LECTURE XI.

ROMANS iii, 20—26.

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. Put now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the pro phets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Christ Jesus unto all and upon all them that believe;for there is no difference; for all nave sinned, and come short of the glory of God;-being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; 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 believeth in Jesus."

of conviction, by interpreting, in a kind of corporate and collective way, all that is said by the apostle about the sinfulness of Jews on the one hand and of Gentiles on the other. But let each of us only review his past life, or enter with the light of self-examination into the chambers of his own heart; and he will feel himself to be addressed by the phrase of whosoever thou art, O man; and he will feel that in the clause of every mouth being stopped,' his own mouth should be stopped also; and he will consent that he, a native of our world, has a part in the apostle's asseveration about all the world being guilty before God; and he will readily accord with the Bible in that, whereas he is a partaker of flesh and blood, he offers no exception to the averment, that, in the sight of God, and by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified.

THERE is perhaps no single passage in the book of inspiration, which reveals in a way so formal and authoritative as the one before us, the path of transition by which a sinner passes from a state of wrath to a state of acceptance. There is no passage, to which if we would only bring the docility and the compliance of childhood, that is more fitted to guide and to turn an enquiring sinner into the way of peace. Let the light which makes apparent to the soul, only shine upon these verses; and there is laid before the man who questions what it is that he must do to be saved, the great link of communication on which he may be led along from the ground of fearful exposure that nature occupies, to the ground of a secure and lasting reconciliation. Let him lay aside his own wisdom, and submit himself to the word of the testimony that is here presented to his notice; and, taught in the It is through want of faith that we are true wisdom of God, he will indeed be- blind to the reality of the gospel; and it come wise unto salvation. It is an over- is also through want of faith we are blind ture of God's own making, and directly to the reality of the law. The generality applicable to the question of dispute, that of readers see not any significancy in the there is between Him and the men who apostle's words, because they feel not any have offended Him. It is one setting sense of the things that are expressed by forth of the way in which He would have it. They are just as dead to the terrors the difference to be adjusted-nor can we of the law, as they are to the offers and conceive how defenceless creatures, stand- invitations of the gospel. The sense of ing on the brink of an eternity for which God pursuing them with the exactions of they have no provision, and which never- an authority that He will not let down, is theless all of them must enter and abide just as much away from their feelings, as upon for ever, ought to have their atten- the sense of God in Christ beseeching them tion more arrested and their feelings more to flee for refuge to the hope set before engrossed and solemnized, than by the communication of the apostle in this verse, and by the unfoldings of that embassy of peace that is here so simply and so truly set before us.

them. The man who is surrounded with an opake partition, which limits his view to the matters that lie within the region of carnality, and hides from him alike the place of condemnation and the place of The apostle has by this time well nigh deliverance that lie beyond it he may finished his demonstration of human sin-enjoy a peace that is without disturbance fulness; and he makes use of such terms because, though he have no positive hope as go to fasten the charge of guilt, not in from the gospel, he has no positive apprethat way of vague and inapplicable gener-hension from the law. He is alike in senality from which it is so easy for each sible to both; and not till, through an man to escape the sense of his own per-opening in that screen, which hides from sonal danger, and the remorse of his own individual conscience; but as go to fasten the charge on every single member or descendant of the great human family. There is a method of blunting the edge

nature the dread and important certain. ties that are lying in reserve for all her children, he is made to perceive that God's truth and righteousness are out against him—will he appreciate the revelation of

that great mystery, by which it is made | not as God;' and they therefore are short known how truth and mercy have met of having wherewith to glory of before together, and how righteousness and peace God. Even Abraham had nothing to glory have kissed each other. of before God; and of consequence no claim or title to be glorified by God.

Let us now proceed to the exposition of this passage.

Mark in the 20th verse how this question is treated as one between God and man. It is not that one man may not be justified in the sight of another-may not have fulfilled all that the other has a right to expect; but the question is about justification in the sight of God. It is a judicial proceeding before God.

V. 24. You understand that the term justify signifies, not to make a man righteous in personal character, but to hold and declare` him righteous in point of law. We have already explained that it is to be understood forensically. We here understand that this justification is not wrought for, but given, and given freely. It is not a purchase, but a present. It is given by grace, which is just saying, that it is given gratis. When we say that it is not a purchase, we mean that it is not purchased by ourselves. Still however it was purchased, but by another. To redeem is to recover what is lost, but by rendering an adequate price for it. We had lost righteousness in the sight of God. Jesus Christ redeemed the righteousness that we had lost. He gave the price for it; and we are freely offered that thing which is the fruit of His purchase.

V. 21. A righteousness without the law,' is simply a righteousness which we obtain without having fulfilled that law in our own persons. Paul never loses the advantage of any testimony that is given to the doctrine of Christ out of the Jewish Scriptures; and while he therefore raises against himself the opposition of the great majority of his countrymen, by asserting a righteousness that was arrived at in some other way than through the path of obedience to their law, yet he does not omit the opportunity of trying to disarm V. 25. Set forth.' Exhibited. This is this opposition, by avouching that this very my beloved Son in whom I am well righteousness was borne witness to by the pleased. Set forth before the eyes. The law and the prophets. The testimonies term propitiation is the same with what in of the prophets are various and abundant the Old Testament is translated mercyon this topic; for a view of the testimo-seat. nies of the law, we refer you to Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews.

V. 22. The righteousness which is proposed by the apostle, as that which alone is valid to the object of justification, is called by him the righteousness of God. It is that the acceptance of which does not dishonour Him. It is that which He Himself has provided, and which He bestows as a grant to all who will. We cannot speak too plainly about an alternative, on which there hinges the whole eternity of a sinner. Conceive the sinner to draw nigh, in the imagination of his own merits-God says to him, 'I cannot receive you upon this footing, but here is a righteousness which I hold out to you, wrought not by yourself but by my Son, and I now ask your consent that you bc clothed upon therewith. Come to me, consenting to be so clothed upon, and I take you into full reconciliation.'Unto all.' The offer of this righteousness is upon all who believe. Their belief constitutes their acceptance of the thing of fered; and what was formerly theirs in offer, becomes by their faith theirs in possession. 'No difference.' There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, in respect of all having sinned; and there is as little difference in respect of the way in which all may be justified.

V. 23. Come short of glorifying GodWhen they knew God they glorified him

On the great day of atonement it was sprinkled with the blood of an appointed sacrifice. "And there I will meet thee," says God to Moses, "and will com. mune with thee from above the mercyseat." It rather, however, signifies the of fering itself, than the place in which the offering was sprinkled. You know what it is to make the Being whom you have offended propitious. The propitiation is the offering by which propitiousness is obtained. Jesus Christ in dying, rendered a propitiation for the sins of the world. And you in particular have the benefit of this propitiation; He becomes your propitiation upon your having faith in His blood. There is a general faith which respects the whole testimony of God, that, if true and not counterfeit, will also respect all the particulars of that testimony. Still however there is a danger in connecting our reconciliation with this general faith; for there may be a delusive vagueness, you will observe, in the matter, and the attention may fail to be exercised on that distinct truth with which reconciliation has most expressly and immediately to do. Let it be well remarked then, that in this verse propitiation is said to be through faith in his blood. There is an appropriateness of this kind kept up in God's dealings with us. Through faith in the blood of Christ, we obtain that redemption which is through this blood, even the forgiveness of sin. It is through faith in

none are therefore justified in the way of reward, but receive justification as a gift of kindness, out of that which has been purchased for us by Christ Jesus-whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood; and thus tc declare the righteousness of God, in His having forborne to punish the sins of those who were forgiven in the former ages of the world-to declare this righteousness to us now, and so make it manifest, that it was not merely a kind and a compassionate, but also a just thing in God, to justify him who believeth in Jesus.

God's promise of the Holy Spirit that we | conferred on all who believe without dis shall upon asking Him receive the Holy tinction. For all have sinned and come Spirit. This latter act of faith brings short of rendering glory to God; and down upon us the benefit of which it is the object, even the Spirit-as the former act of faith brings down upon us the benefit of which it is the object, even the washing away of our guilt in the blood of the Lamb. As is the faith, so is the fulfilment. Our Saviour did not ask the blind men-Believe ye that I am able to do all things?-but Believe ye that I am able to do this thing? And upon their replying -Yes, He touched their eyes and said, According to your faith so be it done unto you-and their eyes were opened. The man who has faith that he will get the Spirit of Charity, and prays accordinglythough he should get forgiveness on the back of his prayer, is not getting according to that faith. The man who has the faith that Christ's Spirit can sanctify him, and prays for it-though he should get forgiveness on the back of his prayer, is not getting according to that faith. But the man who has the faith that the blood of Christ can wash away guilt, and prays that in this blood his guilt may be washed away, and on the back of his prayer is accepted in the Beloved and for His sake -he is getting precisely according to his faith. And thus it is that there is an accordancy between the benefits of faith, and the particular truths of revelation which faith has respect unto-when it brings down these benefits upon the believer. Faith has been compared by some theologians to the bunch of hyssop, and the blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling.

For as to the remission of sins that are past. To declare His righteousness, in the having remitted by his forbearance, the sins of the ages that are past.

V. 26. It is at this time that God hath set Him forth. He now shows what was before hidden from the prophets. In the fulness of time Christ is now manifested. It was a mystery in former ages, how a holy God could pardon. This is now declared; and it is now made manifest that God might be just, while he justifies those who believe in Jesus.

The following is the paraphrase of this passage.

'Therefore no individual shall work out a righteousness that justifies him by his doing of the law-for the law makes his sin manifest. But now, in lack of this righteousness of man, there is manifested a righteousness of God-not consisting of our obedience to the law, though both the law and the prophets bear witness to it. This is that righteousness of God, which is received by our faith in Christ Jesus, which is offered unto all, and actually

The first lesson that we should like to urge upon you from this passage, is the gospel doctrine of our acceptance with God, in all the strict entireness and purity of its terms. There is nothing which so much darkens the mind of an inquirer, and throws such a cloudiness over the simple announcements that God has made to us, as the tendency of a legal spirit, to mix up the doings of the creature with the free grace and mercy of the Creator. Take up with it as an absolute truth, that the law has condemned you. Be very sure that this is the sentence which is in force, against even the most virtuous and upright of the species. Do not try to mitigate the evils of your condition, or to blunt the edge and application of the law, as having pronounced a destroying sentence upon your person-by alleging any extenuation of your offences, or any number of actual conformities. You have broken the law in one point, have you not? So only has the assassin done, in respect to the law of his country. His execution is the legal consequence of his guilt; and by that you will carry out your guilt to its legal consequence. It will be better for you that you regard yourself, as under the law to be wholly undone. If you do not you will keep out froin your mind the whole clearness and comfort of the gospel. If you admit any merit, or any innocence of your own, among the ingredients of your security before God-then all is thrown back again upon a questionable and precarious and uncertain foundation. The controversy between God and man is wakened up anew, by such a proceeding. You are again consigned, as before, among the old elements of doubt and distrust; and the question, what degree of comparative innocence is enough to admit your own righteousness into the plea of justification before God, will, by its ambiguous and unresolvable nature, remove you as far from any solid ground of dependence, as if there was no righteousness of another

You are aware of the strenuous-ness.

LECTURE XII.

ROMANS iii, 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 justified 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 uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish

a law of the human mind, thereby deno- justification there would still be room for ting the train or order of certain consecu- boasting-and we must therefore conclude tive facts, which maintain an unvarying since boasting is done away that they dependence among themselves. Both the have no part at all-and that man is jus law of works, and the law of faith, though tified by faith without the deeds of the the judicial character of God is strongly law. Is He only the God of the Jews? evinced in the establishment of them, may Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? be understood here in this latter sense Yes, of the Gentiles also-seeing that He which we have just now explained. The the same God dispenses justification to both law of works, is that law by which the in the same way, that is, justifying the event of a man's justification follows, circumcision by faith and also the uncirupon the event of his having performed cumcision by faith. Do we then make these works. The law of faith is that the law void through faith? By no means. law, by which the event of a man's justi- | We rather establish the law.' fication follows, upon the event of his conceiving faith-just as the law of gravitation is that law upon which every body above the surface of the earth, when its support is taken away, will fall towards its centre. And as the law of refraction is that, upon which every ray of light, when it passes obliquely from air into water, is bent from the direction which it had formerly.

V. 29. It is good, for the purpose of keeping up in your mind the concatenation that obtains between one part of the epistle and the other, to mark every recurrence of similar terms which takes place in the prosecution of its argument. He had in the second chapter, made a pointed address to the Jew-who rested in the law, and made his boast of God. He now excludes his boasting; and in doing so reduces the Jew and the Gentile to the same condition of relationship with God. V. 30. The term 'one' may either be taken numerically, or refers to the unity and unchangeableness of God's purpose. By a preceding verse, the works of the law are set aside in the matter of our justification. And it comes in as an appropriate question-Is the law made void through this? What would have been consequent upon obedience to the law, is now made consequent upon faith; and does this nullify the law? No, it will be found that it serves to establish the law, securing all the honour which is due to the Lawgiver; perpetuating the obligation and authority of the law itself; and introducing into the heart of the believer such new principles of operation, as to work conformity between the law of God and the life of man, a conformity that is ever making progress here and will at length be perfected hereafter.

The passage now expounded scarcely requires any paraphrastic elucidation at all-yet agreeable to our practice we shall still offer one.

'Where is boasting then? It is excluded. In what method? By the method of justification through works? No, it is by the method of justification through faith. But if works had any part in our

We now proceed as usual to press upon you, any such lessons as may be extracted from the passage of the day.

And first you know it to be a frequent evasion, on the part of those who dislike the utter excluding of works from that righteousness which justifies a sinner before God, that they hold the affirmation of Paul upon the subject to be of the ceremonial and not of the moral law. They are willing enough to discard obedience to the former, but not obedience to the latter, as having any efficacy in justification. And they will further acknowledge, that they have a much higher esteem for the latter than for the former; that they think greatly better of the man who has the rectitudes of morality to signalise his character, than of the man who has only the ritual observations of a punctual and prescribed ceremonial to signalise his character; that all rites, be they Jewish or Christian, have a greatly inferior place in their estimation, to the virtues of social life, or to the affections of an inward and enlightened piety-insomuch that should there stand before them an individual of fidelity incorruptible, and of honour fearless and unspotted, and of humanity ever breathing the desires of kindness and ever busying itself with deeds of kindness in behalf of our species, and of patriotism linking all its energies with the good of his native land, and of gentleness shedding its mild and pleasing lustre over the walks of private companionship, and of affection kindling its still more intense and exquisite charm in the bosom of his home-why there would not be one moment's hesitation with them, whether the homage of their reverential and regardful feelings, were more due to such an individual, even though a stranger to the puritanical regions of the sabbath and of the sacrament; or to him, who, trenched in the outward regularities of worship and of ordinance, had less of the graces and less of the honesties of character to adorn him-and you can well anticipate their reply to the question, Which of the two had the more to boast of the man of social worth or the man of a saintly exterior?