James and Peter, in like 
 manner, have their characteristic peculiarities, by which they 
 
 Minguishable from each other and from both the for- 
 mer. God, in infinite wisdom, has so ordered the ministra- 
 tions of the Spirit, as not to obliterate, or even diminish, that 
 In dutiful and interesting variety of character and of coinmuni- 
 
 :.. which is produced by the operation of the same truths 
 on the diversities of original constitution. Xow, on these 
 principles, it does not seem difficult to account for the fact of 
 Paol' dwelling, with earnestness, and frequency, and fulness 
 
 .nnu-jitative illustration, on the GRACE of the gospel. He 
 had been "a Pharisee, and the son of a Pharisee ;" a bigot- 
 ed adherent of " the strictest sect of the Jews' religion;" 
 Id-ought up at the feet of one of the most eminent Rabbis of 
 his day; deeply imbued both with national pride and sec- 
 tarian self- esteem ; "resting in the law, and making his 
 bo;ist of God." "With all the self-sufficient high-mindedness 
 of his sect, he "trusted in himself that he was righteous, and 
 despised others.' 1 He might have sat for the portraiture of 
 him in the parable, who, acknowledging the Divine Being in 
 words but in heart taking credit to himself, said, "God, I 
 thank thee, that I am not as other men are!" There was 
 nothing, therefore, in the system of Christianity which he 
 more uufeignedly detested, or which he held in more bitter 
 
 nipt, than the doctrine of justification by grace, the doc- 
 
 Uihe which would have had him strip himself of all his self- 
 
 .vui.lying distinctions, of all his legal qualifications, ample 
 
 conceived them to be, for acceptance with God, and 
 
 himself upon a level with the worst of "publicans and 
 
 sinners." 0! there was nothing that could gall his spirit 
 
 like this: 
 
 " ; 'twas his perfect scom, 
 
 Oljject of his implacable disgust." 
 
 lint when he who was thus, in his own words, "alive 
 
 lout the law," came to a right mind; when he saw God 
 
 aright, BM law aright, himself aright, and the gospel aright ;
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 13 
 
 he then discovered, that the very doctrine which before lie 
 had " hated with a perfect hatred," Avas the prime article, the 
 very essence and the very excellence, of that new system, of 
 which the glory had just burst on his wondering and de- 
 lighted view. Is it, then, at all a matter of surprise, that, 
 in these circumstances, he should have felt himself impelled 
 to insist, with special emphasis, on that great truth? Seeing 
 it, as he now did, to be the very glory of the gospel, a 
 " glory all divine," he was astonished at his own blindness 
 and folly ; he was grieved and humbled for his arrogant 
 and impious presumption ; and from the very bitterness and 
 strenuousness of his opposition to that article of the Chris- 
 tian faith he felt an obligation imposed upon him now to 
 make it the subject of the more unreserved avowal, the more 
 copious illustration, and the more jealous and earnest defence, 
 That very doctrine which, in the phrenzy of his pharisaism. 
 he had disdainfully spurned away from him, he now saw and 
 felt to be the very anchor of his soul, his own only safety, 
 and the only safety of his perishing fellow-sinners around 
 him : and it became the delight of his heart to expatiate 
 upon it, and to recommend it. Mark the high tone of 
 exulting yet lowly delight, in which he contrasts his for- 
 mer with his subsequent confidences, and disowns the one 
 for the other: "If any other man thinketh that he hath 
 whereof to trust in the flesh, I more : circumcised the eighth 
 day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a He- 
 brew of the Hebrews ; as touching the law, a Pharisee ; con- 
 cerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteous- 
 ness which is in the law, blameless. But what things wnv 
 gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ; yea, doubtless, 
 and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the 
 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have suf- 
 fered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, 
 that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having 
 mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which 
 is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of 
 God by faith; that I may know him, and the power of his 
 resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
 
 u LECTURE I. 
 
 conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain 
 
 the resurrection of the dead."'"' 
 
 , >f all the inspired writings of this Apostle, the Epistle to 
 the Romans is the ful'est in the exposition of Gospel do< 
 trine and of its practical influence on the character. 
 ,,, aches more nearly than any other part of Scripture to the 
 form of a regular treatise. It might, without impropriety, 
 l,c denominated a short SYSTEM OF DIVINITY. Let not any 
 rtled at the designation, in consequence of associations 
 with it in their minds of systematic or scholastic theology. 
 SVSTKM means no more than' the exhibition of divine truths 
 in their relations to each other, in their mutual depend- 
 ed ,. in their harmonious consistency. The Bible is not 
 written systematically. Its truths do not appear in formal 
 classification. But to say that in the Bible there are mate- 
 rials for a system, is only to say, in other words, that its doc- 
 trines are not a confused heap of unconnected propositions, 
 of mutually insulated and independent abstractions; but 
 that, although for wise reasons which at present we have not 
 leisure to specify, and in part, indeed, from the manner in 
 which revelation was necessarily given " in sundry portions 
 and in various manners ''t those truths appear scattered 
 throughout the Sacred Record, yet are there amongst them 
 principles of arrangement, not, by any means, difficult to ap- 
 ply, by which they may be brought together in their relative 
 connexions, one naturally rising out of another, all recipro- 
 cally borrowing and communicating light, and forming, when 
 thus duly adjusted, a grand and harmonious whole. And, 
 in as far as this relationship of divine truths is concerned, to 
 write tyttematicaUy is one and the same thing with writing 
 inteUigibly; inasmuch as, to place truths out of their appro- 
 priate connexions is to "darken counsel by words without 
 knowledge." There is, in this respect, a correspondence with 
 each other among the different departments of the divine 
 works. In nature, to the eye of the observer, there is no 
 appearance of regular arrangement. In the mineral, the 
 
 * Phil. iii. 411. f n,ji!/^,- **i *-,> . V 7,i* us Heb. i. 1.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 75 
 
 vegetable, and the animal kingdoms, all is apparent confu- 
 sion, with hardly a symptom of order. Yet I need not say 
 how beautifully perfect are the principles by which they have 
 been classified; how complete the harmony which the appli- 
 cation of these principles, as far as human skill and industry 
 have been able to carry it, has actually produced, or, to 
 speak more correctly, has proved to exist. How entire, in 
 like manner, the confusion which, to the spectator's eye, ap- 
 pears to reign among the stars of the nightly firmament ! 
 yet, according to the demonstrations of science, how admira- 
 bly, how overwhelmingly perfect, throughout the heavenly 
 hi>st, is the adjustment of place, and motion, and time. Thus 
 it is with the contents of the DIVIXE WORD. The absence of 
 order is only the appearance presented to the glance of the 
 superficial reader. To the more attentive and humble- 
 minded student, who " searches the Scriptures," who looks to 
 the God of truth for the superintending influence of his Holy 
 Spirit, and " compares spiritual things with spiritual," all 
 will open, gradually it may be, but clearly, in light, and har- 
 mony, and beauty. 
 
 The exalted Lord made choice of His instruments, for the 
 various departments of His work, according to His sovereign 
 pleasure. Each was selected and qualified for his appropriate 
 sphere. But even in the same department, we are not war- 
 ranted to regard the qualifications of all who occupied it as 
 equal. In the same hemisphere there were stars of first, 
 second, and third magnitude ; the light emitted by them one 
 in quality, but various in degree, the least, thoxigh less in- 
 tense, not less pure in its radiance, than the greatest. 
 Amongst those honoured servants on whom He bestowed the 
 gift of inspiration, it was His to determine which should be 
 employed in committing His word to writing, for the perma- 
 nent benefit of the church and of the world. And in this 
 class of distinguished individuals, the author of this Epistle, 
 the Apostle of the Gentiles, holds a place of pre-eminent 
 dignity. It is not for us to assign the reasons of his having 
 so large a share of this honour conferred upon him. "We 
 may be allowed, however, to say, negatively, that, whatso-
 
 ]6 LKCTUKE I. 
 
 ever thoge reasons might be, it is very inconsiderate to ascribe, 
 the distinction to his superior education and learning, 
 eulogies which have been pronounced on this Apostle a a 
 poragSB of erudition, and eloquence, and polite accomplish - 
 incuts, have ever appeared to me extravagant, far beyond 
 what is warranted by anything said of him in the history, or 
 l.y anything contained in his own writings. There seems, 
 somehow, amongst a certain description of theologians, to be 
 an overweening solicitude to have on>- at least whom they 
 can hold forth as an exception to the general fact of the low 
 and illiterate character of the first pronmlgators of Christian- 
 ity. They appear as if feeling somewhat mortified at the 
 absence of all that could cope with the learning and refine- 
 ment of the world ; and exceedingly desirous to make the 
 must of Saul of Tarsus, the accomplished scholar of Gamaliel, 
 to supply the deficiency. Far be it, that I should dispute 
 this Apostle's courtesy. lie had the truest of all politeness, 
 the politeness that consists in the union of the dignity, 
 with the " meekness and gentleness," of Christ. Xo man can 
 tail in genuine courtesy, in whose character there is this 
 union. On the subject of his learning, and his eloquence, I 
 >hall enter into no enlarged discussion, but satisfy myself 
 with three remarks: 1. The learning in which we know 
 him to have excelled was learning which, according to our 
 estimates, should have pointed him out as the fittest of all 
 thp Apostles to be the "minister of the circumcision," to have 
 his commission specially to the Jews; for it was Jewish 
 learning : he was " brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and 
 taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the 
 fathers;" and (which lets us still further into the nature of 
 his education) he was, as he himself testifies, "more abun- 
 dantly zealous of their traditions."* Yet, with such qualifi- 
 cations for meeting the objections and exposing the errors of 
 his countrymen, he has his charge chiefly to the Gentiles, 
 among whom knowledge such as this could be of compara- 
 tively little service. 2. It is evident that, in speaking of 
 
 * Actsxxii. 3; Gal. i. 14.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 17 
 
 the qualifications of the first ministers of the Cross, Paul 
 includes himself in the description : " God hath chosen the 
 foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God 
 hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the 
 things that are mighty; and base things of the world, and 
 things that are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things 
 which are not, to bring to nought things that are : that no 
 flesh should glory in his presence."* They, therefore, who 
 discover anxiety to exalt this Apostle to eminence as a man 
 of scholarship and erudition, would do well to recollect, that, 
 in proportion as they so raise him, they deduct from the 
 cogency of his argument, drawn from the inadequacy of the 
 instruments, for the divine origin of the gospel which he 
 preached ; that thus, by adding, as they imagine, to the re- 
 spectability of Christianity, they are diminishing the evidence 
 of its truth. 3. The grounds on which Paul's fondly main- 
 tained reputation for superior literary acquirements rests, 
 appear to be altogether insufficient to bear what is built upon 
 them. From one of his public appearances, we learn that 
 he could speak Greek ; and two or three times in his writ- 
 ings he quotes a line or a phrase from the Greek poets. But 
 Greek was the prevailing language of his native country. 
 Now if, in a country where French was the vernacular dialect, 
 a person, bom of English parents, were able to write and 
 speak French, and on two or three occasions were known to 
 have quoted a line or two of French poetry, should we think 
 ourselves warranted, on evidence so slender, to pronounce 
 him a man of erudition, an accomplished scholar, an eminent 
 literary character! Xo surely: even although, in writing 
 to Frenchmen, he were to add to these things an occasional 
 allusion to some of their public spectacles, as Paul does in 
 writing to Greeks. Yet it is on gi'ounds such as these that 
 the Cilician tent-maker ha.s at times been so liberally com- 
 plimented on the score of his learning. I am aware, indeed, 
 that, in our times, the art of printing and the state of society 
 have rendered the treasures of literature, of all descriptions, 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. 2729. 
 I. B
 
 18 LECTURE I. 
 
 M much more easily accessible than of old, that the cases 
 compared a iv not precisely parallel; and the inference from 
 tin- one to the other may, therefore, be too strongly drawn: 
 but there is enough of parallelism between them for my 
 
 it purpose. That may be sufficient evidence of a good 
 ordinary education, that will not bear out the inference of 
 superior erudition. 4. With regard to his eloquence, I make 
 no d;mbt that in his preaching he exemplified the eloquence 
 of nature, the eloquence of affectionate persuasion and fer- 
 vid xeal. Yet we know for certain, that by the admirers of 
 
 ,11 oratory his speech was pronounced "contemptible;" 
 and that he himself disclaims "the excellency" (that is, what 
 by men was deemed the excellency) both "of speech and of 
 wisdom."* And with regard to his public defences of him- 
 self, especially his pleading before Agrippa and Festus, so 
 often and so justly appealed to as a masterpiece of addivss, 
 we arc in danger of giving the credit to the natural or edu- 
 
 ial powers of the speaker, and forgetting the promise of 
 the Master in whose cause he was engaged, a promise made 
 to the Apostles with special reference to situations such as 
 that in which Paul then stood, namely, when they were 
 to be " brought before rulers and kings for his name's sake," 
 " Settle it, therefore, in your minds, not to meditate be- 
 forehand what ye shall answer: for I will give you a mouth 
 and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to 
 gainsay or resist" "for it is not ye that speak, but the 
 Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."t 
 
 JIave I l.een taking laurels from this Apostle's brow? I 
 hold him in too high veneration, and regard him with too 
 admiring an aifection, to strip his name of one atom of the 
 l.un,,ur justly due to it. But sure I am, from the whole 
 truer of his writings, that laurels which did not belong to 
 him he would have nobly disdained to wear, and that his 
 
 '-mid have glistened with delight to se them placed on 
 the brow of his Master. 
 
 * 2 Cor. x. 10; 1 Cor. ii. 1. f Luke xxi. 12-15; Matt. x. 20.
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 IN his second Epistle, the Apostle Peter uses the following 
 language respecting the writings of Paul : " And account, 
 that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation : even as our 
 beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given 
 unto him, hath written untu you; as also in all his epistles, 
 speaking in them of these things ; in which are some things 
 hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and 
 unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto 
 their own destruction."* It has been supposed, and the pro- 
 bability of it is strengthened by various concurrent circum- 
 stances, that at the time when Peter wrote his second epistle, 
 Paul had " finished his course." "We learn from the words 
 just quoted, that the one Apostle was well acquainted with 
 the writings of the other; and from the manner in which 
 he speaks of " all his epistles," it seems (though it does not 
 amount to certainty) as if the number of them, as integrant 
 portions of the inspired Canon, had then been completed. 
 These writings, observe, he classes, in point of authority, with 
 " the other Scriptures : " a designation under which may be 
 included first, the books of the Old Testament revelation, 
 of which Paul himself speaks in similar terms, terms which 
 imply their being well known and fully recognized t and, 
 secondly, whatever had at the time been published and re- 
 cognized as of canonical authority and "given by inspiration 
 
 * 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. t 2 Tim. iii. 14, 15.
 
 20 LECTURE II. 
 
 of God," in the new or Christian era. The two Epistles of 
 Peter are addressed "to the strangers scattered throughout 
 Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." The con- 
 nexion of the reference to Paul's writings with the sentiment 
 that " the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation," has led 
 Doddridge and others to conceive a special allusion intended 
 to the words of Rom. ii. 4" or despisest thou the riches of 
 his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not know- 
 ing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" 
 
 and U pon this the excellent commentator whom I have 
 
 named founds the important observation, that "the epistles, 
 although immediately inscribed to particular churches, were 
 designed alike for all ; and that all, Avith perfect propriety, 
 might regard each as if addressed, at the same time, to them- 
 selves j inasmuch as, though Rome was not among the 
 places where the ' strangers of the dispersion,' whom Peter 
 addresses, resided, he yet speaks of Paul as having, in his 
 epistle to the believers in that city, written to them." But 
 the observation, how true soever in itself, appears to have 
 but a precarious foundation in this passage. The allusion to 
 the words in the epistle to the Romans has been somewhat 
 too hastily assumed. When Peter says " hath written to 
 you," and then adds, " as also in all his epistles," it is surely 
 natural to understand him as, in the former phrase, alluding 
 to a letter or letters written more directly to themselves, and 
 in the latter to his epistles in general. The Epistle to the 
 1 tomans belongs properly to the latter class; those to the 
 ( ialatians, Ephesians, and Colossians may be reckoned as be- 
 longing to the former, Galatia and the lesser Asia being ex- 
 pressly included in the inscription of the Epistles of Peter, 
 lu the reference made by the latter Apostle to the Epistles of 
 the former, it is not at all necessary to suppose that he had his 
 eye on any particular passage bearing a verbal correspondence 
 to what he had himself just written. That the letters referred 
 to contained matter of the same general strain and tendency 
 with his own, is quite enough to account for it. And it is 
 sim-ly needless to say, that in all the writings of Paul there 
 is much of this description ; much on the same subjects of
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 21 
 
 which Peter treats in the context, and much especially on 
 the prospects of the people of God and of his enemies, of 
 believers and unbelievers, in looking forward to the time and 
 the scene which Peter so vividly describes " the end of all 
 things " " the day of the Lord." 
 
 In these verses from Peter, the expression, "in which are 
 some things hard to be understood," is very naturally re- 
 garded by the English reader as having for its antecedent the 
 word " epistles." It may not be undeserving of your notice, 
 however, that in the original language it is not so. The true an- 
 tecedent, as the gender of the relative shows,* is not "epistles," 
 but "these things;" and the words would be better, because 
 more distinctly, rendered "among which are some things 
 hard to be understood." The observation is not without its 
 importance. Although the reference, of course, is to those 
 portions of Paul's epistles in which the particular subjects 
 are introduced, it is not to the writings of his brother Apostle 
 that Peter imputes obscurity, either in regard to his language 
 or his modes of statement and of reasoning. The difficulty 
 of which he speaks lay in the subjects themselves; which were 
 treated by Paul " according to the wisdom given unto him," 
 a phrase which will be grievously misunderstood if it be in- 
 terpreted as intended to express any inferior measure of illu- 
 mination. It in reality means, that, like other "holy men 
 of God," he " spoke " and wrote " as he was moved by the 
 Holy Spirit;" so that what his writings contain was not 
 the result of his own wisdom, but of the wisdom of God. 
 The distinction we have just made, then, I repeat, is by 
 no means unimportant. There may be no obscurity in the 
 style and manner of a writer ; while the subjects of which he 
 treats may have not a little in them, how clear soever their 
 exposition, that is mysterious and confounding even to the 
 mind of the humblest and most honest inquirer. On the 
 question, what were the particular topics on Peter's mind when 
 he wrote as he does, I shall not venture either affirmation or 
 conjecture ; for, as might have been expected, this has given
 
 22 LECTURE II. 
 
 rise to a variety of opinions. That there are such subjects, 
 subjects involving what is "hard to be understood, we 
 shall find in the Epistle of which we are about to attempt 
 the exposition. They are connected with "the ways of God 
 I- men;" which it is a sacred duty, as far as lieth m us, to 
 " vindicate," but over some of which, even when we have 
 done our utmost to clear them, there may still rest a cloud 
 of impenetrable density. Should we wonder to find it so? 
 wonder that we "cannot by searching find out God, that 
 moot find out the Almighty unto perfection?" wonder 
 that in the counsels of the Divine Mind there should be 
 depths by us unfathomable, some intricacies which 
 ;lve, some labyrinths, in which even the 
 thread of divine revelation quits our hold, before we can ar- 
 rive at the innermost penetralia, the central point of de- 
 sired discovery? wonder that the finite should not coinpre- 
 the infinite? Ought this to startle or to stumble us? 
 Would it not rather be ground for wonder, were it otherwise ? 
 There are mysteries in the divine i.cnr/is, the works, I mean, 
 <>f creation around us; points, in all directions, beyond 
 which our most penetrating and persevering researches can- 
 not carry us, where questions meet us, to which we feel 
 ourselves incompetent to devise an answer. There are mys- 
 - unsearchable in the divine nature, and the mode of the 
 divine existence ; all that we can know being only on the 
 siirface of a deep, of which no created line can take the 
 lings, and all that we can say, when we have taxed 
 our powers to the uttermost, little better than the prattle of 
 children. Are we, then, to be surprised, if we should find 
 similar mysteries in divim providence-? if in the ways of 
 (r"d's administration, and especially towards creatures so 
 peculiarly circumstanced, and whose very principles of apos- 
 exert a blinding influence upon their minds, and inca- 
 pacitate! them for enlightened and candid judgment, we 
 should feel ourselves put to a stand? questions coming in 
 our way, in this department as in the former, which we can 
 but very partially answer? There may even be truths, each 
 of which appears undeniably certain and entitled to be classed
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 23 
 
 with axiomatic or self-evident principles, which we, notwith- 
 standing, may find it far from easy to reconcile, between 
 which, that is, we may be at a loss to discover the principle 
 of harmony. With regard to truths of this description, there 
 i.s nothing unreasonable in our believing both, nay, from 
 the nature of the case we are constrained to believe both, 
 resting satisfied that the reconciling link between them, 
 though undiscerned by our vision, and possibly eluding 
 even the vision of angels, is discerned by the eye of God. 
 There may be principles of the divine government regard- 
 ing which, as regarding the existences and scenes of the un- 
 sw-u world, we must be content to "walk by faith," rather 
 than " by sight.'' It is clear, that our capacity cannot be 
 the measure and standard of truth. By " many infallible 
 proofs " we consider it as ascertained, that we have in the 
 " Holy Scriptures '' a revelation from God. And believing 
 this, the sole remaining inquiry for us is "What does 
 this revelation teach? And if, on some of the subjects of 
 which it treats, we do find things " hard to be understood," 
 this is only finding an analogy between this and other de- 
 partmeiits of divine discovery, finding, therefore, what 
 reason might have prepared us to anticipate. That which 
 becomes us is, to be thankful for wiiat /'* within the reach of 
 our knowledge, and not to allow our faith of it to be shaken 
 by what is not, and what, it is far from being improbable, 
 the faculties of our nature do not admit of our thoroughly 
 comprehending. 
 
 The charge of obscurity, then, is not brought against Paul ; 
 nor can we allow Peter's words to be so interpreted. Ee- 
 specting himself and his fellow-ambassadors, the commissioned 
 and divinely inspired teachers of mankind, the former Apos- 
 r a " Seeing, then, that we have such hope, we iise 
 great plainness of speech:" and he beautifully contrasts the 
 clearness and openness of the discovery of divine things made 
 by them with the mystic veil that hid from the children of 
 Israel the glory of the Lord reflected from the face of Moses.* 
 
 * 2 Cor. iii. 1214.
 
 24 LECTURE II. 
 
 By some the observation of Peter has not only been applied 
 to Paul's writings rather than to the subjects of which they 
 treat, but has been, still more unwarrantably, extended, in 
 its application, from parts to the whole ; and under the er- 
 roneous but too often cherished idea that all must be 
 obscure, and requires to be interpreted accordingly, they have 
 imagined darkness where there is the clearest light, have 
 conjured up difficulties where all is simple, and by affixing 
 an unusual meaning to common terms, and calling it their 
 Pauline sense, as well as by the application of unwonted 
 canons of criticism, have drawn out interpretations at utter 
 variance with the obvious import of his language, interpre- 
 tations such as he himself would have denounced with in- 
 dignant abhorrence. They have thus learned the art of sub- 
 verting the gospel in Bible phraseology, and contradicting 
 the Spirit of God in his own words. In our progress through 
 this Epistle, we may have occasion to notice instances of this, 
 on points of vital importance, essential to the very elements 
 of evangelical doctrine. In some of these, there is reason to 
 fear, the difficulties are the perverse product of a predisposi- 
 tion of mind against those truths which, when taken in their 
 plain and obvious sense, the Apostle's words so evidently 
 affirm ; that there is an obscuration of intellect arising from 
 an unwillingness to understand ; the state of mind described 
 by our Lord, when he says to the unbelieving Jews of his 
 day " Why do ye not understand my speech? even be- 
 cause ye cannot hear (that is, cannot bear) my words:"* a 
 state of mind, alas ! by far too common, and against which 
 (for it is sadly incident to us all) we should ever " watch and 
 pray." If, in our perusal and study of this or of any other 
 portion of the Sacred Oracles, we have come to them with the 
 secret wish to find something more in accordance with cer- 
 tain principles and tendencies of our fallen nature than the 
 words, in their ordinary acceptation, clearly express. the 
 chances are many to one, that we succeed in deluding our- 
 selves into some false conviction. If, therefore, it be our 
 
 * John viii. 47.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 25 
 
 desire to be " led into all truth," let us not forget that the 
 first and most essential requisite to the fulfilment of the de- 
 sire is the spirit of simple hearted docility; and that every 
 imputation of obscurity to the writings of Paul is a charge 
 against that Holy Spirit under whose influence, " according 
 to the wisdom given to him," his writings were dictated. 
 
 In proceeding, then, to the exposition of this Epistle, I 
 desire to bear in mind that it was not addressed to a so- 
 ciety of philosophers and learned critics, but to a body 
 of Christians, of whom, there is reason to believe, a great 
 proportion were plebeian and illiterate, and that by those 
 to whom he wrote the writer intended to be understood. 
 In these circumstances, and indeed in any circumstances, 
 the obviously reasonable principle of interpretation is, that 
 language is to be taken according to the sense in which 
 it is ascertained to have been ordinarily used at the time 
 and in the country where the writer lived. There may 
 be cases in which a peculiarity in the acceptation of a par- 
 ticular term is intimated by himself: in these we can be at 
 HO loss. There may be some, in which the use of Greek 
 words, and phrases has been affected by accommodation to 
 previous Hebrew idiom or Jewish custom, to which there are 
 no terms in the foreign language that exactly correspond ; or 
 (which in some degree, however, amounts to the same thing) 
 by the peculiar use of the same words and phrases in the 
 ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek, from 
 which so many of the quotations into the New are taken. 
 There may even be others still, in which the obvious neces- 
 sity of the case imperatively dictates some deviation, greater 
 or less, from established usage. In regard to these last, 
 however, we require to proceed with the greatest possible 
 jealousy and caution. We are in imminent danger, espe- 
 cially after having embraced a certain theological system, of 
 straining particular terms and modes of expression out of 
 their ordinary into a theological and systematic sense ; of 
 giving them a sectarian twist, bending them into conformity 
 with the distinctive tenets of one or other of the various ism* 
 into which the nominally Christian world is divided. Against
 
 26 LECTURE II. 
 
 this and all similar dangers we should be ever vigilant. 
 Vndcr the supplicated guidance of the Holy Spirit, we should 
 come to God's word, not in quest of evidence to confirm pre- 
 conceived opinions, but with the sincere and earnest desire 
 m (I... 1's lessons as He has taught them, bowing im- 
 plicitly to His authoritative dictation, " becoming fools, that 
 we may be wise." Our sole inquiry, as to every section, 
 000, every phrase, every word, ought to be What 
 mind of the Spirit ? what the sentiment, the truth, 
 which He intended to convey] Ko infatuation 
 mom .leplorable, than that which could induce a man 
 <-i'er being wrong with his religious party to being right 
 with the Apostles and with God ! 
 
 Kn; we quit the passage in the Epistle of Peter by which 
 observations have been suggested, let me beseech you 
 to mark the character given by him of those by whom the 
 word of God is otherwise treated, and to mark also the con- 
 sequence : " which they that are unlearned and unstable 
 V.TI >:. lo also the other scriptures, to their own de- 
 
 struction." It is a fearful thing to "wrest" the testimony <>f 
 the God of truth, whether in the pride of intellect, or in the 
 pride <>f character. This the Apostle Peter represents as 
 'iy the "unlearned and unstable," If we retain the 
 word " unlearned," we must interpret it of course as meaning 
 unlearned /'// divine 1/ti/n./s, as descriptive of the partially 
 taught, the half-informed, of superficial, stony-ground hear- 
 al thinkers; for alas! in regard to the knowledge of 
 human science, how often is it by the learned rather than 
 the unlearned that the in-rcting here so strongly condemned 
 is practised ! By not a few, however, the original word is 
 Uttdenfood to mean unteacliaUe* and to designate the per- 
 and wayward, the vainly self-sufficient, the proudly 
 - It-willed; while the "unstable" are those who are either 
 through ignorance, or through lightness and curio-it y 
 ;ul Hi' r.uvelty, and " carried about with every wind of 
 me." Let all of us, my brethren, both teachers and
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 27 
 
 taught, beware of this most heinous of crimes, the "wrest- 
 ing of the Scriptures;" a crime which, at the same time- 
 that it fearfully dishonours God, necessarily tends to our 
 own destruction, both by the guilt which itself involves, 
 and by the rejection of truth and the adoption of error to 
 which it leads. Let the spirit and principle of Paul's offi- 
 cial conduct be ours : " For we are not as many who cor- 
 rupt the word of God : but as of sincerity, but as of God, in 
 the sight of God speak we in Christ." * I grant the tenfold 
 guilt of the public teacher, who, by corrupting the word of 
 God, misleads and ruins others as well as himself: but the 
 reader and the hearer is neither exempt from the temptation, 
 nor, if he fall before it, free from the guilt, or unexposed to 
 the peril 
 
 Let me now go forward to some further observations, more 
 immediately relating to the Epistle before us. 
 
 It is a remarkable circumstance, that, in the sacred records 
 of the early progress of Christianity, we should have no ac- 
 count of its first success in the metropolis of the world. 
 ROME makes a distinguished figure in the civil history of 
 those times; and the principles by which historians are usu- 
 ally guided in their selection of materials, we are naturally 
 disposed to think, should have induced those who record the 
 conquests of divine truth, to assign to a station of such noto- 
 riety a corresponding prominence in their narrative. The 
 fact, however, is otherwise. The capital of nations is little 
 more than mentioned. The earliest notice we find of the 
 gospel having been introduced and having obtained a footing 
 there, is quite incidental It is derived, not from the in- 
 spired history, but from this Epistle. We learn from it, 
 that for a considerable time previous to its date, there had 
 existed there a numerous and flourishing church; a church 
 " whose faith was spoken of throughout the whole world," 
 and which the writer, for " many years" had cherished a de- 
 sire to visit. t We obtain little additional information from 
 the Acts of the Apostles ; little as to Rome at all, and none 
 
 * 2 Cor. ii. 17. f Rom. i. 8; xv. 23.
 
 28 LECTURE II. 
 
 M to the time, the instrumentality, or the circumstances of 
 its Hi-tit evangelization. 
 
 Few readers of the New Testament, who rightly estimate 
 the value of the Gospel, and who feel a corresponding interest 
 in its progress and success, have not heaved a sigh of regret 
 on arriving at the close of these interesting memoirs of its 
 early history ; and on being obliged to pass from the sure 
 and steady light of inspired records into the dubious twilight 
 of human" traditions. The Spirit of God, however, by whom 
 the minds of the New Testament historians were directed in the 
 selection of their materials from the multiplicity of facts that 
 presented themselves, was, without doubt, determined in the 
 choice by reasons both gracious and wise. We cannot, as 
 formerly hinted, suppose the preference given to those which 
 we actually find recorded, to have been, in any degree, blind 
 or capricious. In some view or other, they must have been 
 deemed the most important and valuable, most calculated 
 for the benefit of the Church in succeeding times. And what 
 other reasons soever an ingenious mind might conjecture (if 
 on such a subject conjecture be allowable) for Rome's thus 
 occupying so small a proportion of the sacred narrative, for 
 the city of the seven hills holding there a position so uncon- 
 spicuous, it may, with apparent safety, be remarked, that 
 the circumstance combines with many others in placing in 
 their true light the arrogant pretensions of the papal Anti- 
 christ, whose rise, character, and fall form so prominent a 
 abject of Scripture prophecy. For what can be more pre- 
 ]>">tcruus than exalting to such a pre-eminence of dignity a 
 place of which the sacred records take so little notice, and 
 associating with this place the assumption, by the head of 
 the Romish hierarchy, of the haughty title of successor of 
 Saint Peter, when the inspired writers leave us in entire 
 ignorance whether that Apostle ever was there; and when 
 even traditionary accounts, although they seem to ascertain 
 the fact, do not fix with any certainty either the date of his 
 arrival or the time of his stay, the acts done by him, or the 
 incidents that befell him, while there. Not a few, indeed, 
 both of acts and of incidents, are to be found in these tradi-
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 29 
 
 tions; but, withal, so various in their character and their 
 evidence, as to render it impossible to winnow the absurd 
 from the probable, the legendary from the authentic ; so that 
 ecclesiastical historians of modern days are more or less copi- 
 ous in their statements of what they regard as worthy of 
 credence, according as the natural or educational bent of their 
 mind is to credulity or to its opposite. Of one thing only 
 are we sure, that when Peter was old, he finished his course 
 by a violent and cruel death : and even our assurance of 
 this we owe more to the recorded prediction of his Lord and 
 Master, and to his own anticipation of its fulfilment, than to 
 any indubitable testimony of subsequent history : for even 
 the accounts of his imprisonment and crucifixion are blended 
 with legends, such as might otherwise have thrown a haze of 
 doubtfulness around the whole,* It was not from the holy 
 light of Scripture, but from the concentration of some scat- 
 tered rays of misapplied tradition, that the whole blaze of 
 Antichristian splendour was kindled. 
 
 Althoiigh, however, the precise date of the introduction of 
 Christianity into Italy cannot with certainty be ascertained, 
 there is good reason to think that it took place at an early 
 period: either in consequence of the return to Rome of 
 some of those strangers from that city who were at Jerusalem 
 on the memorable day of Pentecost, and who might then 
 form part of the first-fruits of the gospel ministry ; or subse- 
 quently, by the instrumentality of some of the disciples who 
 were driven from Jerusalem by "the persecution that arose 
 
 * See John xxi. 18, 19, and 2 Pet. i. 1315. Of the traditions re- 
 specting Peter at Rome, the reader will find enough in the specimen 
 given by Dr. Cave in his ' Lives of the Apostles.' If his curiosity 
 should thirst for more, and he has time to waste in seeking it, he may 
 consult the authors to whom Dr. Cave refers. Cave's Lives of the 
 Apostles, St. Peter, sect. ix. In sect, xi., with its Appendix, may be 
 found a statement of t\\Q pros and cons, on the question of fact, whe- 
 ther or not Peter was at Rome at all; a question respecting which 
 learned men have not been unanimous. The evidence adduced by 
 Cave, Lardner, and others, however, seems sufficient to authenticate 
 the fact, and to give more than probability to the time, as having been 
 towards the close of his life, when he became the victim of the perse- 
 cuting malignity of the Emperor Nero.
 
 30 LECTURE II. 
 
 al .-.ut Stephen," and whom various considerations might in- 
 
 . prefer so distant a place of refuge.* 
 
 The number of Christians in Rome must have been very 
 ruiiMderalue at the time of the Edict of the Emperor Clau- 
 diu* referred to in the beginning of the eighteenth chapter 
 ,t the. Acts of the Apostles; that edict having originated in 
 the disturbances excited by the violence of the unbelieving 
 Jews auMinst the gospel. It " commanded all Jews to depart 
 t'n>m Rome:" and the Christians, in consequence of their 
 I at that time regarded as a sect of the Jews, were of 
 included in the decree of banishment ; the innocent 
 >n, in this as in many other cases, having been con- 
 t'inmded and punished with the guilty cause. That Jews and 
 ( 'liristians were thus confounded together under the former 
 as their common appellation, is evident from the language, on 
 this very occasion, of Suetonius the Roman historian, who, 
 with the careless ignorance of one who felt little interest in 
 the matter, represents these disturbances as stirred up " by the 
 in.-iii,'ation of Christ ;"t having probably understood in 
 
 * See Acts ii. 5, 10; viii. 1, 4. Tlioluck thinks it probable, "that 
 the gospel was first established at Koine by disciples of Paul." But 
 the "emphasis and concern" with which he addresses himself to 
 them, and the "perfect acquaintance with their condition" evinced 
 by him, it requires not such a supposition to explain. His residence 
 at Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla is quite sufficient to explain his 
 a-qnaintance with their condition and history previous to the Claudian 
 edict; and the deep interest excited by their accounts and those of 
 others whom he might meet with in his travels, will preclude all sur- 
 prise at his continued acquaintance with their character and condi- 
 -iibseqnently to the expiry of that edict, and the return of the 
 Christians to Rome, and all surprise too at the "emphasis and con- 
 cern" with which he addresses them : especially when we recollect 
 the way in which he speaks of his "care of all the churches," and of 
 the ' preat conflict he had. even for those who had not seen his face 
 in the flesh," 2 Cur. xi. 28; Col. ii. 1. It seems unreasonable to su~- 
 pest any doubt as to the Christianity of Aquila and Priscilla before 
 their banishment from Rome. Aquila, to be sure, is called, Acts xviii. 
 2. " a certain Jew.'' but so is Apollos. in the same chapter, verse 24. 
 -Thohtck. on the Ep. to the Rom., Introd., chap. I., sects, i. and iii. 
 tJofom, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuanres, Korna expulit. 
 '. Life of Claudius, chap. xxv. Suetonius is the only profane 
 historian by whom the banishment of the Jews is mentioned; and 
 from the phraseology thus employed by him. it seems most natural to
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 31 
 
 their connexion with this name, without deeming the 
 circumstance worthy of particular inquiry. 
 
 This Edict of Claudius is generally considered as having 
 Iwen issued in the eleventh year of his reign, corresponding 
 to the year of our Lord 51; that is, about seventeen or 
 eighteen year* after his ascension. It was not long after 
 this that the Apostle Paul came to Corinth ; for at the time 
 of his arrival, Aquila and Prisciila, whom he found there, 
 had " lately come from Italy," in consequence of the expul- 
 sive decree.* The Emperor Claudius died in the year 54; 
 at which time the authority of that act, (which was only an 
 imperial, not a senatorial! one) of course expired. The ban- 
 ished Christians were thus at liberty to return to Eome. The 
 
 conceive that the pertinacious tumults of which he speaks, as the 
 cause of the decree, were, in some way, connected with Christianity : 
 for it is much more likely that Chresto is a mere corruption for 
 Christo, than that Chrestus was only a seditious Jew of a similar name. 
 I am aware that Dr. \Vhitby considers Suetonius as erring not in the 
 name only but in the thing "the Jews having then no contests at 
 Rome, that we read of. with the Christians, and the Christians, to he 
 sure, causing no tumults there." Comm. on Acts, xviii. 1. From our 
 not reading of tumults of this description, however, it would be too 
 much to conclude that there were none; especially when we have the 
 fact before us, that the historians in whom we do not find mention of 
 the tumults are silent also respecting the banishment, and that the 
 only historian who mentions the banishment, mentions it as occasioned 
 by tumults " impulsore Chresto." "The origin of the tumults which 
 occasioned the banishment of the Jews from Rome," says Dr. Mac- 
 knight. "Suetonius, in the above passage, hath related in such a man- 
 ner, as to make his readers imagine direst or Christ was then in Rome, 
 and that the tumults were owing to his instigation. But the true 
 state of the fact seems to have been this. The Jews, whose darling 
 object was to make proselytes to their religion, showed the same mali- 
 cious disposition at Rome which their brethren showed in other great 
 cities where the gospel was preached with success. Being extiemely 
 displeased with the heathen for embracing the gospel, they published 
 a number of calumnies against the gospel itself, and against its abet- 
 tors, by which they enraged the idolatrous multitude at Rome to such 
 a degree, that they assisted the unbelieving Jews in their tumultuous 
 attacks upon the Christians. Wherefore, the Jews, being the ring- 
 leaders in these tumults, the emperor, to preserve the peace of the 
 city, found it necessary to banish all the Jews from Rome ; and among 
 t'ie rest, such of them as had embraced the Christian faith." Proofs 
 and Illustrations to the Life of the Apostle Paul, No. xxii. 
 * Acts xviii. 2.
 
 32 LECTURE II. 
 
 two excellent persons just mentioned availed themselves of 
 this liberty ; for in this Epistle to the Romans, we find them the 
 very first amongst those to whom Paul sends his salutations ;'* 
 and there can be little doubt that a great many more did 
 the same ; by which means, together with the subsequent 
 additions of new converts, the church in that city, at the 
 time when this Epistle was written, probably little more than 
 three years afterwards, appears to have been in an uncom- 
 monly flourishing state. 
 
 This Epistle appears to have been written at Corinth ; 
 and during the writer's second visit to that city, of which 
 the object was, by the personal exercise of his apostolic au- 
 thority, to carry into full effect the various admonitions, direc- 
 tions, and threatenings contained in his previous letters to 
 the church there; these, although partially effectual, hav- 
 ing by no means completely succeeded in reducing it to 
 purity and order. That the letter was written during that 
 visit, appears from tliis ; that the writer, as he himself informs 
 us, was at the time about to set out for Jerusalem, with the 
 contributions of the Gentile churches for the Christian poor 
 in Judea. Now that journey, beyond all controversy, was 
 subsequent to the time of his second visit to Corinth ; and 
 indeed, through various unforeseen circumstances, proved ulti- 
 mately the occasion of his going in person, as a prisoner, to 
 Rome. The length of the period between Paul's first coming 
 to Corinth (which, as we have seen, was not long after the 
 edict of Claudius in the year 51, and could not, therefore, be 
 later than 52 or 53,) and the date of his second visit, when 
 this Epistle was written, will be variously estimated, according 
 to the opinion which different persons may form of the time 
 necessary for the accomplishment of his intervening journeys 
 and labours. And as some of the intermediate dates are 
 tixcd by the history, and the field of conjecture is not very 
 'xt.-nsivr, the judgment of critics respecting the date of the 
 Epistle comes nearer to uniformity than it does as to most of 
 the others; the end of the year 57, the beginning of 58, and 
 
 * Rom. xvi. 3, 4.
 
 INTRODUCTORY. &> 
 
 the end of 58, being the three points between which they 
 are chiefly divided; a difference on which, so far as I am 
 aware, nothiijg of any consequence depends, and which is 
 not, therefore, deserving of further discussion.* 
 
 To affirm that before the time when this Epistle was written, 
 Rome had never been favoured with a visit of any Apostle, is 
 more than can justly be presumed from the mere silence of 
 the Scripture history. Of the labours of the greater number 
 of the Apostles we have, in that history, no account. That 
 they were always in a body at Jerusalem, we know for cer- 
 tain was not the fact; and, although some of them might 
 " labour more abundantly " than others, we dare not for 
 a moment suppose that any of them were idle and unprofit- 
 able servants. The direction and extent of their respective 
 travels, and the scenes of their occasional ministrations, it 
 is impossible for us, with any certainty, either negatively or 
 positively, to ascertain ; the Scriptures being silent, and 
 the multifarious accounts of tradition being either marked 
 with the palpable characters of fiction, or involved to 
 such a degree in obscurity and doubt, as seldom to afford 
 any sure ground of belief But if all of them \vere atten- 
 tive to the fulfilment of their unrestricted commission to 
 " preach the gospel to every creature," it is surely neither 
 impossible nor improbable, that one or more of them might, 
 ere this time, have visited the metropolis of the Eoman 
 
 * For the place whence the Epistle to the Romans was written, the 
 reader inay compare the following passages : Rom. xvi. 23 with 1 Cor. 
 i. 14, and 2 Tim. iv. 20. Gaius and Enistus, who, in the first passsige, 
 send their salutations to Rome, are, in the other two, shown to have 
 belonged to Corinth. Also Rom. xvi. 1. Cenchren, whence Phebe was 
 recommended, was the sea-port of Corinth, and in its vicinity. In 
 evideiice of the Epistle having been' written during Paul's second visit 
 to Corinth, the following passages may he compared with each other, 
 and with what is said in the text: Rom. xv. 25, 26 with 2 Cor. chap- 
 ters viii. and ix., and Acts xxiv. 17. And, with regard to the length 
 of time probably occupied by the Apostle's labours and journeys be- 
 tween the first and second visit, the attentive reader will be able to 
 form an opinion for himself by a comparison of the following passages, 
 commencing his calculations from the end of the year 52 or the be- 
 ginning of 53: Acts xviii. 1, 2; xviii. 11, 18 23; xx. 31, and xx. 
 2; and connect these witli Rom. xv. 25. 
 I. C
 
 34 LECTURE II. 
 
 world It has been alleged, however, that there is more 
 against it than the silence of Scripture. At the eleventh 
 of the first chapter of this Epistle, the writer says- 
 bo see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual 
 aift to the end ye may be established." From this it has 
 been concluded, first, that as yet those to whom he writes 
 had no such gifts, and secondly, that as the Apostles alone 
 could confer them, and, wherever they came, invariably did 
 confer them, no Apostle had been there. The conclusion, 
 however, is beyond what the premises admit. That Paul 
 wished to impart such gifts to them, is no evidence whatever 
 of their having had none before; any more than his saying, 
 M In- does immediately after, "I am ready to preach the gos- 
 pel to you that are at Rome also," is evidence of their not 
 having before heard or known the gospel. As he might im- 
 part an addition to their knowledge, so might he impart 
 an addition to their gifts; and every such addition, by 
 the instrumentality of one who possessed a divine commis- 
 sion, would have served, as a further confirmation of the 
 truth which they had received, to promote the strength and 
 the stability of their faith. But more than this. We have 
 evidence in another part of the Epistle, that they did possess 
 such gifts. In chap. xii. 6. we find these words " Having, 
 therefore, gifts, differing according to the grace given to us ; 
 whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the propor- 
 tion of faith ;" &c. Of the spiritual " gifts" in question j>)-<>- 
 jiln'i'i/ was one; and certainly Paul does not here speak of 
 what they could not understand, but assumes the existence 
 amongst them of the same endowments that had been con- 
 i'cired on others. I am entitled, therefore, to proceed on the 
 same assumption; by which the probability is turned quite 
 in the contrary direction. I say the probability; for this is 
 all that the assumption warrants. The existence of the gifts 
 affords no sufficient ground for inferring with certainty that 
 an Apostle had been there : for, in the first place, their pos- 
 m might have received them either at Jerusalem, on the 
 day of Pentecost, or during their stay there afterwards, or 
 in various other places, where they might have met with
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 35 
 
 Apostles, especially during the time when they had been scat- 
 tered from Rome by the edict of Claudius, already referred 
 to : and in the second place, it is far from being clear that 
 these gifts were never bestowed otherwise than by the im- 
 position of the hands of Apostles. Suppose it granted, that 
 no inferior minister possessed the power to confer them 
 (which is a point we do not dispute) ; still they might be ob- 
 tained, without human instrumentality at all, by direct com- 
 munication from heaven. We know that the Holy Spirit, in 
 his miraculous powers, was thus conferred, not only at first 
 en the day of Pentecost, but afterwards on Cornelius and his 
 household; and whether, on particular occasions, when 
 Apostles were at a distance, the Lord himself might not, in a 
 similar manner, " confirm his word by signs following," even 
 when it was declared by inferior ministers, it is not ours with 
 confidence to say. In writing to the church at Corinth, 
 moreover, Paul seems evidently to proceed on the assump- 
 t ion that these gifts might be obtained directly from the Lord 
 himself, in answer to the earnest believing prayers of the 
 brethren. "\Vhen he tells them to "desire spiritual gifts," 
 to " covet to prophesy," to " pray that they might inter- 
 pret," to " seek that they might excel to the edifying of 
 the church/' he certainly does not mean that they should 
 pray for the missfon of an Apostle to them, by whose inter- 
 vention all this might be obtained, but encourages them to 
 L >ok for direct communications from Him who, " when he 
 ascended up on high, received gifts for men."* 
 
 All that is intended by these remarks is, not to show that 
 Rome had certainly been visited by one or more of the Apos- 
 tles before the date of this letter ; but only that it is unwar- 
 rantable to affirm the contrary, without stronger evidence 
 than any that has been produced in support of the asser- 
 tion, t It is one of those points on which dogmatism will of 
 
 * See 1 Cor. xiv. 1, 12, 13, 39. 
 
 t Michaelis takes it for granted, not only that the church at Rome 
 had not been planted by any Apostle, but that no Apostle had yet vis- 
 ited it; and on this ground concludes that they did not, and could 
 not. possess any miraculous gifts, unless in the case of those members
 
 36 LECTURE II. 
 
 course decide, because, right or wrong, it must decide every- 
 thing; hut which considerate candour will leave amongst 
 uncertainties. 
 
 Whatever might be the case with the rest of the Apostles, 
 we are quite sure that the writer of this Epistle had never 
 visited in person the Christians to whom it is addressed. 
 Different parts of the letter itself clearly ascertain this.* He 
 supplies the want of oral communication by epistolary; send- 
 ing them, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, this invalu- 
 able treasure of doctrinal and practical Christianity ; contain- 
 ing statements of its various truths and precepts, more at 
 large than in any of the rest of his letters, either to indivi- 
 duals or to churches ; and more complete indeed, than are to 
 be found, within the same limits, anywhere else in the in- 
 spired Oracles. I shall not attempt at present to exhibit any 
 outline of its important contents; or to deduce, from its 
 general complexion, or from its particular topics, the state 
 and character of the church ; or to settle beforehand the spe- 
 cific purpose or purposes for which it appears to have been 
 written. I think it preferable, to allow these and other par- 
 ticulars to unfold themselves in the progress of exposition ; 
 and then, without subjecting ourselves to the inconvenience 
 of anticipation, we may, with the expounded contents of the 
 Epistle before us, sum them up at the close. 
 
 vrho had been either at Jerusalem, or in other places, where Apostles 
 resided. Introd. to the New Test. vol. iv. Epist. to the Rom. sect. ii. 
 
 parts of his writing*: 1 Cor. xii. 1, &c. Moses Stuart regards this 
 interpretation as " fairly out of the question." Transl. and Comm. p. 
 76 of British Ed. My reasons for thinking otherwise will appear, when 
 the passage itself comes under review. 
 
 * See chap. i. 8 15; xv. 22 24.
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 ROMANS i. 1 4. 
 
 " Paul, a. servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the 
 gospel of God, (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scrip- 
 tures.) concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of 
 David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, 
 according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." 
 
 THESE few verses form a part only of the Apostle's intro- 
 duction : but they contain materials abundantly sufficient for 
 our morning's meditation. Indeed, were we to enter into 
 any discussion of the various topics suggested by them, they 
 might engage our attention for a much longer time. This, 
 however, would be inconsistent with the nature and design 
 of such expository discourses; which is not to discuss parti- 
 cular .subjects at large, but to bring out the scope and con- 
 nexion of the writer's statements, illustrations, and reason- 
 ings; and to derive from them that information in divine 
 truth, and that practical benefit in the divine life, which they 
 are intended and fitted to afford. 
 
 The inspired Author begins the Epistle, agreeably to usual 
 custom, with his name and designation : " Paul, a servant 
 of Jesus Christ." 
 
 On the first introduction of Saul of Tarsus, in the history 
 of the early progress of the gospel, when he was "consenting 
 to the death " of the first martyr, and " kept the raiment of 
 them that slew him," who would ever have thought of find- 
 ing his name associated with such a designation 1 He was
 
 38 LECTURE III. 
 
 then a zealously devoted servant of other masters. The 
 Jewish priests and rulers, the sworn enemies of " the Lord 
 and of his Christ," were his masters ; and Satan, the " ruler 
 of the darkness of this world," was theirs. He was a proud 
 and cordial hater of the crucified Xazarene, of his cause and of 
 his people, " breathing out threatenings and slaughter against 
 the disciples of the Lord," " exceedingly mad against them," 
 " persecuting them even unto strange cities." But the grace 
 of the exalted Saviour towards him was "exceeding abun- 
 dant." He " obtained mercy." The slave of the devil be- 
 came the servant of Christ. And he transf erred from the 
 one service to the other all his native ardour, and all his in- 
 defatigable activity. Never, in either, was servant more de- 
 voted. The constitutional temperament of his mind was 
 such as did not admit of his doing anything otherwise than 
 with the vivid and intense application of all his powers. 
 Whether he " persecuted the church of God and wasted it," 
 or " preached the faith which before he destroyed," all was life 
 and spirit. With the service of Jesus there were previously 
 associated in his mind no feelings but those of detestation 
 and scorn. How the blood of the high-minded Pharisee 
 would have boiled within him, and mantled on his burning 
 cheek, had any one, at that time, ventured to hint the re- 
 motest possibility of his ever having aught to do with that 
 service ! It would have stung him to the quick, and would 
 have been resented as an intolerable insult. But he was now 
 another man. The sovereign grace of God had selected this 
 prince of persecutors, to be one of the chief instruments in 
 advancing the cause which he had so eagerly exerted himself 
 to crush. By the vision that arrested his furious career on 
 the way to Damascus he had been convinced that Jesus was, 
 in very deed, " both Lord and Christ," the Messiah promised 
 to the fathers, the Saviour of the world. After much patience 
 and forbearance, he had then, in his happy experience, become 
 a subject of the rich mercy of this Saviour, whom he had 
 " blasphemed" and "compelled others to blaspheme." His 
 mind was changed. His contempt and hatred gave place to 
 admiration and love. He humbled himself in adoring Avon-
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 39 
 
 der. His heart melted in contrition, and swelled in grati- 
 tude. The object of his bitterest contumely became the sub- 
 ject of his glorying, the theme of his praise, the Master of his 
 affections, to whose service he yielded himself with the most 
 unreserved self-consecration. That service was more than 
 destitute of dignity in the eyes of both Jews and Gentiles. 
 By both it was still contemned, as before it had been by him- 
 self. But now, to be " a servant of Jesus Christ " was 
 esteemed by him his most distinguished honour, and was en- 
 joyed by him as the chief zest and happiness of his earthly 
 life. 
 
 Let the disciples of Christ remember, that they are all His 
 servants; and, what department soever of that service they 
 are called to fill, whether more public or more private, let 
 them cherish the same spirit with Paul, counting it their 
 honour, and feeling it their pleasure, to serve such a Master. 
 The more highly we think of the Master whom we serve, 
 (and in the present instance, the more highly the more justly, 
 the glorious reality ever remaining far above all our loftiest 
 conceptions of it) the more honourable will we deem his 
 service ; and the deeper our sense of obligation for his kind- 
 ness and grace, the more ardent will be our delight in the 
 doing of his will, and the more active and unremitting our 
 zeal in the advancement of his glory. 
 
 But Paul served Christ in a special capacity. He subjoins 
 to his general designation his more appropriate one : " called 
 to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God" 
 
 The office of an Apostle was the highest among the offices 
 of the Christian Church. In every enumeration of them, this 
 stands first : " When he. ascended up on high, he led cap- 
 tivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. And he gave some, 
 apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and 
 some, pastors and teachers." * And his thus " giving " them, 
 implies his bestowing upon them whatever qualifications were 
 necessary for the due discharge of their respective functions. 
 Tliis the connexion intimates. " Unto every one of us," the 
 
 * Epli. iv. 8, 11.
 
 40 LECTURE III. 
 
 Apostle had just said, " is given grace, according to the mea- 
 sure of the gift of Christ." He, by the endowments, ordinary 
 and extraordinary, of the Holy Spirit, fitted each class of 
 these spiritual functionaries for the execution of their respec- 
 tive trusts. In a larger enumeration, given elseAvhere, Apostles 
 still hold the first place ; " God hath set some in the church, 
 first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that 
 miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities 
 of tongues." * And here too the connexion is deserving of 
 notice. In a previous part of the chapter, to which that 
 quoted bears an evident relation, is an enumeration of spiritual 
 gifts ; " For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wis- 
 dom ; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit ; to 
 another faith, by the same Spirit ; to another the gifts of heal- 
 ing, by the same Spirit ; to another the working of miracles ; 
 to another, prophecy; to another, discerning of spirits; to 
 another, diverse kinds of tongues ; to another, the interpreta- 
 tion of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the 
 self- same spirit, dividing to every man severally, as he wilL"t 
 The style of expression is not to be interpreted as meaning, 
 that none ever received more than one, or one at a time, of 
 the gifts enumerated. The interpretation would be contrary 
 to the notorious facts of the case. In the Apostles we find 
 all these gifts combined. But, while they possessed the gifts 
 of knowledge, of faith, of healing, of miracles, of prophecy, 
 of discerning spirits, of tongues, of the interpretation of 
 tongues ; that which stands first in the one enumeration, 
 corresponding as it does to the position which they them- 
 selves hold in the other, we are led to conjecture, at least, if 
 not with certainty to conclude, was their peculiar and most 
 distinctive endowment : " the word of wisdom." And by 
 this, in all probability, is to be understood, an infallible and 
 perfect understanding of the whole " mystery of godliness," 
 called emphatically " the wisdom of God/' as well as of the 
 entire constitution, ordinances, and laws of Christ's spiritual 
 kingdom. They were, in the very highest sense, " ambas- 
 
 * 1 Cor. xii. 28. f 1 Cor. xii. 811.
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 41 
 
 sadors fur Christ," and " stewards of the mysteries of God." 
 Their testimony was the standard of truth ; and their autho- 
 rity, as the plenipotentiaries of their exalted Lord, was with- 
 out appeal Christ says of them in prayer to his Father 
 " As thou hast made me thy apostle to the world, so have 
 I also made them my apostles to the world : " * and to them- 
 selves he says " In the regeneration, when the Son of man 
 shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." t The " Son of 
 man sat on the throne of his glory," when having finished 
 his work and risen from the dead lie ascended to the right 
 hand of God ; and he gave a glorious commencement to " the 
 regeneration," the new period of his spiritual reign, when he 
 " shed forth " the Holy Spirit, and three thousand souls were 
 " born again " in one day. On that day the Apostles were 
 fully endowed, and fully accredited, as His commissioned 
 messengers, and authoritative vicegerents, dictating His 
 doctrines to mankind, and exercising over the " Israel of 
 God " an authority imperatively binding. They settled and 
 administered the laws of the kingdom. 
 
 And did that authority terminate with their lives? No. 
 It continues still. The writings of the Apostles have all 
 the authority of the Apostles themselves. Their word is still 
 the exclusive standard of truth and duty in the Church of 
 God. To resist that word, is to resist the enthroned " Apos- 
 tles of the Lamb." To set it aside, and to substitute, under 
 whatever form, " the doctrines and commandments of men," 
 is to disown the legitimate rule of Christ's sole vicegerency, 
 and so to di.sown the sceptre of Christ himself. They claim 
 this authority; and they claim it under the sanction of the 
 Holy Spirit dwelling in them : " We are of God : he that 
 knoweth God hcareth us ; he that is not of God heareth not 
 us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of 
 
 * John xvii. 18. Dr. Campbell's Translation. The rendering of 
 the authorised version ' As thou hast sent me into the world, even so 
 have I also sent them into the world," naturally leads the mind of the 
 reader to the thought of birth rather than of commission or message. 
 
 f Matt. xix. 28.
 
 42 LECTURE III. 
 
 error."* It is a high claim; but it has the seal of Heaven. 
 In thus identifying obedience to themselves with subjection to 
 God, they went no farther than their credentials warranted. 
 In entering, then, on the exposition of the Epistle before us, 
 let this solemn assurance be borne in mind. It stamps upon 
 this and upon every other part of the apostolic writings the 
 impress of divinity. Through his inspired ambassadors, the 
 Lurd himself instructs, the Lord himself commands. What 
 a powerful inducement to the careful study of those writings ; 
 and how solemn the admonition thus conveyed, that if we 
 "wrest" them, it must be to "our own destruction!" This 
 is coin that bears "the image and superscription" of the King 
 of Heaven ; to destroy, to debase, or to lighten it, is an act 
 of treason. 
 
 The official honour of Apostleship no man could take to 
 himself; nor could any human authority whatsoever confer it. 
 It required a commission from the Lord himself. Such com- 
 mission Saul of Tarsus receiA^ed, when the Lord appeared to 
 him on his way to Damascus. It was then he " saw that 
 Just One, and heard the voice of his mouth." That voice 
 conferred his commission ; and, according to his own account 
 of it, in the following terms: "Eise, and stand upon thy 
 feet ; for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make 
 thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which 
 thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear 
 unto thee; delivering thee from the people and from the 
 Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee ; to open their eyes, 
 and to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the 
 power of Satan unto God, that they might receive forgiveness 
 <>f sins, and inheritance among them who are sanctified, by 
 faith which is in me."t 
 
 Thus and then was he " called to be AN APOSTLE." 
 
 It is of little moment whether we thus render the words, 
 
 or, with some translators, "a called apostle." The word 
 
 "rair^l" has by different commentators been explained as (if 
 
 the same meaning with chosen. It may be questioned, how- 
 
 * 1 John iv. 6. -f Acts xxvi. 1518.
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 43 
 
 ever, whether the calling is not, more properly, the result, 
 or practical following-out, of the choice. His being " called " 
 ascertained his having previously been chosen. I grant, at 
 the same time, that the word chosen does occasionally refer, 
 not to the merely mental, but to the practical, act of selection, 
 to the actual taking-out of the one from the many; in 
 which case it has, in effect, the same meaning with "called."* 
 " A called apostle " means one who had not assumed the 
 
 * It may be stated thus ; that calling necessarily presupposes and 
 includes choosing, but choosing does not necessarily include calling. 
 We may choose without calling; we cannot call without choosing. A 
 recent American commentator says " The word rendered called means 
 also clwsen, anointed, see ver. 6 and 7 of this chapter; 1 Cor. i. 1, and 
 24; Rom. viii. 28; compare Isaiah xlviii. 12. 'Hearken unto me, () 
 Jacob, and Israel my called,' i.e., my clwsen; li. 2; xlii. 6." (Co inn. 
 on the Ep. to the Rom., designed for students of the English Bible, by 
 Charles Hodge, Professor of Biblical Liter, in the Theol. Sem. at 
 Princeton.) The passages referred to as proofs are in one point faulty; 
 inasmuch as they do not show the identity in meaning of coiled and 
 clwsen, more clearly than the instance itself which they are adduced to 
 support; the passage before us heing quite as good a proof of called 
 meaning cfiosen in them, as they are of its meaning chosen in it. In 
 all of them, the word called implies or involves the idea of choice, but 
 expresses something more. One of them affords a fair illustration of 
 our remark that calling is the actual following-out of the previous 
 choosing. I refer to Rom. viii. 28. " We know that all things work 
 together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called 
 according to his purpose." The calling is here the practical following- 
 out of the purpose; and the purpose corresponds to the choice. Me 
 have another illustration of the remark in 2 Thess. ii. 13, 14. " But we 
 are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved f 
 the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
 through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth ; whereunto 
 he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." Here too the calling seems to be the result and follow- 
 ing-out of the choice. 
 
 Another American translator and commentator, Moses Stuart, (if 
 Ando^ 
 
 . 
 
 in our common version are translated " delivering thee." there seems 
 to me to lie a strong objection; namely, that, with whatever propriety 
 Paul, being a Jew, might be spoken of as selected from, or chosen out
 
 44 LECTURE III. 
 
 office of his own will, but in virtue of an express call, at once 
 authoritative and effectual, from the Lord ; for while the call 
 included the sanction of authority, it included also that divine 
 operation upon the mind by which he was at once inclined 
 and fitted for the office ; " the same " as he himself else- 
 where expresses it, " who wrought effectually in Peter to the 
 apostleship of the circumcision, being mighty in him toward 
 the Gentiles." He was chosen, invited, qualified, and com- 
 missioned, by the Lord himself, as one of His " witnesses unto 
 the nations;" receiving the gospel which he was to preach, 
 " not from man," not through any secondary medium of 
 communication, but directly " by revelation of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 We might consider him as " separated unto the gospel of 
 God " from the time of his being thus " called to be an 
 apostle ;" since it was then that he was actually " set apart " 
 to its service. It is more likely, however, that the expres- 
 sion refers to the previous purpose of God concerning him, of 
 which his call to the apostleship was only the fulfilment. 
 The meaning may either be, that he was called, and, as the 
 end of his calling, set apart to the gospel, or that, having 
 been, in the purpose of God, set apart to the gospel, he was 
 called, as the result of that purpose. The latter view is 
 
 of, " the people," it is not c.isy to see how he could be selected from, or 
 chosen out of, "</te Cfentiles," to whom he never belonged. How 
 Stuart should have added the word ' invited'' in such a connexion, 
 ''the meaning here is chosen, invited" when he immediately pro- 
 ceeds to show, what is certainly the case, that " in the writings of Paul 
 the word (xAsjro,-) is not used in the sense merely of invited, but always 
 in the sense of efficient culling, as we say, (i. e., it means not only that 
 the person designated has been invited, or selected, but that he has ac- 
 cepted the invitation,") I am somewhat at a loss to understand. If in 
 the writings of Paul, the word, literally rendered called, is never used 
 in the sense merely of selected or invited, but always for something more, 
 why relinquish the literal rendering, and substitute a word which is 
 admitted to mean less than the original term is, in the invariable prac- 
 tice of the writer, used to mean? If Paul employs a word of which 
 the literal translation is " called," and always employs it in a sense 
 inclusive of more than is expressed by chosen or invited; then neiiher 
 ehofm nor invited is a ntjScKJd rendering of the word. Our proper 
 course is to keep by the literal translation, and leave the amount of 
 meaning to be ascertained by the usage of the writer.
 
 KOMANS I. 14. 45 
 
 strongly countenanced by a parallel passage in the Epistle to 
 the Galatians* where he says " But, when it pleased God, 
 who separated me from my mother's womb " that is, who 
 set me apart from my birth, " to reveal his Son in me, that 
 I might preach him among the heathen, immediately I 
 conferred not with flesh and blood." His being " sepa- 
 rated " or set apart, from the time of his birth, relates of 
 course to the divine purpose concerning him; and God's 
 " revealing his Son in him, that he might preach Him among 
 the heathen," corresponds to his being " called " in the pas- 
 sage before us, and expresses the end which God had in view 
 in that purpose, the object to which, in the divine prede- 
 termination, he was destined. In this view of the words, 
 the case becomes a precise counterpart to that of the pro- 
 phet Jeremiah, to whom, on his induction into the prophetic 
 office, "the word of the Lord came, saying, Before I formed 
 thee in the belly, I knew thee ; and before thou earnest forth 
 out of the womb I sanctified thee " (set thee apart) " and I 
 ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." t In the same 
 way, Paul, " in the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of 
 God," was " a chosen vessel, to bear the name " of the cruci- 
 fied and glorified Jesus "before the Gentiles and kings, and 
 the children of Israel;" and in due time, by the wonder- 
 working grace of God's Spirit, he was made meet for the 
 Master's use."J 
 
 The object to which he had been previously set apart, and 
 was subsequently called, was " THE GOSPEL OF GOD " 
 
 This Gospel he elsewhere emphatically denominates, " the 
 glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to 
 
 * Chap. 5. 15, 16. t J*r. i. 4, 5. . 
 
 J Stuart gives the same sense " The meaning is, that God, who 
 foreknows all things, did set him apart, choose, select him lor the 
 work of the gospel, even from the earliest period of his life.'' But on 
 this very account. I cannot agree with him when, just before in the 
 same note, he represents a$uai<rfti*os ns "seemingly intended to be 
 epexegetical of xJ.nroj, i.e., as expressing the same idea in different 
 language." Surely *XT (called) does not express the predetermin- 
 ing purpose of God. but the fact in which that purpose was fulfilled. 
 Paul was " a called apostle," or " called to be an apostle, being (or 
 having been) set apart unto the gospel of God."
 
 46 LECTURE III. 
 
 my trust.""" The nature of the good tidings, of which by 
 such a designation he intimates his high and admiring esti- 
 mate, we shall have abundant opportunity, from the begin- 
 ning to the close of this Epistle, to set forth. To enter into 
 the .subject now, would be premature. But for the sake of 
 still further deepening the impression of the sacredness and 
 importance of the ground on which we are entering, and of 
 the task we are undertaking in exploring it, allow me to re- 
 mark at present, that it is " the Gospel OF GOD." It is a 
 message from Him to his sinful and guilty creatures; and its 
 very name implies, that it is a message of good. It is "good 
 tidings" "glad tidings of great joy." As such, it recom- 
 mends itself to all to whom it comes, by the appeal which 
 it makes to their desire of happiness, presenting before them, 
 for their acceptance, blessings of the very highest order, and 
 of the most permanent duration : and as " the Gospel of 
 GOD," it comes with all the united recommendations of au- 
 thority, kindness, and truth. Coming with the weight of 
 divine authority, it should be contemplated with solemnity 
 and awe: coming as the dictate of divine kindness, it 
 should be welcomed and studied with delight: coming 
 from Him " with whom it is impossible to lie," it should be 
 received and relied on with all security, as " a faithful saying, 
 and worthy of all acceptation." 
 
 The second verse is parenthetical, and may be noticed after 
 the third and fourth, which stand in immediate connexion 
 with the fir.->t.t They state the sulject of that "gospel of 
 
 * 1 Tim. i. 11. 
 
 t I have called it parenthetical, merely as being a circumstance re- 
 specting the gospel thrown in by tlie way. There is no necessity, to 
 constitute it a parenthesis, that it be enclosed within brackets. This 
 may he made apparent by simply substituting the demonstrative pro- 
 noun for the article: " separated unto that gospel of God which he had 
 promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his 
 Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Tholuck prefers connecting the third 
 verse with -roa-rnyyt'^nTc in the second, and rejects the parenthesis. 
 Tliis makes no material difference in the sense; inasmuch as. what- 
 ever was the subject of the gospel to which Paul was separated must 
 have been the subject of the gospel wbich the prophets, or God by the 
 prophets, promised. The connexion of the third verse with " the gospel
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 47 
 
 God " unto which the Apostle had been " separated : " 
 " concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made 
 of the seed of David according to the flesh ; and declared the 
 Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, 
 by the resurrection from the dead." 
 
 The name of the glorious person, who is thus represented 
 as the grand subject of the Gospel testimony, was called 
 "JESUS" by express injunction from heaven; the reason 
 being, at the same time, assigned: "Thou shalt call his 
 name Jesus; because he shall save his people from their 
 sins." The name corresponds to Joshua or Jehoshua, in 
 the Hebrew, signifying Jcltocah that suvdlt, and character- 
 izing him to whom it was given as a Divine Saviour. He 
 was to "save His people from their sins." " My people" is, 
 throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, the emphatically 
 
 of God" in the end of the first, appears to me more natural, however; 
 and I cannot but express my surprise at the reason assigned by Tlioluck 
 for the preference he gives to the other: "The ancients, in general, sel- 
 dom made parentheses; more rarely still the Hebrews; and least of all 
 Paul, with the glow of whose diction the practice was scarcely com- 
 patible." Were the formal framing, and adjusting, and careful maik- 
 ing oft" of parentheses meant, I should subscribe to this at once. But 
 this is not at all necessary to a parenthetic style. The "glow" of this 
 Apostle's "diction" arose from the glow of his spirit, fiat this very 
 glow, this very ardour, when combined with the varied exuberance of 
 his mental stores, almost unavoidably imparted a parenthetic charac- 
 ter to his style; and the more so, in proportion as his particular theme 
 inspired him. Associated views of that theme flashed upon his mind, 
 in connexion with the one which it was his main object at the time to 
 illustrate, and were thrown into expression, not so as to produce real 
 obscurity, or to accumulate what was unconnected with the drift of 
 his statements or reasonings, (for everything told,) but so as to require 
 the reader's careful notice, that he may discriminate what is _thus 
 thrown in by the way from what constitutes the direct course of ideas 
 on the primary subject; which, by a single phrase, it may be, or by 
 a sentence, or even by a series of sentences, is suspended, though never 
 without some additamentum, more or less important, to the leading 
 thought, or to the scope and object of the writer. These remarks 
 proceed upon the assumption, that by inspiration the characteristic 
 tendencies of the mind under its influence were not obliterated, but 
 onlv controlled and regulated; and they are introduced here, because 
 thev relate to an important hermeneutical principle, which we may 
 have occasion to apply in the course of our exposition of this very 
 Epistle.
 
 48 LECTURE III. 
 
 appropriate language of Jehovah : and as the people whom 
 Jesus was to save Averc not Jews only, but also Gentiles, the 
 phraseology may be fairly considered as a subordinate con- 
 firmation of his divinity. " CHRIST," although here perhaps 
 used simply as part of a complex name, yet came to be so 
 used from its having been an appropriated designation. It 
 means anointed. " The Lord's Christ " is " the Lord's An- 
 ointed." It corresponds in import with the Hebrew Mes- 
 siah. " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the 
 Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the 
 meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to 
 proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the 
 prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable 
 year of the Lord." * Jesus was thus anointed when, after his 
 baptism, " the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God 
 descended like a dove, and lighted upon him," being given 
 to him "without measure," and consecrating him to his 
 official work. " OUR LORD." "He is Lord of all;" being 
 exalted at God's right hand, with "all power given unto 
 him in heaven and on earth." "To this end he both died, 
 and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the 
 dead and living." He has " a name given him above every 
 name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
 things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the 
 earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus 
 Clirist is LORD, to the glory of God the Father." t 
 
 * Isa. Ixi. 1, 2. 
 f Matth. xxviii. 18; Rom. xiv. 9; Phil. ii. 9 1J.
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 ROMANS i. 1 4. 
 
 (SECOND DISCOURSE.) 
 
 CONCERNING "Jesus Christ our Lord," two things are here 
 testified : First, that he was "made," or " born,'"' of the seed 
 of David according to the flesh;" and secondly, that he was 
 "declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit 
 of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." 
 
 1 . He was " made of the seed of David according to the 
 flesh." This affirms his human nature; his having been 
 " very man," possessing " a true body, and a reasonable 
 soul." But the phraseology in which the affirmation is made, 
 is very peculiar. It is phraseology, such as the writer would 
 hardly have thought of using, had he of whom he wrote been 
 man only. On that supposition, the phrase "according to the 
 flesh " would have been utterly superfluous. It is never used, 
 respecting the descent from their fathers, of any of the ordinary 
 children of men. But when Jesus Christ is spoken of, it is 
 used repeatedly; and at times with very marked emphasis. 
 One other instance of it may be noticed at present, in the 
 ninth chapter of this Epistle, where, in enumerating the 
 privileges and honourable distinctions of the people of 
 Israel, the Apostle says, verse fifth, "Of whom, as concerning 
 the flesh, the Christ came, who is over all, God, blessed for 
 ever!" in which passage, in spite of all the torture by
 
 50 LECTURE IV. 
 
 which a perverse criticism has done its utmost to force from 
 it a different sense, the phrase, " as concerning the flesh," or 
 ' as far as respects the flesh," determines, beyond all reason- 
 able question, the true import of the words which follow, 
 and which, indeed, to a candid mind, are plain enough, even 
 independently of the antithesis "who is over all, God, 
 blessed for ever!" 
 
 2. In a similar manner, though not in the same terms, he 
 who, in correspondence with ancient predictions and pro- 
 mises, was "made of the seed of David according to the 
 flesh," is called "God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord," and said 
 to have been "declared the Son of God with power according 
 to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." 
 
 As the meaning of the title " Son of God " depends not a 
 little, on that of the. phrase " according to the Spirit of holi- 
 ness," we shall consider it first. The observation is a per- 
 fectly just one, that his " resurrection from the dead " is not 
 here represented as constituting liim the Son of God, but 
 oidy as "declaring" that is proving, or, to use a phrase 
 closely analogous to the original terra,* murk'nuj him oat, to 
 be so. He was so, then, previously to his resurrection. It 
 was not by his being "brought again from the dead" that he 
 became so. The question is, In what sense was he previ- 
 ously the Son of God ? And, as I have said, the settlement 
 of this question depends in part on the import of the words 
 "according to the Spirit of holiness." Xow, amongst those 
 \vho hold the divinity of Christ as a Christian doctrine, the 
 words, I think, are most generally understood to signify here 
 /"'.- ill cine nature. And I admit at once, that this interpre- 
 tation is naturally enough suggested by the seeming antithesis 
 between the two expressions "according to the jirsh,'' and 
 "according to the. Spirit of holiness." This antithesis, how- 
 ever, let it be remembered, is the only consideration that 
 yivrs plausibility to the interpretation. I mean, that, but 
 lor it, the phrase itself is one to which no man would ever 
 have thought of affixing such a sense. "While candour ad- 
 
 * oatf6ti-ri:.
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 51 
 
 inits, on the one hand, that the apparent antithesis does im- 
 part plausibility to the interpretation, candour will admit, on 
 the other, that the phrase, in any such sense, is one without 
 a parallel, quite unique; and further, that when this is the 
 case with regard to anything which might easily and simply 
 have been expressed otherwise, and still more, when the 
 words actually used bear a close affinity to others which are 
 generally employed with a different acceptation, it becomes 
 proportionally unlikely that they should be used in a sense 
 so unexampled. There can be no question that " the Spirit 
 of holiness " is a designation which, when taken by itself, 
 every reader of the Scriptures would instantly interpret in 
 one way, as a designation of the same import with the more 
 common one of "the Holy Spirit;" the more especially, that, 
 so understood, it is in accordance with a Greek idiom, of 
 which there are repeated exemplifications in the Kew Testa- 
 ment, the use of the genitive case of the noun expressing 
 quality, instead of an adjective.* In this simple and natural, 
 
 * I do not of course deny that the term "spirit" is capable of appli- 
 cation to the divine nature in Christ, that nature being spiritual, ''God 
 being a Spirit." Neither do I deny that the term "holiness" is an ap- 
 propriate term of character when associated with that nature, and, as 
 Professor Hodge expresses it, "qualifying it adjectively." What I 
 deny is, that such an expression is ever used elsewhere in such a sense, 
 as a designation of the divine nature in Christ: and what I affirm is, 
 that, according to the analogy of Scripture, it is much more natural to 
 interpret it as a designation of the Holy Spirit, or rather as being that 
 very designation under a different but still idiomatic form. Among the 
 misoi's assigned by Professor Hodge for understanding it of the 
 'spiritual essence in Christ," the second is "The divine nature in 
 Christ is elsewhere called Spirit, Heb. ix. 14. 'If the blood of bulls and 
 of goats sanctifieth to die purifying of the flesh, how much more shall 
 the blood of Christ, who, with an eternal Spirit, offered himself without 
 spot unto God,' &c. That is, if the blood of animals was of any avail, 
 how much more efficacious must be the sacrifice of Christ, who was 
 possessed of a divine nature? In our version this passage is rendered 
 through, instead of with, an eternal Spirit; but this does not so well suit 
 the context, nor give so good a sense. The same preposition is often 
 rendered with, Rom. ii. 27, 'with the letter,' 'with circumcision,' i. e., 
 having these things. See Wahi's Clavis, &c." I shall not enter now 
 into any discussion of the propriety of rendering the preposition J; 
 with. The proper meaning of it in the only example here quoted. Rom. 
 ii. 27, we shall have occasion to consider when we come to the passage 
 in course of exposition. It is rather curious, however, that " in our
 
 52 LECTURE IV. 
 
 and, I may add, ordinary acceptation, I am constrained to 
 understand it; nor, in so understanding it, am I sensible of 
 any predisposing bias in favour of one more than another of 
 
 version," to which reference has just been made, it is. in this very in- 
 stance, rendered, not with, but by. The only observation I shall at 
 present offer is. that when the phraseology of one passage is brought 
 in support of the interpretation put upon another, the meaning of it in 
 \\\K proof should be less controvert! ble than in the text under illustra- 
 tion. Now to me, in the present instance, tin's does not appear to be 
 the case. To say, "The divine nature in Christ is elsewhere called 
 Spirit." and to adduce Heb. ix. 14 in support of the assertion, is to as- 
 sume a great deal more than can be granted. The proof is at least as 
 questionable as the point to be proved. There does not seem to be any 
 necessity, in regard to this passage, for departing, either from the more 
 ordinary sense of "the eternal Spirit," or from the more ordinary sense 
 of the preposition which our translators have rendered through. Is 
 there any material difficulty in Christ's being said to have "offered 
 himself to God through the eternal Spirit," ($/ ruvfe.aTes aluviou) when 
 we consider the words of Jehovah in prophecy and promise concerning 
 him: "Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my 
 soul delighteth: I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth 
 judgment to the Gentiles: he shall not fail nor be discouraged, until he 
 have set judgment in the earth:" God "gave not the Spirit by 
 measure unto him." Why, then, should we hesitate about adopting 
 the plain meaning of the words, that the closing act of the Saviour's 
 life, the act in which he "offered up himself," "bearing our sins in his 
 own body on the tree," was performed, as every preceding act had 
 been, under the sustaining influence of the Spirit of God, or, as the 
 Apostle expresses it, "through the eternal Spirit?" 
 
 I am always the more disposed to adhere to the most simple and 
 ordinary meaning, when I see what anomalous interpretations are put 
 upon words, when these are departed from: "In Heb. ix. 14," says 
 Professor Stuart, "Christ is said to have offered himself in the heavenly 
 temple, a spotless victim to God. S/i vn6para{ aluvlov, in his everlasting, 
 pneumatic, or glorified state. This passage does not seem fairly sus- 
 ceptible of any other interpretation, when one compares it with verses 
 11, 12, which precede, and with the analogy of Scripture; 2< being 
 here lia. conditionis." But why attach a sense so extraordinary to the 
 word -riuftx, as that of Christ's glorified state? and by what parallel 
 fuitliority is that state called hi's "pneumatic state? 1 ' and why take 
 tia in any less usual acceptation than our translators have affixed to 
 it V when the words are capable of a sense so simple, and so perfectly 
 in harmony too with "the analogy of Scripture?" It would be out of 
 place to discuss here the different parts of Christ's priestly function. 
 I can only now remark, that, although the carrying of the blood of the 
 victim into the most holy place, and presenting it before God, was 
 necessary to complete the form of expiation, yet the spotless vic- 
 tim itself had been previously offered. It was "in his sufferings and 
 death that the atonement was made. It was "having obtained eternal
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 53 
 
 the meanings affixed to the title "Son of God;" although 
 the view which I do take of that title will immediately 
 appear. 
 
 But, supposing this sense of "the Spirit of holiness" to be 
 assumed, there is one other point of criticism, on which the 
 meaning of the entire verse must ver}' considerably depend: 
 it is the proper relation of the words "with power," or 
 in power, or by power,'" for in any one of these Avays may 
 they be fairly rendered. From the position in which 
 these words stand, they are capable of being variously 
 connected. In the first place, they might be interpreted 
 in immediate junction with " the Son of God," as hav- 
 ing the effect of an epithetical adjective, expressing an 
 attribute of him who is so denominated : " and declared 
 the Son of God with power" that is, invested with power, 
 or, (as, in conformity with this view of their connex- 
 ion, the words have been translated) "declared the mighty 
 Son of God:" and this power, it may further be observed, 
 is by some understood of the power by which he confirmed 
 his claims on earth, and by others of the power committed 
 to him on his exaltation to heaven. Secondly, they might 
 be connected with his resurrection, as expressing the power by 
 which it was effected: "declared the Son of God by power, 
 exerted by the Holy Spirit, in his resurrection from the 
 dead." Thirdly, some have joined them with the word 
 "declared," and explained them adverbially, as meaning 
 "powerfully declared the Son of God according to the 
 Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."- 
 Fourthly, they might be taken in a double relation, 
 namely, to the words which precede, and to the words 
 which follow, the former designating the person in whom 
 the power resided, the latter characterizing the power itself 
 
 redemption," as the preceding verse states, that he " entered by his 
 own blood into the holy place." And that this "redemption" was 
 obtained by his "death," the verse immediately following affirms: 
 "that by ifteans of death, for the redemption of the transgressions 
 that were under the first covenant," &c. The same thing clearly ap- 
 pears from verses 2528 of the same chapter.
 
 54 LECTURE IV. 
 
 by affirming the source from which it came: "declared 
 the Son of God tcif/t pon-cr according to the Spirit of 
 holiness" that is, possessing and exerting power according 
 to the influence of that Holy Spirit which was imparted to 
 him "without measure." This view might he considered as 
 having countenance from such testimonies concerning him as 
 that home by Peter to the household of Cornelius, " How 
 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with tJte Holy Spirit and 
 with poicer." His enemies imputed his miracles to the 
 agency of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. In replying 
 to this imputation, the dictate of thoughtless malignity, after 
 showing the folly and self-oontradictoriness of it, he himself 
 said "But if I cast out devils by tin' Sjiirit of Gv<l, then is 
 the kingdom of God come unto you:"* of which the plain 
 meaning is, If the "po-wcr" by which I perform my miracles 
 is not, as you inconsiderately and maliciously allege, "accord- 
 ing to the working of Satan," but "according to the Spirit 
 of holiness" then are all my claims to be acknowledged as 
 " Ihe Son of God" established. Now this controversy was 
 finally settled by his resurrection from the dead; the nature 
 and source of the power by which his mighty works were 
 wrought being by that event determined, and the truth of 
 all his pretensions, whether as to his person or his mission, 
 clearly ascertained. 
 
 But while I consider such views of the connexion of these 
 words not unworthy of mention and of consideration, there 
 is another which to my mind recommends itself as incom- 
 parably preferable, and which I decidedly adopt, as affording 
 the true key to the Apostle's meaning. I cannot but ex- 
 press my surprise, indeed, that the remarkable parallelism 
 between the words before ns and those in which the birth 
 of Christ was previously announced by the angel Gabriel to 
 the virgin mother, has not been adverted to by critics and 
 expositors, as furnishing a settlement of the present qu 
 respecting both the meaning of "the Spirit of holiness" and 
 of the title " Son of God." Look with me at those, terms 
 
 * Mattli. xii 28.
 
 ROMANS I. 1-4. 55 
 
 in which the announcement Avas made, as the evangelist 
 Luke records them : " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, 
 and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee : there- 
 fore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall 
 be called' the Son of God," Luke i. 35. Could any terms 
 be more exactly equivalent than these to the terms before us 
 " The Son of God by power according to the Spirit of holi- 
 And the parallelism is rendered still more striking, 
 by comparing the two things that are here affirmed by the 
 Apostle concerning Jesus "who was made of the seed of 
 ].).<: id according to the flesh, and declared the Son of God 
 by power according to the Spirit of holiness," with the pre- 
 vious words of the angel " Thou shalt conceive in thy 
 womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 
 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Hiijlfxt ; 
 and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his 
 f '.if her David." It would be "handling the word of God 
 deceitfully," to say that the Apostle might have in his mind 
 the words of the Evangelist; for the publication of Luke's 
 Gospel is placed by critics at a later date than the writing of 
 the Epistle to the Romans: but the two wrote under the 
 guidance of the same Spirit; and the parallelism is so re- 
 markable, that the Evangelist may be taken as the commen- 
 tator on the Apostle, the language of the former as explana- 
 tory of that of the latter. "That holy thing which was 
 born of the virgin" was, in the constitution of his wonderful 
 person, " Immanuel, God with us" " the "Word made flesh." 
 And what the Apostle here affirms, in terms so singularly 
 corresponding to those of the inspired Evangelist, appears 
 simply and evidently to be, that what had been announced 
 respecting Jesus at his birth was ultimately proved, atte>i-d, 
 made manifest, by his resurrection. He was announced at 
 his birth "the Son of God" by "the power of the Higlwst," 
 through the mysterious intervention of "the Holy Spirit:" 
 he was "declared" by his resurrection, "the Son of God 
 by power according to the Spirit of holiness;" a form nf ex- 
 pression little different even in words, and strikingly iden- 
 tical in import. On the ground, then, of this most explicit
 
 56 LECTURE IV. 
 
 declaration, in which a commissioned messenger from heaven 
 announces the reason why the title "Son of God" was to be 
 given to " the seed of the woman," " THEREFORE ALSO that 
 holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the 
 Son of God," on the ground of this declaration, taken in 
 connexion with many other passages of the divine word, I 
 believe this title to belong to Christ, not considered in his 
 divine nature exclusively, nor in his human nature exclusive- 
 ly, but in the divinely-wrought constitution of his person, as 
 including both; as implying divinity, but not divinity 
 alone, as implying humanity, but not humanity alone; as, 
 in a word, expressing the union of the two, of proper di- 
 vinity and proper humanity, in his one person. 
 
 It will at once be apparent, that this i.s a sense of the 
 compellation, by which it is as exclusively appropriated to 
 himself, as when it is explained of a relation subsisting from 
 eternity in the essence of Deity. Of the filial relation it 
 is impossible for us to speak or to think, without having 
 in our minds the conception of posteriority in existence, of 
 the derivation of being, and of consequent dependence. I 
 am well aware, and deeply and humbly feel it, that we can- 
 not speak or think at all of the mode of the divine subsist- 
 ence, without getting instantly beyond our depth, beyond 
 the soundings of the longest line of human or created intel- 
 ligence, and being in consequent danger of " darkening 
 counsel by words without knowledge." And I am not one 
 of those who are for yielding to the adversary one iota of 
 the mysteries of our religion. My only jealousy is, lest we 
 should add mysteries of our own; and I especially feel this 
 jealousy, when these added mysteries, instead of clearing, 
 simplifying, and establishing the great essential articles of 
 our faith, serve rather to obscure, complicate, and unsettle 
 them. For my own part, I have never been able to reconcile 
 myself to the idea of derived Godhead; and never able to 
 separate the idea of derived Godhead from the filial relation. 
 when considered as subsisting in the essence of Deity. 
 Even when we have assisted our minds by the best emblems 
 which nature furnishes, still, in spite of ourselves, the con-
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 57 
 
 ceptions of priority and posteriority are indissolubly linked 
 with^very thought we can form, and with every term we 
 can use to express it. It may be true, that the emission of 
 light is coincident in time with the existence of the luminous 
 body; but still, though there is not the interval of a mo- 
 ment between the existence of the luminous body and the 
 emission of light, the one necessarily precedes the other. 
 Have recourse, if you will, to the nice distinction between 
 the order of nature and the order of time ; still there is pri- 
 ority and sequence, origination and dependence. The 
 luminous body is first, the emission of light second: and 
 the light emitted is dependent for its continuance on the 
 continued existence of its source. The view for which I 
 am disposed to plead frees us from all the felt self-contradic- 
 tion of eternal generation and derived diriititi/. Instead of 
 invalidating the grand fundamental article of the supreme 
 Godhead of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the very reasons 
 by which it is recommended to my acceptance and endeared 
 to my heart, is, its placing in the clearest and most unequi- 
 vocal light the deity of the Second Person in the adorable 
 Trinity, as equally underived, eternal, necessary, and inde- 
 pendent with that of the First. And the same observation' 
 applies, with equal force, to the ordinary doctrine of the 
 eternal procession of the Spirit from the Father and the 
 Son ; a doctrine which may with truth be said to rest on 
 the authority of one solitary text, or clause of a text; and 
 that one text, instead of being, as all solitary proofs would 
 specially require to be, relevant and decisive, one which does 
 not appear to have any relation whatever to such a subject, 
 but to refer to the mission and coming forth of the Spirit 
 from the Father and the Son, from the Father in the Son's 
 name, and from the Son by the gift of the Father, after 
 the latter, having finished his mediatorial work on earth, had 
 ascended to his glory.* 
 
 * The text here referred to is, John xv. 26" But when the Comforter
 
 58 LECTURE IV. 
 
 I have granted, that the appearance of antithesis in the 
 phrases "according to the flesh" and "according to tin' 
 Spirit of holiness" gives plausibility to a different interpre- 
 
 from the Father' 1 '' (S xu.oa, rou ru.roos txa-^su'sra/). It is on this clause that 
 the doctrine is entirely founded. Dr. Guyse states the argument thus: 
 ''The Spirit's coining, nod being sent by our Lord, from the Father, 
 to testify of him, are, personal characters, and plainly distinguish him 
 from the Father and the Son ; and the title, the Spirit of truth,' to- 
 gether with his ' proceeding from the Father,' can agree to none but 
 a divine person; for this title is too high for a creature; and I cannot 
 see any sufficient reason why his proceeding from the Father is men- 
 tioned in the present tense, in the midst of a sentence where Christ's 
 sending him, and his testifying of Christ, are spoken of us future, un- 
 less it be to intimate his necessary, unbeginning, and never-ending 
 procession, as a divine person, from the Father, in such a sublime 
 manner as lies beyond the reach of all our ideas, but is some way 
 answerable to what is called eternal generation with regard to Christ 
 in correspondence to his character as the Son. And yet, that the 
 Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son as well as from the Father, may 
 be fairly argued from his being called the Spirit of Christ, and the 
 Spirit of the Son, as well as of the Father 1 Pet. i. 11 ; Gal. iv. 6. 
 and from his being here said to be sent 'BY CHRIST from the Father,' 
 as well as ' from the Father in his name.' " 
 
 On this we observe 1. Unless the expressions used as to Christ's 
 " sending" the Spirit. in this verse and in chap. xvi. 7, have the 
 same reference to et rnul procession, then is there no foundation what- 
 ever for the doctrine of such procession from the Son; for the words 
 speak only of his " proceeding from tlie Father." But this is what no 
 one pretends. Christ's sending the Spirit relates expressly to what 
 he was to do after he had left the world, and gone to the Father. 2. 
 The phrase " which proceedeth from tJie Father" has the same refer- 
 ence, namely to the coming of the Spirit as a consequence of the 
 vork of Christ; and has, in this respect, the same meaning with the 
 other phrases " whom the Father will send in my name," and '' whom 
 1 will send unto you from the Father:" the present tense, of which Dr. 
 Guys-.- makes so much mystery, being used evidently to convey the 
 ;li ni'ral truth, or principle, in the scheme of redemption, that all divine 
 influence is from the Father; He being regarded, in that scheme, as 
 sustaining the authority and majesty of the Godhead. The Son, him- 
 self, accordingly, is represented as sent by Him, and as coming from 
 Him; and then, the Son having finished the work given him to do, 
 the Spirit " proceeds from Him," in testimony of his having accept- 
 ed that work as an honourable ground for the bestowment of blessings 
 on men. The use of the present tense in thus expressing a truth or 
 principle, without relation to specified time, is universally understood. 
 The Spirit had proceeded, was then proceeding, and would continue 
 to proceed, from the Father, on the ground of the Son's mediation. 
 3. The apparent redundancy of the expression argues nothing. Such
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 59 
 
 tation. I am disposed to think, however, that the principal 
 antithesis is between his being "of the seed of David" and 
 his being " the Son of God ; " and that the correspondence 
 
 redundancy is far from being so uncommon in the style of this Evan- 
 gelist as to warrant the building of any conclusion on so flimsy a 
 ground. Jesus comes over the mission of the Spirit from the Father, 
 and from himself as the mediatorial distributor of the Father's gifts, 
 repeatedly, in the course of his parting address; and we have no rea- 
 son to be greatly surprised if we find him, for the sake of impressing 
 their minds with their obligations to both, declaring it with some little 
 redundancy even in the same sentence. But, in truth, there is no 
 such redundancy. The words " whom I will send unto you from the 
 Father " evidently speak of the Spirit's one special commission to 
 them; whereas the words "which proceedeth from the Father" ex- 
 press the same truth generally, or absolutely, representing him as 
 proceeding from the Father in the execution of all his work. 4. Tlie 
 original words translated "from the Father" are the same in both 
 their occurrences in the verse under our consideration : " When the 
 Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you vraga rov vargas, even 
 the Spirit of truth which proceedeth vet^a. rov var^os, he shall testify 
 of me." And, moreover, words of synonymous import, and which, iu 
 one of their occurrences, our translators have rendered in the same 
 way, are used respecting the mission and the coming of Christ : 
 John viii. 42 " If God were your Father, ye would love me : for I 
 proceeded forth and came (or come) from God " 1 rov &i/>u l^f.x^ov, 
 x.a.} rixui "neither came I of myself, but he sent rue." John xvi. 27, 
 28 " The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me. and 
 have believed that I came forth from God Sri \yia ira^u, rov Qiov i^X- 
 $> I came forth from the Father V^^Sov KO.PO. rov ira.r^os and am 
 come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father 
 r^tvoftai veos rov var't^a." The Spirit comes, or proceeds, from the 
 Father, in the same sense in which the Son came or proceeded from 
 the Father, namely, to execute a commission. The difference lies 
 in this, that the mission of the Son was at a definite time fora definite 
 engagement; whereas the mission and work of the Spirit are constant, 
 extending through all time, from the entrance of sin till the end of 
 the world. 
 
 We have quoted the criticism of one theologian. Let us see the 
 sentiments of another and a greater Dr. Owen. " All that discourse 
 which we have of the mission and sending of the Holy Ghost, and his 
 proceeding and coming forth from the Father and the Son, for tho 
 ends specified, John xiv. &c., concern not at all the eternal jn-ocession 
 of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son as to his distinct per- 
 sonality and subsistence; but belongs to that economy, or dispensa- 
 tion of ministry, that the whole Trinity proceedeth in, for the accom- 
 plishment of the work of our salvation." 
 
 But if these passages are given up, or rather, as I have said, til 
 passage, where are we to find the doctrine ? There is no other to
 
 CO LECTUKE IV. 
 
 of the words of the Apostle with those of the Angel as re- 
 corded by the Evangelist in regard to the latter designation, 
 especially when connected with the singularity of the phrase 
 "the Spirit of holiness" for the divine nature of Christ, is 
 more than sufficient to counterbalance the weight of this 
 consideration. And to this correspondence itself two things, 
 of minor importance, may be added. The first is, that the 
 antithetical form of expression is not here used by the Apos- 
 tle with the same pointedness with which it occurs, in refer- 
 ence to the same subject, on some other occasions:* ami 
 
 support it. To refer to such texts as Gal. iv. 6 and John xx. 22, and 
 to tell us, with regard to the latter, that the act or symbol used (" he 
 bi-eathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit") in conferring 
 the Spirit on his disciples in time, is to be considered as a proof, an 
 emblematic representation and evidence, of his procession from him 
 in eternity, is to oft'er an insult to our understandings. Even were 
 the doctrine of eternal procession previously established, the supposed 
 emblem of it would be questionable : how much more questionable, 
 how much more like the product of a lively fancy, when this emblem 
 is produced as itself an evidence of the doctrine! It is true, as Dr. 
 Guyse reminds ns. that the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ, 
 the Spirit of the Son, as well as of the Father; but what has this to 
 do with eternal procession? Yet such is the ground, the whole 
 ground, so far as I am aware, on which rests the generally received 
 doctrine of the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father 
 and the Son, in the essence of Deity ! 
 
 When the mind has once got habituated to certain notions, and to 
 certain established and systematic phraseology as the legitimate ex- 
 pression of these notions, without having examined the grounds on 
 which they rest, they come to be associated with the authority of the 
 Bible, and thus obtain a sacredness by which we are rendered fearful 
 of entertaining doubts, or listening to arguments and objections against 
 them. For myself, I freely confess, that, having been accustomed to 
 consider the doctrine of eternal procession as an integral and insepar- 
 able part of the doctrine of the Trinity, I was utterly confounded, 
 when I did come to the Bible, on discovering the narrowness of the 
 proof. It will not bear for a moment to be looked at, as the sole basis 
 of a mysterious tenet. Yet none broader, none firmer, have I been 
 able to find, adduced in support of that tenet by its advocates. 
 
 I here refer to the absence of the article in the neuter gender, 
 which is used in such cases, for definitive and emphatic distinction. 
 We have examples of what I mean, and in reference to the same sub- 
 ject, in Acts ii. 30" Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that 
 God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins ac- 
 cording to the flesh TO' *ar<i <r f * he would raise up the Christ to 
 sit upon his throne," &c. and in Rom. ix. 5" Of whom, as concern-
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 61 
 
 the second is, that "the flesh" and "the spirit" do, in other 
 instances, stand together in apparent antithesis, whilst yet 
 they require to be interpreted, not of the human and divine 
 natures of Christ, nor of the body and the soul of Christ, 
 but of his human nature and the Holy Spirit of God. I 
 give two examples. The one occurs in 1 Tim. iii. 1 G 
 "Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest hi 
 fhe flesh, justified in the Spirit:" and the other in 1 Pet. 
 iii. 18 " For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for 
 the unjust, that he might bring us unto God, being put to 
 death in the flesh, but quickened by the S-pirit" In both 
 these instances, I am satisfied, "the Spirit" means the Holy 
 Ghost; by whom, according to the former, Jesus was "justi- 
 fied," in all his mighty works, and especially in his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead; by whom, according to the latter, he 
 was "quickened" or "made alive," after having been "put 
 to death in the flesh."* 
 
 ing the flesh TO' X.O.TK <rii(za the Christ came, who is over all, God, 
 blessed for ever." The eft'ect of the article, according to Greek idiom, 
 is sufficiently understood: as far as respects the flesh, quantum ad 
 carnem attinet, I am far from saying that the use of this idiom is 
 necessary to the expression of antithesis; all thnt I mean is, that 
 without it the antithesis has less of emphasis, and that there is not 
 the same certainty of its being intended. 
 
 The understanding of the preposition X.O.TO.. in the clause lv Swa-fiu 
 x,a.ra. wtvpa. ayiutruvr,;, as having the sense of "exerted by exerted <m 
 /he part of the Spirit of holiness," is far from heing without authority 
 Irom parallel instances. To take one on the same suhject, the opera- 
 lion or agency of the Holy Spirit:! Cor. xii. 8, 9" For to one is 
 piven by the Spirit AIA' rov wvpavos the word of wisdom ; to ano- 
 ther the word of knowledge by the same Spirit KATA' TO XVTO rv.vft.ci; 
 to another faith by the same Spirit 'KN r O.ITU mvpart," c. The 
 three prepositions are here used as of equivalent import $ia, xara, 
 and in. 
 
 * I am aware that in this interpretation I have high authorities 
 against me, Horsley, Middleton, Stuart, Hodge, and others.^ The 
 
 words in the Original are (a.va.ru(ii; ftiv ragici, gaovoirrflis o\ via TVIV- 
 
 ftan. I am aware, too, that the article before vnvp.*?! is rejected by 
 Griesbach and other critics as without sufficient authority. Still there 
 seem to me very strong objections to the interpretation of *rtvp.a.<n as 
 antithetical to <r*;, and as meaning either the divine nature of Christ 
 or his human soul. Horelcy translates " Tut to death in the flesh, 
 but quick in the spirit." Middleton " conceives the true meaning to be 
 ' dead carnally, but alive spiritually.' " But 1. Neither " quick " nor
 
 62 LECTURE IV. 
 
 To enter more at large into the argument respecting the 
 Sonship of Christ, would be incompatible with the appro- 
 priate rules of exposition. I have only to add at present, 
 
 " alive," (whicli indeed are one and the same,) is a fair or full render- 
 ing of %aairoi*0ii;. Its proper meaning is not alive, nor kept alive, but 
 madenlive, and (especially when standing in antithetical relation to $- 
 raftif) restored to life. In none of its other occurrences in the New Tes- 
 tament does it signify simply "alive," or kept alive. See John v. 21 ; 
 Rom. viii. 11; 1 Cor, xv. 22,' 36; Rom. iv. 17; 1 Tim. vi. 13; 2 Cor. 
 iii. 6; Gal. iii. 21. In all these instances the verb means either 
 (firing life or restoring life: in none of them either simply liviny or 
 keeping in life. 2. I cannot imagine the inspired Apostle applying 
 the term %aertnittl{ to the divine nature of Jesus, even in the sense of 
 kept alive; and, if it he supposed to refer to his human soul, and to mean 
 that, while his body was dead, his soul still lived, this is no more than 
 what takes place in the case of all men, the universal fact; which, 
 therefore, we can hardly suppose the Apostle would have put into 
 formal and emphatic statement in regard to Christ. 3. The use of 
 ryiuftaTi, even thus unarthrous, (supposing the article to be rejected.) 
 as the dative of agency, and of the agency of the Holy Spirit, is not, 
 
 1 apprehend, without example, although it is freely granted that when 
 such agency is expressed there is much move frequently either the 
 article, or a preposition, or both. The following, however, may be 
 referred to as examples to our point: Rom. viii. 13; Rom. viii. 14; 
 
 2 Cor. iii. .3; Gal. v. 18, and perhaps also Gal. v. 5, 16. 25. 4. So 
 understanding the words yields what has ever appeared to my mind 
 incomparably the most natural and reasonable view of the connexion 
 in which they stand : " quickened by the Spirit ; by which also he 
 went and preached to the spirits in prison, when once the long-suffer- 
 ing of God waited in the days of Noah," &c. Noah is called by this 
 same Apostle "a preacher of righteousness," 2 Pet. ii. 5; and by 
 this same Apostle too, the Spirit that inspired the ancient prophets is 
 called ''the Spirit of Christ," 1 Pet. 5. 11. By his own Spirit, then, in 
 Noah, Christ preached to the antediluvian sinners, who, at the time 
 Peter wrote, were " spirits in prison." The figment of the descent 
 into hell. whether understood in the ordinary sense, or as explained 
 by Horsley, of the soul of Jesus, between his'death and his resurrec- 
 tion, visiting that department of Hades where the spirits of the right- 
 eous are in safe keeping for a future admission to heaven, for the 
 purpose of encouraging them with the assured hope of that heaven, 
 ;an encouragement, we may he allowed to observe, little needed. 
 surely, inasmuch as their finding themselves in the place specially 
 appropriated to the righteous must have given them the very same 
 assurance of their adoption and their final happiness, as if they had 
 at once entered heaven itself ) even the ingenuity of that most in- 
 genious of all the critics that ever attempted the support of a paradox 
 or of an original theory, has not been able to rescue from the charge 
 of fancy and fiction, 'it is a figment still.
 
 grou 
 mad 
 
 ROMANS I. 1-4. 63 
 
 that with those who agree in holding the true and proper 
 divinity of Christ, the dispute is about the meaning of a title 
 only. I am aware that there are fathers and brethren in 
 Christ, eminent in talent and in excellence, whose views dif- 
 Ifer from mine as to this point, and who hold their views, as I 
 [told mine, with a jealous attachment to the doctrine of His 
 |upreme Godhead. To all such I give, with the fullest cor- 
 ility, the right hand of fellowship. Our agreement relates 
 what is essential Our difference respects a question of 
 the chief importance arises from the bearing it has on 
 
 fessor Hodge says of this text: " In 1 Pet. iii. 18. Christ is said 
 ve been put to death as to the flesh, but to have remained alive as 
 Spirit, by which Spirit he preached unto the spirits in prison. 
 preaching refers to the times before the flood, then does Spirit 
 lso" (that is, as well as in Heb. ix. 14. already disposed of) 
 the divine nature of Christ." Notes on Bom. i. 4. But on the 
 s already stated, I object to all the three assumptions here 
 the assumption that Zueretvtiii, especially when opposed to 
 ,-. can fairly be rendered " remained alive;" the assumption, that 
 have been by his divine nature that he preached to the antedi- 
 sinners; and the assumption that *< and trmufuiTi signify 
 "as fthe flesh," and "as to the spirit." All these points are ques- 
 tionaje; yet are they all assumed, without its having been thought 
 
 ry to say a word in their support. 
 
 I'rilessor Stuart says: ''The word aoiroir,0ii;, as here used, seems 
 not tJ indicate restored to life (for in what sense can this be literally 
 applild to the xnvpa. of Christ, even if x-t-v/xK meant nothing more 
 tlwnliis human soui ?) but rendered happy, exalted to a state of glory: 
 ch. iv. 1. where -rafoiTo; is put for tat/aTufii; in iii. 18. and is 
 tithesis of ^vevoivOii;, used in the sens;: just explained." This 
 not do. Stuart seems to have been sensible, that %uo*i>i*tii;, 
 11 considered as the direct antithesis to 8a.ia.-ruh\t, would not bear 
 'general rendering he gives of it; and therefore he looks forward 
 finds a corresponding general antithesis in *a.6'*vr*;. suffering and 
 \dered happy nicely suiting each other. But docs f&ixtTtatiis signify 
 e whit the less^uj to death, that K^'OITH signifies su/eriny?nnA is 
 t favaruhli, after all, the direct, and proper, and sole antithesis to 
 anir^i',;. and vice versa? It is no doubt true, that, in the sense of 
 -.ttnred to life:' 'aovroir.fiis cannot be literally applied to the vnujta, 
 of Christ. But the very consideration that its application to the T^VUO. 
 of Christ requires its being understood in senses so unwonted as either 
 remaining alive, or rendered happy, or exalted to a state of glory, is one 
 amongst the reasons by which 1 am convinced that it is not so applied. 
 and that vnvuan has the sense given it by our translators; a 
 which, although frankly admitted not to be frequent, is yet, as the ex- 
 amples I have referred to are sufficient to show, not without precedent.
 
 64 LECTURE IV. 
 
 the point in which we arc one. I have no objection, there- 
 fore, to adopt, on niy side of that question, the terms em- 
 ployed by a commentator of eminence on the other, when he 
 says " Some whom I love and honour, and who have exalted 
 sentiments of the divinity of our dear Lord, have supposed 
 his filiation, or his being called the Son of God, to have no 
 reference to his divine pre-existent nature," that is, to his 
 divinity antecedently to his assumption of the human natuiv, 
 or his being "made flesh." I have used an expression much 
 too weak for my feelings, in saying that I have no objection 
 to adopt such terms of affectionate esteem as my own. I 
 adopt them with the utmost cordiality. But while I say so, 
 I must be allowed to add, that my heart has at times been 
 deeply wounded, when the charge has been more than insi- 
 nuated against those who, with myself, question the doctrine 
 of eternal generation and'eternal Sonship, of impugning and 
 undermining the fundamental article of Christ's proper divini- 
 ty; conscious as I have been, that solicitude to give stability 
 to this article, to close up an opening made by man in the 
 impregnable munitions of its scriptural evidence, to wrest 
 from the enemy a weapon of assault, not found in the ar- 
 moury of God, but fabricated for Him by mistaken friends, 
 that such solicitude was the originator of my doubts, and 
 the stimulus of my inquiries, and is now the source of my 
 satisfaction in their result. 
 
 The Sonship of Christ, his being "the Son of God by 
 1- -\vcr according to the Spirit of holiness," that is, his being 
 " Immanuel, God with us," " God manifest in the flesh," was 
 ' declared by his resurrection from the dead." His resurrection 
 was the great proof of it. All the miracles he had Avrought 
 during his life were proofs of it; all bearing witness divine 
 witness to his mission from God, and to the truth of what 
 lie delivered in God's name. By that power he had raised 
 up others, the daughter of Jairas, the widow's son of Xain, 
 and Lazarus ; and these resurrections, consequently, were evi- 
 dences of his being in truth all that he claimed to be ac- 
 knowledged. But on his own resxurection, as a predicted 
 event, an event, therefore, involving in it the double evidence
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 0.5 
 
 of prophecy and miracle, he had all along emphatically rested 
 the divinity of his claims. His enemies understood this; 
 and were led by this understanding to the use of those pre- 
 cautions at his tomb, of " sealing the stone and setting a 
 watch," which were by them intended to refute his preten- 
 sions, but which, in the overruling providence, of God, served 
 so materially to confirm them, by giving such additional cer- 
 tainty to this great fact. Jesus had called God his Father, 
 and himself God's Son in terms and in connexions, such as 
 led his adversaries to understand him as " making himself 
 equal with God;" and, instead of indignantly disowning the 
 blasphemy, he leaves the imputation uncontradicted, nay 
 admits and re-asserts its truth. In the high character of 
 " the Christ, the Son of the living God," he was owned by 
 his disciples; and the truth thus confessed was declared by 
 himself a lesson taught them, not by " flesh and blood, but by 
 his Father in heaven." Twice, from the opening heavens, 
 on the banks of the Jordan at his baptism, and " on the holy 
 mount " at his transfiguration, the voice of God had proclaim- 
 ed " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." 
 When he was raised from the dead, the declaration which 
 had thus been made in words, was repeated in action. The 
 event, to which he had himself appealed, as the crowning 
 proof of his personal dignity, of his divine commission, and 
 of the truth of his doctrines, took place. And in that event 
 the seal of Heaven was appended to them all; and espe- 
 cially, according to the words now before us, to the wonder- 
 ful constitution of his person as God-man, " the Son of God 
 by power according to the Spirit of holiness." Had Jesus 
 continued under the power of death, all his claims and all 
 Ms doctrines would have been falsified. His grave would 
 have been that of a mere man, branded with the memorial of 
 a false prophet, a "false witness of God," the falsest and the 
 guiltiest that ever had arisen. So he was regarded by his 
 infatuated enemies, when, in his life, they sought to stone 
 him for blasphemy, and when, in his death, they " numbered 
 him with transgressors." But by his resurrection the con- 
 troversy between him and his adversaries was settled, 
 i. E
 
 6G LECTURE IV. 
 
 finally, divinely settled Their imputations were proved the 
 blasphemy; his pretensions, the truth. He "triumphed glo- 
 riously." The event, with divine emphasis, proclaimed 
 " TRULY THIS WAS the SON OF GOD ! " 
 
 In the second verse, to which we now return, this " Gos- 
 pel of God, concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,'' is 
 represented as having, in preceding ages, been the subject of 
 divine prediction and promise: "which he had promised 
 afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures." 
 
 " The testimony of Jesus was the spirit of prophecy." The 
 first promise, of the seed of the woman, who should bruise 
 the head of the serpent, was a promise, in terms characterized 
 by the obscurity of early discovery of the manifestation, in 
 due time, of the Son of God, " to destroy the works of the 
 devil" And from the date of that promise, that is, from 
 the very entrance of sin into the world, down through tlio 
 successive periods of the antediluvian, the patriarchal, and the 
 Mosaic histories, He was the substance of all divine commu- 
 nications, antecedent to " the fulness of the time." Thus 
 does tliis Apostle, when vindicating his apostolic commission 
 before Agrippa, testify the correspondence of what he 
 preached with previous intimations, the harmony of the 
 inspired counsels of heaven from the beginning : " Having, 
 therefore, obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, 
 saying none other things than those which the prophets and 
 Mo>rs did say should come : that the Christ should suffer, 
 and that he should be the fii'st that should rise from the 
 dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the 
 Gentiles."* And with this agree the words of Jesus him- 
 self, and of his other Apostles. " fools," said Jesus to the 
 two disciples on the way to Emmaus, "and slow of heart to 
 believe all that the prophets have spoken : ought not the 
 Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his 
 glory ? And, beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he 
 expounded to them, in all the Scriptures, the things concern- 
 ing Himself:" and to the assembled eleven, before he left 
 
 * Acts xxvi. 2.', 23.
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 67 
 
 tli PIU, to return to the Father "These are the words which 
 1 spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things 
 must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, 
 and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." To 
 which it is added " Then opened he their understandings, 
 that they might understand the Scriptures; and said unto 
 them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved the Christ to 
 suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that re- 
 pentance and remission of sins should be preached in his 
 name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."* "To 
 Him," said the Apostle Peter to the household of Cornelius, 
 " To Him give all the prophets witness, that through his 
 Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission 
 of sins."t And the same truth is more largely stated by him 
 in his first Epistle, in connexion with the identity of the in- 
 spiration and testimony of prophets and apostles: "Of 
 which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched 
 diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto 
 you : searching what, or what mariner of, time the Spirit of 
 Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified be- 
 forehand the sufferings of the Christ and the glory that should 
 follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto them- 
 selves but unto us they did minister the things which are 
 now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gos- 
 pel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from Heaven : 
 which things the angels desire to look into."| 
 
 To enter into any detail of references to the prophetic 
 Scriptures, in proof and illustration of these statements, 
 would lead us into a field so extensive, that even selection 
 would be tedious as well as difficult ; nor would it be consis- 
 tent with the style of exposition, to dwell thus at large on 
 what is only incidentally introduced. It is enough for the 
 present to repeat (reserving particulars for future parts of the 
 Epistle) that the whole scheme of prophetic intimation and 
 typical institution, commencing with the first promise already 
 alluded to, and terminating with the promise of the rise of 
 
 * Luke xxiv. 2527, 4447. t Acts x - 43 - 
 
 1 Pet. i. 1012.
 
 68 LECTURE IV. 
 
 the Sun of righteousness given by Malachi, the last of the 
 prophets of the Old Dispensation, was introductory to the 
 more clear and full revelation of the Gospel in predicted 
 time. As the first-created light which, at the divine word, 
 started into joyous being over the darkness of chaos, existed 
 for a time in a state of diffusion, and was afterwards col- 
 lected and concentrated in the sun, the great luminary of 
 day, stationed in the heavens to give light to the earth and 
 the other planets of the system ; so were the rays of divine 
 truth, diffused among the predictions and promises and types 
 of the ancient revelation, collected and concentrated in the 
 Sun of righteousness, the glorious luminary of the moral sys- 
 tem, when He arose, in the full blaze of his purity and 
 splendour over the spiritual darkness of our race, the " light 
 of the world," the "joy of the whole earth !" 
 
 To the prophecies, and types, and promises of the ancient 
 revelation, the Jews, " to whom had been committed the Ora- 
 cles of God," were, in a special manner, directed, in the min- 
 istry of the Apostles, both for instruction as to the nature of 
 the Gospel, and for evidence of its truth. But not to the ex- 
 clusion of the Gentiles. To them, it is true, there had not 
 been vouchsafed the privilege of a former revelation; but 
 there was nothing to prevent their being satisfactorily in- 
 formed and convinced, of the previous existence, the gemiine- 
 ness, and the authenticity, of the sacred writings in which 
 the prophetic intimations were contained. This was accord- 
 ingly done; so that, although it was principally with their 
 countrymen, the seed of Abraham, that the Apostles " rea- 
 soned out of the Scriptures," yet even to Gentiles we find 
 them, at times, making similar appeals. The remarkable 
 correspondence of the notices of prophecy with the facts in 
 the birth and life, the character and ministry, the sufferings 
 and death and resurrection, of Jesus, was, to both the one 
 and the other, a strong and satisfactory evidence, that, in re- 
 ceiving the testimony of salvation in this Xame, they were 
 not following " cunningly devised fables." 
 
 I close with two reflections : 
 
 1. How important, and how sacred that Gospel, which
 
 ROMANS I. 14. 69 
 
 Paul and the other inspired ambassadors of Christ were com- 
 missioned to publish ! It is " the Gospel of GOD, concerning 
 His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." GOD is its Author; the 
 SON OP GOD its subject. Let believers, then, whose minds 
 have been enlightened to discern its divine origin and excel- 
 lence, and whose hearts have experienced its saving power, 
 contemplate its discoveries with growing admiration and de- 
 light; cleave to it with the firmness of faith; rejoice in it 
 with the confidence of hope ; glory in it as the best of their 
 knowledge, and the highest of their honour; guard it with 
 jealousy as their richest treasure, the "pearl of great price;" 
 seek, with all the eagerness of inquiry, an increased acquaint- 
 ance with its inestimable truths ; adorn and recommend it by 
 a life corresponding to its heavenly character, in dignity, and 
 purity, and love; and with all the ardour of zeal, the zeal 
 of piety and of benevolence, exert themselves for its univer- 
 sal difi'usion. 
 
 And let the thoughtless and unbelieving be roused to con- 
 sideration. Let them seriously and deliberately examine a 
 doctrine, which, if true, having such an author and such a 
 subject, must be infinitely momentous, and must possess a 
 claim on their attention incomparably stronger than anything 
 else whatever, in the whole compass of human knowledge, 
 that can be presented to their minds. It cannot be slighted 
 with innocence. It cannot be rejected with safety. The 
 question of its truth is a question on which hang the interests 
 of an eternity of being. In refusing or neglecting to exa- 
 mine it, there is a combination of criminality and infatuation, 
 of which it is not easy to say which preponderates. Let none 
 lie under the guilt ; let none persist in the folly. If indeed, 
 " God, who, at sundry times and in diverse manners, spake 
 in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these 
 last days spoken unto us by his Son the brightness of his 
 glory ^nd the express image of his person, and the upholder 
 of all things by the word of his power," then, let all " give 
 earnest heed," in such circumstances it cannot be too ear- 
 nest, "to the things which they have heard;" "for if the 
 word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression
 
 70 LECTURE IV. 
 
 and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how 
 shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at 
 the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed 
 unto us by them that heard him : God also bearing them 
 witness with both signs and wonders, and diverse miracles, and 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will ?" 
 
 2. Let us accustom ourselves to search the whole Scrip- 
 t m vs, of the Old Testament and of the New, as bearing a 
 united and harmonious testimony to Christ. The Old should 
 be read in the light of the New; and the New as the inter- 
 preter of the Old. Prophets and Apostles were taught by 
 one Spirit; and their theme and their lessons are one. It 
 is a delightful exercise, to trace these lessons, from their 
 rudimental elements to their complete revelation; to mark 
 the procedure of "the only wise God," in unfolding the 
 " great mystery of godliness," with gradually progressive clear- 
 ness, from Enoch to Malachi; and then sending his Son 
 himself, that, by his ministry and that of his inspired ser- 
 vants, the shadows might all be cleared away, and the light 
 of truth shine forth in all its fulness of manifestation. The 
 progress is like that of the " shining light, which shineth 
 more and more unto the perfect day." Its dawn shone 
 faintly in Eden; and it gained its meridian altitude over 
 Calvary. By comparing prophets with Apostles, facts with 
 promises, events with predictions, doctrines with types, we 
 shall discover, with increasing clearness, the perfect and 
 beautiful harmony; and by the discovery, as a part of the 
 internal evidence of all having corne from one Spirit, we shall 
 be proportionally settled in the faith of the truth. The two 
 great divisions of the word of God reciprocally illustrating 
 and confirming each other, the study of both will enable us, 
 under the teaching of God's promised and supplicated Spirit, 
 to understand more clearly the meaning, to ascertain more 
 certainly the truth, and to feel more forcibly the in^ence, 
 of the whole. Both are full of Christ ; of his person, char- 
 acter, coming, work, and kingdom ; though with various de- 
 grees of directness or indirectness, of immediateness or re- 
 moteness, of reference. " CHRIST is ALL, AND IN ALL."
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 ROMANS i. 5 12. 
 
 "By whom we have received grace and apostlesliip, for obedience to tne raicft 
 among all nations, for his name; among whom are ye also the called of Jesus 
 Christ: to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to 
 you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank 
 my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of through- 
 out the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in 
 the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in 
 my prayers; making request (if by any means now at length I might have a 
 prosperous journey by the will of God) to come unto you. For I long to see you, 
 that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; 
 that is, that 1 may be comforted together with yon, by the mutual faith both of 
 you and me.' 1 
 
 \Ve have seen, that, in subject and in substance, the testi- 
 mony of prophets and apostles was the same. The Gospel, 
 to the service of which Paul was " set apart," was the Gos- 
 pel which had been " promised afore by the prophets in the 
 Holy Scriptures." It was part, indeed, of the official func- 
 tion of the Apostles, to show to men, with divine attesta- 
 tions of their infallibility, the fulfilment of what had, from 
 the beginning, been predicted and promised, in the name 
 of Jehovah, by those "holy men of God who spoke as 
 they were moved by the Holy Spirit " Having stated the 
 great subject of that Gospel, which was the theme alike of 
 prophetic and apostolic testimony; "Concerning his Son, 
 Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David 
 according to the flesh, and declared the Son of God by power 
 according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
 
 72 LECTUPxE V. 
 
 the dead:" the writer proceeds to mention more explicitly 
 the source and the object of his official commission : 
 
 V. -r.se 5. "By whom we have received grace and apostle- 
 ship, for obedience to the faith, among all nations." " Btj 
 whom." The obvious antecedent is Jesus Christ. It was 
 from Him, immediately, as we had formerly occasion to show, 
 that all the Apostles received their investiture with office. 
 Tin- same preposition with that which occurs here, is used 
 also in GaL i. 1. where, in solemnly disowning mere human 
 appointment, the Apostle traces his authority to " God the 
 Father" as well as to "Jesus Christ:"* "Paul an Apostle, 
 not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God 
 the Father who raised him from the dead." When the same 
 phraseology, therefore, is applied, as in the passage before us, 
 to Jesus alone, it is not to be considered as indicating any 
 subordinate, intermediate, or merely instrumental agency, in 
 investing with the office and with its accompanying qualifi- 
 cations and powers. 
 
 When Paul says " We have received grace and apostle- 
 ship," he has no doubt immediate and special reference to 
 himself, and may even be understood to speak of himself 
 exclusively: yet there is nothing to forbid our conceiving 
 liim to have had in his mind his fellow-apostles, with whom 
 he thus, as on other occasions, places himself on a level, as 
 to legitimacy and extent of commission; a point which at 
 times, when circumstances affecting the weight and influence 
 of his ministry required it, he is at pains to vindicate. The 
 phrase "grace and apostleslup" 1 is by most interpreted as 
 meaning simply the grace or favour of apostleship. That 
 the bfstowment of this high and peculiar honour was a 
 matter of grace, and was a favour of no trivial value, is not 
 to be doubted. Yet there seems to be no propriety, as there 
 c.-rtainly is no necessity, for thus limiting the import of the 
 words. Why should they not be taken, as they stand, dis- 
 tinctly? or at any rate (which amounts to much the same 
 
 * The preposition is oia.
 
 ROMAN'S I. 5-12. 73 
 
 thing) as meaning the office of apostieship, with all the grace 
 necessary for the due discharge of its functions?* 
 
 The two are thus distinct, yet connected. Convert'! IKJ 
 grace is included, and that primarily ; as being the very fir^t 
 thing requisite to their being employed in the Lord's service 
 at all : and, along with tliis, all the peculiar gifts or endow- 
 ments comprehended in a complete fitness for the varied 
 functions of the apostolic stewardship. Paul, accordingly, in 
 writing to Timothy, does connect the grace bestowed upon 
 him in his conversion, with the favour of his being " put 
 into the ministry," which latter includes of course all his 
 qualifications for it : " And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, 
 who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, put- 
 ting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, 
 and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, be- 
 cause I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of 
 our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love which 
 is in Christ Jesus."t In these verses, the grace that changed 
 his heart and turned him to God, is evidently blended with 
 the grace that honoured him to be a " preacher of the faith 
 which before he destroyed;" the .grace that of a sinner 
 made him a saint, with the grace that of a persecutor madi 
 him an Apostle. 
 
 The purpose for which he " obtained grace and apostle- 
 ship," the purpose, indeed, for which the apostolic office 
 was instituted, and all its qualifications were bestowed, is 
 here stated to have been " for (or in order to) obedience to 
 the faith (more literally obedience of faith):}: among all na- 
 tions." 
 
 There are two things which ought to be included in the 
 "obedience of faith." 1. It means, without question, faith 
 itself, considered as an obeying, or yielding to, that authority 
 with which the gospel, as a message from God, comes to sm- 
 QOT3. That it does come with authority is clear, both from 
 
 * Dr. Brown (David) regards them as distinct, but understands grace 
 somewhat differently, "' 'Grace 1 the whole grace that bnngeth an 
 vation. and apostieship for the publication of that ' grace.' - 
 1 Tim. i. 1214. J "'.- * ;.
 
 74 LECTURE V. 
 
 the reason of the thing, and from the explicit statements of 
 Scripture. In the third chapter of this Epistle we find 
 it denominated "the law of faith;" a designation (as may 
 be shown more fully hereafter) which implies its being a 
 divine institute, the same, in point of authority, with the 
 original law of works: so that it is as really an appoint- 
 ment of God, or a law of His administration, that sinful man 
 should obtain life through faith in a Mediator, as it was at 
 iirst that sinless man should enjoy life through his own obe- 
 dience. Faith is the acquiescence of the mind in this ap- 
 pointment. This is what the same Apostle calls elsewhere 
 "obeying the Gospel."* It implies a renunciation of the 
 original law of works, as being necessarily incompetent to the 
 justification of one who has transgressed it, and whom, con- 
 sequently, it condemns; and the acceptance of salvation by 
 grace, according to the new constitution of things, introduced 
 on the entrance of sin, and suited to the character and con- 
 dition of the guilty. This new constitution of things has in it 
 all the weight of divine authority ; and there is a correspond- 
 ing obligation on the part of sinners of mankind to accept 
 its provisions.' The first commandment of God to man as a 
 creature, is, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, and soul, and strength, and mind." By the violation 
 of this law man has become, and continues, a sinner ; and to 
 man as a sinner, the first commandment of God is, that he 
 " believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord ; " 
 tii at he lay down the weapons of his rebellion, and accept 
 the mercy oifered in His name. The religion of a sinner, 
 the subjection of a sinner to God, must begin with this ; nor 
 can there be any other obedience acceptably rendered, till 
 there is this " obedience of faith." 
 
 2. The expression includes also the yielding up of the 
 mind, the heart, the conscience, the life, to the influence 
 of the truth believed. "Obeying the truth" stands con- 
 trasted with " obeying unrighteousness." It is not only to 
 believe it, but to follow out its practical tendencies. I do
 
 ROMANS I. 5-12. 7.5 
 
 not say, to practise its precepts : because the Gospel properly 
 is not a system of precepts. It is a testimony. It is good 
 tidings ; the tidings of free and rich mercy to sinners through 
 an atoning Mediator. But the believing acceptance of the 
 Gospel is invariably followed by certain practical results, 
 which arise from its very nature, and are the evidence of its 
 having been received. The faith of it "worketh by love;" 
 it " purifieth the heart ; " it is " the victory that overcometh 
 the world" " The grace of God that bringeth salvation," 
 which it is the purpose of the Gospel to reveal, "teaches" 
 all who receive it, "that denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, they should live soberly, righteously, and godly:" 
 and thus sobriety, and righteousness, and godliness, are in- 
 cluded in the "obedience of faith." The believer "yields 
 himself unto God." 
 
 And this blessed object it was the divine purpose to ef- 
 fect, by means of the Gospel, " among all 'nations." The 
 commission given to the Apostles, accordingly, ran in un- 
 qualified terms, without distinction of tribe or people : " Go 
 ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
 ture:" "Go, teach all nations:" "Thus it is written, and 
 thus it behoved the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the 
 dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins 
 should be preached in his name, among all nations, begin- 
 ning at Jerusalem."* 
 
 The expression "for his name" with which the verse con- 
 cludes, ought evidently to be connected with the whole pre- 
 ceding clause ; and, omitting other senses that have been 
 attached to it, may be understood to mean, either the autho- 
 rity of the apostolic commission, or its ultimate design. 1. 
 It may be interpreted of the authority by which the Apos- 
 tles delivered their testimony. The preposition rendered 
 "for" is the same with that which the Apostle uses, 2 Cor. 
 v. 20. " Xow then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though 
 God did beseech you by us, we entreat in Christ's stead, ! 
 ye reconciled unto God;" where it manifestly expresses their 
 
 * Mat. xxviii. 19: Mark xvi. 15: Luke xxiv. 46, 47.
 
 76 LECTURE V. 
 
 acting by delegated authority.* They fulfilled their commis- 
 sion in Christ's room, as His substitutes, representatives, pleni- 
 potentiaries. They " discharged an embassy for Christ," deli- 
 vering their message in His name : and all the weight and 
 authority of that name accompanied whatever they testified. 
 2. The expression, perhaps still more naturally, may sig- 
 nify their speaking and acting, in the fulfilment of their 
 trust, for the glory of Christ. It is literally, " on behalf of 
 His name." The glory of Christ's name was the chief object 
 of their embassy ; and one of which they never for a moment 
 lost sight. Everything said or done by them was, in this 
 view, "FOR His NAME."t This they knew to be inseparably 
 connected, not only with what they directly testified concern- 
 ing Him, but with the bringing of all nations to the obedience 
 of faith ; this being the same as the subjecting of all nations to 
 the sceptre of His spiritual reign. Understood in this sense, the 
 expression is in harmony with the current phraseology of the 
 New Testament; where "the name" of Jesus is of frequent 
 occurrence, in regard both to the subject and the end of the 
 apostolic ministry. This Apostle himself, who, previously 
 to his conversion, " verily thought that he ought to do many 
 things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth," was "a 
 chosen vessel unto him to bear his name before the Gentiles, 
 and kings, and the children of Israel." In that name he 
 and his fellow-apostles proclaimed forgiveness and salvation, 
 declaring that " through his name whosoever believeth in him 
 should receive remission of sins;" and that "there was no 
 other name under heaven given among men whereby they 
 could be saved." In that name they performed their mira- 
 cles, openly ascribing to it all the healing virtue : " In tlie 
 name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk," was the 
 
 * The phrase in Rom. i. 5. is V-JTI^ rev itifiaro; aLrov. In 2 Cor. v. 
 
 20. { X/iiffrav ouv jr^tffpiva/J.n ^bt'ofjLiia. ii-ria Xj/yrot/. 
 
 f The words, in this acceptation of them, correspond with those of 
 Jehovah by the prophet Ezekiol, chap, xxxvi. 22. "Thus saith the 
 Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine 
 holy nann's sake, which ye have profaned among the Heathen whither 
 ye went;" that is, to wipe off the dishonour done Him, and to assert 
 and vindicate the glory of His character and administration.
 
 ROMANS I. 512. 77 
 
 command to the " man lame from his mother's womb ; " and 
 when the instant cure filled all with "wonder;" their decla- 
 ration was "His name, through faith in His name, hath 
 given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." 
 They " rejoiced in being counted worthy to suffer shame for 
 his name;" and through their ministry and their miracles, 
 "thv name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." 
 
 Having mentioned the extent of his commission, as em- 
 bracing "all nations," which means especially all the G?n- 
 liles, the Apostle turns naturally to that portion of them to 
 whom he was about to write : verse 6. " Among whom are 
 ye also, the called of Jesus Christ." The only antecedent to 
 the pronoun " idiom" being the "all nations" in the former 
 verse, the inference appears to be fair, that a large proportion 
 of the members of the Church in Rome were converts from 
 among the heathen; to whom, as they were the majority in 
 point of numbers, and as he himself was, in a special man- 
 ner, " the Apostle of the Gentiles," he here addresses himself. 
 
 They had formerly been heathens; but they were now 
 "the called of Jesus Christ." The term "called" does not 
 here signify the mere external invitation of the Gospel, ad- 
 dr-'ssed to their ear. In that, they were not distinguished 
 from multitudes more, who had the same call addressed to 
 them, and who still remained " without God in the world." 
 It is but very rarely, indeed, that the term is employed in 
 this sense. In Paul's writings, it appears to be used invariably 
 for something more; for what has, not inappropriately, been 
 designated " effectual calling" by which is meant that inward 
 energy of the truth and Spirit of God, whereby the sinner 
 is actually separated from the world, and brought into the 
 spiritual fellowship of the Lord and his people, " called 
 out of darkness into marvellous light." In consistency with 
 this remark, and in confirmation of its truth, we do not fiud, 
 in the apostolic Epistles, that calling is ever associated with 
 In ni an agency, but always with divine. Thus it is in the 
 passage before us, both in this verse and in the next. 
 Thus it is also, 1 Cor. i. 9 " God is faithful, by whom y<- 
 were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our
 
 78 LECTURE V. 
 
 Lord." 1 Thess. ii. 12 "That ye would walk worthy of 
 God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory : " 
 1 Pet. ii. 9 " But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest- 
 hood, a holy nation, a peculiar people : that ye should show 
 forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of dark- 
 ness into his marvellous light." The only case respecting 
 which there is any doubt is GaL i. 6 " I marvel that ye 
 are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace 
 of Christ, unto another gospel:" where the Apostle is by 
 some understood to speak of himself, as having called them 
 bv his ministry. But it is an admitted canon of exposition, 
 that, iu cases which are themselves doubtful, the meaning 
 should be determined by the prevailing usage, especially of 
 the same writer; on which principle we must interpret Paul 
 as meaning, not their being "removed" from himself, but 
 from God; an interpretation which, even in itself, is more 
 natural, and more becoming the writer, than the other. 
 
 Tn verse seventh the Epistle is more formally inscribed : 
 " To all that be in Rome, beloved of CJod, called to be sainte." 
 The original words might, with the strictest propriety, be 
 rendered " beloved of God, called, holy : " * anil this mode 
 of rendering them is by some preferred. It may be observed, 
 however, that they had already been designated " the called 
 of Jesus Christ;" and it is therefore more probable, that, 
 instead of repeating the designation by itself, the Apostle is 
 to be understood as connecting holiness, or saintship, with 
 it, as its end or purpose; just as, elsewhere, he speaks of 
 believers as " called unto holiness." On this grcmnd, I am 
 inclined to retain the version of cur translators. The phrase 
 is of precisely the same description with that in the first 
 verse "called to be an apostle." 
 
 They were " beloved of God." The everlasting love of 
 Gad, in its sovereign exercise, was the origin of the differ- 
 ence between them and others, in spiritual state and char- 
 acter. It was in the free choice of this love, that he had 
 " called them unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus;"
 
 It< MANS I. 5-12. 79 
 
 " not according to their works, but according to his own 
 purpose and grace, given them in him before the world be- 
 gan." This gracious purpose was "that they should be 
 holy:" and in the following up of this purpose, they were 
 " called with a holy calling," or, as it is here, " called to be 
 saints;" that is, persons sanctified or set apart unto God, 
 in which separation there is necessarily included the idea of 
 fitness in character for His service and fellowship, in other 
 words, personal holiness. 
 
 All Christians are " saints." To be a Christian, without 
 being a saint, is impossible; an unsanctified Christian being 
 a contradiction in terms. When men call themselves and 
 one another Christians, while they have not been " renewed 
 iu the spirit of their minds," it is only one of many forms 
 of self-deception. It has so happened, that the designa- 
 tion of Christians has been generalized, and made to com- 
 prehend all who belong to particular national communities, 
 while that of saints has continued more appropriate and dis- 
 tinctive-. And this sufficiently explains the secret of what, 
 in early days, had it been possible, would have appeared a 
 most unaccountable anomaly; namely, the fact that, in such 
 communities, saint is a term of obloquy and insult, while 
 Christian is one in universal demand; and that many, who 
 insist on their being called Christians, would either stare in 
 amazement, or kindle with indignation, or laugh outright, at 
 the incongruous burlesque, were you to call them saint*. 
 This is a most unfortunate and widely mischievous delusion. 
 ('HKISTIAN- and SAINT are one and the same. There are no 
 Christians but such as are " renewed in knowledge after the 
 image of Him who created them ; " " washed, and sanctified, 
 and justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the 
 Spirit of our God." 
 
 Tneir being "beloved of God," implies not only their 
 being the objects of His love in the gracious counsels of 
 eternity, and their owing to that sovereign love the differ- 
 ence between themselves and their fellow-sinners who con- 
 tinued children of "the wicked one;" but their being, sub- 
 sequently to the change, the objects of His love, on account
 
 80 LKCTURK V. 
 
 of the new character sustained by them. They bear God's 
 image ; and God has complacency in that resemblance to Him- 
 self; which is the result of his Spirit's purifying energy. He 
 makes them holy ; and He loves and delights in their holi- 
 ness. Himself the eternal prototype of all moral excellence, 
 He "lifts up the light of his countenance" on all the cor- 
 responding features of that excellence amongst His creatures. 
 He delighted in the holiness of man at his creation. He 
 delights in the same holiness, at his conversion, when the 
 principles of love and purity again take possession of his 
 soul, and, struggling with the remaining powers of evil, 
 maintain their ascendency, and advance to their perfection. 
 "The righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance 
 doth behold the upright." 
 
 To all in Borne, of this description, the Apostle wishes 
 " grace and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." " Grace : " the divine favour ; a cheering sense 
 or consciousness of this favour, in all the varied tokens 
 and expressions of it to their souls: a rich supply of gra- 
 cious communication from " the fulness that is in Christ," 
 " grace to help in time of need," direction in duty, cour- 
 age in danger, wisdom in perplexity, strength in temptation, 
 restraint in prosperity, consolation and spiritual benefit 
 in trial "Peace:" "peace with God;" peace in their 
 consciences through the peace-speaking blood of atonement; 
 the inward serenity of subdued passions and regulated 
 desires; a tranquil, unsolicitous satisfaction with all the 
 appointments of Providence, maintained by an unwavering 
 reliance on the wisdom, faithfulness, and love of a covenant 
 God; the delightful harmony of brotherly affection among 
 themselves; and rest from the harassing persecutions of an 
 ungodly world. What more, what better, could the Apostle 
 have sought for them? "What more, what better, can we 
 seek for one another, and for ourselves? 
 
 Mark the source from which he looks for these precious 
 blessings : " from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." He looks for them from the paternal kindness and 
 munificence of Him, of whom Jesus says "If ye, then,
 
 ROMANS I. 512. 81 
 
 being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
 how much more will your heavenly Father give good things 
 unto them that ask him]" But with "God our Father" he 
 associates " the Lord Jesus Christ." I have spoken of his 
 irixItiiHj them the blessings he specifies. But the wish, be- 
 yond all reasonable question, is, essentially and formally, a 
 pi-iii/er : and it is a prayer for blessings, such as no one but 
 God could bestow. In such instances, which are frequent, 
 we have one of the simple and conclusive evidences of our 
 Lord's divinity. He is the object of prayer; the acknow- 
 ledged source, equally with the Father, of all spiritual bless- 
 ings. He has even, at times, in the order of address, the 
 precedence of the Father. The Apostle thus prays for the 
 Christians at Thessaloniea : "Now our Lord Jesus Christ 
 himself, and God even our Father, who hath loved us, and 
 hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through 
 grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good 
 word and work!"* The man who can doubt that in these 
 words Jesus Christ is made the object of direct and unequi- 
 vocal prayer. I must be allowed to regard as destitute of 
 candour, and as shutting his mind against conviction. Faus- 
 tus Socinus himself could not deny it, though all his fol- 
 lowers have not been so ingenuous: and in admitting it, 
 lie ran himself into the unaccountable inconsistency of main- 
 taining the mere manhood of Christ, and yet asserting the 
 propriety of praying to him! 
 
 What follows, in verse eighth, is the dictate alike of piety 
 and of hrxfrtji-ncr, the dictate of a devout feeling of de- 
 pendence on God, *nd of love to those on whose behalf the 
 grateful acknowledgment is called forth: "First, I thank 
 my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, that your faith 
 is spoken of throughout the whole world." If when we 
 " (inter into our closet, and having shut the door, pray to our 
 Father who is in secret,'' we are insensible to any glow of 
 lively satisfaction in blessing God for the fruits of His grace 
 manifest in our friends and brethren, we have cause to sus- 
 
 * 2 Tln.'ss. ii. 16, 17.
 
 82 LECTUKF. V. 
 
 pect the integrity of those professions of attachment to, and 
 interest in, them which we address to themselves. 
 
 The subject of thanksgiving is the eminence of their faith. 
 It was so eminent as to be universally spoken of. Paul 
 heard of it wherever he came "from Jerusalem, and round 
 about unto Illyricum." It was connected in the fame of it 
 with their obedience* This therefore was an exemplification 
 of what he had before called " the obedience of faith." 
 
 Observe further the object of thanksgiving " I thank 
 my God." The Apostle's thus expressing his gratitude to 
 God on their account, was fitted to remind them of the 
 source of their spiritual eminence, and of their obligations 
 for it to its divine Author the " Father of lights." It 
 would thus prevent his commendation from having the 
 appearance of flatter} 7 , and serve to repress in their hearts 
 the risings of self-complacency. 
 
 Notice too the medium of Paul's ascription of praise 
 through Jesus Christ.^ As it is in His name that blessings 
 are asked and bestowed, nothing can be more natural and 
 becoming than that the same name should be gratefully ac- 
 knowledged in our thanksgiving for the reception of them. 
 
 Another way in which the Apostle's aifection for them ex- 
 presses itself is an earnest desire to be with them, that he 
 might promote their spiritual benefit: verses 9 12. " For 
 God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gos- 
 pel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you 
 always in my prayers; making request (if by any means 
 now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the 
 will of God) to come unto you. For i long to see you, 
 that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end 
 ye may be established; that is, that I may b<> comforted 
 together with you, by the mutual faith both of ys.ni and me." 
 Here, as on various other occasions, when anxious to 
 impress the truth of the assurance given, he appeals to God 
 in proof of his sincerity "Goo is my witness." He alone, 
 who knows the hearts of all the children of men, could 
 
 * Chap. xvi. 19. f Comp. Kpli. v. 20; Col. m. 17; Hob. xiii. 15.
 
 ROMANS I. 5-12. 83 
 
 be acquainted with his secret desires. His Father the all- 
 seeing God alone knew the subject of his private devo- 
 tions. To HIM, therefore, he makes his appeal : an appeal 
 expressive at once of the profound seriousness and the af- 
 fectionate warmth of his heart. This was not taking the 
 name of God in vain. It was not introducing it with ir- 
 reverent lightness. And the example of the Apostle, here 
 and in other places, is one of the evidences that when 
 Christ says, " Swear not at all," we are not to understand 
 him as prohibiting without discrimination all solemn appeals 
 to God. 
 
 " God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit." It 
 w ts in the prosecution of the arduous duties of this service, 
 that Paul wished so earnestly to be at Borne. And the 
 determination, formed amidst the uniform experience that 
 every new scene of labour was but a new scene of trial and 
 suffering, and accompanied too with the further resolution to 
 pass by Italy into Spain,* was itself a remarkable indication 
 of a resolute and ardent mind; a mind whose enlarged de- 
 sires embraced the full extent of his commission " preach 
 the gospel to every creature." 
 
 He did indeed "serve God with his sjjirit;" that is, 
 "with the full bent of his mind."t His heart was com- 
 pletely in his work. Hard and perilous as the service was, he 
 had the same delight in it as that which animated his divine 
 Mustn when He said "My meat is to do the will of him that 
 sent me, and to finish his work.'' What Christian, especially 
 what Christian minister, can read the following language of 
 this " good soldier of Jesus Christ," without feeling his own 
 bosom swell with a kind of noble enthusiasm, and with the 
 generous and resolute purpose of self-denying zeal ? " And 
 new, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not 
 knowing the things that shall befall me there- : save that the 
 Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and 
 afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, 
 neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might 
 
 * Chap. xv. 24, 28. t Lwke.
 
 84 LECTUKE V. 
 
 finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have 
 received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace 
 of God ; " "I am ready not to be bound only, but also to 
 die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."* 
 
 All the service rendered to God must be "with the spirit." 
 It is the heart rightly affected towards God, that "breathes 
 into" all our conduct in His service "the breath of life," and 
 gives it " a living soul." External service, constrained and 
 inanimate, can never please Him. Whatever is done must 
 be done with the full devotion of the heart, " not grudg- 
 ingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful servant." 
 Such was Paul. It was, I repeat, the forwardness of his zeal 
 in the Lord's service that made him " long to see " those at 
 Koine, and led him to " make request, if by any means he 
 might have a prosperous journey to come unto them." His 
 language expresses at once the earnestness of importunate 
 desire, and the lowliness of felt dependence. Fully aware 
 that the gratification of his desire rested solely on the 
 Divine permission his prayer is offered in the spirit of 
 entire self-surrender to the will of God. Little dreamed he 
 then of the manner in which his wish to visit Rome was 
 afterwards to be realized. t It is God's exclusive prerogative 
 to say, "My counsel shall stand." 
 
 The llth and 12th verses contain in part the Apostle's 
 reasons for thus wishing to visit them : "that I may impart 
 unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be estab- 
 lished." 
 
 " Spiritual gifts" were those supernatural endowments of the 
 Spirit of God, which were usually conferred by the laying on 
 of the hands of an Apostle ; never otherwise, so far as appears, 
 when human instrumentality was employed at all. What- 
 ever portion of such gifts the believers at Koine might pre- 
 viously possess, and in whatever way obtained, Paul was 
 anxious to increase their store, with a view to their estab- 
 lishment and growth in grace. 
 
 * Acts xx. 2224; xxi. 13. 
 
 t For further illustrations of the same spirit in Paul see Acts xviii. 
 21; 1 Cor. iv. 19.
 
 ROMANS I. 512. 85 
 
 Such gifts, it may here be observed, were never conferred, 
 nor were any miracles wrought, for their own sakes, merely 
 to excite an idle wonder; and far less to gratify ambition or 
 vanity. They were means subservient to an end. Their 
 design was the confirmation of truth, for the conviction of 
 the unbelieving, and the establishment and progress of those 
 Avho had " through grace believed." It is a pleasing reflection, 
 that, although we have not now those "spiritual gifts," we have 
 what is better. We have the truth itself to the confirmation 
 of which they were all subservient. We have the gracious 
 renewing influences of the Spirit, which did not always 
 accompany miraculous endowments.* If we have not the 
 faith that could i-emove mountains, we have the faith that is 
 unto salvation, that " has its fruit unto holiness, and the 
 end everlasting life."t 
 
 But Paul did not mean to convey any imputation of insta- 
 bility any surmise of their standing in need of confirmation. 
 This indeed would have been at variance with what he had 
 just said of the eminence of their faith (verse 8): hence he 
 adds, in further explanation, " That is, that I may be com- 
 forted together with you, by the mutual faith both of you 
 and me.'' 
 
 While the conveyance and the reception of " spiritual gifts " 
 would serve to establish their faith and his own; the faith 
 of each, thus additionally confirmed, would impart to both 
 mutual comfort and happiness. The saints of God, "the 
 excellent of the earth," reciprocally delight in one another. 
 Each feels an interest in the spiritual prosperity of all the 
 rest. The sight of fellow-christians "strong in faith, giving 
 glory to God," is full of cheering and animating influence, 
 
 * See Mat. vii. 22, 23. 
 
 t In a note p. 36, Lect. II., the author intimates an intention to 
 assign his reasons for adopting this view of the expression " some spir- 
 itual gift" as referring to " miraculous endowments.' 1 It would seem 
 to have been his purpose to append a note here, but nothing of the 
 kind occurs; nor is there to be found among his manuscripts any 
 discussion of the point. I regret this, as Alford and others, as well as 
 Stuart, to whom the Author refers, discard the idea of any allusion to 
 " supernatural endowments.'' kt>.
 
 86 LF.CTURE V. 
 
 filling the heart with gladness, and by an emulous sym- 
 pathy of holy desire, rousing to active diligence and perse- 
 vering ardour. And this mutual comfort and joy cannot 
 fail to be felt with pecilliar force, between the minister of 
 Christ and those whom he has been the happy instrument 
 either of converting to God, or in any remarkable degree of 
 reviving and edifying in the divine life. The attachment 
 between a servant of Jesus and his spiritual children is 
 tender and powerful Paul felt this, and at times patheti- 
 cally appeals to the sentiment : " For though ye have ten 
 thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers : 
 for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.'' 
 The servant of the Lord whom he is pleased tlms to honour, 
 if his converts " stand fast in the faith," will, like this Ap< istlf, 
 "be comforted over them." While they are his rejoicing, ]' 
 will be theirs. 
 
 This holds equally true of the faithful Pastor and the 
 people of his charge. To such a one nothing can be con- 
 ceived more disheartening, than to witness among his people 
 declension in faith and holiness: to see, in any of those 
 plants which it is his duty and his pleasure to cultivate, a 
 deficiency of fruitfulness or an unproductive deadness; to 
 see "the blossoms go up as dust," or ripen into "grapes of 
 gall, and clusters that are bitter," to "look for grapes and 
 to find wild grapes!" To see, on the contrary, the people 
 of his care, profiting by his labours, thriving under his cul- 
 ture, nourishing in "the beauty of holiness," ''fruitful in 
 every good work," and every season the fruitfulness more 
 abundant : O ! this is comfort indeed, bracing him to vigor- 
 ous effort, kindling his eye, and nerving his arm making 
 him, instead of languid and heartless, "fervent in spirit, 
 serving the 'Lord."
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 ROMANS i. 13 17. 
 
 "Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to 
 come unto you, (but was let hitherto.) that I might have some fruit among you 
 also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the 
 Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am 
 ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed 
 of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one 
 that believeth ; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the 
 righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall 
 live by faith." 
 
 PAUL -wu*, by special commission, the Apostle of the Gen 
 tiles. Lcfore the date of this Epistle, he had, probably for 
 more than twenty years, been engaged in travelling through 
 various parts of the world, " preaching the unsearchable 
 riches of Christ." It might appear as if, in the wide range 
 of his benevolent labours, he had been neglecting Italy and 
 the metropolis of the world. It was the great aim of this 
 indefatigable ambassador of Christ, t<> preach the gospel 
 where no other had preached it before him,- to be the lh>' 
 messenger of the good tidings of salvation. This truly noble 
 principle he states in a subsequent part of this Epistle as 
 that by which he wished to regulate his apostolic labours.* 
 On this principle, while he mentions his desire to visit Rome, 
 it is still with an ulterior view : it is on his way to a coun- 
 try beyond it, into which we have no information that Chris- 
 tianity had yet found its way.t 
 
 * Chap. xv. 20, 21. t Clia P- * v - 2225, 28.
 
 88 LECTURE VI. 
 
 But although Rome is thus spoken of as an intermediate 
 station, on his journey to a more remote quarter, it was itself 
 very far from being an object of indifference to his thoughts 
 and desires. Of this he gives them assurance: verse 13. 
 " Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that often- 
 times I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) 
 that I might have some fruit among you also, even as 
 among other Gentiles." 
 
 A servant of Christ may assuredly be considered as hav- 
 ing "fruit" from his labours, and fruit by no means to lie 
 despised, if he is, by the blessing of God, successful in 
 "building up on their most holy faith" such as "have 
 through grace believed." It is probable, however, that by 
 this expression the Apostle intended not merely the estab- 
 lishment of the saints at Rome in faith and holiness and 
 joy, (which object he had already mentioned in the pre- 
 ceding verse,) but the addition to their number of converts 
 from the world. This accords with the high-spirited prin- 
 ciple of his ministry we have just been noticing. He was 
 desirous, not to "water" merely, but to "plant;" to have 
 some in that church, as he had in so many other places, who 
 should own him as their spiritual father, who should be 
 trophies to the praise of his Master's grace, and his own 
 "joy and crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord." 
 
 For such "fruit" of their ministry, all who, like Paul, serve 
 God with their spirit in the gospel of his Son, will fervently 
 wish, and importunately pray to Him whose prerogative it is 
 to "give the increase." Without such "fruit," this eminent 
 pattern of benevolent and pious zeal would have been tempt- 
 ed, in bitter disappointment, to exclaim, " I have laboured 
 in vain, and spent my strength for nought." Alas! how 
 little is this often thought of amidst the formal routine of 
 duty belonging to the official profession of a minister of the 
 Gospel. that all who bear the title were more emulous of 
 the ardent spirit of this distinguished example, of that 
 unquenchable thirst for usefulness which so peculiarly 
 marked all his conduct! From an increase of Paul's spirit, 
 we might reasonably expect, through the blessing of the
 
 ROMANS I. 1317. 89 
 
 Lord, an increase of Paul's success; a richer harvest of 
 those holy fruits in which his heart so greatly delighted ; a 
 larger measure of "joy in heaven" over sinners brought to 
 repentance. 
 
 In labouring thus indefatigably the Apostle of the Ccn- 
 1 ili-s was animated by a principle of conscientious fidelity to 
 his trust. The treasures of divine truth had been committed 
 to his care: and, as a "steward of the mysteries of God,'' 
 his commission of distribution was as extensive as the world. 
 Aware- of its being " required in stewards that a man be 
 found faithful/' and having, as he just before expresses it, 
 " received grace and apostleship in order to the obedience of 
 faith among all nations;" he felt himself under a sacred 
 obligation to impart what he had received to all mankind, to 
 the utmost extent of his opportunity and power. It was a 
 debt of official duty : but it was at the same time a debt of 
 love both to God and to men : and, on the ground of grati- 
 tude to the Lord Jesus, it was, in the highest and most 
 sacred sense, a debt of honour : verse 14. "I am debtor 
 both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wi.M-, 
 and to the unwise." The obligation thus felt and owned by 
 the Apostle, rested on three grounds : on the great funda- 
 ni'-utal law of Christian benevolence and justice "whatso- 
 ever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
 them." On the claim possessed by his God and Saviour on 
 his personal gratitude, by which he was so imperatively 
 bound to seek the advancement of His glory ; and on the 
 official responsibility of special commission, according to which 
 " woe was unto him if he preached not the gospel." Mark the 
 t.,-t<-nt of the obligation as acknowledged by the Apostle: 
 Hi- regarded his debt as embracing men of every character 
 and description, learned and ignorant, civilized and rude, 
 the refined and polished inhabitants of Athens, or Corinth, 
 or Rome, and all those whom, in the pride of superiority, they 
 were accustomed to include in the sweeping designation of 
 " Barbarians," with whatever degree of truth the epithet 
 might be applicable. Paul conceived, and justly conceive' i, 
 that even to the philosophers of those seats of literature
 
 ,90 LKCTUKE VI. 
 
 and of speculative science, and of elegant arts, lie had 
 information to communicate far transcending in truth and 
 importance the highest discoveries which their researches had 
 ever enabled them to attain ; discoveries, in the vain-glorious 
 esteem of which they regarded him and all his fellow-preachers 
 of the cross as contemptible drivellers, and all that they de- 
 livered as the very babblings of folly. Bnt Paul knew that 
 what they regarded as foolishness was " the wisdom of God," 
 a treasure, which, although put into earthen vessels, was itself 
 inestimably precious, such as could not be " gotten for gold, 
 neither could silver be weighed for the price of it." The wise 
 men of the world would readily enough have understood how 
 Paul or any other man might become thi'ir debtor for know- 
 ledge received from them; but that they should be held his 
 inferiors and scholars, and be debtors to him for knowledge 
 communicated ! how insufferably ridiculous and provoking 
 would this appear to them ! Yet so it was. They were ob- 
 jects of pity to the possessor of divine knowledge, of which, 
 with all their vaunted powers, they were so miserably 
 destitftte. 
 
 And while his obligation reached the highest point in the 
 scale, it descended at the same time to the lowest;- to the 
 most untutored and ignorant of mankind. It has been the 
 sentiment of some, that before any attempt can be rationally 
 made to introduce Christianity amongst them, it is necessary 
 that men be pi-eviously civilized. But the assertion is far 
 from being either countenanced by Scripture, or veriiied by 
 fact. That a civilized state of society, especially when the 
 principles of freedom are to any considerable degree under- 
 stood and acted upon, may afford greater external facilities to 
 Missionary labours in the way of protection and comfort, of 
 safe and easy access to the inhabitants, of frequent and fami- 
 liar intercourse with them, of more extensive and favourable 
 opportunities of proclaiming the word of life, may, as a 
 general position, be readily admitted. But further than in 
 such considerations as these, we can hardly with truth allow 
 even the superior advantages of civilization. The Gospel is 
 a doctrine for sinners; and it is not less suitable to the char-
 
 ROMANS I. 1317. 01 
 
 acter and state and prospects of one description of mankind 
 than of another. It meets the exigency of the barbarous as 
 well as of the civilized, the exigency common to the sinful 
 nature of both ; nor do the latter either stand less in need of 
 it than the former, or possess a disposition at all more favour- 
 able to its reception. Between the extremes of savage rude- 
 ness and luxurious refinement, there is an almost infinite 
 variety of shades; so that they who insist on the previous 
 necessity of civilization can hardly venture to specify any 
 point in the gradation at which the attempt at spiritual in- 
 struction should be commenced. And indeed, if there is 
 anything in the unsettled wildness or in the besotted degra- 
 dation of the savage mind, that is fitted to damp our hopes 
 of success ; the prospect does not, to say the least of it, ap- 
 pear at all more flattering from the pride of worldly wisdom, 
 or the scornful vanity and pampered delicacy of voluptuous 
 refinement. There are vices and follies, and customs, modes 
 of thinking and acting, habits of mind and courses of con- 
 duct, in the latter state of society, such as present a barrier 
 at least as formidable to the entrance and influence of the 
 truth, as even the most brutal grossness of the former. 
 
 lint the truth is, the power of the Spirit of God must ac- 
 company the testimony of the gospel, in order to its being 
 truly received by any. This Spirit operates on the human 
 mind by the intervention of rational means ; and wherever 
 we find existing the ordinary understanding of man, and the 
 dictates of natural conscience, however partial and debased 
 and erring, we find the materials on which, by means of the 
 truth, He may work with saving efficacy. In every such 
 case therefore, that is, among all nations from the highest 
 point to the lowest in the scale of civilization, the gospel 
 may be preached with the hope of success. And success has 
 actually attended it. And civilization, instead of preceding, 
 has accompanied and followed it. The Gospel has made 
 men of those tribes that were, from the lowness of their de- 
 gradation, considered as being allied to the brutes. It has 
 brought up the Hottentot to a level with his brethren ..f 
 Adam's blood, and has placed him above many that were
 
 92 LKCTUKK VI. 
 
 wont to look clown upon him with supercilious disdain. It 
 h;us changed both outer and inner man. It has elicited latent 
 intellect. It has given sensibility and delicacy to the gross 
 and brutified affections. It has introduced him to all the 
 decencies and comforts and reciprocal kindnesses of social 
 life. It has softened him to the tenderness of humanity; it 
 has raised him to the elevation of piety. The change is 
 lnvclv. to the eye both of benevolence and of devotion; and 
 the Gospel has done it. While its truths have been hidden 
 from the wise and prudent, they have, in the sovereignty of 
 God, been " revealed unto babes;" and in the case of many 
 besides Hottentots, it has proved its divine origin in its 
 divine effects. " The entrance of God's word has given light : 
 it has given understanding to the simple;" and, while it has 
 brought with it as a portion the blessings peculiar to itself of 
 eternal salvation, it has at the same time proved itself the 
 best friend of mankind in regard to their temporal happiness, 
 the safest and most efficacious instrument of that order 
 and civilization, on which some have so much insisted as 
 pit-requisites to the communication of its instructions. 
 
 There is only <>HH way of salvation for the Greek and for 
 the Barbarian, for the wise and for the unwise. Paul acted 
 accordingly ; never accommodating his doctrine to any variety 
 in the condition of his hearers, but fulfilling, everywhere alike, 
 the determination, " not to know anything among v any class 
 of sinful men " save Jesus Christ and him crucified : " He 
 adds accordingly Verse 15. "So, as much as in me is, I 
 am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Home 
 also." 
 
 "To you that are at Rome." Some have inferred from 
 this, that the Epistle is not to be considered as addressed to 
 the believers only who were at Rome, but to others also who 
 might have the opportunity of reading it, or seeing copies of 
 it. This inference is first of all quite at variance with the 
 precision of the style of address in verses 6, 7. " Among 
 whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: to all that be 
 in Home, beloved of God, called to be saints: grace to you 
 aud peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."
 
 ROMANS I. 13-17. 03 
 
 Xor is it by any moans an inference at all necessary from the 
 expression on which it is founded. That Paul meant preach 
 ing to the inhabitants of Rome in general is very evident ; 
 but that they are all here directly addressed does not follow. 
 Were I writing a letter to a few Christian friends in any dis- 
 tant country in America, for example, I might say very 
 naturally. "I intend coming over by and by, to preach, (or 
 whatever else it might be I had to do) t<> >/nu Ann'r'i- 
 <><.<;" meaning not the few individuals to whom my 
 letter was addressed, but their countrymen ; yet surely no 
 one woiild ever think of inferring from such an expression 
 (which might even be used to one person) that I was writing 
 my letter to the people of the United States. The principle 
 of this mode of speaking and writing is so simple as to re- 
 quire no illustration. 
 
 The Gospel was contemptible in the eyes of the wise of 
 this world; and it exposed to derision and scorn the preach- 
 ers and professors of it. Paul knew this well. Eut it 
 affected not his mind, nor produced the slightest hesitation or 
 wavering in his conduct. He knew equally well, that "the 
 foolishness of God was wiser than men, and the weakness of 
 God stronger than men." He knew the real worth of the 
 truth of God, Xay, such was the estimation in which he, 
 held the Gospel, and the Master whom he served in promot- 
 ing it, that, like his fellow-apostles, he reckoned it a ground 
 of glorying when he was " counted worthy to suffer shame 
 for his name." Such is the spirit of what follows, in the 
 connexion in which it stands: verses 16, 17. "For I am 
 not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of 
 God unto salvation to every one that believe! h : to the Jew 
 first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness 
 of God revealed from faith to faith : as it is written, The just 
 shall live by faith." 
 
 To enlarge much on the contents of these verses would be 
 to anticipate subsequent parts of the Epistle, in which the 
 topics which are here only suggested are more formally illus- 
 t rated. I shall content myself with a few brief remarks on 
 the reckons assigned by the Apostle for his not being ashamed
 
 94 LECTURE VI. 
 
 of the Gospel of Christ. They are three in number; and 
 they are all weighty. 
 
 1. The magnitude of its proposed end. This is expressed 
 in one word " SALVATION';" a word of easy and frequent 
 and too often thoughtless utterance, but of incomprehensible 
 amount of meaning. It is infinite evil escaped; and infinite 
 good obtained. It is deliverance from guilt and from the 
 divine sentence of condemnation, from the curse of God and 
 " the second death," a death consisting in the everlasting 
 separation of the sinning creature from God and the eternal 
 endurance of the fearful effects of His wrath; and it is the 
 full and free and everlasting remission of sin, restoration to 
 the favour of that God who " delighteth in mercy ;" adoption 
 into His family and the enjoyment for ever of all the tokens 
 of His love. It is moreover deliverance from sin itself, in the 
 power and love of it here, and in the being of it hereafter ; 
 and restoration to the image as well as to the favour of God 
 to the perfect " beauty of holiness ;" whether men will be- 
 lieve it or not, incomparably the most interesting and pre- 
 cious element of salvation; without which indeed the word 
 hits no meaning, but with which it is full of happiness 
 and of glory. ! if the Gospel can effect this for us ; if it 
 can bring our lost souls back to God; from condemnation to 
 pardon; from curse to blessing; from sin to holiness; from 
 death to life; from hell to heaven and all this for an end- 
 less eternity! is there any reason to be "ashamed" of it'? 
 No surely. If ever shame was folly, it is here. 
 
 2. Paul had no cause to be ashamed of the gospel on ac- 
 count of its divine fitness and tried efficiency for the attain- 
 ment of the end: "for it is the power of God unto salva- 
 tion to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also 
 to the Greek." The meaning is, that while its grand aim 
 i.< "salvation," it is an instrument divinely adapted in its 
 nature, and proved effectual in its actual results, for accom- 
 plishing its purpose. It is so, in both the views we have been 
 giving of " salvation." It provides the only consistent and 
 effectual plan for the justification of sinners ; for procuring 
 their pardon, re-instating them in the divine favour, and giv-
 
 ROMANS I. 13- -17. 95 
 
 ing peace to their consciences, on grounds that are in full har- 
 mony with the just claims of the law, and character, and 
 government of the Supreme Ruler. And it is, at the same 
 time, the omnipotent regenerator of the heart, as well as 
 pacitier of the conscience the all powerful means of renew- 
 ing the soul and transforming it in "the beauty of holiness." 
 It i.- the only doctrine that effects this; and its fitness and 
 adequacy to this end is its highest glory. 
 
 And for both these ends whence arises its fitness? The 
 connexion of the 17th verse with the IGth appears to answer 
 thi-s question : It is the power of God unto salvation " FOB 
 therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith : 
 as it is written, The just shall live by faith." 
 
 A slight transposition of the words in the original language, 
 which is adopted by different commentators, has long ap- 
 peared to me the simplest and most natural way of explain- 
 ing the peculiar and somewhat difficult phrase "from faith 
 to faith : " according to which they are read " for therein 
 is the righteousness of God by faith revealed to faith." It is 
 greatly in favour of this arrangement of the words, that "the 
 righteousness of God by faith " is a phrase in exact agree- 
 ment with this writer's customary modes of expression on the 
 same subject.* This " righteousness of God by faith " is 
 iwealed to faith, or fort faith that is, to be believed. 
 The doctrine thus expressed is that of the free justification 
 of sinners on the ground of the perfect righteousness of the 
 Son of God, the one Mediator, simply received by faith to 
 the exclusion of every thing on the part of the sinner; justi- 
 fication by grace through faith in Je-u.--. 
 
 It is this doctrine that, in a special manner, renders the 
 Gospel "the power of God unto salvation." It is this doc- 
 trine alone that imparts steady and satisfactory pence to the 
 conscience, by providing the sinner with a righteousness as the 
 ground of his hope, which, though not his own, is infinitely 
 glorifying to God in his forgiveness. And it is the sann 
 
 * Chap, iii. 1023; 2 Cor. v. 21 ; Phil. Hi. 79. 
 t The preposition is the snme as in the fifth verse, "/or obediei 
 of faith among all nations."
 
 06 LKCTU11E VI. 
 
 doctrine the very doctrine of which the unbelieving and 
 opposing world lay so frequent a hold to represent the Gospel 
 as giving encouragement to laxity of moral principle- 
 which is felt by the believing sinner to be the grand 
 incitement to holiness. It not only lifts from hi* spirit 
 the load of despondency and despair that lay there with 
 such an oppressive and deadening influence, and gives 
 freedom and enlargement of heart to his obedience; 
 but it is only the overpowering view which the Gospel, as a 
 scheme of free mercy to the chief of sinners, brings before 
 the mind of the character of that God who is love, and who 
 by this wonderful provision testifies his delight in mercy it 
 is this only, when contemplated with the eye of faith, that 
 subdues the soul of the sinner to penitential sorrow and holy 
 love, and disposes him to live in full consecration of his whole 
 pel-son to the God of his salvation. It is this that disarms 
 the heart of all its unworthy jealousies and dishonouring sus- 
 picions, fills it with admiration, humility, gratitude and zeal, 
 and determines it to a willing self-devotion. The enmity of 
 the heart is slain by the cross; and Avhen the principle of 
 holy love is once introduced there, grateful, filial, confiding 
 love, there is the germ of a sanctified character, /nd it is 
 the believing view of the character of God in Christ, a^ luce 
 and as love in milon icith Jioliiteas, that inspires this new 
 and gracious affection. 
 
 Nor is the Apostle's language the language of theory merely : 
 it is also a statement of fact. The gospel had actually and 
 experimentally proved itself " the power of God unto salva- 
 tion.'' Paid had felt it to be so in his own experience; and 
 he had seen it to be so in the experience of others. To 
 many who had received it, he could say " Know ye not that 
 the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be 
 not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 
 nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor 
 thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extor- 
 tioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were 
 some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 
 ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the
 
 ROMANS I. 1317. 97 
 
 Spirit of our God." * Philosophy, with all its vaunted powers, 
 never renewed the nature, never changed the heart of one 
 sinner; never consecrated a single soul as a livin" sacrifice 
 to God. It could but "skin and film the ulcerous sore, 
 while rank corruption still mined within." The gospel of 
 the grace of God furnishes the only remedy adequate to the 
 deep-seated virulence of the moral diseases of fallen hu- 
 manity. 
 
 If the Apostle then, was not ashamed of the end, neither 
 had he any cause to be ashamed of the means. They are 
 alike suited to the character of God and to the exigencies of 
 num. 
 
 3. There is still a third reason assigned by the Apostle for 
 his not being ashamed of the Gospel I mean the comprehen- 
 tiif'iti'xx of its benevolent purpose, it is " to the Jew first and 
 also to the Gentile " " to every one that believeth." This 
 was another feature of its glorious excellence. It was a 
 scheme for mankind for men of " every kindred, and tongue, 
 and people, and nation." It was indeed to the Jew first; 
 and this was both a mark of favour to the seed of Abraham, 
 and at the same time a striking and affecting display of the 
 freedom and riches of the mercy revealed in it of which the 
 first oflbrs wer to be made to the murderers of the Lord of 
 glory ! But it was not, in the design of God, or in the pro- 
 clamation and bestowment of its blessings to be thus confined. 
 The gospel is tidings of a Saviour " for all people." It presents 
 its blessings as the gift of God to sinners without distinction. 
 It holds out the sceptre of divine mercy to the perishing in- 
 habitants of the whole world. It is equally necessary, equally 
 suitable, and equally free, for all. The mind of the Apostle, 
 expanded by the benevolent influence of the faith which he 
 preached, and freed from the narrow prejudices of Jewish 
 pride and partiality, delighted in this. He gloried in the 
 comprehensiveness of a scheme of mercy for the human race : 
 and, instead of being ashamed of it, rejoiced in executing his 
 commission to proclaim through all the earth, " the acceptable 
 
 * 1 Cor. vi. 9 1 1. 
 
 L G
 
 98 LECTURE VI. 
 
 year of the Lord" And who that looks abroad upon the 
 darkness and the wickedness and the misery of a fallen world, 
 will be " ashamed " of a divine message that brings " light to 
 them that are in darkness," pardon to the guilty, purification 
 to the polluted, happiness to the wretched ! Let our minds 
 rather expand with kindly compassion for the entire race of 
 which we form a part, kindle into ardent zeal, and incite us 
 to carry round the world that message which proclaims 
 " glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
 toward men."
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 HOMAXS i. 18 '2.5. 
 
 - For the wrath of (Jo.] in revealed from heaven against nil ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness or' men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because tlwt 
 which may be known of God is manifest in them: for God hath showed it unto 
 them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly 
 seen, being understood by the tilings that are made, even his eternal power and 
 godhead: so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew Gid, 
 they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful: but became vain in their 
 imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to 
 l>e '.vi.M'. they became fo;>!s, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into 
 an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
 creeping tilings. Wherefore (iod also gave them up to nncleanness through the 
 lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves- who 
 changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creatme 
 more than the Creator, who is Messed for ever. Amen." 
 
 IN tin- sixteenth ;inl seventeenth verses, the Apostle liu'l as- 
 signed tlic reasons fur his not being ashamed of -'the Gospel 
 of Christ." This naturally leads him to a topic, in itself deeply 
 interesting, and connected with inferences which he subse- 
 quently deduces from it of unspeakable moment : I nie.in, 
 the alienation from C.od, tin- depraved and guilty M 
 l>oth (ii-ntiles and Jews, as members together of an apostate 
 race. This subject he prosecutes from this puint to the. 
 middle of the third chapter; drawing his illustrations and 
 proofs lirst from //</*, and then (to show the .lews that lie 
 was teaching no ne\v doctrine) from //" Ol'l 1 
 Si- ,-! /if in-' .-. 
 
 The salvation ,,f which I'aul had just spoken is "deliver-
 
 10 LKCTURK VII. 
 
 ance from the wrath to come,"* which includes, of course, 
 deliverance from siii itself iu which 'that wrath originates. 
 Such is the connexion of verse 1 8. " FOR the wrath of God 
 is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unright- 
 eousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." 
 
 " The wrath of God," God is necessarily spoken of after 
 the mariner of men. But we must not conceive of His wrath 
 as if there were in it anything analogous to the perturbations 
 of human passion. It is a holy, settled, deep displeasure, 
 necessarily arising from the perfect opposition of His nature 
 to all sin, infinitely above all the disquietude of painful 
 emotion, and all the littleness of selfish feeling. "THE WRATH 
 OP GOD ! " What heart can conceive all that is implied in 
 words so awful! the wrath of a holy, just, omniscient, al- 
 mighty, and unchangeable God! Of a holy God, whose 
 hatred of sin is infinite ; of a just God, who cannot but pun- 
 ish sin according to its true desert ; of an omniscient God, 
 whose eye there is no eluding, who is "greater than our hearts 
 and knoweth all things;" of an almighty God, whose ability 
 to punish no created power can resist ; and of an unchange- 
 able God, whose nature must continue eternally opposed to 
 sin, whose knowledge no forgetfulness can ever impair, arid 
 whose power eternity cannot weaken ! " HE hath said, Ven- 
 gi.-ance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. 
 And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful 
 thing to fall into the hands of the living God." "Who know- 
 eth the power of his anger 1 ?" 
 
 This wrath is said to have been " revealed from heaven." 
 The displeasure of God against transgression, or, as it is 
 here expressed, " against all ungodliness and unrighteousness 
 of men," (the former meaning the want of a right state of 
 heart towards God, with all its native manifestations, and 
 the latter the violation in principle and in practice of the 
 great law of reciprocal righteousness amongst men), was early 
 intimated to our race. Even the conditional threatening 
 which accompanied the prohibitory restriction from eating of 
 
 * See 1 Thess. i. 1C.
 
 ROMANS I. 1825. 101 
 
 " the tree of knowledge " might be said to have contained 
 such intimation ; and the notice thus given before the en- 
 trance of sin was confirmed by the corresponding sentences 
 pronounced immediately after it. The remembrance of these 
 intimations was kept alive by the secret voice of conscience, 
 and, in connexion with the promised ground of pardon, by 
 the institution of animal sacrifices, which took place immedi- 
 ately after the fall, and was afterwards established, in greater 
 extent and variety, as part of the system of typical rites 
 among the seed of Abraham. In the rest of the world, the 
 true import of this singular institution was miserably per- 
 verted ; and neither the admonitions of conscience, nor the 
 memory of original threatenings was able to withstand, or 
 even in any great degree to check, the dreadful power of 
 moral corruption which hardened the hearts and blinded 
 the minds of men. 
 
 In the verse before us, the Apostle has apparently a pecu- 
 liar reference to the full revelation made in Gospel times ; in 
 conformity with what he says in addressing the Athenian 
 Areopagus Acts xvii. 30, 31, "And the times of this ignor- 
 ance God winked at; but NOW commandeth all men every 
 where to repent : because he hath appointed a day in the 
 which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man 
 whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance 
 unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.'' 
 So here. He seems to mean the wrath of God is now re- 
 vealed, clearly and fully revealed, "against all ungodliness 
 and unrighteousness of men," all their impiety and iniquity. 
 
 Various senses have been affixed to the expression " Who 
 hold the truth in unrighteowiiie***." The word rendered hold 
 signifies to restrain or hold hack* And, without entering 
 into critical discussion of different interpretations, the mean- 
 ing which appears to me by far the most natural is, that 
 under the influence of "unrighteousness" they restrained or 
 held back the truth from exerting its proper power. They 
 kid it, as it were, under arrest, because its imperative dictates 
 
 * x.a.ri%ti>.
 
 102 LECTUUE VI f. 
 
 were such as opposed the inclinations of their depraved hearts. 
 It is not merely that they kept the truth to themselves 
 holding it in concealment and captivity, and instead of dis- 
 closing to others what they knew, criminally leaving them 
 in error and delusion; which some of the philosophers have 
 justly been charged with doing in regard to the unity and 
 other attributes of the divine Being ; hut more generally, (for 
 it appears to me quite unreasonable to confine it to the sages) 
 that both philosophers and others refused to frame their 
 lives even according to such knowledge of truth as they 
 actually possessed, or had the ready means of attaining. 
 They acted towards the truth, in voluntarily resisting its con- 
 trol, and shackling its freedom, as a foolish and unprincipled 
 king does towards his best and wisest counsellor, whom he 
 throws into prison to have him out of the way, resenting his 
 past fidelity, and determined to be no longer troubled with 
 his salutary but unpalatable admonitions. 
 
 This interpretation of the phrase is in evident harmony 
 with the tenor of the subsequent reasoning verses 19, 20. 
 " I it-cause that which may be known of God is manifest in 
 them : for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible 
 tilings of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, 
 being understood by the tilings that are made, even his eter- 
 nal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse." 
 
 It has been made a question by some, whether mankind 
 would ever have arrived at any right notions of God, nay, 
 whether they would have formed even the idea of His exist- 
 ence, from the works of creation alone, apart from original 
 revelation. The inquiry is one which affords room for much 
 ingenious speculation on both sides : but it is one which is 
 incapable of being satisfactorily determined ; because we have 
 no certainly ascertained facts, nor indeed, from the nature of 
 the case, ever can obtain them ; there being no people, amongst 
 whom the notions whatever they may be that do exist, may 
 not, in whole or in part, be the sadly corrupted remnants of 
 primitive tradition. Avoiding, therefore, at present, a specu- 
 lation which would conduct us to no certain conclusion, 
 but at best to theoretical probabilities, it may be more pro-
 
 ROMANS I. 1825. 103 
 
 fitable for us to inquire what is the matter of fact in regard 
 to the knowledge which, wit/tout a written revelation, man- 
 kind have actually possessed on the subject of the nature 
 and perfections of the true God : and, having ascertained the 
 fact, to try how it is to be accounted for, to what cause or 
 causes it is to be ascribed. In general terms, then, the matter 
 of fact is without controversy this : that men, in the state 
 referred to, namely, without a revelation, have not only 
 never attained to any right conceptions of God from the works 
 of creation, but even with these numberless, obvious, and 
 diversified remembrances before their eyes, have invari- 
 ably lost the knowledge which they originally had. This 
 appears to me to be the leading idea in the verses just quoted ; 
 and I shall endeavour to illustrate it in connexion with the 
 great object the Apostle has in view, by a series of obser- 
 vations : 
 
 1. I take it for granted, that man, when created with a 
 rational nature, for the enjoyment of happiness and for the 
 glory of his Maker, was made acquainted with the existence, 
 character, and will of that Being, whose dependent and ac- 
 countable creature he became. The supposition of the con- 
 trary is as inconsistent with sound reason as it is with the 
 explicit statements of Scripture. To deny it is to deny the 
 truth of revelation. From the records of this Book, we 
 learn with certainty that the knowledge of God, although not 
 in the perfection in which it was possessed by man in his 
 original state of innocence and purity, was possessed, both by 
 Adam after he fell, and by the family of the second great 
 progenitor of mankind after the deluge. X->w with this ori- 
 ginal knowledge the idea of subsequent tradition is necessa- 
 rily associated; for on no supposition short of the immediate 
 extinction of the race, could the knowledge thus communi- 
 cated be totally lost at once. Man, then, had the knowledge 
 of the true God originally ; and this gave to succeeding gen- 
 erations the benefit of tradition. 
 
 2. The being and perfections of God are manifested in 
 His works of creation and providence. It is especially on 
 the former that the Apostle insists in the verses before us.
 
 104 LECTURE VII. 
 
 The 20th verse should he read thus; for it is designed to 
 intimate, not only that the works of God do contain this 
 manifestation, but that so it has heen from the beginning: 
 " For from (or since) the creation* of the world, the invi- 
 sible things of God, even his eternal power and godhead, 
 are clearly seen, being understood by (or perceived from) the 
 things that are made."t 
 
 However much some philosophers may have perplexed the 
 subject by metaphysical subtleties, it does not appear that 
 anything can be simpler than the reasoning from the creation 
 to a Creator, from things made to a Maker, from the 
 effect to the Cause. When we see a production of art, in 
 which means are evidently adapted to the accomplishment of 
 an end, it is beyond the perverting influence of any sophis- 
 try to prevent us from inferring the existence and the power 
 of a producing artist. By power I mean intelligence and 
 skill as well as mere physical and mechanical agency; the 
 one as well as the other entering into the idea of ability for 
 the execution of such a work. It is in this comprehensive 
 sense that we should understand the power of God here 
 spoken of as visible in the works of creation. In these, both 
 in the larger and the more minute, the marks of such power 
 are, even to the most superficial observer, numberless, obvi- 
 ous, and astonishing. 
 
 Nor is it only power that may be inferred ; the Apo.stle 
 teaches us to trace creation to " eternal power." In tracing 
 backward a_ chain of second causes, we never arrive at a satis- 
 factory termination ; that which for the time we speak of as 
 a cause being itself no more than an effect of something 
 which preceded it ; so that, however far we travel back, we 
 still want a beginning; however well the links of our chain 
 may be connected with one another, we still want an ulti- 
 mate point at which to make the whole fast a point of ori- 
 ginal fixture and dependence. We are therefore constrained 
 demonstratively to infer, not only the existence of power but 
 of " eternal power" in the great first Cause of all. 
 
 * an KTit-ius, -J- re j. vcir.fi&ffi iii-JtattL.
 
 ROMANS I. 1825. J0. r . 
 
 When to this there is added " His godhead" the Apostle 
 seems to mean His unity, as originally revealed, and as 
 ai tested by the unity of design and consistency and har- 
 mony of operation, manifest in the different departmeiit.s of 
 creation, His being the sole Creator, supreme and exclu- 
 sively entitled to the adoration of his intelligent creatures, 
 in opposition to the universal polytheism of the heathen 
 world. 
 
 When it is said of His "eternal power and godhead" 
 " since the creation of the world they are dearly seen" 
 the Apostle cannot intend to state it as matter of fad that 
 there has been all along from the beginning a discernment 
 and understanding of them by mankind. This would be to 
 make him self contradictory ; for the whole of the following 
 representation is the very reverse. He means, that in' the 
 works of creation there have always been exhibited such 
 proofs of the divine being and perfections as were amply 
 sufficient for keeping intelligent creatures in mind of these 
 important truths. I say, sufficient to keep them in mind. 
 The evidence, indeed, might be considered as even in itself 
 quite sufficient to conduct to the knowledge of God an intel- 
 ligent creature who was previously in ignorance of His ex- 
 istence and perfections. But this is not the case which the 
 Apostle is here illustrating. He connects with these mani- 
 festations of God in His works the possession of original 
 revealed knowledge. The nineteenth verse conveys this 
 idea The original words rendered "that which may IM 
 known," I do not deny to be capable of such a rendering : 
 but it is not the most direct and Literal. The literal ren- 
 dering is "the known of God."* Hence the expression is 
 sometimes used for knowledge in the abstract. It means 
 here " that which was known of God," namely, by original 
 communication. The statement i.-, " That which was known 
 of God is manifest among them." The intimations originally 
 given of the invisible things of God have been continued 
 before the very senses of men. Not only did God at first 
 
 * ft, ytuffrot rat/ diav.
 
 106 LECTURE VII. 
 
 i-.imiiiunicate the truth concerning Himself to the human 
 mind by direct influence ; but He also made it visible to every 
 eye in all the works of His hands, in every age and in every 
 country. Not only did He write His name on the mind of 
 His favoured creature, when "He made him a living soul," 
 but He inscribed it in letters of light on every part of crea- 
 tion. Such were the facts as to the meum of knowledge. 
 There was original information ; and this was connected with 
 continued .subsequent display, numberless remembrancers of 
 what had been at first revealed. 
 
 3. Observe what force of conclusive effect is imparted by 
 this view of the case to the inference drawn in the close of 
 the 20th verse: "So tliat they are without excuse" an 
 inference expanded in the verses which follow " Because 
 that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, 
 neither were thankful ; but became vain in their imagina- 
 tions, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing 
 themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the 
 glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to 
 corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and 
 creeping things. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, 
 ami worshipped and served the creature more than the Crea- 
 tor, who is blessed for ever." 
 
 In these verses the Apostle states matter of fact; both 
 with regard to the knowledge originally possessed and with 
 ivg.ird to the use made of it by mankind, or rather their 
 abuse, corruption, and loss of it. Let us attend, then, more 
 particularly to the facts of the case, that we may perceive 
 111. >re clearly the grounds of inexcusableness. 
 
 " When they knew God, they glorified him not as God." 
 The words are sometimes interpreted as if they signified 
 merely that men might have known God that they pos- 
 sessed the means of knowing Him by the proper exercise of 
 their rational powers in the contemplation of His wonderful 
 works. But this is not their full import. Literally rendered, 
 the words are "Because that knowing God,* they glorified
 
 ROMANS I. 1825. 107 
 
 him not as God:' 1 and in this view they correspond with 
 and confirm the explanation of the phrase in verse 20th 
 "that which icas known of God;" the idea being, that men 
 really knew God, having been originally acquainted with His 
 existence and perfections, as well as subsequently reminded 
 of what they knew by all the works of God around them. 
 
 Though they thus "knew God, they glorified him not as 
 God." They did not continue to render to Him the honour 
 that was His due ; to cherish towards Him those devout tem- 
 pers of mind which became His creatures, or to express the 
 .sentiments of devotion in worship befitting His nature and 
 character. They forgot His unity, and gave Him not exclu- 
 sive adoration; they lost sight of His spirituality, and in- 
 stead of worshipping Him " in spirit and in truth," imagined 
 Him to be gratified with what pleased the sensual appetites 
 of corporeal beings ; the impression of His infinite though 
 unseen majesty (the majesty of eternity, immensity, omni- 
 science, and omnipotence) being effaced from their minds, 
 their homage was no longer that of " reverence and godly 
 fear;" and, letting slip the remembrance of His infinite and 
 HTeeoneileabie separation from all evil, they served the God 
 of light with the works of darkness, the "Holy One" with 
 the mysteries of iniquity and impurity. 
 
 " Neither were they thankful." From God they derived 
 "life and breath and all things;" but they discovered no 
 spirit of gratitude for His multiplied favours. Goodness -was 
 a leading feature of His originally revealed character; and 
 He still continued to "load them with benefits:"- -"Pie left 
 not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave 
 them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts 
 with food and gladness." But they ascribed not the pnii.se 
 of their unnumbered blessings to the benignant and all-gra- 
 cious Author, they either took the credit to themselves, 
 gave the honour to their fellow-creatures, or returned their 
 thanks to gods falsely so called, imaginary deities, the 
 rreation of their own deluded fancy. 
 
 Further; "they became vain -in their iniayi nations." The 
 word translated imaginations means more properly reason-
 
 108 LECTURE VII. 
 
 ings* The original knowledge was right: and all the result? 
 of human reasonings on the subject have been deteriorations 
 of it departures from truth. Instead of there being in 
 human nature, as philosophers insist, a tendency on this sub- 
 ject from ignorance to knowledge, the tendency has, in 
 point of fact, been the very reverse; a tendency from know- 
 ledge to ignorance from light to darkness, from right to 
 wrong. It was when men, having credited the devil's lie, 
 vainly fancied that it had been verified, and that they had 
 become "AS GOD," that the proud "age of reason" com- 
 menced; and the results arising from the application of hu- 
 man reason on such subjects have from the beginning been 
 manifestations of its "vanity." Even in situations in which 
 reason has enjoyed the greatest possible advantages, in the 
 times and places of highest learning and refinement, the 
 melancholy and inortifying fact, without a solitary exception, 
 has been, that " the world by wisdom knew not God." 
 When men commenced reasoners on the things of God, the 
 invariable consequence was that " their foolish heart was 
 darkened, and professing themselves to be wise they became 
 fools." The more they reasoned, in the lofty pride of inde- 
 pendent wisdom, the further and the further did they depart 
 from the purity and excellence of the knowledge which had 
 been communicated to them at the first; and the remark 
 of an infidel writer was exemplified, that ' all is faultless as 
 it comes from God, and all debased and corrupted as it passes 
 through the hands of men.' 
 
 Their folly appeared, in the views and practices to which 
 their fancied wisdom led: They "changed the glory of 
 the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
 man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping tilings. 
 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped 
 and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed 
 for ever. Amen," verses 23, 25. 
 
 "The glory of the incorruptible God" of Him "who 
 alone hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man
 
 KOMANS I. 1825. 109 
 
 can approach unto ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see," 
 Is such as cannot he represented hy any similitude. The at- 
 tempt, to form any such likeness of Him is an impious viola- 
 tion of His will. " Ye saw no manner of similitude," said 
 Moses to the Israelites, "on the day that the Lord spake unto 
 you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire;" and in reminding 
 them of this, he warns them to take heed that they did not, 
 by the presumptuous devising and framing of such images, 
 imitate the example of the idolaters either of Egypt which 
 they had left, or of Canaan Avhere they were about to dwell. 
 
 In the present argument, it is of no very material conse- 
 quence, whether we regard "images" as only representations 
 of deity, or as themselves gods. There can be no manner 
 of dispute that both descriptions of images have existed ; and 
 both are miserably inconsistent with right notions of the di- 
 vine nature. 
 
 Mi'ii who have been notorious during their lives for any 
 particular qualities or actions, have,, in instances innumer- 
 able, been deified after their death. Temples have been 
 erected, statues consecrated, and divine honours paid to 
 departed heroes, legislators, and emperors, the real or sup- 
 posed benefactors of mankind. Thus " the glory of the in- 
 corruptible God has been changed into an image made like 
 to corruptible man." The numerous idols brought from 
 India, from China, from Africa, from the South Seas, and from 
 other pacts of the heathen world, bear testimony to this part 
 of human folly in a way that has made you almost incre- 
 dulous of the possibility, that these should ever anywhere 
 have been the objects of the adoration of human beings; so 
 grotesque and uncouth are most of these "works of the hands 
 of the craftsman" some ludicrous, some fearful, some dis- 
 gusting. Yet the breathing statue, sculptured by the chisel 
 of the iirst masters of the ancient art, which fixes the be- 
 holder in admiration, and almost reconciles him to idolatry 
 for its sake is after all but a different specimen of the same, 
 folly. The Jupiter, the Venus, the Apollo, the Hercules arc 
 exemplifications of " changing the glory of the incorruptible 
 God into an image made like to corruptible man," as much
 
 110 LECTURE VII. 
 
 as the most fantastic or hideous of the idols of Tahiti. And 
 in one respect they are more affecting as being the produc- 
 tions of times and places in which art and science had risen 
 to unrivalled excellence. The superiority above the ignorant 
 savage was only in the art, not in the worship. The sculp- 
 ture was more refined; but the mythology was, if possible, 
 more gross. 
 
 But not only have men been deified; the divinity has 
 even been supposed to reside in " birds, and four-footed 
 beasts, and creeping things." Fishes were worshipped in 
 Syria; oxen, cats, snakes, crocodiles, and even some vegetables, 
 were held sacred as objects of religious homage and venera- 
 tion in Egypt. The monkey has its temples in some places. 
 In one, a monkey's tooth stands high among objects of adora- 
 tion. By the Hottentots the highest divine honours are 
 bestowed on a large insect peculiar to the country ; sacrifices 
 are offered to it, and every one on whom it lights is esteemed 
 a saint. In many other parts of the world, similar absurdi- 
 ties have prevailed. what a melancholy degradation of 
 " the glory of the incorruptible God ! " 
 
 In the 25th verse (which we take in here to complete tho 
 portraiture of idolatry so far as its faith and worship are con- 
 cerned) it is added " They changed the truth of God into a 
 lie:" they changed, that is, the truth concerning God, the 
 true idea of God, into falsehood and vanity. Such terms are 
 often applied by the inspired writers to idolatry. Idols are 
 called by the prophets " lying vanities," "falsehood, vanity, 
 and the work of errors," " lies, and things wherein is 110 pro- 
 fit," "gods that are no gods." Everything about them is 
 falsehood and vanity : confidence in their imaginary power 
 is trust in nothing : all hope of good and all fear of evil from 
 them are alike illusory; and the very existence of such 1 ic- 
 ings as they are formed to represent, in many cases the mere 
 fiction of a deluded and blinded fancy. There is nothing 
 real but the sad delusion itself and all the moral mischief 
 which is its native result. The number of the gods of the 
 heathen is a he against the divine unity; their corporeal na- 
 ture, a lie against his pure invisible spirituality ; their con-
 
 ROMANS I. 18-25. Ml 
 
 fined and local residence a lie against his omnipresence and 
 immensity; their limited and subdivided departments of 
 operation, a lie against his universal proprietorship and do- 
 minion; their follies and weaknesses, a lie against Ids infinite 
 wisdom ; their defects and vices and crimes, a lie against his 
 unsullied purity and perfection. The entire system, in all 
 its diversity of modes, is a sacrilegious robbery of Heaven, a 
 universal slander on the character of the Most High. Every 
 trainer and every worshipper of idols, or of real or imaginary 
 beings represented by idols, has " changed the truth of God 
 into a lie." 
 
 It is added " and worshipped and served the creature 
 more than the Creator." The word translated worship, as 
 distinguished from that rendered serve, means to revere in 
 the heart, while the other signifies to pay, as the expression 
 of this inward reverence, the homage of outward devotion'* 
 the preposition translated "more /7ta"t has different senses, 
 modified according to the connexion. It seems in this in- 
 stance rather feebly represented. More than implies that the 
 true God was partly worshipped, but in an inferior place and 
 degree. But the Apostle means more than this. It seems 
 to have here the sense of rather than, to tlie exclusion nf, in 
 preference or even in opposition to, the Creator. They paid 
 their inward and their outward homage to " corruptible men " 
 whom they invested for themselves with the attributes of 
 divinity, such as they fancied them, and to "birds, and 
 four-footed beasts, and creeping things, rather than to the 
 Creator;" whose nature and character were forgotten, wl-o 
 \vu.s deprived of the worship that was due of right to Him- 
 self alone; and instead of being worshipped exclusively as 
 the only true God, was either entirely overlooked, or igno- 
 rantly and impiously associated as the object of unworthy 
 rites with the works of His own hands, or with likenesses of 
 them "graven by art and man's device." 
 
 The heart of the Apostle, I doubt not, was deeply affected 
 by the thought of the dishonour thus done to " the living 
 
 * The former is <ri/3^<, i!ic Litter >.-^.vu. f *.
 
 112 LECTURE VII. 
 
 God," the object of angelic adoration, and of the love and 
 fear and supplication and thanksgiving of every holy crea- 
 ture, in the universe. His spirit was stirred in him as he 
 wn.te; and with the tear of grief and pity trembling in his 
 eye, and a heart expanding with holy admiration of the 
 great Creator, and glowing with love to the Fountain of all 
 Jiis joys, the God of his salvation, he adds, briefly but feel- 
 ingly, his own tribute of adoring praise, in which every 
 angel in heaven, every man on the earth, every intelligent 
 being throughout creation should join : " WHO is BLESSJCU 
 FOR EVER. AMEX!" Every feeling of devotion, every act 
 of prayer, every ascription of praise, that has been offered to 
 another has robbed Him of his rightful homage. HE ALONE 
 is to be adored; and lie is to be adored FOB EVER the 
 everlasting God! 
 
 The idolatries of the heathen world present a most won- 
 derful and mortifying display of human weakness and folly 
 in the things of God. As such they are here represented : 
 and it is impossible for me to amplify this thought in 
 terms more appropriate and striking than those of the pro- 
 phet Isaiah, when with keen but just and well-applied irony, 
 he thus puts idolatry to shame : " The smith with the tongs 
 both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers. 
 and worketh it with the strength of his arms : yea, he is 
 hungry, and his strength faileth: he driuketh no water, and 
 is faint. The carpenter stretch eth out his rule ; he marketh 
 it "lit with a line; he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh 
 it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a 
 man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain 
 in the house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the, 
 rypivss and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself 
 among the trees of the forest : he planteth an ash, and the 
 rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn : 
 for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth 
 it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worship- 
 peth it; he maketh it a graven image, and faileth down 
 thereto. He burneth part thereof in the fire; with part 
 thereof he eateth flesh ; he roasteth roast, and is satisfied :
 
 ROMANS I. 1825. 113 
 
 yea, ho wanneth himself, and saith, Alia, I am warm, I have 
 seen the fire : and the residue, thereof he maketh a god, even 
 his graven image: lie fallcth down unto it, and worshipped! 
 it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art 
 my god. They have not known nor understood : tor lie hath 
 shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that 
 they cannot understand. And none considered! in his heart, 
 neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have 
 hii rned part of it in the lire; yea, also I have baked bread 
 upon the coals thereof; I have, roasted flesh, and eaten it: 
 and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall 
 J fall down to the stock of a tree? He feedeth on ashes : 
 a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot de- 
 liver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" 
 Isa. xliv. 12 20. 
 
 And while in all this there is marvellous folly in all this 
 in. -a aiv " irHltouf I'j-i'u.,^'." 1 The view which has been taken 
 of the passage gives, as I have before noticed, peculiar force 
 and f.onclusiveness to this inference which is drawn by the 
 Apostle in the close of the 20th verse, from the means of 
 knowledge which wen; possessed: that is from the union of 
 original knowledge with subsequent continued manifestation. 
 It is from the two together that the conclusion is most for- 
 cibly deduced. To render ignorance and error inexcusable, 
 there must be possessed sufficient means of knowledge, and 
 sufficient capacities for observation and understanding. 
 Means of knowledge would be unavailing without natural 
 capacity : and natural capacity, in even the largest measure, 
 equally so without means of knowledge. Both of these were, 
 fully possessed by men, when they lost the knowledge and 
 departed from the worship of the true God. Observe, in 
 order to strengthen the Apostle's conclusion, how the case 
 actually stood. It is a much easier matter to r<-k<!n a le>- 
 sou, especially when the memory is aided by constant repe- 
 titions of the same truth, than to learn one; to keep what 
 is known, than to search out what is unknown; to remem- 
 ber, than to discover. Now, discovery was not what man had 
 originally to effect. Many of the speeuh'.ions of philosophy 
 
 I.
 
 1U LECTURE VII. 
 
 proceed upon the assumption that, originally in ignorance, 
 he had all his acquaintance with the divine existence and 
 perfections to acquire ; to reason out his knowledge ; to ex- 
 plore his way from darkness into light. But such specula- 
 tions have no real basis. However inexcusable men might 
 have been in these circumstances, such was not in point of 
 fact their situation. !S T o. They received at the first a lesson 
 from God himself, which they had only to remember. This 
 lesson they had written before their very eyes on everything 
 around them. Everything in heaven above and in the earth 
 beneath, every part of animate and inanimate creation, re- 
 peated the truth to all their senses, had they but kept them 
 open to observation. Yet so far from learning, they rejected 
 or forgot what they had been taught ; so far from discovering 
 what was unknown, they lost what was known ; and, instead 
 of being led by the ereature to the Creator, they put the 
 creature in the Creator's place. 
 
 Surely then we may say of mankind, as cxur Lord said to 
 the Jews in reference to their treatment of the evidence of 
 His claims, " Now they have no cloak for their sin." Yet 
 even this is not all The Apostle adds yet another ground 
 of inexcusableness in the words formerly explained " nei- 
 ther were thankful." They daily and hourly experienced 
 the unwearied goodness of their Creator and Preserver. 
 This goodness of God should have kept them from forget- 
 ting their divine Benefactor. Every new enjoyment, along 
 with the constant repetition and continued possession of the 
 old, ought to have reminded them afresh of His existence 
 and character, and of their obligations to love and serve Him. 
 Instead of this they forgot the blessed Author of all good; 
 they forsook and dishonoured Him.
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 ROMANS i. 2632. 
 
 " For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections : for even their women did 
 change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the 
 men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: 
 men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that 
 recompense nf their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to return 
 God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those 
 things which are not convenient: being tilled with all unrighteousness, forni- 
 cation, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, 
 deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, 
 boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, 
 covenant -breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who, 
 knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy 
 of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." 
 
 WE have contemplated the account given in the preceding 
 verses of the departure of mankind from the true knowledge 
 of God originally received by them from the divine source 
 itself: and the grounds of their inexcusableness in such de- 
 parture. We are now to consider its CAUSE and its io.\>i: 
 
 The cause of all the gross ignorance and corruption which 
 he had described the Apostle assigns without hesitation in the 
 28th verse : " They did not LIKE to retain God in their know- 
 ledge." The verb translated "like" has been variously ren- 
 dered they did not choose they did not approve. But the 
 varieties make no material difference in the general sentiment 
 conveyed.'" 
 
 * Alford renders the phrase" reprobated the knowledge of God ;"'
 
 lit! LECTURE VIII. 
 
 The first observation suggested by those word* is, that they 
 a!l'.;rd a further and direct confirmation of the view we have 
 het'ore taken of the original possession of the knowledge of 
 (rod by mankind. The expression "they did not like, or 
 choose, to retain God in their knowledge," plainly assume- his 
 having been known. That could not be retain^/ which was 
 not })n*w..wf1. It is not said that they did not choose to 
 inquire after God, to explore their way to the knowledge of 
 Him from a state of previous ignorance. But pioceeding 
 upon the assumption of their already knowing Him, they are 
 said not to have chosen "to retain him in their knowledge." 
 Tin's is simple and clear. 
 
 Our next observation is, that the cause to which the OOF- 
 ruption and loss of the original knowledge is here traced is 
 entirely of a moral nature. This will appear from two con- 
 ni derations: 1. From the word itself employed by the 
 Apostle in assigning it " they did not like to retain God 
 in their knowledge." Adopt whatever translation of the 
 word you please, it cannot be made to express inability: 
 whether arising from the want or deficiency of evidence, 
 nr from the want of opportunity to observe or capacity t 
 understand it. Nothing of this kind is at all alleged. The 
 word clearly expresses the voluntariness of the defection, 
 the ind/n/Mixifion to keep the knowledge as the true cause i..f 
 the loss of it. 2. The same thing is evident from the conse- 
 quence which the Apostle represents as having followed in 
 the divine procedure: " For<i*inu<'h <7-s they did not like to 
 retain God in their knowledge, God gave tlu-ni <>nr to a repro- 
 bate mind, to do those tilings which are not convenient.' 1 
 Whatever difficulty there maybe in ascertaining the precise na- 
 ture of this consequence, it is very evident that it is something 
 /udii'Inl. Xow we are certain, from the principles of reason 
 and from the dictates of the divine word, that nothing of this 
 description could ever be inflicted on account of mere d,-ri- 
 '""'.'/ of intellect. Such a deficiency as can incur the punitive, 
 
 to correspond with the "reprobate mind;" there being an apparent 
 piny on the Greek terms llenlftaffat and s*/,y. Conybearo <riv..>-~ it 
 J.-> i'uey thought fit to cast out the. acknowledgment of GCK!." Er>.
 
 ROMANS I. 2632. 117 
 
 visitation, or the judicial abandonment, of < ;<-,d must be a defi- 
 ciency that has its origin in a moral cau.-e. It must be con- 
 nected with the disposition or state of the heart. There 
 can be no principle of moral pravity in what is purely and 
 simply inidlf-rtwtl. And accordingly, the miserable victims of 
 idolatrous ignorance and superstition are represented by this 
 same Apostle elsewhere as owing their ignorance to their 
 
 The true character of God it is impossible that corrupt 
 creatures should relish. In the hearts of such creatures, 
 there is a predisposition to the rejection of the truth and 
 the admission of error. As a creature proud of his own 
 wisdom. " vainly putted up by his fleshly mind," man has 
 a fondness for such ideas as he can call his men, the result of 
 his own reasonings, or the produce of his own ingenious 
 fancy: and as a creature in love with sin and swayed by 
 the appetites and passions and sensual desires of his fallen 
 nature, he wishes to believe that God is " such an one as him- 
 self." Mankind have accordingly, all along, discovered the 
 most perverse and lamentable propensity to admit any idea 
 of God rather than the right one, and to embrace errors, al- 
 though pregnant with the most palpable absurdity: while 
 they readily let slip or banished from their minds those ori- 
 ginal truths which were uncongenial to their likings ami 
 condemnatory of their whole character. In this way. idolatry 
 becomes an evidence, not only of the imbecility and aberra- 
 tion of the human intellect on spiritual and divine things, 
 but of fhe dfep and ///<//>.- /../// depravity nf /}/> ///////>>// //<<///. 
 
 It i- natural to suppose, and fact accords with the suppo- 
 sition, that various modifications of idolatry would ari.-e from 
 the existing diversities in the country, climate, circumstances. 
 and character of different peoples. But the general source 
 of all these varieties is the same : just as, in a more extended 
 view of the subject, the corruption of the human heart is the 
 great fountain of all the polluted and embittered streams of 
 evil that branch off in directions so innumerable. The in- 
 
 * '*><. rr.t vututH TT.f Ktcrtiai airaV Kjill. IV. 17, 18.
 
 118 LECTURE VIII 
 
 dications of c eruption are many and various : corruption 
 itself is one " ENMITY AGAINST GOD." To this source, ac- 
 cordingly, the philosophy of the Bible, in opposition to all 
 the self-flattering wisdom of man, teaches us unequivocally, to 
 trace the whole system of pagan idolatry, in all its varieties. 
 That idolatry it represents as the error not so much of the 
 head as of the heart. Here it had its origin. Here it still 
 has " its power, and its seat, and its great authority." The 
 folly has sprung from the corruption; the infatuation of the 
 judgment from the depravation of the affections. The vail has 
 not been upon the evidences of the existence and perfections 
 of the one true God, but upon the hearts of His apostate crea- 
 tures. The philosophy of this world, to save from degradation 
 its own favourite idol, human nature, may fondly speculate 
 on other causes; and a sentimental charity may listen to its 
 speculations, and please itself with, its conclusions; but the 
 language of the Bible is pointed and uncompromising. It 
 calls things by their true names, and traces things to their 
 true origin, with a divine decision, which pays no sort of de- 
 ference to the conjectures of human wisdom. 
 
 Philosophers, in accounting upon their principles for the 
 prevalence of idolatry, have attempted to show us how very >/n- 
 fural it was for men to fall into particular species of idolatry. 
 Such we have been told, for example, is the worship of THE 
 SUN. What more natural than that their veneration should 
 be paid to the most glorious object in nature, and the imme- 
 diate and visible source to mankind of the most precious 
 and essential blessings of light, and heat, and fruitfulness 
 and joy ! But in opposition to all such qualifying con- 
 siderations, we must insist upon it, that the nature to which 
 a,/// description can be truly denominated natural, must be 
 a fallen and depraved nature. To no other created nature, 
 surely, can it be natural to lose sight of and forget its Crea- 
 tor, and to substitute "the creature," any one of that 
 Creator's works, however glorious and however useful in His 
 place ; to worship the lights of heaven, rather than the Father 
 of lights himself that God who " is light, and in whom is 
 no darkness at all." Is this indeed natural/ Is it natural
 
 ROMANS I. 2632. 119 
 
 in the abstract? Is it natural to rational beings in general? 
 Is it natural to angels? Or is it natural only to men? To 
 whatever creature in the universe it is natural, the nature 
 of that creature, we may be assured, is not as God made it : 
 for God never formed, never could form a rational creature 
 with a natural inclination to forget and to dishonour Himself. 
 .And with regard to the particular description of idolatry 
 which has just been referred to as the most natural into 
 which men coidd be supposed to fell, it is at least worthy of 
 observation, although I would not be understood as founding 
 much upon it, that when the prophet Ezekiel, in the visions 
 of God, was shown the abominations of the House of Israel, 
 this very idolatry is the last in the melancholy series of 
 exhibitions, and is far from being represented as the least. 
 " Greater abominations " than the first, and " greater abomi- 
 nations " still are repeatedly shown him ; and the worship of 
 the Sun closes the whole.* 
 
 Here then in the alienation of the heart from God ; the 
 unsuitableness of His character to the depraved propensities 
 of fallen creatures, and the consequent desire to have a God 
 " who will approve their sin " is the ORIGIN of idolatry. 
 This view of the case accords well with the character nf 
 the " gods many and lords many of the heathen world," 
 and with the nature of the worship with which they were, 
 and still are, honoiired. Where, among all the objects of 
 their worship, shall we find one whose attributes indicate 
 the operation, in the mind that has imagined it, anything 
 like a principle either of holiness or of love? Where one, 
 whom its worshippers have invested with the qualities either 
 of purity or of mercy? All their deities appear to be the 
 product of a strange and affecting combination of depraved 
 } lassions and guilty fears.t The principal gods of the pantheon 
 
 * See Ezek. chap. viii. 
 
 f The Brahman Pundit who assisted my coadjutor and myself in the 
 translation of the Scriptures a man of extensive acquaintance with 
 Hindu literature more than once put the questions "Are you sure 
 it is in the Greek love God? Are you not making a mistake? We 
 may worship God, or fear God, but we can't love Him ! " No. There 
 is iii their view of Him nothing to draw love. And as to huliittms or
 
 120 LKCTUKE VIII. 
 
 are raised above human kind, chiefly by the superior enormity 
 of their crimes ; their greater power only enabling them to 
 be the greater adepts both in folly and in wickedness. They 
 are the patrons and the examples of all that is vile, and of 
 all that is cruel ; of intemperance, and lust, and knavery, and 
 jealousy, and revenge. Thus men love to sin; and they 
 make their gods sinners, that they may practise evil under 
 their sanction and patronage. 
 
 The 'worship of their gods is such as might be anticipated 
 from their characters. Well are their superstitions denomi- 
 nated " abominable idolatries." They consist, not merely of 
 the most senseless fooleries and extravagances, but of the 
 most disgusting impurities, the most licentious acts of intem- 
 perance, and the most iron-hearted cruelties. 
 
 It may be remarked, that the very same tendency of 
 human nature to depart from Jehovah and follow after 
 idols evinced itself, when a fresh experiment was tried in 
 the case of the Jews. They alone of all nations were put 
 iu possession, of the knowledge of the true God ; and they 
 showed a constant inclination, for many ages of their 
 history, to change, to go astray from Jehovah, and to serve 
 " strange gods, the gods of the heathen that were round 
 about them." Is it not most wonderful, that the only people 
 who were in the right discovered so strong a propensity to 
 change the right for the wrong; while those who were in 
 the wrong adhered pertinaciously to their errors, and were 
 obstinately aA r erse to embrace what was right? How spirited 
 the expostulation of Jehovah by the prophet Jeremiah'? 
 " Pass over the isles of Chittim, and see ; and send unto 
 Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a 
 thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no 
 gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which 
 doth not profit. Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, and 
 be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For 
 my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken 
 
 nti>rtd purity, the conceptions of the best of them arc. low indeed. I 
 have been ready to question, at times, whether they had any idea of 
 mural parky iu tlie Divine Being at all. EJ>.
 
 IIOMAXS I. 2G 32. 121 
 
 me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out 
 M. sterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."* It 
 may be further observed, that the same principle which gave 
 rise to the original departure from the knowledge and worship 
 of God, is that to which must still be traced the indisposition 
 to receive the discovery of the Divine character presented in 
 the Gospel: "This," said Jesus, "is the condemnation, that 
 light is corne into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
 than light, because their deeds were evil."t " GOD is LIGHT:" 
 arid the darkness of human depravity cannot love the light 
 of divine purity. 
 
 Let us new contemplate for a little the COXSEQUEXCES of 
 this criminal because wilful apostacy from God. It is clearly 
 represented in both the 26th and 28th verses, as bringing 
 u ;>:>n them the just displeasure of a forgotten and insulted 
 God. " God (jam 1 , them over to vile affections." " God ijnn- 
 them over to a reprobate mi ml." God is not represented in 
 these expressions as infusing any evil principles; but simply 
 as leaving them to the unbridled indulgence of the lusts of 
 their own hearts the unrestrained operation of the prin- 
 ciples of evil already in them. " He gave them up to unclean- 
 ne,ss, tliroinjh the lusts of tlicir own lieari*." The "vile 
 affections " to the sway of which they were abandone.4, were 
 affections seated in their depraved nature, and exercised with 
 the full bent of their depraved inclination. 
 
 After a certain period in the history of our fallen race, 
 God was pleased, for the wisest and best reasons, to confine 
 all direct revelations of His character and will to the posterity 
 of Abraham; whom He separated from the surrounding na- 
 tions, that He might place His name and institute His wor- 
 ship amongst them. From the rest of the world lie .-eenn- I 
 for a time to withdraw. Not that He " left himself without 
 witness;" for He continued to "do them good, and to givi- 
 them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons." But He im- 
 parted no direct discoveries of Himself: He "winked at 
 their ignorance," not in indifference or connivance, fur less 
 
 * Soe Jcr ii. 10-13. t J^' 1 " 1 ' 19 -
 
 122 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 in approbation; but merely in the way of withholding >uch 
 intimations of His mind as He had given by early inspira- 
 tion, and continued to give to the people of Israel ; and He 
 "suffered them to walk in their own ways."* His Spirit 
 no longer "strove with men," as it had striven with the an- 
 tediluvians by the ministry of Enoch, and Xoali, and probably 
 many others, as "preachers of righteousness:" but they 
 were abandoned to the wild delusions of their own fancied 
 wisdom, and to the dark and dreadful reign of unbridled 
 corruption. 
 
 What an awful curse this was, inflicted (as it is here re- 
 presented to have been) by the judgment of a righteous God, 
 will sufficiently appear from the portrait in the passage be- 
 fore us of the moral character of the heathen world ! What 
 a melancholy catalogue of vices is that which the Apostle 
 adds to those unnatural lusts mentioned in the 26th and 27th 
 verses, which it is well known were awfully prevalent even 
 in the refined periods and countries of idolatrous polytheism, 
 and which in many cases formed a part of the very homage 
 paid to their gods, but on which it would be unseemly as 
 it is unnecessary to dwell ! " God gave them over to a re- 
 probate mind, to do those things which are not convenient : 
 being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, 
 covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, 
 deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, de- 
 spiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient 
 t<> parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, with- 
 out natural affection, implacable, unmerciful : who, knowing 
 the judgment of God, that they which commit such things 
 are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have plea- 
 sure in them that do them." 
 
 To dwell with minute detail on the different features of 
 this hideous picture, and attempt by critical analysis to fix 
 the precise shade of meaning expressed by each particular 
 term in the description, would be no pleasant task ; noi- 
 is it at all necessary. Every word and phrase, as it stands 
 
 * See Acts xvii. 30; xiv. 16.
 
 ROMANS I. 2632. 123 
 
 in our translation, conveys a meaning quite sufficiently 
 intelligible for the Apostle's general purpose in writing, 
 and for ours in expounding his language. The various 
 evils are represented as "not convenient" not becoming* 
 not in agreement with human duty, or with the claims 
 of God on man, or of men on each other against all pro- 
 priety and all law : and these are described as abounding 
 personal and social life being "filled" witli them. The 
 Apostle writes to those who saw the scene described by him, 
 and who could judge of the correctness of the description. 
 They had formerly taken part in the abominations enumer- 
 ated themselves, and displayed, according to circumstances, 
 the evil dispositions and practices. And it is a picture not 
 of the grossness of untutored savage life. It is heathen so- 
 ciety and heathen manners in their refinement. The Romans 
 and the Greeks, let classical predilections frown as they may, 
 sat for the picture. And in other parts of the Apostolic 
 writings we have hints and descriptions, though not so full, 
 of a similar complexion/! 1 
 
 The description shows the fearful length to which the cor- 
 rupt affections of "a reprobate mind" will carry those who 
 are given up to their unchecked dominion. It is not the 
 aggravated caricature of a gloomy yet lively fancy. It is 
 not the production of a soured and fretted misanthrope, giv- 
 ing utterance in terms of too unmeasured satire and abuse to 
 the bitterness of his sullen spirit; but of a mind that wept 
 in tenderness over the reality of the evils, and would have 
 sacrificed life for their removal. We are not, it is true, to 
 suppose all the evils enumerated to exist in individual char- 
 acters; except indeed in as far as that "enmity against God" 
 which constitutes the essence of all human depravity, may 
 be considered as summing them up in itself the latent germ 
 of every possible evil. With regard to the features of the 
 description, many of them are of such different kinds that 
 they could not exist together. But the various wicked dis- 
 
 u> x.ctr,xt<ra. 
 
 f iSce 1 Cor. vi. 9-11; Eph. v. 11, 12 ; iv. 17, 18; 1 Pet. iv. 3,4. fcc.
 
 124 LECTUUE VIII. 
 
 positions, impure desires, malignant passions, and unholy 
 practices, included in the dark catalogue of evils, are not 
 merely to be found, but are common and prevalent, and have 
 ever been so, amongst the idolatrous heathen.* It is with 
 nations as with individuals. Their distinctive characters 
 may be various. Some of the features of the picture may 
 appear with more or less of characteristic aggravation or 
 diminution, according to particular circumstances. But of 
 the gt'ii'-ral *taic of the Gentile world, at that time, and still, 
 the outline here drawn, hideous as it is, is not, we are per- 
 suaded, overcharged, but faithful to nature and to fact. 
 
 The displays of "eternal power and godhead" in the, 
 works of God. rendered, as we have seen, men's forgetfulness 
 and ignorance of Him "without excuse." In like manner, 
 the wickedness which Paul here describes was also rendered 
 inexcusable by what he proceeds to state in verse thirty-sec- 
 ond " Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which 
 commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the 
 same, but have pleasure in them that do them." There is a 
 close analogy between this and the former ease, between 
 men's opportunities of knowing duty and their opportunities 
 of knowing God. 
 
 The judgment originally pronounced by Jehovah against sin 
 was death. To this original sentence the Apostle evidently 
 refers. Of this sentence tnulltion could not fail to cam- 
 down and keep alive some remembrance. And, as in the 
 former case, tradition was powerfully and constantly aided 
 by external manifestations; so, in ////* case, tradition had the 
 assistance of natural conscience, inspiring convictions of 
 guilt and apprehensions of its consequences. And while the 
 sentence of death was thus engraven on the memories and 
 consciences of sinful men, the early and singular institution 
 of animal sacrifices spoke the very same language; reminding 
 the offender, by whom or for whom the victim was offered, 
 by a highly significant symbol, of his guilt and eondemna- 
 
 * I have found intelligent Hindus not unfreqiiently struck with the 
 description, as most accurately picturing what existed among them- 
 
 gulVeS. El>.
 
 ROMAN'S 1. 2632. 12.=> 
 
 tion to death, at the same time that it directed Ins views 
 and hopes to the atonement promised. Thus, as men "knew 
 God" originally, they "knew ilt>- jwljiiicnt of God" original- 
 ly : as the original knowledge of God was kept before their 
 minds by continued manifestations of God in all creation, so 
 the original knowledge of God's judgment against sin had 
 //* remembrances in the continued dictates of the inward 
 monitor, and those divine institutions that were founded on 
 the assumption of guilt, and prefigured a coming atonement. 
 I might have added to these remembrances, too, the regular 
 fulfilment of the original sentence against sin -"Dust th'>n 
 art, and unto dust shalt thou return ;" together with all the 
 sufferings to which human nature became and continued eat 1 
 posed, and all the variety of calamities and judgments hv 
 which the Supreme Ruler manifested His displeasure again.-t 
 sin, and intimated to men that " verily there is a God that 
 judgeth in the earth." Not only was this the case in the 
 antediluvian age. The period succeeding the deluge was by 
 that very event rendered more in* -xcusable if possible than 
 even the generations which had preceded it. For what 
 should have had so powerful and permanent an impression 
 on men's minds as the tradition of that fearful catastrophe? 
 The cause of it Avas known at the time, and must have been 
 handed down with the event itself. And when the remem- 
 brance of this was associated with all the continued ordinary 
 judgments of God, it contributed greatly to men's inexeiis 
 ableness in their rebellion and sin. In all that met the 
 view of men on this side the grave, and in the grave, there 
 was a perfect correspondence with the original traditionary 
 threatening ami sentence against transgression. The original 
 lesson was read to each succeeding generation in "all the 
 woes that flesh was heir to." It was hnmght impressively 
 be.fore their minds in every sickbed and every grave in 
 every personal, every domestic, every public calamity. 
 Whatever therefore was included in the original "judgment 
 of God" declaring death the wages of sin, beyond what was 
 suffered in this world and the dissolution in which life uni- 
 formly terminated -men had constantly before their eyed
 
 12>) LECTURE VIIT. 
 
 proofs innumerable of its certain execution. To the full ex- 
 tent of the bounding-line of their vision, they saw the "judg- 
 ment of God" carried into regular and unmitigated execu- 
 tion. Tliis should have confirmed the conviction, and kept 
 alive the impression of that part of the threatening and 
 sentence that regarded the world to come, unutterably the 
 most important and interesting. From what they saw they 
 might and ought to have inferred what they did not see. 
 From what took place here, they should have drawn their 
 conclusions as to what would take place hereafter. 
 
 Men, then, I again affirm, knew, and ought to have kept 
 in mind, with humble, self-abasing impression, "the judg- 
 ment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy 
 of death." Yet, instead of this, they cast off all restraint. 
 Instead of "striving against sin" from dread of the divine 
 displeasure, they strove to rid their minds of every check to 
 the commission of it ; and pouring contempt on the threat- 
 enings of heaven, stifling their own foreboding appre- 
 hensions, they not only practised those things which God 
 had condemned, but delighted in all who were their asso- 
 ciates in rebellion and wickedness. This, indeed, is perfectly 
 natural. Companions in iniquity give a man countenance 
 and courage in his vicious courses. A wicked man, when 
 surrounded by the good, is surrounded with reproofs; with 
 hated and unwelcome monitors, who will not suffer his me- 
 mory to forget, or his conscience to slumber. But when in 
 doing evil he follows the multitude, his mind is kept com- 
 paratively easy; his fears are laughed away; memory and 
 conscience are lulled together into a dead sleep; disturbed 
 only by occasional starts, the starts of suspicion and terror, 
 agonizing but transient, lasting only while the fascinations of 
 society and the intoxications of sinful pleasure are with- 
 drawn ; and the career of social vice, freed from restraint, 
 and increasing in impetuosity, hurries along its devoted vic- 
 tim to " the chambers of death ! " * 
 
 * Compare Psalm i.
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 
 ROMANS i. 1832. 
 
 HAVIN-G, in two Lectures, endeavoured to expound this pas- 
 sage, I now proceed to de/luce from it some general PRACTI- 
 CAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 1. Let me, in the first place, direct special attention to the 
 Apostle's leading object in the passage. That object is, to 
 show the corruption of human nature the universal depra- 
 vity and guilt of mankind, both Jews and Gentiles. 
 
 Taking up first the case of the GENTILES, he proves, as we 
 have seen, their total degeneracy, from their wilful forgetful- 
 f God, in spite of every advantage it was possible for 
 them to enjoy for enabling them to keep Him in remembrance, 
 from their consequent idolatrous impiety in all its variety 
 of manifestations, and their notorious and flagrant wickedness. 
 The facts so briefly but forcibly enumerated are such as to 
 manifest very clearly and very atfectingly, corruption in prin- 
 ciple, evincing itself by corruption in practice. Had there been 
 in the human heart any liking to the true God. the difficulty 
 would have been to forget, not to remember Him. Tradition 
 would have held fast the original knowledge of Him in its 
 purity, and would have transmitted it with a jealousy of 
 every attempt to alter, to add, or to abridge. Those whom we 
 love we are fond to think of and to call to mind, to dwell on 
 their excellencies, to mark all the traces of their doings, to 
 acknowledge with gratitude their kindnesses, to cultivate in- 
 tercourse with them ourselves, and commend them on all oc- 
 casions to others, to be jealous of their honour, atid zealous
 
 128 LECTURE IX. 
 
 in advancing their interests. Has this been the case with 
 men, in regard to God] Has it not rather been, in every 
 one point, precisely the reverse? And if it be in human 
 n.iture to forget and to depart from the living God, the Crea- 
 tor, Preserver, and all-bountiful Benefactor of the universe, 
 
 -' ever present, ever felt. 
 
 In the void waste, and in the city full. 
 
 displaying Himself in His works and ways to every bodily 
 sense and every mental power of His intelligent creatures ; 
 if this be in human nature, must it not be emphatically 
 corrupt] It -is in human nature. Alas! then, for the vain- 
 glorious boastings of its high-minded and mistaken advocates : 
 
 Idolatrous defection, as we have also seen, is here associ- 
 ated with practical wickedness as its inseparable concomitant. 
 Is it, or is it not, a true description which is contained in the 
 concluding verses of the chapter? Does not the state of the 
 heathen world bear ample testimony to its truth 1 ? And any 
 difference that exists between the heathen world and the 
 world called Christian may be invariably traced to the influ- 
 ence, direct or indirect, of divine revelation. Sin, in its vari- 
 ous forms, has characterized human society in every age, in 
 every part of the world, and under all possible circumstances. 
 
 Although external position, connected with certain diver- 
 sities of bodily and mental constitution, may sufficiently 
 account for what may be termed the modifications of corrup- 
 tion, the different aspects, as it were, which it assumes, in 
 the characters both of individuals and of communities: 
 nothing short of radical innate depravity can account for the 
 evil that is /// nil. The fact appears to be, that the seeds of 
 ail evil are in the hearts of all men. Of these some spring 
 up in one character, and others in another, as circumstances 
 happen to favour or to check their growth. But all are 
 tin-re; and experience sufficiently proves, that there needs 
 <mly this diversity of circumstances, to nourish each of them 
 to fruitfulness according to its kind. To establish the doc 
 trine of universal degeneracy, it is not necessary, as I for- 
 merly observed, to prove, that all the features here enume-
 
 ROMANS I. 1832. 129 
 
 make a conspicuous appearance in every character. 
 From not duly attending to this, men are much in danger of 
 being misled. They perceive in themselves or in others 
 something which they reckon good; and from this they too 
 readily infer, that, notwithstanding the accompanying evil, 
 there is real soundness of heart. Nothing can be more falla- 
 cious. For not only may there be the semblance of good 
 Avhere there is the absence of right principle, where all is 
 vitiated by an inherent and deep-seated ungodliness; but, 
 in truth, the wilful indulgence of one or more sinful lusts 
 makes it decidedly manifest that it is the semblance of good 
 only that exists ; and that nothing is wanting but opportunity 
 and temptation, to bring the other evil propensities and 
 desires of the heart into the same practical exercise. And this 
 suggests another source of self-deception. Under the influ- 
 ence of self-partiality, men often impute to the operation of 
 good principles what is the result of nothing higher than the 
 restraints of education and other external causes ; whilst there 
 is no fear and love of God, and the heart remains a stranger 
 to every divine impulse. Some sins, moreover, are, from their 
 very nature, incompatible with others such, for example, as 
 avarice and prodigality. Yet how frequently does the miser 
 plume himself on his not being a prodigal ; and the prodigal 
 cherish equal self-complacency in his not being a miser! 
 
 Let us only observe further, before quitting this particular 
 the connexion, in the way of reciprocal influence, between 
 impiety and immorality. Immorality in the life is the 
 natural consequence and evidence of impiety towards God 
 in the heart. Impiety is the principle of all immorality ; 
 while in its turn, it is both cherished by the secret desire .f 
 criminal indulgence, and confirmed by the habits of open 
 wickedness. The love of sin inspires the wish that God were, 
 other than He is ; the wish induces a fond and flattering per- 
 suasion; and this again is succeeded by the banishment "f 
 all fear of God from the heart and from the life. It was " a 
 rebellious people," that loved iniquity and could not bear the 
 law of the Lord, that said to the prophets of old " Cause the
 
 130 LECTUKE IX. 
 
 Holv one of Israel to cease from before us."* Paul exhorts 
 Timothy to "hold faith and a good conscience," enforcing his 
 admonition by the case of those who, having " put away " the 
 latter, " made shipwreck " of the former, t This is, we fear, 
 no uncommon case. The love of sin overcomes men ; and, 
 accommodating their creed to their character, they throw 
 aside the laith which opposed its indulgence. The scoffers, 
 too, who said, with the taunt of unbelieving disdain, " Where 
 is the promise of his coining 1 ?" j were men who " walked after 
 their own lusts," and who, unwilling to relinquish their 
 gratification, reasoned themselves out of the belief of a judg- 
 ment to come. 
 
 2. In 1li" set-mid plw:e: Observe the necessity and the 
 value of revelation. 
 
 How early did this necessity appear! Before the flood, 
 " the wickedness of man was great upon the earth ; every ima- 
 gination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu- 
 ally; the earth was corrupt and filled with violence, all flesh 
 having corrupted their way upon it." And, after the flood, 
 at the time that Abraham was called out of Ur of the 
 Chaldees, the state of the world was little better. The 
 fathers of God's chosen people " served otiier gods beyond 
 the river; "|| and they themselves, previous to the captivity 
 in Babylon, displayed all along a most inveterate propensity 
 to idolatry, and all its attendant evils. So that, had not God 
 been pleased to commit his " lively oracles " to that favoured 
 prople, and to preserve amongst them, by special interposi- 
 tion, the knowledge of his name, the darkness that covered 
 the earth would have continued universal, without a single 
 ray of blessed light to cheer the gloom. 
 
 The inductive, or experimental mode of reasoning, is now 
 admitted by all to be the surest and safest way of arriving at 
 truth. Yet while philosophers admit this, and apply the 
 principle, with scrupulous jealousy, in their investigation of 
 the different branches of human science, they 'are, on the 
 
 * TR.I. xxx. it i I. f See 1 Tim. i. 19. J 2 Pet. iii. 4. 
 
 g Gen. vi. 5, 11, 12. [j Josh. xxiv. 2.
 
 ROMANS I. 1832. 131 
 
 subject before u.s, marvellously inconsistent with themselves, 
 rontinue to talk and to write of the sufficiency of the 
 light of nature, to guide men to God and to virtue, while the 
 experience of every age and of every nation looks them broad 
 in the face, and plainly contradicts all their reasonings. 
 ^iever was an experiment more completely tried with every 
 conceivable variety of situation and circumstance: arid on 
 every trial the great general result has been uniformly the 
 same. A number of corresponding facts warrant, among 
 men of science, the formation of a theory : if opposing facts are 
 afterwards discovered, the theory is weakened; if such facts 
 multiply, it is overthrown. But here is a case in which the 
 facts are numberless and all concurrent; no exceptions, no 
 contradictory results. Give it the fairest possible trial. Take 
 the most enlightened nations in their most enlightened times. 
 Have they, in these circumstances, excelled Others in their 
 views of God, and in moral goodness? "!No, in no wise." 
 Frequently, indeed, they have even been worse ; as deplorably 
 ignorant, and more wicked, although, in some respects, more 
 refined. What, then, shall we think of men who. professing, 
 on every other subject, their abhorrence of mere hypothesis, 
 can, in such circumstances as these, oppose theory to fact? 
 -The most satisfactory answer to all their sophistical reason- 
 ings is a glance into the heathen world. This of itself fur- 
 nishes a thorough confutation of their whole system, and 
 pi-oves it to be nothing better than the building of aerial castles. 
 But further : a chemist, in making any experiment, shows 
 thi- most anxious care to prevent the admission of any extra- 
 neous ingredient, the presence of which might, produce an 
 incorrect result. Upon the same principle, if we wish, with 
 fairness, to ascertain the length to which the light of nature 
 is sufficient to carry men, we ought to look to those places 
 and times in which it has been left to its own unassisted 
 operation : if we would decide on proper grounds the ques- 
 tion as to the necessity of revelation, we must institute our 
 inquiry not where revelation has already exerted its iniluence, 
 but where it is entirely unknown. It has been often re- 
 marked, that modern philosophers are indebted for their own
 
 132 LECTURE IX. 
 
 superior light (alas! that the light which is in them should 
 be darkness !) to that very source of light, which they wish 
 to extinguish; that they are debtors to revelation, although 
 they ungratefully refuse to acknowledge the obligation. They 
 borrow from the armoury of God the very weapons with 
 which they oppose His cause : they pilfer fire from the altar 
 of Truth, to burn the sacrifice at the shrine of Reason. They 
 are not men of superior powers to the ancients, far less of 
 superior candour; but only of superior, though unacknow- 
 ledged, privileges. Now, even the philosophers of antiquity, 
 eminent as they were, had miserably defective and sadly 
 erroneous views of Deity, and of the way of obtaining 
 His favour, and were grievously inconsistent, and mutually 
 contradictory in their theories of morals. All that is good in 
 any of their systems is to be found here in this precious 
 Volume along with infinitely more, and infinitely better. Yet 
 the Bible must be discarded, and their foolish and crude con- 
 jectures substituted in its place! Because they had some 
 feeble glimmerings of uncertain light, we must shut our eyes 
 in noonday ! Because they had a dim taper, we must seek 
 to quench the siin ! Xo ! blessed be God for this heavenly 
 light ! But for it, we too should have been sitting in the 
 region and shadow of death "without God and without 
 hope in the world." But for it, we, like our forefathers, 
 should have been living according to the fearful description 
 in this passage, immersed in all the abominations of super- 
 stition; treading the cheerless journey of life, with "shadows, 
 clouds, and darkness," hanging over its termination ! With 
 what exulting gratitude should we adopt the language of 
 Zacharias, praising that God " through whose tender mercy 
 the day-spring from on high hath visited us; to give light 
 to them that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death ; to 
 guide our feet into the way of peace!"* "The law of thy 
 mouth," says David, "is better unto me than thousands of gold 
 and silver." Thus will the divine word be valued by all who 
 are "taught of God," as communicating the knowledge of Him-
 
 ROMANS I. 1832. 133 
 
 self, and of the way in which sinners may find acceptance in 
 His sight; as thus imparting the good hope of "life and in- 
 eorruption;" restoring to the soul, by its holy influence, the 
 lost image of God ; and not only exhibiting a beautiful and 
 perfect system of moral duty, but inspiring the most powerful 
 motives to obedience, and promising the most effectual aid. 
 Ho\v unspeakably precious that Book, which thus reveals God 
 to man, and brings man back to God; to HIM "in whose 
 favour is life, and whose loving-kindness is better than life:" 
 
 3. In the third place: How inexcusable must they be, 
 who, possessing such a revelation, remain, notwithstanding, 
 ignorant of God ! 
 
 The BIBLE, as might be expected of a revelation from 
 heaven, bears marks of its Author, as well as the works of 
 creation. It makes known the Divine character, in all its 
 glorious fulness ; so that the Avorks of nature " have no glory 
 by reason of the glory that cxcelleth." In the scheme of re- 
 demption, the grand subject of this revelation, all the per- 
 fections uf God are displayed together, each in its full lustre, 
 no one impairing the splendour of any of the rest, but all, 
 with the .same harmony in which they subsist in the Divine 
 nature itself, blending their rays into one flood of pure and 
 heavenly light. But alas! the same principles of corruption, 
 which made men willing to forget God amidst His works of 
 creation and providence, make them unwilling to receive the 
 truth concerning Him, when set before them more directly in 
 His word. "The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness 
 comprehendeth it not." It is a melancholy but undeniable 
 fact, that there are many, who, with the Bible in their 
 hands, and passing under the designation of Christians, are 
 almost as ignorant of the true character of God as the 
 heathen. But if the heathen be "without excuse," what 
 shall be said of those who shut their eyes against this 
 superior light, and while it sliines around them continue 
 to walk in darkness? 
 
 flow inexcusable, too, and how deeply criminal, mu^t 
 they be, who still "hold the truth in unrighteous/*' 
 Here is the Bible. You have a general knowledge of its
 
 134 LECTURE IX. 
 
 contents, perhaps from early education ; such a speculative 
 acquaintance with its doctrines as enables you to talk about 
 them with readiness. You even profess to believe them. 
 Yet, withal, they have no proper influence upon your hearts 
 and lives : no effect, but now and then troubling your con- 
 sciences with unwelcome convictions and alarms. You re- 
 strain and resist their influence; you continue ungodly, or 
 worldly, or sunk in careless security, making light of sin, and 
 trifling with eternal concerns. O where can you find an 
 "excuse," of which even your own deceitful hearts will admit 
 the validity? Such conduct is so like a direct defiance of 
 God! The language of it is " I know all these things suffi- 
 ciently well ; but I care not about them ! " What if the 
 righteous God, in his just displeasure, should give you over 
 to "a reprobate, mind?" remember, and weigh well the 
 words of the Saviour, "the Light of the world : " " Yet a little 
 while is the light with you : walk while ye have the light, 
 lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in dark- 
 ness knoweth not whither he goeth." * 
 
 Beware of imagining that the mere possession of revelation 
 constitutes you Christians. It is true that by the possession 
 of the Bible, the most excellent of all God's gifts, you are 
 distinguished from the unenlightened heathen. But religion 
 is a matter of personal concern. The mere having of the 
 Bible can do no good, if its important truths are disbelieved 
 or neglected. So far will this distinction be from profiting 
 in the end, the higher the privileges the deeper will be the 
 guilt, and the more aggravated the sentence of condem- 
 nation. That very word, in the possession of which, and 
 the general belief of its inspiration, you have vainly 
 trusted, that very word will judge and condemn you " in 
 the last day : " for that word hath said (and let the sen- 
 tence be considered not merely as a doctrine to be believed, 
 but as a solemn matter of fact with regard to every indivi- 
 dual) " EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT SEE THE 
 
 KINGDOM OF GoD!"f 
 
 * Jolm xii. 35, 3(5. f J lm "i. 3.
 
 ROMANS I. 1832. 135 
 
 The general influence of Christianity, I may observe, on 
 the state and aspect of human society, has been the means 
 of deceiving many ; who, dwelling on the change of manners 
 which the introduction of it in different countries has pro- 
 duced, the checks which it presents to the dissolution of pub- 
 lic morals, and its beneficial tendency in promoting social 
 happiness, have forgotten to come nearer home : have over- 
 looked the inveterate and deep-seated malady which it is 
 designed to cure, the extent of that destruction from which 
 it is its object to save, the means of salvation which it pre- 
 sents, and the nature and degree of that personal "holiness, 
 without which no man shall see the Lord." Such persons 
 have, perhaps, themselves experienced this indirect operation 
 of Christianity in restraining the excess of wickedness, and 
 producing external sobriety; and by this the power of the 
 deception is aided ; and they fancy themselves "good Chris- 
 tians," while they are yet "in the gall of bitterness, and in 
 the bond of iniquity." The influence referred to is, to a 
 considerable extent, readily and joyfully admitted; yet 
 there is a possibility of its being over-estimated. Perhaps 
 the difference between the inhabitants of heathen lands, 
 and the tmregenerate part of the population of countries 
 denominated Christian, consists as much in vice among the 
 latter being more refined, as in its being less abundant. 
 
 4. In the fourth plac>> : The guilt of idolatry, it is to be 
 feared, attaches to many who little imagine that they are ;it 
 all chargeable with any thing of the kind. 
 
 Yes there are many who may even, in contemplating the 
 idolatries of the heathen, condemn, and wonder, and pity, 
 without at all reflecting on the possibility of their being 
 themselves involved in the same guilt. You are not wor- 
 shipping the host of heaven: you are not adoring deified 
 men; you are not falling down to stocks and stop 
 you are not making to yourselves graven images, Hkeii'<-cs 
 of things in heaven above or in the earth beneath, or in 
 the waters under the earth; and you conclude you aiv 
 not idolaters. But what is the spirit of idolatry? Is it 
 not the alienation of the heart from God] Is it not the
 
 13 :) LECTURE IX. 
 
 withholding from Him, and the giving to other objects, what- 
 ever they may be, that homage and those affections, to which 
 He alone is entitled? Every man's idol is that on which his 
 heart is supremely set ; and every heart in which Jehovah is 
 not enthroned, is an idol's temple. Is there present any man 
 of ambition, who is pursuing, with the full ardour of his 
 mind, the honour that belongs to earth; whose spirit is 
 panting for power, and station, and influence, and present 
 or posthumous fame; whose thoughts, and schemes, and 
 anxieties, and efforts are expended for their attainment I 
 His heart is withheld from God ; he is " given up to ido- 
 latry." Is there a man of this world, whose mind, whose 
 time, whose exertions are devoted to the acquisition of 
 its wealth; who, for the attainment of this, "rises early, 
 and sits up late," and eats the bread of carefulness, and, im- 
 mersed in the projection and execution of plans of worldly 
 emolument, is thoughtless of his soul, of eternity, and of 
 God 1 ? Whether that man hoards up his stores with the 
 avarice of a miser, or expends them on the gratification of 
 the " lust of the eye and the pride of life," his heart is not 
 God's ; he has in him the spirit of idolatry. He may not 
 have deities whom he names Plutus or Mammon; but he 
 might have both, and be little more an idolater than he 
 already is. Is there a man whom Providence has blessed 
 with a fulness of domestic joys : who, in the bosom of a 
 lovely family, finds the ample gratification of his desire for 
 happiness; who smiles through tears of delight on the ob- 
 jects of his fond affection, and, because it is right he should 
 love them, fancies that his enjoyment is more than innocent, - 
 that it is virtuous and praiseworthy? I would, in the spirit 
 of kindness, remind such a man, that there is one higher 
 than father and mother, and wife and children, and that if 
 HE has not the first place in our hearts, even the exercise of 
 natural affection becomes idolatry. Let these affections be 
 hallowed by faith and piety ; let an altar be reared in your 
 household to "the God of the families of Israel." TiU this 
 is done, your family is your idol ; it estranges your heart 
 ironi God: the object of your attachment is lawful, but
 
 ROMANS I. 1832. ]:;; 
 
 your attachment itself is idolatrous. Is there in this as- 
 sembly a man of science, who employs his time and his 
 powers in the researches of philosophy, in one or in all of its 
 diversified departments] His employment is rational, manly, 
 honourable. But, oh! let him listen to the voice of friendly 
 warning. Science may be the god of his idolatry. He may 
 study nature, without a single thought of "Nature's God." 
 He may explore the wonders of creation, without one rising 
 sentiment of devotion to the "Maker omnipotent." Or, if 
 he pay a passing compliment to His power and skill, he 
 may view Him only as a wonderful Artist ; he may be blind 
 and insensible to the beauties of His moral perfections; 
 these may be unheeded, unadmired, unadored. The autho- 
 rity of God may not be his rule, nor the fear and love of 
 God his springs of action ; nor the glory of God his end. 
 He may trille with the claims of the Bible. He may live in 
 wilful ignorance of the God of salvation. Science is good ; 
 but if it exclude God, it is "science falsely so called." The 
 sun, moon, and stars may as effectually take away a man's 
 heart from God, as if he were a professed worshipper of 
 "the host of heaven;" and many a one whom 
 
 "Science never tanplit to stray 
 Far as the solar walk, or milky way," 
 
 shall stand accepted at last as an humble believer, a lover, 
 and a worshipper of "the God and Father of our Lord 
 .I.-sus Christ;" whilst the philosopher of this world, who 
 lived and died " without Christ and without God," shall be 
 rejected as an idolater of science and of self, and shall pre- 
 sent an affecting illustration of the Saviour's words, " I 
 thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, berau.M- 
 thou hast hid these things from tin; wise and priuhmt, and 
 hast revealed them unto babes!"" Lastly: Is there any one 
 who presumes to offer his worship to God undei any other 
 view uf His character than that which is pM-sent.-d in the
 
 138 LECTURK IX. 
 
 Gospel ; or in any other way than that which the Gospel pre- 
 scribes? Recollect, that there is hut ONE GOD; that this 
 one God has one immutable character; that this character 
 is essential to His very being; that the God of the Bible 
 is this one God; and that if He is not worshipped as there 
 made known, it is not God that is worshipped, but an idol, 
 a creature of your own imagination. You may, in your 
 minds, divest God of some of His essential perfections ; and 
 then fall down and worship Him in your own way: 
 but this is idolatry, both in the spirit and in the letter. Is 
 there in this assembly any self-ignorant and deluded soul, 
 that will presume to come to God in the relation of a rwif <(>>>., 
 while he n-fuses that prostration of a "broken and contrite 
 heart," which becomes him as a sinner; who will venture 
 before the throne of purity and justice in his own name, 
 and on the ground of his own doings, and not in the name 
 and through the obedience and sacrifice of the blessed Re- 
 deemer'? Were I to say, that such worship could be accepted 
 of God, I should be using my influence to deceive his soul, 
 and to bring his blood upon my own head. The Gospel 
 addresses us in the character of sinners. In this character, 
 it invites us to return to God. And how, then, should sin- 
 ners return to God, return to their justly-offended Sovereign 1 
 Surely, with the feelings and the language of humble broken- 
 hearted petitioners for mercy; deeply feeling, and freely own- 
 ing, the righteousness of the sentence that has condemned 
 them ; sensible of their entire unworthiness of a favourable 
 reception; and relying for acceptance on "grace reigning 
 through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ 
 our Lord." It is indispensably necessary to the acceptable 
 approach of any sinner to God, that his spirit he brought 
 ilmni In hi* x!t nation; that he take the low ground, as to 
 himself, which the Gospel of Christ assigns him. As a sin- 
 ner, he must come to God pleading the blood of the 
 Saviour's atonement, and the merits of his perfect right- 
 eousness; as a sinner, he must continue to worship, pre- 
 senting all his services, of every description, in the name of 
 Jesus; adopting, as the expression of his faith and his
 
 ROMANS I. 18-32. 139 
 
 feelings, the language of the dying martyr, "XoNK BUT 
 CHRIST, NONE BUT CHRIST!" 
 
 5. In the fifth place, : What an irresistible motive is here 
 presented to missionary exertions ! Whose heart, in reading 
 this affecting passage, does not dissolve in the tenderest com- 
 passion for the weakness, the impiety, the wickedness, ami 
 the misery of mankind? Whose heart does not glow witli 
 all the ardour of benevolent desire, "to open their eyes, 1,1 
 turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of 
 Satan unto God?" Whose spirit is not stirred within him 
 with the emotions of indignant zeal, in beholding the world 
 " wholly given to idolatry ;" in contemplating the prostrate 
 glories of the incorruptible God? To suppose a Christian 
 cool and indifferent on such a subject, is to suppose a contra- 
 diction in terms a Christian without piety, without mercy, 
 without benevolence ! Think how the glory of God is 
 trampled under foot! Think how Satan, with usurped and 
 cruel dominion, reigns triumphant, and leads mankind, in 
 millions, captive at his will ! Think how large a proportion 
 of the world is still in the condition here described, "dark- 
 ness covering the earth, and gross darkness the people ! " 
 What reason for aixlent and importunate supplication ! what 
 a field for benevolent exertion ! what a powerful demand for 
 pecuniary sacrifice ! 
 
 6. In the last place: Let Christians make it manifest by 
 their whole character, that the connexion is as close between 
 1ruth and righteousness, as between error and wicketlm-*.-: 
 Let your profession of the faith of the Gospel be adorned by a 
 conduct uniformly consistent with its pure nature and its Imly 
 influence. While you shun, with horror, all the vices here 
 enumerated as the attendants and consequences of error, 
 cultivate and display, under the influence of truth, their 
 opposite virtues, "walking worthy of the vocation wherewith 
 ye are called:" being "renewed in the spirit of your mind, 
 and putting on the new man which, after God, is created 
 in righteousness and true holiness."
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 ROMANS n. 1 11. 
 
 ;l Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever tliou art that judgest : 
 for wherein thon judgest another, thou condenuiest thyself; for thou that judjr- 
 est digest the same tilings. But we are sure that the judgment of God is ac- 
 cording to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou 
 this, O man, that judgest them which do suc-h things, and doest the same, that 
 thou shall escape the judgment of Gou? Or despisest thou the riches of his 
 goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering: not knowing that the goodness 
 of Gi>d leadeth thee to repentance? But. after thy hardness and impenitent 
 heart, treasures! up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation 
 of the righteous judgment of God: who will render to every man according to 
 his deeds: to them who, hy patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, 
 and honour, and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that are contentious, 
 and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 
 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jewfir>t, 
 and also of the Gentile : but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that work- 
 eth good; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of 
 persons with God.'' 
 
 IN iuterpretiiig the Scriptures, as in interpreting any other 
 writings, it is of the utmost Consequence to keep in view, on 
 all occasions, the oltject, or general aim of the writer. To 
 dislocate particular passages, and explain them according to 
 their apparent meaning, when thus separated from their con- 
 nexion, is at once to dishonour God, and to deceive ourselves. 
 The reasoning of the Apostle from the eighteenth verse of 
 the first chapter of this Epistle to the twentieth verse of the 
 third, is all obviously intended to prepare for, and to estab- 
 lish, the inference which is there drawn; that " by the deeds 
 of the law there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight."
 
 ROMANS II. l-i I. 141 
 
 This, therefore, we ought to keep steadily in mind, as our 
 k--y. or rule of interpretation. 
 
 Having shown the sad corruption of the GENTILES, he pro- 
 ceeds now to prove that of the JEWS : which he does, in tL<- 
 first place, from fact, and then by an appeal to their own 
 Scriptures. 
 
 The person addressed in this chapter appears to be the 
 same throughout ; and we ascertain from the seventeenth : 
 (what the scope of the passage, even without this explana- 
 tion, might have led us, with little hesitation, to conclude) 
 that the subject of expostulation is an unbelieving Jew: 
 " Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and 
 makest thy boast of God." 
 
 As the Epistle itself is addressed to the saints of God at 
 Home, the pointed and faithful expostulation which occupies 
 the whole of this second chapter, must be considered in the 
 light of an Apostrophe; a mode of declaring truth fitted more 
 powerfully to arrest the attention, and impress the con- 
 science, of such unbelieving Israelites, as might chance to 
 read or to hear the letter, than a mere narrative statement, 
 proving their degeneracy to others. 
 
 When the prophet Nathan came to David, and, in relating 
 to him the story of the ewe-lamb, seemed only to plead, con- 
 sistently with his character, the cause of injured poverty and 
 outraged sensibility, the king's anger was greatly kindled 
 against the rich man, whose selfish, unjust, and oppressive, 
 and feelingless conduct had been described. Without a 
 moment's hesitation, he pronounced his sentence : little 
 imagining that that sentence was, with dreadful aggravation, 
 his own ; little expecting that his slumbering conscience was 
 instantly to be startled with the pointed application "Tnou 
 
 ART THE MAX '." 
 
 .Similar to this is the case now before us. The 
 would be quite disposed to condemn, with the utmost sever- 
 ity, and with eager promptitude, the idolatrous and wicked 
 Gentiles, whose character had just been portrayed, and whom, 
 in the pride of their deceived hearts, they viewed and treated 
 as worthless outcasts. Yet in thus readily assenting to the
 
 142 LECTURE X. 
 
 guilt of the Gentiles, they pronounced, unconsciously, a sen- 
 tence of deeper condemnation against themselves : verse 1 . 
 ' Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever thou art 
 that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou con- 
 demnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." 
 
 JOSEPHUS, the historian of the Jews, gives an account of 
 the character of his countrymen at this period, which full}' 
 justifies this pointed admonition, "Thou that judgest doest 
 the same things:" an expression of which the meaning must 
 be ascertained hy a reference to the description of the varied 
 wickedness of the Gentiles in the conclusion of the preced- 
 ing chapter. Although the Jews, from the time of their 
 captivity in Babylon, had kept free from those idolatries to 
 which they had before showed so strong and unvarying a 
 propensity, yet their conduct as a people had become deplo- 
 rably licentious. They were so generally addicted to every 
 species of vice and profligacy, that in the representation 
 given above of the character of the heathen world, they 
 might have discerned too faithful a picture of their own. 
 
 While, therefore, they judged others, they evidently pro- 
 nounced sentence upon themselves. Indeed, from the supe- 
 rior light which they enjoyed, from their knowledge, com- 
 municated to them by revelation, of the character and will 
 of God, they were, in a peculiar manner, " without excuse." 
 Instead of improving these precious advantages aright, they 
 made them the ground of a vainglorious confidence, " and 
 turned the grace of God into licentiousness." Their trust in 
 them was foolish and impious : and therefore the Apostle 
 adds (verse 2), "But we know* that the judgment of God is 
 according to truth against them which commit such things." 
 
 The dictates of conscience, together with the remnants of 
 tradition among the Gentiles, referred to in the last verse of 
 the preceding chapter, corresponded in their general import 
 with those judicial declarations of divine displeasure against 
 sin, which were contained in the records of inspired truth, 
 and of which the Jew.s could not be ignorant. They knew, 
 
 X- ** 
 
 OIUKf&lll.
 
 ROMANS II. 111. 143 
 
 more certainly than it could ever be ascertained by the Gen- 
 tiles, " the judgment of God, that they who commit such 
 things are worthy of death.'' They had the law of God in 
 their possession; and they knew the sentence which pro- 
 nounced "accursed" every one that "confirmed not all the 
 words of that law" to do them: a sentence to which all the 
 people were enjoined to say A MEN :* But alas: in a still 
 more affecting extent than the Gentiles, they "held the 
 truth in tmrighteousness." 
 
 Now " we know," says the Apostle, " that the judgment 
 of God against them who commit such things is according 
 to truth." It is, in itself, a righteous sentence, not exceeding 
 the desert of transgression: it is a sentence pronounced in 
 truth, not designed to operate as a deceitful restraint, but to 
 be executed, in all its extent, with infallible certainty : and 
 it is a sentence which shall be fulfilled with perfect imparti- 
 ality, on the ground not of external privilege, but of real 
 character. On this principle, Paul reasons with his wicked 
 countrymen; points out to them their folly; demonstrates 
 the fallacy and the impiety of their hopes; and warns them 
 of their imminent danger. They trusted and gloried in their 
 distinguishing peculiarities, as the. children of Abraham, and 
 the chosen people of God, favoured with the revelation of 
 His will, and with many other concomitant and appropriate 
 blessings. They called God their Father, and 1 toasted, with 
 arrogant self-complacency, of their supposed relation to Him ; 
 M-hile in truth tliey were "of their father the devil," arid the 
 lusts of their father they indulged. 
 
 Hence the Apostle proceeds to expostulate with them, 
 with equal force of argument and energy of language, : verse 
 3. "And thinkest thou this, man, that judgest them win. 
 do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape 
 the judgment of God?" If such an expectation was cher- 
 ished, it was, beyond expression, unreasonable and vain; as 
 if the holy God could bear in a Jew, what lie would punish 
 with perdition in a Gentile. So far was this from being 
 
 * Coinp'ire Ueut. xxvii. '2o with Gal. iii. 10.
 
 144 LECTURE X. 
 
 possible, that the criminality of the Jew exceeded that of 
 the Gentile in proportion to the superior measure which he 
 had received of the goodness of God, both in temporal and 
 in spiritual blessings, and the superior obligations under 
 which he was consequently laid to gratitude and obedience : 
 verses 4, 5. " Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, 
 and forbearance, and long suffering ; not knowing that the 
 goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance 1 But, after thy 
 hardness and impenitent heart, treasure.st up unto thyself 
 wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the right- 
 eous judgment of God." 
 
 The Jews had partaken largely of the "riches of di- 
 vine goodness." The possession of Canaan, with all its 
 treasures of temporal enjoyment, was the gift of God's bounty, 
 in fulfilment of the promise made to their fathers: and the 
 spiritual privileges conferred upon them were a favour of 
 which the value, when rightly estimated, exceeded all com- 
 parison with temporal good. 
 
 The conduct of Jehovah towards His ancient people 
 had also, through their entire history, been marked, in an 
 astonishing degree, by "forbearance and long-suffer inr/.'' 
 " Remember, and forget not," said Moses to the Israelites 
 when they were about to enter on the land of promise, "how 
 thou provokedst the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilder- 
 ness : from the day that thou didst depart out of the land 
 of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebel- 
 lious against the Lord."* And such, ever after, was their 
 character with few material or long-continued changes to 
 the better. From that time forward, their history presents 
 a humbling and affecting scene of ingratitude and rebellion 
 on their part, and of patience, and unmerited kindness 
 on the part of God. Amidst all their multiplied provo- 
 cations, He continued to warn, to threaten, to expostu- 
 late ; sending to them, for these ends, " all his servants the 
 prophets," with messages of faithful reproof, and of compas- 
 sionate entreaty, rising up early and sending them ; still 
 
 * Deut. ix. 7.
 
 ROMANS II. lil. H5 
 
 staying the arm of vengeance, and " in wrath remembering 
 nu-iry." He corrected them, indeed, at times, when repealed 
 expostulation was vain ; but always "waited to be gracious;" 
 ivadily forgave tlieir iniquity, and "turned from the fierceness 
 of his anger." It was "of the Lord's mercies that they were 
 not consumed." He was truly, in their experience of His 
 character, " a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and 
 of great kindness, and repenting him of the evil:"* mani- 
 fe>ting, in all His procedure towards them, along with a con- 
 stant readiness to bless, that tender, fatherly reluctance to 
 punish, which is so exquisitely expressed in the words of 
 H<. sea: "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I 
 de-liver thee, Israel ? how shall I make thee as Ad mall? how 
 shall I set thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned within 
 in-.', my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute 
 the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy 
 Kphraini : for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in 
 the midst of thee : and I will not enter into the city."t 
 
 Further: the very period at which Paul now wrote was 
 it M. If an interval of singular "forbearance." They had de*pi>ed, 
 rejected, and crucified the Prince of life; and they still con- 
 tinued to shut Iheir eyes to the clearest light, and to hardm 
 their hearts again>t Him. He had fulfilled his declaration 
 made to them when he was upon earth: "Behold I s. n I 
 you prophets and wise men and scribes;" and his message, 
 by these his ambassadors, was a message of grace and of par- 
 don : and they had sadly verified his prediction " some of 
 them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye 
 scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city '." 
 <-ity."; Thus "He called, ami they iviWd ; he stretched 
 out his hands, and no man regarded: they set at nought ail 
 his counsel, and would none of his reproof." " The riehe> t 
 divine goodness, and forbearamr. and long-suifering," now, 
 above all former periods, so signally displayed towards them, 
 ought to have "led them to repentance." Filled with shame 
 and remorse, and covered with confusion of lace, on account 
 
 * J-i-.,,!!! iv. .'. f lies. xi. 8, 9. I M.iU. woil :'..
 
 146 LECTURE X. 
 
 of their past ingratitude and perverseness of heart, they 
 should have returned unto the Lord, from whom they had 
 revolted, adopting the words of penitence and humiliation 
 long ago dictated to them by the prophet " Take away all 
 iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the 
 calves of our lips." * Such ought always to have been the 
 effect of divine patience. But, instead of this, what, gener- 
 ally speaking, had it been of old? and what was it now? 
 " Because sentence against an evil work was not speedily 
 executed, their hearts were fully set in them to do evil." t 
 They " despised the riches of the goodness, and forbearance, 
 and long-suffering of God, not knowing" not considering, 
 acting as if they were ignorant, " that the goodness of God 
 leadeth" all who are partakers of it "to repentance;" that 
 this is its proper tendency, and ought to be its invariable 
 effect. All this Avas calculated, in a fearful degree, to aug- 
 ment their guilt. Their misimprovement and contempt of 
 the special and distinguishing kindness of God to them, gave 
 a peculiar enormity to their wickedness, above that of any 
 heathen nation on the earth. 
 
 This is, in very awful and alarming terms, represented to 
 them, and, through them, to us, in verse 5. " But, after thy 
 hardness and impenitent heart, trcasurest up unto thyself 
 wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the right- 
 eous judgment of God." 
 
 " As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in 
 the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his 
 way, and live : turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways ; for 
 why will ye die, house of Israel '?"{ Such was the lan- 
 guage of "the long-suffering and forbearance" of God toward 
 II is chosen people. But instead of listening to His voice, 
 trembling at the warning, and embracing the merciful invi- 
 tation; instead of thus improving the "space given them for 
 repentance;" they employed it in accumulating the load of 
 their guilt and of the divine displeasure : " treasuring up for 
 themselves wrath against the day of wrath;" filling up the 
 
 * Hosea xiv. 2. f Eccles. viii. 11. j: F.zcfc. xxxiii. 11.
 
 ROMANS II. lli. 147 
 
 measure of their iniquity, till " the wrath should come upon 
 them to the uttermost." God strove with them by his Spir- 
 it, addressing them in the scriptures of the old covenant, and 
 by the messengers of the new ; but they displayed the utmost 
 liardness and impenitence of heart, "contradicting and blas- 
 pheming," or " turning away their ears from the truth," " like 
 the deaf adder, that will not hearken to the voice of the 
 charmer, charming ever so wisely." 
 
 The day of judgment is here denominated " the day of 
 wrath" And such it shall be to all the enemies of the 
 Most High. Their name and their pretensions may have 
 been, as was the case with the Jews, those of subjects and 
 friends; but if their conduct has been that of foes, display- 
 ing a heart at variance with their professions,^ and really 
 alienated from God, " fiery indignation shall devour them as 
 his adversaries." In this vieAv, that great and dreadful day 
 shall be " the day of the revelation of the righteous judg- 
 ment of God." 
 
 In the special favours conferred on the Jews, and con- 
 tinued in their possession, notwithstanding their many and 
 aggravated sins, there was an appearance of want of equity 
 in the divine administration. And, indeed, the personal 
 prosperity of the wicked presents, in every instance, a similar 
 appearance, and has sometimes proved a temptation to the 
 true fearers of God to doubt and question a superintending 
 providence. There has appeared to them a mysterious strange- 
 ness in this part of the divine administration, which they have 
 at times felt in a painful degree their incompetence to explain. 
 They have been tempted, with tears of wondering solicitude, 
 to exclaim " How doth God know ? and is there knowledge 
 in the Most High!"* But that day shall reveal His right- 
 eousness. It will then be found, in the dread experience 
 of the ungodly, that the longer the Lord has protracted 
 "forbearance" in vain, the heavier will be the load of their 
 accumulated guilt; and the hardened in impenitence shall 
 reap the fruit of their obstinate, ungrateful rebellion, and 
 sink beneath the weight of peculiar vengeance. 
 
 * See Psalm Ixxiii.
 
 148 LKCTURK X. 
 
 The secrets of judgment treasured up in the divine mind 
 shall then be all unfolded; and in every sentence that is 
 pronounced, "He who sitteth upon the throne" shall appear as 
 " the righteous Lord who loveth righteousness." Every cir- 
 cumstance in His administration that may have seemed 
 inconsistent with this character shall be fully explained : 
 and, to the joy of admiring friends, and the confusion of 
 trembling enemies, it will be signally manifest, that "the 
 Judge of all the earth has done only that which is right.'' 
 
 The Apostle enlarges on this important truth in the fol- 
 lowing verses, from the sixth to the sixteenth inclusive, 
 applying it to the situation and character of both .Jews and 
 Gentiles. 
 
 The general truth contained in verse sixth " Who will 
 render to every man according to his works" is one 
 which is often repeated, and expressed with the greatest 
 decision and clearness, in the word of God: ''The Sou 
 of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with 
 his angels: and than shall he reward c.r> /// ni'm, ac- 
 cording to lus icorlcs."* "We must all appear before the 
 judgment-seat of Christ; tlwt wry one innij rfr.rive the 
 iliiixj.-! <liii>. in hi* body, according to that he hath */'/,/,. 
 whether it lie. good or bad.''^ " I saw the dead, small and 
 great, stand before God: and the books were opened: and 
 another book was opened, which is the book of life : and 
 the dead were judged out of those things which wen- written 
 in the books, according to their irvrks." % 
 
 Consistent with these plain testimonies of Scripture, (and 
 many more might be quoted of the same, description,) is the 
 amplification of this truth, in verses 7 1 1. " To them who, 
 by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and 
 honour, and immortality, eternal life; but unto them that 
 are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey un- 
 righteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation .-uid ;nigni.-.-h, 
 upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of tin- Jew fiisl, 
 and also of the Gentile: but glory, honour, and peace, to 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 27. f '2 Cor. v. 10. J Kev xx. !'_'.
 
 ROMANS II. l-li. 149 
 
 every man that workcth good ; to the Jew first, and also to 
 the Gentile : for there is no respect of persons with God." 
 The leading ahn of the Apostle, as already stated, is to 
 prove that, " all the world being guilty before God," " by the 
 deeds of the law no flesh living shall be justified in" His 
 sight." If any one, therefore, shall imagine that, in the 
 verses before us, the Apostle speaks of men obtaining eternal 
 life and glory, as the merited reward of their obedience to 
 the law, he must be most egregiously deceived. Such a sup- 
 position, it i.s evident, makes the Apostle flatly contradict 
 himself. It introduces doctrine into his premises utterly 
 inconsistent with nay, directly the reverse, (and that too 
 not by dubious inference, but in the most explicit and une- 
 quivocal terms,) of the conclusion which it is his object to 
 establish. This is not merely to deprive him of his claim 
 to inspiration, but even of all pretensions to common under- 
 standing. 
 
 The following observations will, it is hoped, serve to clear 
 the passage itself, and to ascertain at the same time its con- 
 nexion with the Apostle's reasoning. 
 
 I observe, then, first of all, that it is not of doctrines, but 
 of characters, the Apostle is here speaking. His object is to 
 convince his wicked countrymen, of the impious folly of their 
 hopes, and of the hopes of all who work iniquity, under the 
 jn*t and impartial government of God. He lays the axe to 
 the root of their proud expectations, by showing that it is 
 not according to outward circumstances alone, but according to 
 character in connexion with these, that the righteous God 
 shall judge mankind: that, although such circumstances 
 shall, in the decisions of infinite equity, modify the sentences 
 pronounced, particularly those of condemnation, aggravating 
 some, and alleviating others, yet that under all varieties of 
 situation, the same description of characters shall come to the 
 same general end: that as "there is no respect of persons 
 with God" (verse llth) no undue preference will be shown 
 to one above another, to the Jew above the Gentile ; but the 
 only distinction attended to will be that between the righteous 
 and the wicked; so that "every soul of man that doeth evil,"
 
 150 LECTUKE X. 
 
 whether Jew or Greek, shall be visited with " indignation and 
 wrath, tribulation and anguish," while an " eternal life," of 
 " glory, honour, and peace " shall be the blessed portion of 
 " every one that worlceth good" of the Jew first and also of 
 the Gentile." 
 
 We may compare Paul's language here with that of Peter 
 to Cornelius and his friends in the tenth chapter of the Acts 
 of the Apostles : " Of a truth I perceive that God is no 
 respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth him 
 and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."* The 
 sentiment thus expressed by Peter, and which is precisely 
 the same with that in the passage before us, ought certainly to 
 be interpreted in consistency with what he afterwards says, 
 in the very same address, respecting Jesus of Nazareth : " To 
 him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, 
 whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." t 
 So should the language of Paul, in these verses, be explained 
 in consistency with the doctrine which, we find, it is his 
 object to establish; that "by the deeds of the law no flesh 
 living shall be justified in God's sight;" and that the Lord 
 Jesus Christ is the necessary and the only propitiation for sin. 
 
 NOT is such explanation attended with any serious diffi- 
 culty. As Christians are men who believe particular doc- 
 trines as the truths of God, and in whom the influence of 
 these doctrines is apparent in the production of certain prac- 
 tical effects, we surely need not be much surprised, if, when 
 they are spoken of, they should sometimes be distinguished 
 by their faith, and sometimes by their character; at one 
 time by the appellation of believers, at another by that of 
 saints; and that when their practical character is mentioned 
 as their distinction from others, this should sometimes be 
 done, without any formal reference to the faith by which it 
 has been produced. 
 
 Let us apply this remark to the passage before us. It is 
 not of the spring or source of practical goodness it is not 
 of the cause of the difference of character between the righte- 
 
 * Acts x. 34, 35. -f Ver. 43.
 
 ROMANS II. 1 ii. 151 
 
 cms and the wicked, that the Apostle here speaks ; but of the 
 respective characters themselves; and there are many similar 
 passages, bearing the same reference, as this does, to a future 
 judgment, and to future happiness. It is of personal prac- 
 tical righteousness that our Lord speaks, as the connexion 
 evidently intimates, when he says in his sermon on the 
 Mount, " Except your righteousness shall exceed the righte- 
 ousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven."* And to this agree the fre- 
 quent testimonies of the Apostles. " Follow holiness, without 
 which no man shall see the Lord." " If ye live after the 
 flesh ye shall die ; but if ye, through the Spirit, do mortify 
 the deeds of the body, ye shall live." " Be not deceived ; 
 God is not mocked : for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
 he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the 
 flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall 
 of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary 
 in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint 
 iiot."t 
 
 The distinction is surely not difficult to be understood, 
 between the ground of justification before God, and the char- 
 acter of those who are justified. And indeed the want of 
 proper attention to this distinction will nil the Scriptures 
 with inexplicable contradictions, and our own minds with 
 endless confusion and darkness. In a building we may at 
 one time contemplate the varied superstructure, at another, 
 the foundation on which it rests ; in thinking of a river, our 
 attention may be directed to its fertilizing stream, or to the 
 source from which it has originated; in describing a complex 
 machine we may dwell on the harmonious adaptation, and 
 regular movements of the various parts, or we may fix our 
 thoughts and those of others, on the simple power which 
 communicates motion and effect to the whole. So with 
 regard to the Christian, we may either describe him by his 
 practical holiness of life, or by that faith of Divine truth, 
 which is its great efficient principle : we may state and illus- 
 
 * Matt v. 20. f Heb. xii. 14; Rom. viii. 13; Gal. vi. 79.
 
 152 LECTURE X 
 
 tiutc the ground of his acceptance with God, or we may draw 
 the character by which he is distinguished, us one "accepted 
 in the Beloved." While it is " the grace of God that bring- 
 eth salvation," that grace teaches all who receive it, " to deny 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, 
 and godly, in the present world." So that while it is true 
 on the one hand, that " by grace," even " according to God's 
 mercy " we are saved, and " not by works of righteousness 
 which we have done ;" it is, on the other hand, no less true, 
 that the inheritance of eternal life never lias been, and nev>-r 
 (-.an be attained, but by "a patient continuance in well- 
 doing." 
 
 It may further be observed, that even in the passage be- 
 fore us the animating and directing principle of the character 
 which is described, is not left entirely out of view. It seems 
 to be distinctly implied in the expression which occurs in 
 the eighth verse " Who do not obey the truth, but obey un- 
 righteousness." For although this phrase may be considered 
 as referring to whatever truth, of a religious nature, men have 
 had the opportunity of knowing, whether by the light of 
 nature or by the superior light of revelation, and as thus em- 
 bracing, in the sentence which the Apostle pronounces, Jews 
 and Gentiles without exception; yet it can hardly be doubted, 
 that he had his eye chiefly on the truth now levealed in the 
 Gospel by Jesus Christ, which the Jews, to whom his reason- 
 ing is most immediately addressed, unreasonably disbelieved, 
 and scornfully rejected. To " obey this truth '' is to acquiesce 
 in the way of justification which it reveals, to submit our- 
 selves to " the righteousness of God by faith," which, in the 
 Gospel is " revealed to faith ; " * and at the same time to sub 
 ject the heart and life to its holy influence, to live under the 
 habitually predominant impulse of those motives which the 
 faith of it inspires to the obedience of all God's command- 
 ments. To " obey unrighteousness " is, on the contrary, to 
 seek after acceptance with God in other ways than that which 
 the Gospel prescribes; all of which must be inconsistent with 
 
 * Chap. i. 17; x. 3.
 
 ROMAN? II. 1-11. 13;1 
 
 the perfect righteousness of His character, and the claims aiul 
 honour of His righteous laws; and at the same time, to 
 yield to the sway of unrighteous principles, to be under sub- 
 jection to the corrupt passions of our fallen nature, " fulfilling 
 the desires of the flesh and of the mind." 
 
 I close with one or two practical reflexions. 
 
 1. In the first place How obvious the principle, that 
 abused privilege should aggravate condemnation ; that tin- 
 man who sins against superior light and superior obligations, 
 (v.ntracts superior guilt, and subjects himself to a heavier 
 curse ! And how irresistible the application of these plain 
 and acknowledged principles to the case of the ungodly and 
 wicked Jews! Yet this application they failed to make; 
 and while, with proud and harsh severity, they judged others, 
 they never thought of applying the same principles of judg- 
 ment to themselves, but remained utterly insensible to 
 their own guilt ! How astonishing the blinding influence of 
 self-partiality! Truly "the heart is deceitful above all 
 things!" Are you amazed at the instance before you of 
 this humbling and melancholy truth 1 Beware that you be 
 not yourselves, at this very moment, furnishing it with addi- 
 tional evidence. Are there none among professing Christians, 
 who "have a name to live while they are dead?" none who 
 pride themselves in their profession of Christianity, who trust 
 and glory in their external privileges, and who are satisfied 
 with being owned as Christians by men as inconsiderate and 
 hollow-hearted as themselves? none who, like the Jews in 
 Ezekiel's time, "come before God as his people come, and sit 
 before him like his people ; and who with their lips shew 
 much love, while their hearts go after their covetousness ?" 
 Are there none who, passing under the general appellation of 
 Christians, inhabitants of a Christian land, born of Christian 
 parents, dedicated to God in Christian baptism, partakers 
 themselves of Christian ordinances, who cherish a proud, but 
 unexamined confidence of their own safety, while yet they 
 are living "without God in the world," in worldly-minded- 
 ness, vanity, and sin 1 ? who, professing to be shocked beyond 
 measure by the rude, cruel, inhuman, unnatural wickedness
 
 154 LECTURE X. 
 
 of heathen lands, "trust in themselves that they are righteous, 
 and despise others;" "thank God that they are not as other 
 men are," and whatever may become of the idolatrous and 
 monstrously wicked heathen, entertain no apprehension, that 
 Christians such as they are shall ever be damne 1 while, after 
 all, if they differ from the heathen in their external conduct and 
 general character, the diversity arises, not from any radical 
 difference of heart, but solely from modifying circuinstance.s, 
 or from motives which involve in their nature no true and 
 proper regard to holiness or to God? Are there none such \ 
 None! alas! there are many; and they are emphatically 
 " without excuse." 
 
 2. How dreadful must be the condemnation of those who 
 "despise the goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering" of 
 God! who experiencing His goodness in providence, yet, 
 instead of praising Him for the blessings which He confers, 
 and using them, with humble and devout resignation, to the 
 will of the Giver, and with a single eye to His glory, cm- 
 ploy the fruits of His kindness in self-gratification in sat- 
 isfying "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the 
 pride of life!" whom the Divine goodness puffs up with 
 vanity, or elates with pride! in whom it produces forget- 
 fulness instead of remembrance of God ! and whom it se- 
 duces and alienates from Him instead of conducting them to 
 Him ! Are there none whom the God of their life has spared 
 during many years of vice and folly, or of worldly careless- 
 ness, and neglect of the gospel and of eternal concerns; 
 whom He has warned, and warned, and warned again, but 
 who still remain listless and indifferent, and callous to every 
 serious impression? Eemember, "ye careless ones," that 
 every time you read or hear the word of God, and continue to 
 "neglect the great salvation" which it reveals, you are aggra- 
 vating your own condemnation ; adding a new heap to the 
 treasure of wrath ! an awful employment for an accountable 
 creature ! Whether you think of it or not, you are, indeed, 
 'wronging your own souls." O consider "the goodness, and 
 forbearance, and long-suffering of God" in a proper light; let 
 them " lead you to repentance" How ungrateful to abuse
 
 ROMANS II. 1-11. 155 
 
 them, and how full of peril ! One of the moments of the 
 passing hour may be to you the moment that divides eternity 
 from time ; the last of time, the first of eternity ! " Turn 
 ye, turn ye ; for why will ye die ? " 
 
 3. Let Christians, while they rejoice in the hope of 
 "glory, honour, and immortality," see that they seek them hy 
 a "patient continuance in well-doing." My beloved brethren, 
 " be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work 
 of the Lord ; forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not 
 in vain in the Lord." "Gird up the loins of your minds, 
 be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be 
 brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ: 
 as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according 
 to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as He who hath 
 called you is holy, so be ye holy, in all manner of con- 
 versation. And if ye call on the Father, who, without 
 respect of persons, judgeth according to every man's work, 
 pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch 
 as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible 
 things, such as silver and gold, from your vain conversation 
 received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious 
 blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without 
 spot." "Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season 
 we shall reap, if we faint not." * Always bearing in mind, 
 that " without holiness no man shall see the Lord," let it be 
 our desire and our study, by the diligent use of all appointed 
 means, accompanied with unceasing prayer for the sanctifying 
 Spirit of truth, to " purify ourselves, even as Christ is pure." 
 The highway of salvation is a way of holiness. And while, 
 with growing purity, we pursue our journey heavenward, let 
 " the high praises of God be in our mouths," for the, prospect 
 that lies before us. How exalted, how animating this pros- 
 pect ! " Glory " " honour " " immortality " " peace "- 
 "eternal life!" And, contrasted with it, how dreadful the 
 misery from which we escape! "Indignation and wrath 
 tribulation and anguish ! " 
 
 * 1 Cor. xv. 58; Hcb. xii. 1, 2; 1 IV t. i. 1319.
 
 LECTURE XI, 
 
 ROMANS n. 12 16. 
 
 " For as many as have sinned without law. slial! also perish without law; ana 
 as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, (for not the heir- 
 era of tiic law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be ju.->tifi<.'d. 
 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law. do by nature the things con- 
 tained in the law, these, having not the law. are a law unto themselves; which 
 shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing 
 witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one an- 
 other.) in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, 
 according to my gospel." 
 
 IN the first of these versos (which must be connected with 
 the last, those which intervene forming a parenthesis) it is in- 
 timated, as an important general principle in the decisions 
 of God as " the Judge of all," that He will deal with men 
 universally, according to their respective circumstances and 
 nouxpacative privileges. 
 
 " As many as have sinned without law" that is, without th* 
 in-if/f K law, which the Jews, through Divine favour, possessed, 
 and, while they boasted of the distinction, through their own 
 perverseness miserably abused " shall also perish without 
 law:" -shall be tried, condemned, and punished, not accord- 
 ing to a law which they have never possessed, but according 
 to the general principles already illustrated in the latter part 
 of the former chapter, and, as we shall see immediately, re- 
 peated, in the substance and spirit of them, in the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth verses of the passage before us. 
 
 On the other hand "They that have sinned in the lir'' 
 they who, possessing the written law, have lived in the
 
 KOMAXS II. 1216. ]-,7 
 
 violation of its requirements "shall he judged by the law" 
 .shall have their trial, sentence and punishment, according 
 to the nature and the terms of that law which they have 
 k nowingly transgressed. 
 
 In these verses, then, there are two principles distinctly 
 and unequivocally stated : the first is, that no human being 
 shall ever "perish" (that is, shall suffer future punishment in 
 any one of its various degrees) but/w tsht. The perdition is 
 connected with sin, and with sin only "As many as Inn-? 
 dinned shall p?.r!ah." Every individual, therefore, who per- 
 ishes, perishes on account of tin. The second is, that the 
 <juilt of sin, and consequently the measnrf of -its punish tin- af, 
 will be estimated according to the circumstances of thoae lj 
 whom if has been cuinmittt'd; according to their respective 
 opportunities of knowledge, both of duty itself, and of the 
 motives to the performance of it. 
 
 It surely ought to eonve} r the greatest satisfaction and de- 
 light to our minds to have a recognition so explicit of prin- 
 ciples so manifestly in accordance with the dictates of the 
 fairest and most unimpeachable equity : that none shall suffer 
 but for sin; and that responsibility is according to privilege. 
 And the same principles are, with equal explicitness laid down 
 in other parts of Scripture. They pervade, indeed, its entire 
 texture* being not merely involved by indirect admission, 
 but having a clear and full and authoritative declaration. 
 
 In the sixteenth verse, the Apostle refers to the time 
 when these judicial sentences against Gentiles and Jews re- 
 spectively, shall be finally pronounced, and irreversibly ex* 
 cuted: "In the day when God shall judge tlie scn-ds of 
 men, by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel." 
 
 "God shall judge the secn-tv of men.'' ''All things an- 
 naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we. have to 
 do." "There is no darkness nor shadow of death, where the 
 workers of iniquity may hide theinselves." And He who 
 "searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins of tin', children of 
 
 * Sec Matt. xi. 2024: Luke xii. 47, 48: John ix. M 41 ; xv. 22 
 24.
 
 158 LECTURE Xf. 
 
 men," shall "bring every work into judgment, with every 
 secret thing, whether it he good or whether it he evil." 
 
 " The secrets of men" includes not only all things done hy 
 men secretly, unknown to their fellow-creatures, hut also 
 the inward motives by which eA r en known actions were se- 
 cretly influenced in the sight of God, although not in the 
 estimation of men. 
 
 God shall judge mankind " by Jesus Christ." This is the 
 uniform testimony of the Divine word. " The Father judgeth 
 no man," says Jesus himself, " but hath committed all judg- 
 ment unto the Son; that all men should honour the Son, 
 even as they honour the Father : he that honoureth not the 
 Son honoureth not the Father who sent him: He hath 
 given him authority to execute judgment because he is the 
 Son of man."* This is a part of the Lordship to which 
 Jesus has been exalted, in reward of the work which he 
 finished on the cross: the grand concluding act of his 
 mediatorial dominion, by which all its gracious and Impor- 
 tant ends shall be completed and established for ever. 
 " God hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the 
 world in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordain- 
 ed; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that 
 he hath raised him from the dead."t 
 
 This was a part of the testimony which the inspired Apos- 
 tles delivered, in preaching to men the good tidings of a 
 Saviour. Hence Paul here adds " aocording to my gospel." 
 The Apostles were commissioned to declare, as witnesses, the 
 resurrection of Jesus from the dead ; to assure men, and to 
 prove it by infallible evidence, that "God had made that 
 very Jesus who was crucified both Lord and Christ" "ex- 
 alting him at his right hand, as a Prince and a Saviour, to 
 give repentance and remission of sins." "He commanded 
 us," says Peter to the household of Cornelius, " to preach to 
 the people, and to testify, that it is he who was ordained of 
 God, to be the Judge of living and dead.":}: 
 
 * John v. 22, 23, 27. -f- Acts xvii. 31. 
 
 I Acts ii. 3236; v. 31 ; x. 42.
 
 ROMANS II. 1216. 159 
 
 But though he is thus called " the man whom God hath 
 ordained," he is not a man only. " Made of the seed of Da- 
 vid according to the flesh," he is at the same time " over all, 
 God blessed for ever.'' And one of the evidences of his possess- 
 ing divine attributes the attributes especially of omniscience 
 and omnipotence, is his being ordained to judge the woi-fd : 
 not merely to announce the sentences which the Father 
 1 asses, but himself to judge to "judge the secrets of men" 
 of all the millions, of infinitely diversified principles and 
 shades of character and circumstances in life. Who but a 
 divine Being can be competent to this? And is there not a 
 propriety in the divine Mediator being invested with this 
 power? He hung upon the cross; he is entitled to the 
 tlu-one. " All power in heaven and earth" is committed into 
 his hands. He carries forward the government of the world 
 in .subserviency to the interests and final triumph of his 
 spiritual kingdom : and the judgment will be the closing 
 scene, in which the ends of his delegated reign shall be 
 finally effected, and " the mystery of God finished" 
 
 I have already noticed, that verses 13 15 are to be con- 
 sidered as a parenthesis; and as such, they are introduced to 
 explain and vindicate the assertions contained in verse 
 twelfth in which the Apostle had solemnly affirmed the con- 
 demnation, and consequent perdition of sinners, whether Gen- 
 tiles or Jews, each according to their respective circumstances. 
 
 What is said in the thirteenth verse appears to have been 
 chiefly designed for the conviction of the impenitent and 
 unbelieving Jews : " For not the hearers of the law are just 
 before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." 
 
 These Jews were hearers of the law, but they were not 
 doers: yet they "rested in the law" foolishly expecting sal- 
 vation in direct opposition to the very terms of that law <i. 
 which they trusted, and in which they gloried. Moses, in de- 
 scribing the righteousness which is of the law, had not said, 
 " the man who heareth these things," but " the man who doeth 
 these things shall live by them:" and its condemnatory *-n- 
 tence accorded with its just and holy requirements ; " cursed is 
 even- one who continueth not in all things written in the
 
 1(50 LECTrKE XI. 
 
 Book of the law, to do tlie.m." The LAW ncvr did, and, 
 from its very nature, never couM, promise life, but on con- 
 dition of perfect practical obedience to all its precepts. How 
 pa-wing strange, then, that the Jews -should have "trust-d in 
 themselves that they were righteous'' on account of the 
 mere hearing of the Law, while they were living in the ex- 
 ti-nsive and flagrant violation of its most express injunctions! 
 Yet why should this instance of the deceitfulnes* of the 
 human heart seem strange to us, who are accustomed every 
 day to hear men ridicule the doctrines of grace, and talk of 
 justification by works, who of all men on earth display in 
 their character most of evil, and least of good? They who 
 act thus are aclfaomtreuKctory* And the Jews, whom the 
 Apostle had chiefly in his eye, stood condemned by the plain 
 and obvious principles of that very law which was the f-i-.ni- 
 dation of their delusive confidence. 
 
 It is surely unnecessary to occupy time in showing, that 
 when the Apostle says " Not the hearers of the law are ju-t 
 before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified,'' he 
 does not at all mean to declare as a matter of fact that any 
 shall actually be justified before God > i/wr/i <>f tin- /<//. 
 Such a supposition would .subvert the Gosp.d, and be in 
 direct opposition to the point which in all his rea-soning here 
 IT is aiming to establish. In the words just cited, in the, 
 beginning of verse thirteenth, he merely lays down the />///<- 
 i:i/,ln 'if laic on the subject of justification; and he d 
 for the conviction of the Jews (to show them the folly of their 
 confidence) who trusted in the mere having or hearing of the 
 1-iw, while they were living in the grievous transgressions f 
 it- principles and precepts. The principle a self-evident 
 one and universally understood is, that A LAW TAX ONLY 
 Ji.sTiKV TIIE DOER; that obedience to its ivipiireniPiits is the. 
 only ground on which it can pronounce a verdict of inn* 
 
 Tli^ latter part of the parenthesis relates to the Gemilt-.s; 
 of them the Apostle had said (verse 12.) that, having "sin- 
 ned without law," they shall "perish without law." How is 
 this consistent, it might be asked, with the sentiment ex- 
 pressed in two subse-j at this Epistle '' Win-re no
 
 ROMANS II. 1216. 161 
 
 law i.s there is no transgression" and "sin is not imputed 
 when there is no law?"* 
 
 If the Gentiles of whom he speaks had no law at all, it 
 would have been quite impossible to have reconciled these 
 statements. The inconsistency would not have been apparent 
 mcivly, but real It would have been indeed a palpable 
 contradiction. But we have already observed, that the 
 phrase " iriflwut hue" means without the written law, which 
 was exclusively possessed by the nation of Israel : and in the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth verses, the position he had laid 
 down respecting the Gentiles is explained and vindicated : - 
 " For when the Gentiles who have not the law, (that is, the 
 written law) do by nature the things contained in the law, 
 these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves ; who 
 shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
 science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean- 
 while accusing or else excusing one another." 
 
 Here is the ground of the judgment of God against the 
 Gentiles. Though without the written law, they yet I 
 Inn- ; a law enforced by all that is made known of God in 
 His woiks and ways, and by all their daily experience of His 
 unwearied goodness ; ami it will be for the violation of the 
 dictates of this law, that they shall be condemned in the 
 judgment, and sentenced to perdition. 
 
 The supposition, you will observe, is here made, of the 
 Gentiles, although without the revealed law of God, " naimj 
 />;/ n'(i<n-c the things contained in the /<w.''+ This nei- 
 ther means that they do alt these things; nor that they do 
 any of them, from principles such as can render what they 
 do really acceptable and pleasing to God. It is sufficient l'ir 
 the Apostle's argument, that the Gentiles evince in their con- 
 duct a sense of right and wrong, convictions in their minds 
 of sin and of duty. Xow that they have such convictions, such 
 an inward sense of right and wrong, decidedly appears, whni 
 .it any time they pay regard to the claims, or example ..f 
 justice, of humanity/ of natural affection, of general mercy 
 
 * Chap. iv. 15; v. 13. 
 t Literally, ''the iking* nftkf tain" TOU v/y. ho.
 
 16-2 LECTURE XI. 
 
 and compassion, in opposition to the influence of the contrary 
 principles. For the description contained in the close of the 
 preceding chapter does not imply, as we remarked when upon 
 the passage itself, that the whole of the wickedness there so 
 fearfully portrayed, is to be seen, in all its varied horrors, in 
 the conduct of every individual, or in the character of the 
 same person at all times. Now when the Gentiles any of 
 them at any time "do justly, and regard mercy" in any part 
 of their conduct, they make it apparent that although they 
 have not the written law, "they are a law unto themselves:" 
 they " shew the work of the law written in their hearts." 
 
 It seems to me quite unnatural to apply the terms of this 
 passage, as some have done, to converted Gentiles. They 
 connect the words "by nature" with not having a law 
 " when Gentiles, who have not a law by nature, do the things 
 contained in the law." Now the question is, what does a 
 law here mean? If it be meant that by nature the Gentiles 
 have no law at all, it is not true, and is inconsistent with 
 every idea of guilt or condemnation. If, on the other hand, 
 a written law be meant, then the words by nature are (to say 
 the least of it) very useless and pleonastic. Who would ever 
 think of representing men as by nature without a revelation 1 
 How was the thing possible, that they should have a written 
 revelation by nature? Nature and revelation express two 
 states which stand in uniform contrast with each other. Be- 
 sides it seems not less unnatural to apply to converted Gen- 
 tiles the words " These, having not the law, are a law unto 
 themselves." How can this be true of those who had re- 
 ceived the revelation of the Gospel 1 ? and who were "not 
 without law to God, but under law to Christ." The appli- 
 cation has to be restricted to the converted Gentiles of that 
 precise time, before they were in possession of the Jewish 
 oracles. And even when thus restricted in time and place, 
 the application is strained. For surely they were not with- 
 out a revealed law at least, to whom the will of Christ (which 
 is substantially the same with the moral law) had been com- 
 municated along with the doctrines of his salvation. 
 
 It is true, that " having the law written on the heart " is
 
 ROMANS II. 1216. 163 
 
 a phrase used for the character of the regenerate in whom 
 God fulfils the promise of His covenant " I will write my 
 law in their heart, and put it in the inward part." But it 
 is equally true that on the heart the law was originally writ- 
 ten. And when a phrase is susceptible of two applications, 
 the question then comes to be, Which is most in accordance 
 with the scope of the passage and the object of the writer] 
 I think most decidedly it is of the unconverted Gentiles that 
 the Apostle writes ; and this, I trust, will be made more fully 
 apparent in the latter part of the chapter, where the reason- 
 ing with the Jews from the case of the Gentiles is further 
 pursued. Till then we say no more on this point. 
 
 The phrases they "are a law unto themselves" and they 
 " .shew the work of the law written in their hearts" corre- 
 spond to each other. They are without a written law: 
 but they are not without a law altogether; they have cer- 
 tain principles of natural law; they have these in them- 
 selves, written in their hearts. There the law of the most 
 High was originally written ; engraved " not on tables of 
 stone, but on the fleshly table of the heart." And although 
 by the fall the impression has been mournfully defaced and 
 corrupted, yet it has not been entirely obliterated. The er- 
 roneousness and partiality and debasement of the views of 
 moral good and evil prevalent among the heathen, have arisen 
 from the same cause to which the Apostle ascribes their ig- 
 norance of God ; " they did not like to retain God in their 
 knowledge." The principal reason of their dislike to the 
 blessed God, was the opposition of His pure and holy char- 
 acter to the pollutions of their fallen nature. We need not 
 wonder if the same depravity produced, as far as the remain- 
 ing force of reason would permit, the perversion and oblivion 
 of that law which is " holy, and just, and good," condemning 
 their sins, " working wrath," and filling them with " a fearful 
 looking for of judgment." By this voluntary erazement of 
 the law of God from their hearts, deep guilt has been con- 
 tracted. Still, however, the impression is not obliterated; 
 and they continue to "treasure up to themselves wrath 
 against the day of wrath," when they wilfully act in opposi-
 
 164 LECTURE XI. 
 
 tion to the remaining sense of right and wrong which is yet 
 in their minds. That they act thus perversely in the gen- 
 eral tenor of their conduct, the Apostle had before affirmed, 
 in the strongest terms ; when, after enumerating the shock- 
 ing vices prevalent amongst them, he added; "who, know- 
 ing the judgment of God, that they who commit such things 
 are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pli-usm-n 
 in them that do them."* 
 
 The Apostle mentions two things particularly, in proof of 
 the existence and the operation, although partial and irre- 
 gular, of that sense of right and wrong which he ascribes to 
 the Gentiles. These are the obvious effects of conscience 
 among them, and their mutual reasonings on morals and on 
 human conduct. " Their conscience also bearimj iritnfts." 
 
 As the collusiveness of the Apostle's argument does net 
 in any way depend on the nature of conscience, it is unne- 
 cessary to enter into such enquiries. It is enough that con- 
 science, whatever be its appropriate nature, or in whatever 
 terms we define it, acts the part of a witness, bearing testi- 
 mony within them of evil and of good, condemning the one, 
 and approving the other. 
 
 It is true, as has often been remarked, that the dictates of 
 conscience are not in all countries uniform; some actions 
 being condemned in one place, as absolutely unlawful, which 
 in another incur no particular censure, nay are even vin- 
 dicated and approved. The truth seems to be that con- 
 science, like each of the other faculties and principles in 
 the mind of man, partakes of the general depravity of his 
 nature; and in the exercise of that which is corrupt, 
 affected, as it necessarily must be, by a vast variety of modi- 
 fying circumstances, we are not entitled to expect the unifor- 
 mity in question. But besides this, it may be observed, that 
 the differences alluded to in the views and practices of dif- 
 ferent nations, do by no means prove, in every case, a diver- 
 sity in the natural operations of conscience. It is evident, 
 that by various causes, by views, for example, of present 
 
 * Chap. i. 32.
 
 KOMANS II. 12-16. 1G5 
 
 utility and temporary interest, or by a desire to press all 
 means possible into the service of a favourite object, certain 
 customs may come to be established, in opposition to con 
 science; and that by these, when so established into 
 habitual practice, conscience may, in time, cease to be at all 
 affected. Is not the justice of this remark exemplified 
 every day within our own observation? Men are tempted 
 to some sinful practice, by views of interest and enjoyment : 
 custom afterwards makes the sin familiar : reason is per- 
 verted to support inclination : and, through unsound and 
 biassed arguments, that may cease entirely to excite remorse, 
 and may even be sanctioned as a rule of conduct, which con- 
 science, at the first, decidedly condemned. Conscience is a 
 witness; but a witness of little principle, exposed to the in- 
 fluence of bribery and corruption, ever ready to give a false 
 verdict, and to flatter men in the indulgence of their vicious 
 inclinations. I am persuaded that the dictates of conscience 
 among mankind are much more uniform, than the discre- 
 pancies in human practice, although by no means of trifling 
 magnitude, might, at first sight, lead us to imagine : that 
 these very discrepancies arise chiefly, if not solely, from such 
 varying views, false and foolish, of utility and present benefit 
 as have just been noticed, acting upon and overcoming this 
 highly important, but corrupt and partial principle. Such 
 views vary exceedingly, according to situation, both among 
 nations and tribes of men, and in the breasts of individuals ; 
 and the operation of that which is thus corruptly influenced 
 naturally appears itself to vary according to the variety of the 
 corrupting cause. 
 
 "While then " conscience bears witness," "their reason in it* 
 among themselves accuse or vindicate."* Thus the latter part 
 of the verse has been, with greater correctness, translated ; 
 the word rendered thoughts more properly signifying reasmi- 
 iit;/*; and, when thus rendered, presenting a distinct addi- 
 tional evidence of that sense of right and wrong, that in- 
 irur<l law of which it is the Apostle's object to prove the
 
 166 LECTURE XI. 
 
 existence and operation Whereas if our ordinary translation 
 is retained, it is not easy to distinguish between the thoughts, 
 and the dictates of conscience which he had already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The reasonings of the heathen, concerning the principles 
 of morality and jurisprudence, and the various personal and 
 relative virtues, clearly evince those convictions of good and 
 evil, of which the universal prevalence, although in various 
 degrees of imperfection and corruption, is here affirmed. The 
 whole procedure of their courts of justice, in trial, acquittal, 
 condemnation, and punishment, manifests the same thing. 
 For although the right of governments to punish, and the 
 system in general of criminal jurisprudence, may be fairly 
 vindicated on the ground of expediency and public advantage, 
 yet in the solemn condemnatory sentences of courts of justice, 
 a higher principle seems manifestly to operate, than the in- r< 
 regard to public utility, even the sentiment of moral disap- 
 probation; which, however capricious and inconstant it may 
 be as to the seasons and the degrees in which it is felt, in 
 consequence of the strange deceitfulness and self-partiality < >f 
 the human heart, yet is often and powerfully felt by men of 
 every nation, and is beyond question an ingredient in that 
 state of mind in which a court of justice condemns a criminal 
 to punishment. Besides : the writings of some of the heathen 
 philosophers contain a considerable portion of moral precept, 
 in itself just and excellent: and although it is mixed with 
 much error, and, from their ignorance of the true God, neces- 
 sarily destitute of the life and soul of genuine morality ; yet 
 those of their reasonings, in which virtue is approved and vin- 
 dicated, and vice exposed and condemned, are sufficiently illus- 
 trative of the truth of the Apostle's representation, respecting 
 " the work of the law written in their hearts." Even the 
 reasonings of transgressors, with a view to maintain their 
 character, by clearing themselves of the imputation of crime, 
 or by palliating and excusing their criminal conduct, proceed 
 on the very same principle, involving the admission of a 
 sense of right and wrong in the breasts of their fellow-men, 
 with whom they associate.
 
 ROMANS II. 1216. 167 
 
 The ground, therefore, on which the Gentiles sliall be con- 
 demned in the judgment, will be, their having acted in op- 
 position to the light and law of nature. This is the view 
 held forth both in the passage before us, and in the preceding 
 chapter. Their judgment, indeed, will not be so aggravated, 
 no, not by many degrees as that of those who have .sin- 
 ned, and persisted in sin, against the light and law of Divine 
 revelation. " Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" 
 
 We formerly deduced the practical inferences suggot-'d 
 by the general views of the preceding part of the chapter : 
 and all of these receive confirmation from what has now been 
 said. But we must not resume them. There is one reflection 
 which cannot fail to occur very forcibly to every seriously 
 considerate mind, that has attended to the principles which 
 have now been illustrated namely, How unreasonable are 
 those infidels who profess to reject the Bible, among other 
 reasons, because it damns the heathen ! 
 
 If the Bible condemned men for their ignorance of what 
 they never had the opportunity to know, for rejecting a reve- 
 lation of which they never heard, disobeying a law whirh 
 was never promulgated to them, or failing to receive a message 
 of grace that never saluted their ears ; on such suppositions 
 there might be solid ground for the objection; and "to vin- 
 dicate the ways of God to man " would be not only a diffi- 
 cult but a vain and hopeless attempt. But the case is widely 
 different. The condemnation of the heathen proceeds on the 
 principles of perfect equity; the ground of it being their 
 disobedience to the light and law of nature, and of original 
 revelation; their wilful forgetfulness, and inexcusable ig- 
 norance of God, and their perverse violation, in their con- 
 duct, of the suggestions of reason and the dictates of con- 
 science. The true God is " no respecter of persons." 
 God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." It 
 is sin which He hates and condemns : and as the Supreme 
 Judge of the world, He will " weigh in an even balance " the 
 aggravating and alleviating circumstances of the crimes of all, 
 and, with pure unbiassed equity, proportion the punishment 
 of each to the measure of his guilt. Their punishment,
 
 1CS LECTURE XI. 
 
 therefore, must be inconceivably more awful than that of the 
 heathen, who disregard and trifle with the revelanon of God 
 in his word, which the heathen, less highly favoured in pri- 
 vilege, have not had it in their power to do. But if God, 
 says the objector, be impartially just, and this Book contain 
 a revelation from Him, why is not this revelation made known 
 equally to all men? The question has been often answ<:i-fd. 
 and admits, indeed, of various replies. It proceeds on the 
 supposition that every favour which God is pleased to con 
 fer upon His creatures He is bound to confer alike upon them 
 all; a supposition pregnant with presumption, and contra- 
 dicted by the whole analogy of the Divine administration. 
 Is the gladdening light of heaven enjoyed equally by all'? 
 Are all alike favoured, nationally and individually, with the 
 various blessings of providence? Do all posse-*, in the 
 same degree, powers of intellect, and advantages for their 
 cultivation and improvement 1 ? If this last question is an- 
 swered, as it certainly must be, in the negative, then what 
 will become of the equality of men as to natural religion it- 
 self ? This the objector must assume to be universal, else 
 lie must either wrap himself in the darkness of atheism, or, 
 yielding his argument against revelation, give entrance to its 
 blessed light. Yet the fact is, that natural religion itself, 
 affected, as it must of necessity be, by all the varieties in the 
 mental powers and external situations of mankind, appears 
 in such different degrees, and under such diversified forms, 
 that the enemies of revelation have neA r er yet been able to 
 determine what it is ; to fix, with anything like precision, 
 the articles of its creed. But above all, let me ask, in reply 
 to the objection I am now considering Can any guilty 
 creature possess a legitimate claim on the God whom he has 
 offended, for such a favour] Certainly not. All having 
 s''imt'il, it must be a matter of pure grace, if God is pleased 
 to bless any with a privilege so precious. He could be under 
 no obligation to make himself known anew to those who 
 "did not like to retain Him in their knowledge;" to impart 
 a written law to those who wilfully violated the inward law 
 of conscience : to reveal a Saviour to those who owed their
 
 ROMANS II. 12 1G. 169 
 
 detraction to themselves; to point out the way to heaven 
 to those who had chosen the way to hell. Shall we, then, 
 be so ungrateful, so infatuated, as to refuse this inestimable 
 gift, because it has not been universally bestowed] If we 
 do, let us be consistent; and where is the blessing which 
 consistency will allow us to retain 1 ? 
 
 I grant that the partial and limited diffusion of the Gospel 
 after the lapse of so many ages, is mysterious. But, on the 
 grounds which have been mentioned, it cannot invalidate 
 the evidence of its truth and divine authority. Who will 
 be so self-sufficient and presumptuous, as to arraign the 
 Sovereign of heaven and earth, because He has not imparted 
 to all a blessing to which none had a claim? Or who will 
 venture to affirm it impossible for Him to have acted in thin 
 instance as the most superficial notice of His providential ad- 
 ministration must satisfy every one He is daily and hourly 
 acting in everything else? Who will thus make their own 
 in 'tii ms of propriety the test of the divine government, sit 
 in judgment on the counsels of that infinite Being, "of 
 whom and through whom and to whom are all things," and 
 dogmatically determine what it would be right or wrong, in 
 all circumstances, for Deity to do? The principles of His 
 final judicial dealings He has himself most explicitly laid 
 down : and principles more in accordance with the purest 
 and most impartial equity it is impossible for our minds to 
 imagine. It is delightful for us to have these principles 
 thus explicitly stated; for although we might, from the 
 whole general tenor of the word of God. have confidently 
 gathered and affirmed them, yet such statements enable us 
 to stop every mouth that would open itself in accusation 
 against the righteousness of heaven. 
 
 It should be remarked, also, that the blessed God, in the 
 administration of His providence, has, from the beginning, 
 acted on the principle of gradual progress. It is so still. 
 The march of Truth is accelerating. And we are taught by 
 "the sure word of prophecy" to expect a period, when "the 
 kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our 
 Lord and of his Christ." Yet if the heathen may be saved
 
 170 LECTURE Xr. 
 
 without the knowledge and faitli of the Gospel, we may well 
 inquire, whence the rapturous delight which accompanies the 
 prophetic visions of its universal diffusion? Whence the 
 divine injunction, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
 Gospel to every creature ? " The supposition of the safety of 
 the heathen without the Gospel annihilates the most power- 
 ful of all incitements to Christian zeal. Why should we 
 expose our fellow-creatures to increased peril, by putting it 
 into their power to reject what is, after all, unnecessary to 
 their salvation 1 If a Gentile can be pointed out that is not 
 a sinner, that has acted fully up to the light and law of 
 nature, there were good reason, on this ground, to plead 
 for his safety. But such a character is nowhere to be found. 
 All are guilty; all condemned. The ground of their con- 
 demnation is just; and the proportions of their punishment 
 will be just. They shall be judged, not "by the law" but 
 " without the law : " and even amongst themselves, when 
 tried according to their own light, some shall be beaten with 
 more, and others with fewer stripes. But a Saviour they all 
 require. And besides the name of Jesus, " there is no other 
 name under heaven, given among men, whereby either we 
 or they can be saved." " This is life eternal, that they might 
 know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou 
 hast sent."* 
 
 * Acts iv. 12; John xvii. 3.
 
 LECTUBE XTI. 
 
 ROMANS n. 17 29. 
 
 " Behold, tliou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast 
 of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, 
 being instructed out of the law; and art confident that tliou thyself art a guide 
 of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, 
 a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. 
 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that 
 preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man 
 should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery ? thou that abhorrent 
 idols, dost thou commit, sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, 
 through breaking the law dishonoured thou God? For the name of God is 
 blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision 
 verily profiteth, if thou keep the law : but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy 
 circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the 
 righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision ? 
 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, 
 who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? For he is not, a 
 Jew which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which is outward in 
 the flesh: but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of 
 the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of 
 God." 
 
 IN this part of the chapter, the Apostle pursues the same 
 object as in the verses which precede; to prove the inexci^- 
 aUeness of the Jews, and to convince them of the unreason- 
 able and fallacious nature of all hope held in connexion with 
 conduct such as theirs. 
 
 From the seventeenth to the twenty-fourth verse, is a very 
 spirited and startling amplification of what had been simply 
 stated in the first. He begins by describing the notions
 
 172 LECTURE XII. 
 
 which the Jews Avere accustomed to entertain of themselves: 
 and then proceeds to expose their inconsistency, in a series of 
 close appeals to their consciences, respecting their own guilt, 
 in practices for which they were forward in condemning 
 others: Verse 17. "Behold thou art called a Jew, and 
 restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God/' 
 
 Tiie general appellation of JEW was given to those of the 
 nation of Israel who returned from the Babylonish captivity, 
 because Judah was the principal tribe, and those of the 
 people belonging to the other tribes who then came back to 
 the land of their fathers were considered as attaching them- 
 selves to it. 
 
 " Thou art called a Jew." By this name the person ad- 
 dressed was distinguished as a member of the national com- 
 munity of Israel; a descendant of Abraham according to the 
 flesh; while yet he was only a Jew uuiicardlij, and not in 
 the higher and more important sense assigned to the appel- 
 lation in the conclusion of the chapter; where it includes 
 internal spiritual qualities, of which he who is here addressed 
 was utterly destitute. 
 
 " And restest in the law:" that is, in the law of Moses; 
 which the Jews considered as a peculiar mark of the Divine 
 favour, and from which they expected salvation. Referring 
 to their confidence in the law, Jesus said to them ; " Do not 
 think that I will accuse you to the Father : there is one that 
 accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust."* Although 
 the subsequent pointed expostulations of the Apostle relate to 
 transgressions of the moral law ; yet " the law " in the verse 
 before us, and indeed throughout the passage, may with pro- 
 priety be considered as including both the moral and the 
 ceremonial, as branches of one whole. In both the Jews 
 rested; and to both the scope of the reasoning is eqxially 
 applicable. 
 
 " And makest thy boast of God:" as thy God, thy cove- 
 nant God; the God who has chosen thy nation to be a 
 peculiar people to himself. The Jews boasted of this, as their 
 
 * John v. 4i>.
 
 ROMANS II. 17-29. 173 
 
 exclusive honour; without understanding the gre.it purp m 
 of God in conferring the distinction the glory of his own 
 name and the gradual ripening of his designs of mercy to the 
 world at large. " Their glorying was not good ;" for pride 
 was the source from which it sprung. Instead of cherishing 
 a humble sense of unmerited privilege, they gloried in their 
 privileges, as if they had been rights ; or as if to honour and 
 distinguish fliem had been the sole end for which they had 
 been bestowed. The false and foolish confidence, which, in 
 spite of conscious wickedness, the Jews were wont to place 
 iu the privilege here particularized, is strikingly illustrated by 
 some of the ancient prophets : " Truly I am full of power," 
 s:iys Micah, " by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and 
 of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to 
 Israel his sin. Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the hnu.-e 
 of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judg- 
 ment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with 
 blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof 
 judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and 
 the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean 
 upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? no evil 
 can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion, for your sake, be 
 plowed as a field; and Jerusalem shall become heaps; and 
 the mountain of the house as the high place of the forest.' " 
 How extremely similar the character here delineated to that 
 of the impenitent Jews in the clays of Paul ! " A deceived 
 heart still turned them aside;" and the time was fast ap- 
 proaching, when the threatened "wrath was to come upon 
 them to the uttermost." 
 
 Verse 18. "And knowest his will, and approved the 
 tilings that are more excellent, being instructed out of the 
 law." 
 
 The Jews, possessing the law, had the knowledge of < 
 will. In connexion with a revelation of His character, the 
 worship Avas prescribed to them which lie would accept, and 
 a >ystem detailed of moral and religious duty infinitely " 
 
 * Micah iii. 812. See also Isa. xlviii. 1, 2.
 
 174 LECTURE XII. 
 
 excellent'' than anything of the kind to be found among hea- 
 then nations. Being instructed out of the law, they, in pro- 
 fession, approved the excellent things which it contained. It 
 is their own character of themselves that the Apostle here 
 draws. They gloried in the understanding they had, by pe- 
 culiar revelation, of God's "excellent" will; and in terms of 
 sclf-gratulation, professed approbation of the law, ill supported 
 as the profession was by any consistency of conduct. In their 
 knowledge of the Divine will they boasted, and were proudly 
 " confident," despising others. This supercilious self-suffi- 
 ciency is expressed in verses 19 and 20. " And art confident 
 that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them who 
 are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of 
 babes, who hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in 
 the law." 
 
 The appellations here applied to the Jews are such as they 
 were accustomed to employ in expressing their contempt of 
 the unenlightened heathen, over whom they vain-gloriously 
 vaunted. The language expresses what they thought of 
 themselves, rather than what they really did : their boasted 
 capabilities rather than their active endeavours. We are not 
 to suppose from it, that, prompted by benevolent compassion, 
 and animated by humble and fervent zeal, they exerted them- 
 selves in conducting blindness, enlightening obscurity, cor- 
 recting folly, and imparting to childhood the knowledge of 
 age. Ah! no. This was their duty; but the duty, as will 
 always be the case, when pride has usurped the place of 
 humility, was sadly neglected. Feeling their own superiority, 
 and fond of its display, the sentiment with which they looked 
 upon others was not beneficent compassion, but negligent 
 disdain. 
 
 In the end of verse 20th they are said to have had " in 
 the law, the form of knowledge and of the truth." The 
 word translated "form " has been variously rendered by 
 different commentators. The only other place in which it 
 occurs is 2 Tim. iii. 5, " having a form of godliness, but 
 denying the power thereof;" where it seems to signify the 
 outward appearance of the thing, without the thing itself
 
 ROMANS IT. 1729. 175 
 
 I am disposed to think that, in the passage before us, the 
 word is used in the sense of an image or typical reprwnfn- 
 tion* "In the law," (taking the word still in its extensive 
 import, as including the ceremonial as well as the moral part 
 of it) " In the law" they had this form this image this 
 t>i t iical representation this shadowy exhibition, of knowledge 
 and truth. To be acquainted with the law, or with that 
 part of it which was " a shadow of good things to coine," with- 
 out understanding its proper meaning, was in reality to be 
 destitute of the "knowledge" which it contained, ignorant of 
 the "truth" concealed under it. This view is greatly strength- 
 ened by the consideration, that it was in the outward obser- 
 vance of the institutions of the ceremonial law, without a 
 right understanding of their import and design, that they, in 
 a great measure, rested, as the Apostle had just before ex- 
 pressed himself. 
 
 But what I would request of you particularly to notice, is 
 the agreement of this interpretation of the phrase with the 
 first of the questions which immediately follow: "Thou, 
 therefore, that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?" 
 
 The "form of knowledge and of truth" which the Jews 
 possessed "in the law," was highly valuable: but its value 
 arose from its revealing, although with comparative indis- 
 tinctness, the reality. Now the Jews, with all their boasted 
 pretensions to ability to teach others, were themselves 
 criminally ignorant. At the time when Paul wrote, their 
 ignorance had become peculiarly criminal; because they 
 then had refused, and persisted in refusing, the plainest 
 and most impressive instructions as to the genuine mean- 
 ing of their Law, presented before their minds in the ap- 
 pearance, character, history, and work of Jesus of Nazareth. 
 They shut their eyes against the clearest light; and while, 
 with vain self-sufficiency, they said, " We see," remained in 
 affecting ignorance of what the law contained ; and though 
 possessing " the form of knowledge and truth," they rested, 
 
 * The word is pe^sari;. " Not the mere apparent likeness, but tbe 
 r-xil representation. The law. as hr as it went, was a reflexion of the 
 holiness and character of God." Alford. ED.
 
 176 LECTURE XIL 
 
 after all, in error and falsehood. They were " the blind peo- 
 ple," spoken of by the prophet, " who had eyes, and the deaf 
 who had ears." Glorying as they did in the inspiration of 
 their venerable lawgiver, our Lord yet charged them with 
 not believing Moses; and the ground of the charge was their 
 rejection of Himself. For this betrayed their blindness as to 
 the grand scope, as well as the particular types, predictions, 
 and promises of the Mosaic revelation. " Think not that I 
 will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accn-sutli 
 you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For if ye had believed 
 Moses, ye would have believed me ; for he wrote of me : 
 but if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my 
 words?"* Well, then, might the Apostle thus challenge 
 them : " Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thy- 
 self?" 
 
 But this was not all Not only were they thus sinfully 
 inconsiderate, and obstinately ignorant, while they boasted 
 of their superior knowledge; they were also vicious and 
 profligate in conduct, while they " trusted in themselves that 
 they were righteous, and despised others.'' Of tJtfft, a<lul- 
 tery, sacrilege, (the three crimes specified by the Apostle,) as 
 well as of almost every other species of transgression, they 
 were notoriously guilty. And there was, according to the 
 expression of the prophet, " like people, like priest." Hence 
 the subsequent cutting questions of the Apostle: "Thou 
 that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal ? 
 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost 
 thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou 
 commit sacrilege?" 
 
 From the time of the return from the Babylonian captivi- 
 ty, idolatry had not been, as before that period it generally 
 was, the prevailing sin of the Jewish people. In this re- 
 spect, what they abhorred in profession, they shunned in 
 practice. Their general conduct, however, made ib too mani- 
 fest, that this, whatever was its true cause, arose from no 
 real or pure regard to the authority and glory of God : for of 
 
 * John v. 43 17.
 
 KOMAXS II. 1729. 177 
 
 Jianlly any other evil could the same thing be truly affirmed. 
 In other cases, professed approbation of the precept was con- 
 tradicted by the shameless violation of it in practice : and 
 even their abhorrence of idols, although practical as well as 
 professed, was yet accompanied with such profanation of 
 sacred things, such Avill-worship, such embezzlement of what 
 belonged to God, such perversion to profane and selfish pur- 
 poses, of what ought to have been appropriated, or of what 
 was already hallowed, to His service, as constituted the very 
 essence of " aacri!/ ><j<'." 
 
 The prophet Malachi, in predicting the judgments which 
 God should bring upon the unbelieving Jews, when the cup 
 of their iniquity should be full, a period which was near at 
 hand when Paul wrote tlu's Epistle, sketches a picture of 
 their character which bears au exact resemblance to the 
 apostolic description "I will come near to you to judg- 
 ment ; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, 
 and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and 
 against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the 
 widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger 
 from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of Hosts. 
 For I am the Lord, I change not ; therefore ye sons of Jacob 
 are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers arc 
 ye gone away from mine ordinances, and ye have not kept 
 them : return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the 
 Lord of Hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 
 Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me. But ye 
 say, Wherein have we robbed thi-e'? In tithes and offerings. 
 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robl>ed me, cvi-n 
 this whole nation."* It is probable that the Apostle in 
 the passage before us had in his mind the chief men among 
 the Jews; the Scribes and Pharisees: for whose char- 
 acter, a compound of "all hypocrisy and iniquity" as 
 drawn by "the faithful witness," who "knew what was n. 
 man," I must refer you to the twenty-third chapter of the 
 Gospel by .Matthew ; a passage of Scripture characU'ii/i-d 
 
 * Mai. iii. 59. 
 I. M
 
 178 LECTURE \IL 
 
 much more than any other of our Lord's addresses, by pointed 
 severity of reproof; the severity, not of passion, but of calm, 
 holy, dignified, fearless indignation; a severity more than 
 justified, by the awful development of character by which 
 it is accompanied. 
 
 The twenty -third and twenty-fourth verses are in more 
 general terms than the preceding. Departing from the spe- 
 cification of particular precepts, the Apostle brings against 
 them the comprehensive charge of " breaking that law in 
 which they gloried," and by this means bringing dishonour 
 to God: "Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through 
 breaking the law, dishonourest thou God? For the name of 
 God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is 
 written." 
 
 They boasted of the law, and had a zeal for God. But it 
 was the boasting of self-sufficient folly. It was a false, un- 
 hallowed, inconsistent zeal. Their conduct brought discredit 
 and reproach on the very cause in which they professed to 
 glory: and on that holy Name, by which it was their high- 
 est honour to be called; an honour, however, of which 
 they had no true spiritual apprehension, and for which, 
 consequently, they felt no genuine and becoming thank- 
 fulness. 
 
 In the expression, " as it is written" the Apostle may be 
 considered as alluding to various passages of the Old Testa- 
 ment prophecies ; especially, perhaps, to the language of 
 E/.ekiel in the following verses : " And when they entered 
 uuto the heathen whither they went, they profaned my holy 
 name, when they said to them, These are the people of the 
 Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity 
 for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned 
 among the heathen whither they went. Therefore say unto 
 the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this 
 for your sakes, house of Israel, but for my holy name's 
 sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither 
 ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was 
 profaned among the heathen, Avhich ye have profaned in the 
 midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the
 
 ROMANS II. 1729. 179 
 
 Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you 
 before their eyes."* 
 
 A more pointed and impressive appeal, one more calcu- 
 lated to convict of sin, and to convince of error and folly, 
 than that which the Apostle here makes to his countrymen, 
 can hardly be conceived. 
 
 The reasoning which follows is designed to show the Jews, 
 upon their own principles, the vanity and delusiveness of 
 their hopes, while their character was such as described: I 
 say, upon their own principles; and I wish this to be parti- 
 cularly kept in mind, as being, in my apprehension, the true 
 key to the right interpretation of the passage: verse 25. 
 " For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law ; 
 but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made 
 uncircumcision." 
 
 The Jews trusted and gloried in their circumcision, in 
 their descent from Abraham, the friend of God. Circumci- 
 sion "was not of Moses, but of the fathers;" and the design 
 and import of the rite we shall afterwards have an opportu- 
 nity fully to consider. t Meantime, circumcision, in the pas- 
 sage before us, simply signifies, a man's being a Jew, or a 
 descendant of Abraham ; as is clear from the question at the 
 beginning of chapter third " What advantage, then, hath 
 the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?" and the 
 Apostle's reply to it, " Much every way : chiefly, because 
 that unto them were committed the oracles of God:" whcru 
 it is evident that being a Jew, and being of the circunu- /Wo//, 
 are one and the same thing. 
 
 The Apostle's meaning, then, in the twenty-fifth verse, 
 might be thus amplified: 'You glory in being a Jew, a 
 descendant of Abraham ; and your belonging to this nation 
 is, without doubt, of eminent advantage to you, as affording 
 you the knowledge *of God's will. But you seem to forget 
 the nature of that law in which you so confidently trust ; 
 the extent of its requirements; the terms on which it pro- 
 mises life. Eemember, it is not to circumcision it is not 
 
 * Ezek. xxxvi. 2023. t Chap. iv.
 
 180 LECTURE XII. 
 
 to mere descent from Abraham it is not even to the know- 
 ledge of God's will, thence resulting, that, life is promised : 
 it is to the doing of the law ; " The man that doeth these 
 things shall live by them." If, then, you "keep the law" 
 if you "fulfil it" your expectations of life from it will not be 
 disappointed; and, in that case, your circumcision will profit 
 you; your Jewish extraction, and consequent knowledge of 
 the law, will be of real and essential benefit. But, on the con- 
 trary, if you be "a transgressor of the law," you must be aware 
 that to transgressors it gives no hope, no promise of life. 
 To such it is all threatening, condemnation, and curse. As 
 a transgressor, therefore, your circumcision can profit you 
 nothing: "it is made imetmiMfiUMNt/" that is, } r ou are not 
 a whit the better for your privileges, more than the Gentiles, 
 the uncircumcised Gentiles, who have never possessed them, 
 and over whom you inconsiderately glory.' 
 
 The Apostle further urges this point upon their attention, 
 in order to their full conviction, by ngponnp the case />f a a 
 uncircumcised Gentile fulfilling the laic: verses 26, 27. 
 " Therefore, if the un circumcision keep the righteousness of 
 the law, shall not his undrcumcision be counted for circum- 
 cision? And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature, 
 if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who, by the letter and cir- 
 cumcision, dost transgress the law?" 
 
 The reasoning, in these verses, seems to be this : ' You 
 trust in the letter of the law and in circumcision : but since 
 it is not, as I have already observed, to the possession of 
 these that life is promised, but to the practical fulfilment of 
 the law, in all its precepts; let me suppose a heathen, who 
 has neither the letter of the law nor circumcision on which 
 to place reliance let me suppose such a heathen to " keep 
 the righteousness of the law;" although not possessing it 
 in a written form, yet living according* to its holy require- 
 ments ; do you imagine that such a one should perish merely 
 because he is not a Jew? The difference between you, as a 
 transgressor of the law, and a wicked Gentile, consists simply 
 in your having "the letter and circumcision," while he wants 
 them. If, then, you were to be accepted, although your
 
 ROMANS II. 17-29. 181 
 
 character be as profligate as his, solely on account of your 
 having these, it would necessarily follow, that a Gentile, al- 
 though he should " keep the righteousness of the law," must 
 perish, because he wants them; that is, must perish for a 
 thing which he cannot help, and in direct opposition to the 
 divine assurance, that "the man who doeth these things 
 shall live in them." Is it not, on the contrary, both reason- 
 able and obvious, that if such a Gentile were to be found, so 
 far from being rejected on account of his uncircumcision, lie 
 should "judge #iee," possessing over thee that superiority 
 to which thou vainly pretend est over him; declaring the 
 awful aggravation of thy guilt, who, in direct violation of the 
 It-tier of the law, and of the privileges attending circumci- 
 sion, " dost transgress the. law," livest in the wilful and 
 remorseless disobedience of its pure and righteous precepts, 
 misled and blinded by a strange unhallowed confidence in 
 the mere possession of the Book which contains them?' 
 
 By some this part of the chapter, as well as what is said 
 of the heathen in the fourteenth and fifteenth verses, is un- 
 derstood of i-ntii-i-i-tfil Gentiles who have been brought to 
 nhf-dlr-.w.e by the faith of the Gospel They are averse to 
 admitting into the Apostle's reasoning an argument founded 
 on mere supposition ; because, say they, " an argument iv.4- 
 ing on a supposition which never takes place, is an argument 
 supporting a conclusion which never follows." It is of im- 
 portance, then, to vindicate the principle, and explain a little 
 farther, the grounds of the preceding interpretation of both 
 
 Observe, then, in the first place, that in many cases, it is 
 highly proper and perfectly conclusive, to argue from ><,>- 
 position. It is especially so, when our object is to convince 
 those whom we address" of the unsoundness of their own 
 principles. Now I trust it is apparent to you all, from the 
 paraphrase which I have just attempted of the latter of 1 
 passages in question, that the supposition made in it very 
 strikingly exposes the absurdity of Jewish confidence and 
 pride of privilege. 
 
 In the second place: The Apostle has not yet begun tt
 
 182 LECTURE XII. 
 
 treat formally of the real and proper ground of acceptance 
 with God, either for Jewish or Gentile sinners ; but has here 
 in view, as his leading I should rather say his exclusive 
 object, to convince the Jetos, his unbelieving countrymen, of 
 the vanity of their hope, which was built on mere outward 
 circumstances, on mere peculiarities of fleshly descent and 
 external privilege, while they were living in the practice of 
 those very sins for which they condemned the Gentiles. 
 This being his object, his hypothetical reasoning is powerfully 
 conclusive. 
 
 In the third place: -The particular terms used by the 
 Apostle in this latter passage, seem of necessity to fix the 
 ground of his reasoning to a supposition. The expression, in 
 verse 27th, "the uncircumcision which is by nature'" (liter- 
 ally of nature *) means the Gentile who is in a state of na- 
 ture: for, in the first place, "the uncircumcision," in verse 
 26th, is plainly equivalent to "the Gentile:" being spoken of 
 personally as keeping the precepts of the law; and having 
 his "uncircumcision counted for circumcision:" secondly, 
 "the uncircumcision which is by nature" can hardly mean 
 "he who is by nature uncircumcised ; " inasmuch as this ren- 
 ders the phrase "by nature" utterly useless: thirdly, to be 
 "of nature" is an expression, in Greek phraseology, fairly equi- 
 valent to being in a state of nature. The following phrases, 
 in the original, nearly, if not exactly, correspond to it: 
 " they of the circumcision," which occurs in Acts x. 45 ; 
 " they who are of faith" and " as many as are of the work* 
 of the law" both of which are in the third chapter of Gala- 
 tians, the 9th and 10th verses; "they who are of the law" 
 and the seed "which is of the laic" Rom. iv. 14, 16; and in 
 the very chapter before us, at the 8th verse, the phrase " them 
 that are contentions" is literally them that are of contention.^ 
 In like manner, "the uncircumcision which is of nature" 
 means "the Gentile who is in a state of nature." But what, 
 you may possibly ask, is meant by being in a state of nature 1 
 In the connexion in which the expression here occurs, it 
 
 * I* Qufftuf. -j- To7{ It l| iftft'iat.
 
 ROMANS II. 1729. 183 
 
 means, I apprehend, being without revelation, or, to keep by 
 the Apostle's precise subject, icithout the law. And this 
 leads me to a fourth observation ; that this view of the 
 meaning of the phrase completes the contrast between the 
 Jew and the Gentile in this very verse : " shall not the uu- 
 circumcision, which is in a state of nature, if it fulfil the law, 
 judge thee who, with* the letter and circumcision, dost trans- 
 gress the law." The Gentile, uncirciuncised and in a state 
 of nature, is opposed to the Jew, circumcised, and possessing 
 the letter. These remarks may serve to show, that it is not of 
 converted Gentiles that the Apostle speaks. 
 
 But as a further evidence that the Apostle argues on sup- 
 position, I would notice the phrase which immediately fol- 
 lows : " if the uncircumcision which is in a state of nature 
 fulfil the law." The supposition here made is that of a 
 Gentile rendering complete obedience, to the law, fulfilling 
 it : for although I would by no means affirm that the original 
 word is always used in this strict acceptation, yet it certainly 
 is its most proper and legitimate import : and, when so un- 
 derstood, it cannot, it is evident, be applied as descriptive of 
 the real character of any, whether Jew or Gentile. 
 
 In the fourth place : Renewed consideration of the former 
 passage (verses 14 and 15) confirms me in the conviction, 
 that it does not refer to the obedience of converted Gentiles, 
 but to the partial conformity of the external conduct, as well 
 as of the reasonings and the consciences of heathens to the 
 dictates of the Divine law. The scope of the context still 
 appears to me decidedly to favour this sense: and to this 
 iirst and most important principle of interpretation I formerly 
 added, and now repeat, an observation suggested by the lan- 
 guage of the passage itself. Those who understand the obe- 
 dience of converted Gentiles to be spoken of, must construe 
 the words thus: "When the Gentiles, who by nature have not 
 the law, do the things contained in the law," &c. But it is 
 evident that this arrangement makes the phrase " lj nature" 
 
 * S/i COmp. Rom. XIV. 20 aXXi xxv ru avfyuTu ru J/i fpoffitoft- 
 
 fL.7<,t i<rtiovTi. Perhaps through in spite of bursting through the 
 restraint of knowledge and privilege.
 
 184 LECTURE XII. 
 
 a useless and very awkward pleonasm: for if it he admitted 
 (and it will not be denied) that the Apostle did not intend 
 to affirm that by nature they had ur> ///// '// all; (for to sti|- 
 p >se this would be to overturn his whole reasoning respecting 
 the guilt and condemnation of the Gentiles; because, "when; 
 no law is, there is, and can be, no transgression : ") if this. I 
 say, be admitted, then the. expression, "who have not the 
 law by nature," must refer to the revealed or written law ; 
 but to say that by nature they have not this law, is to say at 
 least a very needless thing; for how, it might be asked, could 
 they have it by nature? It involves a contradiction. AVe 
 never think of describing men as by nature destitute of n 
 n:r!tl'-i> rf.C'.iatioii: and if we would not use siu/h unmeaning 
 language ourselves, let us not impute it to an inspired writer. 
 
 The Apostle sums up and concludes his argument, by de- 
 claring the character of a real Jew, or son of faithful Abra- 
 ham, and the true spiritual import of circumcision : verses 
 28, 29 : "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly ; neither 
 is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but ho 
 is a Jew who is one inwardly : and circumcision is that 
 of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose 
 praise is not of men but of God." 
 
 Some insist, that, in these verses, the Apostle speaks, not 
 of what had been the case formerly, under the Old Dispensa- 
 tion, but of what is the case now, under the Xew. It is 
 freely admitted, that in different particulars, the JS r ew Dispen- 
 sation is more pure and spiritual than the Old : for not only 
 has the vast variety of external services which existed under 
 the system of types and shadows been abolished ; so that 
 the true worshippers now worship the Father in the spirit- 
 ami truth of those ancient symbolical institutions : but it 
 was predicted that at the coming of the Christ the church of 
 God should lie cleansed from its gross impurity, arising from 
 the vast multitude of unbelieving, carnal, wicked, and worldly 
 professors. The impenitent Jews were to be cast out, as the 
 bond-woman and her son Ishmael were banished, by Divine 
 direction, from the family of Abraham.* 
 * fcLe Gal. iv. 29, 30.
 
 ROMANS II. 1729. 185 
 
 Mulachi, the last of the prophets by whom God of old 
 had spoken to the fathers, thus foretold the coming of 
 the Messiah : " Behold, I will send my messenger, and lie 
 shall prepare the way before me : and the Lord whom ye 
 seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger 
 of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, 
 suith the Lord of Hosts. L'ut who may abide the day of his 
 coming! and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is 
 like a reliner's fire, and like fuller's soap : and he shall sit :u 
 a refiner and puritier of silver, and he shall purify the sons 
 of Levi, and purge thorn as gold and silver; that they may 
 offer unto the Lord an ottering in righteousness. Then shall 
 the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the 
 Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I 
 will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift 
 witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, 
 and against false swearers, and against those that oppress 
 the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and 
 that turn aside the poor from his right, and fear not me, 
 saith the Lord of hosts."* And the approaching fulfilment 
 of this prophecy was announced to the Jews, in striking 
 language, by him who came before the face of the Lord, to 
 prepare his way.t 
 
 But, admitting the superior purity of the Xow Dispensa- 
 tion, the truth here stated by the Apostle is by no means to 
 be considered as peculiar to it, but as equally applicable to 
 the old. The character of the true child of Abraham, of 
 the " Israelite indeed" has always been the same; and in- 
 deed, as the Apostle is now addressing, and seeking to con- 
 vince, the unbelieving Jews of the delusion under which they 
 laboured, while they were trusting in their descent from 
 Abraham, without having the faith or doing the "works ,.f 
 Abraham;" in their circumcision, although regardless of the 
 design of the rite and utterly destitute of the spiritual char- 
 acter which it signified; and in the possession of "the let- 
 ter" of the law, while in letter and spirit they violated its 
 
 * Mill. iii. 15. t Matt - ' 8 12 -
 
 186 LECTURE XII. 
 
 holy requirements: as these are the persons whom he is 
 now addressing, and seeking to convince, it would have been 
 quite foreign from his purpose to have introduced in such a 
 connexion the character of the true Christian, or believer in 
 Jesus. We must understand him as referring to the lan- 
 guage of the Old Testament, with which they were supposed 
 acquainted, and whose authority they professed to admit, re- 
 specting the character of the true people of God, and the na- 
 ture of the true circumcision to such passages, for example, 
 as the following; of which there are many, both in the law 
 of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms: "And 
 now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, 
 but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to 
 love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul; to keep the commandments of the 
 Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, for 
 thy good. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens 
 are the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein 
 is. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers, to love them, 
 and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peo- 
 ple, as it is this day. Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of 
 your hearts, and be no more stiff-necked:" "And the Lord 
 thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, 
 to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
 soul, that thou niayest live." " Hear, Israel, the Lord our 
 God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 Avith all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. 
 And these words which I command thee this day shall be in 
 thy heart : " " Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take 
 away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah, and in- 
 habitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury come forth like fire, 
 and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your 
 doings : " " God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a 
 pure heart."* 
 
 These and other similar parts of their own Scriptures were 
 
 * Dent. x. 12 16; xxx. 6; vi. 4 6: Jer. iv. 4: Ps;il. Ixxiii. 1 : and 
 compare John i. 47 : and Matt. v. 8. See too Psal. xv.
 
 ROMANS II. 1729. 1*7 
 
 fully sufficient to have shown the Jews the character of the 
 genuine Israelite, and the spiritual import of circumcision. 
 The assertion of the Apostle in these verses is grounded on 
 such declarations, and respects all preceding time, as well as the 
 time when he wrote. It is a parallel affirmation to that in 
 the beginning of the ninth chapter of this Epistle : " They are 
 not all Israel who are of Israel ; neither because they are the 
 seed of Abraham are they all children : but ' In Isaac shall 
 thy seed be called ; ' that is, they who are the children of the 
 flesh (only, that is), these are not the children of God, but 
 the children of the promise are counted for the seed."* 
 
 Circumcision emblematically represented the blessings of 
 justification and sanctification ; the removal of the guilt, and 
 of the pollution of sin. All, whether Jews or Gentiles, who 
 possess the blessings so represented, are the true circumcision, 
 " worshipping God in the Spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, 
 and having no confidence in the flesh." These are the gen- 
 uine children of believing Abraham. Circumcision, then, 
 was not, in the proper and most important view of the rite, 
 a mere mark of descent from Abraham. It represented spir- 
 itual blessings : and ihey were, all along, the true circumci- 
 sion in whom its spiritual meaning was fulfilled; who pos- 
 sessed not the sign merely, but the thing signified. These 
 constitute the seed of Abraham to whom the promises were 
 made, contained in God's covenant with the venerable patri- 
 arch : the promises, I say, of every kind ; both the temporal 
 and the spiritual. For these were not made, the one to 
 his fleshly seed, and the other to his spiritual, but both pecu- 
 liarly to the latter. Of this point, however, a subsequent 
 part of the Epistle will afford room for more enlarged dis- 
 cussion. What I wish now to impress upon your minds is 
 this : that the language of the Apostle now under consider- 
 ation is by no means to be confined, in its application, to 
 New Testament times: that, as there never was, nor evw 
 could be, a period, or a state of things, in which the omni- 
 scient God, who "weighetb the spirits," was pleased and 
 
 * Verses 6 8.
 
 m LECTUKK XII. 
 
 satisfied with obedience merely external, springing from an 
 alienated and hypocritical heart: with sen'iee, in which the 
 hands and lips alone were engaged, while the inward -spirit 
 was at variance with the outward act; he >// mi* a Jew, 
 who was one outwardly, neither was that, at any time, cir- 
 cumcision which was outward in the flesh: that, under 
 every change of dispensation, he alone has been a Jew, who 
 has been one inwardly; and circumcision that of the heart, in 
 the spirit, and not in the letter: that the consistency and 
 force of the Apostle's argument requires us so to understand 
 him: and that the Old Testament Scriptures decidedly 
 support this interpretation of his wi >nls. 
 
 Of this spiritual circumcision, the apostle adds, " tr !>*< 
 j, i-< i!.t,- is /mf of mot, /'tif of Cio<l" ''How can ye believe." 
 s.i id our Lord to the Jews, "who receive honour one of an- 
 other, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only (" 
 Their character continued the same in Paul's time. They 
 were carnal: glorying in the flesh; honouring one anoth.-r : 
 coveting the praise of men ; satisfied with mere human ap- 
 plause ; and, by mutually praising, mutually deceiving and 
 hardening one another, while destitute of the favour and ap- 
 probation of God. To the true Israelite, on the contrary, the 
 favour of God is the object of supreme desire, compared with 
 which the praise of men is, in his eyes, lighter than vanity. 
 This sum of his wishes is not withheld from him. "The 
 L-rd loveth the righteous:" "his countenance beholdeth the 
 upright." " The steps of the good man are ordered by the 
 Lord; and he delighteth in his way." And in the love of 
 " the God of their salvation," His people possess a fulness 
 of joy, independent of the smiles and frowns of the world, 
 and of all the fluctuations of time. Their praise is of God, 
 who looks upon them in the face of his Anointed. 
 
 Let our minds, dear brethren, be deeply impressed with 
 the importance of maintaining full consistency of profession 
 and character. The mere name of CHRISTIAN can, in itself, 
 be of no more avail, with all the privileges which it implies, 
 than the name of JEW. "Behold, thou art called a Christian ; 
 and restest in the BIBLE, and makest thy boast of God." Yet
 
 ROMANS II. 1729. 189 
 
 alas ! to 
 
 : ! to how many, in these circumstances, may the question 
 be emphatically put, "Teachest thou not thyself?" Remem- 
 ber the purpose for which the God of all grace has given you 
 this volume of inspired truth. It is to show you THE WAY 
 OF SALVATION. If you miss this, you miss its grand design. 
 For you the Bible might as well never have been. For you 
 it had been a-s well, if no live coal from the altar of God had 
 ever touched the lips of prophet or apostle : as well if the 
 Sun of Truth had never arisen on this benighted earth ! 
 As well, did I say? I ought to have; said much mom For 
 if such be your unhappy case, the Bible not only does not 
 profit you, but will, as possessed and unimproved, enhance 
 your condemnation. 
 
 Again: there are many "culled Ohritit.!<.im" who are not 
 indeed thus grossly ignorant of the theory of Christianity, 
 1 ut whose profession and character are sadly at variance. 
 " They profess to know God, but in works they deny him.'' 
 " They name the name of Christ, but they do not depart 
 from iniquity." Let such be roused by the apostolic expos- 
 tulation, to consider the emptiness of their pretensions to re- 
 ligion. " Thou that sayest a man should not steal, dost thou 
 steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, 
 dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost 
 thou worship the WORLD?" Is thy heart so set upon it thy 
 thoughts, affections, and desires so full of it, as to exclude 
 God from the supreme place? While professing to have thy 
 treasure in heaven, dost thou live a worldly life, and thus 
 .show that thy treasure is not in heaven, but on earth, thy 
 heart being there also? While calling yourself a servant of 
 God, are you devoting the vigour of your powers to the 
 service of MAMMON ? This is "sacrilege." It is appropriating 
 to the creature what is due to the Creator: to self what 
 pertains to God. You may call yourselves Christians ; but 
 it is a profanation of the name of Christ. That worthy 
 name is '''blasphemed" in the world "through you:" 
 and through all who, professing to glory in the doctrines 
 of the Bible, have neither imbibed its spirit, nor are careful 
 to fulfil its precepts.
 
 190 LECTURE XII. 
 
 Brethren in Christ, never let us forget our high character, 
 and happy privilege : "Now are we THE CHILDREN OF GOD." 
 " What manner of persons, then, ought we to be, in all holy 
 conversation and godliness ! " He hath said, " Be ye holy ; 
 for I, the Lord your God, am holy." If, with hearts glad- 
 dened by a sense of His love, we "make our boast in God," 
 let us beware of ever giving occasion to the adversary to 
 " speak reproachfully," or to blaspheme His blessed name. 
 For the sake of the glory of God, and of the good of man- 
 kind, let us make steady, incorruptible consistency our un- 
 ceasing aim. Our admonitions and instructions will be re- 
 jected with indignant scorn, or at best will be neutralized 
 and rendered utterly spiritless and inefficient, if they do not 
 conn- recommended by a corresponding character. 
 
 Let us cultivate that inner religion, that sterling spirituality 
 of mind and character, whose " praise is not of men but of 
 God." Let our first concern be, that our "hearts" be right 
 with God, arid steadfast in his covenant ; for " the Lord 
 looketh on the heart;" and out of it are "the issues of life." 
 And oh! "let the hypocrites in Zion be afraid!" Lot 
 those who have "a form of godliness, while they deny the 
 power" thereof, consider how vain, how worthless, the esti- 
 mation and applause of men, while weighed in the balance 
 of the sanctuary, they are pronounced " reprobate silver ! " 
 " Where is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, 
 when God taketh away his soul?"
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 ROMANS in. 1 18. 
 
 "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumci- 
 sion? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the 
 oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? shall t'heir unbelief make the 
 faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a 
 liar; as it is written, That tliou mightest be justified iti thy sayings, and 
 mightest overcome when tliou art judged. But if our unrighteousness commend 
 the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh 
 vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid; for then how shall God judge the 
 world? For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his 
 glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slan- 
 derously reported, and as some :iffirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that ,c<Hi 
 may come? whose damnation is just. What then? are we better than they? 
 No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are 
 all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is 
 none that uuderstandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are ;ill 
 gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that 
 doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues 
 they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is 
 full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and 
 misery are in their ways; and the way of peace have the/ not known: there in 
 no fear of God before their eyes." 
 
 IN the end of the preceding chapter, the Apostle had laid 
 down certain principles, which he was aware would be ex- 
 tremely offensive to his unbelieving countrymen: because 
 they were calculated to abase their pride of privilege, and to 
 rob them of their boasted superiority over the Gentiles. He 
 therefore anticipates opposition ; and, pursuing still the same 
 general aim, immediately introduces a Jew, as objecting
 
 192 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 strenuously to his doctrine: verse 1. " What advantage then 
 hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision f 
 
 ' If, indeed, it be as you have said, then we who have 
 been taught and accustomed to view ourselves as the pecu- 
 liar favourites of God, the people whom He hath chosen for 
 his inheritance, and whom He hath honoured and blessed 
 above every other nation on earth, are, it should seem, by 
 your account, to be at once divested of all our superior- 
 ity over others. Although of the stock of Israel, the i.-lui- 
 dren of Abraham, God's friend; circumcised the eighth 
 day; honoured with the revelation of God's will; and wor- 
 shipping Him in the way of his own appointment ; we are, 
 after all, to stand on a level with " sinners of the Gentiles," 
 uncircumcised, idolatrous Gentiles ; possessing no more 
 claim to the favour of God and to salvation than they ! If 
 this be so, well may we enquire, " What advantage hath the 
 Jew?"' 
 
 To this question the Apostle replies in verse second, " Much 
 every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed 
 the Oracles of God." 
 
 "Much every way:" in every respect. The different 
 honours and advantages of the Jewish people are, in a subse- 
 quent part of this Epistle, enumerated more at length : " To 
 them pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the cove- 
 nants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and 
 the promises; theirs were the fathers; and of them, as con- 
 cerning the flesh, the Christ came, who is over all, God, 
 blessed for ever."* In his reply to the objector's question 
 now before us, the Apostle confines himself to one of their 
 privileges, which, however, includes some of the others, and 
 is, in itself, the most precious of Divine favours ; the pos- 
 session of "the Oracles of God." 
 
 "The Oracles of God" are communications to men -of the 
 mind of God. Stephen, in his address to the Jews before 
 his martyrdom, speaks of Moses as having received the " lir.i- 
 bj orachs" to give unto the people. Xow, the revelation 
 
 * Chap. ix. 4, 5.
 
 ROMANS III. 118. 193 
 
 which God gave by Moses, and by the succeeding historians 
 and prophets of the Old Testament, was committed to the 
 Jews, the people and church of God, as a sacred deposit* 
 
 This was the privilege that chiefly distinguished and ex- 
 alted them above other nations. God's peculiar goodness to 
 them in this respect was to the ancient church a theme of 
 fervent praise. 
 
 The Jews were thus the appointed guardians of Divine 
 revelation, during the ages which preceded the coming of 
 ( 'hrist. And of the corruption of this revelation, either by 
 alterations of its language, or by the admission of apocryphal 
 or spurious writings, they were always, during that pvriod, 
 scrupulously jealous. Among all the evils laid to the charge 
 of the Jewish people by our Lord and his Apostles, there is 
 never the remotest insinuation of any unfaithfulness in their 
 care of the word of God. In this, their well-known care, we 
 have one of the principal external evidences of the genuine- 
 ness and authenticity of the books of the Old Testament.t 
 But, apart from the appropriate evidence by which the Di- 
 vine authority of the Old Testament is supported, I would 
 here remark, that we cannot consistently question its inspira- 
 tion if we admit that of the New. In the passage now be- 
 fore ns we have the attestation of an inspired Apostle to the 
 Divine original of the Jewish Scriptures. For as the Apos- 
 tle makes no exception, all the writings then esteemed canon- 
 ical, must of necessity be included in the phrase, " the Ora- 
 cles of God." The same unqualified sanction is given to the 
 Avhole of the Old Testament Scriptures, by this same Apostl", 
 in his second Epistle to Timothy : " From a child," says he, 
 "thou hast known the holy scriptures, winch are able to 
 
 * liriffri'iiSnfa.i. 
 
 f After the coming of Christ, antipathy to the claims of Jesus c 
 Nazareth, and a consequent wish by all possible means to in valid 
 these claims, operated as a force in the contrary direction, and have 
 thought by the learned to have, in some instances, prevailed over t 
 former scrupulosity, and to have occasioned some alterations in 
 original text, favourable to their own views, in such miniHcrfotl 
 they had in their power: although, as to the real extent ol this < 
 critics are not agreed. 
 
 I.
 
 194 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in 
 Christ Jesus." "All scripture is given by inspiration of 
 God."* Indeed, besides such express declarations, which are 
 very valuable, making all the evidence of the inspiration of 
 the Xew Testament to bear, with reflected force, on that of 
 the Old, there are in the New such numberless references, 
 direct and indirect, to the Old, proceeding on the assump- 
 tion of its inspired authority, that the two reciprocally sup- 
 port each other, and'must stand or fall together. 
 
 The possession of these "Oracles of God," was, without 
 question, a high and valuable advantage : an advantage, how- 
 ever, which, like every other gift of God, was capable of 
 being misimproved and perverted to purposes which it never 
 was intended to serve. And so in fact it was by those on 
 whom it was conferred. 
 
 Verse 3. "For what if some did not believe 1 ? shall their 
 unbelief make the faith of God of no effect ? " It must be 
 evident to every considerate reader, that "I&B faith of God" 
 here means God's faithful ii&ss; the same word in the ori- 
 ginal is, in one passage, translated fidelity, and has probably 
 the same meaning in several others ;t and the connexion 
 plainly requires this sense in the verses before us. The 
 reply to the question is, " Let God be true, and every man 
 a liar" 
 
 " What if some have not believed ?"$ In this expression 
 (which I would thus render, rather than " <l!d nut l><>lii>n>") 
 the Apostle, I apprehend, refers to the multitudes of the 
 Jews who had not believed in Jesus, as the promised Messiah, 
 the great subject of the Oracles of God : and respecting 
 
 * 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16: See this, which is the received translation, vin- 
 dicated, with great learning, against the criticisms of the late Dr. 
 Geddes, by which he attempted to set aside this plain and conclusive 
 
 rensons against this sense of his words examined. By Robert Findlay, 
 D.U., Professor of Theology in the University of Glasgow." 
 I Titus ii. 10: Matt, xxiii. 23: G;U. v. 22.
 
 ROMANS III. 118. 195 
 
 those, he asks, " Shall their unbelief make void the faithful- 
 ness of God'?" 
 
 The meaning of this question, from the particular connex- 
 ion in which it stands, in the Apostle's reasoning, appears to 
 he this: "The Oracles of God" are full of declarations of 
 serial favour to Israel, to the seed of Abraham. Now if, 
 after all, such multitudes of his seed are to be viewed as 
 being, with respect to their condition before God, on an equal 
 footing with the Gentiles ; if, indeed, in this view, " there 
 H no respect of persons with God;" if "the wrath of 
 (lod is revealed against" the Jew and the Gentile indiscri- 
 minately; and if blessedness is to be obtained by both, 
 without any difference, on the same ground ; if the " un- 
 circumcision" of the Gentile would, in certain circumstances, 
 be "counted for circumcision," and the "circumcision" of 
 the Jew "become uncircumcision : " * On such supposi- 
 tions, what is the meaning of all those declarations of pecu- 
 liar favour and blessedness ; all those promises " exceeding 
 great and precious" of good to Israel, with which the Old 
 Testament abounds? And what will become of the faithful- 
 //'.--.-. the veracity, of Him who made them; of whom these 
 very Scriptures testify, that he is " a God of truth, and with 
 out iniquity?" "not a man that he should lie, nor the son 
 of man, that he should repent?" " What if some have not 
 believed?" says the Apostle, and, by not " obeying the truth," 
 have exposed themselves to "indignation and wrath?" 
 " shall their unbelief make void the fidelity of God to his 
 word?" The answer is 
 
 Verse 4. " God forbid ! Yea, let God be true, but every 
 man a liar : as it is written ; That thou mightest be justified 
 in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged." 
 
 Trie Apostle does not, in this place, enter on the formal 
 proof of the consistency of the rejection of the unbelieving 
 Jews with the Divine promises. The main argument bv 
 which this consistency is established, rests on the distinction 
 stated in the end of the preceding chapter between Jews by 
 
 * Comp. chap. ii. 9 11.
 
 196 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 birth, and Jews in spirit ; between the " circumcision of the 
 heart," and " circumcision in the flesh." To this argument he 
 gives its due prominence in the beginning of the ninth chap- 
 ter; and we shall not now anticipate the illustration of it. 
 In the passage before us, he assumes a different ground. He 
 indignantly repels the implied charge against the Divine 
 faithfulness, on account of its obvious and shocking impiety ; 
 its flagrant opposition to the necessary and acknowledged 
 character of God. It is as if he had said ' Let what will 
 be the solution of the seeming difficulty, this assuredly can 
 never be. The immutable veracity of the God of truth 
 must, at all events, be free from impeachment. Let not the 
 suspicion of the contrary be harboured even for an instant. 
 Let not the possibility of it be so much as supposed. Let the 
 very thought be rejected, with shuddering abhorrence, as a 
 thought that should never have been formed. Should the 
 acknowledgment, implicate all creatures in falsehood " LET 
 GOD BE TRUE :" ' " Let God be true, and evert/ man a liar:" 
 that is, although every man should be a liar. There is an 
 instance of the same mode of expression in the original, ren- 
 dered agreeably to this explanation in 2 Cor. xiii. 7. "Now 
 I pray to God, that ye do no evil ; not that we should appear 
 approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though 
 we be as reprobates." The sense is correctly given ; but the 
 words, literally rendered, are " that ye may do that which is 
 honest, and we may be as reprobates."* 
 
 The expression may either be thus interpreted; or 'Let 
 God be true ; and every man an impious liar that would, in 
 the remotest degree, insinuate the contrary.' Let this be de- 
 cided without a moment's hesitation. Let it be a fixed, im- 
 movable conviction in our minds, that when we find diffi- 
 culty, in perceiving the consistency of events with the pro- 
 mises of God, whencesoever this difficulty arises, it can never 
 be owing to falsehood in Him " who is Light, and in whom 
 there is no darkness at all" To every question that implies 
 a supposition so directly subversive of all religion, let us re- 
 
 ,( -V\ * \ / T 
 
 T V**'? Ot US OLOOXlftOt UfttV,
 
 KOMAXS III. 1-18. 197 
 
 ply with tlie Apostle " God forbid/" Literally; " Let il 
 not be ! " or " Far be it ! " * 
 
 The Apostle confirms his sentiment by a quotation from 
 the fifty-first Psalm: "that thou mightest be justified in 
 thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."t 
 The passage is quoted as it stands in the Septuagint, or Greek 
 translation of the Old Testament. In our English version 
 the words are ; " that thou mightest be justified when thou 
 speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." 
 
 "Without entering into any discussion of the causes that 
 may have produced the diversities between the Septuagint 
 translation and the original Hebrew, whether affecting the 
 translation at large, the version of different books, or the 
 rendering of particular passages ; I would remark in general, 
 that wherever the JS"ew Testament writers make their quota- 
 tions from the Septuagint, we may be sure the sense must bo 
 the same, although the words may be somewhat different. If 
 the writers of both the Old and the New Testaments were 
 inspired, this is a necessary inference from their inspiration. 
 At the same time it ought to be observed, that such quota- 
 tions are by no means to be considered as giving an inspired 
 sanction to the translation, as a whole, from which they are 
 taken; but merely as confirming the correctness, with respect 
 to sense, of the passages quoted. In the case before us, you 
 will perceive, the difference is merely verbal God is ad- 
 dressed in the passage, by the penitent psalmist, as an 
 offended sovereign and judge. For such a one to be " clear 
 when he is judged," is to have his character for righteousness 
 and truth established when his conduct is tried. This 
 amounts, in effect, to much the same with his being " clear " 
 
 * M* -yiwn. Our translators have given to the phrase, as a strong 
 negation, its full spirit: nor do I perceive, or feel, in their translation of 
 it, which is uniform throughout this Apostle's letters, any impropriety. 
 The subjects treated of are sacred and important; nor does the use of 
 such language, on occasions so serious, give the slightest countenance to 
 the thoughtless application of it to matters which are light and trivial; 
 any more than the reverent use of the Holy Name of U"<1, in scripture, 
 or "in religious conversation, affords encouragement to "taking that 
 nrune in vain." 
 
 f Psal. li. 4.
 
 ]'J8 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 (that is clear of any fault or blame) "when he judges:" 
 impartially just in the sentences pronounced by him. While 
 David, in these words, expresses, with deep self-abasement, 
 his personal conviction of the justice of God in visiting liia 
 sins with deserved punishment; he at the same time declares 
 a universal truth, applicable, in its full extent, to the whole 
 of the Divine procedure. In this light his words are used 
 by the inspired Apostle. 
 
 But infidelity and irreligion are full of resources. "\Vhen 
 driven out of one refuge as untenable, another is at hand. 
 What ground of objection, indeed, will not they take up, who, 
 swayed by the passions of an unrenewed heart, wish to indulge 
 in sin, and still to hope for impunity? There is none too 
 foolish; none too impious. The Apostle anticipates another 
 cavil of the supposed objector, in 
 
 Verses 5th and 6th : " But if our unrighteousness commend 
 the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God un- 
 righteous who taket-h vengeance? (I speak as a man): (1ml 
 forbid ! For then, how shall God judge the world ? " 
 
 The phrase " / speak as a man " appears to imply more 
 than simply " I personify, or speak the language of another." 
 It is of frequent occurrence, and seems to signify "after the 
 manner of men." Here it imports, ' I speak according to 
 the sentiments and feelings of an unrenewed man ; or, (which 
 amounts to much the same thing) of mankind in general : 
 for myself, I abhor the very supposition.'* 
 
 The supposition made is that of " our unrighteousness com- 
 mending the righteousness of God." The " r>yhteou#n<-*.-< ,f 
 God " here cannot, I think, mean, as some imagine, His jus- 
 tice in " taking vengeance ;" for this supposes vengeance to be 
 taken, and to display the righteousness of God; whereas the 
 objection, on the supposition which is made in it, concludes 
 the vengeance to be wwrighteous, or at least questions its 
 justice. How, then, could God be " ^righteous in taking 
 vengeance," if His vengeance displayed His righteousness? 
 
 * For the meaning of the phrase compare in the Greek, 1 Cor. iii. 3; 
 xv. 32; Gal. i. 11; iii. 15; and see Whitby's note ou 1 Cor. Lx. 8.
 
 ROMANS III. 118. 199 
 
 Besides, this interpretation does not hold forth the " righte- 
 ousness of God " as commended by the unrighteousness of 
 men, but rather as displayed in its punishment. 
 
 Neither, as appears to me, can the " righteousness of God " 
 here mean \i\s> faithfulness ; for that is particularized, in the 
 following up of the objection, in verse seventh. 
 
 The phrase may, with propriety, be understood in the same 
 sense as in the seventeenth verse of the first chapter, as signify- 
 ing the righteousness revealed by God in the Gospel for the 
 justification of the sinner ; that is, God's appointed way of sal- 
 vation, and the manifestation therein made of His righteous- 
 ness in harmony with His other perfections. This is recom- 
 mended by the unrighteousness of men : its necessity, its 
 excellence, its suitableness to the exigencies of the case, its 
 consistency with the character of God, and with the nature 
 and rights of His government, are by this means made appa- 
 rent; and thus the glory of the Divine wisdom and the 
 Divine grace is eminently illustrated in the appointment of 
 this method of salvation. 
 
 " If, then, our unrighteousness commend the righteousness 
 of God." The language of an objector does not imply his 
 belief of the premises from which he draws his conclusions. 
 He only makes the supposition that another's principles are 
 true, that he may point out what he conceives to be their 
 native tendency : ' If, as you say, or, as according to your 
 reasoning would seem to be the case, " our unrighteousness 
 commend the righteousness of God," What shall we say 1 ? Is 
 God unrighteous who inflicts wrath (o ivipipuv rr,v '^yr,\}( 
 He must be so if he inflicts it for what servas to display His 
 own glory.' 
 
 Instead of carrying immediately forward the objector's lan- 
 guage, the Apostle pauses for a moment, to reprobate, with 
 indignant detestation, the supposition which it involves : 
 verse 6. " God forbid ! for then how shall God judge the 
 world]" 
 
 If there were " unrighteousness with God," there could be 
 no future judgment. The supposition is one which destroys 
 the distinction between good and evil, subverts the very
 
 200 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 of all religion, and virtue, and moral obligation; rid.s the 
 conscience of all sense of responsibility ; and while it teaches 
 the sinner to laugh away his fears of future misery, suspends 
 in dreadful uncertainty the hope of future happiness. 
 
 "God shall judge the world in righteousness," rendering to 
 every man according to his works, condemning and acquitting 
 agreeably to the principles of perfect and eternal justice, and 
 proportioning the punishment to the sin with unerring dis- 
 crimination. The unrighteousness of men may and, indeed, 
 unless we place the creature above and independent of the 
 Creator, imtst, in one way or other, eventually promote His 
 glory, whether by " commending his righteousness," or by in- 
 strumentally forwarding his designs ; yet as " they meant not 
 so, neither did their hearts think so," the production of such 
 good from intended evil, by the overruling providence of the 
 All-wise and All-powerful, changes not the nature of their con- 
 duct, nor in any degree abates its criminality. An attempt 
 to dishonour God, or an action of which the obvious and 
 known tendency is His dishonour, is not the less pregnant 
 with guilt, that God frustrates the design, prevents the mis- 
 chievous effect, and converts it into a source of glory to 
 himself. 
 
 Having thus emphatically rejected the supposition, the 
 Apostle pursues the objector's reasoning, in a more jjpcise 
 and definite form: verses 7th and 8th. " For if the truth of 
 God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why 
 yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be 
 slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), Let 
 us do evil, that good may come ] whose damnation is just." 
 
 By some this is understood as the language of a Gentile 
 objector; and the "lie " spoken of is thought to mean iJolalrij, 
 according to the expression in the twenty-fifth verse of the 
 first chapter, "who changed the truth of God into a lie;" 
 and agreeably to the general language of the Old Testament, 
 where idols are often spoken of as lies, and lying vaitit!<:*. 
 It appears obvious, however, that it is still with a Jew that 
 the Apostle reasons. If it were requisite to be precise in 
 ascertaining wliat " my lie " here means, in fixing it to some-
 
 ROMANS III. 1-18. 201 
 
 thing definite, I should think we might most naturally ex- 
 plain it of their false profession, by which they called them- 
 selves the people of God, while they lived in rebellion against 
 Hi in. "They said they were Jews, and were not, but did 
 lie;"* and by this "the truth of God," God's perfect vera- 
 city was signally displayed, both in his threatening.-, against 
 the disobedient, and his promises to his faithful subjects. 
 
 But there seems to be no necessity for such precision. It 
 is an illustration, by a particular supposed case, of the objec- 
 tion which had before been stated more generally; a mode 
 of elucidating our meaning, to which we are quite accustomed: 
 ' Suppose, in any given circumstances the veracity of God 
 were made conspicuous, and thus His glory advanced, by 
 means of my lie ; why should I be judged and condemned 
 as a sinner, when, in fact, I am the instrument of good? 
 why not rather let us do evil, that good may come?' 
 
 The Apostle takes occasion decidedly to reprobate this 
 false and impious principle; especially because it had been 
 slanderously imputed to Christians, as held and acted upon 
 by them, or rather, perhaps, as involved in the immediate 
 teudi'iu-tj of their doctrine. The same kind of imputation is 
 still unblushingly advanced against the doctrine of Paul, the 
 doctrine of justification by free grace, without the deeds of 
 the law; as if this doctrine, which is the very essence of the 
 Gospel, was fitted to lead to the voluntary indulgence of sin, 
 because the more wicked men are, the greater is the display 
 of grace in their salvation; and because, while we belie vt- 
 that our acceptance rests on the faithfulness of God to His 
 promise of life for Christ's sake alone, and know that this 
 promise cannot fail, Ave may be as profligate as we please, 
 our final acceptance not depending on our own character, but 
 on the righteousness of Christ, and the veracity of God, of 
 both which the glory will be the more conspicuous, the morn 
 numerous and aggravated are the sins forgiven, for the sake 
 of the former, and in fulfilment of the latter. 
 
 We need not anticipate the reply given to such reasoning, 
 
 * llov. iii. 9.
 
 202 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 or rather to such slander ; for of reasoning it deserves not 
 the name. The Apostle answers it at large, and in the most 
 impressive and satisfactory manner, in the sixth chapter. It 
 is enough to remark, at present, that they who speak thus 
 " understand neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm : " 
 or if they are not under the power of gross and melancholy 
 ignorance, they must be influenced by what is still more de- 
 plorable, a wilful and malignant enmity against the truth of 
 God. 
 
 Of those who thus slandered not merely the Apostles per- 
 sonally, but the truth which they preached, the hoty cause in 
 which they were engaged, and who, by their ignorant and 
 impious cavils and misrepresentations, encouraged both them- 
 selves and others in rejecting the only way of salvation, "the 
 damnation was just" and of all who follow them in the same 
 course, " the damnation is just " still 
 
 "What then?" says the objector in the 9th verse, resum- 
 ing his former ground, 'What then I The Jews, you say, 
 have much advantage every way, and chiefly in the pos>rs. 
 sion of the oracles of God: but what of this 1 ? the original 
 question still recurs Does this imply no superior claim be- 
 fore God, on the part of us Jews, above the idolatrous 
 Gentiles'? Are we, or are we not, better in His sight thau 
 they?' 
 
 The Apostle answers this question with explicit plainness : 
 "No: in no wise;" "not at all;" "in no respect."' You 
 possess a high advantage in point of privilege: this gives 
 God a just and powerful claim on you for gratitude and 
 obedience; but it gives you no kind of claim on Him. To 
 imagine this is most irrationally to abuse His free, un- 
 merited goodness. With all your privileges, you are sin- 
 ners. This is the common character of mankind. In this 
 respect you stand on a level with the heathen, before that 
 God with whom there is no respect of persons : " for we 
 have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all 
 under sin." 
 
 He refers here to the evidence of this mournful truth 
 which he had adduced, from matter of tact, in the two pre-
 
 ROMANS III. 118. 203 
 
 ceding chapters. This was the first point which it was his 
 aim to establish ; as upon this depends the validity of his 
 future conclusions respecting the grace of the gospel 
 
 "We have before proved all to be under sin-" that is, 
 under its corrupt dominion in the soul ; under its guilt ; 
 and, by consequence, under the sentence of condemnation 
 which it deserves. 
 
 He next goes on to show, that, in speaking thus of human 
 nature, he broached no new doctrine, but used language per- 
 fectly consistent with that of the Old Testament Scriptures ; 
 a proper attention to which ought to have made the Jews 
 familiar with those humbling views of the character, stun-. 
 and prospects of mankind which he had just been exhibiting. 
 The first passage which he quotes is found in both the 
 fourteenth and fifty-third Psalms: verses 10 12: "As it 
 is written, There is none righteous, no, not one ; there is 
 none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after 
 God : they are all gone out of the way, they are together 
 become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not 
 one." 
 
 Some would interpret this passage of the Psalmist, as a 
 description of the general state of the Jews, at the time to 
 whi'/h the Psalm refers. But the words themselves are ob- 
 viously by far too definite and pointed to admit of being 
 thus loosened and generalized. And besides, the manner in 
 which they are prefaced most decisively precludes any swh 
 limited application of them to a particular people. The 
 most high God is represented as "looking down from heaven 
 upon the children of men," that is, evidently, taking a uni- 
 versal survey of mankind, "to see if there were any that did 
 understand, and that did seek God:" and the words quoted 
 contain the unqualified verdict of the omniscient Judge. 
 Although, therefore, here adduced by the Apostle for the 
 conviction chiefly of the Jews, it must be understood as an 
 express and unequivocal testimony of the universal natural 
 depravity of mankind, whether Jews or Gentiles ; a testi- 
 mony given as the judgment of Heaven, and not admitting of 
 even one exception in the whole race.
 
 204 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 Such is human nature, in Jew and Gentile; and such the 
 character and state of all men. The remaining passages here 
 quoted, were, I have no doubt, selected by the Apostle, from 
 liLs knowledge of the particular features of character most 
 prevalent among the unbelieving Jews of his time, with a 
 view the more effectually to awaken their slumbering con- 
 sciences, and carry home conviction to their blinded minds ; 
 blinded through the callousness of their hearts : while at 
 the same time, they express what the nature of every man is 
 capable of, when its corrupt principles are unrestrained in 
 their operation by extraneous influence ; what the nature of 
 every man is, when unchanged by the power of Divine grace. 
 
 Verse 13. "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their 
 tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under 
 their lips." 
 
 These expressions are quoted from Psalms v. 10, and cxL 
 3. The first expresses, by a very bold metaphor, the cor- 
 ruption, the loathsomeness, of the conversation of unregener- 
 ate men, when they utter without restraint what is in their 
 hearts. It is like " an open grave " " full of dead men's 
 bones and all uncleanness." The second describes that pro- 
 pensity to deceit and falsehood, which displays itself in early 
 childhood, which it is then so difficult to check and to coun- 
 teract, and which through life continues to operate, not 
 scrupling to deceive, in one or other of the numberless forms 
 of deception, when self-interest, in its endless variety of de- 
 lusive shapes, appears to require its aid : and the third, by 
 another strong figure, denotes the deadly virulence, the en- 
 venomed malignity of the human heart, against God and 
 against men, of which many circumstances may often restrain 
 the outward expression, but which yet so often infuses its 
 poison into the conversation of the unregenerate, imparting to 
 it that taint of undisguised or insinuated blasphemy against 
 God, and slander and detraction against men, which from its 
 destructive effects may well be likened to "the cruel venom 
 of as; is.'' 
 
 A .similar idea is expressed, or rather the same idea ex- 
 panded, in verse 14th: "Whose mouth is full of cursing
 
 ROMANS III. 1 18. 2i)5 
 
 and bitterness," which is a quotation from Psalm x. 7. 
 " Cursing " includes all those oaths, and imprecations, and 
 wishes of evil, meaning and unmeaning, with which the 
 speech of ungodly men so much abounds; and "bittern^"' 
 the gall and wormwood of calumny and reproach, in all their 
 various kinds which evince the truth of the apostolic descrip- 
 tion of natural men, as "living in malice and envy, hateful, 
 and hating one another."* 
 
 Verse 15th is taken from Isaiah lix. 7, and verses 16th 
 and 17th from the same prophet, chap. lix. 8: "Their feet 
 are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their 
 ways : and the way of peace have they not known." 
 
 The first of these verses is illustrated and verified, not 
 merely by the instances, recorded or unrecorded, of private 
 assassination and murder ; but by the " wars and fightings " 
 which have from the beginning, with little cessation, em- 
 broiled more or fewer of the tribes and nations of mankind ; 
 the frantic eagerness with which fellow-men have, on these 
 occasions, thirsted and panted for one another's blood; the 
 speed with which they have hasted to the slaughter; tho 
 light-heartedness with which, under the impulse of pride, 
 false honour, revenge, ambition, or avarice, the blood of 
 thousands has been shed; and the coolness and even diaboli- 
 cal satisfaction with which the shedding of it has been re- 
 lated and heard, The sixteenth verse declares the melancholy 
 truth, that the ways of ungodly men are ruinous to others, 
 both by directly injurious eifect, and by the baleful influence 
 of example; and that they are finally ruinous to themselves. 
 Temporal ruin and misery are often in the train of vice and 
 wickedness. But if they should not, if the wicked should 
 prosper and flourish, still it is true that ""the way of transgres- 
 sors is hard." There is misery in it, and destruction at its 
 entl " There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked :"- 
 " The way of peace," says the Apostle in the seventeenth verse, 
 "they have not known," The "way of peace" is opposed to 
 the " ways of destruction and misery." The latter are the ways 
 
 * Titus iii. 3.
 
 20G LECTURE XIIF. 
 
 of Satan and sin ; the former is the way of God and holiness. 
 " Great peace have they who love God's law, and nothing 
 shall offend them." Wisdom's ways " are ways of pleasant- 
 ness, and all her paths are peace." And while in the way 
 of God that peace is enjoyed "which passeth all understand- 
 ing," it conducts in the end to the land of everlasting peace, 
 above. It is lamentable because fatal ignorance not to know 
 "the way of peace!" Yet it is men's choice to be thus ig- 
 norant. Although "destruction and misery" are in the ways 
 of sin, yet these are the ways which they prefer. To kuw 
 sometimes signifies tc approve, or to have complacency in 
 the object known. "The Lord knoweth the way of the 
 righteous ; but the way of the ungodly shall perish." * " Not 
 to know the way of peace " may, in this view, be understood 
 of the want of will to that which is good. They do not like, 
 they do not choose the way of peace ; they love and prefer the 
 ways of sin and death. 
 
 The practice of particular sins evinces the general corrup- 
 tion of the heart. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; 
 for it is not subject to the law of God ; neither, indeed, can 
 be."t In these words the want of subjection to the law of 
 God is the proof of the enmity of the natural mind against 
 Him; and the enmity is of course assigned as the cause of 
 the want of subjection; so that while the enmity subsists, 
 the subjection is impossible. 
 
 In verse eighteenth the Apostle, agreeably to this sentiment, 
 mentions the general principle, or rather want of principle, 
 in which all the kinds of practical corruption he had just 
 enumerated in evidence of human degeneracy, had their com- 
 mon origin : " There is no fear of God before their eyes." 
 It is somewhat remarkable that these words, in the Psalm 
 from which they are quoted, are an illustration of the senti- 
 ment we have just expressed, that the practice of particular 
 sins evinces the general depravity of the heart. For as they 
 stand there, they are an inference from the transgression of 
 wicked men: '"The transgression of the wicked saith within 
 
 * Psalm, i. 6. f Kom. viii. 7.
 
 ROMANS III 118. 207 
 
 my heart, There is no fear of God before their eyes." As 
 " the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and is 
 very often put in Scripture for the whole of true religion ; of 
 which all the other principles arc implied as its inseparable as- 
 sociates ; so the want of this fear is the absence of religious 
 principle, the sum of human corruption, the polluted source 
 of all practical evil. 
 
 1. From tliis passage we may observe, in the //>/ plan _ 
 that the gifts of God, the favours and privileges which He be- 
 stows, are not the less to be viewed as advantages, that they 
 are liable to be misimproved, and that their misimprovement 
 aggravates condemnation. We might think, and in one view 
 should think justly, that it would have been better for the 
 unbelieving Jews not to have possessed the "Oracles of God ;" 
 because their guilt would thus have been mitigated. And 
 thus, too, it is with all who now possess the word of God, 
 and the opportunity of hearing the Gospel. Of those who 
 hear, and treat the message with scorn and rejection, it may 
 with truth be said, as our Lord said of Judas, " Good were 
 it for these men if they had never been born," Yet surely 
 it will never, on this account, be denied that to possess the 
 Won! of God and to hear the Gospel of God's grace are 
 eminent advantages; in the same manner as the bounties 
 of Providence are "good things," although the abuse of them 
 enhances the guilt of their possessor. 
 
 2. In the second place: There are some principles which, in 
 all our reasonings, we ought to assume as JLced necessarily 
 and immutably true: from the full assurance of which we 
 should never allow our minds to be shaken by any perplex- 
 ing appearances, or by any want of ability on the part of 
 finite and fallible creatures, fully to explain every seeming 
 difficulty. Such a principle is "THE RIOJITO H-SNKSS OF GOD." 
 Deprive" Him of this perfection, and he would cease to be 
 God. Whatever difficulties, then, we may, in this respect, 
 discover, in comparing the ways of His providence with the 
 attributes of His nature, surely it is infinitely more becoming 
 to impute them to the limited and feeble nature of our own 
 faculties, than to admit for an instant into our minda tha
 
 208 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 remotest suspicion that there can be " unrighteousness with 
 God." We should beware of even, for argument's sake, 
 allowing ourselves to make suppositions injurious to the 
 divine character. The Apostle is particularly cautious to 
 admonish his readers that he is using the language of an 
 objector "I speak as a man;" and for himself instantly to 
 express his detestation of the supposition which that lan- 
 guage involves " God forbid ! " Even suppositions, when 
 freely indulged in, of a kind derogatory to the glory of the 
 divine perfections, are calculated to associate ideas in our 
 minds which ought never, even in thought, to be linked 
 together for a moment. 
 
 3. In the third place : Let us beware of ever bending the 
 obligations of moral duty to any views either of personal or 
 general expediency. Philosophers may speculate, in endless 
 theory, on the nature and foundation of virtue: with Chris- 
 tians, who acknowledge the authority of the Bible as the 
 word of God, there can be little doubt or difficulty, at least 
 of any practical importance, on the subject. What it is, in 
 particular actions, or kinds of actions, that renders them, 
 rather than their opposites, agreeable to the will of the su- 
 preme Lawgiver, and that forms the reason of His having 
 commanded them, we need not at present inquire. That 
 they are so commanded, expressions of His sovereign will, is 
 sufficient to determine both the rule and the reason of our 
 conduct. Sin is defined, " the transgression of the laic." 
 This definition, while it applies even to the dictates of na- 
 tural conscience, which (however imperfect and mixed with 
 error, are the remains of the law originally written in the 
 heart) is especially applicable to the perfect and infallible 
 directions of divine revelation. J^ow it seems to be a maxim 
 fairly deducible from the passage before us, that there are 
 no imaginable circumstances in which we should be justifi- 
 ed in departing from the established principles of moral 
 rectitiide. The supposition made by the objector, in the 
 seventh verse, is the strongest that can be made; inasmuch 
 as the glory of God is, in point of importance, the highest 
 conceivable object. Yet even in this case, the most plausible
 
 ROMANS III. 118. 209 
 
 that could be put, the maxim of " doing evil that good may 
 come" is treated with peremptory reprobation. i>fo views 
 even of the glory of God are admissible as valid reasons for 
 deviating from His known will. Our lie may be a secret to 
 our fellow-creatures, and therefore not productive among 
 them, as an open act of disobedience would be, of direct dis- 
 honour to God ; and it is quite supposable that its present 
 etfect might be to promote the interests of truth, and the 
 consequent glory of the divine name : yet, even in such 
 circumstances, we should not be held guiltless, but should 
 still be "judged as sinners." Indeed we ought never to 
 allow ourselves to imagine, that departure from the express 
 and unqualified commands of God can be necessary, on our 
 part, to the security or advancement of His glory : that I to 
 has given us a law, which regard to his honour requires us 
 at times to violate ; and that He has left it to our judgment 
 to determine when it should be kept and when it should be 
 broken. The principle of " doing evil that good may come," 
 when applied to the glory of God as the object aimed at, 
 will justify, if it is admitted to be right, all the pious frauds, 
 the cruel persecutions, the unrighteous measures of every 
 description, which may have been adopted by mistaken 
 zealots, acting under the delusive fancy that the goodness of 
 the intention sanctities the badness of the means. But 
 no. We are never safe but in rigid adherence to the 
 precepts of Heaven. The All-wise and Almighty will pro- 
 vide for His own glory, we may be fully assured, without 
 our violating His will to secure it. " He that walketh up- 
 rightly walketh surely." To act on any other principle is to 
 charge on the Most High the folly of having enacted laws 
 which, if uniformly obeyed, would bring dishonour to 1 1 is 
 own name. 
 
 And surely, if we ought to "have faith in God" with 
 regard to the concerns of His own glory, we should IKIV 
 confidence in Him also as to the safety and well-Win- ..i 
 ourselves, our friends, or our fellow-creatures. If we must 
 not " do evil that good may come" in the former case, neither 
 must we in the latter. The glory of God is an object with, ui 
 
 i. o
 
 210 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 controversy superior, by infinite degrees, to our own or a 
 fellow-creature's benefit. If the higher object, then, will not 
 warrant the conduct in question, departure from an express 
 divine command, it can never, surely, be justified by that 
 which i* inferior. Our views of expediency, both personal 
 and general, are necessarily limited, and very often inconsis- 
 tent and erroneous. The morality of the Bible will not bend 
 to a standard so unsettled and variable; a stan^urd which, 
 from its necessary mutability, deserves not the name, a 
 standard, of which the general adoption would be pregnant 
 with hazard and mischief, making the distinctions of right 
 and wrong to depend on times and circumstances, and sub- 
 jecting the obligations of moral duty to the fluctuating opin- 
 ions of men, influenced as they are by weakness, pride, 
 passion, natural affection, and self-partiality. The truth is, 
 that if a criminal action is justified by the intention of the 
 agent, if an action, admitted to be wrong in itself, becomes 
 right, when performed with a view to the good resulting, or 
 likely to result from it, then the possibility ceases of ever 
 '"doing evil that good may come." For when good does 
 come, or is in the design of the agent, the action producing 
 it, or intended to produce it, is, on the supposition made, 
 iio longer evil: the vice is, in such a case, transmuted into 
 a virtue ; and he who commits it must, on no account, be 
 "judged as a sinner." Whether such a view can be recon- 
 ciled with the Apostle's reasoning in this passage "judge ye." 
 4. In tlte In *t pln.<:e. : Men shall be judged, at the great day, 
 not according to the i'fnixi>qi(fnr.cz brought out of their works 
 under the superintending providence of God, but according 
 to tilth- irnrkft tin -in*' "li-ix. It is not in the intention of in- 
 fidels and wicked men to glorify God ; and if God so over- 
 rule-; their conduct as to make it in the end to praise Him, 
 this cannot in the least alter it nature or diminish its guilt. 
 It is truly shrieking to see with what cold-hearted unconcern, 
 Avith what undamded impiety, infidel reasoners, who, with 
 self-complacent vanity, name themselves free-thinkers, some- 
 times step forward to conclusions the most derogatory to the 
 perfections of God. It seems to be no concern of theirs whit
 
 ROMANS III. 118. 211 
 
 becomes of His glory; whether; the honour of His character 
 be preserved inviolate or not. Instead of being startled and 
 appalled, and shrinking back with abhorrence, when they 
 perceive whither their speculations are conducting them, thev 
 appear to feel a proud satisfaction, a scornful elation of mind, 
 in the intrepidity of their reasonings, and the daring singu- 
 larity of their inferences. Let them but have the praise 
 of being ingenious and acute speculators ; let them but be 
 fortified in that fearless liberty which they wish to enjoy, to 
 enjoy undisturbed by the tremblings of conscience; let these 
 be the fruits of their argument, and " they have their 
 reward;'' a dear-bought reward, purchased at the fearful 
 expense of dishonour done to the Majesty of heaven. But 
 of the price they think not. To those who are shocked at 
 their conclusions, they can coolly reply " Is not the reason- 
 ing fair? and if it be, how can we help the inference to which 
 it leads]" Xo; I say, it is not fair. If the inference to 
 which it leads infringes on the perfections of the Eternal 
 God, it cannot be fair, because the conclusion must be false. 
 The flaw in the premises we may not be able to discern ; 
 but a flaw we may be assured there is. Far from us, my 
 friends, be that pride of intellect, which would sooner ques- 
 tion an attribute of Deity, or even His very existence, than 
 question the extent of its own penetration. 
 
 The reasonings of those infidels to whom I have alluded 
 show that " there is no fear of God before their eyes." Hence 
 their rejection, and hence their calumnious reproaches, of that 
 Gospel which brings " glory to God in the highest," and which, 
 when received in the love of it, renews the hearts and reforms 
 the lives of men. This is what enlightened reason would 
 expect from its nature; and the expectation has been justi- 
 fied by unnumbered facts. To affirm the contrary is to con- 
 tradict the experience of myriads; it is to slander the truth 
 and its Divine Author. And although God "makes the, 
 wrath of man to praise him," and will get himself glory ev-n 
 from the opposition and reproach of his enemies; yet of those 
 who, from pride, enmity or wilful ignorance, falsely accuse, 
 and obstinately reject his Gospel, "the damnation is ju4."
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 ROMANS HI. 19 24. 
 
 " Now we know, that what things soever the law saith, it saitli to them who 
 are under the law ; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may 
 become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no 
 flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now 
 the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the 
 law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus 
 Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference: for all 
 have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by his 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
 
 THE primary object of the Apostle, in that part of the Epistle 
 now gone over, having been to prove, according to his own 
 expression, " both Jews and Gentiles to be all under sin ;" and 
 having done this by an appeal to facts, and also, for the con- 
 viction of the Jews, to the inspired records of the Old Testa- 
 ment; he, in the beginning of this passage, draws his argu- 
 ment to a close, thus summing it up: "Now we know, 
 that what things soever the laAV saith, it saith to them who 
 are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and 
 all the world may become guilty before God." 
 
 If in these words the Apostle be considered as referring to 
 the quotations he had just made from the Old Testament Scrip- 
 tures, then " the law" must be understood in its widest sense, 
 as including the whole of the ancient revelation : for none of 
 the passages are quoted from the Books of Moses, but all of 
 them from the Psalms and the Prophets. I am disposed to 
 think, however, that the reference is not directly to the quo-
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 213 
 
 tations themselves, but rather to the language of the Mosaic 
 law relative to the persons whose characters these quotations 
 describe. 
 
 What, then, saith that Law? It declares the will of God, 
 in a great variety of precepts ; subjoining a promise of life 
 and happiness to obedience, and to disobedience a sentence 
 of condemnation. " The man that doeth these things shall 
 live by them:" but "cursed is every one that confirmeth 
 not all the words of this law." 
 
 "^Now we know," says the Apostle, it is a plain and 
 obvious truth, "that what things soever the law saith, it 
 saith to them who are under the law." If, therefore, your 
 own Scriptures declare that "there is none righteous, no, not 
 one ;" if facts fully corroborate this melancholy declaration ; 
 if no one of you has rendered an unerring obedience to 
 the law, in its letter and spirit ; if all, without exception, 
 have violated its just and holy requirements; then, cer- 
 tainly, in IT you have little cause to glory. It condemns 
 you : it silences all your pleadings for acceptance on the 
 ground of your own character: it "stops your mouths," 
 and, with verdict unequivocally decisive, brings you all in 
 " guilty before God." 
 
 I understand the Apostle to have chiefly in his eye, in 
 this verse, the descendants of Abraham. He had done, an 
 it were, with the Gentiles, and his object now is, to show 
 that the Jews, who were, in a peculiar sense, "under the 
 law," a* having it in its revealed and written form, wriv, 
 according to the tenor of that law, " guilty before God," as 
 well as the Gentiles;- that thus "every mouth" not of 
 the Gentile only, but also of the Jew might be effectually 
 stopped ; and " all the world become guilty before God," con- 
 victed as criminals, and liable to merited punishment. 
 
 Here, then, is plainly declared, without qualification or 
 exception, the state of ALL MANKIND. God has given them 
 a law, which, like himself, is "holy, just, and good." That 
 law all have transgressed. That law, therefore, pronounces 
 on all the sentence of condemnation. Men are here held 
 forth to view in the character of condemned criminals, lying
 
 214 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 under a respite, through divine patience and forbearance, of 
 the full execution of their sentence. That this is the AJHKS- 
 tle's meaning, no one Avho understands his language can 
 doubt. And if the truth of his premises be granted, there 
 is no parrying, no evading the force of his conclusion. It is 
 simple and decisive. The only question is, What is the na- 
 ture and what the extent of the law which God has given 
 us ? And these questions, be it remembered, are not to be 
 answered according to our deceitful wishes, or according to 
 our corruption, misnamed by self-partiality our frailty. The 
 law of God must accord with His own nature, not with that 
 of fallen creatures. It must be holy, as HE is holy. To 
 imagine anything else, is to suppose God to sanction de- 
 pravity by law. 
 
 In reply to the question, " Which is the great command- 
 ment in the law?" the sum of the requirements of that 
 law was thus expressed by our blessed Lord himself " Thou 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and groat 
 commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments 
 hang all the law and the prophets."'* This law is apiritnul. 
 It extends to the thoughts of the mind, the dispositions and 
 desires of the heart, as well as to the whole external conduct 
 of the life ; and in all, it requires perfect and undeviating 
 conformity to its dictates. Xow, let me a*k, is this more 
 than is due from the creature to the Creator? Is it mere 
 than God is entitled to require? Is it an unjust or unrea- 
 sonable law? Xay, can we possibly conceive that He should 
 give a law requiring less? Yet if such be the law, nothing 
 can be more self-evident than the conclusion, that " every 
 mouth must be stopped, and the whole world be guilty be- 
 fore God." 
 
 The grand inference drawn in the twentieth verse is 
 equally obvious and inevitable with this in the nineteenth, 
 and indeed almost identifies with it in import : " Therefore, 
 
 * Matt. xxii. 3740.
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 215 
 
 by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh b.; justified in 
 his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." 
 
 The term TO JUSTIFY has different senses according to the 
 character of the person to whom it is applied. When he 
 who is said to be justified is really righteous, it signifies 
 simply the declaration or manifestation of this, as a matter 
 of fact. It is in this sense that, in the fourth verse of this 
 chapter, God himself is spoken of as justified. In this per- 
 sonal sense, too, as well as in his character as a surety, Christ 
 was "justified by the Spirit," in all the ways by which the 
 Spirit bore testimony to him, and especially by his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead. In this acceptation the word is applied 
 to the conduct of judges, when they are admonished of their 
 duty, to "justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked."* 
 According to this use of the term, Paul says of himself to 
 the Corinthians, in reference to the false accusations of his 
 enemies, " For I am conscious to myself of nothing, t (i. e. 
 of no truth in the things laid to my charge, of no corrupt 
 principle, or unfaithful conduct in the fulfilment of my apos- 
 tolic duties) yet am I not hereby justified" that is, proved 
 or declared with certainty to be blameless "but he that 
 judgeth me is the Lord.":}: It is also according to the sumo 
 meaning of the phrase that believers are represented by the 
 Apostle James as "justified by their works." 
 
 But when the word is used, as in the Scriptures it most 
 frequently is, in application to the ^righteous, its meaning 
 undergoes an obvious and important change. It cannot, in 
 these circumstances, signify, to pronounce them personally 
 righteous, or free from sin. That were the declaration of a 
 lie. To justify, in this application of the term, signifies to 
 remit guilt, and to hold and treat as righteous, on some account 
 distinct from personal righteousness. This is the true import 
 of the term in the declarations and promises of the Gospel, as 
 will appear from the subsequent verses of this passage, and, 
 indeed, on many occasions, and in various points of view, in 
 the course of tliis Epistle. 
 
 * DcUt. XXV. 1. f ^ t " y*Z tftavry rvioilo.. J 1 Col', iv. 4.
 
 216 . LKCTUKE XIV. 
 
 In neither of these senses can any man living be "justified 
 by the tcor/cs of the law." Xot in the former : for the Law 
 can never pronounce him personally righteous, who has vio- 
 lated its requirements. Not in the latter : for the Law. con- 
 sidered in itself, makes no provision for the pardon of the 
 guilty. 
 
 According to the Law itself, "the doers of it" only are to be 
 "justified:" and "every one who continueth not in all things 
 written in the Book of the law to do them," is, without hesi- 
 tation, and beyond appeal, condemned, and pronounced " ac- 
 cursed.''* We cannot conceive, indeed, a more obvious truth, 
 than that no one can be justified, or held and treated as 
 righteous, on the footing of a law which he has transgressed : 
 unless we could imagine the absurdity to exist of a law 
 which permitted the violation of itself; an idea which im- 
 mediately destroys its very essence, depriving it of the nature 
 of law altogether. 
 
 " He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth 
 the just " are both declared to be " an abomination to Jeho- 
 vah." f To admit the thought, then, that God should accept 
 sinners, and treat them as righteous, on account of their own 
 character, is to charge Him with doing what in his creatures 
 he abhors. 
 
 " By the deeds of the law, therefore, no flesh living can be 
 justified in God's sight;" for tliis plain reason, that "all 
 flesh have corrupted their way ; " " there is none righteous, 
 no not one;" all are transgressors: all "guilty before God." 
 
 Let us not forget, that it is justification "in God's sight" 
 that is here spoken of. Whatever false, dishonourable, de- 
 grading notions men may form of the Divine law, and what- 
 ever delusive hopes they may by this means be led to entertain, 
 they cannot compel the Most High to judge them according 
 to their mistaken views and self-deceiving wishes. He will 
 judge them by HIS OWN LAW, in all its extent and purity. 
 The rectitude and honour of this law He will maintain in- 
 violate. To suppose the contrary, involves the impious sup- 
 
 * Gal. iii. 10 with Deut. xxvii. 26. f Prov. xvii. 15.
 
 ROMANS III. 19-24. 217 
 
 position of His having erred in giving such a law to men ; 
 and His judging them by any other standard would imply 
 acquiescence in the justice of this supposition. 
 
 On the Law, then, it is evident, no solid hope can he built ; 
 no expectation of acceptance with God that can at all 
 satisfy the mind. "For Inj the law is the knowledge of sin" 
 the knowledge not of what justifies, but of what condemns 
 us : 
 
 " The Law, that shows the sinner's gaiJt, 
 Condemns him to his face." 
 
 This is true even of the Gentiles, who "show the work of 
 the law written in their hearts, whose consciences bear wit- 
 ut-s.-;, and whose reasonings among themselves accuse or vin- 
 dicate." But it is especially true of those who, in the 
 written law, possess a complete revelation of " the perfect 
 will of God." By this law is the knowledge of sin. AVhrii 
 we act, or speak, or think, or feel, in opposition to it, our 
 consciences, informed by its dictates, testify to us that we 
 are guilty. The purity of this law, as reaching even to "the 
 thoughts and intents of the heart," comprehending these in 
 its injunctions, and consequently in its sentence of condem- 
 nation, discovers to our minds the sad extent of our guilt ; 
 and, instead of inspiring hope, shuts us up in despair! 
 
 Had the Apostle's reasoning terminated here, alas! for 
 guilty men ! If it were any comfort to know that our case 
 was desperate, we should have possessed that comfort But 
 surely the tender mercy would have been cruelty, which 
 could thus give us light only to conduct us into darkness; 
 which could bereave us of even the partial satisfaction and 
 support of a false hope, but a hope of which the fallacy 
 was not so clearly discerned ; without being able or willing 
 to substitute a better! 
 
 Blessed be God, we are not thus abandoned to the "fearful 
 looking for of judgment." The Apostle's reasoning does not 
 terminate here. We need not be alarmed at admitting the 
 conclusion to be well founded, which we have just been 
 endeavouring to illustrate ; for the assertion of the universal
 
 218 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 guilt and condemnation of mankind is accompanied with the 
 declaration of an all-sufficient remedy. In the preceding 
 part of the Apostle's argument, we have been led through a 
 gloomy and cheerless passage, like "the valley of the shadow 
 of death," which now at length opens to the "light of life.'' 
 And " truly the light is sweet ! " 
 
 Having shown that righteousness, or justification, cannot 
 " come by the law," lie next proceeds to teach us how it is 
 to be obtained. 
 
 Verses 21 24. "But now the righteousness of (id 
 without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and 
 the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by 
 faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe ; 
 for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short 
 of the glory of God; being justified freely, by his grace, 
 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
 
 " The riylitn'ixni'fs$ <>f God icilhont the laic" in the twenty- 
 first verse, corresponds to " the righteousness of God ich ich /> 
 l>y faith of Jesus Christ" in the twenty-second. In both 
 instances, the expression seems obviously to signify God's 
 im-tJiod of justifying sinners, that is, of Imlil/mj >tttd tr^aiimj 
 Hi r ni '?* ri'jhi <'>, consistently with this perfection of His 
 nature. 
 
 " The righteousness of God," in this sense of the phrase, is- 
 " ir I ih out the law :" not that it is, in any respect, contrary 
 to the spirit and requirements of the law, relaxing its strict- 
 ness, loosening its obligations, or mitigating its sanction ; 
 but it is something beyond the line, the limits, the provisions 
 of the law.* It is justification not founded in our own per- 
 sonal obedience, which, in the case of sinners, is out of tho 
 question, but arising from another cause; by which, however, 
 the integrity and glory of the law are, at the same time, most 
 effectually secured. It is justification " by faith of J< .-//.<. 
 (/////.-,/." It is obtained not by working, but by believing ; 
 belii-ving the testimony of God concerning his Son Jesus 
 Christ, as having made atonement for sin, according to Divine
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 219 
 
 appointment, by the sacrifice of himself. It is acceptance 
 for His sake in whom Jehovah is well-pleased. As this is 
 only a simple enunciation of what is afterwards more fully 
 illustrated, the illustration of it must not now be anticipated. 
 
 " XOW,"* says the Apostle, " this Divine method of justi- 
 fying sinners is manifested : " that is by the full revelation of 
 the Gospel It is now brought completely to light, t M<>t 
 that it was entirely concealed and unknown before; for he 
 adds, that it was " witnessed by the law and the prophds.'' 
 
 I have formerly hinted at the different acceptations in which 
 the term LAW is used in the writings of this Apostle. This 
 diversity in the meaning of the same word occasions, at times, 
 some measure of obscurity in his reasonings ; especially in this 
 Epistle and in that to the Galatians. To Jews at that time 
 it would not, in all probability, create so much difficulty, as 
 it does to us now. They were more accustomed to the vari- 
 ous uses of the term, and consequently able to distingni.-Ji 
 more readily, from the connexion in which it occurred, 
 Avhether it signified that portion of their sacred Avritings which 
 Avas so called in distinction from " the prophets," or the moral 
 and ceremonial laws taken conjointly as united in one dis- 
 pensation, or the one or the other of these, considered by 
 itself. 
 
 The laAV "by which is the knoAvledge of sin," and "by the 
 deeds of which no flesh living can be justified," is to be un- 
 derstood as meaning chiefly the moral law; inasmuch as it 
 is the transgression of it that brings upon all men the charge 
 of guilt; and the preceding reasonings of the Apostle are 
 almost entirely drawn from the nature and requirements of 
 the laAV in this view of it. In the Epistle to the Hebrews 
 on the contrary, when it is the Apostle's object to prove tin- 
 insufficiency of the laAV to " give life," or to procure deliverance 
 from condemnation, his argument is principally directed to 
 the ceremonial, " the shadow of good things to come." 
 
 * ' /v,' (= E, v?v K*,, v. 26) is evidently to to referred to the time 
 iim-e the accomplishment of the work .if the Lord, so that the ages 
 jefore Christ appears as the mighty past." Olshausen. [hi>.j 
 
 s 
 bef
 
 220 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 should, at the same time, be kept in mind, that whatever is 
 enjoined by Divine authority is law, even in a moral sense ; 
 the violation of the smallest positive precept necessarily im- 
 plying moral turpitude. 
 
 The moral law, by imparting " the knowledge of sin," and 
 fixing a sense of guilt on the conscience, served to deprive 
 the sinner of hope from that quarter, and to " shut him up to 
 the faith which was afterwards to be revealed :" but to that 
 faith, to the way of justification made known in the Gospel, 
 it could not, in strict propriety, be said to bear testimony. 
 It was, in itself, the ministration of death ; and of any means 
 of pardon or of life it gave not the slightest intimation. 
 
 The expression " having been witnessed by the law and the 
 prophets," must therefore be considered as referring either 
 particularly to the ceremonial law, all whose various sacrificial 
 institutions were so many typical predictions of the promised 
 atonement, figurative representations of the way in which 
 sinners were to be accepted of God ; or more generally, to the 
 Mosaic revelation at large which, besides the types and 
 shadows of the -Jewish ritual, contained various other testi- 
 monies to the same effect, in different forms, and in different 
 degrees of clearness and precision. The way in which the 
 ceremonial law bore witness to the doctrine of justification 
 by faith, is fully explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews ; 
 and to other testimonies contained in the books of the Law 
 in general, allusion is made at different times in the Epistle 
 before us, and in other parts of the Apostolic writings. 
 
 With respect to " the prophets," as witnesses of old to the 
 same doctrine, I must satisfy myself with reminding you of 
 the words of Peter to Cornelius : " To him gave all the pro- 
 phets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in 
 him should receive the remission of sins."* One instance is 
 quoted, from the prophet Habakkuk, in the seventeenth verse 
 of the first chapter of this Epistle : " therein (in the Gospel of 
 Christ) the righteousness of God by faith is revealed to faith ; 
 as it is written, The just shall live by faith;" and were it 
 
 * Acts x. 43.
 
 ROMANS III. 19-24. 2'_>1 
 
 needful, many others might be appealed to of the same 
 import.* 
 
 The testimony thus borne by " the law and the prophets '' 
 was designed for the people of those times. The Gospel was 
 in this way declared in former ages, although not with the. 
 same fulness and perspicuity as after the coming of Christ. 
 The design of the " law and the prophets " was not merely 
 to afford subsequent confirmation to the truth, arising from a 
 comparison of the full revelation of it with the ancient types 
 and predictions ; although there is no reason for considering 
 this end, which has been in fact so eminently answered, as 
 having been entirely out of the Divine contemplation: but 
 by " the law and the prophets," by the ancient system of 
 promises, types and predictions, the "glorious gospel of the 
 blessed God " was made known for the faith of sinners pre- 
 vious to the fulness of time; as it had been, indeed, even be- 
 fore any written revelation was imparted to mankind, by 
 original and traditionary Divine intimations: the measure 
 and extent of light being determined, in successive periods. 
 by the unerring wisdom, and sovereign good pleasure of Je- 
 hovah. 
 
 Although the prophets, when they foretold " the sufferings 
 of the Christ and the glory that should follow," did not /////// 
 comprehend the import of their own predictions, we are not 
 by this warranted to conclude, either that they themselves, 
 or that those pious Israelites, expectants of the promi-ed 
 Messiah, who, with prayer for Divine illumination, perused 
 their writings, had no just conception of the nature of th;il 
 salvation, which in some parts of their inspired eomnmim-i- 
 tions is so very plainly described.t 
 
 Before quitting this expression " being wi'f/i<w<l !>;/ t he- 
 law and the prophets" I would just remark, that " the tes- 
 timony of Jesus is the Spirit " of the Old, as well ae of tin- 
 New Testament scriptures. The whole of the former \v >i n i . d 
 forward to this manifestation of the "righteousness of Cod, 
 
 * Isa. xlv. 22 25; liii. 5, 6, 11; Jer. xxiii.6; I>n. ix.24 26; Su. 
 f Compare, for example, the fifty-third chapter ol Isaiuh.
 
 222 LECTURE XIY. 
 
 which is "by faith of Jesus Christ." The great object of them, 
 in all their parts, typical, prophetical, promissory, and his- 
 torical, was to prepare the way for the full development of 
 the Gospel : like rays of light, gradually converging, in- 
 creasing in lustre, and meeting, at length, in a brilliant and 
 powerful focus. 
 
 Of this "righteousness of God, by faith of Jesus Christ." 
 it is further affirmed, that it is " unto all, and np>n all them 
 
 f/tfif l>rl!<-ri>." 
 
 It is " unto all" in the declarations and invitations of the 
 Gospel ; these being universal, addressed to Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, to sinners of every kindred and people and tongue and 
 nation. Its language is "Ho, every one that thirsteth!" 
 
 But while it is " unto all " in the unlimited offers of the 
 Gospel; it is "upon all them that believe;" such alone ex- 
 periencing the saving efficacy of this Divine method of justi- 
 fying the ungodly. The Apostle had formerly testified, that 
 it is "revealed to faith;"* that is to be believed: and thus 
 while all men are invited to accept the offered pardon, those 
 only who believe actually receive it. It is not uncommon to 
 understand the two prepositions, unto and upon, as having 
 the same extent of regimen;t and we sometimes even hear 
 the passage quoted, by those who so regard them, with the 
 omission of the first all. They speak of " the righteousness 
 of God which is unto and upon all them that believe." But 
 I have given what appears to me- the obvious meaning of the 
 t\\'o clauses; the one as referring to the universality of the 
 Gospel offers and invitations, and the other to the more 
 limited extent of the actual enjoyment of its blessings. 
 
 It is to men, as sinners, an appellation which comprehends 
 them all, that the Gospel is addressed: and the ground and 
 im-dium of acceptance which it proposes are the same to all, 
 
 * Chap. 5. 17, 18. 
 
 f Oishauseii remarks. " In the /'? <xiiru.t XKI Irt -ra.ira.i we may ob- 
 serve not merely .1 heaping together of synonyms but a climax; the 
 image of a flood of grace seems to be at the foundation of this expres- 
 sion, a flood which penetrates to all. and even streams over all." 
 KD.
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 223 
 
 without exception -."for," adds the Apostle, " there is no 
 difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the gh>r>t 
 of God:" which may either mean their having failed of ren- 
 dering to God the glory due to His name: or their having 
 forfeited the glory which God bestows, by failing to render 
 that obedience to the law which alone could either preserve 
 or obtain honour and praise from Him ; which alone could 
 confer a personal claim, on the footing of the original free 
 promise of God, to life and happiness. This is the sense 
 in which the phrase is used by the Apostle when he ;-ay>, 
 " We rejoice in hope of the glory of God." It seems reason- 
 able, therefore, to explain it so here.* But indeed the two 
 i-. leas are inseparably connected. The failing to render 
 due glory to God is the cause of the forfeiture of the 
 glory engaged by His promise to the obedient. So that 
 it matters little, to the sense and the argument, indeed, 
 it matters not at all in which of the senses it be here 
 explained It is of more importance, however, to notice, 
 that when the Apostle here says " there is no difference," 
 he is not to be understood as affirming the absurd and mani- 
 festly false proposition, that there is no diversity in the char- 
 acters of men, or in the respective measures of their guilt. It 
 is true that, in its principles of apostacy, human nature is the 
 same in all destitute in all of every principle of godliness. 
 It is true also, that we are far from being competent judges 
 of the measures of evil and of guilt in different characters ; 
 and that He who searches the hearts and tries the reins, 
 and with whom that which is " highly esteemed amongst 
 men" is so frequently "abomination," may in many cases 
 see most where we might fancy there was least. But still, 
 differences there are differences endless both in kind ;u:d 
 degree. The Apostle does not mean to deny this. In- 
 states the point to which his affirmation referred; "there is 
 no difference : for all hare nnn>r>l" And while he M 
 
 * Tin's view se;>ms strengthened by the use of ? elsewhere, as in 
 John v. 44. " How can ye believe who receive honour ($) one f 
 miother, and seek not the honour (3ia) that coineth from God only/ 1 
 ED.
 
 224 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 that there is in this respect no difference, he asserts along 
 with this the necessary consequence, that there is no differ- 
 ence in regard to the way of justification or acceptance with 
 God: "There is no difference; for all have sinned, and 
 come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by hi* 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Two expressions are here used, which are nearly, but 
 not, as I apprehend, precisely of the same import "fref/t/ " 
 and " by his grace." The first I would understand as 
 referring to the sinner, the second to God. To he "justified 
 freely," is to be justified without any meritorious cause in us 
 of the blessing bestowed; which is indeed necessarily im- 
 plied in the admission that we have sinned. The same word 
 is used when our blessed Saviour says of his enemies " thev 
 
 / */ 
 
 hated me without a caitse:"* by which he evidently means, 
 without a cause in himself that should have had any tendency 
 to excite their malicious hatred. And in the Septuagint or 
 Greek translation of the Old Testament the same word is on 
 various occasions used in the same sense. Thus in Psalm 
 xxxv. 7. " For without cause have they hid for me their net 
 in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul :" 
 and in the 19th verse of the same Psalm "Let not them 
 that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me ; neither 
 let them wink with the eye that hate me without a caused 
 So, too, in Psalm Ixix. 4 "They that hate me without a 
 cause are more than the hairs of my head :" which is pro- 
 bably the passage referred to by our Lord, when IK; quoted 
 the above words in application to himself. In all these oc- 
 currences of the word it obviously imports that in the hated 
 and persecuted objects there existed no just cause for hatred 
 and persecution. So in the case before us, to be "justified 
 freely" is to be justified without a cause in us, procuring the 
 blessing. 
 
 This being the case, it follows of course, that, on the part 
 
 of God, it must be " by his grace." But although this is a 
 
 necessary consequence, and might even be considered as the 
 
 same proposition under different terms, yet such variety of 
 
 * oiaidt, Julm xv. 25.
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 225 
 
 expression serves both to exhibit the sentiment more clearly 
 and to impress it more strongly on the mind. As the doc- 
 trine of gratuitous justification, of which the cause is not to 
 be found in us but in the free favour of Jehovah, forms one 
 of the great fundamental articles of " the faith delivered to 
 the saints," our impression of it cannot be too deep, our re- 
 membrance of it too constant, or our attachment to it too 
 powerful 
 
 While this inestimable blessing is conferred on sinful 
 creatures " freely by the grace of God," it is at the same time 
 " through the redemption that is in Christ .1 
 
 REDEMPTION sometimes signifies deliverance by pmcer; at 
 other times, and most frequently, deliverance by price, or 
 i-<t/t.-iom. It is applied, in the former sense, to the deliver- 
 ance of Israel from Egypt. They are said to have been 
 " redeemed out of the house of bondmen " " redeemed with 
 a stretched-out arm, and with great judgments."* In the 
 latter sense it is used here, and in a great number of parallel 
 passages. It is, indeed, its ordinary acceptation in the lan- 
 guage of the Gospel " Ye were redeemed," says Peter, " not 
 with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, from your 
 vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers ; 
 but witli the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without 
 blemish and without spot."t This language accords with 
 the current expressions of Holy Writ. " The Son of man 
 came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give 
 his life a ransom for many:" "who gave himself a nu/^'/n 
 for all, to be testified in due time;" "in whom we have 
 redemption, through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins."; 
 Although the difference is not at all material between pri- 
 sons being purchased or redeemed to the possession of sal- 
 vation, and salvation being purchased for them, yet the 
 usual phraseology of Scripture, it may be observed, favours 
 the former of these ways of expressing the effect of Christ's 
 atonement : " Feed the church of the Lord, which he hath 
 
 * Deut. vii. 8; Ex. vi. 6. t J 1>et - ' 18 ' )9 ' 
 
 + Matt. xx. 28; 1 Tim. ii. 6; Col. i. 14. 
 
 g The Author lias here adopted a different rwding from that o 
 
 i. r
 
 226 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 purchased with his own blood ;" " Ye are not your own ; 
 for ye are bought with a price :" " Thou wast slain, and hast 
 redeemed us to God by thy blood."* They are God's " pe- 
 culiar people," "his purchased possession." t 
 
 The sense in which the blood of Christ is to be considered 
 as a price paid to God for the redemption, or salvation, of his 
 people, will appear from the exposition of the following 
 verses. In the meantime, I would merely remark, (what will 
 then be more fully evident) that there is no inconsistency 
 between our justification being " by yract>" and its being also 
 l ' fhmtti/h t/te redemption that is in Christ Jesus!' For, in 
 the first place, the appointment itself of the ransom was en- 
 tirely a matter of grace; and, in the second place, the work 
 of Christ, his obedience unto death, was never designed to 
 be an equivalent for the exercise of grace ; (an idea which 
 destroys grace altogether) nor even, strictly speaking, to 
 furnish believing sinners with a claim of right before God : 
 but it was the means "which the Most High, in infinite 
 wisdom, saw fit to adopt, to render the exercise of grace, to 
 which He was previously inclined, consistent in the eyes of 
 all his intelligent creatures, with the glory of the other per- 
 fections of his character, and the unsullied honour of his law 
 and government. This important view will be the principal 
 subject of next lecture. 
 
 Let me conclude this lecture, by observing the /(>//>/ -<W 
 the ingratitude of a proud, edf-righteotti spirit. 
 
 Is it not a truth sufficiently plain, that no man can be 
 justified on the terms of a law which he has already trans- 
 gressed? If this truth be admitted then what opinion do 
 you entertain of yourselves? Are any of you prepared to 
 
 Ttrtus Receptus Kvpliu instead of Siov. The manuscript authority for 
 these respective readings is pretty nearly equal rather perhaps in 
 favour of the latter. The decision of the point has been considered to 
 rest mainly on internal evidence. The weight of critical opinion on 
 either side is pretty fairly balanced. Alford, after at first adopting 
 Kupiav ' in A final revision " of his volume " decided for the received 
 reading " Siou. ED. 
 
 * Acts xx. 28; 1 Cor. vi. 19. 20; Rev. v. 9. 
 
 f 1 1'et. ii. 9, Greek. Epli. i. 14, &c.
 
 KOMAXS III. 19-24. 227 
 
 Bay, B I am free from sin I have a clear conscience my 
 heart does not condemn me T Alas! alas! such language 
 would only confirm the truth of the declaration of Scripture, 
 that " the heart is deceitful above all things." It would only 
 prove your inward corruption so deep as to render you insen- 
 sible of its prevalence. But surely when you use the lan- 
 guage I have supposed, it must be without consideration. 
 You will never stand to it, that you have " loved the Lord 
 God with all your heart, and soul, and strength, and mind, 
 and your neighbour as yourselves;" and that no thought, 
 or word, or action of your life has been inconsistent with 
 this pure and heavenly principle. This, you admit, is more 
 than you can affirm, without your hearts giving your lips the 
 lie. But still, you cannot look upon yourselves as sinners 
 in the extent charged ; sinners without any good to com- 
 pensate for the evil: sinners absolutely condemned; whose 
 cause is desperate, and whose sole appeal must be to uncon- 
 ditional mercy. 
 
 Let me further ask you, then, by what standard have you 
 formed your estimate of your characters? By the laws, per- 
 haps, of human society. But will you for a moment compare 
 the laws of men with the law of God? How limited the 
 former compared with the latter! The one, from its very 
 nature, can only take cognizance of external conduct; the 
 jurisdiction of the other extends to the mind and heart, and, 
 in the name of Him who searches the heart and reins, pro- 
 nounces the sentence of condemnation against every sinful 
 thought, and every inclination to evil. The former punish 
 actions as crimes against human society, estimating their 
 comparative criminality rather by their influence on its in- 
 terests and happiness, than according to their inherent moral 
 turpitude; the latter contemplates evil thoughts, words, and 
 actions, in a point of view infinitely more serious, as sins 
 against GocL And while the kinds of criminal conduct which 
 come under the lash of the former can be comparatively but 
 few, the latter embraces in its sentence of condemnation ev- im- 
 possible description of evil It is but a light thing, there- 
 fore, to be acquitted by the laws of men. Even what they
 
 228 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 justify, the law of God may condemn ; and he who, accord- 
 ing to the one is declared innocent, chargeable with no 
 crime, may by the other be pronounced guilty throughout, 
 in all the thoughts, and words, and actions of his life : for 
 while "man looketh on the outward appearance, the Lord 
 looketh on the heart." 
 
 Again : do you judge of yourselves according to the cur- 
 rent sentiments of good and evil which prevail among man- 
 kind? and, perhaps, according to the particular opinion 
 which they may entertain and express of yourselves? Will 
 you take your estimate from the views of fellow-creatures who 
 are themselves corrupt, and whose judgment, consequently, 
 is, like your own, perverted and partial? There are certain 
 virtues, which from their obvious utility, and indeed, I might 
 say, necessity, to the order and well-being of human society, 
 possess a high degree of credit in the world ; such, for ex- 
 ample, as truth, justice, and general integrity. If a man 
 practises these, and is guilty of no gross crimes, that is of no 
 crimes for which the laws of his country call him to account, 
 he may pass through life with the reputation of a good, 
 honest, worthy man. If to these he should add a measure 
 of benevolence somewhat beyond what is common, this will 
 crown the character with peculiar excellence. Yet may not 
 such a person, though thus highly esteemed, be after all an 
 ungodly man? He may be actuated, in all his conduct, by 
 principles and motives, in which GOD has no place. He 
 may feel no regard to God' authority, no concern for God's 
 glory, no gratitude for God's goodness and grace, no desire of 
 God's favour and likeness. He may have no love to God in his 
 heart, no fear of God before his eyes. In the midst of the 
 flattering approbation of his fellowmen, and the secret delu- 
 sions of self-complacency, he may belong to those of whom it 
 is said, " God is not in all their thoughts." This, indeed, is 
 one of the grand prevailing errors of mankind that, in forming 
 their estimate of character, "while they measure themselves 
 by themselves, and compare themselves amongst themselves," 
 they " forget God," and leave entirely out of the account the 
 state of the heart towards Him. They affect to admire virtue^
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 229 
 
 but their admiration is partial ; it is consistent with the pal- 
 liation in others and the indulgence in themselves of various 
 vices; and it is unassociated with genuine godliness, without 
 which, as its principle and its accompaniment, virtue is but 
 an empty name. 
 
 How vain is any opinion which a man may form of him- 
 self, if it is not formed according to the right standard, 
 that standard by which he must be tried at the great day of 
 linal retribution ! Who will have the boldness, in that aw- 
 ful day, to come forward, and say to the supreme Judge, 
 " This is not the law by which I choose, or by which I ought 
 to be tried?" Yet unless you could oblige the Almighty to 
 adopt your standard, that is, unless you could constrain Him 
 to renounce His holiness, your legal hopes must be vain. 
 The question on which depends the application of the curse 
 to you is a very simple one : " Are you a sinner, or are you 
 not?" If you are a sinner, then you are, as such, condemn- 
 ed ; and, so far as depends on your own character, without 
 hope. It is clear from the word of God, that until a man 
 sees and feels himself to be in this view hopeless, he is hope- 
 less; that while he continues to retain a shadow of hope 
 from the Law, he is ignorant and destitute of the hope of the 
 Gospel. The value of the Gospel, indeed, as a means of sal- 
 vation, cannot be felt, unless a man is sensible that he is 
 lost. Its proclamation of free pardon will be tidings of joy, 
 to those only who know themselves to be justly condemned. 
 The excellence of the hope which it inspires cannot be rightly 
 estimated, but under a full and self-abasing conviction that 
 our case is otherwise desperate. It was when Peter began 
 to sink in the raging deep, that he felt his own helplessness ; 
 and in the same instant he felt the value of the Saviour's 
 power "Lord, save me! I perish!" The publican was 
 sensible that no ground of hope existed in himself, when he 
 came to God as a humble suppliant for unconditional mercy. 
 flu- prayer must be ours " God be merciful to me a sinner!" 
 Do you reckon it a harsh and intolerable sentence, thus to 
 pronounce all guilty, condemned and hopeless 1 I remember 
 once conversing with a person on this subject, who, upon my
 
 230 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 urging the absolute purity and perfection of the Divine Law, 
 in all its requirements, was instantly startled, and exclaimed 
 her heart evidently revolting in scornful abhorrence of the 
 doctrine " Oh ! but on such principles as these going so 
 strictly to work as you do who, you know, could .-thnul f" 1 
 A most pertinent question ! This is just the very point 
 to which we wish that sinners should be brought. To re- 
 duce them to this, is the very end which the Apostle has 
 here in view. Let it not be accounted harsh, to affirm that 
 " by the deeds of the law no flesh living shall be justified ;" 
 when we have it to add, "but now the righteousness of God 
 without the law is manifested even the righteousness of 
 God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon 
 all them that believe." Surely we may say, without reluc- 
 tance " If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, who, Lord, 
 shall stand 1 ?" when we may also say in the confidence and 
 joy of faith " but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou 
 mayest be feared!" Surely it is the very fulness of tender 
 mercy, to seek to convince sinners that in themselves they 
 are hopeless, when the object is to shut them up to the faith 
 of that Gospel, which is " the power of God unto salvation ;" 
 to take away a false hope, that is founded in error, and 
 shall terminate in disappointment and woe, to make way 
 for a " good hope," that shall never " make ashamed ! " 
 "The Scripture hath concluded all under sin" for what 
 end 1 ? to what consequence? Should we not expect it to 
 follow, "that all, being condemned, might perish] -that 
 wrath might come upon all, to the uttermost?" Would 
 this have been harsh 1 ? You might have deemed it so; yet 
 it would have been no more than just. But how gracious 
 is the God of our salvation! How widely different is the 
 consequence expressed ! " THE SCRIPTURE HATH CONCLUDED 
 
 ALL UNDER SIN, THAT THE PROMISE BY FAITH OF JESUS ClIKIsT 
 MKJIIT BE GIVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE!" 
 
 Xo doubt the declaration that, with regard to the ground 
 of acceptance with God, " there is no difference," is deeply 
 humbling and mortifying to our natural pride and self-con- 
 sequence : that there is, in this respect, " no difference," not
 
 ROMANS III. 1924. 231 
 
 only between the Jew and the Greek, but between any de- 
 scriptions of men whatsoever: that all who receive salva- 
 tion, must receive it "freely by grace;" must be "debtors 
 to mercy alone." So that the most regular of unrenewed 
 men must be pardoned and received into favour on the same 
 terms with the most profligate ; and the murderer, who lies 
 in irons in the cell of death, is as fit a . subject to whom to 
 address the good news of this free salvation, as the man who, 
 without the faith of the Gospel, stands highest among his 
 fellowmen, for external decency and sobriety of deportment. 
 A gift is equally a gift, on whomsoever it is conferred. If 
 it is deserved by one, on the footing of justice, more than by 
 another, it, in that proportion, loses the nature of a gift. It 
 becomes a merited reward, or the payment of a debt, to 
 which the title or ground of claim exists in the recipient ; 
 an idea, which, as we shall see more fully afterwards, is held 
 by the Apostle, in the case of fallen man, as utterly inad- 
 missible. 
 
 But however humbling to human pride, surli is the Gos- 
 pel ; and the man who proudly refuses salvation on the 
 terms of unconditional mercy excludes himself from the pos- 
 sibility of obtaining it. Is it not right that the way of man's 
 recovery should be humbling? Pride was the cause of his 
 departure from God, and of his consequent ruin; and how, 
 then, can we conceive, that the means of his restoration to 
 forfeited favour and happiness should be such as to gratify 
 and cherish the very principle which wrought his de-t ra- 
 tion 1 ? No. This original sin must be mortified. The proud 
 rebel must be subdued, and brought to his sovereign'* feet, 
 in heart-broken penitence, surrendering himself at discretion, 
 a lowly, self-abased petitioner for mercy. "The loftim-s of 
 man must be bowed down, and the haughtiness of man must 
 be made low ; and the Lord alone must be exalted."
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 
 ROMANS HI. 25, 26. 
 
 " Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to 
 declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the 
 forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he 
 might be just, and the justifier of him which beiieveth in Jesus." 
 
 THE following important truths have now been under our 
 review : that " the Scripture hath concluded all, both Jews 
 and Gentiles, under sin:" that, all having sinned, "by the 
 deeds of the law no flesh living can be justitied in the sight 
 of God:" that sinners who find acceptance with Him must, 
 therefore, be "justified freely, by his grace:" and that this 
 is, at the same time, " through the redemption that is in 
 Christ Jesus." Having mentioned in general that this re- 
 demption is the deliverance of the guilty from sin, condem- 
 nation, and death, by the price of his own blood ; I shall 
 now proceed to consider what is further said, in these verses, 
 in illustration of its nature. 
 
 Christ had been "set forth" or exhibited to view, partially, 
 and with comparative obscurity, by " the law and the pro- 
 phets:" and now, in the Gospel testimony, delivered by his 
 inspired messengers, God had given a clearer, more complete, 
 and more public manifestation of his person, character, and 
 work. 
 
 He was set forth as "a propitiation." In the only other 
 place of the New Testament where the word so translated* 
 
 * t^.at'1 rr,iat.
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 2^ 
 
 occurs, namely, Hob. ix. 5, it is rendered " meny-seat " It 
 is the word used for this part of the sacred furniture of the 
 tabernacle, by the Greek translators of the Old Testament 
 The word rendered propitiation, in other places is different 
 although of kindred origin.* On these grounds it appears 
 reasonable to consider it as having the same meaning in the 
 passage before us.t It ought, at the same time, to be noticed, 
 that critics of high eminence prefer translating it here a pro- 
 pitiatory sacrifice. $ In regard to the seme of the passage, the 
 dilference is not at all material, nor does it, in the slightest 
 degree, affect the Apostle's reasoning. In either case, there 
 is a reference to a significant type. And although the refer- 
 ence to a propitiatory sacrifice may appear the more direct of 
 the two for the Apostle's purpose ; yet that to the "mercy-seat" 
 includes it, and at the same time contains more. It connects 
 with sacrificial propitiation an emblematic representation of 
 its blessed effects, in the sinner's reconciliation, acceptance, 
 and fellowship with God. 
 
 To the institution of the "mercy- seat," therefore, we must 
 look, that we may rightly understand the allusion. It is 
 thus described: "And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of 
 pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length 
 thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. Anil 
 thou shalt make two cherubim of gold; of beateii work 
 shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy scat. 
 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub 
 on the other end; even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the 
 cherubim in the two ends thereof. And the cherubim 
 shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy- 
 seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to un- 
 
 * 'ikctffftit, 1 John ii. 2; iv. 10. 
 
 f It is so understood by Luther, Calvin, Wolf, Grotius, and others. 
 OUhausen gays, 4i He c;ills Christ /Xa<r<r>i^9, a word which is not to he 
 taken as equivalent to /Xa<rf, or to be explained with the addition of 
 tuu.it, of the sin-offering; but which must be understood, with ir/li^ta 
 supplied, of the covering of the Ark of the Covenant, in which expres- 
 sion, at all events, the idea of expiation is most distinctly enunciated, 
 even according to the etymology of the word " Ei>. 
 
 t This is the view of De Wette and of Alfoid; but the reasons given 
 against the other interpretations seem far from conclusive. Ei.
 
 234 LECTURE XV. 
 
 other; towards the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim 
 be. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark ; 
 and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give 
 thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune 
 with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two 
 cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all 
 things which I will give thee in commandment unto the 
 children of Israel."* 
 
 It is from this description that the appellation is given to 
 Jehovah of the God that "dwelleth beticeen the cherubim"^ 
 an appellation, therefore, equivalent in import to "the God 
 of mercy," "the God of all grace," "the God of peace:" and 
 the position of "the mercy-seat" or propitiatory, upon "the 
 ark of the testimony," seems to indicate that His appearing, 
 in this benign character, to commune with guilty creatures, 
 was in full consistency with the claims and sanctions of His 
 perfect law; so that when Jehovah, the God of Israel, 
 manifested himself between the cherubim, " Mercy and truth 
 met together, righteousness and peace embraced each other." 
 All this cannot fail to remind us of Him who "received from 
 God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a 
 voice to him from the excellent glory, THIS is MY BELOVED 
 
 SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED."^ It is IN HlM, as the 
 
 subject either of promise, of prophecy, of type, or of direct 
 testimony, that God has, from the beginning, made himself 
 known to men in the character of " the God of peace." It 
 is ' i\ HIM" that He "reconciles sinners to himself, not 
 imputing their trespasses unto them." 
 
 Had nothing more been said of the "mercy-seat," we might 
 have been led to conclude, that Jehovah appeared there in 
 the exercise of mere mercy, I mean of mercy, apart from 
 any satisfaction for sin. We must, therefore, connect with 
 the description of "the mercy-seat" itself, the account given of 
 the manner in which it was to be approached by the worship- 
 per; the high priest being expressly enjoined to draw near 
 
 * Exod. xxv. 17. f P S - ' xxx - 1 ; 2 Kings xix. 15. 
 
 J 2 Peter i. 17 with Mattli. xvii. 5. g 2 Cor. v. 19, &c.
 
 ROMANS III. 25,26. 235 
 
 to Him who dwelt between the cherubim, both on his o\vu 
 behalf, and on behalf of the people, according to certain pre- 
 scribed rites. The complete detail of the ceremonies to be 
 u-cd on that occasion, is to be found in the sixteenth chapter 
 of the book of Leviticus. "Speak unto Aaron thy brother," 
 is the language of Jehovah to Moses, "that he come not 
 at all times into the holy place within the vail, before the 
 mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not ; for I 
 Avill appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat. Thus shall 
 Aaron come into the holy place ; with a young bullock for a 
 sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering." "And Aaron," 
 it is added afterwards, "shall bring the bullock of the sin- 
 offering which is for himself, and shall make an atonement 
 for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of 
 the siu-oifering which is for himself. And he shall take a 
 cen>e.r full of burning coals from off the altar before the 
 Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and 
 bring it within the vail And he shall put the incense upon 
 the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may 
 cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die 
 not. And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and 
 sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat eastward; 
 and before the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with 
 his finger seven times. Tnen shall he kill the goat of the 
 sin-offering which is for the people, and bring his blood 
 within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the 
 blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mere;, 
 and before the mercy - seat/' * This "goat of the >in- 
 offering '' was one of two, which, as we learn from the inter- 
 mediate verses, Aaron was to take from the congregation t 
 Israel; and when it had been offered in sacrifice, and its 
 blood brought within the vail, the remaining goat, with all 
 the iniquities of the people of Israel laid upon its head by 
 the solemn vicarious confession of the high priest, was to l>e. 
 sent off alive into the wilderness, bearing away, emblemati- 
 cally, as a devoted victim, this load of atoned and ackn.nv- 
 
 * Levit. xvi. 2, 111.").
 
 235 LECTURE XY. 
 
 lodged guilt. The figure was double ; the slain goat typi- 
 fying the atonement of Christ, the scape-goat representing its 
 efficacy. 
 
 But what I no\v wish to impress upon your minds is, that 
 the "mercy-seat" was to be approached "with blood;" with 
 the blood of ''atonement;" for such it is more than once ex- 
 pressly declared to have been, in the same chapter.* This 
 blood was to be brought within the vail, and to be sprinkled on 
 and before "the mercy-seat:" and while the sacrificial blood 
 was thus presented, the burning incense was, by the cloud of 
 ascending smoke, to diffuse its grateful odour, in emblematic 
 testimony of the divine satisfaction; which is, accordingly, 
 elsewhere expressed, in connexion with the sacrifice of 
 Christ, and the offerings by which it was typified, by Je- 
 hovah's "smelling a siceet savour r \ 
 
 " The mercy-seat," then, in order to Jehovah's appearing 
 there, consistently with the glory of His name, as the God of 
 grace, must be stained with " the blood of sprinkling," the 
 blood " that maketh atonement for the soul : " and in this 
 is set before us the necessity of the shedding of the blood of 
 Christ, in order to his being the true propitiatory, that is, 
 in order to God's being "IN HIM WKLL- PLEASED." And, 
 agreeably to this, the divine declaration " from the excellent 
 glory," of satisfaction in his well-beloved Son, was made in 
 connexion with the interesting subject of conference on the 
 holy Mount "the decease which Jesus was to accomplish at 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 The proper idea of "propitiation" is, rendering the Divine 
 Being propitious, or favourable. We must beware, however, 
 of understanding by this any thing like the production of a 
 change in the Divine character; as if the blessed God re- 
 quired a motive to pity, an inducement to be merciful, a 
 price for love and grace. Far be such a thought from our 
 minds ! We ought to conceive of Jehovah, as eternally, im- 
 mutably, infinitely compassionate and merciful That any 
 
 * Verses 6, 30, 34. 
 
 f Compare Gen. viii. 21 with Eph. v. 2, and Rev. viii. 3, 4: and see 
 alsu i'salm cxli. 2.
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 237 
 
 transition is produced in His nature, by the mediation of 
 Christ, from previous vindictive cruelty, to benevolence and 
 compassion, (as the adversaries of the doctrine of atonement 
 are, either through ignorance, or from a worse principle, accus- 
 tomed to speak,) is a supposition full of blasphemous impiety. 
 God has been from eternity, and to eternity must continue 
 the same; "without variableness or shadow of turning." 
 Being absolutely perfect, He cannot change to the better ; 
 for perfection cannot be improved ; the slightest alteration, 
 therefore, of what He is, would detract from'that infinite ex- 
 cellence, without which He could not be God. But while 
 God is infinitely and immutably good, He is, at the same 
 time, infinitely and immutably holy, and just, and true. 
 Never ought we to speak of Him as acting at one time 
 according to mercy, and at another according to justice; if by 
 this mode of expression it be meant, that the claims either 
 of justice or of mercy, are in any part of His procedure, in 
 the smallest possible degree, suspended or left out of view. 
 He never acts in opposition to the one or to the other, but 
 always agreeably to both. The. character of God is PERFFX r 
 EXCELLENCE; INFINITE GOODNESS: not a hemisphere of se- 
 parate stars, but one glorious sun of pure and "holy light." 
 The attributes which constitute this character, though w 
 may speak of them, and reason about them, distinctly, are com- 
 pletely inseparable in their exercise ; united in the con<in<-t 
 of the Almighty agent, with the same necessity which unites 
 them in His nature that nature being ONE and IMMUTABLE. 
 
 What, then, is the light in which the idea of a; 
 ment places the Divine Being? In reply to this question, I 
 observe, that, as a righteous Governor and Lawgiver, Jehovah 
 must be considered as displeased with His guilty creature- 
 for their violation of His authority; while, at the saim- 
 time, from the infinite benignity of His nature, He is in 
 clined to forgiveness. But if His government is righteous. ii> 
 claims, in their full extent, must, of necessity, be maintained 
 inviolate. Any change in these must be a change from 
 right to wrong; and must affect both the immutable holin<-> 
 of the divine character, and the general good of the uui\
 
 238 LKCTURK XV. 
 
 The principles of the divine administration, the commands, 
 and the sanctions of God's law, if admitted to have hem 
 originally right, can never undergo alteration: for alteration 
 of any kind, even in the way of mitigation or reduction, 
 implies the acknowledgment of error in the iirst enactments. 
 The great question, then, on this momentous subject, comes 
 to be: 'In what manner may forgiveness be extended to 
 the guilty, so as to satisfy the claims of infinite justice,, and 
 thus to maintain, in their full dignity, free from every charge 
 of imperfection or of mutability, the character of the Gover- 
 nor, the rectitude of His administration, and the sanction of 
 His law?' The rendering of the Divine Being propitious, in 
 this view, refers, it is obvious, not to the production of love 
 in His character, or in the particular state of His mind 
 towards fallen men, but simply to the mode of its <'.rprcx*ion. 
 The inquiry is, How may God express love, so as to express, 
 at the same time, infinite and immutable abhorrence of sin ; 
 and thus, in "making known the riches of his mercy," to 
 display, in connexion with it, the inflexibility of justice, and 
 the unsullied perfection of holiness? 
 
 When we say that God is displeased with any of His 
 creatures, we speak of them not as creatures, but as sinners. 
 He hath sworn by himself, that he hath "no pleasure in the 
 death of the wicked:" but He hates sin; and the punish- 
 ment of it is required, both by the glory of his righteousness 
 and by a regard to the general happiness of the intelligent 
 creation, which sin tends directly to destroy. It is in this 
 view that the blessed God is said to be "angry with t/ie 
 ii-ii-ki-d* every day" to have "his face sat against them Hint 
 do evil," to "hate all the workers of iniquity /" to have "re- 
 vealed from heaven his wrath against all -ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness of men:" and when He forgives iniquity, 
 lie is, in consistency with such expressions, described as 
 " turning from the fierceness of his anger, and taking nintt/ 
 all his wrath;" as having "his anger turned away;" a.s 
 
 * " The wicked" is supplementary, hut the context seems to de- 
 mand it Psalm vii. 11. ED.
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 239 
 
 ''not rrto in'! itij lit tnnj^r for ever, because he delighteth in 
 mercy;" as "pacified towards the objects of his forgiven.,^ 
 notwithstanding all that they have done." This is ritonri- 
 ATiuN : and it is in Christ Jesus, on his account, in virtue 
 of his utnuinij s'K.-riJice, that God is thus propitious to sinners. 
 
 The animal sacrifices which, by divine institution, were 
 offered to God, both in the patriarchal age and under the 
 Mosaic dispensation, and of which the blood (because it was 
 tin' life) was declared to be " the atonement for the soul,'' were 
 all intended to prefigure the true " propitiation for sin," which 
 wax to be made by the blood of the promised Saviour. Di- 
 vest these rites of their typical import, and they are utterly 
 unworthy of the wisdom by which they were appointed. 
 Worthless in themselves, their sole value arose from their 
 being figures of that which was to come; and from their 
 nature, as they are described, they could, if they were types 
 at all, be typical of nothing less than a true and proper sac- 
 rifice for sin. "We might illustrate and prove this observa- 
 tion by various instances. The passage, however, does not 
 directly call for it; our attention being here confined to the 
 particular institution of the "mercy-teal? 
 
 While we are here taught that the blood of Christ's pro- 
 pitiatory sacrifice is the procuring cause of the remission of 
 sins, it is at the same time distinctly and repeatedly intimat- 
 ed. that this blessing is bestowed "throuyh fa ////." Chri.-t i< 
 set forth as a propitiatory " ilrowjl faith in his blood:" 
 God is " the justifier of him u-Jio believetl in J'-.-o/"." 
 
 The God with whom we have to do has testified, "This 
 is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased;" and it is 
 ]lis sovereign and irreversible appointment that "he that 
 l>elieveth shall be saved, and he that believeth not >hall be 
 condemned." There is, in this, to every considerate mind, 
 an obvious propriety. Not that there is any merit in faith; 
 or that, on its own" account, it confers any title or claim. 
 P.ut there is a manifest congruity in the proposition " JI 
 Unit believeth shall be saved." No one can conceive i 
 be right, that the man who disbelieves the Gospel, as a mes- 
 sage from Heaven, should, nevertheless, partake, equally will
 
 240 LECTURE XV. 
 
 those who gladly embrace it as such, the precious blessings 
 which it reveals; that he who persists in despising the 
 atonement, and slighting the great salvation wrought by the 
 Son of God, should yet experience the saving efficacy of his 
 blood. He who esteems the blood of Jesus as an all-suffi- 
 cient atonement for sin; and, as a ruined and hopeless sin- 
 ner, seeks forgiveness and acceptance on the ground of this 
 atonement alone, "shall, in no wise, be cast out;" for God 
 is " the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." But the 
 sacrifice can have no saving virtue to him who refuses to 
 acknowledge its necessity or to confide in its merits. I am 
 .speaking at present of the connexion of faith with pardon <u- 
 justification. With respect to sanctification ground still 
 stronger might be taken. All the influence of the truth 
 upon the state of the mind and the character of the heart 
 and life must, in the very nature of the thing, arise from the 
 truth as understood and believed. The truth remaining in 
 the Bible, unknown and uncredited, can effect nothing. 
 And the same thing is true, if not of justification itself, yet 
 of the peace of mind, or sense of forgiveness, which enters 
 so essentially into present salvation. In general, indeed, it 
 might be said, that as the Gospel conies to sinners in the 
 form of "a testimony" it is difficult to conceive of any other 
 way in which the blessings revealed in it can be received 
 and enjoyed, except the believing reception of the testimony. 
 
 I must now, however, proceed to notice another important 
 sentiment expressed in these verses; namely, the ?<?//' >xp r- 
 tive efficacy of the blood of Christ; that is, its efficacy as 
 the procuring cause of forgiveness to believing sinners who 
 lived before his appearance on earth. This seems to be the 
 truth contained in the Apostle's words when, in verse twen- 
 ty-fifth, he speaks of " the remission of sins that are //W 
 (i. e. which were formerly committed*) tJmmgh (or 't) the 
 forbearance of God." 
 
 God had remitted sin before the coming of Christ, -i-vi 
 from the beginning: and the words before us might be Kter- 
 
 * Tfo^iyeveroi. "f iv.
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 241 
 
 ally rendered " to declare his righteousness became of* the 
 remission (or passing by t) of sins formerly committed, in the 
 forbearance of God;" the sentiment expressed being appa- 
 rently this : that the passing by of sins at that time, when 
 no adequate atonement had been made, might have given 
 occasion for the impeachment of the divine righteous';; 
 and therefore this display of the righteousness of God, was,' ' 
 in due time, given, as that to which there had all along been 
 a prospective regard a regard by anticipation as to a pre- 
 determined event in the previous exercise of pardoning 
 mercy. 
 
 No sooner had Adam fallen, than the remedy was re- 
 vealed, in the form of promise, for the ruin which he had 
 brought, by his sin, upon himself and his future race. The 
 nature of the intended remedy was intimated by the institu- 
 tion of animal sacrifice. For in this singular rite, of which 
 the origin is inexplicable on any other principle, the pious 
 worshipper was reminded, for his humiliation, of the death 
 due to his own guilt, the just forfeiture of his life on ac- 
 count of sin; and, at the same time, for his comfort and 
 peace, of the promised substitution of another in his room, 
 to bear his sin, to atone for its guilt, and to save him from 
 its punishment. This institution, continued through tin- 
 antediluvian and patriarchal ages, formed afterwards a very 
 prominent part of the Mosaic ritual. Its object was still the 
 same. The Law was "a schoolmaster (to bring) to Christ :"* 
 and this was one of its principal methods of instruction. 
 By its sentence of condemnation, against which it provided, 
 in itself, no adequate security, it "shut u}>" those who 
 
 * A/ with the accusative S* rnt <raji<r/, *. ?. A. Various render- 
 ings have been proposed of the preposition in this connexion, more 
 or less ably supported. I am not sure, however, that there is suffi- 
 cient reason for departing from the most common rendering, which 
 certainly is. when Si is followed by the accusative case, for, on 
 account of. became of . [Alford adheres to this rendering ; OUi*M4 
 also. ED.] 
 
 t ndftirts not fount the usual word for remission. The term seems 
 only to occur here. ED. 
 
 \ Or, till tfie time of Christ, us X^*T. Ki>. 
 
 J. Q
 
 242 LECTURE XV. 
 
 under it "to the faith which was afterwards to be revealed ;" 
 whilst by its various types it shadowed forth that faith to 
 the mind of the attentive and devout inquirer; showing it 
 obscurely, as if through a vail ; discovering, yet concealing ; 
 " the shadow of good things to come, not the very image 
 of the things." 
 
 The truth, then, which is expressed in the words now 
 before us, is a highly important and deeply interesting one : 
 that throughout the whole period of time from Adam to 
 Christ the forgiveness of sins was granted "through the re- 
 demption that is in Christ Jesus;" that God never was the 
 justifier of any but of such as "believed in Jesus;" or, as the 
 original expression is, literally were " of the faith of Jesus." * 
 This faith, it is true, must of necessity have corresponded, in 
 clearness of vision and strength of conviction, to the degree 
 of light vouchsafed at the time ; but it was not the less real, 
 on account of the comparative dimness of the revelation : 
 for, in the nature of things, it could not regard its object 
 farther than that object was made known. 
 
 In passing by sin, therefore, in former ages, it appears 
 that God, (to whom the future is as certain as the past; a 
 purpose yet to be executed as sure as what has already been 
 done ; " one day, in this respect, as a thousand years, and a 
 thousand years as one day;") that God granted the remis- 
 sion "in his forbearance" that is, while he was ivaifing for 
 "the fulness of the time," and regarding, as the ground of His 
 merciful procedure, the work which was then to be done, 
 the atonement which was then to be made. "At this time" 
 the time, for wise reasons, chosen and appointed by himself 
 He "declared his righteousness" by the mission and atone- 
 ment of Christ; "that he might be just " in having formerly 
 justified, and just in now continuing to justify, those "who 
 are of the faith of Jesus." 
 
 It has often appeared to me, from hearing the manner in 
 which persons serious godly persons speak on the subject, 
 that the notions entertained of the sense in which the atone- 
 
 * ix. orlffTia; 'l^ffitv.
 
 ROMANS HI. 25, 26. 243 
 
 ment was required to satisfy divine justice (according to the 
 ordinary phraseology) are exceedingly undefined and vague, 
 and even, in some respects, incorrect, and hardly consistent 
 with the dignity of the theme, or with discriminative con- 
 ceptions of the attributes of the divine character. Yet, 
 accurate ideas of the way in which the righteousness of God 
 is " declared" or manifested by the atonement, are of the 
 very last importance. Allow me, then, to request your at- 
 tention to the following distinctions, which, I think, are 
 such as you will find no difficulty in clearly understanding, 
 and which, I trust, will prove satisfactory. Justice has been 
 considered as of three kinds commutative, distributive, and 
 public. 
 
 ' 1. COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE is that which subsists between a 
 creditor and a debtor, and has reference to pecuniary or com- 
 mercial transactions. In such transactions, if the debt be 
 paid, no matter whether by the debtor himself or by a sure- 
 ty, the claim of justice is cancelled; and no room is left for 
 the exercise of any thing that bears the nature of grace. 
 And here it is necessary to remark, that by some the idea of 
 debt and credit has been applied with too literal a strictness 
 to the case now before us, in a way that is fitted to con- 
 found in the mind things that are essentially different. 
 That sins are compared to debts is true ; and the comparison 
 is natural, and the principle of it obvious. As intelligent 
 and moral agents, we owe obedience to God, our Maker and 
 Sovereign. As sinners, we have failed to render that obedi- 
 ence : and ever}'' sin, both of omission and of commission, may 
 be regarded as an additional accumulation of unpaid debt. 
 But our discharging this debt ourselves is a natural impossi- 
 lllity. In this respect, as well as in another which we shall 
 notice immediately, the parallelism between sins and debts 
 necessarily fails. We never can pay up obedience which we 
 have failed to render, as a man, by payment of principal and 
 interest, may cancel the heaviest arrears of debt to another. 
 Again : when we have offended against God, we may t>o 
 said to owe satisfaction, or reparation for the injury we 
 have done to His law, and to the honour of His name and
 
 244 LECTURE XV. 
 
 government. But with regard to us, this satisfaction can be 
 nothing else than punishment ; punishment corresponding 
 to the demerit of sin. As obedience is due from us to God ; 
 so, when we disobey, punishment is due from God to us. 
 Hence it is said, " the wages of sin is death : " death being 
 that which sin deserves, or wliich is justly and legally due 
 to the sinner on account of it. 
 
 ' The forgiveness of sin is simply the free remission of its 
 punishment. It is not the doing away of its guilt ; or such 
 a cancelling of the accumulated obligation involved in it, as 
 that the sinner ceases to be guilty, and to deserve punish- 
 ment. This too is, in the nature of things, impossible : and 
 here lies the other point, in which the parallel between sins 
 and debts has been pressed too closely. A debt of pi' ri l'i't'j 
 may be paid by another : a debt of obedience (and such was 
 the debt we owed to God) never can. It is, in its very na- 
 ture, intransferable. The sinner, in himself considered, can 
 never, through eternity, cease to be guilty and to deserve 
 punishment. His transgressions have constituted him guilty. 
 These have been done, and never caii be undone. The lapse 
 of eternal ages, the interposition of omnipotence itself, cannot 
 effect this, cannot render a guilty creature an innocent crea- 
 ture. The sinner who enters heaven will enjoy it for ever 
 as one who, in himself, merits nothing but exile from its 
 holy pleasures. No substitution, no atonement, can, in this 
 respect, alter the nature of things. The atonement of Christ, 
 then, ought not, we think, to be regarded as at all proceed- 
 ing on the principles of commutative or commercial justice ; 
 inasmuch as the payment of debt, according to this descrip- 
 tion of justice, by strictly and properly cancelling all claim, 
 leaves no room for the exercise of grace. 
 
 ' 2. DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE has regard not to pecuniary obli- 
 gation, but to moral character, and to the desert thence aris- 
 ing either of reward or of punishment. According to it, the 
 .sinner should receive, in his own person, the due recompense 
 of his deeds. The strict principles of distribiitive justice do 
 not admit of substitution, of one suffering in the room of 
 another. The sentence of every law is against the trans-
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 245 
 
 grosser of it ; and the divine law, in this respect, agre.es with 
 other laws. It condemns the sinner personally, and makes 
 no mention of any way in which another can bear his penalty 
 for him. Every man, according to direct legal prescription, 
 must die for his own sin ; and it is only by the death of 
 the sinner himself that the proper demand of the law can be 
 fulfilled, and the principles of distributive justice have their 
 due application. The idea of the substitution of the suffer- 
 ings of another for those of the transgressor himself, is some- 
 thing not indeed inconsistent with law, but beyond it. It 
 is entirely above the line of strict distributive justice, that 
 is, of justice in its ordinary acceptation in regard to rewards 
 and punishments, according to which every man should 
 have his due. Substitution, therefore, is not according to 
 tiie letter of the law, nor does it literally satisfy its demands. 
 It is not the guilty, in that case, that suffers, but the inno- 
 cent : not he whom the law has condemned, but he whom, 
 personally considered, the law acquits and justifies. The 
 strict principles of distributive justice are, by substitution, 
 not fulfilled, but, for a special purpose, by an act of divine 
 sovereignty, superseded. For surely it is not necessary to 
 expose the absurdity of the fancy, that the innocent substi- 
 tute, by the imputation to him of the sins of those for whom 
 he suffers, actually becomes the sinner. This is the mere 
 fiction of a bewildered mind. Neither does the substitute 
 become the sinner, nor does the sinner, by any kind of in- 
 terest he can have in the substitute, become innocent or 
 meritorious. The sins of the sinner are still his sins, though 
 the substitute suffers on account of them: the righteon 
 of the substitute is still his righteousness, though the sinner 
 is pardoned on account of it. The pardon of the sinner is 
 simply the remission of his punishment, not the cessation of 
 his guilt. In substitution, then, neither Christ nor the sin- 
 ner is dealt with according to the terras of law, or of distri- 
 butive justice : for the guilty, who according to these should 
 suffer, escapes ; and the innocent, who should escape, suffers. 
 There is in this an evident setting aside of these terms ; nor 
 can it, we tiiink, in strict propriety of speech, be said that,
 
 246 LECTURE XV. 
 
 by atonement, justice, in its distributive sense, is satisfied ; 
 inasmuch as its direct 'requisitions are not fulfilled, but its 
 principles, on the contrary, are overruled. It is satisfied, 
 however, in another sense, in that all its ends are virtually 
 and effectually answered, by other means. 
 
 ' 3. It is to the third of the senses in which the term jus- 
 tice is used, that the great purposes of atonement have im- 
 mediate reference. PUBLIC JUSTICE includes those great 
 general principles of equity, according to which, in union 
 with benevolence, the Sovereign Ruler governs the intelli- 
 gent universe. To preserve unsullied the glory of these, 
 to show the impossibility of their being dispensed with to 
 settle in the minds of His rational creatures the paramount 
 obligation and immutable permanence of their, claims to 
 give such a manifestation of the divine regard to them, as 
 the principles of His immaculate government, as to preclude 
 the possibility of its being said, or thought, that in the par- 
 don of sinners they have been unheeded, or in the slightest 
 degree infringed upon and thus to render it inconsistent 
 with divine propriety, or, in other words, honourable to the 
 united perfections of the divine character, to extend for- 
 giveness to the guilty and receive them back to favour, 
 agreeably to the provisions of the Gospel; this is the end 
 of atonement. It is in this sense, we conceive, that the 
 divine righteousness is represented, in the text, as " declared," 
 or manifested, by the propitiation offered in the blood of 
 Christ. His infinite and unchanging regard to the great 
 principles of His holy and equitable administration is attested 
 and published, in such a manner, as that in "justifying him 
 who believeth in Jesus," His righteousness may be as conspi- 
 cuous as His mercy, and, in the minds of the pardoned, the 
 impression of the claims of the one as deep as that of their 
 obligations to the other. 
 
 ' The two great ends of public justice are, the glory of God, 
 and, in connexion with it, the general good of His creatures. 
 It is essentially necessary to the attainment of these ends, 
 that the authority of the government of God should be sup- 
 ported, in all its extent, as inviolably sacred; that "one jot
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. -247 
 
 or one tittle should in no wise pass from the law;" that no 
 sin, of any kind, or in any degree, should appear as venial ; 
 that if any sinner is pardoned, it should he in such a way 
 as, while it displays the divine mercy, shall at the same time 
 testify the divine ahhorrence of his sins. It is to be consi- 
 dered as a fixed principle of the divine government, that .-/ 
 must be punislted; that, if the sinner is pardoned, it must be 
 in a way that marks and puhUslirs the evil of his offence. 
 This is effected by substitution; and, as far as we can judge, 
 could not be effected in any other way. In laying the sins 
 of transgressors on the voluntary and all-sufficient substitute, 
 to be atoned for by liis vicarious sufferings, JEHOVAH, while 
 he clears the sinner, does not clear his sins; although 
 clothed with the thunders of avenging justice against trans- 
 gression, He wears to the transgressor the smile of reconcilia- 
 tion and peace; He dispenses the blessings of mercy from 
 the throne of holiness ; and, while exercising grace to the 
 guilty, He appears in the character, equally lovely and ven- 
 erable, of 
 
 the sinner's friend, 
 
 And sin's eternal foe! 
 
 ' In this way, then, all the ends of pullic justice are fully 
 answered. The law retains its complete unmitigated perfec- 
 tion ; is " magnified and made honourable : " the dignity 
 and authority of the government are maintained, and even 
 elevated : all the perfections of Deity are gloriously illus- 
 trated, and exhibited in sublime harmony: while the riches 
 of mercy are displayed, for the encouragement of sinners to 
 return to God, the solemn lesson is at the same time taught, 
 by a most convincing example, that rebellion cannot be per- 
 sisted in with impunity; and motives are thus addressed to 
 the fear of evil as well as to the desire of good : such a 
 view of the Divine Being is presented in the cross, as is 
 precisely calculated to inspire and to maintain (to maintain, 
 too, with a power which will increase in influence the more 
 closely and seriously the view is contemplated) the two great 
 principles of a holy life the LOVE and the FKAR of God;
 
 213 LECTURE XV. 
 
 filial attachment, freedom, and confidence, combined with 
 humble reverence and holy dread. 
 
 'While it appears a most important scriptural truth, that 
 something equivalent, in the eye of Divine Justice, to the 
 punishment of the sinner, was, in the view and for the rea- 
 sons which have been stated, absolutely necessary in order 
 to his escape, I do not think there is anything in the word 
 of God, that warrants the representation which has been 
 given, by some of the friends of this doctrine, as if the suf- 
 ferings of Christ formed what they call an exact equivalent 
 neither less nor more for the sins of all who shall be saved 
 by his atonement. This sentiment seems derogatory to the 
 infinite dignity of the Sufferer, and the consequent infinite 
 value of his sacrifice. The sufferings of the Son of God 
 ought not to be brought into comparison, as a display of the 
 Divine righteousness, with even the eternal sufferings of mil- 
 lions of creatures. The idea of exact equivalent proceeds on 
 the supposition, that the sufferings of Christ possessed just 
 as much virtue as is sufficient for the salvation of all who 
 shall be saved; whose precise proportion of punishment He 
 is conceived to have borne, according to the guilt even of 
 each particular sin. My mind, I own, revolts from tlus sort 
 of minutely calculating process on such a subject ; weighing 
 out the precise quantum of suffering due to each sin of each 
 individual who obtains forgiveness; and there, of course, 
 limiting the sufficiency of the Surety's mediation. There is 
 too much in it of the littleness of a mercantile reckoning, - 
 of the balancing of a debtor and creditor account : of the in- 
 troduction of the principles of commutativK justice where 
 they have nothing to do; or of the overstraining of those of 
 distributive justice in a case which is beyond their range, 
 and to which they cannot apply. Such views have always 
 appeared to me as utterly inconsistent with the grandeur and 
 majesty of this wonderful part of the divine administration. 
 
 ' The mediation of Christ I am disposed to view as a grand 
 general manifestation of "the righteousness of God," by which 
 the claims of justice are, in the spirit of them, fully satisfied, 
 and the glory of this attribute thus maintained, in the ex-jr-
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 249 
 
 cise of mercy : a general remedy, admitting, according to 
 the Divine pleasure and purpose, of a particular application. 
 There is an obvious and important difference between the. 
 sufficiency of any remedy and its efficiency. The former 
 arises from the nature of the remedy itself; the latter de- 
 pends on its being applied. The former, therefore, may even 
 be infinite, while the latter is purposely limited. The blood 
 of Christ may be infinite in its atoning value, and yet limit- 
 ed in its atoning cffiracy ; sufficient for the salvation of all, 
 and yet, effectual to the salvation of some only. 
 
 ' It is in this way, then, that God appears, in the Go>p<-l 
 testimony, in that view of His character which is to us the 
 most deeply interesting of all the lights in which He has 
 been pleased to make himself known, as "THE JUST GOD 
 and A SAVIOUR." It is in the cross of Christ, in the work 
 which lit finished, when he " bowed his head, and gave up 
 the ghost," that " mercy and truth meet together that right- 
 eousness and peace embrace each other." To the sinner, it 
 is, from first to last, a free salvation. God's instituting any 
 means at all for securing the honour of righteousness in be- 
 stowing pardon on the guilty, when His character as " the 
 just God," would have remained unimpeachable, had all trans- 
 gressors been consigned to the doom which they merited, 
 was itself an act of free, unsolicited grace. And even now, 
 when these means have been revealed, there is no du'nn- <>f 
 rif/ht on the part of the sinner, who receives the blessing. 
 Although we have "boldness, and access to God with confi- 
 dence, through the faith of Jesus," yet even when we come 
 in the name of the Mediator, we are taught to approach as 
 .oil^Mitta, rather than as claimants; not demanding a debt, 
 but entreating for a favour; pleading, Avith all the deep self- 
 abasement of the publican, " God be merciful to me a sinner !" 
 While, in forgiving sin, in justifying the ungodly, God acts 
 in perfect consistency with justice as well as with mercy, 
 to the sinner himself it is entirely a matter of mercy, pun- 
 am! unconditional He is "justified freely, by^ God's grace, 
 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." ' 
 
 * Discourses on the SocLiiaii Controversy, pp. 231239.
 
 250 LECTURE XV. 
 
 I hoped to have finished the chapter in the present Lec- 
 ture. When a subject, however, of such vital importance 
 comes in our way as this of ATONEMENT, a subject which is 
 so grossly misrepresented by the adversaries of the Gospel, 
 and of which notions so confused are entertained by many 
 of its friends, I reckon no apology necessary for entering 
 into it a little more at large than the rules of expository dis- 
 course might seem to justify. From the verses illustrated 
 observe 
 
 1. What reason is there to admire the wonderful wisdom 
 of God, in effecting an object, which to the combined intelli- 
 gence of all His creatures would have presented Insurmount- 
 able difficulties, the perfect harmony, and equal glory, of 
 righteousness and mercy, in the forgiveness of sin ! It must 
 be self-evident to every enlightened mind, that unless this 
 had been accomplished, forgiveness could have had no place 
 in the divine administration : because all the attributes of 
 Deity being alike essential to His nature, there is no one of 
 them, in any step of His procedure, less inviolably sacred 
 than the rest. This being the case, it follows, as a most im- 
 portant consequence, that all hope is vain which is founded 
 on any scheme that does not give equal honour to them all. 
 Let this, then, be a test of the validity of your hopes. Will 
 the foundation on which they rest bear to be examined in 
 the light of the divine perfections'? in the full blaze of 
 the glory of God? in the light of unspotted holiness as 
 well as in the light of unbounded goodness? If it pleases 
 you to contemplate it in the latter, while you are secretly 
 fearful of subjecting it to the former, you mistake the nature 
 of divine goodness, which, in its exercise, is inseparable 
 from the purest holiness ; and you may well dread the result. 
 
 2. Accustom yourselves, brethren, to contemplate, in the 
 propitiatory sufferings and death of the Son of God, the 
 dreadful evil of sin. No view of its evil ever was, or ever 
 can be given, so impressive and awakening as this ; so con- 
 vincing to the judgment, and so affecting to the heart. No- 
 thing is so well fitted to melt the soul into contrite sorrow 
 as "beholding the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
 
 ROMANS III. 25, 26. 251 
 
 of the world." When we stand at the foot of the cross, and 
 " look unto Jesus," our souls are cast down within us, over- 
 whelmed with shame and grief. " While we muse, the tire 
 burns;" the fire of holy indignation against sin; the fire 
 of grateful love to Him " who loved us, and gave himself 
 for us ; " the fire of fervent resolution, in the strength of 
 His promised grace, to strive against, and to renounce, that 
 accursed thing which nailed the Lord of glory to the tree. 
 
 sinner, impenitent, thoughtless sinner, how fear- 
 ful, in its nature and tendency, the evil which you treat 
 so lightly! Look to Gethsemane! Look to Calvary! Be- 
 hold the excruciating agonies of the Son of God! Sin 
 was the cause of all. How, then, with this sight before 
 your eyes how, if you persist in the love and practice of 
 sin, can you expect to escape " the damnation of hell ? " 
 How shall you escape, if you " neglect so great salvation," as 
 that which the Gospel reveals? think! I entreat you, 
 think ! Many a soul, alas ! has been ruined for want of 
 thought! "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of 
 salvation. To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
 your hearts ! " The merciful Saviour hath said " Him that 
 cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." The way in 
 which God saves sinners has been the same, as we have 
 seen, since the fall of man : and woe must be to him who 
 ventures to try another ! " Othor foundation can no man 
 lay than that which is laid, even Christ Jesus." " There is 
 no other name under heaven, given among men, by which 
 we must be saved."
 
 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 ROMANS in. 27 31. 
 
 " Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? 
 Nay; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude, that a man is justi- 
 fied by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews 
 only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: seeing it is 
 one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircuincisiou 
 through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, 
 we establish the law." 
 
 IN last Lecture, I entered, with considerable copiousness of 
 discussion, into the subject of ATONEMENT, the evident doctrine 
 of the preceding verses, supported by numberless other ex- 
 plicit passages, and by the whole tenor of the Old and New 
 Testament writings. I endeavoured to show you the true 
 principles on which it proceeded ; the ends it was designed to 
 answer; and the manner in which these ends are happily 
 effected. 
 
 It has been asked, in the way of objection to the doctrine 
 of substitution in general, How can it ever be consistent 
 with the justice of God, to permit the innocent to suffer for 
 the guilty'? 
 
 ' Perhaps it should be enough to remind those who urge 
 this objection, not only that the substitution and sufferings 
 of Christ were entirely voluntary ; but that, according to the 
 view which we take of his person, they could not possibly 
 have been otherwise; inasmuch as, previously to his assuming 
 " the form of a servant," he had no superior that could lay him 
 under any obligation, nor would he, therefore, have violated
 
 ROMANS III. 27-31. 253 
 
 any, had he never acted the part lie did. His own Trill alone 
 could bind him. His "becoming flesh was an act of sove- 
 reign condescension: and in all that he endured, in the 
 nature which he had voluntarily assumed, he was a willing 
 raffarfer. 
 
 ' But let me take up the objection in another light. Ac- 
 cording to the terms in which it is expressed, it proceeds on 
 the supposition of the innocence of the sufferer. Is this, then, 
 admitted? One hardly can tell whether our opponents ad- 
 mit it or not. They certainly can "find no fault in this 
 man." Yet one presumes to speak of him as " fallible and 
 peccable;" another says, we have "no sufficient data by 
 which to determine whether during his private as well as his 
 public life he was free from sin or not; and that it is to us 
 a matter of no material consequence ! " * But " what saith 
 the Scripture?" "Such an high priest became us, who is 
 holy, harmless, mnlcfiled, separate from sinner*, and made 
 higher than the heavens: who needeth not daily, as thus.- 
 high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for Ms own sins, and 
 then for the people's:" "He did no sin, neither was guile 
 found in his mouth:" "Ye are redeemed with the precious 
 blood of Christ, as of a lamb without llemlah and without 
 (pot :" "He was manifested to take away our sins; and in 
 fn'nt. is no m."t Are not these declarations sufficient to 
 satisfy every mind that feels itself bound by the authority of 
 the Scriptures? Taking for granted, then, the perfect inno- 
 cence of Jesus Christ, let us consider the fact precisely as it 
 stands. Here is an innocent person suffering ; suffering, both 
 in body and in mind, (if we are to judge from his own expres- 
 sions of inward agony, and from the effects of that agony en 
 his bodily frame,) in a degree unprecedented and inconceiv- 
 able. Let the objector, then, account for this strange pheno- 
 menon in the government of a righteous God. Why, w<- 
 ask, does he suffer? Xot on his own account. The suppo- 
 sition of innocence forbids this; for all suffering arises from 
 
 * Priestley and Belsham. 
 f Heb. vii. 26, 27; 1 Pet. ii. 22; i. 19; 1 John iii. 5.
 
 254 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 sin. Why, then, does he suffer 1 ? To confirm, by evincing 
 his sincerity, the truth of his testimony, and to set before us 
 an example of patience 1 ? The objector forgets himself when 
 he alleges this as the cause. Let him recollect, that this is 
 still suffering for us, for our good. Let him answer, there- 
 fore, his own objection. If it be just in God to allow the 
 innocent to suffer for these ends ; why should it be unjust in 
 Him to allow the innocent to suffer for another end even for 
 the end which we allege to have been the true cause of these 
 sufferings? Can it be just in God to inflict sufferings on 
 the innocent for an inferior end, and yet unjust in Him to 
 inflict the same sufferings, on the same person, for an end 
 obviously and incalculably superior*? The fact of an inno- 
 cent sufferer being once admitted, the only scriptural, and, in 
 my apprehension, the only rational (because the only ade- 
 quate) reason of the fact, and solution of the difficulty arising 
 from it, is, " God made him who knew no sin to be sin for 
 us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 
 So strongly does the matter appear in this light to my 
 mind, that I should almost affirm the very existence of the 
 fact to be, of itself, a sufficient evidence of the doctrine.' * 
 
 It has further been alleged, that the whole scheme of 
 atonement is unnecessary, and therefore an encumbrance ; for 
 that God might, with perfect propriety, forgive sinners upon 
 their repentance without any such additional consideration. 
 
 If I have succeeded in showing you the ends which, in 
 reference to the divine character and government, atonement, 
 such as the Gospel provides, is calculated to answer, you 
 will not be disposed to allow much weight to an objection 
 stated in terms so presumptuous. ' What the infinitely wise 
 and righteous God might, or might not, with propriety, do, 
 in such a case, it hardly, perhaps, comes Avithin our pro- 
 vince to determine. Our safest and most becoming way of 
 proceeding, in such circumstances, is, I should think, to form 
 our judgment from the fact; to consider what God has 
 
 * Discourses on the Principal Points of the Socinian Controversy, 
 pp. 240242.
 
 ROMANS II I. 27-31. 255 
 
 actually done, and thence to conclude, what was or was not 
 proper for Him to do. If God could, with perfect consistency 
 and propriety, have pardoned sin without any such atone- 
 ment as we believe has been made for it, we may, with great 
 safety, conclude from what we know both of his wisdom and 
 of his goodness, that the atonement would never have been 
 heard of: for a wise being does nothing in vain; and a good 
 being inflicts no suffering in vain. Surely when the blessed 
 Eedeemer, perfectly pure and holy, and the object of un- 
 niingled approbation and love, thrice prayed, in agony of 
 spirit, that if it were possible the cup might pass from him, 
 he would never have been permitted to drink it, to 
 drink it even to its bitterest dregs, had not his drinking it 
 been indispensable ; had it not been necessary to the recon- 
 ciliation of justice and mercy, in their exercise towards guilty 
 men. 
 
 ' I have before endeavoured to answer, on this subject, the 
 question, What saith the Scripture] and, at the same time, 
 to show the reasonableness of the plan which the blessed 
 God is therein represented as having adopted, in order to his 
 being, consistently with the glory of his whole character, 
 " the GOD OF SALVATION." We have seen the only ground 
 on which, according to the Gospel, pardon is bestowed. That 
 it is ever bestowed on the ground of mere repentance, is not 
 the doctrine of the Bible. Neither can it be shown to be the 
 doctrine of Reason. Analogy is against it. Eepentance and 
 reformation do not, in the present experience of mankind, 
 place transgressors, with regard to the temporal effects of their 
 sins, in the same state as if they never had offended. The 
 ruined health and fortune of the intemperate are not retrieved 
 the instant they repent and reform. Besides, present obedi- 
 ence can only fulfil present obligation. There is, as has fre- 
 quently been observed, just as good ground for affirming that 
 former obedience atones for present sins, as there is for affirming 
 that present obedience atones for former sins. Eepentance 
 neither alters the nature, nor annihilates the guilt, of what is 
 past : and present duty, even if it were free from all mixture of
 
 256 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 imperfection, can do no more than answer for itself. It can- 
 not possess, for our former selves, any more than it can for 
 others, the nature and efficacy of works of supererogation. 
 
 ' Reason, then, to say the least of it, can arrive at no certain 
 conclusion on this subject; and it becomes us to submit, with 
 grateful humility, to the way of acceptance made known in 
 the Gospel Repentance is inseparably connected with for- 
 giveness ; but it is not its procuring cause its meritorious 
 ground. This is to be found only in the perfect obedience, 
 and atoning death, of the Son of God : and apart from faith 
 in him, and dependence upon his righteousness and sacrifice 
 as the foundation of acceptance, there exists no repentance 
 that is genuine and scriptural.'* 
 
 Before proceeding to a brief illustration of the remaining 
 verses of the chapter, allow me to add a remark or two as to 
 the firmness and security of the foundation on which, accord- 
 ing to the statement in this passage, the hopes of believing 
 sinners rest. " God hath set forth Christ," the passage states, 
 " to be a propitiatory through faith in his blood." There are 
 two things fitted to give our minds solid and satisfactory 
 confidence. Consider, WHO is the propitiation, and BY wnoir 
 he is set forth in that capacity. Who is the propitiation? 
 " Christ Jesus." 
 
 When we consider the divine dignity of the Mediator 
 between God and men, the " great high priest of our profes- 
 sion;" when we are assured that our hope is founded on a 
 work that has been finished, and on a sacrifice that has been 
 offered, by Mm whose name is Immanuel; we .possess a 
 feeling of security, which nothing else whatever can impair. 
 " It is CHRIST that died." " He offered up HIMSELF." It 
 is true, that the human nature alone could obey, and could 
 suffer. But if it be also true, that the human nature of him 
 who obeyed and suffered was associated in his one person with 
 the Divine, that man's mind must be singularly constituted, 
 who does not perceive the difference between what is done and 
 
 * Discourses on the Principal Points of the Socinian Controversy, 
 pp. 244246.
 
 ROMANS III. 2731. 257 
 
 suffered by an ordinary mortal, and what is done and suffered 
 by a man in union with Deity ; and who triumphs in the 
 discovery, that this can be no more after all than human merit, 
 and human suffering. Upon such a principle as this, were a 
 mighty monarch to perform an act of signal condescension 
 and mercy, by voluntarily submitting to various sufferings, for 
 the deliverance of the meanest of his subjects from existing 
 or apprehended misery it might be said, 'Royalty cannot 
 act ; Royalty cannot suffer : it is the man only, and not the 
 king, that acts and suffers : so that the actions and the 
 sufferings of the king should be considered in no other light 
 than as the actions and sufferings of the poorest beggar.' 
 I am aware, that all comparisons of this kind fall infinitely 
 below the subject which they are brought to illustrate. I 
 have adduced this one, merely to show the futility of the 
 principle on which such objectors proceed. Besides, the 
 whole humiliation of Jesus, including his assumption of the 
 human nature, as well as all that he did and suffered in that 
 nature, is the ground of God's satisfaction in his beloved Son, 
 and consequently the procuring cause of forgiveness and 
 blessing to the sinner.* 
 
 The second source of our security, in resting our hopes 
 on this foundation, is, the authority by which it is here 
 represented as revealed and sanctioned: "whom Gou Imih 
 set forth." 
 
 God had " set him forth " partially, and with comparative 
 obscurity, " by the law and the prophets ;" and now exhibits 
 him in the Gospel, with all the clearness of explicit testimony, 
 as "a propitiatory through faith in his blood." God was the 
 Sovereign whom our sins had offended, and at whose mercy 
 we consequently lay. He alone, when his creatures had 
 "fallen by their iniquity," had a right to determine whether 
 any remedy should be appointed for them at all ; and //">'.'/, 
 what that remedy should be. If HE, therefore, has made. 
 known a ground of hope for the guilty, we cannot, surely, 
 wish for firmer security, or for any higher warrant, or en- 
 
 * See Phil. ii. 6 11. 
 T B
 
 258 LECTUIJE XVI. 
 
 couragetnent to rely on that ground with unshaken confi- 
 dence. It is JEHOVAH that hath said, " Behold I lay in Ziim 
 for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner 
 stone, a sure foundation : he that believeth on him shall not 
 be ashamed."* And we know what this foundation is: 
 " other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is 
 JESUS CHRIST, "t 
 
 Having stated the grand doctrine of ATONEMENT as 
 forming substantially the Gospel, the Apostle proceeds 
 very briefly to affirm what in the subsequent parts of the 
 Epistle he enlarges upon and establishes the perfect gratui- 
 tousness of the Gospel salvation the uniformity of its prin- 
 ciple in application to Jew and Gentile and its perfect con- 
 sistency with the permanent obligations and holy requirements 
 of the Divine law. 
 
 His first conclusion from the representation he had given 
 of atonement, (and it is a very obvious and immediate one,) 
 is the entire exclusion of all boasting on the part of sinners 
 who receive their salvation on the ground of the Redeemer's 
 propitiatory mediation: Verse 27. "Where is boasting, 
 then ? It is excluded. By what law ? Of works I Xuy ; 
 but by the law of faith." 
 
 " The law of works" is the declaration, coming with Divine 
 authority, " The man that doeth these things shall live by 
 them." " The Ian- nf faith " is the declaration, coming with 
 the same authority, and therefore equally a la-w> of Divine 
 appointment, " Ite that believeth shall be saved." It is in 
 this sense, I presume, that the Gospel is denominated 
 " the law of faith :" as it is a Divine institution, for the 
 salvation of sinners by graco through faith ; an instituti< in to 
 the terms of which they are commanded to accede, by tin- 
 same authority which enjoined " the law of works." It is of 
 very great importance to have a correct conception of the im- 
 port of this phrase " the law of faith." It does not mean 
 th:it by a new law faith has been substituted for works as 
 the ground or procuring cause of acceptance with God ; or that 
 
 * ISH. xxviii. lt>; 1 Pet. ii. 6. f 1 Cor. iii. 11.
 
 ROMANS III. 2731. 259 
 
 works of faith have, in this respect, taken the place of works 
 of law. The latter proposition is self contradictory : inas- 
 much as works of law and works of faith diifer only in their 
 principle ; and the difference lies in this, that the one are 
 done with the view of obtaining justification by them, and 
 the other with the entire renunciation of every such hope or 
 attempt, and in the spirit of entire dependence on the grace 
 which the Gospel reveals. " The law of faith" is a phrase 
 which expresses the divine authority of the grand principle of 
 the Gospel justification by grace through faith. A law is 
 any divine institute any appointment that has the authority 
 and sanction of God as its Author. " The law of works" is 
 that divine appointment, according to which man, before he 
 sinned, was accepted of God on the ground of his own obedi- 
 ence ; an appointment of which the principle is in itself im- 
 mutable, but is necessarily inapplicable to man in his present 
 state. " The Ian; of icorks" considered in itself, has the same 
 divine engagement, or promise of life to obedience, attached 
 to it as ever. It requires only to be fully obeyed, to ensure 
 life. But it is "weak through the flesh" inefficient to the 
 justification of man as a sinner; because, as a sinner, he has al- 
 already transgressed it and incurred its penalty, and as a fallen 
 creature, destitute of spiritual principles, he is incapable of obey- 
 ing it : so that, although " ordained unto life, it is found to be 
 unto death." " The law of faith" is the divine institute, or au- 
 thoritative enactment, in regard to man as a sinner, accord- 
 ing to which, he is to seek justification, not on the ground of 
 any obedience of his own, but by believing in the merits of 
 another. This, then, is God's law, or publicly declared and 
 ratified enactment, in regard to fallen man, as the other was His 
 law in regard to man in innocence : the one having all the 
 force and binding obligation of divine authority which was 
 possessed by the other: so that the sinner who refuses sub- 
 mission to "the one as really violates the will of God, as 
 Ad.nn did when he transgressed the precept to which the 
 solemn sanction was appended " In the day thou eatest 
 thereof, thou shalt die." 
 
 By this method of salvation, "boasting is excluded.
 
 260 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 The whole scheme, indeed, is purposely so constructed 
 as to " hide pride from man." It is " not of works, lest 
 any man should boast:" "of him are ye in Christ Je- 
 sus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, 
 and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is 
 written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Self- 
 condemnation and shame an: the feelings of the sinner, who, 
 helieving the Gospel, views himself as "justified freely, by 
 the grace of God, through the redemption that is in Christ 
 Jesus." Sensible of his own unworthiness, he exclaims, with 
 the mingled emotions of humble penitence and lively grati- 
 tude " Not unto me, Lord, not unto me, but unto thy 
 Name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake ! " 
 
 This lowly condition of mind springs from the full admis- 
 sion of the truth expressed in the following verse : " There- 
 fore* we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without 
 the deeds of the law." 
 
 If language has any meaning, these words surely signify, 
 that the works of the law form no part whatever of the 
 meritorious ground of our acceptance with God. Neither, 
 indeed, does faith itself. The spirit of the Apostle's reason- 
 ing excludes everything from the ground of acceptance but 
 the propitiation made by the blood of Christ ; that atoning 
 work which is the object of our faith, and the foundation of 
 our trust. We are justified " l>y fai'.th" only as the me- 
 dium by which we become interested in the saving efficacy 
 cf this accepted atonement. Whensoever we believe that 
 is, when we receive as truth what God has testified concerning 
 his Son, we become " accepted in flue, beloved : " partakers of 
 those blessings of salvation which are freely bestowed on sin- 
 ners for the Surety's sake. In the moment of believing we 
 are justified. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hear- 
 
 * In common with some others, Alford adopts the reading ya/>, for, 
 instead of oli. then or therefore, and renders "/or we hold or reckon:" 
 not so much on the ground of Manuscript authority, as on the ground 
 that Xoyi&fjt.iSa. cannot be rendered "we conclude" without violating 
 New Testament usage. It does not materially affect the general argu- 
 ment. ED.
 
 ROMANS III. 2731. 261 
 
 eth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath ever- 
 lasting life; and shall not come into condemnation, but is 
 passed from death unto life:" "he that believeth on the 
 Son is not condemned; but he that believeth not is con- 
 demned already."* 
 
 Of the nature, the time, and the medium of justification, 
 we shall have occasion to speak more largely hereafter. 
 
 The Jews were accustomed to glory in God as their God; 
 and in the prospect of Messiah's coming, as if the blessings 
 of His reign were designed exclusively for them. But it 
 never was the intention of God thus to limit his favours. The 
 former dispensation, although confined in a great measure to 
 that people, was framed and established as an introduction to 
 the more enlarged dispensation of the Gospel, under which 
 " Jehovah should be king over all the earth ; one Lord, and 
 his name one."f 
 
 Hence the questions in verses 29th and 30th " Is he the 
 God of the Jews only 1 ? Is he not also of the Gentiles? 
 Yes ; of the Gentiles also : seeing it is one God who shall 
 justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through 
 faith." 
 
 This is, in substance, what he had said before, that with 
 God there is no respect of persons. " God is one, who will 
 justify the circumcision and the uncircumcision alike by 
 faith." $ Because God is one, his method of saving sinners 
 must be one. Jews and Gentiles were formerly (verse 9th) 
 concluded to be all under sin : and before that God with 
 whom both have to do, they must be justified on the same 
 ground As all are subjects of the same Divine government, 
 all transgressors of the same will, all involved in the same 
 ruin, all needing the same salvation ; the Saviour revealed 
 in the Gospel, is provided for men of " every kindred, and 
 
 * John v. 24; iii. 18. . t Z> h - xiv. 9. 
 
 J: There are two forms of expression in the verse, by ft 
 rfcruri and -through faith" (>,* rfc ,W,0 but they ; do not ,., 
 any difference in the justifying process. If any distinction e *'f, 
 between the expression, it is, perhaps, that indicated by Alton - Hie 
 former expresses the ground of justification, generally taken ; the 
 ter the means whereby the man lays hold on justification. -
 
 262 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 tongue, and people, and nation." The Messiah, according to 
 ancient prophecy, was to be God's salvation to the ends of 
 the earth. 
 
 But if this doctrine, of justification hy grace, through faith 
 in the atonement, he true What, it may be asked, becomes 
 of the Law ? Is it not, upon this supposition, made void ? 
 rendered useless? disannulled in the obligation to obe- 
 dience, and the sanction by wliich it was enforced? This 
 question is answered with a strong negation in verse 31. 
 " Do we, then, make void the law through faith ? God for- 
 bid ! Yea, we establish the law." 
 
 Even the ceremonial law although it was, in a highly 
 important sense, abolished by the Gospel, because, when tha 
 day dawned, the shadows fled away ; yet in another sense it 
 was established. In the work of Christ it received its fulfil- 
 ment, as a system of typical prophecy; its meaning and de- 
 sign were fully developed; it was proved to be of Divine 
 institution, and in every respect worthy of its Author. Thus 
 the excellence of the law was displayed in the sublimity and 
 glory of that which it typified. Its dignity and authority 
 were most eminently confirmed at the time of the cessation 
 of its existence. 
 
 It is the moral law, however, w'hich is chiefly intended by 
 the Apostle. It was not " made void," but " established " by 
 the Gospel; because 
 
 In the first place : It was " magnified and made honour- 
 able," as to its holy nature and absolute perfection, by the sin- 
 less obedience of Christ's life ; and as to its awful and inviolable 
 sanction by his voluntary sufferings and death considered as 
 the sufferings and death of an atoning Surety. That work by 
 which the law was " magnified and made honourable," could 
 not be intended, at the same time, to " make it void." The su- 
 preme Legislator could never put such honour upon his law, 
 with the view of abolishing its authority. Nay, never did He 
 so decidedly declare his determination to maintain its unsullied 
 purity, to vindicate its injured glory, and to assert its eternal 
 obligation; than when his only begotten Son "became obe- 
 dient unto death, even the death of the cross."
 
 ROMANS III. 2731. 263 
 
 In the second place: The law is practically established by 
 the influence of the Gospel. For not only does the truth as 
 it is in Jesus exhibit to the mind the most powerful motives 
 to holy obedience ; but the faith of this truth gives these 
 motives their full power over all the springs of action in the 
 soul, engaging all its affections in behalf of that which is 
 good. As enmity against God is the sum of human depra- 
 vity the bitter and polluted fountain tainting all the streams 
 that issue from it; so love to God may be reckoned the sura 
 of spiritual rectitude in the heart, and the great and only 
 genuine source of "sobriety, righteousness, and godliness" 
 in the life. The knowledge and faith of the doctrines of 
 grace, wherever they truly exist, necessarily inspire this love ; 
 love to God for what He is, and love to God for what 
 He hath done ; the love of complacency, and the love of grat- 
 itude ; and this love naturally expresses itself in cheerful 
 and active obedience. Christians are " not without law to 
 God, but under the law to Christ." They feel its unceasing 
 obligation as a rule of life ; and, as " not their own, but 
 bought with a price, they glorify God in their body, and in 
 their spirit, which are his."* Animated by thankfulness for 
 " the mercies of God, they present their bodies a living sacrifice, 
 holy and acceptable to God." They account this their " rea- 
 sonable service." And instead of being conformed to this 
 world, they are " transformed by the renewing of their minds, 
 and prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will 
 of God!" t "The love of Christ," says this Apostle, "con- 
 straineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, 
 then all died : and that he died for all, that they who live 
 should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him 
 who died for them, and rose again." % 
 
 The Law and the Gospel come from the same God ; and 
 they cannot therefore be at variance. They are, in truth, in 
 all respects harmonious. The perfections of the divine charac- 
 ter which appear in the law, appear also, and even more con- 
 spicuously and impressively, in the Gospel The Gospel, it 
 
 * 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. f Eon- xii - *- 2 - 1 2 Cur. v. 14, 15.
 
 264 LECTURE XVI. 
 
 is true, brings more of God's character to light than the Law ; 
 but nothing but what is in entire agreement with the pre- 
 vious discoveries. There is no contradiction between the 
 spirit and the letter between the " ministration of righteous- 
 ness" and the "ministration of condemnation." The Gospel 
 assumes the perfection of the Law. The doctrine of salvation 
 by grace " through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" pro- 
 ceeds upon the express ground of its immutable excellence 
 and permanence. Thus the Law is honoured by the Gospel. 
 The provision of mercy throws no injurious reflection upon 
 the statutes of righteousness. On the other hand; while 
 the unchanging perfection of the Law renders the Gospel ne- 
 cessarj 1 , and shuts up sinners to the faith of it; the Gospel 
 recognizes and establishes the obligation, and recommends, by 
 the most persuasive and mightily influential motives, the 
 holy precepts of the Law. And what indeed is the practical 
 purpose of the Gospel, but by the faith of it to bring sinners 
 back, in principle and in pra'ctice, to a state of conformity to 
 the Law? If "the grace of God which bringeth salvation" 
 (which is, in other words, the Gospel) "teaches" those who 
 receive it " to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live 
 soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present world ; " 
 this is surely the practical establishing of the Law; for these 
 three terms include all the duties which we owe to ourselves, 
 to our fellow-creatures, and to God duties personal, social, 
 and religious.
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 ROMANS iv. 1 8. 
 
 " U'hat shall we then say tlmt Abraham, our father as pertaining to the flesh, 
 hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, lie hath whereof to plorv, 
 but not before God. For what suith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and 
 it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketli is the re- 
 ward not reckoned of race, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but be- 
 lieveth on him that Justified! the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 
 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God im- 
 puteth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities 
 are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord 
 will not impute sin." 
 
 HAVIXG declared the universal guilt of Jews and Gentiles; 
 the consequent necessity to both of free justification, through 
 faith without the deeds of the law; and the exclusion, on 
 this ground, of all boasting : the Apostle now proceeds, for 
 general edification, and particularly for the conviction of his 
 countrymen, to illustrate, and to confirm, the doctrine which 
 he had taught on this subject from the Old Testament Scrip- 
 tures. This he does, in a manner admirably adapted to his 
 purpose ; going back to Abraham, in whom the Jews glo- 
 ried, and in their descent from whom, as the father of the 
 chosen people, they confidently trusted ; and showing, from 
 the express testimony of the word of God, that their vener- 
 able progenitor was himself justified in the very way which 
 he had just been stating. He at the same time introduce 
 an additional confirmation of his doctrine from the inspiiv.1 
 writings of David, the royal Psalmist of Israel He could
 
 268 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 adduce nothing more appropriately and legitimately fitted for 
 convincing his unbelieving countrymen, than the example of 
 Abraham and the authority of David. 
 
 We may, with good reason, suppose the Apostle to have 
 especially in view here, and throughout this chapter, the sen- 
 timents of the judaizing teachers, who, while they professed 
 to believe the Gospel, completely subverted it, by maintain- 
 ing, that circumcision and the observance of the law of Mo- 
 ses were necessary to salvation; and whose doctrine was so 
 industriously, and so extensively, propagated among the 
 churches. 
 
 He, at the same time, however, opposes the general confi- 
 dence of the unbelieving Jews in circumcision. It is said to 
 have been a prevailing opinion among them, that Abraham 
 was not pure, or accepted of God, till he was circumcised.* 
 The Apostle first proves such a notion to have been false, in 
 point of fact : and then, since the rite of circumcision must 
 have had some meaning, and must have been of some benefit 
 to the patriarch, he explains the real import of the ordinance 
 and the nature and extent of the advantages implied in, or 
 connected with it. 
 
 " If there be, indeed, no difference," a descendant of Abra- 
 ham might say, " between the Jew and the Gentile ; if God 
 be the God of the one as well as of the other, justifying and 
 blessing both in the same way : ' What, then hath Abra- 
 ham our father found, with respect to the flesh 1 ?' "t that is, 
 What profit was there to him, from the circumcision of him- 
 self and his seed, in obedience to the Divine command? The 
 arrangement of the words in the original separates the phrase 
 " with respect to the flesh" from the words "our father;" and 
 that phrase appears to stand in immediate connexion with 
 the verb "hath found." | The more I consider the phrase- 
 
 * See VVliitby's Note on the place. 
 
 f The words in the original are TV aJ loavfit* 'Afigaaft -rot raTifx 
 itft.u> yf!jtc< X.V.TU. <rj*a; and from their arrangement, the expression 
 X=-TIZ ou.ex.. connects more naturally with fjorxiiai than with T 
 vifi^a. tiftw. For a similar use of the word jlesh, see Phil. iii. 3 6: 
 2 Cor. xi. 18. 22. 
 
 J The reading i!tpn'^ai 'A.Sptzaft * rarisx Zpur X.UTO. <** has con-
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 267 
 
 ology, I am the more satisfied that the words " with respect 
 to the flesh" mean his external privileges and distinc- 
 tions, and especially his circumcision on which, both as 
 to him and as to themselves, the Jews, as has just been 
 noticed, laid so much stress. " The flesh" has much the 
 same meaning in PhiL iii. 3 6: 2 Cor. XL 18 with 22. 
 Some critics, notwithstanding the peculiar arrangement of the 
 original words, would still render them, " What shall we say 
 that Abraham, our father as to the flesh, hath found?" But 
 there is this additional objection to such a rendering that 
 it makes the inquiry simply what Abraham had found? 
 But this was not the question. The question was how he 
 had found it whether on the ground, wholly or in part, of 
 anything external, and especially of his " circumcision in the 
 flesh." There was no doubt it was justification he had found. 
 But if he had found it in the way the Apostle had alleged, 
 then what had he found as to the flesh 1 
 
 The opening of the chapter might, I think, be thus para- 
 phrased : " What then, it may be asked, hath Abraham our 
 father found with respect to the flesh 1 What advantage 
 has he gained from his circumcision and various outward 
 distinctions? He surely must have gained something; and 
 if this was not the favour of God, and acceptance with Him, 
 what was it? Are we, indeed, to consider our great proge- 
 nitor, as standing, with regard to acceptance with God, on 
 the very same footing with the meanest uncircumcised Gen- 
 tile? Has the one, in this respect, nothing to glory in, more 
 than the other? The question is important, and perfectly 
 in point. ' For if Abraham were justified by works, he would 
 have whereof to glory.' This would completely overturn 
 what I have just been affirming, that 'there is no difi't-r- 
 ence : ' boasting, in his case would not be excluded : he 
 would be an exception to what I have been stating as th- 
 great leading truth in the Gospel 'that a man is justified 
 by faith, without the works of the law:' and one such ex- 
 
 si.lerable Manuscript authority; but the best recent texts retain the 
 reading of the Texlus Keceplus. ED.
 
 2G8 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 ception might fairly be pleaded as an encouragement to 
 others, to look for salvation in the same way." 
 
 " If Abraham (verse second) were justified by works, he 
 hath whereof to glory : but not before God." 
 
 This latter expression seems to be elliptical; meaning, 
 " But the truth is, he is not so justified before God ; " or, " fie 
 has not whereof to glory before God." When the mind is 
 strongly impressed, the expression of its feelings will be 
 brief and forcible. So it is here : " He hath whereof to glory ; 
 but not before God." As if he had said Let men think 
 of him as they may, and glory in him as they will : it was 
 not so in the sight of God. He gives every such supposi- 
 tion an immediate and indignant rejection : and he shows 
 them, that if they presumed to think or to say otherwise, 
 they contradicted not him only, but the most simple and ex- 
 plicit declarations of their own Scriptures, those writings 
 which they acknowledged as of divine inspiration and au- 
 thority. 
 
 "For (verse third) what saith the scripture?" that Abra- 
 ham was justified on account of his circumcision, or on ac- 
 count of any of those privileges and works in which you 
 fondly trust 1 ? By no means. On the contrary, the unequi- 
 vocal testimony of the Divine word is : " Abraham believed 
 God; and it was counted unto him for righteousness." 
 
 These words occur in the sixth verse of the fifteenth chap- 
 ter of the Book of Genesis. Respecting the citation two re- 
 marks naturally suggest themselves: First, Abraham was a 
 believer many years before the incident took place which gave 
 occasion to this particular testimony respecting his faith : even 
 from the time of his first being called out of Ur of the Chal- 
 dees; of which an account is given in the twelfth chapter of 
 the same book. For the Apostle Paul, with reference to that 
 period, says of him: "By faith Abraham, when he was 
 called to go out into a place which he should afterwards re- 
 ceive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went forth, not 
 knowing whither he went."* Now there can be no doubt that 
 
 Compare Gen. xii. 1 4. with Heb. xi. 8.
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 269 
 
 he was justified, when he first believed. But secondlij, The 
 promise made in the fifteenth chapter is a repetition of that 
 made in the twelfth. And the reason of the Apostle's se- 
 lecting this passage, obviously is, not that Abraham appears 
 in it for the first time in the character of a believer, but be- 
 cause it contains the most plain and pointed declaration of 
 his faith being counted to him for righteousness. The ol>- 
 ject and the strength of Abraham's faith are spoken of to- 
 ward the conclusion of the chapter; meantime it is the 
 Apostle's design to show that the words quoted are an ex- 
 press testimony, that he was not justified by works. This he 
 does in a most simple and satisfactory manner, in the 
 fourth and fifth verses "Now to him that worketh the re- 
 ward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt : but to him that 
 worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the un- 
 godly, his faith is counted for righteousness." 
 
 Of verse fourth the meaning is sufficiently obvious from 
 what takes place among men in the daily transactions of 
 business. The man who engages in work does it for hire ; 
 and his employer is under the obligation of justice to pay 
 him the stipulated wages, as a "debt." Strictly speak- 
 ing, everything which God is pleased to confer, even on 
 creatures perfectly holy, is matter of favour or grace. The 
 notion of merit, or the pride of personal worthiness, has no 
 place in the minds of such creatures. Any feeling of this 
 kind, indeed, would be incompatible with gratitude or a due 
 sense of obligation to God. 
 
 The idea of " debt" when applied to the works of a creature, 
 performed in obedience to his Creator, can only arise from 
 the free promise, or engagement, of the blessed God himself. 
 " In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," cer- 
 tainly implied a promise of the continuance of life, on the 
 condition of continued obedience. With this corresponds 
 the tenor of the law : " The man that doeth these thing shall 
 live by them." Here is an engagement on the part of God; 
 a promise of life to obedience. He, therefore, who obeys, is 
 "justified by works;" obtaining justification as a debt, on 
 the ground of this divine engagement. He may claim the
 
 270 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 stipulated blessing as his reward, to which he has a clear 
 title ; resting his plea on Divine faithfulness and justice, ac- 
 cording to the terms of the government, which God has him- 
 self appointed. A man's "having whereof to glory," lies, 
 therefore, in his having it to say, " I possess in myself the 
 reason of my acceptance:" "But," says the Apostle, "to 
 him that worketh not, hut believeth on him that justifieth 
 the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." 
 
 It must be obvious to every considerate reader, that "faith" 
 or believing, is here set in direct and full opposition to 
 " works," of every kind. I say of every kind. The design of the 
 Apostle's argument necessarily implies this. For if, while we 
 profess to renounce dependence on works of the law, we mis- 
 take the nature of faith itself, converting it into a work and 
 depending on it, or on any of its fruits, as the meritorious 
 ground of acceptance, we only substitute one description of 
 works for another, and effectually overthrow the conclusive - 
 ness of the Apostle's reasoning, for it is evident, that "boast- 
 ing" or glorying is not "excluded" if justification be on the 
 ground of anything whatever in us. Jfay, although we 
 should have no dependence on faith, as in any measure 
 meritorious, yet attaching to it in the matter of justification, 
 the idea of a work, however understood, and however quali- 
 fied, tends to darken that clear and satisfying view of the 
 freedom of Divine grace in our salvation, which the very 
 circumstance of its being by faith is expressly designed to 
 give us: "it is of faith, that it might be by grace."* 
 
 It is not enough to say, that the glory is sufficiently se- 
 cured, in our minds, to the grace of God, by considering 
 faith, whatever may be our views of its particular nature, as 
 the gift of his Holy Spirit. For upon this principle, because 
 love, hope, joy, and holiness in general, are the gift of God, 
 it would not mar the lustre of Divine grace to say, that we 
 are justified through our holiness. "It is God who worketh 
 in us, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure:" yet who 
 that knows any thing of the freedom of divine grace in the 
 
 Verse 16.
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 271 
 
 salvation of sinners, would fail to be offended and grieved, 
 should it be said that we are justified by what we will and 
 do ? For the glory of Divine grace, therefore, which forms 
 so prominent an object in the scheme of redemption, as well 
 a-* tor the steadiness of our own comfort and peace, it is of 
 essential consequence that our ideas on this point should be 
 clear and simple. 
 
 In the few specimens which are left on record, of apostolic 
 p reaching, we never find these inspired messengers of truth 
 perplexing their hearers with disquisitions on the nature of 
 f (n't It. With the most affectionate faithfulness, they declared 
 their testimony, and, in connexion with it, produced the 
 evidences of their Divine mission. In calling on men to 
 believe what they testified, they never appear to have sus- 
 pected any possibility of their not being understood. "While 
 inquiries were sometimes excited among their hearers about 
 the import of the doctrines which they taught, no difficulty 
 was felt, and therefore no questions were ever asked, about 
 the meaning of the exhortation to believe them. It is to be 
 regretted that apostolical example has not been, in this re- 
 spect, more closely followed. The metaphysical distinctions 
 of scholastic theology have rendered necessary, what other- 
 wise might have been happily needless, an answer to the 
 question, What is meant by believing the Gospel? 
 
 FAITH is the belief, or crediting, of a testimony, upon a 
 persuasion of the veracity of the testifier. Belief may, it- 
 is true, arise from sight, or from the evidence of sense in 
 general. Hence the language of Thomas: "Except I 
 shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my 
 fingers into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into 
 his side, I will not believe : " and our Lord's reply to him, 
 on his subsequent conviction : " Thomas, because thou hast 
 seen me thou hast believed ; blessed are they that have not 
 seen, and yet have believed."* But it is with faith as 
 founded on testimony that we have at present to do ; and in 
 this view it is defined by the Apostle, " the confidence of 
 
 * John xx. 25, 29.
 
 272 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."* Sav- 
 ing faith is, to use an expression of the same inspired writer, 
 " the belief of the truth" t or of " the testimony of God con- 
 cerning his Son." It is giving credit to what is declared in 
 the Gospel, from a conviction of the veracity of the Divine 
 testifier. 
 
 This simple view of faith receives countenance from the 
 consideration, that the Holy Spirit, speaking in the Scrip- 
 tures, must be understood to use words on this subject ac- 
 cording to their ordinary acceptation, and not in a sense 
 quite different from their import when applied to other 
 things. How are we to understand a book, in which terms 
 are employed quite out of their common acceptation; or in 
 which, without any warning that it is the case, the same 
 terms are, on different subjects, used in senses entirely dif- 
 ferent"? The word believe occurs frequently in the Scriptures, 
 in application to other subjects, where no one mistakes, or 
 even hesitates, about its meaning. Whence, then, the per- 
 plexity here? Unless this principle be admitted, that the 
 Spirit of God employs terms according to their customary 
 and established meaning, we are necessarily exposed to end- 
 less perplexity and doubt. 
 
 It is of importance that we avoid confounding faith with 
 its effects, either more immediate, or more remote. "And now 
 abide faith, hope, love; these three." Hope and love, then, 
 are distinct from faith. They spring, indeed, invariably from 
 it: but they are no more parts of it, than the sun is the 
 fruit which his genial warmth matures. The same might be 
 affirmed of all the other affections of the soul. They are 
 faith's inseparable concomitants, but they do not enter into 
 its nature. I have no great objection to the words believing 
 and trusting being used synonymously; because the two are 
 so closely allied, as to be, at times, hardly distinguishable. 
 Yet even trusting, although approaching nearest to the essence 
 of believing, is, strictly speaking, rather an immediate and 
 
 * Heb. XI. 1: IXfT^o^ivwv u^t/rratrif. jrpa.'yfi.a.'rtuv 
 
 f 'L Thess. ii. 13.
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 273 
 
 ary effect. "When one man gives me a character of 
 another in business, as a person of sufficient substance to dis- 
 charge his obligations, and of sterling integrity; if I beliece 
 the testimony, I trust my property in his hands. So God 
 gives us a "testimony concerning his Son," as, in every re- 
 spect, a suitable and all-sufficient Saviour. If I believe this 
 testimony, I tru^t in the Lord Jesus Christ for my eternal 
 salvation. 
 
 If we consider faith to include in its nature, as justifying, 
 holy dispositions and affections of heart; then, as these form 
 a part of internal conformity, or obedience, to the law, we 
 destroy the simplicity and conclusiveness of the reasoning in 
 this passage, which is obviously founded on the entire oppo- 
 sition between faith and works, whether external or internal, 
 in the matter of justification. " It is to liim that worketh 
 not, but bdieveth." 
 
 From these remarks it follows as an obvious inference, 
 that the efficacy of faith in justification arises, not from itself, 
 but from its object from the testimony which it receives. 
 And it would have been well, had a great deal more attention 
 been paid to the question what sinners are to believe in order 
 to justification, and less to the question how they are to be- 
 lieve it. The ground of justification is in the testimon;/. 
 When that testimony is credited as divine by .any sinner, 
 that sinner is justified, and may enjoy an immediate sense of 
 his justification, or peace with God. It is not his believing 
 that justifies him. It is the grace of God, and the merit of 
 the Saviour in whom he believes. And it requires nothing 
 more than perceiving the testimony to be true, to warrant 
 any sinner on earth immediately to rejoice in it with "confi- 
 dence before God." If any thing else were necessary, then 
 would it follow, that something more is required than Christ 
 has done, or than God has revealed, even though clearly 
 understood and received in simplicity and in earnest, to 
 afford peace to a sinner's conscience and heart, that the 
 Gospel demands some addition. Let us consider a little the 
 object of faith, as it is expressed in the ver.-e now before 
 us": Who believeth on him thatJuffi'jMh ///< "
 
 274 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 This language implies, in the first place, the person's being 
 brought to a conviction that his own character is that of a 
 sinner "ungodly." This conviction is of very comprehen- 
 sive import. It includes a persuasion that before he was 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth he had done nothing 
 that could be pleasing to God ; that, his "carnal mind" having 
 been, as the Divine word testifies, "enmity against Him," all 
 that he did, as being destitute of the true principle of accep- 
 table obedience, was, in reality, sin: and that, as a sinner, so 
 far from having any thing in himself to recommend him, he 
 was an object of just displeasure, and an heir of wrath. 
 Those whom God justifies are "the ungodly :" and therefore, 
 no one believes in God as the " justifier of the ungodly," unless 
 he is convinced that this was his own previous character, and 
 continued so till the moment of his believing and being 
 "justified by faith." 
 
 In the second place; To belieA'e "on him that justifieth 
 the ungodly," implies faith in God as justifying "freely by 
 his grace" agreeably to the doctrine in the conclusion of the 
 preceding chapter : for it is obvious, that when God " justi- 
 fies the ungodly" it must be in this way as a matter of 
 free favour, without any cause existing in' them. 
 
 In the third place; This further implies a reference in the 
 mind to the ground on which God graciously justifies the 
 ungodly: that is, it is faith in God as justifying "through 
 the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:" which amounts to 
 the same thing with believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as 
 the great propitiation for sin, the only medium of access to 
 God, and the sole ground of acceptance in God's sight. 
 
 To him who thus believeth, "his faith is counted for right- 
 eousness." 
 
 The expression "his faith" is by many understood of the 
 object of faith, that which is believed; the principles 
 which a man holds being, in common language, and some- 
 times in Scripture, called his faith : as when Jude, for ex- 
 ample, speaks of "contending earnestly for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints." On the ordinary principles of 
 grammatical construction, however, it is the believing that is
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 275 
 
 here spoken of: "Abraham believed God, and it (his be- 
 lieving) was counted unto him for righteousness." The 
 Apostle was not at all afraid of being misunderstood, as if 
 he meant to represent the sinner's believing as the meritori- 
 ous cause of his justification; there being, one should have 
 thought, little danger of such misapprehension, when he had 
 declared that God "justifies the ungodly" and had placed 
 faith in entire opposition to all manner of works. 
 
 The proper import of the words " his faith is counted for 
 righteousness " seems to be " his faith is set to his account, 
 unto justification." * The faith is not the ground of the justi- 
 fication. But the sincerity of it being known to God, it is 
 reckoned to the believing sinner, placed to his account by the 
 grace of God, in order to his justification on the ground re- 
 vealed in that divine testimony which his faith has received. 
 I admit, therefore, that it is the righteousness revealed in 
 the testimony that forms the ground of the sinner's justifica- 
 tion ; but I dislike forcing any unnatural construction on the 
 Apostle's expression of this truth. 
 
 Were we to be justified on our own account, it must be 
 by "works of righteousness which we have done;" but our 
 simply " believing in Jesus," or receiving the divine testi- 
 mony, comes not at all under this description; it is only 
 the medium of interest in the work of another. That work 
 is our righteousness. It becomes so to every sinner on his 
 simply believing that Christ hath wrought it for the justifi- 
 cation of the ungodly. 
 
 The expression, then, in my apprehension, amounts to 
 neither more nor less than his justifying freely, or, without 
 any meritorious cause in the sinner. So that this only con- 
 firms the observation, that the real ground or reason of our 
 justification is something without us, lying in that which is 
 the object of our faith. " Having faith counted unto right- 
 eousness," comes thus to the same thing with " being justified 
 by faith" which is the Apostle's more ordinary phraseology. 
 It is worthy of notice, indeed, that after having spoken,
 
 276 LECTURE XVJI. 
 
 throughout this chapter, of the imputation of faith for right- 
 eousness (or unto justification) he draws his inference, at the 
 beginning of the next, in the usual terms: "Therefore, leiiit/ 
 justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 Mark you it is not the helief of any thing, whatever it be, 
 which forms a part of Divine revelation, that constitutes justify- 
 ing faith : it is "the belief of THE TRUTH ;" of the testimony 
 given in the Gospel concerning Christ and his finished work. 
 This testimony, as I have said, contains in it the reason or 
 ground of our acceptance, even the perfect righteousness of 
 the Son of God. Faith is the medium of our interest in 
 that righteousness. The fitness of faith to be the medium of 
 our obtaining justification lies in these simple considerations : 
 First : It is obviously the only way in which a testimony can 
 be received: and God has been pleased to appoint, that such 
 only as receive his testimony shall reap the benefit of what it 
 reveals. Secondly: It is a medium of justification by which 
 the whole glory is secured, as it ought to be, to " the God of 
 all grace;" agreeably to the nature and design of the whole 
 scheme of redemption, by which "the loftiness of man is 
 bowed down, and the haughtiness of man is laid low ; and 
 Jehovah alone is exalted." Thirdly: It is a method of justi- 
 fication which unites it inseparably with sanctification. The 
 truth must be received by faith into the mind, in order to 
 its operating with its holy influence on the affections and 
 desires of the heart. 
 
 Having thus stated the case of Abraham, the Apostle 
 further shows the agreement of his doctrine with that of the 
 Old Testament Scriptures, by the authority of David : 
 verses 6 8. "Even as David also describeth the blessedness 
 of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without 
 works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 
 and whose sins are covered ; blessed is the man to whom the 
 L"V.l will not impute sin." 
 
 This passage, wlu'ch is contained in the first and second 
 verses of the thirty-second Psalm, the Apostle quotes as 
 a description of "the blessedness of the man to whom God
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 277 
 
 imputeth righteousness without works" From this we may 
 fairly infer, that the forgiveness of transgression, the covering 
 of iniquity, the non-imputation of sin, are all expressions 
 amounting to much the same, in effect, with the imputation 
 of righteousness. The imputation of righteousness is the 
 same thing as justification; and justification the same with 
 forgiveness : for treating as righteous and not treating as a 
 sinner, are only positive and negative statements of the same 
 idea. To forgive sin, is to remit its penalty. To cover sin 
 is of the same import with the expressions ascribed by the 
 prophet to Jehovah : " I, even I, am he that llotteth out thy 
 transgressions for my name's sake, and will not remember thy 
 sins." Not to impute sin is not to lay it to the charge of 
 the guilty person, for his condemnation ; which is plainly 
 the same with justifying the sinner. " Who shall lay any 
 thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justi- 
 fieth."* 
 
 This justification is here also, as before, affirmed to be 
 free: it is "-without works;" it is by faith in the righteous- 
 ness of Jesus, and on account of that righteousness. 
 
 An important question, then, now presents itself: 
 " Wherein does that righteousness consist?" 
 
 I answer; it consists in the whole of Christ's obedience, 
 considered as including his humiliation in the assumption of 
 our nature, his perfect conformity to the law, and his suffer- 
 ings unto death. I can see no propriety in dividing this 
 obedience into parts, and confining its vicarious nature and 
 its saving virtue to any one or other of these. I love to 
 view it as a glorious, a stupendous whole. His taking upon 
 him our nature ; his full obedience to the law ; and all the 
 sorrows and sufferings, both in body and soul, to which lie- 
 voluntarily submitted; form together that one grand trans- 
 action, by which the glory of Divine justice was displayed, 
 the claims of God's law satisfied, the rights and honour of 
 His government secured ; and the Divine Being revealed as 
 "the just God and the Saviour," forgiving iniquity, trans - 
 
 * Rom. viii. 33.
 
 278 LECTURE XVI I. 
 
 gression, and sin ; and appearing, in the pardon of it, at once 
 in all the majesty of unspotted holiness, and in the free and 
 sovereign exercise of infinite mercy. In his obedience to 
 the precepts of the law, according to their full extent and 
 spirituality, Jesus showed the nature of its perfect require- 
 ments, exhibiting it in its glory as holy, just and good; thus 
 he magnified and made it honourable, and, by fulfilling the 
 original condition of life, manifested, to the honour of the 
 Supreme Lawgiver, the nature of that obedience, with which 
 alone He can be well-pleased. By his sufferings and death 
 he showed the awful and inviolable nature of the sanction of 
 God's law; displayed, in a way unspeakably impressive, the 
 Divine abhorrence of sin, and the impossibility of its ever 
 passing, under God's holy and righteous government, without 
 public reprobation and merited punishment; and made an 
 atonement, of which the value was infinite, for the guilt of 
 men. Our attention, it is true, is, in the Scriptures, directed 
 most frequently to his death, to the shedding of his blood : 
 because then, in a special manner,' "his soul was made an 
 offering for sin," and the resemblance between him and the 
 typical sacrifices was most conspicuous; and still more parti- 
 cularly, because this terminating scene of his earthly life was 
 the grand completion of his vicarious work, and expiatory 
 sufferings. But this can never be intended to exclude his 
 other sufferings from possessing the nature of atonement. 
 Surely his agonies in the garden of Gethsemane were " not 
 for himself," any more than the pains of his body, and the 
 mysterious anguish of his afflicted spirit, when he hung upon 
 the tree. And if so, I see no reason why we may not affirm, 
 that 
 
 " A r.i, the griefs he felt were ours, 
 Ours ALL the woes he bore!" 
 
 May not affirm! did I say? We must affirm it. The na- 
 ture of the case will not admit a contrary supposition without 
 impiety and contradiction; for certainly a single moment's 
 suffering, of any kind, or in any degree, could never, on any 
 other principle, be justly allotted to perfect innocence. " Holy,
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 279 
 
 harmless, and undefilod," from the first breath he drew in the 
 stable of Bethlehem, to his expiring groan on Mount Calvary, 
 he could be the subject of no pain on his own account, not 
 even of the slightest momentary uneasiness; but must have 
 endured whatever he suffered for their sakes whose nature 
 he had assumed. 
 
 This view of the obedience of Jesus, as a tcJtole, including 
 his assumption of our nature, and all that he did and suf- 
 fered in that nature while he was upon earth, being the ground 
 of Divine satisfaction, receives decided countenance from such 
 expressions as the following. Jesus himself, in the pros- 
 pect of his last sufferings, says to his Father : " I have glori- 
 fied thee on the earth ; I have finished the work which thou 
 gavest me to do."* If Jesus finished his work at the close 
 of his life, he must have been previously engaged in it : and 
 if not during the whole period of his humiliation, who will 
 fix the time of its commencement? In the verse which im- 
 mediately follows, the Saviour founds his petition for glory 
 the glory which he had with the Father before the world 
 was on the full accomplishment of his appointed work. 
 Now that, on account of which Christ is glorified, is that on 
 account of which sinners are justified. " Ye know the grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ," says Paul to the Christians at 
 Corinth, " that though he was rich, for your sake* he became 
 poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."t Cer- 
 tainly his " becoming poor" includes the whole of his humi- 
 liation, in all its circumstances: and all is here represented 
 as for us "for our sakes" " Who being in the form of 
 God," says the same Apostle to the Philippians, " thought it 
 not robbery to be equal with God ; but made himself of no 
 reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and 
 was made in the likeness of men; and, being found in fa- 
 shion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross. WHEREFORE God also 
 hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
 above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 
 * John xviL 4. with xix. 30. t 2 Cor. viii. 9.
 
 280 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and 
 things under the earth; and that every tongue should con- 
 fess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Fa- 
 ther." * The conjunction "wherefore" in this passage, obvious- 
 ly refers, not to the death of Christ only, but to the whole of 
 his humiliation, as described in the preceding verses: from 
 which the same remark arises as from the first passage quoted, 
 that whatever was the reason of the Saviour's resurrection 
 and exaltation, must be the ground also of the sinner's ac- 
 ceptance in the sight of God. 
 
 When we believe in Jesus, we are " made the righteousness 
 of God in him:" that is, we are accepted on account of his 
 righteousness, as if it ice re our own-. It is still his righteousness ; 
 but blessings are freely bestowed on the guilty, on account of 
 it ; and the bestowment of these blessings, while it is a matter 
 of pure grace to the sinner, may be viewed as part of the 
 covenanted reward to Him who glorified God in the highest. 
 That the guilty are blessed with salvation, for which there 
 exists no ground of claim in themselves, solely on account of 
 the perfect righteousness of the Son of God, in which Jeho- 
 vah is well-pleased, is all that I understand to be meant by 
 the ordinary phrase of his righteousness being imputed to 
 them: and in the same sense, when he suffered on account 
 of our sins,ihey are with striking propriety said to have 
 been imputed to him. This is what I conceive to be implied 
 in the expression, " he was made sin, that we might be made 
 righteousness."-^ Our sins became his, in their dreadful con- 
 sequences: his righteousness becomes ours, in its blessed 
 fruits. There is not, nor can be, any real transference : the 
 thing is impossible. The sins are still our sins, not his; but 
 he hath borne their penalty on our account : the righteous- 
 ness is still his, not ours ; but we receive its gracious rewards, 
 on his account. 
 
 I cannot conclude without taking some notice of the seem- 
 ing difference between the Apostles Paul and James, on the 
 important subject which has been nnder our review. To 
 
 * Phil, ii 611. t 2 Cor. v. 21.
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 281 
 
 enter at large into the explanation of the passage in James 
 where the words occur that have been set in opposition to 
 those of Paul, however interesting it might be, would not be 
 seasonable. A very few remarks will be sufficient to recon- 
 cile the two writers ; (if we may speak of reconciling those 
 who never were at variance ;) and to show that James, so far 
 from contradicting, expressly recognises, and assumes as true, 
 the doctrine of Paul. 
 
 In the twenty-eighth verse of the preceding chapter Paul 
 brings his argument to this conclusion : " Therefore we con- 
 clude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the 
 law." To illustrate and confirm this conclusion, he adduces. 
 in the beginning of this chapter, as we have seen, the case 
 of Abraham. James, in the end of the second chapter of 
 his Epistle, thus expresses the point which it was his ob- 
 ject to establish: "Ye see, then, how that by works a 
 man is justified, and not by faith only;" and, in support 
 of this position he also adduces the case of Abraham. But 
 observe in what way. "When Abraham performed that won- 
 derful act of self-denying obedience, the offering up of Isaac 
 his son upon the altar, he was, says James, "justified by 
 w .>rks;" and "the scripture," he adds, "was fulfilled, which 
 saith, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him 
 for righteousness." This is the very scripture which Paul 
 quotes, in evidence of Abraham's having been justified by 
 faith ; and of this scripture James says it was fulfilled when 
 Abraham obeyed God in the remarkable instance referred to. 
 When a prophetic declaration is said to be fulfilled, the 
 meaning is that the truth of the prophecy is ascertained, by 
 the predicted event coming to pass. "When that which is 
 said to be fulfilled is the declaration of a matter of fact, the 
 expression can mean nothing else than that the truth of the 
 declaration is manifested or confirmed. James, then, quote* 
 this scripture in the very same sense in which it is quoted 
 by Paul; as declaring Abraham's justification by faith. This 
 declaration was made long before the time when the patriarch 
 was tried by the command to offer up his son. But at that 
 time it was fulfilled ; the truth of it being made manifest;
 
 282 LECTURE XVII. 
 
 Abraham being proved to be what this scripture had declared 
 him, a believer of God's promise, one to whom faith had 
 been " counted for righteousness," a justified person. 
 
 There are here, then, two justifications spoken of, corre- 
 sponding in their nature to the character which he held at 
 their respective times. When he was called out of Ur of 
 the Chaldees he was justified as a sinner, for that was the 
 character which he then bore; and in this character he was 
 justified by faith; the faith of the Divine testimony and 
 promise being " counted to him for righteousness." At the 
 time, on the contrary, of his offering up Isaac, he appears in 
 the character of a believer; and his justification at that time 
 respects him in that character. As a sinner, he was justified 
 by faith : as a believer he was justified by works ; that is, 
 he was manifested to be a believer, the scripture that had 
 declared him such being then fulfilled.* 
 
 The former of the two kinds of justification which have 
 been mentioned, is the great subject of Paul's reasoning ; the 
 latter of the reasoning of James. The object of Paul, is, to 
 confute those who sought justification by the works of the 
 law, and not by the faith of the Gospel : that of James to 
 evince the folly of such as professed to look for justification 
 by faith alone, while their professed faith was unproductive 
 of good works. Both objects are equally important; and 
 they are perfectly and beautifully consistent with each other. 
 In the midst of his reasoning, James, we have seen, recognises 
 the doctrine of Paul : and when we come forward to the 
 practical application of Paul's doctrine, we shall find him 
 with powerful argument, and impressive eloquence, establish- 
 ing that of James. 
 
 It is commonly thought that James speaks entirely of 
 justifying our profession to men. This, however, is not all 
 that is meant. When God tried Abraham, by the command 
 to offer up Isaac, the result is expressed in these terms : 
 "Now I KNOW that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not 
 
 * Comp. pages 268, 269.
 
 ROMANS IV. 18. 283 
 
 withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.* It is in the 
 sight of God, then ; in the sight of that Master to whom all 
 his professed servants must stand or fall, that our professions 
 must be justified by corresponding fruits : for although God 
 " searches the hearts and tries the reins," and needs for him- 
 self no evidence, or medium of decision ; yet He represents 
 himself as judging men according to their works. The lan- 
 guage of our blessed Lord, on various occasions, accords pre- 
 cisely with the reasoning of James : " If ye love me, keep 
 my commandments:" "he that hath my commandments 
 and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me : " " if a man love 
 me, he will keep my words; he that loveth me not keep- 
 eth not my sayings : " " herein is my Father glorified, that 
 ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples : " " ye are 
 my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."t And in 
 the account which He gives of the solemn proceedings of the 
 great day, He represents the works of his people, particularly 
 works of charity, and labours of love, as brought forward in 
 evidence of their love to him, and, by consequence, of their 
 faith in him. | It is agreeably to the view which I have 
 now been stating, that all true Christians, after the example 
 of Paul, " labour, that whether present in the body, or absent 
 from it, they may be accepted of him ; " that is, that they 
 may approve themselves to their Divine Master as genuine 
 and faithful servants, animated, in their works of obedience, 
 not by the self-righteous expectation of entitling themselves 
 to His favour, but by the warm impulse of grateful love for 
 the favour of which they have been the unworthy objects. 
 
 The important general truth, then, which James, in the 
 passage in question, intends to illustrate and to prove, and 
 on which the various examples he adduces, immediately 
 bear, is one supported by every other part of the word of 
 God : that there is, and can be, no saving faith, however 
 correct in doctrine, and plausible in manner, a man's pro- 
 
 * Gen. xxii. 1. where the word tempt would be better try compared 
 with verse 12. 
 
 f John xiv. 15, 21, 23, 24; xv. 14. J Matt. xxv. 3440. 
 
 2 Cor. v. 9.
 
 284 LECTURE XVil. 
 
 fusion may be, where there are not " the fruits of righteous- 
 ness:" that he who, as a sinner, is justified by grace, must, 
 as a professed believer, approve hiniself unto God, by the 
 works which faith produces. 
 
 Let this truth be impressed on the minds, and always pre- 
 sent to the remembrance of the children of God. " Ye are 
 not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore" 
 mark the nature of the motive " therefore glorify God in 
 your bodies, and in your spirits which are God's." 
 
 Let the same truth come home, with awakening energy, to 
 the conscience of the hypocrite and formalist ; of the pro- 
 ft-ssor who has " a name to live while he is dead." That 
 mans religion is vain. " He sows the wind, and shall reap 
 the whirlwind." " Kot every one that saith unto me, Lord, 
 Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that 
 doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." " As the 
 body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is 
 dead also." 
 
 " BLESSED is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, whose, 
 sin is covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will 
 not impute sin ! " "We owe this blessedness, this pure and 
 exquisite joy, to God who appointed, to the Son of God who 
 made, and to the Holy Spirit who applies, the atonement. 
 And ! let careless sinners let ungodly, worldly-minded, 
 inconsiderate men, lay to heart the infinite preciousness of 
 this blessing! Of what inconceivable importance is it, that 
 the ground of your confidence should be right such as will 
 stand the test, "when God riseth up to judgment!" An 
 error in this matter is no mere harmless mistake. It may 
 rob you of eternal joy, and ensure you everlasting de- 
 struction. " Search the Scriptures." They contain the words 
 of eternal life; for they testify of Jesus. They set before 
 you life and death ; a blessing, and a curse. Choose ye the 
 life, that your souls may live.
 
 LECTURE XYI1I, 
 
 ROMANS iv. 9 15. 
 
 "Cometh t'nis blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the un- 
 circumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righte- 
 ousness. How was it then reckoned ? when lie was in circumcision, or in 
 uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumeision. And he received 
 the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had 
 yet being uncircuincised : that he might lie the father of all them that believe, 
 though they be not circumcised ; that righteousness might be imputed unto 
 them also: and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumci- 
 sion only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, 
 which he had being yet uncircuincised. For the promise, that he should be the 
 heir of the world, w;is not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but 
 through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, 
 faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect. Because the law 
 worketh wrath : for where no law is, there is no transgression." 
 
 IN the beginning of this passage, which contains inferential 
 reasoning from the preceding statements, the Apostle pro- 
 ( . Is to show, that the case of Abraham, wliich he had 
 adduced as an instance of " faith being counted for righteous- 
 ness," so far from being in opposition to the justification of 
 the uncircumcised Gentile, wa-- directly in favour of it. 
 This he proves, from the circumstance that Abraham's .justi- 
 fication took place long before his circumcision. 
 
 " Faith was reckoned to Abraham for rifjlitf">.- 
 ' Be it so;' might a Jew say; 'what is this t:> your 
 purpose? Abraham was of the circumcision; the fatlu-r (' 
 the circumcision, of us Jews: whatever this may prove, 
 therefore, as to the i-!f<-iun<-!x!<>n, it certainly establishes no-
 
 286 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 tiling as to the uncircumcision! 'In this,' replies the Apostle, 
 'you eiT, not knowing the Scriptures. Abraham, it is true, 
 was circumcised; but at what time? before his justifica- 
 tion, or after? Not before, but long after.' 
 
 Abraham had "faith counted to him for righteousness," 
 fourteen years, at least, before he was circumcised, even reck- 
 oning from the time to which the passage quoted in verse third 
 refers. He was a believer some considerable time before that 
 period; for the Apostle mentions, as the effect and evidence 
 of his faith, his leaving his native land, and going out, on the 
 footing of the Divine promise, "into the place which he 
 should after receive for an inheritance, not knowing whither 
 he went." * But even the time referred to in the third verse, t 
 which the Apostle seems to have selected, because then the 
 first express declaration is made, of Abraham's faith being 
 " imputed to him for righteousness," was fourteen years pre- 
 vious to his circumcision; for it preceded Sarah's giving him 
 Hagar, and could not, therefore, be much less than a year 
 before the birth of Ishmael; while, for aught that appears 
 to the contrary, it might be much more. J And we know 
 that Ishmael was thirteen years old at the time when cir- 
 cumcision was instituted and first practised. 
 
 Circumcision, therefore, seeing it took place so long after 
 his justification, could have nothing to do with the ground 
 of it, since a cause cannot follow its effect. From Abraham's 
 being justified when " in uncircumcision," it is obvious : 
 First, that as circumcision was not, in whole or in part, the 
 ground of his acceptance with God, it cannot be a solid 
 foundation of hope to others; that dependence upon it, 
 in this view, must be vain, springing from ignorance and 
 misconception: Secondly, that uncircumcision is no hin- 
 drance to the justification of any. As Abraham was jus- 
 tified when "in uncircumcision," an uncircumcised Gentile 
 may now be justified, in the same way with him; his justi- 
 fication being the pattern of the way in which God "justifies 
 the ungodly," in every age. " They who are of faith," 
 
 * Heb. xi. 8. f Gen. xv. 6. J ^ en - xy i- 4 - Gen. xvii. 25.
 
 ROMANS IV. 9-15. 287 
 
 whether Jews or Gentiles, " are blessed with believing Abra- 
 ham." 
 
 What, then, it may be asked, did Abraham derive from 
 circumcision? What was the meaning and design of the 
 rite I This inquiry the Apostle answers, in the eleventh and 
 twelfth verses " And he received the sign of circumcision, 
 a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet 
 being uncircumcised : that he might be the father of all 
 them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that 
 righteousness might be imputed unto them also; and the 
 father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumci- 
 sion only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of 
 our father Abraham, which he had, being yet uncircumcised." 
 
 Circumcision is here represented first, as a sign, and 
 secondly, as a seal, A sign is that which represents; a seal 
 that which confirms, assures, or pledges. 
 
 Of what, then, in the first place, was circumcision a sign 1 
 
 1. It was a sign of the blessings bestowed in justification. 
 It represented the taking away of sin ; both in its guilt and 
 in its pollution : that is, it represented the two great bless- 
 ings of justification and sanctification ; which may both, 
 indeed, be comprehended in one, under the idea of that sepa- 
 ration to God, which takes place when a sinner is justified, 
 by his " faith being imputed to him for righteousness." Cir- 
 cumcision signified, "the putting off the body of the sins of 
 the flesh." Hence, the unholy are represented as " uncir- 
 cumcised in heart;" and are called upon to "circumcise the 
 foreskin of their hearts." Circumcision in the flesh repre- 
 sented that of the heart; the literal denoted the spiritual. 
 Hence the terms of the promise, Deut. xxx. 6, "The Lord 
 thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, 
 to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul, that thou mayest live." To this circumcision Paul 
 refers, as being only signified by that of the flesh, when lie 
 says in a preceding chapter, " He is not a Jew who is one 
 outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward 
 in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one imoardly, and cir- 
 cumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
 
 233 LECTURE XVIIF. 
 
 letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God," Rom. ii, 28, 
 29. That circumcision was a sign, or representation, of the 
 blessings specified, is indeed generally admitted, 
 
 2. Circumcision was also, I think, intended as a sign that 
 THE SEED, in whom "all nations were to he blessed," slionl<l 
 "come from the loins of Abraham." This promise was restrict- 
 ed to the line of Isaac. In tliis line of descent, therefore, it 
 was a significant memorial of the promise, that the Messiah 
 should be "made flesh" amongst them. And I doubt not, 
 that, in other lines also of descent from Abraham, this rite, 
 originally administered, by the command of God, to all his 
 family, had its influence, in a general way, in preserving the 
 idea and expectation of the promised seed. 
 
 If this idea be well founded, we at once perceive a good 
 reason why circumcision should be abolished, irlion this s'-'-d 
 came; and why another rite should be substituted in its 
 place, which as expressively signified, " the putting oft the 
 body of the sins of the flesli,'' while it was nut significant of 
 that part of the meaning of the former emblem, irh/ch iras 
 I/OH- fulfilled.* 
 
 Let us now consider of what circumcision is here said to have 
 been a seed. " He received the sign of circumcision, a seal 
 of the righteousness of the faith ichich he had, yet /'>//'_/ ////- 
 circumcised." 
 
 By some this is understood to signify, that it was to 
 Abraham the seal of his otcn personal justification. I am 
 
 * Circumcision "was not of Moses, but of the fathers." It was not 
 then, strictly speaking, as a part of the Mosaic ritual that it was dune 
 a\vay. It has often been asked, Why, if baptism came in the room of 
 circumcision, tiie Jewish converts to the fairh of Jesus continued to 
 practise the latter ordinance, for some time after His appearing, of 
 whose coming in the flesh it was a sign ? Now there is surely 110 
 more difficulty, in accounting for this circumstance, than in showing 
 the consistency of these Jewish converts continuing to offer the sacri- 
 fices of the law, with their faith in Him, who by his one sacrifice ful- 
 filled all the types, ''finished transgression, and made an end of 
 offering for sin." It is not my business to enter, at present, into any 
 inquiry as to the reason why this seemingly strange contradiction 
 was. for a time, permitted to exist; I only observe, that the true rea- 
 son for the latter fact, whatever it was. will account equally well i'r 
 tiie former.
 
 ROMANS IV. 9-15. 289 
 
 inclined to think that this is an unscriptural idea It is not 
 the manner of God, to seal thus, to any, their personal ac- 
 ceptance. I do not see wherein, on this supposition, con- 
 sisted the propriety of all the future trials of his faith ; for 
 a direct and positive assurance, given by the God of truth 
 to any one, of his personal justification, or, which is the 
 same thing, of his being a believer, and accepted as such, 
 seems to my mind incompatible with the idea of svich trial. 
 Abraham was one of those mentioned in Heb. vi. 12, who 
 " through faith and patience came to inherit the promises." 
 The trial of his faith, like the trial of the faith of his fellow- 
 believers, " wrought patience, and patience experience, and 
 experience hope." An express Divine declaration to any 
 one, of his justification, seems to be hardly consistent with 
 the exhortation, to " give diligence to make his calling and 
 election sure ; " inasmuch as it is impossible to arrive at 
 greater certainty than that which is given by the testimony 
 of God. This, therefore, could scarcely, I apprehend, on the 
 supposition before us, be a part of Abraham's duty. Yet, 
 in what way is it that we are to be "followers of them who 
 through faith and patience inherit the promises?" It is by 
 " giving diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the 
 end."* 
 
 The meaning, therefore, seems rather to be, that circum- 
 cision was a seal, or pledge, of righteousness, or justification, 
 being by the faith which he had in uncircumcision. The 
 faith which Abraham then had, was, no doubt, the faith of 
 the gospel faith in the promised Messiah. Circumcision, 
 then, was a seal or pledge to him, of the faithfulness of God 
 to the promises contained in the covenant, which He was 
 graciously pleased to make with him ; which being the sunn-, 
 in the substance of its meaning, with the New, or Gospel 
 Covenant, revealed "the righteousness of faith," in terms 
 suited to the period, though comparatively obscure. It was 
 not properly a seal of Abraham's own faith ami judijl-'ifto/i, 
 but of justification being "by the faith of Abraham." It 
 
 *Heb. vi. 11, 12. 
 L T
 
 290 LEOTL'UC XVIII. 
 
 was thus, not a temporary seal of the UK; re personal accep- 
 tance of an individual, but a permanent seal of a great general 
 principle, the fundamental principle of the covenant of grace. 
 
 I may here, by the way, remark, that there seems to 
 be a beautiful harmony and connection, between circum- 
 cision being a sign of the coming of the .l/'.W"/>. and a #<".>} 
 of the righteousness of faith; inasmuch as, this justifying 
 faith had always a reference to the promise of " the seed, in 
 whom all nations were to be blessed." 
 
 A question now occurs of considerable moment on this 
 subject : " What was circumcision to those who followed 
 Abraham in the observance of it? What was it to his 
 seed?" 
 
 To this inquiry I reply, in the first place, that, a* a sign, 
 it could never change its meaning while it continued in 
 practice. What a sign is fitted to represent at first, it is 
 fitted, from its nature, always to represent. I conclude, 
 therefore, that this ordinance continued, after its institution, 
 to have, all along, as a sign, the same meaning; denoting 
 '' the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh," the cir- 
 cumcision of the heart, or that separation to God, which takes 
 place when " faith is counted " to the sinner " for righteous- 
 ness:" and, at the same time, in connection with this, denot- 
 ing the coming of Messiah from the loins of Abraham. The 
 rite, therefore, though by the multitude of the Jews misun- 
 derstood and perverted, WHS, in its nature and design, calcu- 
 lated to keep them in mind of the necessity of spiritual life, 
 through faith in the promised seed. And, in this view, its 
 import was similar to that of many of the ordinances in the 
 law. 
 
 Tint, in the second place, circumcision retained the nature 
 of a "seal of the righteousness of faith," to all, l '>c/to u-pre not 
 of the cii-fini/i-ixinn only, but also walked in the ste})s of 
 Abraham 's faith.'' 
 
 Let us take, as instances, Isaac and Jacob, Abraham's im- 
 mediate successors in the faith, in the line from which Mes- 
 siah was to spring. What was circumcision to them? They 
 arc denominated by the Apostle Paul, "Heirs with Abraham
 
 ROMANS IV. 915. 291 
 
 of the same promise:"* where, as is manifest from the con- 
 text, the reference is to the heavenly or eternal inheritance. 
 The promises made to Abraliam, indeed, were expressly, and 
 nearly in the same terms, repeated by God to Isaac and 
 Jamb. t Now I hardly think any one will say, that wliile 
 circumcision was to Abraham a seal of the righteousness of 
 faith, it was to Isaac and Jacob, these "heirs with him of the 
 same promise," a mere mark of their carnal descent from 
 Abraham, and of their heirship of temporal blessings. Was 
 it not to them a seal, or pledge, of the faithfuhiess of God, 
 to that promise, of which they were fellow-heirs with their 
 father? that is, a seal of spiritual blessings, which is the 
 same thing in effect, as "a seal of the righteousness of faith." 
 I cannot think it was less. Yet if it was so, we have 
 here a seal of spiritual blessings administered, by Divine 
 command, to infants of eight days olcL And this certainly 
 shows, that there is no absurdity in the thing itself; and no 
 absurdity in the idea of circumcision being a seal, to all who 
 afterwards believed, of the righteousness of faith, or of the 
 same blessings which it sealed originally : for what may be 
 in one case, may be in ten thousand. 
 
 It ought, in this place, to be remembered, that whether 
 circumcision be viewed as a seal of temporal blessings, or of 
 spiritual, or, as I understand the case to be, of both; on 
 even- supposition, the import of it must have been a matter 
 of after instruction, to those who received it in infancy. So 
 that there is nothing in its nature, in this view, that unfits 
 it for being a "seal of the righteousness of faith,'' which would 
 not equally unfit it for being a seal of the title to temporal 
 blessings, supposed by many to be connected with fleshly 
 descent; an idea which, I trust, will shortly be made t 
 appear unfounded in the word of God. 
 
 But that circumcision, both as a sign and as a seal, con- 
 tinued, after Abraham's time, to retain its original meaning 
 in its full extent, is to me very evident from the word* 
 
 * Heb. xi. 9. 
 
 f To the former, Gen. xxvi. 15, and to the latter, Gen. xxviti. 
 1015.
 
 292 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 which follow: "that he might be the father of all them that 
 believe, though they he not circumcised, that righteousness 
 might be imputed unto them also : and the father of circum- 
 cision, to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who 
 also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, 
 which he had, being yet uncircumcised." 
 
 For illustration of these words observe 
 
 First: Abraham, on his being justified by faith, was con- 
 stituted the father, in a spiritual sense, of all among mankind, 
 both of his natural descendants, and of the Gentiles, who, to 
 the end of time, should be justified in the same way. Not 
 that he was the first who was so justified. We know the 
 contrary. Abel, Enoch, Noah and others before him, were 
 " heirs of the righteousness which is by faith." But when, 
 after the flood, the knowledge of God was, a second time, in 
 a great measure lost, it pleased God to adopt a new method 
 of procedure. He called Abraham out from amongst idola- 
 ters, to make of his family a nation, or church ; among whom 
 He "placed his name" in order to keep alive, by a peculiar 
 system of religious institutions, established amongst them, 
 the knowledge and worship of himself; and also to prepare 
 for still greater manifestations, to be afterwards made : so 
 that from Abraham downwards, He might never want a 
 " seed to serve him." Of this spiritual family Abraham 
 was honoured to be the Founder or Father. "They who 
 are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." Gal. 
 iiL 7. 
 
 Secondly : Abraham's being justified ichen in uncircum- 
 (ision, denoted that he should have part of his spiritual 
 family from among the uncircumcised Gentiles : that he was 
 to be "the father of all them that believe, though not cir- 
 cumcised." 
 
 Thirdly: When Abraham received the sign and seal of 
 circumcision, he then became, according to the appellation 
 here given him, " the father of circumcision." Now observe 
 particularly, to what description of persons he is represented 
 as holding this relation " to them who are not of the cir- 
 cumcision only, but who also icalk in the steps of his faith."
 
 ROMANS IV. 915. 293 
 
 I do not suppose it will be questioned, that Abraham was " the 
 father of circumcision," to those in ichom the meaning of the 
 rite was fulfilled. If, then, circumcision was nothing but a 
 mark of carnal descent from Abraham, and of a title to tem- 
 poral blessings, in virtue of that descent, as some are of 
 opinion ; Abraham was the father of circumcision, in the only 
 true and proper sense of the appellation, to all his fleshly 
 seed: that is, to all who are supposed to have had a title to 
 those blessings, of which circumcision was, according to this 
 view, the seal. Yet he is here declared to have been the 
 " father of circumcision " to those only, who were not merely 
 circumcised in the flesh, but who also walked in the steps of 
 his faith. Words could hardly, in my opinion, intimate more 
 plainly, that circumcision was a seal of this covenant, not 
 simply as to the temporal part of it, but also as to the spir- 
 itual. For surely it must have been of the same import to 
 the children of circumcision, as it was to the father of cir- 
 cumcision. 
 
 The fact appears to be, that the true circumcision, or the 
 inn' Israel, have in every age been the same.* And to this 
 true Israel, the ordinance of circumcision signified the same 
 tilings which it signified to their great progenitor. 
 
 The whole of this view of the passage is strongly supported 
 by what follows : where the Apostle proceeds to show, that 
 to the true Israel, and not to those who were connected with 
 Abraham by fleshly descent merely, the promises originally 
 made to that patriarch were to be fulfilled ; that the ground 
 of them was not law, or legal obedience, but grace, or faith. 
 
 Verse 1 3. " For the promise that he should be the heir of 
 the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the 
 law, but through the righteousness of faith." 
 
 Three things here claim our notice: The promise, the 
 seed to whom it was made, and the ground on which it 
 iv-K 
 
 * Of this the reader may be convinced, by attentively considering 
 and comparing the following passages of Scripture : Deut. vi. 4 7 ; 
 x. 1216; xxx. 6; Jer. iv. 4; John i. 47; Psalm Ixxiii. 1; Koui. ii. 
 28, 29, &c.
 
 294 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 With regard to the promise, " that he should he heir of 
 the world," it must he understood in a sense not entifly 
 peculiar to Abraham personally. This is manifest from the 
 very expression in this verse, which represents it as made to 
 " Abraham and Ids seed" And it is farther evident, from 
 what follows: "If they who are of the law be heirs:" 
 Heirs of what ? Surely of the promise here specified. The 
 same promise also is certainly spoken of in verse sixteenth, as 
 being " sure to all the seed." 
 
 I agree with those who consider this promise as of very 
 extensive import; as including the possession of Canaan, 
 the possession of the whole earth, and the final possession 
 of the heavenly country itself. 
 
 We know that the earthly Canaan was, in expres.s terms, 
 promised to Abraham and his seed. And, that the pi'omise 
 of the heavenly Canaan was couched under this, is scarcely 
 less plain, from the two following simple considerations. 
 First: Abraham himself, and the other believing patriarchs, 
 so understood it: for, on the footing of this promise, they 
 looked for the heavenly country; for the city which ha;h 
 foundations, whose builder and maker is God.* This 
 country was the object of their hope, as being the sub- 
 ject of Divine promise. But no promise of it is to be found, 
 unless it was couched under that of the earthly Canaan, as a 
 type; connected with the declaration, "I will be thy Go- 1, 
 and the God of thy seed;" which also includes the promise 
 of eternal inheritance ; and, indeed, considered as the glo- 
 rious sum of the promises made in the Abraharnic covenant. 
 The whole of the Gospel revelation was then, and for 
 many ages afterwards, under the vail of figurative lan- 
 guage, and of typical rites, objects, and events. To have 
 given, in clear and explicit terms, the full promise of the 
 eternal inheritance, would not have been consistent with 
 the Divine scheme of gradual development, nor with the 
 fact of " life and immortality being brought to light " by 
 Jesus Christ. But that the promise was given, is manifest 
 
 * Sec Hob. xi. 810, 1316.
 
 ROMANS IV. 915. 295 
 
 from tho Apostle's manner of expressing himself in the pas- 
 sages above alluded to ; and from his saying of the patriarchs, 
 who had gone to the " better country," that " through faith 
 and patience they inherited the prom i.^, 
 
 Secondly: This is still further evident, from believers in all 
 ages and countries being called heirs, according to the prom '.-<> 
 of inheritance given to Abraham. So they are spoken of in 
 Gal iii. 18, 29. "If ye be Christ's," says the Apostle in 
 verse 29th, " then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs accor<Hng 
 to the. promise:' 11 i.e., the promise of the inl'r!ian<'(>, men- 
 tioned in verse 18th; " If the inheritance be of the law, it is 
 no more of prom ise ; but God gave it to Abraham by promise," 
 So also, in Heb. vi. 1 7 20, " the heirs of promise" who derive 
 " strong consolation " from the word and oath of God to Abra- 
 ham, are those " who have fled for refuge, to lay hold on the 
 hope set before them which hope enter^th within th<: rail, 
 wliither the forerunner is entered, even Jesus." 
 
 But as the word here rendered irorld,^ is one which usually, 
 if not uniformly, when it occurs without any restrictive noun, 
 is used to denote the whole inhabited earth; I cannot help 
 thinking that there is here a reference to the ichok earth be- 
 coming the possession of Abraham's seed ; of which the pos- 
 session of Canaan was but a small prelude. 
 
 There is an obvious difference between a right and actual 
 possession. The whole earth may be, by the gift or promise 
 of God, the property of this seed, although they are not yet, 
 and may not be for a good while to come, invested with the 
 actual possession of it, When promises are made to a si-l, 
 which is to come into existence in the successive ages of the 
 world, it is not necessary to their fulfilment that they should 
 be enjoyed in the same manner, and in tin-, same degree, by 
 all, from the first period to the last; for with this, in the 
 present instance, facts do not accord. We certainly possess 
 the blessings contained in the Divine promises, in a more 
 eminent degree than the saints of old ; " God having pro- 
 vided better tilings for us, that they, without us, should not 
 
 * Hcb. vi. 12. t *<rp*t.
 
 2% LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 be made perfect."* Both temporal and spiritual blessings will 
 be possessed, in a much higher degree of perfection than 
 even now, during the period of the millennial glory of the 
 Church. And as to those who shall be alive on the earth, 
 at the coming of Christ, they shall escape the sentence of 
 mortality. But such differences in the enjoyment of the 
 promises, at different periods, do not render them void of 
 effect to any. All the seed have "the promise of the life 
 that now is, and of that which is to come." All being finally 
 put in possession of the " heavenly country," may be said then 
 to inherit the promises, in. their full extent, this being their 
 grand sum, their glorious completion. Moses and Aaron 
 " inherited the promises," although, as a judgment for failing to 
 sanctify the name of the Lord, at the waters of Meribah, they 
 were sentenced to finish their course, short of the earthly 
 Canaan. 
 
 This view of " the promise, that he should be heir of the 
 world," as referring to the possession of the whole earth, must 
 be understood of the seed, collectively considered. David 
 says, speaking of the passage through the Red sea, " He 
 turned the sea into dry land; they went through the 
 flood on foot; there did we rejoice in him."t And Paul, 
 respecting the second coming of Christ, " We who are alive 
 and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not anticipate J 
 them who are asleep." " We shall not all sleep (die), but we 
 sliall all be changed" This mode of expression, to which we 
 are perfectly accustomed, arises, from the connection which 
 the writers conceived themselves to have with the collective 
 bodies to which they, respectively, belonged. Were we speak- 
 ing of the wars in any former period of British history, AVB 
 should say, without hesitation " We were successful in such 
 a battle " meaning by we, not the race at present existing, 
 nor the individuals who then actually fought, but the nation 
 to which we belong, and which we, the existing race, now 
 constitute, as gaining the battle by means of its armies. So 
 
 Hob. xi. 40._ f Psa. Ixvi. 6. | 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 15; and 1 Cor. xv. 51.
 
 ROMANS IV. 915. 297 
 
 wt- may, with perfect propriety, say, that the promise spoken 
 of, in the view I am now taking of it, is to us, because it 
 shall be verified to the st-ed of which we are a part. 
 
 The following scriptures, among others, seem to counte- 
 nance this view of the promise. "Ask of me, and I will 
 give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for thy possession."* This is spoken by 
 the Father to Jesus ; and it appears, as if the gradual, and, 
 at length, full possession of the promised land, in the days of 
 Solomon, prefigured the gradual possession of the earth, by 
 Messiah, of whom Solomon was a type, till it shall be com- 
 pletely occupied by His people. Hence it is said, in another 
 psalm, " He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and 
 from the river unto the ends of the earth." t Similar is the 
 import of the words addressed to Daniel, " The kingdom and 
 dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the 
 whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of 
 the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
 and all dominions shall serve and obey him." In the pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah, "the icilderness" signifies the countries of the 
 Gentiles. These are represented as belonging to the church 
 of God, by the charter, as it were, of His promise, although 
 the possession of them was yet distant. They were given to 
 the Redeemer for a possession, but they were then, and a 
 large proportion of them are still, " desolate hcri'tag*-*." 
 Thus, too, the Lord promises to "comfort Zion, to comfort 
 all her waste places; to make her wilderness like Eden, and 
 her desert like the garden of the Lord."|| And the en- 
 couraging promise is given to Zion, that " her seed should 
 inherit the Gentiles, and cause the desolate cities to be in- 
 habited.'^ 
 
 When " the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth 
 as the waters cover the sea," and thus the declaration be ful- 
 filled, "iu thy seed shall all the families of the earth be 
 blessed ; " then the promise, that Abraham should be " the 
 
 * Psa. ii. 8. t Psa. Lxxii. 8. J Dan. vii. 27. 
 
 Isa. xlix. 8. 8 Is*. Ii. 3. . Iba. Hv. 3.
 
 298 LECTUKE XVIII. 
 
 heir of the world," shall be fully verified, the whole earth 
 becoming the possession of his seed the people of God. 
 
 In considering the extent of the promise, I have necessa- 
 rily led you to anticipate my view of the seed here spoken 
 of. " The promise, that he should be the heir of the world, 
 was to Abraham and to his seed." Xow of this, let mo 
 direct your attention to a plain, infallible interpretation. 
 Look to GaL iii 16. "Xow to Abraham, and his seed, were 
 the promises made : he saith not, and to seeds, as of many ; 
 but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ." That the 
 name "CHRIST" is sometimes used as inclusive of his people, 
 the Head being intended to express the whole body 
 nected with it, is evident from 1 Cor. xii. 12. "For as the 
 body is one, and hath many members, and all the members 
 of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.'' 
 That it is so used in this passage of the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians, can hardly, I think, be doubted by any one who at- 
 tends to the connexion. For while Christ is here said to be 
 the seed, to whom the promises were made, it is said of be- 
 lievers, in the end of the chapter, " If ye be Christ's, then 
 are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the ///<:</// /.'-.'' 
 And the reason of their being so called is, their being " all 
 one in Christ Jesus" GaL iii 28, 29. The passage be-fore 
 us, likewise, in the Epistle to the Romans, makes the same 
 thing evident. The seed, in this thirteenth verse, is that of 
 which Abraham is the father, in the spiritual sense, even the 
 seed spoken of in verses eleventh and twelfth consisting of 
 " all them that believe." 
 
 From these passages I now state it, as my firm conviction, 
 that the promises contained in the Abrahamic covenant, both 
 the temporal promise, and the spiritual, were made to the 
 fiiM seed, on ttiz same footing. 
 
 That they were both made to the same se.ed, seems to be 
 as plain as a positive declaration from an inspired Apostle 
 can make it : " To Abraham, and his seed, were the pr< 
 made." Wliat promises'? Surely the promises, whatever 
 they were, contained in the covenant referred to. These are 
 here expressly said to have been made to the same seed.
 
 ROMANS IV. 915. 290 
 
 There is not the smallest hint given of the distinction, so 
 often contended for, that the temporal promise was made to 
 the fleshly seed us such, and the spiritual promise to the 
 spiritual seed as such. Xo such distinction is to be found 
 in Paul's reasoning. But the promises of that covenant, 
 without difference, are declared to have been made, " not to 
 *>'/*, as of many, but as of erne., ' and to tlty need,' which is 
 Christ." 
 
 The covenant with Abraham is not represented, as con- 
 taining in it two distinct covenants, the one temporal and the 
 other spiritual; but as being &ne, although including differ- 
 ent promises, and referring, a*- a whole, to one seed. And if 
 this be a just view of the matter, it follows, of course, that 
 these promises were made on the same footing. Xone of 
 them were given on the ground of law, or on account of per- 
 sonal obedience, but all by grace ; " not through the law, 
 but through the righteousness of faith." 
 
 Let us examine this a little. 
 
 It is abundantly plain, that tie inheritance, spoken of in 
 the covenant, was promised to Abraham, and his t-piritual 
 seed. In GaL iii. the Apostle, having said, that to Abraham, 
 and to his seed, which is Christ, the proim't^tt Avert' made, 
 adds, verse 16. "For if the inheritance be of the law, it is 
 no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise.'' 
 Exactly parallel to this is the language in verse fourteenth of 
 the chapter before us; " If they who are of the law be In if.-; 
 faith is made void, and the promise made of no effect." 77/e 
 inheritance must certainly mean, in the first instance, the 
 earthly inheritance; that which is literally specified in the 
 promise. To say that the earthly, or typical inheritance, was 
 promised to the fleshly seed, and the heavenly, or antitype, 
 to the spiritual, is taking for granted a distinction which I 
 do not find the Scriptures anywhere recognising; and of 
 which, if it had any foundation, it is surely somewhat singu- 
 lar that the Apostle, in all his reasonings on the subject, lias 
 never once given the slightest intimation. 
 
 The inheritance of Canaan was originally matter of pro- 
 mise. And it must have continued to be held not by knr,
 
 300 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 but on the footing of the original grant, made to Abraham, 
 and to the one se<>.d here mentioned. For the Apostle, in his 
 reasoning, obviously proceeds on the principle, that what was 
 originally matter of promise, could never afterwards become 
 matter of legal right or claim. This he plainly and strongly 
 intimates, both in verse fourteenth of this chapter of the 
 Epistle to the Romans, and in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
 verses of the third chapter of that to the Galatians. His lan- 
 guage, in these passages, has no meaning, if it does not im- 
 ply, that if ever the inheritance referred to came to be held 
 by law, that instant " the promise" became null and void 
 " of no effect" 
 
 The heavenly inheritance is admitted to be entirely a mat- 
 ter of free promise, and never can become, as to us, a matter 
 of right, on the ground of personal obedience, or of law. 
 Jfow, if it was otherwise with the earthly inheritance; if it 
 was held by law, that is, as a matter of right, on the terms 
 of obedience, the type fails in one of the most important and 
 striking points of resemblance. 
 
 I am fully persuaded, that none of the promises, either the 
 temporal or the spiritual, were made to the fleshly seed of 
 Abraham, merely on the ground of carnal descent. This ap- 
 pears to be most explicitly stated in the passage before us, when 
 compared with the third chapter of Galatians; and it seems, 
 likewise, to accord with the whole history of the Jews. We 
 have seen, that the inheritance was, originally, matter of pro- 
 mise; and that it must have continued to be held on the 
 same footing; for if ever it carne to be possessed by law, 
 the promise was made of no effect. But we are not left, on 
 this subject, to inference, however obvious and strong. 
 Recorded facts appear in perfect harmony with the Apostle's 
 {statement. 
 
 First : What was the reason, why the Israelites wandered 
 forty years in the wilderness, till the rebellious generation 
 was consumed, to whom God had sworn in his wrath, that 
 they should not enter into his rest ? It was unbelief: unbe- 
 lief of the promises of God to their fathers, which contained 
 the Gospel This is plainly declared by Paul, in the Epistle
 
 ROMANS IV. 9-15. 301 
 
 to the Hebrews.* It was not unbelief of tlie matters of fact, 
 reported by those who had searched the land. For if there 
 was any material difference, in the representation of these, 
 between Caleb and Joshua, on the one hand, and the re- 
 maining ten, on the other, certainly, so far as respected 
 human testimony, the Israelites could have been little to 
 blame, for receiving the declaration of ten, in preference to 
 that of two. But it was unbelief of the promises and decla- 
 rations of God, made to their fathers, respecting that land; 
 and consequent distrust of His veracity and power, accom- 
 panied with rebellious complaints and murmurings. If it 
 be said, ' Still this was only unbelief of the promise of God 
 respecting the land of Canaan : ' I answer, that unbelief of 
 this promise, implied ignorance and unbelief of its spiritual 
 import, and included also ignorance and unbelief of the other 
 Gospel promises, made in connexion with it, in the same 
 covenant. It amounted to a rejection of the word of God, 
 a rejection of God himself, as the God of their fathers, Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was a denial of His faithfulness 
 and truth, not only in this, but in all the promises, respect- 
 ing the seed of Abraham, the future accomplishment of 
 which depended upon the fulfilment of this. Those " sinners 
 against their own souls," who said, " would God we had died 
 in the land of Egypt, or would God we had died in this wil- 
 derness ! let us make a captain and return into Egypt;" were 
 certainly unbelievers, and proud despisers, of all that the 
 God of their fathers had promised, of the fulfilment of which, 
 their own deliverance from " the house of bondage," with " a 
 high hand and an outstretched arm," was a prelude and a 
 pledge. They were unbelievers of the Gospel, which was 
 then revealed in the promises of the covenant made with 
 Abraham. 
 
 Secondly : The Israelites are, indeed, spoken of, as con- 
 tinuing to hold the land of Canaan in possession through 
 obedience : but by this obedience, we must understand " the 
 obedience," of faith, that is, obedience springing from, and 
 
 * Chap. iii. 18, 19; iv. 2.
 
 302 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 evincing faith. I say, we must so understand it, if the prin- 
 ciple laid down by the Apostle be a just one, that " if tho 
 inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise;" or, as 
 he expresses it in the passage before us, that " if they who 
 are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise 
 made of no effect." These expressions, I have endeavoured 
 to show, stand in perfect opposition to the idea, of the land 
 of Canaan boing ever held, as the reward, strictly speaking, 
 of legal obedience; held on the footing of obedience to the 
 law, as the meritorious ground of possession. Many pas- 
 sages, accordingly, describe the obedience required of Israel, as 
 being much more than mere outward subjection, as being no- 
 thing loss than inward spiritual subjection, manifested by out- 
 ward And such subjection is the fruit and evidence of faith.* 
 
 If any choose to say, that their obedience was the condi- 
 tion of their continuing to enjoy the promised blessings, my 
 approving or disapproving of the expression, (which is am- 
 biguous, and therefore improper,) depends entirely on the 
 meaning which it is intended to bear. If by condition is 
 meant, meritorious ground, or procuring cause, I decidedly 
 object to the idea which it conveys. But if by obedience 
 being the condition of enjoying the blessing, nothing more is 
 intended, than its being essentially requisite; then the ex- 
 pression conveys a very important truth ; a truth equally ap- 
 plicable to us as to them; for there is no enjoying the bless- 
 ings, of any kind, which God hath promised, but in the way 
 of obedience to His commandments, under the influence of 
 'fiiith working by love." 
 
 Thirdly : The reason why the Jews were, with such awful 
 judgments, at length cast out from the land of promise, and 
 nnw continue "a proverb, and a bye-word, and a hissing, 
 among all nations,'' corresponds with these ideas. It was un- 
 hiiicf- rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. t The curses 
 
 * I refer the reader to the following passages, among many that 
 might be quoted: Dent. x. 12 22; vi. 1 19; and, as illustrative of 
 tlie reasons of judgment and restoration, Deut. xxx. 
 
 f See Ro;n, xi. 20, &c. Luke xix. 41 44. Mat. xxiii. 34 39. 
 1 Tin 8. ii. 15, 16. Acts iii. 23, &c.
 
 ROMANS IV. 9-15. 303 
 
 winch Moses, so many hundred years before, had denounced 
 against them, if they should prove dix/ilii-difiit, were verified 
 on account of their unbelief; which shows us, what kind of 
 disobedience was the ground of his denunciations; denun- 
 ciations, delivered in the name of God, " who cannot lie." 
 
 Thus it appears, that the promise was originally " throiujh 
 faith;" that it was as professors of Abraham's fuith, that the 
 Israelites entered on the possession of Canaan; that the 
 i i >s-c<sion was continued, through "the obedience of faith ;" 
 ;md that, on account of the opposite disobedience, judgments 
 were threatened and inflicted. BY FAITH THE INHERITANCE 
 WAS OBTAINED: BY FAITH IT WAS HELD; AND BY UNBELIEF IT 
 WAS LOST. 
 
 Having dwelt, at so much length, on the nature and ground 
 of the promise, as stated .in the thirteenth verse; the verses 
 which follow, having been occasionally adverted to in the 
 eiir-e of illustration, do not seem to require much additional 
 remark. Verse fourteenth " If they who are of the law be 
 heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of no effect" 
 has been already explained as parallel to GaL iii. 18. 
 " For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of pro- 
 mise :" if the Jews who are of the law be, on that account, 
 heirs, then the ground of the original grant is changed : it is 
 no more matter of promise, enjoyed through faith, but mat- 
 ter of right, possessed by law, which would make the law 
 " against the promises of God." Besides, it cannot be of the 
 law; "Because the law worketh wrath; for where no law 
 is, there is no transgression," verse 15. The law, in it- 
 self, gives no hope: it gives "the knowledge of sin,"* it 
 e<m.!emns it "worketh wrath;" inspiring a sense of guilt, 
 and fear of judgment: And from wrath, or from the dread 
 of it, the ceremonial part of the law has no ellioacy to de- 
 liver; and when trusted in for acceptance, it, as well as the 
 moral, is perverted to the sinner's destruction, t 
 
 * Chap. iii. 20. 
 
 f For the full bearing of the passage discussed in this Lecture, on 
 the subject of infant baptism, see Dr. Wardlaw's work, entitle!. "A 
 1 issertation on the Scriptural Authority, Nature, and Uses of Inlant 
 Baptism.'' ED.
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 ROMANS iv. 16 25. 
 
 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise 
 might be sure to all the seed : not to that only which is of the law, hut to that 
 also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is writ- 
 ten, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, 
 even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as 
 though they were: who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the 
 father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 
 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when 
 he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb ; he 
 staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, 
 giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he 
 was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 
 Now, it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for 
 us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus 
 our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again 
 for our justification." 
 
 THE antecedent to " IT," in the first of these verses, is the 
 promise specified in verse thirteenth. Its being "of faith''' 
 shows it to be "by grace;" faith being uniformly, in this 
 Apostle's reasoning, opposed to works.* Had it been by the 
 Law, then they only who were "of the law" could have been 
 heirs. But "it is of faith, that the promise might be sure," 
 in its fulfilment, " to all the seed : not to that only which is 
 of the law," (that is, not to the Jews only); "but to that also 
 which is of the faith of Abraham," although without the law; 
 (that is, to the Gentiles also). The seed, of which Abraham 
 
 * Comp. verses 2 5 of this chapter.
 
 ROMANS IV. 16-25. 305 
 
 was constituted' the father, could not have been so extensiA-e 
 as the promise required, had the inheritance been by law: for 
 the promise to Abraham intimated his having a seed among 
 "all nations" or "many nations." Thus the Apostle inter- 
 prets the language of the promise, Gen. xvii. 4, " a father of 
 many nations have I made thee." 
 
 I formerly noticed an objection to the idea, that the pro- 
 mises of a spiritual nature were made, originally and primarily, 
 to Abraham's natural seed; namely, that if tliis had been the 
 case, it behoved all tliat nation to have been saved A con- 
 iirmation of the reply given to this objection seems to be 
 furnished by the expression before us. If the promises being 
 originally made to Abraham's fleshly seed, necessarily implies 
 that all his fleshly .seed should enjoy them, then, surely, 
 Abraham's being constituted "the father of many nations" 
 in a spiritual sense, as the Apostle interprets the promise, 
 must imply that these nations should, universally, be his 
 spiritual seed. But if this promise of his being "a father 
 of nation-*" in a spiritual sense, was fulfilled by his having 
 M spiritual seed from among these nations, it seems a fair 
 inference, that the promises, considered as originally made to 
 his natural posterity, were faithfully verified, by his having, 
 in the successive generations of that posterity, "a remnant 
 according to the election of grace." 
 
 Abraham was thus the " father of m fill," Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, "before Him whom he believed." The Jews gloried 
 in him, as their father according to the flesh. But " before 
 God," he held a much higher character; as the father, in a 
 riiore important and interesting sense, of a " multitude which 
 no man can number, to be collected out of all peoples, and 
 kindreds, and nations, and tongues." 
 
 The Apostle now directs attention t<> the object and 
 fffft/ytk of Abraham's faith. The promise of God which his 
 faith primarily respected, was his having an heir of his o\vn 
 body, and from him a seed as the stars of heaven for num- 
 ber.* The Apostle puts a spiritual interpretation on the 
 
 * Comp. Gen. xv. 16. 
 L U
 
 306 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 promise, " So shall thy seed be," as referring to his being- 
 the spiritual father of a spiritual progeny, among many 
 nations : (verse 1 8th) " He believed ^that he might become 
 (i. e., he believed, and, in consequence of his believing, he 
 became) the father of many nations ; according to that which 
 was spoken, So shall thy seed be." Now the promise of the 
 birth of Isaac was intimately connected with the fulfilment 
 of this declaration, in its spiritual import, as here interpreted. 
 For, in the first place, the word of God being handed down, 
 by parental instruction and otherwise, through successive 
 generations, the knowledge of God and of the promised 
 Saviour was kept up in this line of descent from Abraham : 
 and, by this means, he had a spiritual seed among his own 
 fleshly descendants, according to the primary import of the 
 promises made to him. Secondly, in this line of descent 
 sprang from him that Seed, in whom "all nations were to be 
 blessed." In these ways, "salvation was of the Jeu-s." And 
 hence, when the Gentiles received it, they are represented 
 as becoming debtors to the Jews, being "partakers of their 
 spiritual things." * The fulfilment of the promise, " so shall 
 thy seed be," as it is here explained by the Apostle, depended 
 on his having fleshly seed, from which the spiritual was to 
 spring; from which CHRIST was to come, in whom believers 
 of all nations were to find a place in God's house, becoming, 
 by faith, the children of believing Abraham. 
 
 The strength of Abraham's faith is particularly dwelt upon ; 
 and is illustrated, from the object of it being a thing, in its 
 nature, so unlikely. "Against hope he believed in hope:" 
 that is, he believed, and hoped, in opposition to every ordinary 
 ground of expectation. While nature said, " It is impossible ; " 
 Faith firmly replied, "It is certain." His faith was undoubt- 
 ing : verses 20, 24, "He staggered not at the promise of 
 God, through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory 
 to God ; and being fully persuaded that what he had pro- 
 mised, he was able also to perform." 
 
 The ground of his faith and hope was the faithfulness 
 
 * Rom. xv. 27.
 
 ROMANS IV. 1625. 307 
 
 and power of God; "who quickeneth the dead, and calleth 
 those things wliich be not as though they were," verse 17th. 
 His own body was now dead, and Sarah's womb was dead : 
 But he " considered not " these grounds of improbability, 
 knowing that God was able to impart life to the dead. With 
 this persuasion, that "to God all things are possible," was 
 connected in his mind, the full confidence, that He who 
 " knoweth the end from the beginning," could not be mis- 
 taken; that He who "is not a man that he should lie" could 
 not deceive him; that He who "calleth those things which 
 are not, as though they were," declaring the future with as 
 much certainty as the present or the past, would, therefore, 
 infallibly accomplish His declaration, although every circum- 
 stance in nature seemed to pronounce the expectation vain : 
 his " assurance of faith," and " confidence of hope," did not 
 merely respect the promise of the birth of Isaac, but em- 
 braced the full extent of the Divine promises, connected 
 with this as their commencement. 
 
 From the view which the Apostle gives of the strength 
 the unsuspecting assurance, of Abraham's faith, we learn, that 
 when, upon God's making the promise to him of a son by 
 Sarah, ' he fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his 
 heart, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years 
 old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" his 
 laughing, and the thoughts which accompanied it in his 
 heart, were not the expression of doubt and unbelief, but 
 of admiration and joy. The posture ascribed to him i.s that 
 of holy reverence. He gives his wife her new name, accord- 
 ing to the change just intimated by God himself, in connexion 
 with the promise ; and he is not reproved, as Sarah was on 
 another occasion, whose laughter proceeded from unbelief, 
 and was rebuked by the question, " Is any thing too hard 
 for the Lord?" His entreaty, also, in behalf of the son of his 
 bondwoman, Hagar, " Oh, that Ishmael might live before 
 thee ! " we are not to consider, as springing from distrust of 
 his having another heir, but as expressing the natural desire 
 of a father's heart, that, ^hile he acquiesced, with joy and 
 gratitude, in the superiority of the child of promise, there
 
 3-:8 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 might yet be a blessing also for Tshmael ; that lie too might 
 be remembered of God, and be the object of his favourable 
 regard. His request was graciously answered. " As for 
 Tshmael, I have heard thee : behold I have blessed him, ami 
 will make him fruitful; and will multiply him exceedingly: 
 twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great 
 nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom 
 Sarah shall bear unto thee, at this set time in the next year."* 
 
 By his faith Abraham "gam glory to God:" We glorify 
 God when Ave extol His perfections : and we never do this 
 more effectually, than by displaying dispositions of rnind 
 towards Him corresponding to the nature and influence of 
 these perfections. Distrust of the word of God is highly 
 dishonouring to Him ; because it implies a secret, if not an 
 avowed, impeachment both of His truth and His power. We 
 glorify Him by implicit confidence in His word; inasmuch as 
 such confidence manifests the sense we entertain of both 
 these perfections, of the immaculate purity of the one, and 
 the boundless extent of the other. as precluding every possi- 
 bility of failure. The same remark might be extended, in its 
 application, to all the various attributes of the Divine char- 
 acter. For as our dispositions and behaviour toward a fel- 
 low-man show what we think of him ; so is it with respect 
 to God. By the depth of our humility before Him, we de- 
 clare our impressions of His infinite majesty and unspotted 
 holiness. By an unshaken dependence on His providence, 
 we show the sense we entertain of His faithful love, and un- 
 ceasing care. In thanksgiving, we proclaim our sense of olv 
 ligation for His goodness; in supplication, our conviction at 
 once of His willingness, and His ability to fulfil our desires; 
 and in unreserved persevering obedience to His command- 
 ments, our feeling of what we owe to His supreme authority, 
 anil in return for His rich unmerited mercy. 
 
 Having described the object and strength of Abraham's 
 faith, the Apostle adds (verse 22d) "Therefore it was im- 
 puted to him for righteousness." When illustrating the 
 
 
 * Sue Gen. xvii. 15 21; xviii. 9 15.
 
 ROMANS IV. 1625. 309 
 
 ground of Abraham's justification, as explained in the begin- 
 ning of this chapter, I endeavoured to show, that when it is 
 said" Abraham believed (rod, and it was counted to him 
 for righteousness," the meaning is not that what he believed, 
 but that his believing was so counted or imputed to him ; 
 that this is the natural import of the words ; and that while 
 believing is opposed, as it is by the Apostle, to working, of 
 every description, this view does not in the least affect, but 
 rather strongly confirms, that doctrine which constitutes the 
 glory of the Gospel, that sinners are " justified freely, by the 
 ffi-ac-e of God, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 
 The expression which is now before us, appears to call for 
 a few remarks on the nature of that faith which is " counted 
 for righteousness " as exemplified in the case of Abraham. 
 
 1. Th-ere can be no doubt that Abraham's faith looked 
 further than the promise, literally taken, of the birth of 
 Isaac ; even to that Ssr.d who was to spring from himself in 
 the line of Isaac ; and of whose coming the supernatural birth 
 of Isaac must have been to him an assurance and pledge. 
 " Your father Abraham, (said Jesus to the Jews,) rejoiced to 
 see my day : and he saw it, and was glad," John viii. 56. It 
 was in connexion with this, as the ground of his hope, that 
 he "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder 
 and maker is God," for "the better country, even the 
 heavenly." 
 
 2. Abraham's faith was the belief of the testimony of 
 God concerning Christ. That testimony, before the fulness 
 of time, ran in the form of promise; and, as such, was be- 
 lieved by the people of God. It was then "a faithful 
 saying, and worthy of all acceptation," that the " seed of the 
 woman was to bruise the head of the serpent;" "that in 
 Abraham's seed all the nations of the earth should be 
 blessed." Now the faithful and acceptable saying is, that 
 "Jesus Christ hath come into the world to save sinners;" 
 that, "the promise made of God unto the fathers he hath 
 fulfilled, in that he hath raised up Jesus again." We be- 
 lieve this, as matter of fact, already past ; while we believe, 
 also, as matter of promise, that "whosoever believeth in him
 
 310 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 shall not perish, but have everlasting life." It is the 
 of God, something declared hy Him, that is the object of 
 saving faith ; and not any invention of the wisdom or pride 
 of man. 
 
 3. Abraham's faith rested solely on the veracity and 
 power of the testifier. It was simply this on which he re- 
 lied; for there Avas nothing in the case but what spoke an 
 opposite language, and was calculated to engender despair. 
 He had no reason to believe what was the subject of his 
 faith, but that God, the Faithful, and the Almighty, had said 
 it. This shows the simplicity of his belief Saving faith is 
 the belief of the Gospel, the saving truth, simply on the 
 authority of Him whose testimony it is.* 
 
 4. Abraham's faith regarded the promise as matter of 
 grace; the result of the free favour of God. This is evident 
 from the nature of the case. There was nothing in Abra- 
 ham's condition, on which he could have founded any rea- 
 sonable expectation of it; and it appears, as if God had de- 
 layed the promise of this seed, till such time as all natural 
 causes, according to their ordinary course of operation, were 
 out of the question, that the freedom of His grace might be 
 the more impressively manifested. Abraham felt his own 
 deadness, and could impute his having offspring by Sarah to 
 nothing but the favour of God. And how captivating must 
 the riches of that favour have appeared to his mind, when 
 viewed in the full extent of the promise, as referring to HIM, 
 " in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed!" 
 As there was nothing in his condition as a man, on which he 
 could have built the slenderest hope of the birth of Isaac ; 
 so there was nothing in his character as a sinner, that could 
 warrant the expectation of a Saviour. The one of these cir- 
 cumstances seems strikingly to represent the other; and 
 God's acting in opposition to both, must be traced solely to 
 His sovereign grace. Thus we, in believing, acknowledge 
 Jesus to be God's "unspeakable gift." Everything in us 
 forbade the expectation of such a gift. The reason of its 
 
 * See 1 John v. 911.
 
 ROMANS IV. 1625. 311 
 
 bestowment we cannot discover in ourselves; it is to be 
 found only in the free uncontrolled exercise of Divine mercy. 
 God graciously promised, and hath faithfully fulfilled : and 
 His rich mercy merits all the praise. 
 
 5. It is such faith that "gives glory to God;" the belief 
 of the Divine word, as the word of truth and grace. And 
 it is this faith, therefore, that is " counted for righteousness : " 
 not that faith, falsely so called, which rests on the wisdom 
 and authority of man; or which, assuming the name and 
 characters of a work, destroys the grace of God, by making 
 itself, in whole or in part, the ground of our salvation. 
 Abraham took no share of the glory to himself; and he who 
 does, follows not the footsteps of the patriarch's faith. 
 
 " Xow," says the Apostle, (v. 23) " it was not written for 
 his sake alone that it was imputed to him." That is, it was 
 not written merely to record the honour conferred upon him, 
 in his being constituted, through the imputation of his faith 
 to him for righteousness, the father of the faithful. " But for 
 us also " (v. 24); for the encouragement of sinners, in every 
 age, to believe in God, for justification of life.* That this is 
 the chief import of its being written "for us also" is plain from 
 the words which follow : " To whom it shall be imputed, if 
 we believe on him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the 
 dead." 
 
 " To whom it shall be imputed;" that is; to whom faith 
 shall be counted, as it was to Abraham, for righteousness ; 
 sinners being, in the design of God, to be justified in every 
 age after the pattern of his acceptance. 
 
 "If we believe on him who raised up Jesus our Lord 
 from the dead." This makes it manifest, that Abraham's 
 faith respected Christ, as the promised seed ; else the parallel 
 between his faith, and that by which we are justified, would 
 fail in a most essentially important particular, namely, its 
 object; from which it is that faith derives its efficacy to sal- 
 vation. " We declare unto you glad tidings," said Paul to 
 the Jews, in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, " that the 
 
 * Compare Epl). u. 7; 1 Tim. i. 15, 16; Horn. xv. 4.
 
 312 LECTU11E XIX. 
 
 promise wliicli was made untp the fathers, God hath fulfilled 
 the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up 
 Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Tho.u 
 art my Son. this day have I begotten thee."* In raising 
 Jesus from the dead, God acted according to the faithfulness 
 of his character, as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
 For, as in the promised seed, "all nations were to be blessed ;" 
 it was necessary, in order to the fulfilment of this, that he 
 should not be holden of death, but should rise to the throne 
 of mediatorial dominion ; having " power given him over all 
 flesh, that he might give eternal life to as many as the 
 Father had given him;" being "exalted at God's right hand, 
 a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and 
 the forgiveness of sins."t 
 
 To "believe on him who raised up Jesus our Lord from 
 the dead," is to believe in God, as fulfilling the promise made 
 unto the fathers, by the faith of which they, of old, were 
 justified. It is to believe in Him, as the God of peace and 
 salvation; as well-pleased in his beloved Son, and in the 
 work of redemption which he finished. " Ye were not re- 
 deemed with corruptible tilings, as silver and gold, from your 
 vain conversation, received by tradition from your fatheis, 
 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without 
 blemish and without spot; who, verily, was foreordained 
 before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these 
 last times for you; who by him do /W/V?v; /// G,nl that 
 raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your 
 faith and hope might be in God." j 
 
 IL.'iice the Apostle adds, concerning Jesus : verse 25. 
 "AVho was delivered for our offences, and was raised again 
 for our justification." 
 
 Justifying faith has been represented by some, in their 
 laudable zeal for the simplicity of the Gospel, carried to ex- 
 cess, as consisting in the belief of the FACTS recorded by the 
 Evangelists concerning Jesus. This statement, when taken 
 
 * Acts xiii. 32, 33. f Jo' 1 " xvii. 2; Acts v. 31. 
 
 t 1 Pet. i. 1821.
 
 ROMANS IV. 16-25. 313 
 
 thus insulate;!, is very iur.mnplete, and calculated to mislead. 
 .Saving faith i.s not, certainly, the mere belief of the facts 
 that "Jesus died and rose again," but also, and chiefly, of the 
 tn-eauuxj and d^njn of these facts. A Socinian believes the 
 faet- . but he does riot admit their scriptural import. He 
 denies the death of Christ, in that view of it, which alone 
 gives it value, and interest to the guilty, as an atonement for 
 sin : and, consequently, disbelieves also the glorious import 
 of his resurrection, as the evidence that the atonement made 
 by his deatli was all-sufficient, and accepted of God. The 
 Gospel not only declares that Jesns died and rose again, but 
 that " He died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and 
 was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the 
 scriptures;"* that He was, as the Apostle here expresses it, 
 ' delivered for our offence*, and raised again for our Just ifvn- 
 
 Christ is here represented as sustaining the character of a 
 .surety, both in his death and resurrection. He was u de- 
 livered for our offences," given up by the Father, to sufferings 
 and death, as an atoning sacrifice, a substitute for sinners. 
 " God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us 
 all:" " It pleased JEHOVAH to bruise him:" "Awake, () 
 sword, against my shepherd, and against the man tliat is my 
 fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts : smite the shepherd, and tin- 
 sheep shall be scattered; and I will turn my hand upon the 
 little ones:" ''Messiah, God's Anointed, was cut off, but 
 not for himself:" "He who knew no sin, was made sin for 
 us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him :" 
 
 " He himself bore our sins, in his own body, on the tre-- :" 
 
 "lie was wounded for our transgressions, he was brui>ed 
 for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon 
 him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, 
 have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way ; 
 and JEHOVAH hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all : "- 
 "he suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might 
 bring us unto God : " " he gave his life a ransom for many : " 
 
 * 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4.
 
 314 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 " his blood was shed for many, for the remission of sins : " 
 " he appeared once, in the end of the world, to put away 
 sin, by the sacrifice of himself:" "in him we have redemp- 
 tion through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins : " " the 
 blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin."* 
 
 Such expressions as these, which occur so frequently in 
 Scripture, most decidedly hold forth the death of Christ as 
 an atonement for sin. On the particular nature of this 
 atonement I do not at present enter, having considered this 
 deeply interesting subject at some length when on a former 
 part of the Epistle.f 
 
 Jesus having, as the surety and substitute of sinners. 
 " become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," 
 WAS justified by his resurrection. He was declared to have 
 fully borne the curse. The sentence of discharge or of full 
 acquittal was thus, publicly and solemnly, pronounced upon 
 him by the Supreme Judge; and in Him, therefore, upon 
 all his people, all who were given to him of the Father. 
 It is in this sense, chiefly, that I understand his being " raised 
 again /or our justification." The resurrection of Jesus was a 
 repetition, by significant action, of the "voice from the ex- 
 cellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased." The death and resurrection of Christ thus form 
 together the one object of faith, and ground of joyful hope ; 
 the latter being the Divine declaration of the completeness 
 and infinite efficacy of the atonement made by the former. 
 Jesus, when he died, said, "It is finished;" referring to the 
 work which had been given him to do. God, by raising him 
 from the dead, pronounced His perfect approbation, declaring 
 this to be the truth. 
 
 - 
 
 " Our Surety freed, declares us free. 
 
 For whose offences he was seizM ; 
 In his release our own we see, 
 
 And joy to view JEHOVAH pleas'd." 
 
 * Rom. viii. 32; Isa. liii. 10; Zech. xiii. 7; Dan ix. 26; 2 Cor. v. 
 
 21; 1 Pet. ii. 24; Isa. liii. 5, 6 ; 1 Pet. iii. 18; Matt. xx. 28; xxvi. 
 
 28; Heh. ix. 2l>; Eph. i. 7 ; 1 John i. 7. 
 
 t Chap. iii. 21 26.
 
 ROMANS IV. 1625. 315 
 
 The language of their Surety from his exaltation at the right 
 hand of power is " FEAR NOT ; I am the first, and the last, 
 and the living One: and I was dead;* and behold Iain 
 alive for evermore; Amen: and have the keys of the in- 
 visible world, and of death." t 
 
 I close with one reflection. 
 
 Let us imitate the strength of Abraham's faith; his un- 
 doubting confidence in the faithfulness and power of God. 
 
 Let us beware of " staggering" through unbelief at any of 
 the promises of the God of truth, by contemplating difficul- 
 ties, and forgetting that "with Him all things are possible;" 
 that " He quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things 
 which be not as though they were." Let us rather be 
 " strong in faith, giving glory to God ; against hope believing 
 in hope ; being fully persuaded that what He hath promised 
 He is able also to perform." 
 
 Let your prayer, beloved brethren, be that of the Apostles 
 to the Lord " INCREASE OUR FAITH." Desire earnestly an 
 increasingly clear and full perception and feeling of the evi- 
 dence of the truth. To this the strength of your faith and 
 confidence in God must ever bear proportion. And tl><> 
 stronger your faith, the more vigorous and flourishing will 
 be all the other graces of the Spirit in your souls ; and the 
 more glorifying to God the manifestation of them in your 
 lives : as the deeper and Avider the roots strike, to gather the 
 nourishing juices of the soil, the greater is the expansion 
 of boughs, the luxuriance of foliage, and the abundance of 
 fruit. 
 
 If strong in faith and active in duty, then you will abound 
 in enjoyment. " Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing 
 of the hope firm unto the end.":}: Fear not, that while you 
 are zealous in His service, in the exercise of faith and lovu, 
 God will ever hide from you His countenance, by shutting 
 the eyes of your spiritual discernment against the light of 
 His favour ; and then leave you, " against hope to believe in 
 hope." So these words have sometimes been perverted.
 
 316 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 But the Lord has never thus forsaken them that seek Kim. 
 When the body and mind are in healtli, there are no clouds 
 but such as arise from the immediate prevalence of unbelief, 
 or of indulged sin, either outward or inward, that can inter- 
 cept from the heart of a child of God the light of his Father's 
 love. The cause of the deficiency, or the absence, of spir- 
 itual joy, must be sought in ourselves; not in that God and 
 Saviour who ''rests in his love." It is not God that with- 
 draws from us, but we that withdraw from God. "Let no 
 man say when he is thus tempted, I am tempted of God ; 
 for (r.'d cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any 
 man."* 
 
 Is the aspect of providence, in your personal or family 
 situation, gloomy and perplexing ; so that your eye cannot 
 find an opening through the clouds and darkness that sur- 
 round you'? Hear the voice of God to his people in such 
 circumstances: " Who is among you that feareth the Lord, 
 that obeyeth the voice of his servant ; that walketh in dark- 
 ,ud hath no light I Let him trust in the name of the 
 Lord, and stay himself upon his God."t Say not, in anxious 
 despondency, "All these things are against me ;'' but "against 
 hope believe in hope." While your ignorance and sh'rt- 
 sightedness keep you humble ; let firm reliance on the un- 
 erring wisdom of Him "who kuoweth the end from the 
 beginning," on His inviolable faithfulness who liath HH i, 
 " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," and on His 
 immutable love l ' who hath not spared his own Son," but 
 has "delivered him up for our offences, and raised him again 
 for our justification," preserve your mind meekly submissive 
 and serenely cheerful Thus "when you sit in darkn< 
 the Lord be your light." Thus, like Abraham, be " strong 
 in faith, giving glory to God : " and let the hope which is 
 .set before you be " the anchor of your souX" 
 
 How comfortable also are the views here exhibited of the 
 knowledge, and wisdom, and power of God, when considered 
 as the grounds of our confidence, as to the procedure of Pro- 
 
 * James i. 13. t Isaiah 1. 10.
 
 ROMANS IT. 16-25. 317 
 
 vidence on a larger scale in regulating the. affairs of the 
 empires and kingdoms of the earth. And especially in 
 times that are dark and perplexing, when events "run 
 counter to every calculation of probability, aud to every 
 loud expectation; when the mind, harassed by disappoint- 
 ment, and fatigued with wondering, grows weary of con- 
 jecture,, and is ready to sink under the pressure of dis- 
 couragement : how consoling to raise our thoughts to Him 
 who dwelleth in the heavens, and in the strength of faith to 
 sing " Halleluiah ! for the Lord God omnipotent rcigneth } " 
 >; He calleth those things which he not as though they wen-." 
 To Him there is no confusion, no uncertainty darkness is 
 light before Him. and crooked things straight. " He makes 
 the wrath of man to praise him. ami the remainder of wrath 
 he restrains." 
 
 There is one object, in the accomplishment of which all 
 these events shall issue: an object which must deeply en- 
 gage the heart of every one who feels the Avarm impulse of 
 gratitude for redeeming mercy, prompting him to desire and 
 to pursue, as his highest aim, the glory of his God and Sa- 
 viour; and whose heart expands with that enlarged bem-vo- 
 lence which the faith of the Gospel inspires, and which 
 embraces, in the extent of its wishes and its prayers, the 
 temporal and eternal interest* of his fellow-men. That object 
 is, the extension and establishment over the whole earth of 
 i he spiritual kingdom of Christ. 
 
 This is a legitimate object not only of Christian de<ii>', 
 but of confident expectation. The glory of the Lord was 
 revealed at the coming of Christ, and "all flesh shall see it 
 together, for the month of the Lord hath spoken it."* He 
 has confirmed his word by an oath, saying, " As truly as I 
 live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord :"t 
 The "grain of wheat fell into the earth, and died." Its im- 
 mediate produce was a handful of corn, on the top of the 
 mountains of Judea: that handful shook with prosperous 
 fruit, like Lebanon: and the time i.- fast approaching, when 
 
 * Isaiah xl. 5. t Numb. xiv. 21.
 
 313 LECTU11E XIX. 
 
 every region of the earth shall be filled with its abundant 
 increase. 
 
 The giving of a seed to Abraham and Sarah, when every 
 circumstance in nature opposed the fulfilment of the pro- 
 mise, is referred to by the Lord himself, as an encourage- 
 ment to the faith of his people, respecting what He fur- 
 ther engaged to do for His church : " Hearken to me, ye 
 that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord : look 
 unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the 
 pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, 
 and unto Sarah that bare you : for I called him alone, and 
 blessed him, and increased him. For the Lord shall comfort 
 Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will 
 make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the gar- 
 den of the Lord : joy and gladness shall be heard in her, 
 thanksgiving and the voice of melody."* 
 
 There are no obstacles now to be encountered, more for- 
 midable than those which have already been surmounted. 
 Combine the wisdom and power of the providence of God, 
 with the subduing efficacy of His Spirit and grace ; and to 
 the mind of the believer every difficulty disappears ; " every 
 valley is exalted, every mountain and hill is made low ; the 
 crooked becomes straight, and the rough places plain." The 
 providence of God can turn every event into this direction, 
 even while the agents in these events " mean not so, nor do 
 their hearts think so;" and His grace can readily subdue, as 
 we know it has done heretofore, and is daily doing before 
 our eyes, the most malignant enmity of the heart, armed 
 with all the passions, and prejudices, and interests of men. 
 
 When we look forward to our " sleeping the sleep of 
 death," let us trust in that God who " quickeneth the dead," 
 that " our flesh shall rest in hope." It is true the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead is an event so amazing as quite to over- 
 whelm our minds. But it is not more confounding than 
 creation. It is not more confounding than many of the 
 works of God, which, from our daily familiarity with them, 
 
 * Isaiah li. 13.
 
 ROMANS IV. 1625. 319 
 
 have ceased to impress us with wonder. And all the diffi- 
 culties which can be mustered by the most sceptical mind 
 vanish at once before the question " Why should it be 
 thought a thing incredible with you that GOD should raise 
 the dead?"* "If the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus 
 from the dead dwell in you, He who raised up Christ from 
 the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit 
 that dwelleth in you."t "This corruptible must put on in- 
 comiption ; and this mortal must put on immortality. So 
 when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal shall have put on im mortality, then shall be 
 brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swal- 
 lowed up in victory!"| 
 
 * Acts xxvi. 8. f Hotn. viii. II. \ \ Cor. xv. 53, 54.
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 
 ROMANS v. 1 5. 
 
 "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through out- 
 Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wht-rrin 
 . we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we 
 glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and pa- 
 tience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope inaketh not ashamed; be- 
 cause the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is 
 given unto us." 
 
 HAVING explained the nature, the ground, and the medium 
 of justification, the Apostle, in these verses, enumerates some 
 of its present happy consequences. 
 
 u Being justified by fuitlt" Some advocates for the doo 
 trine that justification is from eternity, would make the pause, 
 in these words, at jujf ifil : ' therefore being justified, by 
 faith we have peace with God." 
 
 That the words, taken by themselves, might be so translate.!, 
 it were foolish to dispute. But it may safely be affirmed, 
 that such a translation is entirely inconsistent with the whole 
 of the Apostle's reasoning and phraseology, in the preceding 
 and subsequent context. This ia one of numberless instances 
 in which men plume themselves on the discovery, that a par- 
 ticular sentence may, by some slight alteration, be made to 
 accord with the principles they have adopted, while both 
 their principles and their translation are completely at vari- 
 ance with the scope of the writer, where the sentence occurs. 
 J>t us, my friends, on all subjects, be on our guard against 
 every such method of warping the Scriptures, and making 
 them speak a partial and contradictory language. 
 
 The doctrine itself of eternal justification arises from a
 
 ROMANS V. 1-5. 321 
 
 very inconsiderate confounding of what exists in the purpose 
 of the divine mind with what takes place in fact in the course 
 of the divine administration. It is obvious to remark, (so 
 obvious that the doctrine needs no further refutation,) that if 
 we are to frame our expressions on such a principle, it will be 
 equally correct to say that sinners are glorified from eternity 
 as that they are justified from eternity. -Say, since all things 
 must be considered as having been included in God's eternal 
 purpose, every existence in creation, and every event in pro- 
 vidence ; we must remove from language all the way-marks 
 of time together, and speak of everything as having &.>>><, i >r 
 as having Iwppmed, from eternity. There is a weakness, 
 indeed, in thus playing with words, and identifying purposes 
 with events, which renders its conceits hardly worthy of 
 notice. Have sinners existed from eternity? Upon the 
 principle in question they have. 
 
 The Apostle had concluded his argument in support of 
 justification by faith, " without the deeds of the law :" and he 
 here draws an inference from what he had established; 
 " THEREFORE being justified by faith," as I have shown that 
 Abraham was, and all his spiritual children are, " ;< l,<ir<>. 
 peace with God.'' 
 
 We have seen that justification is the gracious act of God, 
 as a Sovereign and Judge, in bestowing on sinners the forgive- 
 ness of their guilt, and in acknowledging and treating them 
 as righteous. It is an obvious truth, that, till a sinner is 
 thus justified, he can have no "peace with God;" any more 
 than a rebel condemned to the block can be said to have 
 peace with his offended sovereign. Sin is the separating 
 barrier between God and his guilty creatures; and it is only 
 by the removal of this barrier, throng]! the r-Apiation of guilt, 
 that they can draw near to Him in the enjoyment of peace. 
 To this precious blessing, the heart must continue a stranger, 
 while a sense of unatoned sin burdens the conscience. When 
 we arraign ourselves before the tribunal of the Supreme 
 Judge, and put home the question, "Guilty, <>r not guilty?'' 
 our consciences must be stupified by sin, or their dictates per- 
 verted by the blinding influence of a deceitful heart, if we 
 
 L X
 
 322 LECTURE XX. 
 
 are, even for a moment, at a loss for the answer. Our hearts 
 e<m<lemn us. Our mouths are stopped, sealed in the awful 
 silence of self-conviction. We stand "guilty before God."- 
 When we station ourselves at the foot of the cross, and 
 "look unto Jesus;" when wo view him as "delivered for 
 our offences, and raised again for our justification;" when 
 we hear the voice of that God with whom we have to 
 do, declaring himself well-pleased for his righteousness' sake ; 
 pronouncing that righteousness perfect, and accepting it in 
 behalf of all who believe ; on the ground of His satisfaction 
 in Jesus, publishing the gracious offer of free remission to 
 the chief of sinners : it is then that peace springs up in the 
 soul, where before there was " anguish of spirit and cruel 
 bondage;" and by that which at first produced it, it is ever 
 afterwards maintained. The heavenly visitant, with her 
 retinue of joys, enters the heart, when " Christ is formed in 
 it the hope of glory;" and when HE continues to " dwell in 
 il liy faith," she fixes, along with him, her holy and happy 
 abode. " We have peace with God, through Jesm Christ our 
 Lord." 
 
 How vast, how unutterable the value of this privilege ! 
 They only know, by whom this peace is enjoyed, how .s\\vet 
 it is in itself, and what additional sweetness it imparts to all 
 other blessings. It is the richast ingredient in the cup of 
 human bliss. Extract it ; and what do you leave behind, but 
 an infusion of gall and wormwood? Even the prosperity of 
 life is embittered by the curse of God : what unmingled bit- 
 terness, then, must there be in its afflictions ! Whereas a 
 sense of Divine favour at once gives a relish, otherwise un- 
 known, to the enjoyments of life, and alleviates, beyond ex 
 pivssion, its adversities and cares. 
 
 These remarks proceed on the assumption that the peace here 
 spoken of, refers not to state or condition, but to fecUwj >n><} 
 enjoyment. In this view it evidently includes in its nature, 
 a sense of God's favour and love; filial boldness in drawing 
 i.ear to His throne ; satisfaction and delight in every part of 
 His character: tranquil serenity amidst all the varying dis- 
 pensations of His providence ; devout and humble confidence
 
 ROMANS V. 15. 323 
 
 in the prospect of standing before His tribunal in judgment. 
 And that " having peace with God " means here a sense of 
 peace, and not a mere state of peace, seems evident from this 
 that if it referred to state, it would be nearly or entirely 
 of the same import with " being justified ;" and the statement 
 would thus amount to little more than that being justified 
 we are justified : for what is justification but a state of 
 peace with God? Ought it not, then, on the other hand, to 
 be equally clear to every candid mind, that " being justified " 
 refers to state and not to inward consciousness or enjoyment, 
 that it means pardon itself and not a sense of pardon, 
 seeing, if it meant the latter, the Apostle's statement would 
 in like manner be reduced to a pointless truism ; for what 
 difference is there between a sense of pardon, and peace with 
 God in the soul 1 ? And were we to interpret being justified 
 of having a sense of pardon, and having " peace with God " 
 of being in a state of peace, we should fall into the absurdity 
 of placing the enjoyment of the state before the state itself, 
 and making the pardon to arise out of the consciousness of 
 having it. 
 
 Mark well, how solicitous the Apostle is, to keep us in 
 mind of Christ as the channel which conveys to us every 
 stream of spiritual blessing. When this is his object he 
 seems never to fear the charge of redundancy and repetition. 
 As faith, in the first verse of this chapter, refers immediately 
 to the object of faith in the end of the chapter preceding, it 
 might seem enough to have said " being justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God." But the Apostle brings again 
 into view the ground of all our blessedness. He thus re- 
 minds us of the important truth, that our continued enjoy- 
 ment of " peace with God " must be derived, even to the end, 
 from the same source with our original acceptance, or justifi- 
 cation. How different in this respect, the feelings and con- 
 duct of Paul from those of many, who call themselves min- 
 isters of Christ, but in whose discourses, unless it be in such 
 general terms as are necessary to give a sermon somewhat of 
 a Christian sound, the very name of the Saviour hardly ever 
 greets the ear! Paul views him as the foundation corner-
 
 324 LECTURE XX. 
 
 stone of the building ; so essential to its stability, that with- 
 out it the whole magnificent fabric of Divine truth would 
 tumble into ruins : as the sun in the centre of the Christian 
 system, without whose blessed light all the surrounding 
 luminaries of heavenly truth would be bereft of their glory 
 and every scene of present joy, and every prospect of joy 
 to come, would instantly be covered with darkness, desola- 
 tion, and despair! 
 
 It is in Christ Jesus that God is revealed as the " God of 
 peace;" and therefore it is in him that sinners have " jwe 
 with God:" and the constancy with which a sense of this 
 peace is enjoyed, will be according to the steadfastness with 
 which believers depend for its continuance, on that all-suffi- 
 cient Saviour, by the knowledge of whom it was first im- 
 parted to their minds. Hence Verse 2. " By whom also 
 we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand ; 
 and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 
 
 " We have access: more literally, " ice have had an In- 
 troduction"* or, " we have been introduced." Here, if I mis- 
 take not, the Apostle refers to the exercise of Christ's power 
 in making us partakers of the blessings of salvation. In the 
 former verse we view him as the meritorious procurer, in 
 this verse as the sovereign dispenser, of these blessings two 
 points of view in which he is frequently presented to us in 
 the word of God. 
 
 " The grace wherein we stand," seems to mean much the 
 same thing with the peace spoken of in verse first ; namely, the 
 state and enjoyment of favour with God, into which we are 
 brought by the Gospel; and the Gospel as a display of Di- 
 vine favour, and the means of bringing sinners to the pos- 
 session of it, is accordingly denominated, "the gospel of the 
 grace of God." The Apostle expresses, in the following 
 terms, his own sense of obligation to Jesus for having intro- 
 duced him to the enjoyment of this precious blessing : 
 " The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith 
 and love which is in Christ Jesus: I obtained mercy that 
 
 * A/' 5t xcci r>;v 7Ttaira.yuyr,t i<r^r.K'~u.^f, X. T. A.
 
 ROMANS V. 15. 325 
 
 in me first" (that in me the chief of sinners) "Jesus 
 Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern 
 unto them who should hereafter believe on him to life ever- 
 lasting."* And indeed the sovereign agency of Christ in 
 this matter is declared in the clearest terms, both in the Old 
 Testament and in the Xew. " By his knowledge shall my 
 righteous servant justify many : " " The Lord shall send the 
 rod of thy strength out of Zion ; rule thou in the midst of 
 thine enemies : thy people shall be willing in the day of thy 
 power : " " Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that 
 he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given 
 him : and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the 
 only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent:" 
 " Him hath God exalted at his right hand, a Prince and a 
 Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel and remission of 
 sins." f The same power, indeed, of forgiving sin with which 
 he is thus declared to be invested in heaven, he proved him- 
 self by miracle to possess when on earth : " Son," said he 
 to a certain paralytic that was brought to him for cure, " be 
 of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee." And when some 
 of the scribes said within themselves, " This man blasphem- 
 eth," he repelled their secret accusations, and affirmed his 
 Divine prerogative: "Wherefore think ye evil in your 
 hearts] for whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven 
 thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know 
 that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, 
 (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy 
 bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and departed to 
 his house."! 
 
 The same thing, it is true, as in various other instances, i- 
 ascribed to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit. Christ and 
 his Father are ONE; and "what things soever the Father 
 doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." The Spirit of 
 truth, the immediate Agent in bringing sinners from dark- 
 
 * 1 Tim. i. 14. 16. 
 
 + Isa. liii. 11 : 1'sal. ex. 2, 3: John xvn. 2. 3: Acts v SI. 
 
 J Matt. ix. 2-7. John x. 30; v. 19.
 
 326 LECTURE XX. 
 
 ness to light, and from enmity to peace with God, is repre- 
 sented as sent by hoth.* 
 
 The favour of God, in which believers stand by faith,- is 
 not a fruitless friendship, unproductive of good to him who 
 possesses it. Even here, the very thought of -his love is of 
 itself a spring of exquisite delight. His favour is life ; His 
 loving-kindness better than life. Yet precious as it is to the 
 child of God even now, and the source of his richest joys, 
 while a stranger and pilgrim on the earth ; it sets before him 
 in prospect infinitely more than it gives him in present pos- 
 session : " We rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 
 
 "The glory of God," which is the object of Christian hope, 
 is that state of exalted honour and everlasting blessedness, 
 which He has promised to all who believe in the name of 
 his Son. Of this glory, either in its nature or degree, we 
 can form no adequate conception. It is variously repre- 
 sented to us, under the images of a " kingdom, prepared for 
 us before the foundation of the world ; " a " crown of 
 life" "of righteousness" "of glory;" an "inheritance 
 incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." It is 
 summed up in being with Christ, and being like Christ: 
 for these two expressions, although their full meaning is be- 
 yond his present comprehension, while he " walks by faith, 
 not by sight," yet present to the mind of the true Christian 
 all that is excellent, all that is desirable; the perfection of 
 happiness and the perfection of honour. " Father, I will 
 that they also whom thou hast given me may be with me 
 where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast 
 given me." " It doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but 
 we know that when lie shall appear we shall be like him ; 
 for we shall see him as he is." This is enough; this is 
 heaven ! 
 
 When Christians are said to " rejoice in hope of the glory 
 of God," the reference no doubt, is to that time, when " the 
 Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 
 the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God; when 
 
 * See John xiv. 16, 26; with xv. 20; xvi. 7, 15.
 
 ROMANS V. 15. 327 
 
 the dead in Christ shall first rise, and then they win. an; 
 alive and remain shall be caught up together with tln;in in 
 the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and to be for -vi-r 
 with him : " " When the Saviour whom we look for from 
 heaven shall change our vile bodies, that they may be fash- 
 ioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working 
 whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." 
 Yet the expression should be understood as including like- 
 wise all the blessedness of the intermediate state, during which 
 the soul, when "absent from the body," shall be "at home 
 with the Lord." Into these two objects of expectation the 
 hope of the Christian naturally divides itself It is his hope, 
 when he looks forward to dissolution, that " when he departs 
 he shall be with Christ, which is far better:" and it is his 
 hope, in contemplating the grave, that "them who sleep in 
 Jesus God shall bring with him." To the "spirits of just 
 men made perfect," heaven itself is still a place of hope. 
 The "hope of the glory of God" will not receive its com- 
 plete fulfilment, till " this corruptible shall put on incorrup- 
 tion, and this mortal immortality ; and the saying be brought 
 to pass which is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 
 Then the followers of the Lamb shall know fully, in their 
 blessed experience, what is meant by " the hope of the glory 
 of God." Raised in incorruption ; a spotless soul residing 
 in a spiritual and immortal body; introduced into the hea- 
 ven of heavens; assimilated, in the beauty of holiness, to 
 that God "who is light, and in whom there is no darkness 
 at all;" thus fitted for the society of angels, and for enjoy- 
 ing fellowship with Christ and with God, a fellowship which 
 nothing shall mar and nothing interrupt for ever and ever ; 
 each shall be raised to the highest honour and the highest 
 happiness, of which his nature is susceptible, and all " a 
 multitude which no man can number, out of all kindreds, 
 and peoples, and nations, and tongues" entering with a 
 pure and fervent sympathy into one another's joys, and thus 
 multiplying and augmenting the sources of their own 
 " shall stand before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed 
 in white robes, with palms in their hands; and shall sing
 
 323 LECTURE XX. 
 
 with a loud voice, Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon 
 the throne, and to the Lamb!" 
 
 No wonder it should be said : " We rejoice in hope of the 
 glory of God." 
 
 All hope is, from its nature, productive of joy ; of joy 
 proportioned in degree to the magnitude of the anticipated 
 object, and the firmness of expectation with which it is re- 
 garded. Surely this, then, must be a joyful hope indeed 
 the hope of " the. glory of God!" of "a far more exceeding 
 and eternal weight of glory!" What joy can be suitable for 
 "a hope so great and so divine," less than "joy unspeakable" 
 a joy for which the tongue can find no utterance ] 
 
 But the present is a mixed state ; a scene of alternate joy 
 and grief. While the Christian even here " drinks of the 
 river of God's pleasures," he must at the same time drink of 
 the "bitter waters" of affliction. While the sky of his 
 hopes is all bright, the day of his mortal life is often 
 " cloudy and dark." " Many are the afflictions of the right- 
 eous : " some of them common to him with other men ; 
 and some, (such, for instance, as may arise from his profes- 
 sion of Christ's name) peculiar to himself. From his being 
 the object of Divine favour, it does not, by any means, fol- 
 low, that he should be exempt from suffering. He is no- 
 where taught to expect such exemption. The Saviour's own 
 declaration is " In the world ye shall have tribulation." * 
 But possessing the favour of God, and the hope of the glory 
 of God, even in that the believer can rejoice : '' Not only 
 so ; " continues the Apostle, " but we glory in tribulations 
 also." "Not only so." To "rejoice in hope" is nothing 
 singular. But it seems strange language, to speak of " glory- 
 ing in tribulation." 
 
 The word here translated "glory" is the same with that 
 rendered "rejoice"^ in the second verse. There it signifies 
 that elevated state of mind in which the Christian, while 
 " the rich man glories in his riches, the wise man in his 
 wisdom, and the mighty man in his might," exults and 
 
 * John xvi. 33. f xzu^ti^y.i, often rendered to boast. ED.
 
 KOMANS V. 15. 329 
 
 triumphs in the possession and the hope of something infi- 
 nitely better. 
 
 In the verse before us it is applied, as it is also in other 
 places, to tribulation. And the reason of the application lies 
 in the important ends which are accomplished, by the trials 
 of life, to the children of God It is not the trouble itself. 
 but the design for which it is sent ; it is not the medicine, 
 but its salutary effect; that cheers and strengthens and ele- 
 vates even to exultation the hearts of the children of God. 
 For although " no chastening for the present seemeth to be 
 joyous, but grievous ; nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth the 
 peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercise. 1 
 thereby." " Though our outward man perish, yet the inward 
 man is renewed day by day : for our light affliction, which is 
 but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things 
 which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for 
 the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which 
 are not seen are eternal."* 
 
 The Apostle, in what follows, describes the process of 
 improving influence: "knowing that tribulation worketh 
 patience ; and patience, experience ; 'and experience, hope ; 
 and hope inaketh not ashamed, because the love of God is 
 shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given 
 \into us." 
 
 " Tribulation worketlt patience.' 1 Not that the direct 
 inflii'-ni-p, of tribulation is to the production of patience; for 
 its tendency, when left to its own operation on the corrupt 
 passions of the human heart, is precisely the reverse of 
 this: it is to discontent, fretfulness, and rebellion. The 
 stony-ground hearers "endured for a while; but when tri- 
 bulation or persecution arose because of the word, imme- 
 diately they were offended." In the mind of Jonah, when 
 fretted by the withering of his gourd, anil foolishly and pre- 
 sumptuously averring in the very face of God that he " did 
 well to be angry," we see the effects of trouble on the irritable 
 
 * Hub. xii. 11: 2 Cor. iv. 1C 18.
 
 330 LECTURE XX. 
 
 selfishness and proud contumacy of our fallen nature. It 
 is, at the same time, obvious, that there can be no patience 
 where there is no trial , and the Scriptures teach us, that 
 the various troubles of life are designed by God to exercise 
 and improve in His children this important virtue. They 
 are the discipline of a Father; and His blessing renders 
 the discipline effectual " Tribulation worketh patience;" 
 that is, it is instrumental in producing and promoting it. 
 " Count it all joy," says James, " when ye fall into divers 
 trials; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh 
 patience."* Whatever tries faith tries patience; whatever, 
 through the blessing of God, adds strength to the one im- 
 parts, in the same proportion, additional vigour to the 
 other : for patience, like all the other graces of the Christian 
 character, is a fruit of faith. If faith fails, patience must 
 fail with it. It is when faith abides the trial, that " tri- 
 bulation worketh patience." Thus faith and patience are 
 associated by the Apostle when he says to the Hebrews; 
 " Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith 
 and patience are now inheriting the promises : " t and again ; 
 " Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great 
 recompence of reward. ' For ye have need of patience, that 
 after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the pro- 
 mise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will 
 come, and will not, tarry :" J arid again to the Thessalonians ; 
 " We glory in you in the churches of God for your patience 
 and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations which ye 
 endure." Indeed, if faith be, as the Apostle expresses it, 
 " the confidence of things hoped for, and the conviction of 
 things not seen," its connexion with patience is abundantly 
 obvious. It is "while we look not at the things which are 
 seen, but at the things which are not seen," that " our afflic- 
 tion works for us the weight of glory," preparing us, as salu- 
 tary discipline, for " the inheritance of the saints in light." 
 So it is through faith it is when faith continues in exer- 
 
 * James i. 2, 3. f Heb. vi. 12. } Heb. x. 3537. 
 
 g 2 Thes. i. 4.
 
 ROMANS V. 15. 331 
 
 cise, and is confirmed instead of being shaken and enfeebled 
 by the trial ; it is then that " tribulation worketh patience;" 
 patience still springeth from faith, and proportioned to it in 
 strength. 
 
 Christian " patience," it ought to be remembered, is some- 
 thing more than mere passive submission. It is not sit- 
 ting down under our burden, to bear it in spiritless indo- 
 lence. It includes in it the persevering manifestation of 
 our attachment to Jesus, by unremitting activity in duty. 
 When " tribulation worketh patience," it excites us to lift up 
 " the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees ; " to be 
 " stedfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of 
 the Lord." Hence we are exhorted to " run with patience, the 
 race that is set before us;" and when reminded that we 
 " have need of patience," it is that after " having done, tlw ///// 
 of God, we might receive the promises." It is this active 
 patience (if the expression be admissible) that tribulation is 
 intended to work : " a patient continuance in well-dmng." 
 
 " And patience, experience" The benefit of trials is lost, 
 when we either " despi.se the chastening of the Lord," or 
 " faint when we are rebuked of him." It is only when they 
 are borne with Christian " patience," that " experience " is 
 their happy fruit The word translated " experience " sig- 
 nifies properly proof:* and there are various things proved 
 to us by our trials which we learn, or experience from them 
 when they are endured with patience. 
 
 For example : from our afflictions, when thus borne in a 
 right spirit, we derive increasing ''experience" of the love, 
 and care, the faithfulness, and power of our Father who in in 
 heaven. He has assured us that those whom He loves He 
 " chastens, even as a father the son in whom he delights." He 
 has encouraged us to " cast all our care upon him," by the 
 declaration, and, in the gift of His Son, the convincing evi- 
 dence, that " He careth for us." He has promised, " never to 
 leave, never to forsake us;" and especially has He promised 
 that, when we " pass through the waters He will be with us,
 
 232 LECTURE XX. 
 
 and through the floods they shall not overflow us." He has 
 reproved the desponding fears of His people, by reminding 
 them of His character as the " everlasting God, Jehovah, the 
 Creator of the ends of the earth, who fainteth not neither is 
 weary,'' and .assuring them that "He giveth power to the weak, 
 and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." 
 When " patient in tribulation," we learn, by sweet " experi- 
 ence," that God is indeed to his people all that He declares 
 himself to be. 
 
 In "tribulation," again, we "experience" our own weakii'-** 
 and emptiness, and the att-*t$iciency of Jesiis. "We feel the 
 repugnance of our nature to suffering ; the difficulty of bow- 
 ing with meek submission to the Divine will, the proneness 
 that is in us to doubt and to rebel. But when we are en- 
 abled to bear our trials with patience, they teach us, by " ex- 
 perience," experience which imparts both present delight, 
 and encouragement for the future, that ' the grace of Jesus 
 is sufficient for us;' 'that we can do all things through 
 Christ who strengtheneth us.' 
 
 Further: tribulation, when endured with patient submis- 
 sion, deepens the impression upon the heart, of the vanity 
 and wuatiffactory nature of all earthly things, when sought 
 after, and depended upon, as a portion. Sanctified trouble 
 dissolves the delusive charm of prosperity. AVhen the cup 
 of worldly enjoyment is at our lips, and we are in danger of 
 drinking it with too greedy a draught, the bitter that is in- 
 fused, by rendering it unpalatable, prevents its intoxicating 
 and deadly influence. The heart is brought back to the re- 
 lish, which it was losing, of higher joys. And while we are 
 made more humbly sensible of the emptiness of a merely 
 temporal portion, we, at the same time, feel the gladdening 
 influence, and the inestimable preciousness, of the truths of 
 God, and of the good hope which the faith of them inspires. 
 Thus the case of the prophet's little book is reversed. The 
 trial itself is bitter to the taste ; but the experience resulting 
 from it is sweet. 
 
 And this leads me to notice what deep " experience" pa- 
 tiently endured "tribulation" imparts, of the divine excellence
 
 ROMANS V. 1-5. 333 
 
 and sufficiency of the word of God. How precious has this 
 volume of inspiration ever been felt to be by the children of 
 God, in their seasons of trial ! How exhilarating the light of 
 its gracious discoveries, amid the deepest darkness of earthly 
 sorrow ! how soothing the sympathising assurances of our 
 divine Friend, when human friends have deluded or forsaken 
 us ! how rich the treasures of its " exceeding great and pre- 
 cious promises," when our worldly resources have " made 
 themselves wings and flown away as an eagle towards hea- 
 ven ! " how sweet the celestial music of its devotion, when 
 our "harp has been turned to mourning, and our organ to 
 the voice of them that Aveep ! " how delightful the " still 
 small voice" of a Saviour's love, amidst all the harassing 
 turmoils of a turbulent world ! It is in seasons of varied 
 trial, that the believer learns to clasp this divine treasure to 
 his heart, and to say, " The law of thy mouth is better unto 
 me than thousands of gold and silver!" 
 
 Lastly : Patience in tribulation " worketh experience," by 
 imparting to the mind comfortable evidence of the reality of 
 our faith in Jems, and of our consequent interest in his sal- 
 ration. This patience is one of the fruits of faith, and all 
 the fruits of faith are proofs of its genuineness. "VVe judge, 
 from the fruit, of the soundness of the root and stem. The 
 man whose professed faith allows him to fret and murmur 
 under his trials, has good cause to suspect that the Gospel 
 has come to him " in word only." But when the faith of 
 the truth inspires tranquil resignation, and "patience has her 
 perfect work," we have "the witness in ourselves" of our 
 connexion with Him who said, " The cup which my Father 
 hath given me shall I not drink it?" By "adding to our 
 faith patience," we "make our calling and election sure." 
 
 The experience described, as afforded by tribulation, when 
 borne with patience, is calculated to impress on our minds 
 the value of the Gospel hope, and, at the same time, to con- 
 firm to us its certainty. Hence the Apostle adds "and 
 experience, hope." Whatever bears testimony to the truth 
 of those doctrines which the Christian believes serves to 
 establish the hope of which these doctrines are the founda-
 
 334 LECTURE XX. 
 
 tion. Now his inward experience his experience of the 
 effects produced by the Gospel in his own heart, although 
 not in the same manner as the external evidence, communi- 
 cable to others, is yet, to his own mind, not only a pleasing 
 but a rational and convincing testimony in favour of Divine 
 truth. His experience, therefore, confirms his faith : and 
 the confirmation of his faith gives additional confidence to 
 his hope. It settles and animates its exercise. He "abounds 
 in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 "And hope," continues the Apostle, "maketh not ashamed." 
 The Christian has no cause to be ashamed of his hope ; 
 for its object is the most excellent and sublime that can 
 occupy the mind of an immortal creature. It is indeed, in 
 this respect, a glorious hope; infinitely superior to the high- 
 est expectations of good that can be cherished, which ter- 
 minate on this side the grave. It is, as the Apostle had 
 already expressed it, " the hope of THE GLORY OF GOD." 
 Who that attaches any right ideas to the meaning of such 
 an expression, (a meaning still imperfectly conceived when 
 the mind has tried its utmost to embrace it) will ever be 
 ashamed of having his thoughts engaged, his heart warmed, 
 and all the energies of his soul exerted about an object so 
 immensely important] But the object of a man's hope may 
 be ever so excellent, while the foundation on which it rests 
 is insecure. In this respect also, the Christian has no rea- 
 son to be ashamed of his hope. It rests on a ground im- 
 mutably firm ; on a rock, which all the powers of earth and 
 hell will attempt in vain to shake. Its foundation is the 
 finished work of Immanuel, and the faithful declarations and 
 promises of the God of truth : a foundation which bears to 
 be examined, to be surveyed in every quarter, contemplated 
 iu every light; and which, the more closely and narrowly it 
 is inspected, satisfies the mind with the increasing assurance 
 of its stability. The inconsistency of other foundations of 
 hope with the character and government of God, and the 
 real condition of men, is such as may well fill those who 
 build upon them with shame. But surely we need not blush 
 to avow our firm confidence in the security of that founda-
 
 HOMAXS V. t_5. 335 
 
 tion, on which we can pour the full light of the divine glory 
 without discovering a flaw ! 
 
 That man has cause to be ashamed who has fondly indulged 
 a hope which proves in the end fallacious ; which instead 
 of being crowned with enjoyment, terminates in despair. 
 But such shall never be the end of that hope of which the 
 foundation is the grace and truth of Jehovah made known 
 in the gospel of his Son. They who trust in that founda- 
 tion " shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without 
 end." 
 
 Let us not be ashamed, then, now. Let the world scoff 
 and ridicule; let them say, with scornful derision, iu the 
 hour of our affliction, "Where is thy God?" still let us 
 trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon our God," 
 " holding the beginning of our confidence, and the rejoicing 
 of the hope, firm unto the end." Then it will appear, be- 
 fore the assembled world, whether the scorner or the scorned 
 has had cause for shame. 
 
 That the Christian's hope shall never make him ashamed, 
 he possesses a sure and satisfying pledge; "Because the 
 love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost 
 given unto us." 
 
 From the subsequent verses, which contain an illustration 
 of God's love to us, it would appear that this, rather than 
 our love to God, is meant by the Apostle in these words. 
 This love is "shed abroad* in the heart," when the Holy Spirit, 
 by his enlightening influence, imparts to the sinner's mind 
 the spiritual discernment of that truth in which it is espe- 
 cially made known; thus displaying it to his understanding 
 and recommending it to his affections, in its freedom, its 
 riches, and its immutability; producing a delightful confi- 
 dence or persuasion of this love in the soul; along with a 
 growing experience of its holy, heavenly, and happy fruits ; 
 of which the chief is a return of love to the God of salva- 
 tion, for what He is, and for what He hath done. It is the 
 Holy Spirit by whom this sense of divine love is imparted 
 
 * Literally, is poured out >.K'I^UTKI. Ku.
 
 336 LECTURE XX. 
 
 to the soul; not by secret impressions and intimations, of 
 which they who imagine themselves the subjects can give no 
 rational or consistent account; but by opening the under- 
 standing to the truths and promises of God, in which this 
 divine love is revealed, and its perpetuity pledged to the 
 believing and obedient. " If a man love me, he will keep 
 my sayings; and my Father will love him; and we will 
 come unto him, and make our abode with him." The dis- 
 play already made of God's love, in the gift of his Son, 
 imparts the comfortable assurance of its never changing ; and 
 on this rests our confidence of the complete fulfilment of our 
 hopes : " He who spared not his own Son, but delivered 
 him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give 
 us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of 
 Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or fa- 
 mine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Xay, in all these 
 things we are more than conquerors through him that loved 
 us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor 
 angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, n<n- 
 things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other crea- 
 ture, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which 
 is in Christ Jesus our Lord."* 
 
 It should also be observed, that the Holy Spirit, who thus 
 "sheds abroad the love of God" in the soul, is himself, as ex- 
 pressed in his various influences, frequently represented as 
 the pledge and earnest of the fulfilment of Christian hope. ' 
 " In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with 
 that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our in- 
 heritance, until the redemption of the purchased posse.<skm, 
 unto the praise of his glory:" "Now he who stablisheth us 
 together with you, and hath anointed us, is God ; who hath 
 also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our 
 hearts:" "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by wh-.m 
 ye are sealed unto the day of rede nip tion."t The various 
 fruits of the Spirit, the effects of his holy influence in the 
 
 * Rorn. viii. :52. 35 3. 
 t Epli. i. 12, 13; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22; Ep!i. iv. 20.
 
 ROMANS V. 1-5. 337 
 
 heart and life, are the evidence of his dwelling in us; and 
 his dwelling in us, by the gift of God, is the sacred pledge 
 and blessed foretaste of " the hope that is laid up for us in 
 heaven." 
 
 If. then, the Apostle knew these to be the happy results 
 of "tribulation;" knew it from the testimony of the word of 
 God, from his own experience, and from the recorded experi- 
 ence of others, can we any longer wonder at the expression 
 which appeared at first so remarkable " We glory in tribu- 
 lations also?" 
 
 What a happy change, my brethren, of STATE, of PEELINGS, 
 and of PROSPECTS is, in these verses, exhibited to our contem- 
 plation ! a change from condemnation to pardon and accep- 
 tance; from dread of God as a righteous judge, to peace 
 with Him as a merciful friend; from the fearful expectation 
 of wrath, to the hope of "glory, and honour, and immor- 
 tality!" All this we owe to Him "who was delivered for 
 our offences, and raised again for our justification." He hath 
 taken the curse out of our afflictions, and changed them, in 
 their purpose and effects, into blessings. He hath unstinged 
 death, and made the very king of terrors our friend! He 
 has poured out to us the fulness of his own heart's love, 
 and has diffused its hallowed influence in ours; thus giv- 
 ing us the richest and sweetest of enjoyments here as the 
 prelude and the pledge of perfect bliss hereafter. He makes 
 all the trials of earth preparatory to the glory of heaven ; 
 and has put a new song in our mouths, which we can sing 
 in the midnight of sorrow, as well as in the noontide of the 
 day of prosperity. Shall not our language then be 
 "What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits? 
 we will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name 
 of the Lord." And shall not our firm purpose be to 
 "live not to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and 
 rose again?" 
 
 careless sinner, think what you forfeit by refusing 
 Christ! Your sins remain unpardoned; for there is no 
 justification but by faith. You are in a state of aliena- 
 tion from God; for there is no peace with Him, but 
 
 L Y
 
 333 LECTURE XX. 
 
 " through Jesus Christ our Lord" You are destitute 
 of His favour; for into that favour no sinner can be in- 
 troduced but by Christ. Your hope, if you have any, is 
 delusive; for except through him there is no divinely sanc- 
 tioned hope for sinners. Without Christ, the curse of God 
 is in all your tribulations. They are judicial inflictions, not 
 parental chastisements. Without Christ there is a curse, not in 
 your sufferings only but in your very blessings, and death 
 retains all the terrors of his sting. You want the solace 
 of adversity; you want the relish of prosperity; you want 
 the chief joy of life; you want the only joy in death; you 
 want all that can fit you for eternity. Come to Jesus; and 
 all the blessings we have been describing will be yours. 
 " All things are ready," ready for your immediate accep- 
 tance and enjoyment, " without money and without price " 
 
 " Pardon, and life, and endless peace, 
 How rich the gift, how free the grace ! "
 
 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 ROMANS v. 6 11. 
 
 " For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the 
 nngodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a 
 good man .some would even dare to die. But God commended) his love toward 
 us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, 
 being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 
 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his 
 Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved l>y his life. And not only 
 so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have 
 now received the atonement. 
 
 Ix the fifth verse, the Apostle had said, " Hope maketh not 
 asliaint.nl, becau.se the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us." One leading ob- 
 ject, in the verses which immediately follow, appears to be 
 the establishment of what he had thus affirmed. The hope 
 of the Christian arises from the love of God, as it is displayed 
 in the Gospel. The Apostle, therefore, goes on to show, from 
 what it has already done, the immutable perpetuity of that 
 love. By showing this, he establishes the certainty of the 
 hope that is founded upon it; as a hope that "maketh not 
 ashamed," even notwithstanding all the tribulations \vhirh 
 they who hold it are called to suffer; these tribulations 
 being no evidence that the "God of hope" has ceased to 
 love them; no evidence, that He who has done so much for 
 them, will ever forsake them will ever leave their salvation 
 incomplete, and frustrate the hopes which He has himself 
 inspired. He first, accordingly, brings forward to view that 
 most wonderful FACT, which forms the grand evidence of
 
 340 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 God's love; he then illustrates, by comparison, the strength, 
 and singularity of this evidence ; and thence he infers the 
 oTtainty of the final and complete salvation of all who have 
 obtained by faith an interest in the provided propitiation. 
 
 The fact in which the love of God is so singularly mani- 
 fested, is stated in verse sixth, "For when we were yet 
 without strength, .in due time Christ died for the ungodly." 
 
 Our natural character and state are, in these words, shortly 
 expressed. We are represented as " unyodly" and as " ttiiltout 
 strength." The former of these two particulars was fully illus- 
 trated in the preceding part of this Epistle, and shown to be 
 true of all mankind.* In the verse before us, the Apostle 
 applies the epithet "unyoi.llij" to himself, and to all his fellow- 
 Christians as expressing their character, previously to their 
 " receiving the love of the truth that they might be saved." 
 This accords with his language on other occasions : as, for 
 instance, when he writes to the Ephesians " You hath he 
 quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein, 
 in time past, ye walked according to the course of this world, 
 according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 
 that now worketh in the children of disobedience : among 
 whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the 
 lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the 
 mind; and were, by nature, the children of wrath even as 
 others:" and again in his Epistle to Titus "We ourselves 
 also were sometime disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts 
 and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and Mating 
 one another. t 
 
 These are but specimens of his invariable style of expres- 
 sion. He never speaks of believers, either with regard to 
 state or character, previously to their conversion, in any 
 other terms : they are '' ungodly," and as such they are 
 ''children" not of love, but "of wrath." It is not to the 
 extent of the atonement either in regard to its intrinsic suf- 
 ficiency or its purposed eflicacy, that the Apostle now refers ; 
 but to the character and state of those for whom it was 
 
 * Chap. iii. 9, 19, 23; iv. 5. f ^pli. ii. 13: Tit. iii. 3.
 
 ROMANS V. 611. 341 
 
 made. " Untjndly" is their generic character. They are 
 "alienated from God;" "enemies to him in their minds 
 and by wicked works;" living "without God in the 
 world." Hence they stand exposed to the " wrath of God," 
 and lie under the curse of His broken law. In this forlorn 
 condition they are "without strength." So far as it de- 
 pends on themselves, their state is helpless and hopeless : 
 in every sense of the Psalmist's expression, " a h>/r i-xt-id ." 
 The words " without strength" may be considered as referring 
 to two things; inability to render the obedience which 
 the Law requires as the condition of life; and inability 
 to make any reparation or atonement for the guilt already 
 contracted for the wrong already done. In both respects 
 we were utterly impotent. Instead of fulfilling the Law (the 
 only supposition on the ground of which it offers life), the na- 
 tive principles of ungodliness vitiated all our thoughts and 
 words and actions, so that to no one of its spiritual requirements 
 had we rendered, or could we render, any true and acceptable 
 obedience : and while thus unable to perform the conditions 
 of life, we were, at the same time, equally incapable of mak- 
 ing any reparation ; of presenting any atonement or satisfac- 
 tion to God, for the sins which we had committed, and 
 which had exposed us to His just displeasure. We were 
 "without strength" either to obey, or to atone for <//><,//'- 
 dience. This being the condition of all mankind, he who 
 imagines that he can do anything whatever towards the 
 ground of his acceptance with God; that he can lay into 
 the scale one single grain to turn the balance in his favour; 
 has yet to learn his own true state and character, and the 
 iirst principles of the Gospel of Christ 
 
 There appears to be something emphatical in the expres- 
 sion, "when we were yet, or still, without strength." It 
 s'-eins to refer to the ages which had past since the fall; 
 during which mankind, both Gentiles and Jews, had been 
 trying what they could do as to their acceptance with God ; 
 and the uniform result of all their attempts had been, the 
 manifestation of human weakness. No change had during 
 all that time been effected in human nature; no power ac-
 
 34-2 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 quired by men either of saving themselves or of saving one 
 another. This accords with the language which follows : " in 
 due time Christ died for the ungodly." It was, first, the time 
 previously appointed of God. To this purpose is the follow- 
 ing language in the Epistle to the Galatians : " Xow 1 say 
 that the heir, as long as he is a child, dilfereth nothing from 
 a servant, though he be Lord of all; but is under tutors and 
 governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so 
 we, when we were children, were in bondage under the ele- 
 ments of the world. But when the fulness of the time was 
 come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under 
 the law, to redeem them that were under the law ; that we 
 might receive the adoption of sons."* It was, further, the 
 time predicted by the prophets. Daniel, in particular, had 
 fixed the period of the Messiah's coming, and of his vicarious 
 death, in the remarkable prophecy of the seventy weeks ;^ in 
 consequence of which the expectation of his appearance was, 
 at the time of our Saviour's birth and subsequent public life, 
 universally prevalent. Thus it was the time when the ful- 
 filment of God's promise became "due:" such a prediction re- 
 sembling a promissory note or bill, which ensures payment, 
 whenever the number of days have elapsed at which it was 
 drawn. It was, lastly, the fittest, the most seasonable th/ic. 
 Of this we ought to be satisfied from its being the time which 
 God chose; even although we may not be able to assign all 
 the reasons for the choice. One of these reasons, however, is 
 suggested by the words before us. Mankind, being so long 
 left to walk in their own waj r s, had full opportunity to make 
 trial of their power, to prove their imbecility, to manifest the 
 wretched helplessness of their state. This kind of probation 
 of human ability served to magnify the grace of God, by 
 making it strikingly evident, that nothing in the accomplish- 
 ment of salvation could be the work of the creature. A 
 similar reason is assigned by the Apostle, in vindicating to 
 the Corinthians the wisdom of God, as displayed in tlio 
 Gospel : " After that, in the wisdom of God, the world by 
 
 * Gal. iv. 15. f Dan. ix. 2427.
 
 ROMAN'S V. 611. 34:5 
 
 wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of 
 preaching, to save them that believe." * " In the wisdom of 
 God," that is, in the wise conduct of God's providence 
 the world was left to try its powers for the investigation and 
 discovery of Divine truth. The invariable result, in every 
 age, and in every variety of circumstances, was, that the 
 world, by all its boasted wisdom, attained not the true know- 
 ledge of God: and the impotence of human reason being 
 thus experimentally evinced; the Divine Being interposed, 
 and, by means which the wisdom of the world esteemed 
 " foolishness," produced effects, such as that wisdom had 
 never, at any time, in any place, or in any degree, been able 
 to accomplish. In one nation the trial had been made in 
 a different way, but with the same result. The Jews, sepa- 
 rated unto God from the surrounding nations, were favoured 
 with various and signal advantages, not only of a civil, but 
 especially of a religious nature. But the general misimprove- 
 ment of these privileges, the stubbornness, ingratitude, and 
 abounding wickedness, which prevailed during their whole 
 history, and were conspicuous at the time of our Lord's ap- 
 pearance, still more affectingly displayed the extent and the 
 depth of human depravity, the inveterate virulence of the 
 disease, the difficulty of its cure, and the necessity of a Sa- 
 viour for all, Jews as well as Gentiles. 
 
 " In due time Christ died for the ungodly." The con- 
 nexion of these words with the subsequent illustration of 
 their meaning, presents a convincing evidence of the doctrine 
 of substitution ; while, at the same time, the comparison used 
 is intended to magnify, and recommend to admiration, the 
 love of God, expressed in the gift of his Son. 
 
 Verses 7, 8. " For scarcely for a righteous man will one 
 die ; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare 
 to die : but God commendeth his love toward us, in that 
 while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." 
 
 When the king of Israel gave utterance to the anguish of 
 his heart, upon the death of his unworthy son, saying 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. 21.
 
 344 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 " Absalom, my son, my son, would God I bad died for 
 thee!" every one understands his words as expressing a 
 wish, ill-bestowed, it is true, but to the heart of a fond and 
 too partial father touehingly natural, that the life of the dear 
 infatuated youth had been spared, and his own had been 
 taken in its stead. The language used by the Apostle can 
 have no other meaning. The case supposed is that of one 
 man substituting his OAvn life to save the life of another. 
 And by this comparison he illustrates the nature and design 
 of the death of Christ. ''He died for* the ungodly;" died 
 in their stead ; died that they might live. 
 
 The original word translated "'a righteous man"t has been 
 alleged by some critics to have occasionally, in profane 
 authors, the sense of guilty, or under sentence of just con- 
 demnation, or more generally, deserving, without specify- 
 ing whether of evil or of good. There is no doubt that 
 taking the term in such an acceptation here would yield an 
 appropriate meaning to the passage. But, whatever may be 
 the occasional use of the word in profane authors (and even 
 among them it appears to be very rare in its occurrence, not 
 being even mentioned by some standard Lexicographers), it 
 seems by no means allowable to take it in a sense entirely 
 different from, and even opposite to, the ordinary use of it 
 throughout the writings of Paul as well as of the other 
 Apostles. It is at the same time true, that even when un- 
 derstood in its ordinary acceptation, it must be more restrict- 
 edly, as expressive of justice or uprightness of conduct in 
 dealings with others; because in its more comprehensive 
 meaning, it would include goodness in the sense of that term 
 in the next clause of the verse. I am inclined to think that 
 the common principle of interpretation is the true one, and 
 that it gives full as much collusiveness and force to the 
 Apostle's argument as any other. 
 
 According to this principle, the "righteous man" is he who 
 regulates all his dealings by the laws of strict integrity and 
 uprightness; who practises towards others, in the intercourse
 
 ROMANS V. 6-11. 345 
 
 of life, whatever is required of him by the rules of justice. 
 The "good man" is he who, while he conforms to the re- 
 quirements of justice, lays himself out, at the same time, for 
 the good of others, in the active exercise of liberal philan- 
 thropic benevolence, or of zealous disinterested patriotism ; 
 the man who seems to live for others rather than for him- 
 self; making a business of beneficence; "doing good to all 
 as he has opportunity." For a man of this description a 
 universal interest is excited. He has a place in the hearts of 
 all whose affection or esteem is worth the having. Every wish 
 of theirs respecting him is for a blessing. His life is desired : 
 his death devoutly deprecated : and while, to preserve the 
 life of the merely just man, it is hardly if at all to be ex- 
 pected that any one should think of laying down his own ; 
 for the life of " the good man," a life so eminently valuable, 
 and so much endeared by the union of unsullied integrity 
 with private benevolence and public spirit, there might be 
 found some, whom the warmth of affectionate gratitude, or 
 the ardour of patriotic zeal, would induce to part with their 
 all, and to add even their lives to the sacrifice. Aquila and 
 Priseilla risked their lives, and in risking showed their readi- 
 ness to part with them, had it been necessary, to preserve to 
 the churches of Christ and to the world the precious life of the 
 Apostle of the Gentiles. So imminent was their peril, so 
 cheerful their zeal in his behalf, that he speaks of them a> it' 
 they had really become martyrs for his sake: "who have, 
 for my life, laid down their own necks." The history "f 
 mankind is not without similar instances of self devotion in 
 the room of others. But they are extremely rare in their 
 occurrence. It is only a "pemdventtire? that, even in such a 
 case, any should be found so nobly grateful, so heroically be- 
 nevolent, as to "dare to die." 
 
 "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while 
 we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He recommends 
 His love to the attentive admiration of men and angels. ;i< 
 love which has no parallel. " AVhile we were yet Ktnwre, 
 Christ died for us." 
 
 "SINNERS!" The character contains in it every thing
 
 34t> LECTUKK XXL 
 
 that should lead us to expect the very opposite of love 
 or mercy. A sinner is a rebel against God as a sove- 
 reign; a transgressor of God's authority as a lawgiver; a 
 contemner of God's threatenings as a Judge; an ungrateful 
 abuser of God's goodness as a benefactor ; a despiser of God's 
 grace as a Saviour ; in every point of view, " an enemy of 
 God !" Oh ! can there be any thing for such a character but 
 indignation and wrath] If "vengeance belongeth unto 
 God," here surely it must find its victim. Be astonished, 
 ye heavens, at this " God commendeth his love toward us, 
 in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us!" 
 " Herein indeed is love ; not that Ave loved God, but that he 
 loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our 
 sins." 
 
 Those who are here denominated sinners are, in verse 
 tenth, styled "enemies." Now, "greater love hath no man 
 than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Yet 
 not for friends, but to make friends of those who were ene- 
 mies; and that not for His own advantage, (for of all 
 creatures He is entirely independent) but for their everlast- 
 ing benefit, the love of God gave up his Son to die. This is 
 even represented as the highest, the most wonderful ex- 
 pivssion of Divine goodness. It is God's " unspeakable 
 gift ; " bestowed, with incomparable generosity, on the utterly 
 unworthy. " God so loved the world that he gave his only- 
 begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not 
 perish, but have everlasting life."* 
 
 Surely we should adopt, with grateful wonder and ad- 
 miration, the language "Behold what manner of love the 
 Father hath bestowed on us, that WE should be called the 
 children of God !" And with deep humility we should add: 
 ' Xot unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name 
 give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake !" 
 
 Having thus shown the transcendent excellence of Divine 
 love, in the gift of Christ, by comparing it with the highest 
 displays of love amongst men, the Apostle, in verse ninth, 
 
 * John iii. 16.
 
 KOMAXS v. e-fi. 347 
 
 proceeds to draw an inference : " Much more, then, being 
 now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath 
 through him." 
 
 The inference is simple and strong. The interposition of 
 God in behalf of guilty rebels, was a thing which they had 
 no title to expect ; an interposition calculated, by the un- 
 paralleled grace displayed in it, to fill with astonishment the 
 whole intelligent creation. If, then, God has thus inter- 
 posed ; if He has sent his Son into the world, not to condemn, 
 but to save; if, through the blood of Christ, shed for remis- 
 sion of sins, He has freely bestowed on us forgiveness and 
 favour; then surely we may conclude, with irresistible 
 force of inference, that He never will suffer those, in whose 
 behalf He has so wonderfully appeared, and whom He has 
 made partakers of justifying grace, to become the sub- 
 jects, after all, of eternal wrath. If when we were yet 
 nifini rs, and as sinners "enemies," Christ died for us; "much 
 more, being justified by his blood, we shall be saved from 
 wrath through him." It is evident that those here spoken 
 of as "justified by his blood," are the same with those who 
 in verse first are "justified by faith." Believers alone are 
 justified : they alone are partakers either of the pardoning 
 efficacy of the atonement, or of a sense of God's forgiveness. 
 It is of them evidently that the Apostle here speaks: and 
 his argument is, in the principle of it, similar to that in the 
 eighth chapter " He who spared not his own Son, but de- 
 livered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also 
 freely give us all things?" It is enlarged upon in the tenth 
 verse : " For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled 
 to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, 
 we shall be saved by his life." 
 
 From such passages as this, Socinians have framed an 
 argument against the doctrine of atonement, or propitiation, 
 as rendering God favourable to sinners. The effect, say 
 they, which is here, and in other places, represented as aris- 
 ing from the death of Christ, is not the reconciliation of 
 God to the sinner, but that of the sinner to God. Some 
 persons, also, whose views on this subject are totally opposite
 
 348 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 to theirs, object to such phrases as a wonctfrd God, and 
 fjod'ft recompiled countenance, as unscriptural. 
 
 I have formerly considered the important subject of the 
 ai'ouement, and explained the sense in which God is rendered 
 propitious, namely, in the character of an offended Sovereign 
 and Judge, who is "angry with the wicked," and whu*e 
 anger must be " turned away " in a manner consistent with 
 the perfections of His character, and with the principles and 
 glory of His government. I only remark at present, with 
 r spect to the terms here used, that those who advance the 
 objection do so in ignorance or inconsideration of the way in 
 which the Scripture writers employ the terms reconcile and 
 reconciliation which is evidently somewhat peculiar. Ac- 
 cording to their use of these terms, a person is sometimes said 
 to be reconciled to another, when he himself is not the 
 n/-",n-lvd party but the offender. An instance of this mode 
 of expression occurs in the following precept of our blessed 
 Lord, delivered in the sermon on the mount : " Therefore, if 
 thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that 
 thy brother hath ought against thee ; leave there thy gift 
 before the altar, and go thy way, fii-st be reconciled to thy 
 brother, and then come and offer thy gift."* Here it is not 
 the person addressed that has something against his brother, 
 but his brother that has somewhat against him: yet he is 
 admonished not to reconcile his brother to himself, but him- 
 self to his brother; that is, by submission and acknowledg- 
 ment, or whatever means might prove effectual, to restore 
 himself to his brother's favour, Avhich is supposed to have 
 been justly forfeited by his own offence. Upon the same 
 principle, when God is spoken of as " reconciling sinners to 
 himself by Jesus Christ," the expression may be fairly under- 
 stood to signify, his restoring them to God's own favour, which 
 they had justly forfeited by their transgressions of his right- 
 eous law. Accordingly he is said to " reconcile them to 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto tJiem" They are 
 
 * Match, v. 23, 21.
 
 ROMANS V. 611. 3.J!) 
 
 reconciled to God, then, when they are. through faith in 
 Jesus, pardoned, and reinstated in his love. 
 
 It is true. I repeat, that saved sinners were the objects of 
 Divine love from eternity. But it is not according to the 
 secret purpose of God, but according to their personal char- 
 acter and apparent state that men are uniformly spoken of 
 in the Scriptures. No sinner is represented as justified or 
 as an object of Divine favour in Christ, till he has believed 
 the Gospel; and believers themselves are declared to have 
 been, "by nature, children of wrath even as others. 1 '* 
 
 The truth, then, seems to be, that reconciliation to (lod 
 includes in it both the removal of His righteous displeasure 
 against us, on the one hand, and the slaying of our enmity 
 against Him on the other. It signifies oxir being brought 
 into a state of friendship with God : and to this, it is obvi- 
 ous, both these ideas are indispensably necessary. Under- 
 standing this to be the true meaning of reconciliation, the 
 force of the Apostle's argument appears to be as follows : 
 ' If, when we were enemies, God sent his Son into the 
 world, to make atonement for our sins; to deliver us from 
 the curse of His broken law; to restore us to friendship with 
 himself, by the removal both of our guilt and of our enmity: 
 of our guilt, by the atoning virtue of the Saviour's vicarious 
 sacrifice, on account of which He is propitious to us sinners ; 
 and of our enmity, by revealing to our souls the inexhaustible 
 riches and the perfect freedom of Divine grace which it dis- 
 plays ; overpowering the natural hostility of our hearts and 
 subduing them to love by a spiritual view of the wonder- of 
 the Cross. If, even when we were enemies, God has, in infinite 
 mercy, done all this for us ; if nothing in our character, "when 
 we were yet sinners," prevented the exercise of such loving- 
 kindness and compassion toward us, surely lie will not suiter 
 us to perish now that He has thus made us His friends. If 
 Christ died to redeem us from the curse, we may be well 
 assured that he lives to perfect our salvation; that he lives to 
 bestow, what he died to obtain ; that having, in his death, 
 
 * Eph. ii. 3.
 
 350 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 redeemed us by a price, he now lives to perfect our redemp- 
 tion by the exercise of his power; prosecuting in his exalted 
 state, at the right hand of God, the same gracious object 
 for which " he humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
 death even the death of the cross." " We shall be saved 
 by his life."' 1 The following remarks may further illustrate 
 the expression : 
 
 1. The resurrection and life of Jesus are the sure pledge 
 of the resurrection and life of all his people. As he died in 
 the character of a Mediator, so he rose and lives in the same 
 character. If the resurrection of Jesus proved the acceptance 
 of the atonement made by his death, it will follow, that as 
 surely as he rose and lives, none of those whom the Father 
 hath given him, and who are one with him by faith in his 
 name, shall perish, but all shall be raised up to a life of im- 
 mortal joy at the last day. Of such a life, the life of Christ 
 is the pledge and security, with regard to all those who have 
 by his death been reconciled to God : " Because I live, ye 
 shall live also : " " Now is Christ risen from the dead and 
 become the first fruits of them that sleep." So sure is this 
 pledge, that believers, in virtue of their union to Christ, are 
 represented as already " risen with him," " raised up to- 
 gether, and made to sit together in heavenly places, in Christ 
 Jesus." * 
 
 2. Christ, in his present life at God's right hand, is 
 invested with "power to give eternal life to as many as the 
 Father hath given him." It is for the very purpose of ex- 
 ercising this power, that he is exalted at the right hand of 
 God.t Now surely "the good Shepherd," while he has such 
 power to save, will never suffer any that are his to perish. 
 He died that we might be made alive; and he lives, that we 
 may never die. When we hear him declaring, " I am the good 
 Shepherd; the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep: 
 no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself;'' 
 we are, by this practical testimony of disinterested love, fully 
 prepared for the subsequent assurance " I give unto them 
 
 * John xiv. 19; 1 Cor. xv. 20, Eph. ii. 46. 
 f See John xvii. 1, 2; Acts v. 31.
 
 ROMANS V. 6-11. 351 
 
 eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any 
 one pluck them out of my hand." * 
 
 3. In the life which he enjoys at the Father's right hand, 
 Jesus is employed in interceding for his people: and the evi- 
 dence of God's full satisfaction in the finished work of His 
 Son, afforded by his rising to life from the grave, gives us the 
 most assured confidence, that he never pleads in vain, that the 
 Father heareth him always. The Apostle grounds on Christ's 
 living to intercede the certainty of our salvation being finally 
 perfected : " Wherefore he is able also to save them to the 
 uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth 
 to make intercession for them."t 
 
 4. All the arrangements of providence are in his hands. 
 This he himself explicitly affirms ;J and if all are subjected to 
 his mediatorial sway, we cannot but be sure of the ends he 
 keeps in view in his administration. He orders all events, in 
 his life in heaven, so as effectually to fulfil the purposes of his 
 death on earth, never for a moment losing sight of them, arrang- 
 ing every incident in subserviency to if, making everything to 
 help forward our salvation. He not only exercises a general 
 superintendence of the affairs of the world for the advance- 
 ment and final triumph of his spiritual kingdom ; there is a 
 minuter care a care which extends to each particular indi- 
 vidual of his subjects in his passage through life. Each is 
 watched over, each kept with an ever- vigilant attention; - 
 and as the events of the life of each have a most powerful 
 influence on the character of his mind and heart, in promot- 
 ing or retarding, quickening or deadening, the principles of 
 the spiritual life, all these events, prosperous or afflictive, 
 important or trivial, are ordered by him in subserviency to 
 the blessed purposes of his grace towards them. How de- 
 lightful the assurance, when contemplated in this light, of 
 our being under the providence of Christ ! 
 
 5. By the power which is committed to him in his media- 
 torial life, he will perfect the salvation of his people, by 
 raising them at last from the grave. He is "Lord of 
 
 * John x. 11 18; 2730. f Heh. vii. 25. 
 
 J Matt, xxviii. 18. $ Kom. xiv. 79.
 
 352 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 the dead." Their spirits' are with him. Their bodies, 
 thuugh for a time left under the power of the last enemy, are 
 still his. He will " redeem them from death, he will ransom 
 them from the power of the grave." He ransomed them by 
 price on earth : he will redeem them by power in heaven. 
 They shall hear his welcome voice and awake to life ever- 
 lasting. " This corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
 this mortal must put on immortality." 
 
 The Apostle then proceeds to sum up Christian honour 
 and Christian happiness in a single sentence: Verse 11. 
 "And not only so; but we also joy in God, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the 
 atonement." 
 
 The word here rendered " atonement " properly means re- 
 conciliation.* Why our translators have deviated in this in- 
 stance from their invariable rendering of it elsewhere, it is 
 not easy to say. There seems a double impropriety in it 
 here. First, it is God, in strict propriety of speech, that re- 
 ceives the atonement. To Him it is made ; by Him it is 
 accepted. Secondly, the term answers immediately to the 
 statement in the preceding verse. The phrases " we were 
 reconciled," and "being reconciled," correspond with that in 
 the text " we receive the reconciliation." In the former 
 verse the privilege is stated; and in this, the ground on 
 which, or the mediator through whom, it is obtained and 
 enjoyed. 
 
 " Not only so." Much has been mentioned as constituting 
 the glory and blessedness of the true Christian. Yet there 
 is still another degree in the scale a higher step in the 
 climax of his felicity and honour. " We joy in God " him- 
 self. It is a wonderful thing that a guilty creature should 
 be able, on good grounds, to think of God with any composure 
 at all ; to think of that Holy Being with whom he has to do, 
 without absolute despair. But for such a creature to "joy in 
 God " to boast, to glory in God ! this is what never could 
 have entered into the heart of man to conceive. Yet this is 
 
 * *raXXa>fl 'ITie marginal renoerfng is reconciliation Ei>.
 
 ROMANS V. 611. 353 
 
 the sublime privilege of all who "are reconciled t/> God l,y 
 the death of his Son." They "joy in 6W the maW 
 and proprietor of the universe. They joy in His cut ire. 
 character all the attributes of which, though wearing a 
 frown towards them when contemplated in their own sin- 
 fulness and guilt, now smile upon them with harmonious 
 satisfaction in Christ. 
 
 They "joy in God " as their God, their Father, their all- 
 sufficient and eternal portion. It is His promise, in tiie new 
 covenant: " I will be to them a God, and they shall be to 
 me a people;" "I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall 
 be my sons and datighters;" and at the very time when lie 
 declares his infinite superiority to all the idols of the heathen, 
 lie graciously styles himself " the portion of Jacob."* In 
 such views of His character and relation to themselves the 
 saints in Scripture often " make their boa.st in God." " Thou 
 art my God, and I will praise thee: my God, I will exalt 
 thee:" "This God is our God for ever and ever; he will 
 be our Guide even unto death:" " I will greatly rejoice in 
 the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath 
 clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me 
 with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh him- 
 self with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with 
 her jewels:" "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; 
 therefore will I hope in him:" whom have I in heaven but 
 thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside tln-c : 
 my flesh and my heart fail ; but thou art the strength of 
 my heart, and my portion for ever!"t 
 
 Surely we may say, " Happy the people that are in such a 
 case; yea happy the people whose God is the Lord!' 
 .Jehovah himself be our God and our portion, we can view 
 all His infinite perfections as engaged to do us good : and 
 as the universe is His, "all things are ours" that can contri- 
 bute, in His wise administration, to our present or eternal 
 benefit. " The Lord God is a sun and shield, he will give 
 
 * Heh. viii. 10; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Jer. x. 16. 
 
 f Psa. cxviii. 28; xlviii. 14; Isa. Ixi. 10; Lam. iii. 24; Pwi. Ixxiii. 
 25, 26. 
 
 I. Z
 
 354 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from 
 them that walk uprightly." Having HIM for our God and 
 portion, we may adopt the triumphant language of the pro- 
 phet : " Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall 
 fruit be in the vine ; the labour of the olive shall fail, and 
 the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from 
 the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls : yet I will 
 rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation."* 
 
 I am naturally led to ask all who hear me " What think 
 ye of CHRIST?" Is he all your salvation, and all your desire ? 
 Remember, he must be ALL to you, or NOTHING. . He will not 
 divide with you, or with any creature, either the work or the 
 glory of salvation. Eight views of yourselves, and right 
 views of Christ, are inseparably connected. While, in the 
 sight of God, you think anything of yourselves, you think 
 nothing of Christ. 
 
 Another question is What think you of the love of God? 
 and of the love of Christ] Do your hearts sympathise 
 with the admiration which the Apostle here expresses of 
 this wonderful love? Would you admire and applaud the 
 man, who, from friendship, or patriotism, or general bene- 
 volence, should sacrifice his life, to save from ruin the 
 worthy object of his glowing affection; to preserve to society 
 an eminent instrument of good; to deliver his sinking 
 country; or to promote the happiness of mankind? and 
 can you remain blind and insensible to the wonders the 
 sublime, the heavenly wonders of redeeming mercy? Can 
 your hearts continue unmelted, unwarmed hard as the flint, 
 and cold as death when you hear of the love of the eternal 
 God to his sinful, rebellious, self-destroyed creatures.? Have 
 you transports of admiration for what is merely human and 
 no feelings for what is Divine? nothing but cold indifference, 
 torpid listlessness? possibly, as to some of you, even aver- 
 sion and scorn ! what hearts you must have ! 
 
 Let Christians always connect together in their thoughts, 
 the death and the life of the Redeemer, as both alike essential 
 
 * Hab. iii. 17, 18.
 
 ROMANS V. 611. 355 
 
 to their eternal salvation ; the one as the meritorious ground 
 of their hope, the other as the evidence of its security, the 
 pledge and the means of its complete fulfilment. He died 
 for you. He lives for you. And in his atoning death, and 
 his life of intercession and power, you have every cause, 
 banishing groundless alarm, to " rejoice with joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory." 
 
 How empty and mean, how unsatisfying, how transitory 
 is everything that man can possess when compared with the 
 portion of the believer JEHOVAH HIMSELF the one infinite 
 good the glorious sum of all that is great, and excellent, 
 and desirable ! When a man can say " I JOY IN GOD," 
 he possesses the most exalted honour, the most precious 
 privilege, the most exquisite happiness, to which a creat- 
 ed being can be admitted. He may have many streams 
 of earthly enjoyment of which he tastes with a thankful 
 heart ; but this is the " river of his pleasures." These other 
 streams are often fouled and embittered, but the waters of 
 this river are always sweet, and they are " clear as crystal." 
 Other lights may contribute to cheer his heart; but this is 
 the sun of his joys; a sun without a spot; a sun that 
 never goes down. 
 
 And what a contrast between the respective prospects of 
 the Christian and the unbeliever of the man of God, and 
 the man of this world ! In looking forward to the termina- 
 tion of his earthly course, the former contemplates it with 
 hope, as the happy period when he shall arrive at the full 
 enjoyment of that portion, of which even the partial posses- 
 sion is the great source of his happiness while sojourning in 
 this valley of tears. To the man of the world, on the con- 
 trary, the close of life is the moment of total and irrecoverable 
 loss. To the former every step in the journey of life is a step 
 of approach to his inheritance ; to the latter, a step of depar- 
 ture from his. The former, when he arrives at the end of his 
 journey, has all before him" fulness of joy, and pleasures 
 for evermore:" the latter leaves all behind him; and while 
 he parts from all that he had on earth, he at the same time, 
 incurs a loss infinitely more dreadful the loss of his immor-
 
 356 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 tal soul ! " that men were wise ; that they understood 
 this; that they would consider their latter end!" Listen, O 
 listen to this message of grace. " Be ye reconciled to God ! " 
 For this end, " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away 
 the sin of the world!" Then shall you "joy in God, 
 through Jesus Christ," while you sojourn on earth : and be- 
 yond this transient state when time to you shall be no 
 longer when your connexion with this world and all that 
 it contains, shall for ever terminate; "the Lord shall be 
 your everlasting light, and your God your glory."
 
 LECTURE XXIf. 
 
 ROMANS v. 12 21. 
 
 " Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into tlie world, and death by sin; and 
 so death passed upon all men. for that all have sinned : (for until the law sin 
 was in the world : but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless 
 death reigned from Adam to .Moses, even over them that had not sinned after 
 the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to 
 come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gilt. For if through the of- 
 ferice of one many be dead ; much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, 
 which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it 
 was by one that sinned, HO is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condem- 
 nation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one 
 man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance 
 of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ :) 
 Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon ail men to condemna- 
 tion : even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto 
 justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, 
 so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law 
 entered, that the offence might abound : but where sin abounded, grace did 
 much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace 
 reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 TUK word "wher-fore" with which this passage opens, hns 
 reference, I conceive, to the general scope of the preceding 
 discussions. The amount of its import appears to be 
 ing then that these things are so the state of the case will 
 stand as follows." The word, in its present connexion, con- 
 veys to my mind much the same meaning with the commence- 
 ment of the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews 
 '* Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum." 
 The Apostle does not seem merely to pursue the previous
 
 358 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 train of thought, hut rather to pause and sum up ; to close 
 a branch of his subject by bringing it to a point in a kind 
 of recapitulation. And I may add, in corroboration of tins 
 view of the connexion, that the verses do contain a beautiful 
 and striking summary of the doctrine of Scripture respecting 
 the fall and the recovery of man ; that they do close this 
 part of the Apostle's doctrinal discussion ; and that they are 
 immediately followed by an admirable illustration of the 
 practical influence of those truths of which they contain the 
 comprehensive outline. 
 
 Although the leading ideas in the passage appear to be 
 sufficiently clear, yet it is, by no means, without its difficul- 
 ties. There are one or two circumstances which occasion 
 a degree of obscurity in regard to the connexion of the verses 
 amongst themselves. 
 
 1. In verse twelfth there is the appearance of an unfin- 
 ished sentence, which, on reading down, we are at a loss to 
 complete by any aid of parentheses : for the parenthesis usually 
 supposed, including verses 13 17, is extremely unnatural. 
 The simplest way of removing the difficulty seems to be 
 the change, in the middle of the verse, of the and into even: 
 "As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
 sin, even so (i. e. upon the same principle) death passed through, 
 or on, to all men,* because all have sinned." The meaning 
 is in this way completed, without the necessity of throwing 
 Jive verses into a parenthesis, and effecting after all but a 
 clumsy joining. 
 
 The sentiment is then clear; sin introduced death; sin 
 has continued it. The cause of its entrance, and the cause 
 of its continuance and universality are the same. Different 
 renderings have been given of the phrase here translated 
 "for iliatr\ But the rendering appears to be correct, 
 "for that" meaning because, on the ground that, on account 
 that.% 
 
 2. While the Apostle's leading object is, to magnify the 
 
 * its ravrf etvioufovs o/5jX^s. "f i^' J. 
 
 f It seems to have much the same moaning here as the Latin prop- 
 terca quod. See Vigerus, Schleusner. [Alford also renders because.\
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 
 
 359 
 
 riches of divine grace in the Gospel, he at the same time 
 pursues this object in such a way as to show his unbelieving 
 countrymen that this grace comprehended not the Jews only 
 but mankind ; that the descendants of Abraham needed it 
 as well as others, and that others, even men of every kindred, 
 the common race of Adam, were welcome to it as well as 
 they, that it was common to all who had been involved in 
 the fall of the great progenitor. He thus shows the Jews 
 the folly of those notions they entertained about their own 
 nation and the law of Moses, and of the hopes Avhich those 
 false notions sustained. To show them the vanity of their 
 confidence in Abraham, he traces their genealogy furtlnv 
 back. He comes at once to the first father of mankind; 
 teaches them that their lineage was the same with the line- 
 age of other men ; that they had a progenitor remoter than 
 Abraham ; that their connexion with him was the same as 
 that of all the families of mankind ; that their relation to 
 him and not to Abraham determined their natural character 
 and condition, they in common with others being involved 
 in the consequences of the original apostasy. 
 
 Further: The Jews were accustomed to boast, not only 
 of their descent from Abraham, but also in the law of Moses ; 
 trusting in their own possession of it, and regarding all as 
 under condemnation, and outcasts of Heaven, who had not 
 the same privilege. Of this kind of confidence also the 
 Apostle exposes the unsoundness and folly, by showing them, 
 or rather reminding them of what they could not but know, 
 though of the bearing of it upon their own condition and 
 prospects they had never thought, that sin and death wen- 
 introduced before the time of Moses ; that guilt and a sen- 
 tence of condemnation must therefore have been incurred by 
 the transgression of a still more ancient law; that by the 
 violation of it all mankind, Jews of course as well as Gen- 
 tiles (for at the time of the entrance of sin and death no 
 such distinction existed) had been constituted sinners, and 
 guilty in the sight of God; and that the law of Moses, so 
 far from affording them any ground of acceptance before God, 
 was not at all introduced for the purpose of justification, but,
 
 360 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 on the contrary, " that the offence might abound," and so the 
 necessity of the grace of the Gospel be made the more ap- 
 parent. By such considerations, the Apostle aimed at shak- 
 ing the foundations of Jewish confidence, and leading his 
 deluded brethren to infer, from the universality of the apos- 
 tasy in Adam, the universality of the need of a Saviour from 
 the consequences of that apostasy, and the extent of the 
 kingdom of the Messiah, and the purpose of his mediation, 
 as embracing Gentiles as well as Jews. This is just con- 
 firming his former conclusions on a new and most convincing 
 ground the conclusions namely of the universality of sin, 
 and of the grace of God in Christ.* 
 
 These considerations will readily account for the introduc- 
 tion of the Law in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and twentieth 
 verses of the chapter; the Apostle having in view at once 
 to undermine the grounds of Jewish dependence, and to ex- 
 hibit clearly the origin and extent of the common ruin, and 
 the nature and ground of the common confidence. 
 
 There are three leading topics to which the whole passage 
 calls our attention. They are of fundamental importance, 
 our views of them necessarily affecting our views of every 
 other part of divine truth. They are 
 
 1. THE CONNEXION OF THE SIN OP ADAM WITH THE CHAR- 
 ACTER OF HIS POSTERITY. 
 
 2. THE CONNEXION OF THE POSTERITY OF ADAM WITH THE 
 GUILT OF HIS FIRST SIN; OR, IN OTHER WORDS, WHETHER AM) 
 HOW FAR THEY ARE VIEWED AND TREATED BY GOD AS INVOLVED 
 IN THAT GUILT. 
 
 3. THE POINTS OF PARALLELISM AND OF CONTRAST BETWEEN 
 THE SIN OF THE FIRST ADAM, WITH ITS EFFECTS; AND THK 
 OBEDIENCE OF THE SECOND ADAM, CHRIST, WITH ITS EFFECTS. 
 
 I shall confine myself at present to the first of these, re- 
 specting which correct conceptions are of the utmost im- 
 portance. 
 
 Our simple inquiry at present, then, is, What is the 
 proper import of the expression "By one man sin entered 
 
 * Chap. iii. 9, 19, 20, 23, 24, 2730.
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. 361 
 
 info Mr. wo.-!,!!" Let it be observed, then, first of all, what 
 it .iocs not mean : it does not mean merely that th<-. ///W 
 ni.' nt mis the first sinner. The writer of this Epistle deals 
 not in such unmeaning and puerile truisms. Apart entirely 
 from hi-s inspiration, the masculine character of his mind 
 was superior to such trifling. There is obviously a con 
 iK'xion expressed between Adam and his posterity with 
 regard to sin and its consequences. It is clearly implied 
 that from him they derive a nature, not such as his own 
 when he was formed in the image of God, but such as it 
 became when, by sin, he lost that holy likeness. 'If a man' 
 (to adopt the illustration of this remark employed by an able 
 writer*) 'were to go from this country to some remote part of 
 tin- world, and were there to be seized with a deadly and 
 iiii'ectious disorder: if others should catch the contagion 
 from him, and thus, by the spread of the disease, the country 
 should be desolated of its inhabitants: in such a case, we 
 .should say, with perfect propriety, "By that one man the 
 plague entered the country.'" But if, on the other hand, 
 the infection were froift him communicated to no other 
 i: if he were merely the first in the order of time 
 that was the subject of the distemper, and all who were 
 afterwards seized by it were seized entirely apart from one 
 another; in this case, such language would be altogether 
 inappropriate.' 
 
 The Apostle had before proved sin to be, in the extent of 
 its prevalence, absolutely universal, without one except i'-n 
 among Jews or Gentiles. And he here accounts for its uni- 
 versality by tracing it to its origin in the first father of 
 mankind; from whom, through the successive generations .f 
 his posterity, corruption had flowed. It seems quite impos- 
 sible, indeed, to account, in any rational way, for the notnri- 
 ous fact of the universal prevalence of sin, without admitting 
 a natural constitutional tendency to evil 'Were we infonm-d ' 
 (still to use the apt illustration of the writer before referred 
 to) 'of a particular family into which, soon after the beginning 
 
 Edwards.
 
 362 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 of the world, consumption had been introduced; and that 
 every individual member of that family, in all its various 
 branches, in the successive generations of six thousand years, 
 had invariably fallen a victim to this disorder: should we 
 not, without hesitation, affirm, that there must have been in 
 that family a constitutional tendency to the disease in ques- 
 tion ? Or if we knew of a particular plant, which had been 
 tried in ten thousand different ways, by every possible 
 method of propagation, under all varieties of climate, and 
 with every imaginable diversity of culture that its fruit, 
 although exhibiting many corresponding varieties in flavour 
 and external appearance, was yet uniformly of a poisonous 
 quality; should we, in such a case, feel the slightest hesita : 
 tion to affirm, that this quality was in the nature of the 
 plant? Surely, then, if, in every nation, in every part of 
 the world, in every successive generation, under every con- 
 ceivable variety of situation and circumstances, and without 
 one solitary exception, men have been found sinners; it is 
 not irrational, but highly reasonable to infer nor can we, 
 indeed, conceive of any other principle which affords an ade- 
 quate explanation of the fact; that there must be in the 
 human nature a tendency to sin.' 
 
 On this principle, accordingly, it is accounted for in the 
 Scriptures. The declaration that "by one man sin entered 
 into the world" cannot, as we have seen, be otherwise under- 
 stood, without reducing it to a mere unmeaning truism. 
 And many other passages of the Divine word, as well as the 
 general complexion of its language on this subject, are in 
 perfect harmony with this declaration. 
 
 1. Adam was created in the image of God. But imme- 
 diately after his fall, it is emphatically said, with evident 
 allusion, in the way of contrast, to the likeness in which he 
 had himself been formed :- " Adam begat a son, in his own 
 likeness, after his own image:' 1 '' not merely as a man, but 
 as a fallen man. The two opposite likenesses are brought 
 so closely together in the first and third verses of the fifth 
 chapter of the book of Genesis, that we can hardly doubt 
 the intention of the writer to contrast the one with the
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. 863 
 
 other ; that in which Adam was himself created with that 
 in which his son was begotten. 
 
 2. That the corruption consequent upon the fall was not 
 communicated by Adam only to his own immediate progeny, 
 but flowed, and continues to flow, through successive genera- 
 tions, may be proved from what David, thousands of years 
 afterwards, says of himself, in uttering the penitential griefs 
 of " a broken and contrite heart : " " Behold" says he, " / 
 was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive 
 me"* David, while bemoaning the actual transgressions of 
 which he had been guilty, thus traces them to the foun- 
 tain of original innate corruption. He does this, not with a 
 view to excuse or to palliate his sin. The state of heart which 
 the Psalm lays open before us peremptorily forbids such a 
 supposition. The truth is, it formed an aggravating circum- 
 stance in his guilt. A consciousness of this original de- 
 pravity ought to have kept him the more on his guard 
 against exposing himself to temptation; as a man who is 
 loaded with gunpowder will beware of venturing among 
 sparks. The meaning of the words, indeed, when the 
 sophistry of system is apart, appears to be abundantly plain : 
 that his nature, from the first union of soul and body, 
 was polluted and sinful. That this is the true import of 
 the language is the more evident, from the strange interpre- 
 tations by which the adversaries of this doctrine have at- 
 tempted to explain it away. They have, in the first place, 
 recourse, as usual, to figure. It is, say they, a mere hyper- 
 bole ; an exaggerated form of speech, meaning no more than 
 that he had committed sin from his early years. Nothing, 
 however, is more hazardous than the free use of this prin- 
 ciple of interpretation, which has, indeed, been a powerful 
 auxiliary in overthrowing, in the minds of many, all the 
 most prominent and important doctrines of the word of God. 
 On the present occasion, I leave it to the common sense and 
 candour of my hearers to decide, whether any thing like the 
 true spirit of the words is given in such an explanation. 
 
 * Psalm li. 5.
 
 364 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 Some, again, have recourse to a still more singular conceit ; 
 for I can call it by no better name; nor should I indeed 
 have mentioned it, but for the sake of confirming the true 
 meaning by showing to what shifts men are. otherwise re- 
 duced. They say that David refers, in these words, not to 
 anything in himself, but to the sin of his parents in his con- 
 ception ! a supposition, the bare mention of which should 
 surely suffice for its confutation ; a supposition even less than 
 gratuitous for it is opposed by all the evidence that can be 
 found of the character of the mother of David: a supposi- 
 tion totally irrelevant, in the case of a man whose heart was 
 overwhelmed, and every feeling of it preoccupied by such an 
 agoni/ing sense of his own personal guilt, as appears to have 
 excluded, at the moment, from his remembrance, the exist- 
 ence of any being, excepting himself and the God with whom 
 he had to do; a supposition, too, let me add, which must 
 appear passing strange, when considered as coming from men 
 whose hostility is so decided and avowed against every thing 
 that has the remotest connexion with the transference or im- 
 putation of sin. 
 
 The words are plainly and unequivocally expressive of 
 self-loathiny : 'I have sinned have sinned grievously hi 
 practice ; and my actual sin has been a melancholy indication 
 of the fountain of evil which is by nature in my heart ! ' 
 
 3. In our Lord's discourse with Xicodemus respecting the 
 necessity of the new birth, he thus expresses himself: "That 
 which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the 
 Spirit is spirit."* 
 
 Every attentive reader of the Apostle Paul's writings 
 must have observed that by "the, flesh." as opposed to "the. 
 fi/>/rif," he means moral depravity, or the power of merely 
 corrupt principles. This is evident from his reasoning in the 
 seventh and eighth chapters of this Epistle; and still more 
 strikingly from that passage in the Epistle to the Galatians, 
 in which he enumerates among "the works of the flesh" a 
 variety of evil affections of the mind, such as hatred, wrath, 
 
 * John iii. 6.
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. 3C5 
 
 and envy." In the words of our Lord just quoted, the term 
 "Jlesh" in the latter of its occurrences must be understood in 
 the same sense. To .suppose them to signify merely, "that 
 which is born of man is man,'' is to ascribe language without 
 
 meaning to him who " spake as never man spake." He is 
 
 showing to Xicodemus the indispensable necessity of the 
 new or second birth, in order to a man's entering "into the 
 kingdom of heaven. This he does in the most appropriate 
 and convincing manner, from the corruption inherited by 
 every man in his first or natural birth. The fact of such 
 corruption was a good reason, considering the pure and 
 spiritual nature of the kingdom of heaven, why Xicodemus 
 should not have marvelled when it was said unto him, " Ye 
 must be born again." In no other view do the words appear 
 to possess any point or conclusiveness in the connexion in 
 which they stand. 
 
 4. Other passages I shall quote, with little or no comment, 
 chiefly to show what is the current phraseology of the Scrip- 
 tures; for this I apprehend, is, on such points, a circum- 
 stance of no inconsiderable weight : " Who," says Job, when 
 speaking of " man that is born of a woman " " Who can 
 bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? not one." " What is 
 man," says Eliphaz, " that he should be clean ? or he that is 
 born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" "Foolish- 
 ness," says the wise man (and in his diction foolish i: 
 nearly synonymous with wickedness) "Foolishness is bound 
 up in the heart of a child." " The imagination of man's 
 heart," says the searcher of hearts himself, " is evil from his 
 youth:" an expression which has been shown by the best 
 critics to include, without restriction, the prca'^'nuj jnn-t of a 
 man's life. It is used for the babe Moses, when lying in 
 the ark of bulrushes; of Samson at the promise of his coming 
 birth; of Samuel at the time of his weaning. t And, indeed, 
 common sense seems to require this interpretation. For 
 nothing can be more unreasonable than to confine the term 
 of human folly and wickedness to the period of life suc- 
 
 * Ga!. v. 1921. f Kxod. ii. 6; Judges xiii. 5; 1 Sam. i. 27.
 
 366 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 ceeding what we usually denominate youth. The declara- 
 tion respects not one man, or a few men, or even the 
 generality of men; but tlie, species. And if "the imagi- 
 nation of man's heart " be thus universally evil " from his 
 youth," at what time does the evil originate, if it does 
 not commence with his existence, and develope its unholy 
 tendencies with his unfolding powers ? " The heart," says 
 the same omniscient and unerring Judge, by the prophet 
 Jeremiah not the heart of this or that individual, but 
 generically "THE HEART is deceitful above all things, and 
 desperately wicked: who can know it?" 
 
 5. We have seen that the Scriptures represent depravity 
 as embracing, in the extent of its prevalence, all mankind, 
 without exception. I now remark further, that they also re- 
 present it as total in each individual; that is, as affecting the 
 whole man: the will being described as perverse and obsti- 
 nate, prone to evil, and averse to good; the affections carnal, 
 earthly, and destitute of relish for spiritual and heavenly en- 
 joyments; the understanding consequently blind to the 
 things of God; shrewd and penetrating, possibly, on other 
 subjects; and even on these perfectly capable of perceiving 
 the meaning of the terms in which Divine truth is ex- 
 pressed; but incapable of discerning the beauty, excellence, 
 and glory of the discoveries made in the Gospel; no want 
 of intellectual powers; but these powers darkened in their 
 perceptions, warped and perverted in their judgments, and 
 miserably infatuated in their determinations:* that, in 
 short, there is in the nature of man nothing truly good. 
 
 I say, nothing truly good. I wish the expression to be 
 marked; because I am fully persuaded, that inattention to 
 that which constitutes genuine goodness, in any action or in 
 any character, is the origin of a large proportion of the 
 objections made against the fact of human depravity as it 
 has now been stated. It is not necessary, according to my 
 ideas of human corruption, to consider man as a mass of 
 pure uncompounded selfishness. Much, no doubt, of what 
 
 * 1 Cor. ii. 14; Rom. viii. 7; Epb. iv. 22; Rom. vii. 18.
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 367 
 
 wears the semblance, and passes under the name of benevo- 
 lence among men, is nothing better than disguised selfish- 
 ness ; but surely not all. It is quite enough, however, in 
 my judgment, to entitle benevolence itself, along with justice 
 and sobriety, and all that passes for virtue in the world, to 
 the appellation of corrupt, that it be " without God." This 
 is quite sufficient to contaminate and to condemn the 
 whole, character, whatever semblance of goodness it may, 
 from various causes, in different parts of it, assume. And 
 this semblance of goodness it does frequently assume, in no 
 inconsiderable degree. We often see much that is amiable 
 in the exercise of the affections of nature and of friendship ; 
 much that is honourable and elevated in meeting the claims 
 of justice and integrity; and not a little that is admirable in 
 beneficence: but GOD is not there. There is no fear and 
 no love of God as the reigning principle. Here lies the 
 grand defect here the essential sinfulness of human nature. 
 A nature that had in it an innate principle of goodness 
 would only require to have perfect excellence set before 
 its view, to fill it with admiration, delight, and love to 
 fascinate and settle its affections. The perfect holiness 
 of God would draw towards it all its charmed and capti- 
 vated desires. The reverse is awfully the case with the 
 human nature as to the true character of God. It " did not 
 like to retain God in its knowledge." " God is not in all its 
 thoughts." It either thinks not of God at all; or it forms 
 false and unworthy conceptions of Him, which are of course 
 suited to its own likings, and indicative of what those lik- 
 ings are. The entire religious history of man is one practical 
 illustration and continuous proof that "the carnal mind is 
 enmity against God." 
 
 6. In connexion with these remarks it may be noticed. 
 that nothing serves more convincingly to establish the reality 
 of human depravity, as affirmed in the Scriptures, than the 
 awful insensibility 'prevalent amongst mankind with regard 
 to spiritual and eternal concerns. Can a more alii-ding pr.'.-t 
 be imagined than this of the deep degeneracy and lamentable 
 derangement of the human mind? The case, indeed, is so
 
 368 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 common, that it does not impress us as it ought. But cer- 
 tainly there is not, in the universe, a greater wonder to "he 
 found, than that of a world of immortal creatures, to whom 
 every hour of their present life is uncertain, living uncon- 
 cerned about their immortal interests ! "NVhy is it that the 
 aifections and desires of men's hearts do not, on this subject, 
 follow the decisions of their judgment 1 ? Why is it that time 
 and sense bear such universal sway? Why is it so difficult 
 a matter to get men to think, with any seriousness, about 
 God, and about the salvation of their souls? Why must we 
 be ever exhibiting to their view all the alarming threateftings 
 of Divine judgment, and all the alluring invitations of Divine 
 mercy- all the miseries of hell, and all the joys of heaven 
 all the deformity of sin and all the beauty of holiness ? And 
 why, after all, do we meet with so little success? One should 
 think that the aspect which the world, in this view of it, 
 presents, should produce an instantaneous conviction that it 
 is not a world of creatures whose nature retains its original 
 rectitude. 
 
 7. And what, as has often been noticed on this .subject, is 
 the general complexion of the history of mankind? Does it 
 not, in every age, and in every nation, bear all the marks of 
 the history of a fallen race'? How dark the general picture! 
 a record of crimes and blood : a narrative of a prodigious 
 diversity of evil principles, operating, each according to its pe- 
 culiar nature, in the production of an endless variety of mis- 
 chief, and vice, and misery: a scene, in which any real light 
 that appears is like a solitary sunbeam struggling through 
 heavy clouds on a darkly shaded landscape! In spite of all 
 the partialities of history, and the prevailing inclination of mo.-t 
 historians to cover or to palliate the crimes and vices of those 
 whose narratives they relate, an inclination which greatly 
 exceeds in extent of influence the disposition to criminate 
 and to blacken human nature; notwithstanding that the 
 most is generally made of its virtues and the least of its de- 
 fects, vet history, it has been truly said, is a satire upon 
 our race, scarcely less severe tha7i any of those professedly 
 written under that name.
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. 3C9 
 
 And what are. all the laws of human society; all the 
 numberless restraints and punishments for the prevention of 
 crime, invented and varied with all the skill of human 
 ingenuity; and still with but very partial success] What 
 are all our bolts and bars, and watclunen, and various means of 
 protection from danger to person and property ? What all the 
 multiplied, and carefully selected, and oft-repeated terms of 
 legal deeds and instruments, all indicative of a caution that is 
 aware of a propensity to take advantage of every even the 
 slightest discoverable flaw? What do these and many other 
 similar circumstances prove? In a world of virtue, where 
 men were influenced not by motives of self-interest but by a 
 prevailing regard to truth and justice and kindness in 
 short by an innate principle of rectitude no such thing would 
 be necessary. 
 
 I might add that the religions of all nations have 
 been indicative of a universal consciousness of sin and guilt. 
 Whence but from this consciousness their uniformly expia- 
 tory nature? Sacrifices, in some shape or other, have been 
 universally prevalent; and in every instance these discover 
 a sense of evil done, of guilt and displeasure incurred, and 
 of pardon needed. 
 
 8. To come, for a moment, a little nearer home How 
 shall we account for those propensities to evil which so very 
 early betray their existence in children? propensities for 
 example to disobedience, to anger, to falsehood, to revenge? 
 Whence comes it, that, in education, the symptoms of these-, 
 and other evil propensities must be marked ami curbed 
 with so much vigilant jealousy? Why is it that such in- 
 cessant pains and attention are necessary, to instil and cherish 
 good principles ; while none, alas ! are at all requisite to pro- 
 mote the growth of such as are bad? The advocates of ori- 
 ginal rectitude are fond of accounting for all the evil that 
 appears in children by the influence of example. But with- 
 out entering into any discussion of this favourite solution of 
 all the mournful phenomena which present themselves with- 
 out particularly inquiring how it comes to pass, if the pro- 
 pensities of our nature be originally pure and on the side of 
 
 i. 2 A
 
 S70 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 goodness, that there should be so much difficulty in preserving 
 children from the contagion of vicious example, and so much 
 needful anxiety to secure for them that which is virtuous 
 without enlarging on these and similar inquiries which might 
 suggest themselves on this subject; I shall content myself 
 with remarking, that example can never adequately account 
 for that which is universal. The principle of this explanation 
 of the evil is radically defective. It only carries us one step 
 back, and sets us, as it were, on our way towards its genuine 
 source. That source is emphatically declared in the words 
 which have given rise to this already too extended illustra- 
 tion : " BY ONE MAN SIN ENTERED INTO THE WORLD. 
 
 ' But does not this doctrine,' it may be asked, ' make the 
 Author of our being the Author of our depravity ? The soul 
 is not communicated by generation :^God is " the Father of 
 our spirits." How, then, can He be supposed to create what 
 is, in its nature, impure or sinfiil?' 
 
 Let it be admitted (for I know not how it can well be 
 questioned ; although, indeed, it is a subject respecting 
 which we are of necessity much in the dark) that the soul is 
 not generated, but created, taking possession of the body, 
 either previous to, or at the moment of birth : (for in this;, 
 also, we have to acknowledge our ignorance ;) and let us 
 briefly consider how the case will stand 
 
 The three following things, whether we be able to recon- 
 cile them with our theory of human depravity or not, must 
 be held as unquestionable truths : First, that " God made 
 man upright:" Secondly, that God did not afterwards, by 
 any direct influence, infuse evil principles into his nature : 
 Thirdly, that God does not now, by any such direct influence, 
 continue such principles in the nature of Adam's posterity. 
 To deny any one of these positions is to make God the direct 
 author of moral evil, which is to be guilty of blasphemous 
 impiety. 
 
 Having simply stated these positions, the wisest course, 
 perhaps, might be, on a subject confessedly mysterious, at once 
 to acknowledge my ignorance, and my inability to give any 
 explanation of the manner in which the taint of corruption
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 371 
 
 descends through successive generations ; many things having 
 been said regarding it which have only been a " darkening of 
 counsel by words without knowledge." Some may place 
 amongst these what I am now about to say; in which, how- 
 ever, if I err, I err with men of eminent talent and excel- 
 lence. I am far from saying that even to my own mind it 
 is free of difficulties : and, should you be disposed to reject 
 it, and, taking simply the fads, which are palpable and in- 
 capable of dispute, to leave the solution of them with God, 
 I shall not complain. 
 
 In the nature of man, then, when he was created, there 
 appear to have been two sets of principles; which may be 
 denominated, for the sake of distinction, the principles of 
 tt'i/tcrr, and the principles of grace. The former consisted 
 of self-love, with the various natural affections, and animal 
 appetites : the latter of the love of God, and the righteous- 
 ness and holiness connected with it, which form together 
 the Divine image. Of these two classes of principles, the 
 former are, strictly speaking, essential to the human nature ; 
 so that, if they were to be taken away the distinctive nature 
 of man would be no more. The latter, on the contrary, are 
 rather accidents of this nature, than essential constituent 
 properties of it. Although they cease to exist, the nature 
 remains. The former of these classes of principles, being 
 obviously inferior in kind, were intended to be subordinate 
 in operation, to the latter. These were to rule to hold the 
 dominion in the soul. 
 
 While this continued the case that is during the period 
 of man's innocence, all was order, and beautiful harmony ; 
 everything as it ought to be in its proper and perfect state. 
 But the higher principles, although maintained by direct Di- 
 vine influence, were not so maintained as to interfere with 
 the liberty of man's will, to prevent the possibility of temp- 
 tation being addressed to the inferior principles, or, if su.-h 
 temptation should be addressed, to necessitate its failure. 
 Neither the Divine influence, nor the condition in which 
 man was placed, was of such a nature as to render liim im- 
 peccable. In whatever way the tempter found access to the
 
 372 LECTUUE XXII. 
 
 mind of Eve, he succeeded in introducing into it, first of 
 all, a thought of possible unkindness in the prohibition of 
 the forbidden tree : " Yea, hath God indeed said, ye shall 
 not eat of every tree in the garden?" then, secondly, by a 
 bold denial of the Divine declaration, a secret doubt whether 
 the threatening would certainly be executed : " Ye shall not 
 surely die:'' thirdly, a rising suspicion of jealousy on the 
 part of God, on account of the knowledge and other good 
 effects which the fruit of this tree was fitted to communicate ; 
 " For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then 
 your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as Go'!,* knowing 
 good and evil:" and lastly, a consequent desire and ex- 
 pectation of this unknown good; "When the woman saw, 
 that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to 
 the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise ; she took 
 of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her hus- 
 band with her, and he did cat." 
 
 When man thus "by transgression fell," those superior 
 principles which had before maintained an uninterrupted 
 ascendency over the inferior, regulating and sanctifying all 
 their exercise, forsook his heart; the Divine influence being 
 entirely withdrawn, which was necessary to their piv>t j r\ -a- 
 tiou. "Then those principles, which were before inferior, 
 although not sinful, being left to themselves, became, of 
 course, reigning principles, masters of the heart, having no- 
 thing to control them. From this arose a state of derange- 
 ment, and dreadful confusion. Instead of GOD, SELF now 
 occupied the supreme place in the heart. Self-love formerly 
 subordinate to the love of God, now disposed man to pursue 
 his own gratification, without regard to God's honour or law. 
 And as God's law continued obligatory, and opposite, to such 
 indulgence, this gave rise io enmity against the law and its 
 Author." " It were easy to show, how every lust and de- 
 praved passion of man's heart would naturally arise from this 
 original. And thus it is easy to give an account, 
 
 * Not "as gods,'"' according to our version. " God dotli know," in 
 the beginning of the verse, is the same plural noun.
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 373 
 
 how total corruption of heart should follow, on man's eating 
 the forbidden fruit, without God's putting any evil into his 
 heart, implanting any bad principles, infusing any corrupt 
 taint, and so becoming the Author of their depravity. Only 
 God's withdrawing, as it was highly proper and necessary 
 that He should, from rebel man, being, as it were, driven 
 away by his abominable wickedness, and man's natural prin- 
 ciples being left to themselves, tliis is sufficient to account for 
 his becoming entirely corrupt."* And as the nature of the 
 first man became thus corrupt, without any direct influence 
 from God ; so it is with regard to that of his posterity. Born 
 into the world mere flesh, that is under the dominion of 
 principles merely animal; without the superior regulating 
 principles of holiness ; the exclusive power of these natural 
 or animal principles uniformly manifests itself in corruption. 
 Original corruption, according to the view that has thus 
 been given of it, is rather of a negative, than of a positive 
 nature. It consists in the complete privation, the total ab- 
 sence, of all good, rather than in any principles directly and 
 positively sinful It is that which tends to and necessarily 
 produces corruption, rather than corruption itself If the 
 souls of men are of God's creation when they enter their 
 bodies, it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to suppose anything 
 more than this, without making the Divine Being the im- 
 mediate Author of sin. And if the negation of all good, the 
 exclusive dominion of principles merely selfish and animal, 
 is sufficient to account for all the subsequent evil that ap- 
 pears in mankind, if this negative cause is fully adequate 
 to the explanation of all the positive effects, (as, for my own 
 part, I am perfectly satisfied it is) why should anything 
 more be supposed in the case ? To affirm, that all sin is a 
 mere negation all evil only the absence of good, as dark- 
 ness is the absence of light, is, perhaps, to push this idea to 
 an extreme. But, at the same time, of innate corruption, in 
 any other sense than the one which it has now been ex- 
 plained, as implying anything more than that in the human 
 
 * Edwards ou Original Sin.
 
 374 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 nature, as it comes into the world, " there dwelleth no good 
 thing," I confess I am unable to form any notion without 
 involving the "Holy One" in the direct production of evil. 
 I have before remarked, however, that it seems to be quite 
 a sufficient reason for denominating any action cormpt that 
 God is not in it; and in the same sense we may with equal 
 propriety apply the term corrupt to a rational nature that 
 has nothing of God in it a nature that is entirely destitute 
 of any principle of genuine goodness that is exclusively 
 animal and sensual, without a spark of spiritual life. 
 
 In this way we may most truly be said to be " conceived in 
 sin and brought forth in iniquity." For surely it is sin, it is 
 iniquity, that an intelligent creature should be without the 
 slightest vestige of what constitutes in all such natures the 
 great principle of goodness, a regard to God ; that SELF should 
 ride, and in every instance set divine authority aside fret- 
 ting against all that opposes its indulgence, and discovering 
 thus the most irritable and inveterate enmity against every 
 spiritual counteraction. Whence all the evil passions of the 
 human heart, even the worst and deadliest, but from the un- 
 counteracted dominion of selfish and animal principles? 
 What is pride, but the elation of self? What is envy, but 
 the preference of self to others i What are all the forms of 
 lying and dishonesty, but the preference of self to truth and 
 integrity? What is cruelty, but the gratification of some 
 sportive selfishness, without regard to the suffering at the 
 expense of which it is obtained ? What is all filial insubor- 
 dination and rebellion, but the preference of self to rightful 
 authority 1 ? What are all the diverse forms of impiety, but 
 the preference of self to God ? If we must except from the 
 charge of exclusive selfishness the exercise of the social af- 
 fections of our nature, still, while a vast deal of selfishness 
 mingles with them, they are icithont God instincts and 
 impulses common to us with the irrational creation; and 
 even the laws and the conventional morality of the world, 
 what is it but a system of restraints founded on a principle of 
 what may be termed social selfishness, to curb the indulgence 
 of that which is personal, and yet arising out of it ; for what
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. -375 
 
 is the good of society, but the aggregate of personal selfish- 
 nesses? In a word let selfish and animal principles have 
 the uncontrolled sway ; and I know of no lengths to which 
 their rebellious and often frantic resistance to the restraints 
 of superior principles may not carry their unholy and un- 
 happy subject* 
 
 *"The Author here adopts substantially the view of Edwards 
 and others, (as Turretin, Pictet, and Ridgley;) and seems to have 
 felt it on the whole the most reasonable; yet he was fully alive to 
 the difficulties which it involves and the objections to which it lies 
 exposed. He thus writes, (System. Theol. vol. ii. pp. 202 206,) 
 "At present I have to do simply and solely with the nature of ori- 
 ginal depravity; and I wish it to be distinctly understood, that, in 
 offering strictures on this theory, I am not to be considered as embrac 
 ing and advocating another. My sole object, I avcw in the outset, 
 is, to show that every theory has its difficulties, various in kind and 
 also in amount, but in every case such as to leave us at a stand, per- 
 plexed with questions which we are unable satisfactorily to solve. I 
 remark, on this theory 
 
 " (1.) That, according to it, there is nothing in human nature now, 
 the nature with which men are born, that is, in itself considered, evil 
 or sinful. This is not only admitted, but carefully affirmed, as arising 
 necessarily from the fact of human souls being assumed to be of God's 
 immediate creation. Thus Dr. Payne, in the passage before quoted^ 
 says, respecting those 'interior principles' of his nature, which ob- 
 tained the uncontrolled ascendency when man had fallen 'all good, 
 be it remembered, in themselves;' 'and,' he adds, ' good or right in 
 their exercise when controlled by love to God and man.' Hut it is 
 not their exercise that constitutes the character of man's nature; it is 
 these principles existing in it. If, therefore, they are 'all good in 
 themselves,' how can the nature in which they exist be, on their ac- 
 count at least, in any positive sense, an evil nature. That nature 
 surely is not, with strict propriety, designated an evil nature, all 
 whose actually subsisting principles are in themselves good. And, 
 then, another inquiry presents itself: Would it have been, or would 
 it not, consistent with the perfections of the divine character, with its 
 holiness, and righteousness, and goodness, to have created man with 
 these natural principles alone; the principles, that is, which properly 
 constitute his nature, independently of any inherent holy dfopotl- 
 tions? And the affirmative of this is not only admitted, but main- 
 tained. 'Equity,' says Dr. Payne, 'demanded, since he was to be 
 responsible, that he should he a rational being; a man, and not an 
 animal; and further, as he was to enter immediately on his coins.' of 
 moral trial, that he should be created perfect as a man, with all bin 
 piiysical and moral powers in entire vigour, and fully prepared for 
 action. But equity did not demand that he should l: erected a holy 
 man, in the sense in which we have predicated holiness of him; in a
 
 376 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 From tlie survey we have been taking of the ruins of 
 our fallen nature let us learn to humble ourselves deeply in 
 the presence of God ; in the presence of " the high and lofty 
 
 state, that is, of what, for want of a better word, we may perhaps call 
 predisposition to holy volitions and actions.'* If so, may we not put 
 the question still more emphatically: Can that, with any propriety, 
 or in any positive sense, be denominated an evil nature, which is born 
 into the world now, in a state in which it would have been quite com- 
 patible with the perfections of the All-perfect to have created it at 
 first? Can that nature be properly corrupt or depraved, which is in 
 a state in which God Himself might have created it? I am aware 
 that such a conclusion is not against the theory ; it is in full harmony 
 with it. I wish to show, what the theory, rightly understood, 
 amounts to. 
 
 " (2.) That the nature so constituted, so born into the world, is not 
 in itself, in any sense, positively sinful, will further appear from the 
 whole tenor of Edwards's language respecting the withdrawrnent of the 
 Spirit of God, and his supporting grace, from the mind of Adam when 
 he sinned. He does not speak of his nature as becoming by such 
 withdrawment depraved and sinful, but of depravity following as a 
 native and necessary consequence. Thus, as before quoted, he says: 
 ' In order to account for a sinful corruption of nature, yea, a total 
 native depravity of the heart of man, there is not the least need of 
 supposing any evil quality infused, implanted, or wrought into the 
 nature of man by any positive cause or influence whatsoever, either 
 from God or the creature ; or of conceiving that man is born with a 
 fountain of evil in his heart, such as is, in any sense, positive. 1 think 
 a little attention to the nature of things will be sufficient to satisfy 
 any impartial considerate inquirer, that the absence of positive good 
 principles, and the withholding a special divine influence to impart 
 and maintain those good principles, leaving the common natural prin- 
 ciples of self-love, natural appetite, &c.' (which were in man in inno- 
 cence; and which, of course, as Dr. Payne says, must have been, and 
 must still be, all good in themselves), ' to themselves, without the 
 government of superior divine principles, will certainly be followed 
 with the corruption, yea. the total corruption, of the heart, without 
 occasion for any positive influence at all; and that it was thus, in- 
 deed, that corruption of nature came on Adam immediately on his fall, 
 and comes on all his posterity, as sinning in him, and falling witli 
 him.' And again: ' And God still continuing strictly to require a 
 supreme regard for himself, and forbidding all gratifications of these 
 inferior passions, but only in perfect subordination to the ends, and 
 agreeableness to the rules and limits, which His holiness, honour, and 
 lasv prescribe, hence immediately arises enmity in the heart, now 
 wholly under the power of self-love, and nothing but war ensues, in a 
 constant course, against God.' The question recurs here: Can that 
 
 * Congregational Lecture, ii. p. 65.
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 377 
 
 One who inhabiteth eternity, and whose name is Holy." 
 The scene is full of melancholy. A world of fallen crea- 
 tures ! How can we look on such a world, but with a melt- 
 be called, in strict propriety, a 'sinful corruption of nature,' a ' total 
 native depravity of heart,' which is only 'followed hy the corruption 
 the total corruption of the heart,' from which its 'enmity' arises, and 
 arises by a certain process, and from which war witli God only ''en- 
 sues ?' ' It were easy to show how every lust and depraved disposi- 
 tion of man's heart would naturally arise from this privative original.' 
 Be it so; yet if 'lusts and depra'ved dispositions' only arise out of 
 the privative original, and that which is in the heart originally is not 
 in its own nature directly evil, is this ' consequence, ' properly speak- 
 ing, innate depravity? 
 
 " Again I remind you, that I am not questioning the trutli of the 
 theory of the privative character of original sin, as if 1 meant to set it 
 aside, and substitute a better. I merely show the difficulties witli 
 which, on every side, the subject is environed, by pointing out the 
 precise nature of the different theories that have been held about it. 
 arid the objectionable points of each. It would seem to follow, from 
 these observations, that the true nature of original depravity lies in the 
 want, in the absence, of right and good principles, rather than in the 
 presence and influence of principles positively evil; and that, in the 
 nature of a rational creature, amoral agent, an accountable heing, such 
 want, such absence, is absolutely sinful. If it is sinful to be ' without 
 natural affection;' it must be the most sinful of all sinfulness to be 
 without the first and highest of all natural affections, the affection due 
 to our Creator and moral Governor. Such privation is moral turpi- 
 tude. If any moral nature is destitute of it, it is by that very desti- 
 tution a sinful nature. There is wanting in it the true element of all 
 that is morally pood; and nothing, therefore, morally good can come 
 of it. And, as Edwards justly says, self-love, seeking its own objects 
 the objects that give gratification to its own natural appetites and 
 passions, conflicting with the peremptory demands of God'f law, 
 brings out the absence of love in the form of positive enmity; enmity 
 that will increase in proportion to the eagerness and strength of the 
 appetite on which the law imposes its restraint. So that, although at 
 first view a privative tendency a positive tendency springing from 
 a privative cause, may sound very much like a contradiction, yet it 
 has reality. It is quite possible to trace to this privative source itself, 
 (in a rational and moral nature a sinful defect), all the phenomena. 
 And this is precisely what we seek in a philosophical cause. If we 
 have found a cause in actual existence that does meet and account for 
 all the phenomena, we do not feel ourselves called upon to go further 
 with our process of investigation. This is enough. True philosophy 
 lays an interdict on any thing beyond." To the Work quoted the 
 reader is referred for a more full ;nid elaborate discussion of the impor- 
 tant subjects in this Lecture and various points of interest connected 
 witli them. The discussion extends over several Lectures from pp. 
 120232 of the second volume. ED.
 
 378 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 ing heart! How can we open the roll of its history, where 
 the chapter of paradisaical innocence, full of exquisite de- 
 light, is so sadly brief; and where the next commences with 
 " lamentation and mourning and woe," continuing, with the 
 guilt in which they had their origin, to deface the record, 
 from that hour to the present without exclaiming, " that 
 my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears ! " 
 " How is the gold become dim ! how is the most fine gold 
 changed ! The crown is fallen from our heads : woe is unto 
 us, for we have sinned!" 
 
 " For WE have sinned ! " Ah ! let us beware of so gen- 
 eralizing our reflections on the ruin of our race, as to forget 
 ourselves! to forget that we are members of this fallen race 
 that ice individually are depraved creatures "conceived 
 in sin, and brought forth in iniquity." And let us, each for 
 himself, be suitably affected by the dishonour which our own 
 sinfulness has brought upon God the God of light and 
 love!
 
 LECTURE XXIII 
 
 * 
 
 ROMANS v. 12 21. 
 (SECOND DISCOURSE.) 
 
 have considered the subject of original depravity as PX- 
 od by the Apostle, " By one man sin entered into the 
 world."* Having shown, both from Scripture and from fart, 
 that the race of mankind, the offspring of the first Adam, 
 inherit from their original progenitor a nature depraved, such 
 as he possessed himself after lie had sinned, destitute of all 
 the principles of holy rectitude by which it was distinguished 
 when he came from the forming hand of his Creator; we now 
 take up the other branch of this subject, namely, Tin- eofa 
 iicxion of the posterity of Adam with the guilt of ///,- jinf .->/// . 
 whether and how far they are viewed and treated by G<><1 * 
 involved in that guilt. 
 
 The question regards the first sin of the first man ; not at 
 all his subsequent transgressions. God had said to him, "In 
 the day thou eatest thou shalt surely die." His first sin was 
 the violation of this divine interdict. By this the peril .d 
 of his probation was terminated. He became guilty. The 
 sentence of death passed upon him; and the question is, 
 Whether his progeny, the race of mankind, were involved in 
 this guilt and in this sentence; whether he held the situatimi 
 and character of a federal head in such a way as that all who 
 
 * Verse 12.
 
 380 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 were to descend from him were to be regarded as having 
 " sinned in him, and fallen with him, in his first transgres- 
 sion." In other words, What is the full meaning of the 
 Apostle's words, "And death by sin?" 
 
 That Adam did stand for his posterity the proofs are as 
 follows : 
 
 1. The obvious import of the terms used in this passage. 
 In the first instance the verb, " Many were made sinners," * 
 (xarsarddrfffav). It properly signifies not that they were 
 made sinful or sinners in character. It is true that his off- 
 spring did become sinners in this sense, too, in consequence 
 of their connexion with him; but the term here employed 
 means that " by one man's disobedience many were consti- 
 tuted sinners judicially constituted such by a sentence of 
 God the Judge." t This is confirmed by the various other 
 phrases which are used in the passages: "By the offence of 
 one many be dead," (v. 16). "The judgment was by one to 
 condemnation," (v. 17). "By one man's offence death reigned 
 by one," (v. 18). "By the offence of one, judgment came 
 upon all men to condemnation," (v. 15). Such expressions 
 as these, thus so often repeated, cannot, without the utmost 
 torturing, be made to signify any thing else than that the 
 first transgression of Adam brought the sentence of death, 
 or, in other words, the curse, upon his posterity as well as 
 himself. 
 
 2. This is confirmed by the account given in the historical 
 record of God's dealings with the first father of mankind. ; 
 I am not now treating of the extent of the curse, or of what 
 is included in the death threatened for the eating of the 
 fruit of the forbidden tree; but of the extent to which it 
 reached as to the persons involved in it; in other words, 
 whether, when God uses the singular pronoun " Thou shalt 
 die," He means Adam personally, or Adam both personally 
 and representatively as he included the race. 
 
 It has been alleged that nothing is said in these words 
 
 * Vtr. 19. f Taylor, as quoted bv Edwards, p. 191. 
 
 J Gen. ii. 16, 17.
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. 381 
 
 about posterity. But it might as reasonably be alleged, that 
 the address being to man, the woman was not included. 
 And, indeed, on this and other considerations, it has actually 
 been fancied by some that Adam alone should be regarded 
 as the head of the race; that in this high relation Eve had 
 no union with him ; so that, had she fallen, she must have 
 fallen for herself alone. And then, as usual, speculation has 
 been set busily, yet idly, to work on the consequences which 
 might have resulted to the race had it so happened : one 
 parent remaining holy and the other becoming corrupt! 
 Another exemplification of the extreme fondness of the 
 human mind for conjecture however unprofitable. Eve in- 
 cludes herself with Adam as the subject of the same re- 
 sponsibility.* I might enlarge on the absurdity of the 
 hypothesis. But it is quite enough simply to refer to 
 another passage: "And God blessed them, and God said 
 imto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the 
 earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over the fish of 
 the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living 
 thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, 
 I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the 
 face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit 
 of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat."t The 
 grant of food was surely not to Adam and Eve personally 
 merely, but to them and all who should proceed from them. 
 There is the same evidence of the species being meant in 
 chapter ii. 16, 17. This is put beyond all controversy by 
 the terms of the curse "Cursed is the ground for thy sake; 
 in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life ; in the 
 .sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto 
 the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust tlmu 
 art, and unto dust shalt thou return." J These words cer- 
 tainly included the species, and surely it is not less certain 
 that they refer back to the threatening. So that if the 
 race was included in the one, it must have been included 
 in the other. They are both alike in the singular niuii- 
 
 * Gen. iii. 2, 3. f Gen. i. 28, 29. t Ch. >" 17, 19.
 
 382 LECTURE XXIII, 
 
 ber. The address is in either case to Adam, certainly, 
 however, including Eve, and as certainly the posterity of 
 both. "The sentence," says Edwards, "which is founded on 
 the threatening and according to the threatening, extends to 
 as many as were included in the threatening, and no more. 
 If the sentence be upon a collective subject, infinitely (as it 
 were) the greater part of which were not included in the 
 threatening, nor were ever threatened at all by any threaten- 
 ing whatsoever; then certainly this sentence is not according 
 to the threatening nor built upon it. If the sentence be ac- 
 cording to the threatening, then may we justly explain the 
 threatening by the sentence; and if we find the sentence 
 spoken to the same person to whom the threatening was 
 spoken, and spoken in the second person singular in like 
 manner with the threatening, and founded on the threaten- 
 ing and according to the threatening; and if we find the 
 sentence includes Adam's posterity, then we may certainly 
 infer that so did the threatening ; and hence that both the 
 threatening and the sentence were delivered to Adam as the 
 public head and representative of his posterity/'* 
 
 * On Original Sin, p. 190. With regard to the view thus taken of 
 the inclusion in Adam of all his posterity, so that what was done by 
 him is to be considered as having been done by them, each and all of 
 them in him the view held by Augustine, as well as Edwards, and 
 by multitudes of followers; I cannot but think that Dr. Payne insists 
 upon too strictly literal an interpretation of the terms in which, especi- 
 ally by some of the leaders and defenders of the theory, it has been 
 expressed. He represents them as maintaining, not merely that the 
 posterity of Adam suffered the penalty incurred by their federal head 
 as if it had been done by themselves, but that they were actually and 
 literally in Adam, and actually and literally, the doers of his act, not 
 representatively only, in virtue of the federal relationship, but person- 
 ally and really; that they were all in Adam literally, and that the sin 
 wa's literally their own. He represents the holders of this theory as 
 in this way getting rid of the difficulty of the posterity suffering finally 
 for the siii of another; for. as he truly says, were the theory true, they 
 would not be suffering for the sin of another, but for their own sin. 
 Now, this does appear to me too much. Let the terms be ever so 
 strong, unwarrantably and extravagantly strong, employed in convey- 
 ing the idea of the incorporated union of the whole race with its great 
 progenitor; it is quite out of the question that this incorporation 
 could have been by them regarded in any other light than a federal 
 one a quasi union; inferring the penalty to them as if they had been
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 383 
 
 3. There is a matter-of-fact argument here adduced by 
 the Apostle, which there is no resisting, " For until the law 
 sin was in the world : but sin is not imputed when there is 
 
 in him, and had themselves been the transgressors. Whether Ed- 
 wards was right or wrong in conceiving the curse in all its amount, 
 even to the second death, as coming upon the race equally with its 
 head; still the imputation to Edwards, or any one else, of the senti- 
 ment that every member of the race actually, really, bona fide, waa 
 himself the perpetrator of the first transgression, cannot be contem- 
 plated in any other light than as bringing against one of the acutest 
 and ablest of men a charge of insanity. It cannot be. Dr. Payne 
 himself admits imputation. He regards it as the only possible ground 
 on which the facts of the case can be accounted for. True; it is im- 
 putation only inferring the forfeiture of chartered blessings. And this 
 forfeiture is the result of the federal relation. It comes upon us as if 
 we ourselves had done the act by which the terms of the covenant 
 were violated. And to whatever extent, .in regard to penal conse- 
 quences, the idea of imputation may be carried, it can never, by any 
 man in his right mind, mean anything more than this. 
 
 Dr. Payne, too, makes a distinction between holding as guilty and 
 treating as guilty, and between holding and treating as righteous in 
 imputation; conceiving the latter to be all that imputation includes. 
 This, too. does seem to me. notwithstanding the earnestness with which 
 he presses it, to wear a good deal of the air of a logomachy, or of a 
 distinction without a difference. For I confess myself unable to form 
 the conception of a man being treated, on the part of God, either as 
 righteous or wicked, unless, in some sense, on some ground or other, 
 he is held or accounted such. (Congregational Lecture, iii. pp. 120, 
 123. 125. 126.) 
 
 What comes upon us in consequence of the sin of Adam, does not 
 come upon us as properly guilt} 7 , nor is it to be considered strictly as 
 punishment. It is the conseq'uence of Adam's failure as a federal 
 head, and extended no further than to forfeiture of chartered blessings. 
 These blessings " we lose by virtue of belonging to the family of 
 Adam, as the whole line of the descendants of a nobleman lose title 
 and rank by the erasure of their ancestor's name from the list of the 
 peerage. The endurance of this loss may have been punishment to 
 Adam, but it is not punishment to \\g. He was responsible for the act 
 which entailed this awful ruin upon us; we were not responsible. He 
 was guilty in committing the act. His guilt does not attach to us. yet 
 it involves us in all the consequences of the act, as if it had been our 
 own. The children born to exalted rank lose the honours of their no- 
 bility when their father becomes a rebel, yet no one conceives of his 
 guilt as attaching to them; and if, to account for their loss of title and 
 station, while personally, as it might be blameless, any one ibonld 
 think it necessary to resort to the legal fiction that the crime of tlie 
 father was imputed to them, and that, therefore, they suffered its con- 
 sequences, he would be more in danger of being laughed at for his 
 simplicity than commended for his ingenuity. Every one, in this
 
 384 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, 
 even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of 
 Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to 
 come." * 
 
 case, would feel that the children lose, not what every blameless sub- 
 ject of the commonwealth has a right to claim from the community, 
 but patent honours, which it reserves to itself, and should reserve to 
 itself, a right to bestow or withhold, as the weal of the nation may 
 seem to require." (Congregational Lecture, iii. pp. 135, 136.) This is 
 a very simple and summary view of the principle of the theory in this 
 department of it. It seems to me, however, very obvious that, putting 
 aside the idea of proper personal guilt and of proper personal punish- 
 ment of guilt on the part of the children of an attainted peer, they are 
 still treated as if guilty in consequence of being held as if guilty. Call 
 it a "fiction of law," or what you will, the original investiture or pa- 
 tent of peerage was framed on the condition that, on the rebellion of 
 any one in the line, all who should follow were to be held as having 
 forfeited the title, with its honours and privileges, and to be treated 
 accordingly. There is one important respect, too, in which this com- 
 parison fails. The descendants of the attainted peer forfeit, it is true, 
 and may forfeit permanently the family honours. But they may still 
 stand for themselves, and may achieve honours of their own. They 
 may again by their conduct raise themselves to the highest dignities 
 in the state. But alas for the posterity of Adam ! If their case be, 
 as it is frequently and generally represented, and justly too, whatever 
 diversity there may be in the mere modes of statement; if their con- 
 dition be one of certain, irrecoverable, eternal ruin, one from which 
 all possibility of self- recovery is excluded, it matters comparatively 
 little to them whether the consequence comes upon them by direct 
 implication in Adam's guilt, and therefore penally; or whether it 
 comes upon them indirectly by means of their derived degeneracy. 
 If it be certain, absolute, inevitable, where to them is the mighty dif- 
 ference? What is it to me. for instance, whether I am held as guilty 
 if I am treated as if I were? It is only the fact of being so treated or 
 dealt with that to me is of any real importance. And again, is it of 
 any material moment, if eternal death necessarily ensues, whether 
 that death comes upon me immediately, as a partaker in the guilt of 
 the federal head, or by a process less direct but equally inevitable, 
 through the medium of forfeited privilege and innate depravity? For 
 example, we have seen that Dr. Payne disowns the idea of proper 
 guilt in Adam's offspring, and proper punishment. Be it so; yet the 
 actual result is as unavoidable as if guilt and punishment had been 
 the true state of the case. If the penalty, then, inflicted on Adam so 
 descends to his posterity as, through whatever process (if that process 
 is beyond their possible preventing power), to ensure the death and 
 final ruin of every one of them, the difficulty of the case does not ap- 
 pear to be materially altered or mitigated. 
 
 * Verses 13, 14.
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 385 
 
 Sin is defined " the transgression of law." * So that 
 " where no law is, there is no transgression." t Now, before 
 the time of Moses, it is obvious sin could not be the trans- 
 gression of the Mosaic law. The Jews, therefore, were 
 wrong in considering that law as the universal rule of judg- 
 ment for mankind; trusting in their own possession of it, 
 and reckoning all under condemnation that were without 
 it. Sin was committed; the guilt arising from it incurred; 
 the sentence of death pronounced, for the violation of a law 
 more ancient than it ; and all, both Jews and Gentiles, thus 
 " constituted sinners." In evidence of all this, he states 
 the unquestionable fact, that "death reigned" before Moses' 
 time. Now tliis implied sin ; for death is part of " the 
 wages of sin," and it could not lay hold of or touch an inno- 
 cent creature. That the sin which caused death to mankind 
 was Adam's first transgression, the violation by this trans- 
 gression of the original law of works given to him, and not 
 the subsequent personal or actual sin of each individual, he 
 makes out by a fact of sad and palpable notoriety. Not 
 <mly did " death reign from Adam to Moses; it reigned even 
 over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's 
 transgression." I know of no interpretation of this so na- 
 tural, nor any so appropriate to the Apostle's purpose, as 
 that which refers it to the case of infants. That infants die, 
 in many instances after most severe, diversified, and pr.>- 
 tracted sufferings, is a fact as incontrovertible, as it is, to 
 every mind of sensibility, deeply aftecting. Now temporal 
 death, and all the sufferings that lead to it, are a part of the 
 curse; they belong to the penal consequences of sin. He 
 who suffers and dies, suffers and dies, in some view or other, 
 as sinful and guilty. How comes it, then, that infants suffer 
 and die 1 ? They have not been guilty of actual person^! 
 transgression; they arc incapable of it. Must they not, 
 then, be regarded as implicated in the guilt of the origin.-*! 
 head? as suffering and dying as a part of the race for which 
 
 * 1 John iii. 4. t K">- iv. 15. 
 
 I. 2 B
 
 386 LECTL1JE XXIII. 
 
 he stood the representative?* Xothing serves more strongly 
 to show the difficulty of interpreting on any other principle 
 this simple fact, than the ground taken by the adversaries of 
 the doctrine of which I now speak. They represent death 
 as a good.t This is to fly in the face of the plainest dictates 
 of the Scriptures and of common sense; and it is not won- 
 derful that those who do assume such ground should find it 
 impossible, even in words, to avoid contradicting themselves. 
 Is it not evident that the same principle which converts 
 death into a good, and not at all a punishment, must con- 
 sider also as belonging to the class of benefits ami blessings. 
 all the diseases and casualties, some of them the most cruelly 
 tormenting, to which infancy is subject? Tf we saw infants 
 uniformly removed out of the world by a hand of pitying 
 gentleness that spared them the slightest pain, we might ! 
 tempted and even delightfully constrained to acquiesce in 
 the representation. lUit the mournful fact is far otherwise. 
 It is true that sufferings are turned to blessings by the gi-a<-e 
 of God in the experience of his children; but in themselves 
 they are ills, the sad eifects of sin, and so is the death in 
 which they all terminate: for it is evident that in our pres- 
 ent discussion we must leave entirely out of account the 
 countervailing efficacy of the Redeemer's mediation of the 
 work or righteousness of the second Adam. 
 
 * Observe. I keep the statement at present in general terms ; that 
 their suffering and dying are penal consequences of thi-ir connexion 
 with the first transgressor. We shall afterwards have an opportunity 
 of inquiring whether they are to he regarded as coining upon them 
 solely on account of Adanvs sin, independently of the corruption of 
 nature pertaining by inheritance to themselves, or whether also a* the 
 subjects of this corruption ; the two being inseparable, and the con- 
 nexion most important. 
 
 f Thus it has been represented by Dr. John Taylor. He speaks of 
 death as having been brought on Adanvs posterity not at all in conse- 
 quence of his sin. or as a punishment, but by the gracious disposal of 
 a Father, bestowing upon them a benefit of the highest description. 
 And yet Dr. T. frequently speaks of the sentence of death as pro- 
 nounced by God upon all mankind; of his condemning them to it; of 
 its being a sentence judicially pronounced ; a condemnatory sentence 
 pronounced by God on all mankind, acting as their judge, and in a 
 judicial proceeding.
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 387 
 
 4. This view of the passage is further ascertained to be 
 just from the parallel drawn in it between Adam and Christ. 
 This argument, I am aware, rests upon the assumption that 
 the "obedience unto death" of the latter is the ground of 
 our justification. This is the doctrine clearly taught in the 
 preceding part of the Epistle, and in the whole Bible. Into 
 any formal proof of it we cannot now enter. We shall 
 afterwards see hoAV the whole of this passage establishes it. 
 What I now observe is, that all the evidence of the obedi- 
 ence of the second Adam being the ground of justification 
 and life, bears upon the present subject ; for if it be in virtue 
 of "one man's obedience" that many are "constituted right- 
 eous," the other side of the parallel must be as we have now 
 stated; otherwise, we shall be at a loss to see the propriety 
 of instituting any parallel at all. The amount of the .paral- 
 lelism will afterwards appear. All that is now alhrmed is, 
 that, in the whole passage, each side of the alternative rests 
 on the same principle.* Throughout the passage there is a 
 contrast in the nature of the results, but a parallel in the 
 nature of their origin ; not as if there were any resemblance 
 between transgression and obedience, but inasmuch as the 
 results, of death and of life respectively, arose, in either mse, 
 from the doings of another. 
 
 Objections have been started against the principle of tliis 
 representation of the original constitution of the divine pro- 
 cedure with man. We must endeavour, as far as lies in us, 
 to vindicate it, and to show that it is not out of harmony 
 with right conceptions of the divine character, or with the 
 analogy of the divine providence. 
 
 (1.) I have been endeavouring to show what is the doc- 
 trine of the Scriptures. If I have at all succeeded in this 
 attempt; if it has been made to appear that, according to 
 the statements of God's word, the connexion between Adam 
 and his posterity was indeed such as it has now been repre- 
 sented, it witt serve to satisfy the minds of those who 
 " tremble at that word." They will at least be distrustful 
 
 * Verses 1519.
 
 388 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 of their own judgments, and cautious in arraigning what has 
 the authority of a book, in support of whose claim to divin- 
 ity there can be mustered so immense a force of external, 
 internal, and experimental evidence. They will be thus 
 wisely and modestly cautious, even should they find difficul- 
 ties in the way which they may not be able fully to solve. 
 
 (2.) There is no arguing against plain facts. It is not on 
 the authority of the Bible alone, but on that of experience, 
 we rest the representation that has been given. The follow- 
 ing are such facts : 
 
 [1.] That all men, without one solitary exception from the 
 beginning hitherto, do come into the world in a state and 
 circumstances such as invariably issue in sin, and in conse- 
 quent exposure to God's punitive visitation on account of it ; 
 such as do not allow of any the slightest possibility, to any 
 individual, of its being with him or her otherwise than that 
 they sin and incur condemnation.* This is fact, independ- 
 ently of the statements of the Bible. It cannot be contro- 
 verted; and as little can it be in any one instance evaded or 
 remedied Xow either this is the result of God's dealing 
 with men, as one with Adam, and guilty in him as their 
 representative, or not. The denial of it does not mitigate, 
 and far less remove the difficulty. "Adam by his sin was 
 exposed to the calamities and sorrows of this life, to temporal 
 death, and to eternal ruin, as is confessed. And it is also in 
 effect confessed, that all his posterity came into the world in 
 such a state, as that the certain consequence is their being 
 exposed, and justly so, to the sorrows and miseries of this life, 
 to temporal death, and to eternal ruin, unless saved by grace. 
 So that, in fact, we see God deals with them together, or as 
 one. If God orders the consequences of Adam's sin, with re- 
 gard to his posterity's welfare, even in those things which are 
 most important, and which do, in the highest degree, concern 
 
 * All men. without a solitary instance to the contrary, are sinners. 
 Man and sinner, in our world, are terms of co-extensive comprehen- 
 siveness. It can hardly be said to he optional in regard to any one 
 who is born into the world, whether he will or will not sustain the 
 character and condition of a sinner.
 
 ROMANS V. 12-21. 889 
 
 their eternal interests, to be the same with the consequences 
 to Adam himself, then he treats Adam and his posterity as 
 in that affair one. Hence, however the matter be attended 
 with difficulty, fact obliges us to get over the difficulty, 
 either by finding out some solution, or by shutting our 
 mouths, and acknowledging the weakness and scantiness of 
 our understandings; as we must do in innumerable other cases, 
 when apparent and undeniable fact in God's works of crea- 
 tion and providence is attended with events and circum- 
 stances, the manner and reason of which are difficult to our 
 understandings." * 
 
 [2.] The other fact is the one already adverted to, of the 
 sufferings and death of infants; and on which it is needless 
 any further to insist. It compels us to the same conclusion. 
 Fact obliges us to admit that Adam's posterity are treated as 
 one with him. If infants are, in no sense whatever, con- 
 templated as guilty, their being actually and to so great an 
 amount sufferers, is surely not the less mysterious. On the 
 contrary, the mystery is aggravated instead of being diminished. 
 This, as before, should make us humble and diffident. It ill 
 becomes us, creatures of a day, hastily to arraign what facts 
 demonstrate to be the actual procedure of the righteous God. 
 That God is righteous, we should lay down to ourselves as 
 a fixed and sacred principle, never to be brought into ques- 
 tion. If we find any facts which seem to be at variance with 
 this fundamental truth, we must not allow ourselves to be 
 shaken in our convictions of it ; but suspect or rather be sure, 
 that any existing difficulty arises solely from the limited 
 nature of our faculties or of our information. A spirit of 
 lofty and daring speculation, and of hasty and confident con- 
 clusion, is not at all the spirit in which such inquiries ought 
 to be pursued. It is not the spirit which either sound reason 
 or the Bible justifies. 
 
 [3.] Although I am far from intending to lay it down as a 
 position, that the procedure of the infinitely just God is to be 
 vindicated by any analogy to the procedure of men; yet it 
 
 * Edwards on Original Sin, p. iv. ch. iii.
 
 390 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 may not be undeserving of notice, that even amongst men, it 
 is no uncommon thing, when there is good on the one hand 
 and evil on the other, for covenants or agreements to be 
 entered into, which involve a man's posterity even to the 
 latest generations. One man may offer to another certain 
 benefits, to be perpetually secured on certain prescribed and 
 accepted conditions, to himself and his children ; while all 
 are to be forfeited by both him and them, and certain oppo- 
 site evils incurred, on his failing to fulfil the stipulated con- 
 ditions. No one, on such failure, would feel entitled to com- 
 plain of the offerer; nay, his generosity might, and might 
 justly, be commended, however much the infatuation of the 
 originally engaging party might be the object of wonder and 
 condemnation. This leads mri to notice 
 
 [4.] Those who bitterly declaim against the view we have 
 been giving of God's original dealings with man, uniformly 
 forget the other side of the alternative. They fix on that 
 aspect of the case which regards man as guilty, and as in- 
 volved, through the sin of the parent of the race, in misery 
 and ruin and death; overlooking entirely the opposite bless- 
 edness and life, which would for ever have been insured to 
 himself and his posterity had he stood. Of this side of the 
 case there is no complaint. And yet the principle is the 
 same in both. Man owed subjection to his Creator, on 
 grounds of infinite obligation. The law of the Author of his 
 being was just and equitable and suitable to the powers and 
 endowments of his nature, and circumstances of his situation. 
 The happiness enjoyed by him was not of his own creating, 
 but bestowed by infinite goodness; and God had a right to 
 confer it in what manner and on what conditions he pleased. 
 The conditions were just ; the forfeiture righteous. 
 
 [5.] The trial of mankind in Adam was made under the 
 most advantageous circumstances. Adam was formed mature, 
 with all his powers complete. Such a trial was the fairest 
 that could be, and much more likely to have a favourable issue, 
 than if every one after had been left to stand for himself 
 personally, having to pass through the early stages of child- 
 hood and youth. Adam, moreover, had the strongest con-
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 391 
 
 ceivable motives to persevering obedience; incompatibly 
 stronger than any of his posterity ever could have; in that 
 nut only his own life and happiness, but those of all future 
 generations, were at stake. There is no good reason to sup- 
 pose he did not understand this. On the contrary, the style 
 of expression is the same on this occasion as on others which 
 did comprehend his offspring. There is the strongest reason 
 for concluding that he knew. " If. notwithstanding these 
 things/' says Edwards. " any man shall say, that for his own 
 part, if the affair had been proposed to him, he should have 
 chosen to have his eternal interests trusted in his own hands : 
 it is sufficient to answer, that no man's vain opinion of him- 
 self, as more fit to be trusted than others, alters the true 
 nature and tendency of things as they demonstrably are in 
 themselves. Nor is it a just objection that this constitution 
 has in event proved for the hurt of mankind; for it does not 
 follow, that no advantage was given for a happy issue in such 
 an establishment, because it was not such as to make it utterly 
 impossible that there should be any other event."* 
 
 [6.] On -the principles of those who deny original corrup- 
 tion, and assert that they themselves and all others come into 
 the world free of any taint of sin, and with the same purity 
 tbat Adam had, mark how the fact stands. The fact is, that 
 upon their own principles, they have actually been tried and 
 have actually failed. Upon their own principles, then, they 
 have what they consider as equitable, what they insist upon 
 as alone satisfactory. They themselves personally have been 
 made upright, and they themselves personally have " sought 
 out their own inventions." They have been placed in cir- 
 cumstances of personal responsibility, and their personal trial 
 has actually issued in personal transgression ; it has so issued 
 in every case without exception. Upon their own principles, 
 therefore, we might press upon such their need of the Saviour 
 revealed by the Gospel. We cannot let them escape from 
 this conclusion, as if the validity of their argument (supposing 
 it valid) against any extension of the penal consequence.- of 
 
 * On Original Sin, p. 4, ch. Hi.
 
 392 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 Adam's sin to his posterity, took away in any degree from 
 themselves the need of salvation. On their own ground they 
 cannot stand before God otherwise than as guilty ; as sinners, 
 needing forgiveness and the free gift of life. 
 
 [7.] The view we have been giving may be considered as 
 not at variance but rather in harmony with the analogy of 
 God's procedure in His providence. There cannot be a doubt 
 in any man's mind who observes that procedure, for instances 
 occur of it every day, that both good and evil do often arise 
 to posterity from the conduct of parents. Consequences 
 result, both bodily and mental, moral and physical, affecting 
 health and character and situation. It is quite vain to say, 
 that this can be accounted for, according to the ordinary 
 course of nature, from natural causes. It is vain to plead 
 this under the government of God. For to speak of natural 
 causes apart from His immediate and uncontrollable super- 
 intendence, or as operating without His permission or con- 
 current will, is absolute atheism. It is evident that God 
 could prevent such results as arise to children from the mis- 
 conduct of their parents. So that if we say there is un- 
 righteousness in the principle of the constitution of things, 
 in consequence of which evil came upon Adam's posterity on 
 account, or as the penal effects, of his sin ; we shall be brought 
 to the conclusion, with such daily facts as those alluded to 
 before us, that the whole course of providence has been, and 
 is, in this respect, a series of unrighteous dealings. We 
 should in such a conclusion be most unwarrantably pre- 
 sumptuous. Let us beware of " charging God foolishly." 
 
 There is yet another part of this subject before us, namely, 
 the extent of the curse; or the question, what is included in 
 the death denounced on account of sin. It might have been 
 expected that I should have considered this part of the subject, 
 before speaking at all of objections. But the objections 
 seemed to be against the general principle of the constitution 
 of things with the original representative of the race. 
 
 In drawing, for the present, to a close, I would earnestly 
 press upon all the point of fact, that, let them take what 
 views, and form what conceptions they will, about the con-
 
 ROMANS V. 1221. 393 
 
 stituted connection of Adam with his posterity, whether 
 they admit it or not, they are themselves actually sinful 
 and guilty. No view of the case can do away with this 
 plain and palpable, and to every individual, all-important 
 FACT. Set aside all federal relation to Adam if you will, 
 you are still guilty. Let original guilt, arising from such 
 relation, be supposed cancelled or never to have existed, 
 you have still actual personal sin ; you are still guilty. 
 Trace it to what source, and account for it in what way 
 you will, you are still a sinner, guilty. Treat the whole 
 discussion, if you please, as a matter of abstract useless meta- 
 physics, the case is in this respect unchanged; you are still 
 guilty. Laugh at it in ridicule, or spurn it away in indigna- 
 tion, it is the same ; the ridicule and the indignation do not 
 remove your sin ; they may add to it, but cannot take it away 
 or lessen it ; you are guilty. And such being your own per- 
 sonal condition, you need pardon, you need mercy. And every 
 consideration of your own happiness, as well as every obli- 
 gation that connects you, as an intelligent and accountable 
 creature, with the God that made you, should rouse you 
 to think, and to think with becoming seriousness, of the 
 way of forgiveness and deliverance; of peace with God, 
 and eternal life. In whatever light you regard your con- 
 nection with the transgression of the first Adam, think 
 of the obedience of the second as the revealed and only 
 ground on which you can be " constituted righteous."* 
 
 * 2 Cor. v. 19, 21. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 KDIXBURGH: 
 PKISTKD BT FOLLAKTOM AND MACNAB, LKITH WALK.