[Many think their guilt too great to be pardoned, and their lusts too strong to be subdued ; but Paul's case was intended to prevent such desponding fears r. Let none therefore any more complain like those of olds : every one may find en- couragement in the power and mercy of God1.]
It reproves also those who speak against an assur- ance of faith —
[It would indeed be presumptuous in some to profess an assurance of faith; but God is desirous that all his people should enjoy itu; let not any one therefore reprobate it as presumption; let every one rather seek the assurance ex- pressed in the text.]
It may administer comfort also to many sincere
Christians —
[Many are yet fighting against their manifold corruptions, and because they obtain not a perfect deliverance, they tremble under apprehensions of the divine wrath. But Paul himself bewailed bitterly his indwelling corruption x : yet that did not prevent him from rejoicing in the partial freedom he expe- rienced. Let upright souls take comfort from this reflection.]
r 1 Tim. i. 16. " Iv e/jLoi Trpwrv, in me the chief." s Ezek. xxxvii. 11. l Isai. lix. 1.
" 1 John v. 13. x Rom. vii. 24.
Rom viii. 3, 4. What the law could not do, in that it ivas weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh : that the righteousness of the laio might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
THE necessity of holiness is allowed by all : the means of attaining it are known to few. Christ is regarded as the meritorious cause of our justification before God ; but he is not sufficiently viewed as the instrumental cause of our deliverance from sin. He is represented in the Scriptures as " our sanctifica- tion," no less than " our wisdom and our righteous- ness3 :" and we should do well to direct our attention
« 1 Cor. i. 30.