their covenanting head, and binds them over to misery, both temporal and eternal. "By one man's offence death reigned by one: by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation."

It is our present design, with a humble reliance on the eternal Spirit for direction, to prove that salvation from death is utterly impossible by human attainments; that no sinner by his obedience, his repentance, or reformation need expect remission of guilt, or reconciliation with a righteous God.

1. Justification by our own works is impossible, because we are unable to atone for past transgressions; we cannot repair the injuries already done to the divine law, by having omitted what it requires, and committed what it absolutely forbids; and without this satisfaction for former offences, acceptance or reconciliation is not to be expected. The law cannot, will not forgive without ample satisfaction; sooner shall heaven and earth pass away, than remission be granted for a single transgression without full reparation for the injury done. The moment that the offence is committed the person is bound hand and foot and thrown into prison, until he pays what he owes.

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. He that offendeth in one point is guilty of all." Now what method can the sinner embrace in order to make such satisfaction? Will he proceed to repent of his former conduct; to express a cordial sorrow that he had sin

ned against God, and resolve an amendment for the time to come. Let us examine for a moment whether satisfaction of this nature would be accepted by an earthly judge.Suppose that a man convicted of murder should acknowledge his crime, should express unfeigned sorrow for what had happened, that he had been chargeable with such an outrage upon society, and then resolve that he would by no means be guilty of repeating the offence; would this give satisfaction to the law? Would it atone for the blood of a fellow citizen which has flowed at his hand, and restore the offender to the privileges of society? Certainly not. And shall the law of God, which is infinitely perfect, which is a transcript of the divine "holiness, and justice, and goodness," suffer the transgressor to pass unpunished? Or will our obedience to its demands this day satisfy for the omission of yesterday? Therefore we are informed that "the law worketh wrath;" binds over to eternal misery every subject that does not perfectly and perpetually obey it: Again, "cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." This single testimony of the living God determines the question beyond all controversy, and leaves the sinner "neither root nor branch" of expectation from any performances of his own: it pronounces him "accursed" not merely who is abandoned in every part of his conduct; who wantonly VOL. 2.

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tramples on every divine command; who "neither fears God nor regards man ;" but dooms to despair "every one that continueth not in all things;" who does not keep the whole law, in all its requirements, on all occasions and amidst all circumstances; it shuts up under sentence of wrath as to his own merit every transgressor* of any command. We therefore conclude that " by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified," because none can satisfy for past offences; we cannot do more at any time than the law absolutely requires for that particular time.

2. Justification by our personal performances is unattainable, because we cannot render perfect obedience for the present.The law admits of no imperfection; it de

"Shew me the man," is the challenge of an ardent, ingenious writer on this subject, "shew me the man who has never offended in one point; who hath continued in all things prescribed by Jehovah's perfect law; who loves the Lord with all his heart, and his fellow-creatures as himself; shew me the man, who from the first to the last moments of his life, comes up to the standard and then you will shew me a man who can be justified by works of his own." Toplady's caveat against unsound doctrines. Equally appropriate are the following remarks of another truly devout, evangelical author. "Upon the very first offence the law cuts the sinner off from all claim to the promised reward, and as to any thing that he can do cuts him off for ever. It is not in his power to make himself innocent again. Having once failed in his obedience, the law knows nothing of mercy, cannot accept the greatest repentance, nor acccpt the decpest sorrow for what is past; but immediately passes sentence according to what is written; "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." If you fail in one single instance of obedience, you fall under the curse of the broken law, and are as much liable to punishment, though not in the same degree, as if you had failed in every instance."Rom ine's Law and Gospel, ser. 2.

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mands perfect, personal and perpetual obedience, or denounces condemnation against failure in the least degree; it requires that every thought, every word, every action be perfectly holy and conformed to its unerring standard; that "we love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves: This do,' and the law promises, "thou shalt live;" this fail to do, and the law proclaims, "thou shalt surely die." It is not sufficient that we refrain from the grosser pollutions of the world, or discharge the outward duties of christianity; to all this the Scribes and Pharisees had attained; they were not "extortioners, unjust, nor adulterers; they fasted often, and gave tithes of all that they possessed; but unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall not enter the kingdom of God:" it is not sufficient that we discover some zeal for the ordinances of God, or some concern for the advancement of his glory; to this the apostle had attained in his natural estate: "Concerning zeal he prosecuted the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law he was blameless," and with these performances he was alive in his own estimation; he imagined that no other righteousness was necessary; "but when the commandment came;" when the law reached his conscience with discoveries of its purity and spirituality, he DIED; he

despaired of acceptance with God on the foundation of these partial, imperfect performances; he beheld this outward obedience as falling infinitely short of the divine command. Such is the perfection of the law that it extends to the heart; it particularly notices every thought, every suggestion that secretly passes in the mind, no less than our words and actions. The man "who hates his brother in his heart," the law considers as virtually a "murderer;" the man who

looks at a woman to lust after her," it condemns" as having committed adultery already with her in his heart:" The most secret workings of corruption in the mind are a breach of the law and expose to condemnation. When therefore we realize the purity, the spirituality and extent of the divine law; that it arraigns before its bar, not only actions, but our very thoughts, we are brought to the conclusion, that "by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified in his sight;" because none are capable of rendering perfect and perpetual obedience; none are able to conform their hearts and lives to this eternal standard of righteousness. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be."

That justification is unattainable by our own obedience is evident,

3. From the confession of the redeemed in every age. What has been the experience of the righteous in all generations; of