religi(lus life and efficiency. And it is most n11tural that, iri the minds of the unthink- ing and the worldly, the symbol should t.ake the place of the truth It symbolizes, the letter should overgrow the spirit, and officfalism should substitute ministry. Certainly this is what happened in the case of Judaism. And against this the apostle of the Gentiles, in his Epistle to the Romans, raised the most vigorous protest which has pro• ceedoo from any disciple of Jesus. 'l'he seed of this protost was, indeed, sown in the teaching of the Master; but here we find that the seed was bearing fruit. The position which St. Paul occupied, the special work to which he was rnlled, threw tbe burden of the protest and the controversy upon him. His ministry was hindered by the religi0us proantry and. bigotry of those who had been trained in the same school with himself. His large hea1t resented with indignation the formality, the narrowness, the pettiness, which he encountered wherever he met his fellow-countrymen in their synagogues. His commission was one which admitted of no terms, of no truce, with a religion of "the flesh,"" the letter." If, a.s a worker, he was called upon to be the minister of Christ to the Gentiles, as a thinker it was his great vocation to exhibit the spiritual character of Christianity; and the identity of a. spiritual with a. uni versa~ religion must be obvious to every reflecting mind. The apostle's detestation of a. merely external religion is evident all through this Epistle, equally in the doctrinal and the practical sections. To no compromise upon this point would he for a moment consent. For a Jew who was a. Jew only outwardly, he had no consideration, and circumcision merely in the flesh he held in no esteem. Even in our own time there is need of a protest against a religion of forms and of custom; there is no Church which is free from the danger here intimated; for the temptation against which the inspired apostle puts us upon our guard is a. temptation which gathers strength from a. principle and habit deep-seated in human nature itself. IL A nocrnn..:. O,er against the protest contained in the twenty-eighth verse is the pJsitive assertion of the twenty-ninth. A man might be a. descendant of Israel, and yet might not be a Jew, in the deeper and spiritual significance which the apostle attached to the designation. There were many who boasted that they were" Abraham's seed." who had "Abraham to their father," according to natural descent, who yet lacked Abraham's faith, the true "note" of incorporation in the elect race. And, on the other hand, there were many wbo were deemed b;1 Hebrews "sinners of the Gentiles," who were "children of faithful Abraham," who were numbered among the Israel of God. Circumcision was a. badge of nationality, and a. sign and seal of the cove• nant which God entered into with his chosen people; but it conferred no special grace, and the grace which it symbolized was often received in vain, for privilege and pre- rogative are in many cases misused. But, under the new covenant, the only circum- cision which avails is that of" the heart;• "the spirit." Such is the peculiar character of Christianity, which commended it to the reason and the conscience of the apostle, There are passages in abundance to be found in the Old Testament which show that the enliuhtened and pious Hebrews were fully aware of the spiritual nature of religion, But the"words of our holy Saviour made these precious truths as "current coin" to pass amongst men. The conception of God must be spiritual; the character of worship must be spiritual; the morality of Christ's disciples must be spiritual; the religious life as a whole must be spiritual. "The letter," St. Paul assures us, "killeth; the spirit giveth life." The letter and circumcision were so largely abused by being regarded otherwise than as intended, that the apostle seems to have regarded them almost with suspicion, if not with aversion; by them, he saw, men transgressed the Law, Hence his insisting so strenuously, as here, upon the purity of the heart and the spirit, It is with the heart that man believes unto righteousness, with the spirit that ho worships God; accordingly the supreme con~ern is that ~II be well here. Repentance, faith, cousecration, hope, and love,-all are virtues of the mner nature. Whern they are present, they will find expression iu deeds and words; where they are absent, all deeds and words a.re vain. Most beautifully in accordance with this positive teaching of the BJYJstle in this verse i6 the petition which in the Prayer-book is placed at the opening of the Communion Service, that God would "cleanse the tlwughta of our hearta by the inspiration of bis Holy Spirit." IIL A IIOTIV]';, How far Bt. Paul was referring to hiR own experience in spcakinR here of the pra.ilic of men aa following upon the practice of formal and ceremonial ou. II.1-20.J THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 63
religion, we cRnnot say; unquestionably he was influenced by his recolleccion of thll ~pirit Rnd conduct of many with whom he ho.d come in contact. The Lord him11elf had observed how those who rejected him and hie teaching, and clung to the externals of Jude.ism, were.influenced by their love for the praise of ~en rather than by regard to the honour which cometh from God only. Men may praise tho11e whose professions are loud, whose conformity is rigid, whose piety is ostentatious, whose observances are scrupulous; "they have their reward." But those who are taught by the Spirit of God count it "e. small thing to be judged with men's judgment." Such can look away from men's fallacious opinions and men's capricious approval, and can anticipate the acceptance and approval of him who eearcheth the heart and trieth the reins of •.h~ children of men. For the "Israelites indeed," the "children of faithful Abraham," there is in reserve a meed of blessed recompense when "every man shall have praise of God.n