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the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith," Rom. i. 14-17. The righteousness which the gospel reveals is the righteousness of God, which is to distinguish it from the law of righteousness, that calls for the righteousness of man. This righteousness is to all and upon all that believe, and upon no other; upon the imputation of it the sinner passes from death unto life, so as to come no more into condemnation, John v. 24. Hence the justification of such a soul is called justification unto life, Rom. v. 18. Such a soul is justified by God himself; and who can condemn? and, being justified by faith, he has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom. v. 1. Such a minister believes, and therefore speaks; he is one of the household of faith, and preaches the faith; he is alive, and holds forth the word of life. The righteousness of Christ is on him, and he is a preacher of righteousness. He has peace with God, and is an ambassador of peace. And, as faith goes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, so righteousness goes from the heart of the preacher of righteousness to the heart of all that believe unto righteousness. This righteousness goes from faith to faith; but not from criminal to criminal, nor from infidelity to infidelity; although presumptuous confidence may, and does; so that it is, "Like people, like priest," Hosea iv. 9.

7. The gospel of Christ is proclaimed to the

world to bring poor lost apostatized man back to God, even to communion and fellowship with Christ, and with God through Chaist. "That

which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ," 1 John i. 3. This fellowship comes to pass by our cordial embracing of Christ in faith and affection; which is done when God reveals his Son in us, and then accepts us in him. Through Christ God's love flows into the heart, and our love through Christ flows out to God. We possess his love, and he possesses ours. Christ sets up his kingdom within; and is known as our fountain, by cleansing us; as our physician, by healing us; as our sovereign, by delivering us from the tyranny of Satan, sin, and death; as our righteousness, by silencing all accusers and condemners; as our peace, by the tranquillity that we feel; as our strength, by the support he grants us; as our life, by the lively frames we enjoy; and as our hope, by the lively expectations of glory to come. To all which the Spirit bears his witness, and cries, Abba, Father. And wherever sonship appears there the inheritance is sure; for the inheritance is of faith, that it might be by grace, that the promise might be sure to all the seed, Rom. iv. 16.

Having shewn what I conceive to be the gospel, I shall now consider the law, and inquire who they are that have, and who have not, the

law of God in their hearts.

And I am sure that for what I am going to advance I shall be reproached for my singularity: but what I enforce I shall endeavour to support with the word of God, for by that I wish to stand or fall.

I do most assuredly believe in my conscience that, of all the laws which ever came forth from the Lord God of Israel, and the Jews say there are some hundreds, God never did, since Adam fell, apply any one to any man in this world but to the Son of God, and to the elect of God in him to them, and to them only, are the laws of God applied. Nor do I believe that there ever was one non-elected soul, or reprobate, in this world, that could say, with truth and conscience, that God ever had, at any one time, put any one law of his into his mind, or written it on the fleshly tables of his heart.

No heathen, no Jewish or British pharisee; no formalist; no outer-court worshipper whatever; no gifted minister, even such as have been enlightened, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; nor any other, who hath received the external gifts of the Holy Ghost; nor even that servant who received the one talent, Matt. xxv. 25; nor the gifted man, that received the one pound, Luke xix. 13; no minister of the letter; no, nor those that boast of wonderful works, and of casting out devils, Matt. vii. 22; no collegian or academician in the present day, however endowed with natural abilities;

nowever learned, or however studious, eloquent, industrious, or laborious; if he be a non-inspired man; ever had any one law of God applied in its divine power to his heart. No graceless professor, no hypocrite in Zion, however reformed, varnished, embalmed, enrobed, adorned, or set off by the most illustrious minister of the letter, ever had one law of God in him, or applied by God to him. Nor even Mr. L. himself, who has written two treatises upon the subject of the law, in order to convince me and others of errors, and to set us right in the word and ways of God; even this man never had any one law of God, either moral or ceremonial, civil or evangelical, applied to him. "The law is made for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane." Now, although the law is made for such, yet the Apostle in the above passage calls them lawless; respecting the spirituality of the law they are lawless, and with respect to the gospel disobedient. Though the law is not made for a righteous man, but for such ungodly sinners, yet he styles them outlawed, without law, or lawless, because no one law of God, in its spiritual meaning, in its latitude, in its unlimited demands, in its purity, holiness, and divine sanction, authority, and power, in the glory of it, in the majesty of it, was ever applied to any reprobate or uninspired man in this world; nor ever will be until the day of the grand assize; nor even then will the rality of it be applied, but its wrath and

curse, and no more. who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?" Job xxiv. 25. Now we will act the part of the noble Bereans, search the scriptures, to see if these things be so. And, "For,

"And if it be not so now,

First, We will begin with the heathen. when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves; which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another," Rom. ii. 14, 15. Now these few fragments of the law that remain in the light of nature (which is in some measure a guide to some things, right and wrong, which agree with the law), and which are to be found in the ruins of the fall, are not the law itself; for the law is spiritual, but these poor heathens were carnal, and sold under sin; therefore they had not the law itself, but the works of it. The Gentiles, which have not the law, they do by nature these things. They have not the law; they are a law unto themselves; they sin without law, and shall perish without law, Rom. ii. 12. The light of nature, or natural conscience, is all that these poor creatures have; and this light of nature often puts darkness for light, and light for darkness, Isa. v. 20; as may be seen both among Jews and Gentiles. The Samaritans called Simon Magus the great power of God, when the prince

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