1. Every man should bow down before God under the humiliating consciousness that he is a member of an apostate race ; the son of a re- bellious parent; born estranged from God, and exposed to his displea- sure, vs. 12, 15, 16, "^c.
2. Every man should thankfully embrace the means provided for his restoration to the divine favour, viz. " the abundance of grace and gift of righteousness," v. 17.
3. Those that perish, perish not because the sin of Adam has brought them under condemnation ; nor because no adequate provision has been made for their recovery ; but because they will not receive the offered mercy, v. 17.
4. For those who refuse the proffered righteousness of Christ, and in- sist on trusting to their own righteousness, the evil of sin, and God's determination to punish it, show there can be no reasonable hope ; while, for those who humbly receive this gift, there can be no rational ground of fear, v. 15.
5. If, without personal participation in the sin of Adam, all men are subject to death, may we not hope that, without personal acceptance of the righteousness of Christ, all who die in infancy are saved 1
6. We should never yield to temptation on the ground that the sin to which we are solicited appears to be a trifle (merely eating a forbidden fruit) ; or that it is but for once. Remember the one offence of one man. How often has a man, or a family, been ruined for ever by one sin ! V. 12.
7. Our dependence on Jesus Christ is entire, and our obligations to him are infinite. It is through his righteousness, without the shadow of merit on our own part, that we are justified. He alone was adequate to restore the ruins of the fall. From those ruins he has built up a living temple, a habitation of God through the Spirit.
8. We must experience the operation of the law, in producing the
m2