and resurrection of Christ, it shews us, on the other hand, that we must seek for justification, not by our works, but by faith in Christ Jesus. For if so eminent a man as Abram, who had forsaken his country and kindred, and sojourned willingly in a strange land where he had not the smallest possession, and even offered up his own son, at the command of God, if he was not justified by his works, but by his faith in the promised Messiah, then it must be madness indeed for us to dream of justification by works, or to hope for acceptance in any other way than through the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
It is worthy of observation also, that as his being justified by his faith before he had performed any of the good works for which he was so eminent, proves that he was justified by faith only ; so its being spoken of him after he had performed these acts, proves that he was justified by faith only from first to last. This it is of great importance to notice : for it shews us, that we also must be justified from first to last in the very same way. It is true that God will reward our works ; but the reward will be of grace, and not of debt : the only meritorious gromid of our acceptance from first to last must be the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. We must exercise the faith of Abram, if we would be numbered amongst his children r.
It may be objected indeed that St. James says, " Abram was justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar s." But Abram was justified by faith twenty-five years before Isaac was born1: which alone is an absolute demonstration that St. James did not speak of the same justi- fication that St. Paul did, since that mentioned by St. Paul had taken place at least fifty years before. The truth is, St. James speaks of Abram's works as manifesting the truth and excellence of his faith : for the whole scope of his argument is to shew, that we are not saved by a dead faith, but by a living and operative faith : in confirmation of which he observes, that the perfection of Abram's faith was displayed by that consum- mate act of his obedience : and that it was this faith, and not a dead faith, that was imputed to him for righteousness. There is therefore no real opposition between the two apostles, nor any argument to be derived from St. James that can in the smallest degree invalidate the foregoing statement.
We recur then to what we have before said, and urge you to believe in Christ for the salvation of your souls u.]
2. To be concerned about nothing so much as the manifestation of Christ to your souls —
[Nothing dwelt so much upon the mind of Abram as the promise given to him relating to the Messiah : Nor could any
* Gal. iii. 7, 9. s Jam. ii. 21 . l See notes b and c. u Heb. x. 39.