of the law can no flesh living be justified f." St. Paul himself renounced all hope of acceptance with God by any righteous- ness of his own, and sought it solely by faith in Christ g : and so must you, if ever you would obtain mercy at the hands of Godh.]
2. The happiness of those who have obtained an interest in Christ ?
[They are dead to the law ; and the law is dead to them1. To them is no condemnation k : on the contrary, they have, and ever shall possess, eternal life1. In all the book of God there cannot be found one curse denounced against them. To them belong nothing but blessings, even all the blessings of grace and glory. Say, beloved, Are not these happy ? Seek ye, then, this happiness. Flee to Christ : believe in Christ : and then ye " shall never perish, but shall have eternal life."]
3. The reasonableness of a life devoted to Christ ?
[Contemplate the benefits you receive by faith in Christ ; and say, whether any return that ye can make can ever be too great ? To tell you, that, if you believe in Christ, you must obey him, is, I had almost said, to degrade human nature below the beasts. Does " the ox know its owner, and the ass his master's crib ;" and shall a believer not know, and love, and serve, his heavenly Benefactor ? Shall the Lord Jesus Christ have "bought you with his blood, and you not desire to glorify him with your bodies and your spirits, which are his?" O ! brethren, do not oblige me to say, you must obey him ; but " be forward of yourselves," and give yourselves wholly to him ; and let the inquiry of your soul, every day and hour, be, " What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits con- ferred upon me ?"]
f Rom. iii. 20. e Phil. hi. 9.
h Rom. ix. 31, 32. and x. 3, 4. s Rom. vii. 1 — 4. ii. 19.
k Rom. viii. 1. » John iii. 16, 18.