1. The leading doctrine of this section is, that God is just. His judgments are infinitely removed above all those disturbing causes of ignorance and partiality by which the decisions of men are perverted, vl 1—16.
2. The refuge which men are always disposed to seek in their sup- posed advantages of ecclesiastical connexion, as belonging to the true church, &c. &c., is a vain refuge. God deals with men according to their real character, vs. 2, 3.
3. The goodness of God has both the design and tendency to lead men to repentance. If it fails, the fault must be their own, v. 4.
4. It is a great abuse of the divine goodness and forbearance to derive encouragement from them to continue in sin. Such conduct will cer- tainly aggravate our condemnation, vs. 3 — 5.
5. None but the truly good, no matter what the professions, connex- ions, or expectations of others may be, shall be saved ; and none but the truly wicked, whether Gentile or Jew, Christian or heathen, shall be lost, vs. 6—10.
6. The goodness which the Scriptures approve consists, in a great de- gree, in the pursuit of heavenly things ; it is a seeking after glory, ho- hour, and immortality, by a persevering continuance in well-doing. It is the pursuit of the true end of our being by the proper means, v. 7.
7. The responsibility of men being very different in this world, their rewards and punishments will, in all probability, be very different in the next. Those who knew not their Lord's will shall be beaten with few stripes. And those who are faithful in the use of ten talents shall be made rulers over ten cities, vs. 9, 10.
8. The heathen are not be judged by a revelation of which they never heard. But as they enjoy a revelation of the divine character in the works of creation, ch. 1 : 19, 20, and of the rule of duty in their own hearts, vs. 14, 15, they are inexcusable. They can no more abide the test by which they are to be tried, than we can stand the application of the severer rule by which we are to be judged. Both classes, therefore, need a Saviour, v. 12.