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ROMANS, iii. 31.-Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.

THE sentiment that the obligations of the law are removed, or at least lowered by the gospel, is directly adapted to destroy the influence of truth and bring the Christian system into contempt. It would seem to be a dictate of common sense, that any overtures from God could never annihilate or lessen obligations on the part of men, which grow out of relations that in their nature are immutable. Indeed it is difficult to see how it would be just or right to release men from such obligations. But absurd and irrational as this sentiment is, there is no error more common. What numbers are resting in sin with apparent contentment in the hope of salvation suspended solely on the fact that Christ has died for sinners? Either from an unwillingness to look at the subject seriously, or from an anxiety to obtain countenance in their sinful course, they embrace a sentiment which the apostle in these words rejects with indignation. To expose the absurdity of this sentiment is to guard sinners against one of the most fatal snares laid for their destruction. sequences of a scheme that holds up the mercy of God at the expense of his other attributes cannot be otherwise than fearful. The text, viewed in its connexion, justifies the following doctrine:

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SUCH AS EMBRACE THE GOSPEL WITH CORRECT VIEWS MUST BELIEVE IN THE UNCEASING OBLIGATIONS OF THE LAW.

I. This, as appears from the context, was evidently the fact with the apostle. In the 19th verse of the chapter containing the text he says, "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God." "All the world" could not be guilty before God unless the obligations of the law were still in force. It is not only plain that the law of which the apostle is speaking in this passage is not the Jewish system of rites and ceremonies, as some suppose; but that its obligations In the concluwill never cease, at least till the day of final retribution. sion to which he is brought at the close of the chapter, he is perfectly VOL. VII.-3

explicit. It would seem that he had been accused, from the views which he had given of the atonement, of denying his obligations any longer to obey the law; and viewing it as designed to have directly the opposite effect, and feeling that he had sufficiently shown it by his reasoning, he replied to the accusation with spirit, "God forbid; yea, we establish the law."

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II. The truth of our doctrine will be manifest if we consider the nature of the The obligations of the law, like the relations out of which they grow, are in their nature imperishable. The relations which we sustain to God, such as that we are dependent on him for existence, will continue unimpaired by change or circumstances, and of course the obligations which grow out of them must be equally perpetual.

The principles imbodied in the law are those of universal equity and justice. In the opinion of some the law is arbitrary, and had no existence till it was proclaimed from Sinai. To such there appears no evidence of its equity only that it was given by a just God. But it will be seen, from the conduct it demands, The to acknowledge and secure the rights of every being in the universe. demand that we should love God with all the heart, and our neighbor as ourselves, admits the principle that every being is to be regarded according to his worth or importance in the scale of existence. Every command or prohibition proclaimed previous to the giving of the decalogue involved the same principle as the law. The substance of all the other revelations concerning the duty of man are imbodied in the law in the briefest form. which were witnessed on Mount Sinai were well calculated to show the holiness and importance of these principles; and the fact that they were engraven upon stone seems equally fitted to indicate their durability.

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These principles need only to be obeyed to produce universal peace and harmony. All occasions for contention would be for ever prevented. There is nothing in these principles that is local, or that has any peculiar adaptation to this world. If the planets are inhabited, their population must sustain the same relation to their Creator as ourselves; and conformity to these principles will produce results as important for them as for us.

The law is such as to exhibit much of the character of God. Men who are at the head of earthly governments are sometimes compelled to announce laws with which themselves are not pleased. They are under the necessity of doing this frequently in order to be popular, and sometimes when they are monarchs only in name and not in authority. But the great Jehovah needs no power but his own to maintain his government. Infinitely above every thing like human policy, his laws are the free and unrestrained expression of his will. We see in the equity and justice of these principles the moral character of his heart. They give us also a perfect standard by which we may determine the character of our own. It takes notice of the feelings, and of every thing sustaining moral character. Other laws can have reference only to the external conduct, for this plain reason, that those who make them know nothing of the heart only as it is seen in the external conduct; but the law of God extends its demands to the heart, and is of itself evidence that he is acquainted with all its feelings and desires. We may cherish designs the most iniquitous, unknown to our fellow-creatures, and unregarded by human laws; but however secret the workings of the heart may be, they are all known to God, and approved or condemned by his law.

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This law is limited in its requirements to the capacities of men. sents not only a scale of obligation which is perfectly equitable, but it asks for no obedience which is not within the reach of man's capacity. There is an impression on the minds of the great mass of men, which has been cherished from childhood, that what God has required in his law is as much beyond their powers as to see a spirit or create a world. This inability is pleaded as an excuse for their neglect of duty and continuance in the road to death. It is doubtful whether among all the apologies that depravity has invented there is one to which so many resort, and on which they depend with so much confidence for justification as this. It is usually the first and the last weapon of defence that is wrested from the hands of the sinner when he submits to the terms of life. Now there is a depravity in this plea, aside from the charge of injustice which it fixes upon the Lawgiver, which is not a little surprising. Were nothing said on the subject of man's capacity in the terms of the law, we might safely infer that if God be holy and just, he will not require impossibilities. But since the subject is so explicitly stated in the terms of the law, since our obligation is so expressly limited to our powers, this plea must be seen to contain a compound of whatever is daring and hateful in the sight of God. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." Now the plea that we are unable to obey this command will be seen at once to involve a contradiction. It is to contend that we are unable to do what we can. If sinners have no ability to love God, they are under no obligations to do it according to the terms of the law. If by the apostacy of Adam his posterity have lost their power to obey, the same inference must follow beyond a possibility of evasion. The law is an exhibition of principles which the reason and common sense of men cannot but see are equitable and just. Taking the decalogue as containing the substance of all that God has revealed to govern the conduct of men, and as designed to exhibit distinctly the moral character of his government, it is plain that we may with the same plausibility contend that the overtures of the gospel change the nature of equity and justice, as that they affect the obligations of the law.

III. The gospel would cease to be an exhibition of mercy or grace if the obligations of the law are not perpetual. It is a dictate of common sense, that every law for the government of moral beings that has obligations has penalties also, and that they are inseparably connected. If we are no longer under obligations to do what the law requires, it has no longer a penalty against us, and of course there can be no mercy in shielding us from its demands. If it were once our duty to love God, it was then mercy to pardon, on our repentance, our neglect of it; but if we are not now justly deserving of punishment for neglecting it, for God to withhold punishment is no mercy. It is no mercy to be saved from what we do not justly deserve. If the requirements of the law are not at this moment obligatory on the spirits of the just made perfect in heaven, there is no grace in their salvation. The demands of the law previous to the death of Christ, in the order of nature, were either just or unjust. If they were just, no compassion on the part of God can lessen or annihilate them. If they were unjust, to violate them was no guilt, and to pardon such violations no mercy. It must be evident

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that the existence of mercy or grace is dependent on the perpetuity of the obligations of the law.

IV. It would be manifestly unjust for God to release men from the obligations of his law. According to the views of some, it would be right for God to dispose of his law in any way, even to annihilate its obligations. They suppose that no complaint could be made, because it is his law. He has "a right to do what he will with his own."

To see the absurdity of these views, let it be asked whether it would be just for a parent to release his children from all obligations to love and respect him if it were within his power? In what way could mankind receive a greater injury than to be released from all obligation to love God and each other? Suppose that by a voice from heaven God should proclaim liberty to men to profane his name and his holy Sabbath, and despise every means by which his fear and love are promoted? Suppose he should give them license to treat the life, liberty, and rights of every being but themselves with perfect disregard? Such would be the consequences were the obligations of the law annihilated: and there are men so blind and inconsiderate as to deem such a liberty desirable. But there is no way within the limits of finite conception in which he would be doing his own kingdom greater injustice. Were he infinitely malevolent, and did he wish to pour out all his wrath on the creatures he had made; did he look forward and adopt measures with a view to their future and irremediable wretchedness, we cannot conceive of any better adapted to his purpose. The picture is still worse, and the supposition still more painful, if we suppose all this has been done by the sufferings and death of Christ. Nothing can be more evident than that men know not what they say, when they affirm that the obligations of the law are lowered or absolved by the gospel.

V. We cannot receive the Lord Jesus Christ with correct views unless we assent to the estimate that God has placed upon his own law. To embrace the gospel or believe on Christ does not consist in being willing to be saved by him from deserved punishment without regard to his character or government. The apostle in the context says, that the object for which Christ was set forth to be a propitiation was, "that he might declare the righteousness of God, so that God might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth." Now it is plain that faith must sustain what God has said concerning "his righteousness," or it would not make it just for him to justify the believing sinner. In what way could God have shown a higher regard for his righteousness or his law than in consenting to such a sacrifice as the death of his Son, rather than that its demands should not be sustained? A reference to transactions which are common among men will show the bearing that faith has to make it just for God to justify the sinner. When a man is arrested for some flagrant violation of law and delivered into the hands of justice, do we not learn the estimation in which the law is held by the extent of the punishment inflicted. If the sentence should be death, or imprisonment for life, the most ignorant could understand that the law which was broken was considered essential to the existence and peace of the government. Viewing the subject in this light, we may see with clearness the estimate that God has placed upon his law. It is true that in relation to the sufferings of Christ, it was not

a sentence inflicted upon the criminal, but upon one who had voluntarily taken his place; and we are sure that in order to make the offence in the criminal pardonable, the evil inflicted on the substitute would not be greater than the criminal deserved. In the case above stated, if the sentence were a heavy fine, and if while the criminal is held for security, a friend is kind enough on certain conditions to pay the debt and secure his discharge, a willingness in the criminal to accept of the interference would be an unequivocal acceptance of the conditions. If his friend alleges openly that he considers the decision of the court just and righteous, and with the understanding that the criminal shall cheerfully acknowledge it to be such, he will interfere, it is plain if he accepts of the kindness of his friend, he not only admits the fine to be just, but he admits the law to be as important as the penalty would indicate. Equally plain is it that if we accept of the atonement of Christ, we admit the infinite value of the law that his sufferings and death would intimate. Now what could be more absurd than for this criminal, when he had accepted the interference of his friend, and the fine had been paid, to contend that he was now at liberty to violate that law as often as he pleased? Could he infer that the law or its obligations were annihilated merely because the government had once shown how highly it was valued? Still more absurd would it have been, if the government had made his acceptance of the terms stated by his friend a condition of his release, for him to contend that he might now repeat his crime with impunity. He had, in the most definite manner possible, admitted the importance of the law. It is similar with us if we exercise evangelical faith in Christ. By that act we admit the law to be as important and sin to be as deserving of punishment as the offering of Christ would show. Now when we have made this concession, can we be so absurd as to say in the same breath that the law is no longer obligatory?

VI. Another argument in support of our proposition may be drawn from the fact, that from the uniform usage of the Holy Spirit, sinners are not admitted to feel that they are at peace with God till they can cordially justify the obligations and penalties of the law. The scribe that came to our Savior with the question, "Which is the first commandment of all?" who so readily acceded to the views given of the law, was told by the Savior, "when he saw that he answered discreetly," "Thou art not far from the kingdom of God." It would seem, from this declaration, that a cordial and unreserved admission of the obligations and penalties of the law could flow only from the spirit and temper of that kingdom. Not only so, but it is obvious from the nature of things that where such a spirit or temper finds a welcome reception, that heart is fitted for the worship and enjoyment of God in that purer and holier world. In perfect accordance with this have been the experience and observation of every man who has watched the operation of the Spirit. They have seen men at the commencement of that work manifesting the bitterest opposition to the law, openly alleging that a being of equity and justice could not insist upon such claims; and they have invariably found that such men obtained no satisfactory and lasting peace till they could bow submissively and cheerfully to the extent of its demands. It is admitted that

sinners, when partially alarmed, and often before they come to the point of justifying the law, from wrong instruction or the deception of their own hearts, embrace a hope. For a while they may rejoice exceedingly in view of

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