" If," says he, " salvation be by grace, then it is no more of works ; otherwise grace is no more grace : but if it be of works, then it is no more of grace ; otherwise work is no more work'." Hence he else- where says, *' It is of faith, that it may be by grace :" and again, " Christ is become of no effect unto you ; whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace V This, then, is one evidence, that salvation must be by faith alone, without works.
Another most important mark of the true Gospel is, that it cuts off all occasion for boasting. God has said, that he has made Christ the great depository of all spiritual blessings, in order " that no flesh should glory in his presence, but that all might glory in the Lord alone''." And it is evident, that by the Gospel, as Paul preached it, all boasting is excluded.
But suppose that our works in any measure what- ever formed a ground of justification before God ; should we have no occasion for boasting then ? Assuredly we should : for in proportion as we had procured it by our works, we might claim it as a debt, and say, " I have procured this unto myself." It matters not in what degree this exists : if it exist in any degree whatever, boasting is not excluded. Even in heaven itself we might say, " I owe it not entirely to the free grace of God that I am here, but partly to my own superior merit." This is declared by St. Paul in very express terms : ** Where is boast- ing then ? It is excluded. By what law ? Of works ? Nay : but by the law of faith ^ :" that is, if it were in any degree, even the smallest that can be imagined, by works, there would be room for boasting ; but seeing it is solely by faith in the Lord Jesus, all boasting is, and must for ever be, excluded. Hence, in giving an account of the Gospel salvation, he says, " By grace ye are saved, through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boasts" Let these words be remembered, " Not of z^orks, lest any man should
t Rom. xi. 6. " Gal. v. 4. -^ 1 Cor. i. 29, 31.
y Rom. iii. 27- "^ Eph. ii. 8, 9.