the other fide the queftion. Our chief defire fhould be to know the truth-to examine what we hear, with an unbiaffed judgment—and to receive whatever appears to us rational and fcriptural, though it may be different from our former view of things. The law of which our Lord is fpeaking in our text, every one knows, is the holy law of his word, and which has commonly been called the moral law, or the ten commandments. I fay it has been commonly called the moral law, I fuppofe, in diftinction from the ceremonial law; but although it may be called moral, yet it appears to be fpiritual and celestial alfo-as it comprehends in it every part of our duty both to God and man; and therefore it is in itself immutable and unchangable. Now it is generally believed that the Lord, when he took upon him our nature, and came to redeem mankind, came alfo to abrogate, or set afide that law; and that although the firft ages, and the Jews, were under it, yet fince the coming of the Lord we are not under it: for they fay it is a legal bondage, a covenant of works, and in itfelf impracticable. That men before the fall had power to keep it, but fince the fall no man has that power; and that it is utterly impoffible that it fhould be kept by man. Yet they fay that God, as the lawgiver, has an undoubted right to command and require his creatures to obferve that law; and in confequence of their breaking it, to confign them to hell, and endless mifery. But it is main

tained that Jefus Chrift came into the world as our fubftitute, to do that for us (in this cafe) which we could not do for ourselves, and which, if not done for us, we muft inevitably perifh-confequently, that he fulfilled every iota of that law on our account, and in our ftead; that we might be delivered from its condemning power, and exempted from an obedience to its commands: and, therefore, that christians are not now, in any fense, under that law.

And to say that we are ftill obliged to obferve its injunctions, regulate our lives thereby, and walk according to its requifitions, is to bring us back again to Mofes-to a legal bondage, and a covenant of works; which they fay is fubverfive of all true christianity, and establishing justification by works, and not by grace. Yea, much farther than this do christians in general go-for it is maintained that Jefus Chrift came to make fatisfaction to God the Father, on the behalf of men, for their violation of the law; and that he paid the debt due to divine justice, in our ftead-suffered the punish→ ment due to our fins, in his own perfon-atoned thereby divine wrath-thus magnified the law, and made it honorable-fully obeyed every jot and tittle of it for us, and on our account, and in our ftead-and that his active and paffive righteousness is actually and abfolutely imputed to all that believe-by which righteoufnefs the believer is covered, pardoned, juftified-all his fins are overlooked -that

that God the Father fees no fin in the believer -and that he is accepted in his fight, through the merit of his Son's righteoufnefs, fo imputed to his foul. Confequently, he is no longer under this law, either as a covenant of works, or as a rule of life. It becomes a dead letter, and the evangelical christian has nothing at all to do with it, but is in a much higher ftate.

And hence they infer, that redemption confifts in the Lord's ftanding in the place of the finnerbeing punished for the finner-paying the finner's debt-obeying the law for him-bearing the wrath and juftice of God in his ftead-reconciling the Father to his offending creatures-and making them righteous in his own righteousness, so imputed to, and spread over, their fins and their fouls; and that the finner is brought into this ftate of acceptance and juftification, not in confequence of true repentance, regeneration, love, and obediencebut fimply and alone by a bare inftantaneous act of faith in the Lord Jefus Chrift, and his righteoufnefs. That this faith is the immediate gift of God, without any concurrence or operation on man's part; and that when it has taken place, the man has nothing more to do with the moral law. He is neither condemned by the breach of it, fubject to it, nor is it a rule of life to him; yet he will most unaccountably say, that this faith will change the heart, and make the man good and holy.And hence, if you attempt to recommend a confcientious

scientious regard to the commandments, and fay that without works we cannot be juftified; they will immediately reply, Why this is all legalityfelf-righteousness-you are bringing us back again to Mofes and the law, and destroying our christian liberty. You are a pharifee and a workmonger, and are fetting afide the atonement, the righteouf nefs of Jefus Chrift, and juftification by faith alone! • We are not under the law, but under grace.' If we rejoin, and fay, But are we not to be holy?" They will fay, Yes, we are made fo by this 'faith.' And thus the whole of redemption and falvation is refolved into faith alone, and the imputation of Christ's righteousness.

Now, firs, if this be actually the cafe, and these are the genuine doctrines of the bible, what a strange religion ours is? What an uncouth fyftem is chriftianity! Here is God the Father giving laws to man, which man cannot keep-and yet he burns with wrath towards them, because they break thofe laws; yea, he determines to punish them in hell for ever, for their difobedience to laws which they never had power to observe. And here is Jefus Chrift reprefented as another God, equal with the Father, coming to discharge men from the obligations of thofe laws which his Father has given, by fulfilling them himself-and at the fame time he tells them that they must obey them-that not one jot or tittle of the law fhall fail-that except their righteousness exceeds that of the fcribes and pha

rifees,

rifees, they fhall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven and that whofoever breaks the least of thefe commandments, and teaches others fo, fhall be called the leaft in the kingdom of heaven-yea, the righteoufnefs of the Lord Jefus is faid to be imputed to men, in order to exempt them from keeping the laws of God; and to justify them, although they live in the breach of his command

ments.

Surely, firs, these things cannot be true! Men must have strangely mistaken the mind of the Lord, his defign in coming, and the nature of his redemption !-It can never be, that the Lord would fulfil a law, in order to give us a licence to break it with impunity; nor can he take us from under those laws which contain our whole duty towards both God and man. If this is redemption, it is such an one as no good man can wish to receive. Doth not the Lord tell us, in our text, "that he did not come to destroy either the law " or the prophets, but to fulfil;" that is, to explain their nature, enforce an obedience to them, and give us power to observe them? Let us inquire, for a moment, what the law of God is, and what it requires of us. Doth not the Lord himself tell us, that to love the Lord our God with all our heart, foul, and mind, and to love our neighbour as ourfelves, is the fum and fubftance of all the decalogue, or ten commandments? Doth he not tell us, that on these two hang all the law and the prophets? He H

doth