spire your hearts with love and gratitude for all his goodness; particularly for that instance of it which we now commemorate: May he purify your hearts to serve him in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of your life; make you zealous in all good works, to do his will in all things, and confirm your faith and hope in that salvation which he hath wrought for you. Then will you devoutly give praise and glory to God, and joyfully join in the song of Zacharias, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people; and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the house of his servant David."

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DISCOURSE XII.

THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD, OR NEW-YEAR's DAY.

GAL. vi. 15.

In Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

IN

N the beginning of Christianity, an unhappy dispute prevailed between the Jewish and Gentile converts, concerning the obligation of the Law of Moses. Though many of the former heartily received the Christian Revelation, and believed Jesus to be Messiah whom their Prophets had foretold; they yet retained the peculiarities of their old religion, and strove hard to oblige the Gentile converts to submit also to them, as equally necessary to salvation with Christianity itself. The Gentile Christians thought this an intolerable burden; and could not see the necessity of their becoming Jews, in order to their being Christians. St. Paul became their advocate; and the dispute being referred to the apostles at Jerusalem, was determined in their favour.

This determination encouraged the Gentile converts in their opposition to Judaism, and confirmed their Christian liberty; but it did not entirely silence the Jews, nor remove their prejudices. They had been long in the habit of considering themselves the favourites of heaven, and had no notion of God's shewing mercy to the rest of the world, unless they were by circumcision incorporated into their nation, and submitted to their Law. The first preachers of the gospel were Jews, and were also tainted with the same prejudice. Finding many of their countrymen settled in the larger cities of the Roman Empire, they first made known to them the glad tidings of salvation through Christ; proclaiming him to be Messiah, whom

God had promised to their fathers. By these means the first converts to Christianity were generally Jews, who, having so fair an opportunity to propagate their own opinions and prejudices, made diligent use of it, to the great disturbance of the Church.

This controversy seems to have been the principal occasion of St. Paul's writing his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and of many digressions and incidental remarks in his other Epistles. He warmly espoused and pleaded the cause of the Gentiles; proving by many arguments, that Judaism was only a temporary institution, intended by God to prepare the Jews, and, by their means, the rest of the world, for the coming of his Son: that all the institutions and ceremonies of that religion were only types and figures of what was to be done by Christ, and in his Church: that these having now been fulfilled, the Law of Moses had answered its purpose, and was at an end; and that there no longer lay any obligation on Jew or Gentile to observe it.

In the management of this controversy, St. Paul was led to extol the glory, and celebrate the excellency of the method of Man's redemption by Jesus Christ; and, in comparison with it, to undervalue the Law of Moses. Under the word faith, he declares the Gospel to be suffi cient, without the Law, for salvation; and under the style of the Law, he asserts and proves the inefficacy of the institutions of Moses for that purpose.

From what he hath said on this subject, in his Epistles in general, and particularly in that to the Galatians, it appears that by the terms circumcision and uncircumcision, he frequently distinguisheth the Jewish nation or Church from the Gentile world. So that the meaning of the text, "In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature," is this; "with respect to a man's becoming a Christian, it is a matter of no importance whether he be a Jew, or a Gentile. When a Jew embraceth Christianity, his circumcision becomes uncircumcision, and he is no longer obliged to continue bis observance of the Law of Moses. And when a Gentile is

converted to the Gospel, there is no necessity for him to become a Jew, and bind himself by circumcision to the observance of that Law. The wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles is broken down, and the Jewish œconomy dissolved. All nations, therefore, stand on equal ground before God, in respect of the means of salvation, and are equally entitled to his favour. All that he requires of men is that new creature, or new creation, which the redemption of Christ is intended to produce, and bring to maturity in them."

The imputation of vanity will not, I trust, lie against me, if I say, that many writers and preachers have run wild in explaining this phrase, a new creature. Every sober-minded Christian, however, must have observed that many of them have lost both themselves and those who attended to them, by endeavouring to hunt out meanings from it, and from similar expressions in Scripture, which they were never intended to convey. It is a misfortune that preachers attached to a particular system, are apt to bend and warp the expressions of the Scripture, to make them comport with their own opinions. Unhappily, too, they are sometimes seized by the lust of popularity; and then fall into strong temptations to accommodate their discourses to the prevailing popular opinion. Be this opinion true or false, the Scripture is too often interpreted agreeably to it.

That there are some things dark and mysterious in our holy religion, no sensible Christian will deny. When infinite wisdom speaks to beings of limited capacities, obscurity must rest on those parts of divine revelation which they have not abilities to comprehend. In the Christian Revelation, however, all that relates to our duty is so plainly expressed, that it will always be intelligible to common sense, if we carry an honest heart and an attentive mind to the study of it.

If we compare the expression in the text, a new creature, with what St. Paul hath said in other places, there will, I apprehend, be no difficulty in assigning its true meaning, nor in understanding it, when pointed out. In another