There is not a soul in heaven that must not to all eternity say, " By the grace of God I am what I am."]
2. It secures against all invasion the honour of God—
[Men are ever attempting to rob God of his glory : they cannot endure that all the honour of their salvation should be given to God alone. When they see the crown placed on the Redeemer's head, they feel as if they themselves were injured and dishonoured. They think that some part of the glory belongs to them ; that their works must be considered, in part at least, as forming the ground of their justification ; and that God's election of them was determined by his foresight of their superior goodness. But, when they come to these words, and see what an insuperable obstacle they oppose to all such vain conceits, they find that there is no alternative left them, but to earn salvation by a perfect obedience to the law, or to accept it as the free gift of God in Christ Jesus. They see, that, to blend the two is impossible ; and that, if they do not accept salvation wholly by grace, they are forced altogether upon the covenant of works, and are cut off from all hope in Christ Jesus k. This alternative they dare not for a moment to adopt ; and therefore they are constrained to give to God the glory due unto his name, and to acknowledge Christ both as " the Author, and the Finisher, of their faith1." In a word, they are made willing to " glory in Christ alone."]
3. It makes clear the path of the true penitent —
[Persons in the earlier stages of repentance are apt to be much perplexed. They think they ought to have something of their own to unite with Christ's merits, or at least something to recommend them to his favour. But this they cannot find : and the more they discover of the evil of their own ways, the farther they appear to be from possessing any of those qualifica- tions which they desire. This greatly alarms them ; and makes them fear it would be presumptuous in such unworthy creatures as they to hope in Christ. But when they see the force of the Apostle's observation, they are convinced, that hitherto they have proceeded on wrong grounds, and that the only true way of going to Christ, is, to go with all their sins upon them, and receive salvation from him as the purchase of his blood, and the gift of his grace. This, when once seen, dissipates all the clouds and darkness that have obscured their way, and makes their path to life as clear as the sun at noon- day. They see themselves in the predicament of the wounded Israelites, when directed to look to the brazen serpent ; or of
k Gal. v. 2—4. i Heb. xii. 2.