It is a law, and has all the force of a law, and must be obeyed on pain of God's heavy displeasure ; but it is " a law of liberty :" and this it is,
1 . As freeing men from the guilt of sin —
[The Gospel proclaims, to all Avho receive it, pardon and peace. It holds forth a Saviour, who has hought us with his blood, and by the sacrifice of himself has effected our recon- ciliation with the offended Majesty of heaven. It declares, that " by receiving that Saviour," however guilty we may have been in times past, " we shall have the privilege of becoming
the sons of God''" In this it differs widely from the
law: the law knew nothing of pardon: it simply said, " Do this, and live :" and if in one single instance it was vio- lated, all hopes of acceptance by it were destroyed for ever*. A certain kind of forgiveness indeed was obtained by the of- fering of certain sacrifices : but it was only such a measure of it as exempted the person from present punishment, but could never procure acceptance for him in the eternal world ; and hence, as "it could never really take away sins," it could " never make any man perfect as pertaining to the conscience V Moreover, there were some sins for which no sacrifice whatever could be received. But the Gospel offers ajidl and everlasting remis- sion from all sins, and declares, that "all who believe, are jus- tified from all things, even from those fi-om which they could never (even in appearance) be justified by the law of Moses ^.^ Thus by announcing to the whole world, that " there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus ''," the Gospel may justly be called " A law of liberty."]
2. As freeing men from the power of sin —
[The ])romise which the Gospel makes to all who tndy re- ceive it, is this ; " Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace V And, whilst it gives this assurance to its votaries, it imparts to them the power of carrying into effect. The person who is united unto Christ by faith, is like a cion, which when engrafted into a tree, lives by virtue derived from the tree, and is enabled from that time to bring forth its appropriate fruits. Our Lord in this view says, " I am the vine ; ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit : for without me, or separate from me, ye can do nothing''." In this again the Gospel differs widely from the law : for, whilst the law issued its commands, it imparted no power to obey
them:
* John i. 12. « Compare ver. 10. with Gal. iii. 10. ' Heb. ix. Q. & X. 1 — 4. « Acts xiii. Sp.
* Rom.viii, 1. ' Rom. vi. 14. '' John XV. 1,5.