faith" alone. He considers that righteousness as wrought out on purpose for him : he regards it as promised to him the very instant he believes in Christ: he looks to him by faith, in order to obtain an interest in it; and he "waits for" it God's appointed time : he waits for it here, even for the mani- festation of it to his soul ; and he waits for it hereafter, as the ground of his acquittal at the bar of judgment, and as the ground of his elevation to the throne of glory. At no period does he hope for any thing on the ground of his own merits : and though he knows that his works shall be rewarded, he looks for that recompence, not as a reward of debt, but of grace : and to God alone does he give all the glory of his sal- vation, from first to last.]
As the Apostle ascribes his experience in this re- spect to the agency of the Holy Spirit, it will be proper for me to shew,
II. How far the Holy Spirit operates to the produc- tion of these views —
" In God we live, and move, and have our being." But, in the economy of redemption, there is a special office assigned to the Third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity, even that of applying all its benefits to the souls of men, and rendering it effectual for their sal- vation. It was " through the Spirit" that the Apostle waited for the hope of righteousness by faith :
1. Through his teaching in the word —
[All the prophets, from the beginning, have spoken by inspiration of God, even as they were moved by the Holy Ghosta. Now, from the beginning has the Holy Spirit de- clared, that our hope of righteousness is solely by faith in Christ. To Adam, as soon as he had fallen, was it made known, that " the Seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, should bruise the serpent's head," and repair the evil which that wicked fiend had introduced. Abel, we are told, " by faith offered" an acceptable sacrifice unto his God. Now this presupposes a revelation from God in relation to that sacri- fice : for there can be no scope for the exercise of faith, where nothing has been revealed. Here, then, it is clear, that God had made known to Abel, that a sinner should be saved through the intervention of a sacrifice, even of that Great Sacrifice which should in due time be offered upon the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ; who is therefore called, "The Lamb
a 2 Tim. hi. 1G. 1 Pet. i. 10. 11. and 2 Pet. i. 21.