faith is counted for righteousness : even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness xvithotit works ; saying. Blessed are they whose iniquities are for- given, and whose sins are covered : blessed is the man, to whom the Lord will not impute sin^" We regret that we have not time to make any observa- tions upon this passage : but whoever will read it attentively will find, that every word we have uttered is confirmed by it, beyond the power of sophistry to set aside.
To Abraham and David under the Old Testament, we will add St. Paul under the New ; and methinks, if he had no righteousness of his own wherein to trust, we cannot pretend to any. Hear, then, what he says respecting the grounds of his hope : " We desire to win Christ, and to be found in him, not having our own righteousness, which is of the law, but tlie right- eousness which is by the faith of Christ, even the righteousness which is of God by faith'." Are we so much holier than he, that when he renounced all trust in his righteousness, we should make ours, either in whole or in part, the ground of our depen- dence ? After all this, it is scarcely needful to refer to the avowed sentiments of our reformers : indeed we have no time to do it at any length : we will content ourselves therefore with reciting to you the eleventh article of our Church : " We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith ; and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification."
H. We now come, in the second place, to shew, that this alone is the ajipointed umy of acceptance with God—
This part of our subject being of such vast import- ance, we must beg leave to enter into it somewhat
' Rom. iv. 1—8. » Phil. iii. 8, 9.