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fecond Chapter, where he begins to apply his Difcourfe to them.

v. 18,

20,

Bebold, fays he, thou art called a Jew, and refleft in the Law, and makeft thy Boaft of God, and knoweft his Will, and approvest the Things that are more excellent, being inftructed out of the Law; and art confident 19, that thou thyself art a Guide of the Blind, a Light to them which are in Darkness, an Inftructor of the Foolish, a Teacher of the Simple, having the Platform of Truth and Knowledge of the Law. All this the Jews faid of themfelves: And St. Paul doth not deny but that they might fay it, both with Truth and Reafon. But what then? Were they therefore in a better Condition, as to their fpiritual everlafting State, than thofe poor Heathens whom they fo much defpifed? No; he tells them plainly, in no wife, but rather far more inexcufable, forafmuch as they did not make a right Use of this Light and Knowledge that God had afforded them above all other Nations. This Law, that they fo much gloried in, had no Influence upon their Hearts and Lives. They lived as lawlefly as if God had never revealed his Will to them. Their Practices were quite contradictory to their Pretences and Profeffion; and this their own Confciences could not but reproach them with, and condemn them for. For what greater Reproach can there be to a Man, or what can more aggravate his Guilt,

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v. 21,

than for him to pretend to be able to teach others, and yet not to teach himself? To 22, preach that a Man fhould not freal, and yet to fteal himself? To abhor Idols and all idolatrous Worship, and yet to be guilty of as great Impiety against God another way, viz. committing of Sacrilege? To make his boaft of the Law, and yet to dishonour God; nay, and to make his Name blafphemed among the very Gentiles, by his open and fcandalous Violations of that Law? And yet this was the Cafe of the Jews, as St.. Paul chargeth it upon them in the 2d Verfe of this Chapter, and the four following.

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And then, as for the Business of Circumcifion, which they laid fo mighty a Stress upon, as that which was the Seal of their Covenant with God, and that which entitled them to his Mercies and Favour, he tells them in the 25th Verfe, that their Circumcifion would indeed profit them if they kept the Law; but if they were Tranfgref fors of the Law, their Circumcifion was made Uncircumcifion; that is to say, that Circumcifion was indeed a Sacrament inftituted by God for the entring that People into Covenant with him, and for the fealing and conveying the Benefits made over by that Covenant to all thofe that were circumcifed: But then it was upon this Suppofition, upon this Condition, that thofe who were fo circumcifed, did perform the Terms which that Covenant re

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quired of them; that is to fay, did live in the Practice of inward Purity and Holiness, and Obedience to God's Commandments, which were the Things fignified by Circumcifion. But if they did not this, they were fo far from reaping any fpiritual Benefits by their Circumcifion, that they had v. 25, as good not have been circumcifed at all (that is the Meaning of his Phrafe of their Circumcifion being made Uncircumcifion.) Nay, as he goes on in the next Verfe, the Hea-26, thens themselves, if they lived better than the Jews, if they were more pure and holy, and more obedient to the Laws of God written in their Hearts, than the Jews were, tho' they had no Circumcifion in their Flesh, yet were they, in a true Senfe, more properly Jews, that is to fay, more truly Children of Abraham, and entitled to the Promifes of God, and the Benefits of the Covenant made with him, than the carnal Jews, who had the Mark of Circumcifion upon them. For, as he concludes in the Words of my Text, He is not a Jew, who is one outwardly; neither is that Circumcifion, which is outward in the Flesh: But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and Circumcifion is that of the Heart, in the Spirit, and not in the Letter, whofe Praife is not of Men, but of God. As if he had faid, Every one that is born a Jew, and is circumcifed, and, as far as the outward Characters and Badges of Judaifm go, can make a fair Title

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to

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29.

to the Promises of God, is not therefore a true Jew, is not therefore a Son of Abraham, to whom the Benefits of God's Covenant do appertain; nor is that the true available Circumcifion, which is external, that Mark which is imprinted on the Flefh: But he is the few, the Ifraelite indeed, the true Child of Abraham, who fhall be accepted of God, tho' he be not fo by Birth; who, in the Purity and Integrity of his Heart, yields Obedience to thofe eternal and subftantial Laws of Holinefs and Righteoufnefs which God gave to the Jews: And the true Circumcifion, that will stand one in ftead, is that of Him who cuts off all Superfluities and Pollutions that are spiritual; who hath that Law of Righteoufnefs, of which Circumcifion is the Sign and Seal, imprinted on his inner Man, his Soul and Spirit: Not he who hath obeyed it in the Letter only, by being circumcifed cutwardly in his Flesh. In a Word, the true Ifraelite is one, whofe Praife is not of Men, but of God; who aims at more in his Profeffion of Religion, than barely the entitling himself to the Favour, and Countenance, and outward Privileges which that Profeffion may procure him among Men; for he makes it his main Business to approve himfelf to God by a ferious Endeavour in Thought, and Word, and Deed, to obferve his holy Commandments.

Thus

Thus I have given you a plain Account of St. Paul's Difcourfe in this Chapter, and of the Sense and Meaning of the Words of my Text.

But it may be faid, What doth all this concern us? We are neither Jews nor Gentiles, but Chriftians, and therefore have nothing to do with what the Apostle here difcourfeth concerning them.

I answer, tho' the Apoftle here particularly addreffeth his Difcourfe to the Jews, yet the Reason of his Words is of eternal Truth in all Religions, and doth concern us as well as them. For do but change the Word Few in the Text into that of Chriftian, and the Term of Circumcifion into that of Baptifm, and thofe other outward Duties and Privileges which we (and yet not without great Reafon) do fet fo high a Value upon, and the Text will fit us at this Day, as well as thofe Perfons to whom St. Paul did immediately direct his Difcourfe. The Truth is, it is to be fear'd, that many of us Chriftians do approach too near to the Jews at that Time in our Notions of Religion, and think ourselves true Disciples of Chrift, and to have a Right to all the Promises of the Gofpel upon the fame, or no better Grounds, than those Jews that St. Paul here difputes againft, thought themselves the Children of Abraham, and entitled to all the Benefits of that Covenant which was made with him. For

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