gation of his law, that their blessed state only enables them to see more clearly, and to perform more cheerfully, the reasonable service it prescribes. Had Adam and his posterity been confirmed in a state of holiness, he and they would have continued for ever to walk in the commandments of their God. And, 10. The law of God demands perfect obedience, and insists on a full atonement being made for past transgressions, from every child of Adam. The righteousness of the law, in its largest extent, must be fulfilled in all those that inherit eternal life. They must be covered with a robe of righteousness, and their beauty must appear perfect. They must stand, in the eye of the divine law, invested with a holy nature, righteousness of life, and a complete expiation of all their sins. "Know ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?"

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If these doctrines were understood and believed by mankind, many would be ready to say with the disciples, "Who then can be saved?" All would agree to set their seal unto these truths: By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God-every mouth is stopped, and the whole world is guilty before God." Many would adopt that question, mentioned by the prophet, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord ?” point out the happy expedient for accomplishing this glorious purpose, is the design of the next section.

To

SECT. II.—The Doctrine delivered in the Scriptures concerning the Gospel of the Grace of God.

"God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by Christ the Redeemer."* God, having been in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing unto them their trespasses; and being well-pleased in his beloved Son for his righteousness' sake; he condescends to show forth the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards mankind-sinners, through Christ Jesus, by the gospel. Therefore, in this benevolent scheme we are to expect a clear discovery of the righteousness of God, a solid establishment of his law, and an adequate relief to all the guilt and wretchedness of our sinful state.

"God so loved the world, that he gave his onlybegotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." When we consider our meanness as creatures, our aggravated offences, our utter unprofitableness to God, and the astonishing display of his unsearchable wisdom in redeeming us from self-destruction; we are constrained to confess, that the grace of God is infinitely rich and altogether free, sovereign, and in

* Assembly's Shorter Catechism.

of men.

dependent upon any works performed by the children Contemplate the unspeakable gift of God, his own Son and all things with him, given freely to sinners of mankind in the declarations of the gospel, that whosoever will, may believe these declarations, and believing them, may have the Son of God, and eternal life through his name; and you will find the irresistible force of this joyful truth, obliging you to cry out with the beloved disciple, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us !" How amazingly great, how infinitely free, how marvellously adapted to our condition, and how inconceivably rich, is the love of God towards man, which opens its inexhaustible treasures in the gospel of Christ, and generously pours its precious stores upon the world that lieth in wickedness!

The gospel is the testimony he hath given us concerning his grace, favour, and good-will towards men, as it takes effect upon them through Jesus Christ, to save them with an everlasting salvation. This is what, I apprehend, the apostle means by "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Some of the great lines of this merciful establishment, wherein God hath abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence, may be arranged under the following particulars :

1. God, of his mere good pleasure, thought proper, in the prospect of the fall of mankind into an estate of sin and misery, to lay help for some of them upon his only-begotten Son; who is over all, God blessed for ever, being the eternal Word; who is, and always was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with the infinite, self-ex

istent, immortal God. The help he provided for us in Christ, is every way suitable to our condition, every way sufficient for our relief, and on every account worthy of our acceptation.

2. God, of his mere good pleasure, chose the vessels of mercy in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy, and without blame before him in love; having predestinated them unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he purposed to make them accepted in the Beloved.

3. God, of his boundless grace, was pleased to substitute his own Son in their law-room, and to consider him as a devoted sacrifice, responsible for all their iniquities, which were laid upon him; and as their Surety, made under the law, to magnify and make it honourable, by bringing in an everlasting righteousness. This was the appointment of his Father, who said, "Thou art my servant, O Israel! in whom I will be glorified." Accordingly, he who knew no sin, was made sin for us; he fulfilled all the righteousness of the law in our stead; he was put to grief, and his soul was made an offering for our sins; he was made a curse for us, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law; he became obedient unto death for us, that by the obedience of one many might be made righteous; he was born holy, harmless, and undefiled, that the righteousness of God might be declared, in making us, whose nature is entirely stripped of its primitive righteousness, accepted as righteous in the Beloved. This mysterious truth was inculcated upon the Jewish church,

by the substitution of harmless animals in the room of men who had sinned against heaven. These devoted victims bore the iniquities of the sinners in whose stead they were put to death, the beasts being incapable of committing any sin themselves, and without any natural blemish. These divine services were a shadow of Christ, our passover sacrificed for us; of Christ, who poured out his soul for transgressors; of Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; of Christ, who gave his life a ransom for many; of Christ, who is the Lord our righteousness, having brought in complete and everlasting righteousness to cover the naked sinner, to pardon the guilty criminal, and to justify the ungodly in the sight of God, the righteous Judge.

4. God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, hath made all the promises of grace and glory, and every good thing that constitute the everlasting life of lost sinners, unto Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant. This exhilarating view of the superabounding grace of God is frequently presented to us in the living oracles. It has been observed, that the promise of confirmation in happiness, in favours of himself and his posterity, was made only to Adam, as the public head of the covenant of works; and for the same reason, we must allow, that the promises of eternal life in the better covenant are made to Jesus the

Surety of it. With what propriety could he be called the "heir of all things" that pertain to our salvation, unless all these things were immediately and primarily promised to him? Were not the mises made to Abraham and to his seed? While

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