pation of these benefits, yet further illustrates and magnifies his love —
[Suppose God had said, " Find me fifty righteous, or forty, or thirty, or twenty, or only ten, and for their sakes I will pardon and save all the rest":" we must have perished, because among the whole human race there is " not one righteous, no, not one0."
Suppose that, instead of this, he had said, " I will give my Son to die for your past offences, and will bring you back to a state of probation ; whereby, if you fall not again from your righteousness, you shall be saved :" the offer had been exceed- ing kind and gracious ; but we should not long have reaped any solid advantage from it : we should soon have broken the cove- nant again, and been involved in the same misery as before.
Suppose God had said, " I foresee that a renewal of your former covenant would be to no purpose ; and therefore my Son shall work out a righteousness for you ; and I require nothing of you, but to add to that a righteousness of your own, that the two righteousnesses together may form a joint ground of your acceptance with me :" alas ! we should have been in as deplorable a state as ever ; for we never have done, nor ever can do, one single act, which, if weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, will not be found wanting.
But suppose God yet further to lower his demands, and to say, " I will give you a complete salvation through the blood and righteousness of my dear Son ; and I will require nothing of you, but only to render yourselves worthy of it :" still had our state been altogether hopeless ; for we can no more render ourselves worthy of such a mercy, that we can create a world.
This was well known to God ; and therefore he proposed none of these things : he requires only that we should believe in his Son, and accept freely what he so freely offers. It is true, that, if even this depended on ourselves, we should perish : because without the grace of God we cannot exercise saving faith p: but still this is the condition, which alone is suited to our helpless state ; because it implies a total renun- ciation of all merit or strength in ourselves, and leads us to Christ, that we may find our all in him. O how does this enhance the love of God ! And in what bright colours does that love appear, when viewed in the light which so many mirrors reflect upon it !]
If any thing can add to the lustre with which his love already shines, it is the extent in which the offers of these benefits are made —
n Gen. xviii. 24 — 32. ° Rom. iii. 10. P Phil. i. 29.