Moses says concerning the righteousness of the law; that whoever thinks of doing any good work, as the condition of life, is ignorant of that obedience which the gospel reveals; is under the law, as a covenant; is a debtor to perform the whole; and as a breaker of it, is obnoxious to its awful curse. This is his case even when with the Pharisee in the parable he gives thanks to God for assisting him to perform the supposed condition, whether great or small. For the righteousness of the law, and the righteousness of faith, here distinguished, are directly opposed. This is evident from the scope of the place in general; and, especially, from the adversative but, with which what is said about the righteousness of faith is introduced. Nor is this excellent obedience less useful to the sinner, than perfect in itself. For here we behold that holy law which we have broken, highly honoured; and that awful justice which we have offended, completely satisfied. By this righteousness the believer is acquitted from every charge, is perfectly justified, and shall be eternally saved. In this consummate work, Jehovah declares himself well pleased, and in it all the glories of the Godhead shine. Yes, the obedience of our adorable Sponsor is great as the wisdom of God could devise; perfect as infinite rectitude itself could demand. Excellent righteousness! Who would not, with Paul, desire to be found in it? and who, that is conscious of an interest in it, can cease to admire and adore the grace that provided it, and the Saviour that wrought it? And is the obedience of the Lord Redeemer so glorious in its nature, so excellent in its properties, it ? possess so free in the manner of its communication to the sinner, and so extensively useful to all who What encouragement, then, has the miserable sinner to look to it! How safely may he confide in it, as all-sufficient to justify his ungodly soul ! For, be the demands of the divine law and infinite justice ever so great, or numerous, or dreadful, the work of Christ completely answers them all. There is greater efficacy in the grace of God, and the work of his incarnate Son, to justify and save from deserved destruction, than there can be in the offence of the creature, to expose to it. Nor can it seem strange that the work of Christ should be thus efficacious. For God the Son performed it, in the capacity, and under the character of a surety. God the Father declares his delight in it, and treats as his children all those that are vested with it. And it is the principal business of God the Holy Spirit, as a guide and comforter, to testify of it. So that every other righteousness, in comparison with it, is quite insignificant. If set in competition with it, is viler than dross, and worse than nothing. The saints of old declared, that they "would go forth in the strength of the Lord, and make mention of his righteousness, even of his only.” Yes, in this righteousness, Christians in all ages have gloried, both living and dying, as the only ground of their hope. In this most perfect obedience, believers here are exalted, and the saints in light triumph. For the work finished on the cross, is the burden of their songs. But who can point out all its beauties? Who can show forth half its praise? For, after all that has been written or said about it, by prophets or apostles, here on earth; after all that has been sung or can be conceived, by saints or angels in the world of glory; we may assert, that, considered under its divine character, the righteousness of Jehovah, it exceeds all possible praise. The inhabitants of the heavenly world must be conscious, that their loftiest strains, though expressed with seraphic ardour, and the most rapturous devotion, fall vastly short of displaying all its glory. So that, "When Gabriel sounds these glorious things, CHAPTER XIII. Concerning the CONSUMMATION of the glorious Reign of Grace. As divine grace is glorious in itself, and infinitely superior to all that is called by that name, or can be exercised among men; and as the way in which it reigns is absolutely without a parallel, and such as will for ever endear it to all who are interested in it ; so the end of its benign agency and triumphant government is equally glorious; for it is eternal life. Eternal life! reviving thought! This is the end which God designs, in subordination to his own glory, in all his gracious dispensations towards his people. The expressive phrase is used in Scripture to signify, An everlasting state of complete holiness and consummate happiness, in the vision and fruition of God, in all his persons and perfections. Such is the blissful state to which grace, as a sovereign, infallibly brings her subjects, through the person and work of Immanuel. In order to assist our feeble and contracted minds in forming some faint ideas of this supreme blessedness, and to inform us who shall enjoy it, it is compared in the sacred writings to the most delightful and glorious things which come under our notice in the present world. For instance: to denote its superabounding delights, it is called paradise,* an allusion to the Garden of Eden. For, "at God's right hand are pleasures for evermore." To signify its grandeur, magnificence and glory, it is called a crown and a kingdom.+ As a crown, it is unfading and incorruptible. To intimate that none shall enjoy it, but in virtue of the Redeemer's obedience, it is denominated, a "crown of righteousness." It is also called a "crown of life, and a crown of glory."§ As a kingdom it is boundless; was prepared for believers "before the foundation of the world," and is the "kingdom of their father;" who bestows it upon them here, in right to possess; hereafter in the perfect enjoyment. To ascertain its perpetuity, it is called an everlasting kingdom;¶ while they who enjoy it, are called kings, are said to sit upon thrones, and to reign_in_life.** To inform us who shall possess it, and in what way, it is called an inheritance.++ Plainly denoting, that none but the children of God shall ever enjoy it; for a servant, * Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4. Matt. xxv. 34. Pet. v. 4. + 2 Tim. iv. 8. Matt. xiii. 43. and xxv. 34. ** Rev. i. 6. v. 10. and iii. 21. Rom. v. 17. considered as such, cannot inherit.* We must, therefore, be the sons of the Highest, by adoption and grace, before we can justly expect the enjoyment of the heavenly patrimony. For, however diligent the sons of God may be, in keeping his commands, and performing his will, they will not possess it under the notion of a reward of duty, or as wages for their work; but under the idea of a gift. "The gift of God is eternal life."+ It is a gift by way legacy, and is bequeathed to them in the everlasting testament of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to those words," And I appoint, by testament, unto you a kingdom. The kingdom is most glorious, the inheritance most free to the children of God, and absolutely unalienable. of Nor are the heirs of this boundless bliss without some prelibations, or joyful foretastes of it, in this life. Faith being, as the apostle defines it, "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen;" they anticipate, in some degree, the joys of the upper world. In the present state, they receive the earnest of their future inheritance, and rejoice in hope of the full fruition. Yea, at some bright intervals, they "rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." "He that believeth hath everlasting life," in the promise and earnest of it. Having "fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them;" those two immutable things, + Rom. vi. 23. * John viii. 35. Gal. iv. 30. Luke xxii. 29. Thus the celebrated Witsius renders and interprets the passage, Econ. 1. 3. c. 10. sect. 28. To the same purpose Beza and Castalio render the words.-See Leigh on the word "Diatithemai." |