this idea of the Gospel is erroneous : for the Gospel excludes boasting altogether a.
The truth is, that the Gospel is a revelation of " salvation," of salvation wrought out for us by the Son of God ; wrought out, I say, entirely by his obedience unto death. It views men as lost, entirely lost and undone in themselves. It repre- sents Christ as assuming our nature, to obey that law which we had broken, and endure those penalties which we had incurred : and it declares, that all who will come to Christ, relying wholly on his blood and righteousness, shall be accepted through him. It is true, it requires works as evidences of our faith ; but the only ground which it proposes for our jus- tification before God, is the all-sufficient righteousness of Jesus Christ. In a word, it reveals and offers to us a salvation purchased by the blood of Christ, and freely given to all who believe in him.]
It is emphatically called " the salvation of God" —
[This salvation was altogether planned by God. No created being could have devised such a scheme for saving man in perfect consistency with all the divine perfections
It was executed by God, who miraculously formed the
human nature of Christ in the womb of a virgin, and upheld him in every part of his most arduous undertaking, and raised him from the dead, and constituted him Head over all things to the Church, that he might finish the work he had begun, and secure to himself the souls which he has purchased with
his blood Finally, it was in every respect worthy of
God ; such a display of wisdom, of goodness, and of all his glorious perfections, as will be the one object of wonder, love,
and praise, to all eternity
As for the system which men have substituted in its place, it is indeed " another Gospel," which the Apostles never knew, and which God never revealed. It deserves not to be called " the salvation of God ;" for it is no salvation at all : nor would any creature be ever saved by it. Who will under- take to tell us what that quantum of imperfection is which it allows of; or to define the exact limits of that sincerity which it requires ? It is the offspring of pride and ignorance ; and will be the parent of everlasting misery, to all who embrace it. That only is the true Gospel, which leaves to man no ground of glorying in himself, but gives all the glory of his salvation to God alone.]
Let us next turn our attention to,
II. The things affirmed respecting it —
a Rom. iii. 27.