Be much on your guard, that you " give no occasion to the enemies to speak reproachfully:" but rather endeavour to " put to silence the ignorance of foolish men by well-doing." Thus will you " adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour," and give a practical refutation of the calumnies that are circulated respecting you.]
Rom. iii. 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, ive establish the law.
A GENERAL prejudice obtains against the way of salvation by faith : but it prevailed equally even in the apostolic age. Paul himself saw that his state- ment of the Gospel did not escape censure. He perceived that it was deemed injurious to the inte- rests of morality ; he therefore anticipated and an- swered this objection.
To bring the subject fully before you, I will propose for your consideration three things — the objection made — the objection obviated — the objection retorted.
I. The objection made —
People suppose we make void the law through faith ; but the truth, however clearly we may state it is, for the most part, misapprehended. In explaining salvation by faith we affirm two things concerning the law :
1. That it has no power either to condemn or to justify a believer —
[It cannot condemn him, because Christ has redeemed him from its curse a. It cannot justify him, because he has transgressed it, and its demands of perfect obedience are unalterably the same. Faith in Christ delivers him from the penal sanctions of the law, but does not in any respect lower its demands.]
2. That his obedience to it makes no part of his justifying righteousness —
a Gal. iii. 1:5.