nothing but to perfect obedience; and that it was, in fact, an utter renunciation of the Gospel, and a contempt of all the grace contained in it. " Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you: whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace." Now, of all works that could be per- formed, circumcision was the most innocent : for it had been expressly commanded of God, from the first moment that Abraham had been admitted into covenant with him : it was enjoined under the penalty of death : Moses himself was in imminent danger of being slain by God for the neglect of it : and, though abrogated by the Gospel, St. Paul had sanctioned the observance of it in' the case of Timothy. ' Yet,' says St. Paul, ' the observance of this rite, with a view to increase or confirm your interest in the Gospel, will invalidate the Gospel altogether, and plunge your souls into inevitable perdition.'
Having solemnly asserted and testified of these things, he goes on to declare what he himself, and all true Christians, looked to for their justification before God: "' We" we Apostles, we who are truly under the influence of the Spirit, " wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." We renounce every other hope whatever : we blend nothing with the merits of Christ : we look for acceptance through _ His righteousness alone: and we expect to obtain an interest in it, and to be made partakers of it, simply and solely by faith in Him.']
In accordance with these are the views of every true Christian —
[Every one who is but a babe in Christ knows that he neither has, nor can have, any righteousness of his own. Having transgressed the law, he feels that he is obnoxious to its curse denounced against him ; and that he must obtain some better righteousness than his own, if ever he would find acceptance with God. He looks into the Scriptures, and learns, that the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, the co-equal, co-eternal Son of God, has left his throne of glory, and as- sumed our nature; and in that nature has suffered the penalty which we had merited, and obeyed the law which we had broken ; and has thereby " brought in an everlasting right- eousness" for all who believe in him. Convinced of this, he casts himself entirely on the Lord ; calling him " The Lord our Righteousness ;" and saying, " In the Lord have I right- eousness and strength." Thus, renouncing all hopes by the works of the law, he " waits for the hope of righteousness by