himself. "Yot not I." We are by natnre "dead " (Epb. ii. 1), nnd cannot quicken ourselves. Our life ie no natural principle. Neither can we sustain this life nor prolong its existence. This fact explains at once the backslidings, the fears and the unfruitfulneBB of believers. 3. Ohristis the very life of the soul. "Christ liveth in me." (1) He is the substance as well as the source of that life. "Because I live ye shall live also" (John xiv. 19); "Ohrist, who is our life" (Col. iii. 4); "He that hath the Son bath life" (1 John v. 12). (2) This life is in virtue of a. union with him produced by the Holy Spirit. Thus we become "one spirit" with him. (3) Christ is the cause of its continuance (Eph. iv. 15, 16; John xv.1-8 ; vii. 48). 4. The blessed fruits of this life. (1) It is an absolutely secure life. The life is not in the believer's own keeping. (2) It involves a near relationship to Christ (John xv. 6). (3) It is the life at once of earth and of heaven. 5. It is a life of which the apostle was fully conscious. He does not say, "I am elected," or "I am justified,'' but "I live." He speaks the language of happy assurance. He knows he is spiritually alive. His confession is a. rebuke to those who doubt the possibility of attaining to the" full assurance of hope." Ver. 20.-77ie Mture and conditions of Ohristian life. "The life which I now Ii ve in the flesh L!ive in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." 1. THE NATURE OF THIS LIFE. There is a. mystery surrounding the origin of all life. There is mystery, too, in regeneration (John iii. 8). Yet spiritual life is due to the quickening power of the Holy Spirit, through the Word, "making a.II things new." The first effect of regeneration is faith; and the life thus begun is sustained by the indwelling of the same Spirit through all the stages of a. sanctified experience, till it shares in the glorified life of the Redeemer in heaven. II. THE CONDITION OF TIDS LIFE-IT IS LIFE " IN THE FLESH.• That is, in the body. All life-physical, intellectual, moral-is exposed to risk of some sort.· Frost or lightning may blight flower or tree; disease may undermine animal life; madness may attack intellectual life. So Ohristian life is exposed to many risks, simply because it is life " in the flesh," that is, in a body with passions and appetites prone to evil, and in a world with many seductions that appeal to the senses. Yet we must not regard the body with ascetic aversion, as if it were the sole cause of the soul's embarrassments. It is God's wonderful workmanship; it is the temple of the Holy Ghost, to be kept free from defilement; and it is aud ought to be the willing servant of the immortal spirit in all the various activities of Christian life. III. THE MEDIUM OF CHRISTIAN LIFE-FAITII. Faith is not merely the instrument of our justification, but the root-principle of our life. It is the principle which maintains this life in its constant exercise. We "live by faith;" we" walk by faith;" we "stand by faith;'' we "overcome by faith;" we a.re "sanctified by faith ; " we are "kept by faith" through the power of God unto the final salvation. As the principle which unites the soul and the Saviour, it is the conduit which carries the mighty supplies of grace into the soul. IV. THE EXTERNAL SUPPORT OR NURTURE OF TIDS LIFE. " The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." 1. All life finds its nurture or support in soiirces external to itself, which it assimilates to its own inner growth. So it is in the animal and the vegetable worlds. Thus the soul finds its support in the Bread of life who came down from heaven. It is not faith that supports this life. Faith is nothing apart from its object. 2. It is not the Son of God;merely who is the support of this life. He might be only "Guide, Philosopher, aud Friend," as in Socinian theology; but our life could find no adequate fulcrum or point of support in the Son of God thus regarded. The apostle emphasizes (1) the love and (2) the sacrifice of Christ, "who gave himself for me." He is no Saviour to me unless he is my High Priest, my Substitute, my Surety. V. THE APOSTLE'S ASSURANCE OF BIS PERSONAL IN1'EREST IN CHRIST'S WORK. He does not use terms of generality, such ns "he gave himself for us," but "for me." Thus he added assurance to his faith. VI. THE LIFE IN QUESTION IS DESIGNED TO BE MANIFEST. It is lifo to be lived. "'l'he life which I now live in the flesh." Life may be secret in its origin, but i, comes forth into visible display, We cannot see the life of the tiny seed-grain cast by the husbanaman into the ground, but it gradually makes its way to the surface through all obstncles. Thus our lfre is to be au open life. We are not to" hide our light under 102 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [ OH, II. 1-21.
R b~shel;" we 11re not to bury our talent in the ground; but as rrye have received Chnst Jesus t?e _Lord, so walk ye in him." It is the duty of the saints to be witnesses to t~e Lord ; 1t 1s their privilege to glorify him; it is their glory t.o reflect the image of his blessed character.
Ver. 21.-No Jrustra.tion of Divine grace in the apostle's tead1ing. "I do not fr'.1strate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the Law, then Christ died without cause." . I. THE GRACE OF GoD IS THE TRUE SOURCE OF SALVATION. This grace was manifested m the death of Christ, and in the blessings derived to believers from their union with him. The apostle's trast in him only magnified the grace of God. II. lTs FRUSTRATION WAS POSSIBLE ON PETER's PRINCIPLES. If any attempt were !11ad_e to _put works in the place of faith, or to mix works with faith as a ground of 1ust1ficat10n, or to establish a system under which ceremonialism was made essential to salvation, the grace of God were effectively frustrated. III. THE ULTIMATE PRINCll'LE Th'"VOLVED IN THIS FRUSTRATION. "If riahteousness come by th~ Law, then Christ d!ed without cause." 1. The righteousness in°question is that ~y which a man becomes right with God. A man might attain to this righteous- ness 1f he could keep or had kept the Law of God. But be bas broken the Law and is under its curse. The righteousness must therefore be reached in another way. It comes "by faith," not "by tbe Law " (Phil. iii. 9). 2. Christ's death is altogether unnecessary on the supposition of a righteousness by the Law. Why should the Son df God have died to procure what a sinner can win for himself by his own personal obedience? This closes the argument in the most effective manner.