promises as given to Abraham?' No; says the Apostle : there is a subserviency of the one to the other ; and both the one and the other proclaim to us, in fact, the same salvation — salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by faith alone.
To make this clear to the comprehension of all, I will distinctly mark what he says respecting,
I. The use of the law —
The law, when originally given to Adam in Para- dise, "was ordained to lifea," and would, if perfectly fulfilled by him, have given him a title to eternal life : but, having been once broken, it is no longer capable of giving a title to life, and is only " a minis- tration of condemnation and death5." Had it been possible to have given a law which should have ren- dered the salvation of fallen man consistent with the Divine attributes, God would never have given his only-begotten Son to take our nature and die for us : the publication of a new law would have been so obvious and so easy, that he would undoubtedly have preferred thatc. But no such law could be given : for, if it required the same as the original law did, namely perfect and perpetual obedience, it was impossible that that should ever be rendered to it by fallen man* : and, if it required less, it would dispense with obligations, which of necessity exist between the creature and the Creator, and would, in fact, give a license to sin : which it is impossible for a holy God to do. The law then, as given to Moses, was not intended for any such purpose as this : it was intended,
1. To prepare men for the Gospel —
[The Gospel is a revelation of mercy through the incar- nation and sufferings of the Son of God : and that mercy is freely offered to all who will believe in Christ. Previously to the coming of Christ, this mystery was but very imperfectly understood: but the law as published on Mount Sinai was well calculated to prepare the minds of men for the fuller
a Rom. vii. 10. b 2 Cor. iii. 7, 9.
c ver. 21. d R0m. viii. 3.