them ? Now, if they would seek for mercy, justice, instead of impeding, would aid, their suit. At the last day, how will matters be reversed ! When justice demands the execution of the law, mercy will have not one word to say in arrest of judgment, but will rather increase the vengeance by its accusations and complaints. Let this be duly considered by us, that we may actively glorify God as monuments of his saving grace, and not passively glorify him as objects of his righteous indignation.]
Rom. iii. 27, 28. Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what law ? of works ? Nay : but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith ivith- out the deeds of the law.
IT may well be supposed, that any revelation, pur- porting to be from God, should, in addition to all external evidences, have internal proofs also of its divine original. Accordingly, if God should reveal a way of salvation to fallen creatures, we should of course expect it to be such a way, as should display the riches of his own grace, and secure all the glory of it to himself. Now when we look into the Gospel, we find precisely such a method of salvation revealed to us. And herein it differs from all the methods that ever have been devised by man : for they uniformly reserve a share of the glory, at least, to the creature : whereas the Gospel gives all the glory to God alone.
St. Paul, having opened throughout the whole pre- ceding part of this epistle the state of fallen man, and the way prescribed for his acceptance with God, puts this question, " Where is boasting then ?" And having told us, that it is, and must for ever be, " ex- cluded by the law of faith," he repeats his former conclusion, and represents it as confirmed by this additional evidence of its truth ; " Therefore we con- clude," &c.
In discoursing on these words, we shall shew,
I. That the way of salvation (whatever it may be) must exclude boasting —
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