its Sacrifices prefignify that therefore, if they fought for Juftification by their legal Works, as they appeared to do, they could not be justified at all; and, if they fought it by the Grace of Chrift, that fingly would be fufficient and it was doing it a grofs Injury, to imagine, that when the Substance was come, the Affiftance of the Shadow was requifite, to make it effectual: that Faith had not only faved the earlier Patriarchs, but even been imputed to Abraham, the Father of the Jews themselves, for Righteoufnefs, and a Promise had been made him, that in his Seed all Nations should be blessed, before the very first Part of the Law, Circumcifion, was appointed ; and Hundreds of Years before the reft of it had a Being and therefore the fame Faith, only rendered more explicit, might well have the fame Effect, after the Law was taken away: which now only obfcured the Building, it had helped to raise.

These Things make the principal Subject of fome of his Epiftles, particularly that to the Romans, and this to the Galatians; throughout the rest he frequently alludes to them and bearing them in Mind, is carrying along with

8 Rom. iv. 3, 22, 23.

us

us the true Key to understand his Writings; and reconcile him with St. James, when the former faith, that Men are juftified by Faith, without the Deeds of the Law", and the latter, that by Works a Man is justified, and not by Faith only. St. Paul means, that Believers in Chrift will be faved without the Obfervance of the Mofaic Law, or the perfect Observance of the natural Law, to which our finful Natures cannot attain and St. James means, that' Believers in Chrift will not be faved, by their Faith fingly, without a fincere, though imperfect, Observance of the Precepts of the Gofpel. For, it seems, there were fome of wrong Minds, who fell into an Error, which indeed none of right Difpofitions could: and hearing the Apostles fay, that Men were not under the Law, but under Grace, and that Chrift hath made us free' from what the Jews were bound to; either imagined or pretended, that their Christian Liberty exempted them from all Law, and even from that of the Civil Magistrate. This, you fee, was a moft pernicious Opinion. And not only St. James declared against it, and St. Peter too in his Epistle, but St.

Rom. iii. 28,

1 James ii. 24.

* Rom. vi. 14.

! Gal. v. I.

Paul is very express, that though, with Respect to the Mofaic Rites, Chriftians are without Law, yet are they not without Law in Regard to God, but under the Law to Christ ", and, by his Command, under that of Men alfo. ...This then is the Doctrine of the New Teftaṛ ment; that according to the Tenor of the Gospel, neither the Obfervance of the Mofaic Law will justify Men, nor the Non-obfervance of it condemn them; but that a thorough Change of Heart and Life from Evil to Good, effected by the Power of God's almighty Grace, is the one Thing needful: For in Christ Jefus, neither Circumcifion availeth any Thing, nor Uncircumcifion: but a new Creature. Now we in the prefent Age are fo intirely fatisfied about the former of these Points, that perhaps we think it loft Time to hear any Thing faid upon it; though a Way is thus opened, both to understand the Senfe, and vindicate the Pertinence, of a confiderable Part of the New Teftament: and likewife to convince reafonable Perfons, that other difficult Paffages of holy Writ, if we knew the Circumstances, to which they refer, might appear equally plain and unexceptionable. But then we are strange

ly apt, if not to disbelieve, yet to mifunderftand the latter Part of the Apostle's Affertion in the Text: and fometimes, it may be, to think more implied in it, but often less, than really is. And, by fuch Mistakes, we come to reft our Salvation on Things, that will avail us little more, than the Obfervances of the Jews would them. Thus in almost the fame Manner, that they overvalued that Ceremony, which was the Entrance into their Covenant, we over-value our Baptism, which is the Entrance into ours; and think well of our fpiritual State, merely because a folemn Promife was made in our Names, of which we have lived in the Breach almost ever fince. Or if we can plead fomething more; perhaps it is a formal Attendance on Prayers and Sermons and Sacraments, without Attention and without Meaning: or it is the Orthodoxy of a Belief, that hath no Influence on our Practice; or the Fervency of a Zeal without Knowledge, or without Charity; it is our Fits of Repentance, and no Amendment: our tranfitory Warmth of good Affections and fruitless Purposes: our partial Obedience to fome Precepts of God's Law, with a grofs Neglect of others: or our imagined Obedience to all,

with a Conceit of our own Righteousness and Merit that destroys all these are the Things on which Multitudes rely; whereas Nothing can fecure us from final Condemnation, but that which the Apoftle calls a new Creature; and which, God willing, fhall be further explained to you the next Opportunity. But in the mean Time, as we must all be fenfible, that we want fomething, and most of us, it may be feared, a great deal, of being fuch Creatures as we ought; why should we postpone our Reformation or Improvement one Hour longer? So many Years have already past over our Heads; and what hath been done in them towards preparing for Eternity? If enough to be accepted, let us thank God, and go on our Way rejoicing, whatever our Condition be in other Refpects and prefs forward with redoubled Earneftness, to obtain a double Reward. If we have Caufe to doubt our State, there can be no Doubt fo important for us to clear up inftantly. And if it be a bad one; if we have lived in the Commiffion of Sins, the Neglect of Duties, the wilful Neglect of any one Duty; what a Profpect have we before us, and what Need to change it? Let us think of ourselves as well as we can; are we

content,