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Whatever, therefore, he has done and suffered to save thee from the curse of the law, and from the spirit of bondage, and to make thee free with the liberty of the children of God, thou art to live upon him for these blessings, and by faith to be always receiving them from him, in the fullest and largest measure that he promises them to thee. Look not into thyself then for any qualification, but look unto Jesus, that, thou mayest experience more of that liberty wherewith he hath made thee free, and mayest be no longer a babe, unskilful in the word of righteousness.% Hear what he says: If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed-free from the law of sin and death, free from condemnation at the bar of God; and being freed from the bondage of corruption, ye shall be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. This is the freedom which God proImises thee: it is very extensive, has many noble privilegess and vast blessings. By faith, all is thine. See how perfectly believers have received all, and may thy faith be like theirs. Rom. viii. 15, &c. "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we pray, Abba, Father. The Spirit itselt beareth witness to our spirits, that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of &God, and joint-heirs with Christ.") Observe what is here said of the believing Romans, and by faith thou shalt experience the same as perfectly as they did.ache, A.

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1. They were freed from the spirit of bondage, under which they once had laboured,so yoNJA

2. They were so freed as to be under it no more; they were not to fear again, as heretofore for,

3. They had received the Spirit of adoption, and he gave them the evidence of their sonship. Upon which,

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4. They believed God was their reconciled Father, and they had boldness and access to him with confidence. And, therefore,

5. They lived in light, and walked in love, like his children and heirs, who were to abide in his house for ever.

See also what great freedom the Galatians had, chap. iv. 4, &c. "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem thèm that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." O what treasures of grace and consolation are there in this scripture, tending to subdue thy legal spirit! Consider some of them.

1. All men having broken the law, sand being under the curse of it, Christ was made under the law, that the law might reach him as the surety of his people; accordingly,

2. By his obedience to the precepts, and by his suffering the penalties of the law, he redeemed his people who were under the law; so that,

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3. They are no longer in bondage to it, but being made free, and having received the adoption of

sons,

4. They have the Spirit of liberty sent into their

hearts to witness to them, that Christ fulfilled the law for them; and,

5. That the Father loves them as dear children, and they love him, and serve him, without fear, crying to him, Abba, Father;

6. Wherefore they are no longer servants in bondage to any one, but are made free indeed, being now the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And,

7. If sons, then heirs of God, and free to inherit whatever he has promised to give his children in earth and heaven.

These and many more arguments are contained in this one scripture, tending to subdue thy legal spirit, and to bring thee to live more comfortably by faith upon Christ, who, as thy surety, has fully kept the law for thee in his life and death. Thou art to consider thyself now, not under the law, but under grace, and therefore absolutely free from the condemning power of the law. This thou must maintain against all the carnal reasonings of thy legal spirit, "Christ is my law-fulfiller." And thou wilt glorify him for redeeming thee from under the law, and wilt live in sweet peace in thine own conscience, while thou keepest fast hold of this most blessed and eternally precious truth. May all thy reading and prayer, and the use of all means, help thee to grow in the knowledge and experience of it!

There is a very strong bias and leaning in weak believers to a legal spirit, which ought to make them read such promises as I have been mentioning, over and over again, that God may thereby encourage them to maintain the liberty which he hath given

them in Christ Jesus, and to stand fast in it against the fresh attacks of the devil and unbelief. They should be always jealous over themselves, and watchful against their enemies; because, after they have, in a truly gospel and evangelical way, through grace got their legal spirit subdued; yet, if it be not in the same way kept subdued, it will break out with more power than ever, and will be likely to bring them into bondage again to fear. And this may, and I have known it often happen, after they had obtained some great victories over it; and finding it not stir for some time, they flattered themselves they should have but little trouble with it any more.. Thus they were drawn off their guard, which gave room to their legal spirit to exert itself again with vigour.

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surprised the weak believers, put them upon reasoning and doubting, whether all had been right with them before; and so, at the very time when they should have taken the shield of faith, and should have been making use it, they were questioning whether they had any, which left them unarmed in the midst of their enemies, an easy prey to every temptation; but an invisible power kept them safe, although they were not comfortable in themselves.

For the encouragement of persons in this case, that they may presently recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, they should observe,

1. What the Scripture says of a legal spirit, describing it to be one of the members of their corrupt nature, one of the affections of the flesh, which will never be quite dead, while the breath is in their bodies. It is an enemy that will be always fighting against the Holy Spirit; for they are directly con

trary the one to the other, and therefore believers must not dream of any such victory as leaves no more fighting, but must expect sharp battles with their legal spirit as long as ever they live. And,

2. The same means by which they formerly obtained victory must be made use of again. As often as the legal spirit is tempting, Christ's strength must be opposed to it, and his strength must be brought into the soul by faith in his righteousness, as it is written, Isa. xlii. 24. "Surely shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength." Righteousness comes first, and is established in the conscience, that it may be pleaded and maintained there against all the charges and accusations of the law. And as often as these arise afresh, still they must be answered, and silenced with this plea-In the Lord Christ have I righteousness, he is my lawfulfiller, and I depend upon his promised strength to make me stand fast in that liberty wherewith he hath made me free. And the soul must not only thus quiet and stay itself, by faith upon the righteousness and strength of Christ, for victory over the present temptations, but must also,

3. Continually do this; because there is in our nature a continual opposition to it, the experience of which is the believer's safety. The abiding sense of his being naturally inclined to lean to legal dependencies, and therefore his want of Christ every moment to justify him by his righteousness, and to keep him by his strength, will be the surest way to prevent his falling into bondage; for this will keep him very jealous over himself, and will show him the necessity of living out of himself for righteousness