It may be asked how misery can follow destruc tion?-just as pain attends disease, it accompanies its progress, but ceases at its consummation.

24. "Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

He justifies all freely; but being justified, man can stand but on one condition, "faith in his blood." Now faith is the gift of God; the want of it then may confine man to a mere animal existence, but cannot cause Eternal Misery; being God's gift, He must be free to bestow, or to withhold it, and on Him must the issue depend.

25. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed, through the forbearance of God. 26. To declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus."

iv. 15. "For the law worketh wrath; for where no law is, there is no transgression."

There can be no law in hell, since obedience is impossible; where no law is, there is no transgression, and no punishment, therefore, consequent to what is there done.

17. "Even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things that be not, as though they were."

All are dead in trespasses and sins, those only whom God quickeneth have life.

24. "If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25. Who was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justifica. tion."

Delivered unto what? to death, and for our of fences. Now the sacrifice He offered must be some

thing He possessed; it could not therefore be to endure sufferings, except so far as they were caused by privation. He submitted to be deprived for our sakes of the blessed presence of His Father:-"my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The bitterness of death was past when He could say "it is finished," and gave up the ghost. But it was necessary He should be raised again for our justification, else the scheme of redemption would have robbed the innocent to endow the guilty; and we could not have been justified unless God could have been just, and the justifier of them that believe. Think of Eternal Misery as the curse, and Christ as suffering it, and clouds and thick darkness will cover the mercy seat of God.

v. 5. "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us."

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The love of God in our hearts, is the only ground of hope hope will die as fear prevails. If God can doom the great bulk of his creatures to Eternal Misery, why not me, who am exceeding sinful? Hope must languish under these thoughts, and inertness pave the way for death.

12." Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

Whence then have they life? for an immortal creature to die is a palpable contradiction. Will you then believe God when He says, "Let us remove man from the garden of Eden, lest he eat of the tree of life, and live for ever?"

13. "For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14. Never

theless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even ever them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one, many be dead; much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation; but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17. For if by one man's offence, death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 18. Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous. 20. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. 21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord."

From v. 13 to 21 the whole argument rests on the superiority of the gift over the offence, which can only be maintained by considering death as a pri vation, life as an eternal blessing. It can then only be said that much more the gift by grace hath abounded unto many;" "that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." If both are equal in duration, “since many are called and few are chosen," and vastly more on whom sin came and

death by sin are not called, so grace cannot much more abound than sin, except by it alone possess→ ing immortality. This scripture has never been true, up to the present day; if the effects of sin are as actively durable as those of grace; but it is gloriously so, if sin issues in the death of the sinner, and grace in life eternal.

vi. 1. "What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2. God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? 3. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? 4. Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: 6. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should. not serve sin. 7. For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: 9. Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto

God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

The argument of the apostle, in these verses, seems to me to be this, that Christ found us in possession of a mortal life; that believers were bap tized into His death, and buried with Him by bap tism; that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin; for he that is dead is freed from sin. Baptism then is an anticipation of the course of nature, as to the end of the life we derived from Adam. The life we now live is not a continuation of that, which would be otherwise miserable, made happy-which it must be if we had before possessed immortality-but a new life, a new existence, depending, in its very principle, on the extinction of the other: for "'Tis from having been planted together in the likeness of His death, that we can hope to be in the likeness of His resurrection." Now" if we be dead with Christ," and then only "we believe that we shall also live with Him," "knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. But yield ye yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead."

The argument is shortly this; all mankind were the servants of sin: "The wages of sin is death;". "Christ suffered death in our stead." Now to have an interest in the efficacy of His death, we must consent to part with our remaining portion of the