WE have seen, in the preceding section, that unregenerate sinners are alive to the law, as a covenant.
We now proceed to show, That believers are dead to it, under that consideration. I am dead to the law,–ye are dead to the law, says the apostle. (Gal. ii. 19. Rom. vii. 4.)
As all who are alive to the law seek justification by it,–as their expectations of acceptance with God, may be ultimately resolved into some doings or endeavours of their own,–some gracious habits or heavenly qualities of which they suppose themselves to be the subjects,–so those who are dead to the law, are entirely divorced from every such expectation. Though they are well acquainted with the beauty of holiness, and far from despising a regular conduct; though they would exert their utmost efforts in a way of duty to God, and earnestly desire to bear a greater conformity to the Redeemer's image; yet they consider these things as standing in another place, and as designed to answer a very different purpose, from that of being causes or conditions, more or less, of their justification. Yea, whatever assistance they may have from the Spirit of truth, in performing religious duties, or whatever may be their attainments in holiness, through a divine influence,–they consider those duties and this holiness as totally distinct from that righteousness on which they depend, from that obedience by which they are justified.
Once, indeed, they were of another mind, and viewed things in a very different light. Time was, when they thought highly of their own righteousness, and, were little concerned about an interest in Jesus Christ: but, by the agency of the divine Spirit, and the instrumentality of the divine law, their case is happily altered. They are brought to see their abject poverty, and to acknowledge their utter, unworthiness.
Is the reader desirous of knowing by what means a sinner becomes dead to the law as a covenant? The great apostle informs us, when he says, I THROUGH THE LAW am dead to the law. The moral law in the hand of the Spirit, is the honoured instrument of producing the happy change. By it the awakened sinner discerns the immaculate purity of the divine nature, and the consummate rectitude of the divine will. Its precepts and prohibitions, containing a complete system of duty, are beheld by him, as entirely correspondent with the perfections of God. He beholds the unalienable rights of the great Legislator in the demands of his law; and a discovery of that perfect correspondence which there is between the requirements of the law, and the eternal rights of the Deity, evinces, to his conscience, the holiness and transcendant excellence of the law. Possessed of such a conviction, the sinner perceives not only its unblemished purity, but also its vast extent. He is obliged to acknowledge, that it requires truth in the inward parts; that it extends to all the thoughts, and all the desires of the heart. That it demands, not only a course of obedience, unblameable in the eyes of man, but a purity of desire, and a spirituality of affection,–a rectitude of design, and a perpetual series of action, without a failure and without a flaw in the sight of Omniscience.
By the law he sees the hateful nature and the destructive evil of sin. Sin is a transgression of the law: a contrariety to the revealed will, and to the holy nature of God. Nor does it only manifest what sin is in itself, but also what it deserves. It reveals the wrath of God against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men; against every departure from absolute perfection. It denounces an awful curse, and unsheaths the sword of divine justice against every transgressor. Its language is, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. It fastens a charge of guilt on the sinner's conscience, and binds him over to eternal punishment.
As the law teaches a sinner the holiness of the divine nature, and the superlative evil of sin; so he is brought, by divine influence, to acknowledge the equity of that sentence denounced against him, and the righteousness of God in the damnation of sinners. His mouth is stopped; he pleads guilty before his Judge. Sin, he perceives, is an infinite evil, and justly deserves everlasting punishment.' He is convinced, that if the sentence of death pronounced upon him were to be executed in all its rigour, he should have no reason to complain. His language is, 'The law is worthy of God: my Maker is righteous: damnation is my due.' Beholding the aggravations of his offences, and the imperfections of his duties; the depravity of his heart, and the spirituality of the law, he despairs of ever obtaining the favour of God, or peace for his conscience, by any future exertions. He sees with amazement, and confesses with grief, the pride and the folly of his former expectations of righteousness and life by the law. He lies low at the foot of sovereign mercy. Fully convinced of his absolute need of a Saviour, who can give the law its demands, and rescue his perishing soul from destruction; who can satisfy the claims of justice, and exercise boundless mercy; he is willing to be justified by the righteousness of Christ, and to be for ever indebted to free, distinguishing, infinite grace.
Let us hear the great teacher of the Gentiles deliver his own experience, in reference to this affair. I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. (Rom. vii. 9.) I was alive: elevated with a fond conceit of my inherent excellencies and moral endowments, I imagined myself safe; I thought myself happy. But when this delusive persuasion possessed my heart, I was without the law. Though for it, I professed the highest regard; though to it, I endeavoured to conform my life; I was entirely ignorant of its spiritual nature, and without the least knowledge of its true design. As the most learned and admired doctors of the age had taught, I supposed that a superficial observance of the duties it enjoins, and an exterior forbearance from the actions it prohibits, were all it required. (Matt. v. 21, 22, 27, 28, 33, 34, 43, 44.) But when the commandment came; when I saw its immaculate purity, as an image of the divine holiness, and beheld its extensive demands, as a transcript of the divine will;–when I viewed it as demanding perfection, with a sovereign authority, and heard it denouncing vengeance, as with the voice of God, against the least offence, my sin revived. A clear and lively sense of sin penetrated my very soul. I saw myself chargeable with innumerable transgressions. I felt myself subject to many abominable corruptions. My heart, of whose purity I was before so ready to boast, I found to be deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. The best of my actions, in which I was wont to confide, appeared but splendid sins; and, in reference to justification before God, I despised them as worthless and vile. In consequence of which, I died. My self-righteous hopes, which before had reared their heads aloft, were now dashed in the dust. The sentence of death, as the desert of sin, pronounced by the law, I acknowledged to be just. All my pleas, all my expectations of life by the law, were then struck dead. Nor did I only renounce my past performances and present attainments as insufficient and deplorably defective in the account of a holy God, and in the eye of his righteous law, but also despaired of ever doing any thing in future, by any assistance whatever, to gain the favour of my Judge, or to obtain acceptance before him. So that every self-righteous support was entirely removed; and every avenue to comfort, by my own obedience, eternally barred.
Thus it was with Paul, after all his sincerity and all his obedience, before conversion; and thus it is with every sinner who is brought to the knowledge of the true God, and perceives the purity of the divine law;–for no man beholds the grace of the gospel, who does not acknowledge the equity of the law. We shall never consider salvation as divinely free, till we confess our condemnation to be entirely just. But when the purity of the Lawgiver is seen in the flaming holiness of his law; when it denounces its curse against the sinner, and his own conscience, being stung with guilt, confirms the dreadful sentence, and with an awful emphasis replies, Thou art the man; then the relief provided by grace and revealed in the gospel, is beheld with an ardent desire; is embraced with exuberant joy. Thus, by the agency of the Holy Spirit, the law subserves the gracious design of the gospel. Yes, the righteousness and terror of legal sanction are happily useful, to illustrate the freeness, and to exhibit the sovereignty of saving grace.
The sinner being brought, by divine teaching, to see the insufficiency of his own obedience, and to renounce his former hopes, as being no other than a refuge of lies; is filled with anxious inquiries, how he may escape the wrath to come. Having tried every expedient which presented itself to his mind, as any way proper to afford relief to his guilty conscience, and finding every expedient fail; he is ready to faint with fear, and to sink in despondency. He drops every pretension to personal worthiness, and freely acknowledges himself the chief of sinners. So far is he from advancing a claim to heaven, on the footing of duty performed, that he is amazed he was not long since transmitted to hell for his crimes. But grace forbids that he should be overwhelmed in despair. That same Spirit, by whose omnipotent agency he was divorced from the law, leads him to Jesus. Now that sovereign mercy, to which he submitted with such reluctance, appears with a winning aspect. Now that boundless grace, which he has so long despised, shines with peculiar glory. To that mercy, as revealed in the atonement, he flees, like a murderer pursued by the officers of justice; or like the unhappy manslayer of old before the avenger of blood: and on this grace, as reigning by Jesus Christ, he rests his all for eternity. Now the everlasting covenant begins to unveil its infinite stores to his ravished view; and the gospel pours its healing balm into his wounded conscience. The crucified Jesus is now his only hope. That he may win Christ, and be found in him, is all his salvation and all his desire. Riches and honours, crowns and kingdoms, are little, are nothing to him, compared with an interest in the Redeemer. Being dead to the law, he renounces himself in every view; reflecting on his former ignorance and pharisaical pride with the greatest amazement, and the deepest self-abhorrence. Finding an all-sufficiency in the adored Immanuel, not only to supply his wants, but to make him infinitely rich and eternally happy; he rests completely satisfied. The perfect obedience of his divine Substitute, which is revealed in the gospel and received by faith, being that in which Jehovah himself delights, is an adequate ground for his confidence, and an inexhaustible source of his joy. Such is the state, and such are the views of all who are dead to the law.
Having such a discovery of the divine purity, and of the divine law, he is far from boasting over the vilest of men. The more he knows of God, of the violated law, and of his own sinful state, the more is he convinced that he has reason to say, Behold, I am vile! Yet he dares, as in the presence of God, to contemplate the holy commandment, and to give conscience her full scope, without fear of confusion: being well persuaded, however aggravated a charge may be brought against him, that grace has provided and the gospel reveals a righteousness, which is quite sufficient to declare the justice of God in justifying him, even in the worst view he can have of himself; nay, which is incomparably more, in the worst view in which he can appear before the Omniscient. Though he once imagined, that the conception of a just God, and the fear of eternal misery, were absolutely inseparable; yet he now reveres the former, without dreading the latter.
That every real saint is dead to the law, and that his whole hope, as to justification, centres in the mercy of God and the obedience of Christ; in the grace of the covenant and the blood of the cross; appear from the scriptures with superior evidence. Out of a multitude of instances, recorded in the Bible, we will select a few. We will ask some of the most excellent saints that ever adorned a religious profession in any age of the world, or in any nation of men: on what their hopes of acceptance with God were founded? and we shall find that their uniform answer will be, 'Not on any thing in us, nor on any thing done by us; but on that glorious Person, and on his finished work, who is the desire of all nations, and the salvation of the ends of the earth.'
Job, we know, was a saint of no inferior class. He was no less exemplary for his piety, than remarkable for his afflictions, and for the patience with which they were suffered. He was favoured with peculiar manifestations of the divine will; and Jehovah himself declared, there was none like him in the earth. This eminent saint could not be ignorant of the real worth of his personal obedience, nor of the place in which it ought to stand. No; this obedience he found occasion to plead, and speaks of it as an article of great importance: but where, and on what account? Not before the great Sovereign of the universe, and in order to acceptance with him; but before his fellow-mortals, and in vindication of his own sincerity.
When his friends, not being well acquainted with the methods of providence, and mistaking the true state of his case, charged him with being a hypocrite, and inferred from the variety and severity of his sufferings, that he must needs be a wicked man; he pleaded, in defence of himself, the excellence of his conduct and the utility of his life. He, as the apostle James requires, proved the reality of his faith and the sincerity of his profession, by his works, He knew that a different conduct from the carnal and profane, was the only thing that could evidence to the world the superiority of his state in the sight of God, or free his profession from the charge, of hypocrisy. To this, therefore, he appeals. This he strenuously and justly pleads against the charge of his mistaken friends, in his long controversy with them.
But when the inquiry is, How shall man be just with God, or justified before him? then he considers the state of the question as entirely altered. The venerable saint well knew, that as he was before a higher tribunal, and in the presence of a Judge who searches the heart; so the righteousness pleadable there, must be as much superior to what was sufficient in the former case, as the tribunal at which he stood was more awful, the Judge more holy, or the event more important. For who can stand, in any righteousness of his own, before so holy a God, before so righteous a Judge? He knew that there nothing short of a perfect righteousness would be admitted; and that by nothing less could he be justified. He, therefore, entirely renounces his former plea. He drops every pretension to personal holiness; and, so far from advancing a claim on the Deity, he pours out sorrowful confessions of his original pollution and actual transgressions. Behold, I am vile! is his language. I abhor myself, as the filthiest of creatures, as the basest of criminals; and repent in dust and ashes. (Job xl. 4. xlii. 6.) Here we see,– not the Samaritan woman, not the Philippian jailor, nor the thief on the cross, but the most eminent saint of his day, and one of the holiest men that ever lived; here we see him; bearing the marks of deep humiliation, and in the attitude of a miserable sinner. His language is expressive of one whose conscience is smitten with an alarming sense of guilt; who deprecates deserved vengeance, and implores a free pardon–of one who considers himself perfectly on a level in the sight of God, as to justification before him, with the Publican in the parable; and as having no other refuge for his guilty soul, nor any other plea to make, than that Publican had. Divine mercy, manifested in a living Redeemer, was the only hope of holy Job; and the same free mercy, revealed in the atonement, was the hope and plea of the profligate Publican. (Job xix. 25, 26, 27. Luke xviii. 3)
Such also was the conduct of the Man after God's own heart. Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. (Psalm cxliii. 2.) This language very strongly expresses the mind of one who is dead to the law. Yes, these words plainly indicate, that David's heart was deeply impressed with an awful sense of Jehovah's immaculate purity; the imperfections attending his own obedience; the extensive demands of the divine law; and the terror of that sentence which was his righteous desert, and must unavoidably be passed upon him, if tried by that sublime standard of duty, and according to the tenour of his own conduct. It is very observable, that when the Psalmist thus deprecates the awful trial, he considers and stiles himself a servant of God. But though he assumes the honorable character, he is far from pleading his services, or trusting to his own obedience, for justification. Nay, he peremptorily affirms that, before the Lord, no man, no servant of his, can be justified. To these words the apostle refers when he so often declares, By the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified. This is a capital truth: and, till this truth be cordially embraced, till the propriety and foundation of it be clearly perceived, no one can form a proper idea, either of the character of Jesus, or the grace of the gospel; can neither see his danger, nor seek for salvation.
With this leading truth, the sweet singer of Israel was thoroughly acquainted. Hence it gains admittance into another of his devout odes and inimitable compositions. In which place he also informs us, what was the rock of his hopes and the source of his joy. These are his words: If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. (Psalm cxxx. 3, 4.) Instructive, important saying! Most happily adapted to rebuke the pride of self-righteous confidence, and to raise the hopes of desponding sinners–Here the Lord's anointed flees for safety to sovereign grace, and draws his comfort from pardoning mercy. Being dead to the law; having all his expectations of being justified by it entirely extinguished; he looks to another covenant, and has recourse to another plea.–Having the awful judgment in view, and considering the issue of such an exact scrutiny, he trembles at the thought of appearing before his immortal Judge in his own obedience. For in such a way of proceeding, Who shall stand? who can be acquitted? Not one of all the human race. Were it not for that forgiveness which is with God, and is dispensed in the blood of the Lamb; not only the hope of David, but that of every sinner, would have been entirely and eternally eclipsed.–But this forgiveness being worthy of God, proceeding from the infinite riches of grace, and equal to the wants of the most enormous transgressor; behold! there is hope for the vilest. Forgiveness!–delightful world!–Forgiveness WITH GOD!–with Him against whom we have sinned; with him who has authority to pardon, as well as power to punish; solid foundation for your hope, O trembling sinner! Believing this declaration, building on this basis, what should hinder, or who has a right to forbid, that our hope of heaven should be firm, as the divine declaration, and bright as the sun in his meridian glory?–Yes, believer; this is your unalienable right; this is your inestimable privilege. For that strong consolation the Lord is so willing to bestow, and for which he has made such ample provision; is designed for all these who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them. (Heb. vi. 18.) For those who have already fled, for those who are now fleeing, (I Psalm xxxii. 1, 2.) to Jesus the appointed refuge; the immutability of the divine counsel, the irrevocableness of the divine promise, and the solemnity of the divine oath, are all engaged to secure their happiness and raise their joy.
Would the reader be more fully persuaded that the royal prophet was dead to the law? let him read the description which David gives of the blessed man, and consider his words. No one can, with propriety, be called blessed, but he who is in a pardoned state and accepted of God; and this the Psalmist intimates. For, till his offences be pardoned and his person accepted, he is under a curse and obnoxious to wrath. How, then, does that experienced saint and infallible author describe the blessed man; and to what does he ascribe his justification? To a personal, or to an imputed righteousness? Does he attain this blessed and happy state; does he enjoy this great and precious privilege, inconsequence of keeping the law, or because he has performed a sincere, though imperfect obedience? No such thought was conceived in the Psalmist's mind; no such thing drops from his pen. His words are, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. –The blessed man is here described as one who is, in himself, a polluted sinner; an insolvent debtor; and deeply pressed in his conscience with the burden of guilt. (The three terms used in this passage, to express the pardoning mercy of God, give us these three ideas of sin; to set forth, in a more affecting view, its various malignity. At the same time to represent, in a more striking light, the complicated wretchedness of that man whose sins are not forgiven; and to show the superior excellence of a free pardon.) This blessedness arises, not from his own duties, or his well-meant endeavours to keep the law; but, from the pardoning love of God, the purifying blood of Jesus, and the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit. His blessedness consists, in being cleansed from his loathsome defilement; the non-imputation of his enormous debt; the removal of his intolerable burden; and the renewal of a right spirit within him. The last of which particulars is not the cause or condition of the former: but an evidence of their being enjoyed. The observation which Paul makes on this evangelical and comfortable text, is directly to our purpose. He informs us, that the design of David in these words is, to describe the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. (Rom. iv. 6, 7, 8.) –Righteousness imputed: righteousness without works. An odd kind of language in the account of many! Uncouth and mysterious to all who are alive to the law, and seeking justification by it. But quite intelligible and highly comforting to such as are dead to the law; to those who believe in Jesus, as the justifier of the ungodly; and who venerate his charming name, The Lord our righteousness. To such persons, the phrases are full of marrow and fatness. Such divine declarations feast their souls: for they are the words of grace, and the language of love. By them, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, their anxious inquiries, about acceptance with the eternal Sovereign, are satisfied. Being conscious that they have no righteousness of their own, and equally certain that without obedience to the divine law they cannot be justified; they must have sunk in despair, if such a provision had not been made by sovereign grace; if such a righteousness had not been performed by their wonderful Substitute. But a righteousness without works; having no dependence upon, being entirely detached from, their own duties of every kind; being complete in itself and intended for their use; this is the righteousness they want.–A righteousness imputed. Being performed for them by Jesus, as their representative; and placed to their account, by a gracious God; this brings it near to their souls, makes it warrantable for them to call it their own, and to glory in it.
Let us once more attend to the dictates, and consider the conduct of Paul, in reference to this affair.–That he was dead to the law, those important words which contain the subject of this Essay, expressly assert. That he had no expectations of life and happiness from his own obedience to it; but that his whole hope was resolved into the sovereign grace of God, and the perfect work of Christ, is evident from his writings. A few of those passages, in which these fundamental truths are either expressly asserted, or strongly implied, shall now he considered.
In his controversial epistle to the deceived Galatians, he forms a striking contrast between the works of the law, and faith in Jesus. Thrice he mentions the works of the law; and thrice he excludes them from having the least concern in our justification. With equal frequency he mentions the faith of Christ, and as often asserts that we are justified by it. (That is, not by the principle, or the exercise of faith, but by the object of it; which is Christ and his righteousness.)–These are his words: We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing, that a man is sot justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. (Gal. ii. 15, 16.) – We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles. We who are the children of Abraham, and the peculiar people of God; to whom the sacred oracles were committed, who have the ordinances of divine worship, and whose situation in all respects, is greatly superior to that of the ignorant, profligate, idolatrous. Gentiles.–We, who have so many advantages, in comparison with the benighted heathen; we, who have all the encouragement that any persons could have, were such a thing possible, to expect justification by our own obedience; yet we have renounced every hope of that kind, well knowing that a man, whether Jew or Gentile, is not justified by the works of the law. Being fully persuaded that he is not accepted of God, on account of any works which he has done, by any assistance whatever; but by the faith of Jesus Christ: by relying on him as the end of the law for righteousness, and believing on him as the justifier of the ungodly. (Rom. x. 4. and xiv. 5.) Even we, possessing such a conviction, and acting under such a persuasion, have believed in Jesus Christ. Yes, we have renounced our own righteousness, as absolutely insufficient: and, under the humbling character of guilty, helpless, perishing sinners, have betaken ourselves to the Lord Messiah; that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. That our sins might be pardoned, and our persons accepted, in this truly evangelical way: no longer desiring, nor any more attempting, to seek these superlative blessings by the works of the law, either moral or ceremonial. Nor is it without reason that we have abandoned every such pursuit For God himself has declared, and it stands on everlasting record, to confound every proud attempt to establish our own obedience, that by the works of the law, shall no flesh be justified. So that, whether we regard the divine declaration recorded by the Psalmist, (Psalm cxliii. 2.) or whether we consider the manifold imperfections attending our best performances, we are fully assured that we never shall, that we never can, be justified by them. Such is the purport of this apostolic testimony.
In this instructive text the zealous apostle states, asserts, defends the truth for which we plead, in the most emphatical and reiterated manner. This one passage, therefore, if considered in connection with the scope and design of the whole epistle, and the state of the Galatian churches at the time in which it was written, may be justly esteemed a decisive proof of the point.–A decisive proof that no man ever was accepted of God, that no man ever can be justified before him, by any holiness of which he is the subject, or on account of any works which he has performed; and, consequently, that every true believer is dead to the law.
The views of a man who is alive to the law, and the hope of one who is dead to it, are finely described by the same infallible author, in his consolatory and instructive letter to the church at Philippi. These things he illustrates in his own experience and conduct. The support of his hope, and the views which he had before conversion, he compares with those he after enjoyed. While alive to the law and before conversion, the privileges of his birth, as a son of the renowned Abraham, and his circumcision according to the divine command; the zeal which he had for the traditions of his fathers, and the strictness of his religious profession, as a Pharisee; his punctual performances of ceremonial institutions, his unblamable conduct in the sight of men, and his sincere obedience to the moral law, were the things which he counted his greatest gain, as constituting the foundation of his hope of eternal life. These were the ground of his unwarrantable confidence, and the fuel of his pharisaical pride. Yet, if trusting in these things had been either safe or lawful for any mortal, no one had greater advantages, or a fairer pretence, than Saul the Pharisee. (Philip. iii. 4.)
But, when apprehended by omnipotent grace, (Ibid. 12.) and dead to the law, he builds on another foundation, and speaks a very different language. Then he declares, that all those things which he once accounted his highest gain, he esteems, not only mean, in comparison with Christ, but loss itself. With an air of great solemnity, and as going to utter a truth of the last importance, he adds, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered 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. (Philip. iii. 8, 9.)
Let us briefly consider the several clauses of this remarkable text. Yea, doubtless: I affirm it without the least hesitation, and am determined to abide by it, That I count ALL THINGS: whether they be birth privileges, or pharisaical zeal; ceremonial rites, or moral duties; these, all these, notwithstanding their splendid appearance, to an eye tinctured with Jewish prejudices, I count but loss. Yea, I do not only thus repudiate all my privileges and all my performances before conversion; but all my apostolic gifts, and all my christian graces; all that I have and all that I do, I esteem of no avail in the grand article of justification. These things, though abundantly useful and highly excellent, when standing in their proper places, and referred to suitable ends; are little, are nothing, are loss itself, compared with the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. Such is the love I bear to my Saviour, and such the esteem I have for his righteousness, that for his sake I have gladly suffered the loss of all things which once I so highly prized. Nay, however strange it may seem to a mind that is leavened with legal pride, I again declare, that I count them despicable as the sordid scraps, which are thrown to the dogs; and loathsome as dung, which is cast out of sight. Such is the amount of my own performances, and such my estimate of them, if set in competition with Jesus, and presuming to stand in the place of his righteousness. It is, therefore, now my principal desire and supreme concern that I may win Christ, as quite sufficient to supply all my wants, and to render me completely and eternally happy. That so, when my Judge ascends the throne, and when none but the perfectly righteous shall stand, I may be found in him the beloved. (Eph. i. 6.) Not having, not depending upon or pleading, mine own righteousness, which is of the law; my inherent holiness with which, as a Christian, I am endued; and those righteous acts which I have performed, in compliance with divine precepts, and with a view to the glory of God; but, being adorned with and depending upon that glorious obedience which is through the faith of Christ; which was finished by him, is revealed in the gospel, and received by faith. Even that obedience which, to denote its absolute perfection, and the way in which it is received by sinners, is called The righteousness of God by faith. Thus the apostle professes his faith, and thus he describes the foundation of his hope, relative to future acceptance. This declaration he made, on purpose to guard the Philippian converts against the subtle attacks of judaizing teachers: (Philip. iii. 1, 2.) who strenuously contended, that something more was necessary to justification, than the righteousness of our divine Redeemer, and a reliance upon it. Which consideration renders the argument from this passage, the more strongly conclusive in proof of our point.
Let us hear another infallible teacher and follower of the Lamb, when delivering, not his own. private sentiments, but the faith of the church, and in the name of all the apostles. A controversy being raised about the necessity of circumcision in order to salvation, it was carried on by the Jewish zealots with no small degree of warmth, and not without much disturbance to the peace of believers. On this occasion the apostles and elders being convened at Jerusalem to consider the unhappy affair, Peter, after mentioning various things, concludes with a short, but comprehensive declaration of his own faith, and the faith of the church in general. Let us attentively hear his words, and diligently consider their import; for he speaks by the Holy Ghost, and delivers the mind of Christ. He speaks on a weighty occasion, and to determine an important controversy. The controversy, in fact, was, Whether Jesus only should have the glory, of saving sinners? Or, Whether human endeavours and human worthiness, ought not to share it with him? Thus the contest lay between the grace of God and the pride of man: and thus it still continues, however the terms of the question may be varied, or whatever disguises it may wear.
The decision given to this controversy in those times, and what will be always valid, is contained in the following words:–But we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. (Acts xv. 11.) Salvation is that all-comprehensive blessing which the awakened sinner wants. Let this be granted, and his desires are satisfied: he can have no more. For it includes a complete deliverance from every evil, and the full enjoyment of every good. Now this infinitely glorious blessing is expressly said to be by grace: and grace is free favour. In the sacred writings it is directly opposed to all works and worthiness. Nor can it be otherwise. For, where works and worthiness come into consideration, there the province of grace ceases. (Gratin non erit gratia ullo modo, nisi sit gratuita omni modo.–Acta Synod. Dordrerch. Para iii. p. 211.) When, therefore, it is affirmed by the oracle of heaven, that we are saved by grace, we are led to conclude, That our own duties, however sincere or however diversified, have no part in the wonderful work: but that favour, free, sovereign favour, is all in all. The foundation of the spiritual temple, and of our eternal happiness, was laid in the riches of grace. The stones are polished, and the superstructure is reared, by the hand of omnipotent grace: and when the last stone in the magnificent edifice shall be laid, it will be with shoutings, Grace! grace unto it. (Zech. iv. 7.)–It was free, sovereign grace, which distinguished the vessels of mercy, in the eternal decree of election. The reason why they were chosen rather than others, is to be resolved, not into any difference there was originally between them and those that finally perish, nor into any good works foreseen; but into the sovereign will of Him who says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.
(Rom. ix, 15. The doctrine of sovereign, distinguishing grace, it must be acknowledged, is too generally exploded as a fiction, It is now discarded, as not fitted to gain the assent of the free-inquirer, in so enlightened an age as the present. The opposers of it generally plead its supposed inconsistency with the ideas we naturally have of the perfections of the Supreme Being. But the true reason is, its inconsistency with the pride of man, and the opinion of human worthiness, which so generally prevail. Here, it must be owned, there is an entire and an eternal repugnancy. That being cordially received, these must fall to the ground, as Dagon before the ark. Hence it is that we are naturally so loth to embrace this humbling truth.–Nay, some there are who freely confess that salvation is by Christ only, and that justification is through his imputed righteousness, who are not easily brought to admit the doctrine of eternal, personal, and unconditional election into their creed. Though their experience may plead for it, though their other avowed sentiments may involve it; yet they dispute against it, as commonly and justly stated by Calvinists, and endeavour to load it with horrid consequences. This the writer of these pages knows by experience, to his grief and shame. Through the ignorance of his mind, the pride of his heart, and the prejudices of his education, he, in his younger years, often opposed it with much warmth, though with no small degree of weakness. But, after an impartial inquiry, and many prayers, he found reason to alter his judgment. He found it to be the doctrine of the Bible, and a dictate of the unerring Spirit. Being thus patronised, he received the once obnoxious sentiment under a full conviction of its being a divine truth. Now he considers the eternal, discriminating love of God, in the choice of his people, as the original source of all those spiritual blessings they here enjoy; and of all that glory they hereafter expect. To the distinguishing love of the Father; to the redeeming blood of the Son; to the almighty agency and sanctifying operations of the Divine Spirit, he now desires to ascribe the whole, unrivalled honour, of a complete, eternal salvation. In the firm belief of this glorious and comprehensive truth, he desires to live; enjoying the sweet consolations arising from it, he desires to die: and if the Lord thus favour him, he does not fear, but his life will be useful, in some degree; his death peaceful, and his end salvation.)
–The same grace was concerned in the constitution of the everlasting covenant of peace, which was made with Christ, as the head of the chosen seed; and in treasuring up all spiritual blessings in him on their behalf. (Eph. i. 3. I Tim. i..9.) Our redemption by his blood, our regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and final felicity, all spring from the same infinite source; and are all ascribed, in the volume of inspiration, to the same original and glorious cause.
Christ being the great trustee of the covenant of grace, and the grand repository of all the blessings of grace; infinite grace is manifested through him in such a manner, as to reflect a glory on all the perfections of Deity, as well as to secure salvation to all its objects. As it was an act of unutterable condescension, and an evidence of boundless love, in the Son, of God to undertake the arduous work, and become incarnate that he might accomplish it; so we are, with great propriety, said to be saved by his grace. As in the text under consideration, We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. We believe: we are fully persuaded and rest in it as a certain, sacred, and most comfortable truth, that though our state be extremely miserable, and our persons absolutely unworthy; though we have forfeited every blessing, and incurred every curse; yet through the grace, the unmerited favour and boundless benignity of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. He, being a Person of infinite dignity, has performed a work of infinite value; in virtue of which, we shall be completely saved. Saved, while here, from the curse of the law and the dominion of Satan: saved hereafter from the being of sin and the damnation of hell. So perfectly saved, as to fear no evil: so perfectly blessed, as to want no good. Such a salvation did grace provide: such a salvation does Christ perform!
In this truly apostolic creed, which was delivered by Peter and recorded by Luke, the grace of God and the work of our Lord, are all in all: and as it ascribes our whole salvation to the undertaking of Christ, so it secures the whole glory to his adorable name. The avowed belief and the comfortable hope of the primitive Christians being contained in it, we have a striking instance and an irrefragable proof, that they were dead to the law. That the peace of their minds in time, and their hope of bliss in eternity, did not arise from their own obedience; but from that revelation of divine grace which is made in the gospel–that sovereign grace, which richly provided every blessing, and freely furnishes every requisite, necessary to everlasting bliss.
Having considered this apostolical confession of faith, as it is preserved for our instruction in the most authentic history of the primitive christian church, let us once more advert to the writings of Paul.–We have already heard him declare, that he was dead to the law. We have also heard him loudly proclaim the excellence of that righteousness by which he was justified, and have seen him carefully describe the foundation on which the most guilty may safely rest the weight of their immortal concerns. Let us now observe him bitterly lamenting over his unhappy brethren after the flesh. These are his affecting words, which are introduced with a solemn appeal to Heaven: I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart–for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. To which he adds, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. (Rom. ix. 2, 3. and x. 1.)–What was the cause of this inconsolable grief? Were they scandalous in their lives, and atrociously wicked? Had they renounced the worship of God, and sunk into practical atheism? Far from it. The persons over whom he laments, had a zeal for God, and earnestly followed after righteousness. Of this Paul was a witness, and this he openly testifies. (Rom, x. 2. and ix.21.)–In what, then, did their fatal mistake consist? For the popular maxim and the reason on which it is founded, are, 'Be sincere. Perform every duty to the utmost of your power and the best of your knowledge, and you shall obtain the favour of God and the fruition of heaven. For it cannot be supposed, if the heart be sincere in the worship of God, and the conduct regular in the sight of men, that the state of a person can be bad, whatever may be his doctrinal sentiments.'–-Such is the voice of general opinion, but not of divine revelation. For, if this maxim were founded in truth, there could have been little occasion for the apostle's heart-felt sorrow over those of his brethren he here mentions. If, therefore, we would pay a proper degree of deference to the judgment of Paul, as an infallible guide, and credit the account which he gives of his kinsmen, and of his lamentation over them; we must conclude, that the maxim is false, and the reason on which it is founded a dangerous mistake. Consequently, supposing a man to act in perfect conformity to it, his state might yet be extremely awful, and his end eternally miserable.
The Jews, over whom the compassionate apostle wept, were alive to the law, and seeking justification by it. Though sincere in a religious profession, and punctual in their attendance on divine institutions; they were utterly ignorant of the gospel, and opposed to the great Redeemer. That sure foundation which Jehovah had laid in Zion for the salvation of his people, was rejected, and became to them a rock of offence. (Rom. ix. 33.)–They followed after the law of righteousness, with sincerity and zeal; but its terms were too high and its conditions too hard for them to perform, so that they could not obtain justification by it. For they sought that capital blessing, not by faith in their promised Messiah; but as it were by the works of the law. (Ibid. 31, 32.) –They had a zeal of God, and a concern for his worship; but not according to knowledge, as their conduct plainly showed. For they being, ignorant of God's righteousness; of the perfect purity of his nature, and the extensive demands of his law; and going, about, or seeking by every likely expedient, to establish their own righteousness, as the condition of life, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. Such was the unwarrantable opinion they had of their own imperfect duties, and so great was the pride of their hearts, that they would not accept of that complete righteousness which was appointed of God, and provided by him even that righteousness, which is able to justify in the most desperate cases, and in which their offended Maker is well pleased. (Isa. xlii. 21.) –Would we know more particularly, what obedience it is that deserves the glorious character? The apostle informs us.– For Christ is the end of the law. All that it requires, he performed: and all that it threatens, he underwent. This, all this, was done and suffered, not merely to set us an example, but for righteousness; a real, perfect righteousness. As such it is accounted by the law, and accepted by the Lawgiver. Nor was it designed for the benefit of him who performed it; but it was designed for sinners, and is freely imputed to every one that believeth; without any respect of persons or any regard to worthiness. (Rom. x. 3,4.)
To this matchless obedience the self-righteous Jews would not submit. Being ignorant of their guilty state, and in the warm pursuit of acceptance with God by their own duties; they were unwilling to admit the thought of being indebted to grace. To look for justification by the righteousness of One, whom their Sanhedrim had agreed to execrate, and pronounced worthy of death; to expect salvation through believing in One, who, loaded with infamy and racked with torture, expired on a cross; this they esteemed highly absurd. A salvation by such unpromising means, and granted in such a singular way, as left no room for their splendid duties to make a figure, as co-partners in the affair, they would not accept; they thought themselves warranted from their hearts to despise. Nor would they acknowledge, that the crucified Jesus was their promised Messiah; though the time in which he appeared, the doctrines he taught, and the works he performed, all attested his divine mission, and afforded the brightest evidence in support of his claim to the character. Thus they rejected his person, doctrine, and work. As ignorance of the holiness of God, the purity of his law, and the evil of sin, laid the foundation for that proud opinion they entertained of the excellence of their own duties; and as that issued in their rejection of the Lord Messiah; so the same ignorance and pride cause the generality now to reject his imputed righteousness as totally unnecessary, even when they do not proceed to that daring infidelity, which pours open contempt on his person and character. Hence we may safely conclude, that all the supine negligence about eternal things, which appears in the world; and all that disregard which is shown to Christ and his work, where the gospel revelation shines, proceed from ignorance,–ignorance of the evil of sin, and the righteousness of God in his law.
Now, reader, are you dead to the law? Are all your expectations and all your desires of justification by it, extinct? Remember, it is one thing to acknowledge a truth in theory, and another to live under its practical influence. Many have learned, in a doctrinal way, that believers are dead to the law; who yet, in the dispositions of their hearts and in their own experience, were never divorced from it. Their legal apprehensions and slavish fears; their mercenary views in the performance of duty, and their self-elating thoughts, when they imagine they have performed it well, are evidences that they cleave to the law. These, when habitual, are a convincing proof that they are alive to it, that they are still, in a partial way, seeking their peace and happiness from their own obedience.*
(Here it may be proper to observe, That the real believer, ever after a long experience in the ways of God, is too ready to look to his own frames and duties for that peace and comfort, which nothing but the blood of Christ and the testimony of the Spirit can possibly give. A legal bias of mind being natural to us, our views of the Saviour, and of his glorious righteousness are, at the best, so contracted, that we often lose sight of the excellent object, before we are aware.–The candid reader and experienced Christian will not be offended, if I here introduce a paragraph, extracted from the life of a minister of the gospel in the last century; as it may, in some degree, both illustrate and confirm this observation. The minister to whom I refer, was Mr. OWEN STOCKTON; a part of whose experience is contained in the following words: 'I find that though in my judgment and profession, I acknowledge Christ to be my righteousness and peace; yet upon examination, I observe that my heart hath done quite another thing; and that secretly I have gone about to establish my own righteousness, and have derived my comfort and peace from my own actings. For when I have been disquieted by the acting of my sins, that which hath recovered me to my former peace hath not been, that I could find God speaking peace through the blood of Christ; but rather from the intermission of temptation, and the cessation of those sins.–When I have been troubled at an evil frame of heart, I do not find that the righteousness of Christ hath been my consolation; but that which has relieved me, as far as I can find, was, that afterwards I have found myself in a better temper. Having been in trouble and perplexity, I have read the scripture, gone to prayer, and in doing these I have been relieved; yet I do not find, that at such times, I had a real, true, living communion with God in such duties; or that the Spirit of God did, in those duties, reveal to me my interest in Christ, and so quiet my conscience. Hence I come to see what great need I have, and that it is of singular use, to watch over my soul in all its ways, both in reference to sin, that I fall not into it; and when fallen, what the carriage and actings of my soul are at such a time; whether I flee for relief to God in Christ, or to my own works. For as Satan keeps some alienated from God by the gross pollutions of the world; so others from Christ, by their establishing a righteousness of their own. O Lord! break thou this snare for me.' In BEART'S Eternal Law and Everlasting Gospel, part i. pref. p. xv, xvi.)
What think you of the Redeemer's righteousness? Have you a superlative esteem for it, and is it, with you, in reference to justification, the one thing needful? Do you repose your confidence for acceptance, in that only; and venture your all for eternity, on that single bottom? Is that your plea at the throne of grace; and is it your ardent desire to be found in it, when standing at the great tribunal? There you must shortly stand, before a Judge whose eyes are as a flame of fire, and with whom is terrible majesty. Examine, therefore, the state of your soul, and cultivate an acquaintance with Jesus Christ. The fruits of an increasing acquaintance with Him are truly desirable and unspeakably precious. For the more you behold of his personal glories and perfect obedience, the less will you cleave to the law, or depend on your own defective duties. This is a certain truth, and confirmed by all christian experience. For though you will not be inclined to reject the law, as a rule of moral conduct; or to neglect duty as an evidence of your cordial submission to divine authority, and of gratitude for benefits received and blessings expected, yet you will have a meaner opinion of all that you do, and a stronger confidence in the work of your Saviour. Besides, the peace you enjoy will be steadier, and the works you perform will be more spiritual. Your peace will be steadier. For the more clearly you see the dignity of Him who made your peace, the greater will the worth of that work appear, by which it was made. Consequently, your dependence upon it will be more firm; your rejoicing in it will be more constant. Your duties will be more spiritual. For in proportion as your views of the all-sufficiency of the divine Mediator increase, so will your love to him. Beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory. The love of God being the principle of all acceptable obedience, in proportion as that generous principle is more lively and active, duty will be performed with greater diligence; and be more certainly referred to its proper end, the glory of the ever-blessed God.
Yes, believer, in such a procedure you will find your spiritual account, and grace shall have the glory. Faith will grow firm as a deep-rooted cedar, (Col. ii. 7. Eph. iii. 17.) and hope bright as the day. Love will expand the heart, and holiness blossom as the rose. The life will be vocal of the Redeemer's praise, and even death itself peaceful in his embrace.
'Reveal, blessed Jesus! reveal thy glory to mine eye, and shed abroad thy love in my heart. Cause me to rest completely satisfied in thy undertaking, as the fulfilling end of the law; and enable me to live upon thy inexhaustible fulness. Empty me of all self-dependence, and make me truly humble. Show me the beauty of holiness, as delineated in thy most perfect pattern: and help me to copy it in my own conduct. Raise my affections to heavenly things, and grant me the abiding earnest of my eternal inheritance. Then, though in a sinful world and a militant state,–though harassed with bodily pain, or pinched with worldly poverty, I shall not only be safe but happy. The slavish fears of damnation shall be far distant, and the beams of celestial joy shall shine into my soul. Then, ye sons of sensuality and children of pride, ye may take your sordid pleasures, and boast of your tinsel honours; I shall neither covet your lawless mirth, nor envy your sounding titles.–Being dead to the law, and alive to my God; being safe in the hands of my Saviour, and blest with a sense of his love; having death in remembrance, and heaven in view, I shall despise your mean pursuits, and abhor your illicit enjoyments. While the world are satisfied with the feather of fading honours, and the froth of perishing pleasures; be it thy concern, O my soul! to glorify Him who died for thee and rose again. Then shall substantial pleasures be thy present enjoyment? and unfading honours thy eternal crown.'