seen the force of it, or been led by it to just views of Christ as the Fountain " in whom all fulness dwells," and " from whose fulness we must all receive, even grace for grace."
But we have observed, that there is another view in which the Apostle speaks of the death of Christ, namely, as a motive to our obedience. Strongly as he enforced the necessity of relying on Christ, and founding our hopes of salvation solely on his obedi- ence unto death, he was no less earnest in promoting the interests of hoHness. Whilst he represented the believers as "dead to the law" and "without law," he still insisted that they were " under the law to Christ," and as much bound to obey every tittle of it as ever"" : and he enforced obedience to it, in all its branches, and to the utmost possible extent. More- over, when the doctrines which he had inculcated were in danger of being abused to licentious pur- poses, he expressed his utter abhorrence of such a procedure' ; and declared, that " the grace of God, which brought salvation, taught them, that denying ungodhness and worldly lusts, they should hve right- eously, soberly, and godly in this present world ''." A life of holy obedience is represented by him as the great object which Christ aimed to produce in all his people : indeed the very name, Jesus, proclaimed, that the object of his coming was " To save his people from their sins." The same was the scope and end of his death, even to " redeem them from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works." His resurrection and ascen- sion to heaven had also the same end in view ; for " therefore he both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be the Lord both of the dead and living." Impressed with a sense of these things himself, St. Paul laboured more abundantly than any of the Apostles in his holy vocation : he proceeded with a zeal which nothing could quench, and an ardour
h 1 Cor. ix. 21. Gal. ii. 19. ' Rom. vi. 1, 15.
k Tit. ii. n, 12.