directly answerable, according to the extravagant creed of these presumptuous teachers, for all the existing infidelity among men, especially for that which is found within the pale of Revealed Religion. What excuse can they offer for the propagation of such blasphemy?

The doctrine of St. Paul, set forth in his Letter to the Romans, iii. 20-22, amounts simply to this, that "the righteousness of God," that is, the virtuous conduct of man with which God is pleased or satisfied, is founded upon his faith in Christ. From which it follows, that if he will obey the instructions of the Gospel, which pre-eminently co-exist in the diligent and faithful practice of the great duties of love to God and love to man, Matthew, xxii. 37-40, he will do well and need fear no evil. These salient duties, together with minor obligations, as they are inculcated in the Gospel, may be carried out irrespective not only of both the ritual and civil laws of the Jews, but even independently of their moral law, appearing in the form and character of a statutory enactment. For the Gospel has its own code of morals as well as the Old Testament, and besides, according to the Apostle, in his inexhaustible Epistle to the Romans, ii. 14-as a dogmatic authority, "man is a law to himself," having the Divine Will engraved in high relief upon his soul by the hand of the omnipotent Creator!

PARAGRAPH I.

An Inquiry into the Part which Faith and Grace perform in our Salvation, according to the Teaching of the New Testament.

I now invite attention to a brief discussion of the import of the words faith and grace, in as far as they are spoken of, in the New Testament, as the efficient and sole agencies

of our salvation, without the deeds of the law. First, faith or pistis, Acts, vi. 7, "and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith:" were obedient to the Gospel or the Christian scheme of salvation, Acts, xiv. 27, "And how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles:" door of faith-door of the Christian Church or the method of redemption, taught in the Gospel-dispensation; Romans, i. 5, "By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:" for obedience to the Gospel or the order of salvation set forth in its instruction; Romans, i. 17, "The just shall live by faith" the just shall live in conformity to the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel; Romans v. 1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ:" justified-found to be obedient to the requirements of the Gospel; Galatians, i. 23, "The faith which once he destroyed:" the promulgation of the Gospel, which he once opposed, or eradicated in some places through inimical agency, Acts, ix. 1-2; Galatians, iii. 23, "Before faith came, we were kept under the law," etc.: "before faith came," that is, before the Gospel was published. Faith denoting the Gospel, is here represented as the antithesis of the Mosaic economy; Galatians, vi. 10, "The household of faith :" the professors of the religion of the Gospel, or the members of the Christian Church, "who," writes the learned Doctor Clarke, "form one family, of which Jesus Christ. is the head;" Ephesians, i. 5, "One faith" one religious institution-the Gospel; Colossians, ii. 7, "Established in the faith :" fixed in the tenets of the Gospel; 1 Timothy, iv. 1, "Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the

faith" from the doctrines of the Gospel; the Epistle of St. Jude, the third verse, "It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints:" the Apostle, alarmed for the safety of the Church, in consequence of the rapid spread of false doctrines, admonishes the Christians to whom he addresses his anxious missive, resolutely to stand up in the defence of the religion of the Gospel, in its primitive integrity, etc.

These references to numerous texts of Scripture, will serve to show that the terms faith and gospel are in many instances synonymous expressions, and denote the Christian scheme or order of salvation, both in its principles and practice, as contradistinguished from the now mostly obsolete Jewish ritual worship, and, in fact, from all statutory regulations or prescriptions in the Old Testament.

Secondly, grace or charis.-Before I proceed in the proposed method of elucidating the use of the term grace in the New Testament, I shall here introduce from Chambers's Encyclopædia, the following pertinent remarks on the subject of this gift. "The charis of St. Paul," observes the writer, "is not a logical distinction, but a spiritual fact. It is the loving aspect of God towards sinners-towards all sinners, whereby all who confess their sins have free access into his favor, and receive the adoption of sons,"*

*When St. Paul draws a sharp contrast in Romans, xi., between charis and erga-grace and works, and represents them as mutually excluding each other, he means by erga, ritual works, to which he does not allow any soteriol influence upon the professor of Christianity; and when, again, he teaches, Ephesians, ii. 8-9, that "we are saved by grace, not of ourselves or through works, but by God's kindness, through Jesus Christ, the

etc., John, i. 17. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ:" the term grace is here used as the antithesis of the Mosaic institution, or the Old-Testament dispensation generally, designated as the Law, and clearly denotes the Gospel or Christian scheme of redemption ;* Acts, xiv. 3, " Which gave testimony unto the word of his grace:" the phrase, word of his grace, means according to Clarke, the learned commentator, already noticed, "The Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the doctrine of God's grace, mercy or favor, to mankind;" Acts, xv. 11, "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they :" grace, in this passage, again denotes the order of salvation taught in the Gospel, in opposition to the Levitical law, and ritual traditions, called a yoke, in Acts, xv. 10; Galatians, v. 4, "Ye are fallen from grace :" ye have back-slided from the religion of the Gospel. The Galatians were more or less guilty, it seems, of apostasy from the Christian religion, and had foolishly resumed the Mosaic ordinances in their liturgic devotions; Colossians, i. 6, "The grace of God in truth." This phrase is a Hebrewism, and properly

meaning simply is, that the kingdom of God or the institution of the Gospel, is a Divine gift: a proposition which is eminently true; for it was introduced into the world, and perpetuated by Divine providence, to the present time, without our volition or instrumentality; a fact, which applies equally to the apostolic era, to which likewise the Gospel descended as a providential gift through Christ and other minor agencies, strictly natural, but irrespective of human deeds that could claim it as the reward of merit, or as an equivalent of any services which we may perform.-G.

*The_words—grace and truth, are a Hebrewism, and signify the true grace, as it is set forth in the Gospel, and realized by its observance.

translated, in truth is made an adjective of the word grace, and then the passage reads thus: The true grace of God, that is, the grace of God as it is revealed in the religion of the New Testament; Titus, ii. 11, "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men:" here the words, the grace of God, etc., are evidently synonymous with the Christian religion, whose object it is to provide a salvation which is founded in a practical application of Divine grace, intended to secure man's moral elevation and spiritual welfare; 1 Peter, v. 12, "The true grace of God wherein ye stand:" the unadulterated religion of Jesus Christ, or the pure, evangelical instructions of the apostolic Church.

PARAGRAPH II.

What Signification is to be attached to the Sacrificial Phrases, used in the New Testament, when they are applied to Jesus Christ.

Before I proceed to show that the observance of the moral law is absolutely necessary to our salvation, and not merely designed as evidence of a true faith, as is erroneously taught, it is deemed proper concisely to point out to the reader that the application of sacrificial terms to Christ as the Redeemer, do not imply that the salvation taught in the Gospel, is practicable without good worksas efficient cause, but are solely intended as accommodations to Jewish and heathen prejudices, in consequence of which sin cannot be expiated without the death of a victim.

The main and distinguishing feature of the liturgic rites among the Jews and heathens, in the time of Christ and the Apostles, consisted of sacrifices, and it was a maxim