[Many who would shudder at the idea of infidelity, are ready to consider the doctrine of justification by faith alone, either as erroneous, or at best as speculative, doubtful, and indifferent. They will not unfrequently say, ' Take care to do good works, and you need not trouble yourself about these nice questions.' Now I readily grant that there are nice questions relative to predestination and election, and some other points, which may, or may not, be received consistently with our " holding the Head," the Lord Jesus Christ : but this is not the case with the doctrine before us. Justification by faith alone, is the hinge upon which the whole of Chris- tianity turns. If that be practically received into the heart, it will save a man, though he be mistaken in many other points: but a mistake relative to that will be fatal to him, though he should hold every other truth in the Bible. Hear how St. Paul speaks in a passage before referred to ; " If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in VAiNq ;" that is, It was in vain that Christ came down from heaven : all that he did or suffered was in vain, " if righteousness (whether in whole or in part) come by the law ;" for " all that are under the law are under the curse r." Again, with peculiar firmness and solemnity he says, " Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothings." What! was there any sin in circumcision ? Why then did Paul circumcise Timothy ? No : the act was as innocent as any act could be : but the sin lay, in complying with that ordi- nance with a view to further their justification before God : and then, it not only did not improve the prospects of the person that submitted to it, but made " Christ himself of no profit to him whatsoever." Once more he says, " Christ is become of no effect unto you; whosoever of you is justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace1;" that is, Ye have utterly renounced the grace of the Gospel, and ye can no more be saved, than the devils themselves ; for Christ is become of no effect unto you. In the Epistle to the Romans he con- firms these things, not merely, as in the fore-cited passages, by strong assertions, but by matter of fact : for he declares that the Jews were left to perish, notwithstanding all their en- deavours to obtain righteousness by the law; and that the Gen- tiles, who had paid no attention whatever to righteousness of any kind, were saved : and that the reason of the one being saved, while the others perished, was, that the one embraced the doctrine of justification by faith only, while the others were too proud to submit to itu. Let these matters be considered; and then let any one say, whether there was not good reason
n Gal. ii. 21. r Gal. iii. 10. compared with Gal. v. 3.
s Gal. v. 2. * Gal. v. 4. u Rom. ix. 30—33. and x. 3, 4.