perfect salvation of his people as to soul and body. Rom. 8, 23. Eph. 1, 14. 4, 30. Heb. 9, 12. _
Those, then, who are in Christ have divine wisdom or the sav- ing knowledge of God and of divine things ; they have a right- eousness which secures their justification. There is no condem- nation to those that are in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8, 1. They are renewed after the image of God, and shall finally be presented without spot or blemish before the presence of his glory. And they are partakers of eternal redemption or full deliverance from all the evils of sin, and are introduced into the glorious Uberty of the children of God. These infinite blessings can be obtained only through Christ. Union with him is the neces- sary, and the only necessary, condition of our participation of these blessings. And our union with Christ is of God. It is not of ourselves, by our own wisdom, goodness, or strength, but solely by his grace ; and therefore must be sought as an unmerited favour.
31. That, according as it is written, He that glori- eth, let him glory in the Lord.
That^ i. e. in order that. The design of God in making wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption depend- ent on union with Christ, and union with Christ dependent, not on our merit, but on his own good pleasure, is that we should glory only in hira ; that is, that our confidence should be in him and not in ourselves, and that all the glory of our salvation should be ascribed to him and not to us. Such be- ing the design of God in the work of redemption, it is obvious we must conform to it in order to be saved. We must seek wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption only in Christ ; and we must seek union with Christ as an undeserved favour.
The passage quoted is probably Jeremiah 9, 23. 24, the sense of which is condensed. In quoting the Old Testament the apostle frequently cites tjie words as they stand, without so modifying them as to make them grammatically cohere with the context. As in the Septuagint, which he quotes, the imperative mood is used, the apostle here retains it, and in- stead of saying, ' In order that he who glories should glory in the Lord,' he says ' That, He that glories let him glory in the Lord.' Comp. 2, 9. Rom. 15, 3.