was not to him, or to his seed, through the law, Rom. iv. 12, 13; and yet affirms, that as many as are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. And this promised blessing, and promised heirship, was given to Abraham, and to his seed, four hundred and thirty years before the law, or before our only rule of life was given.

What rule had those glorious pilgrims to walk by, who obtained so good a report, or so good a testimony from God? Paul tells us, that Abel offered to God, and obtained witness that he was righteous by faith; then faith was his rule of worship: that Enoch walked with God by faith; then faith was his rule of walk: that Noah condemned the world by faith; then faith was his rule of judgment. "By faith Abraham, when he was called-went out not knowing whither he went;" then faith was his rule, by which he took his journey, though he knew not whither, and his obedience was the obedience of faith. But if he had been favoured with our only rule of life, he might have known whither he was going, and not have gone in ignorance, and his obedience would have been the obedience of the law instead of faith. But Paul will have it that all Abraham's children are in the same strait that their father was, for they walk by faith, not by sight. But if the letter of the law be the only rule that the believer is to walk and live by, then he walks by sight, not by faith; he looks at the things that are seen, not at the things which are not seen. It is by faith that

Moses saw him who is invisible, and by faith we must look at the things that are not seen, which are eternal.

"Thou

Paul says, that "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him;" then faith must be the rule of his coming. "We have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand;" then faith is the rule of our approach to God. "The just [man] shall live by his faith;" then faith is the just man's rule of life. "We walk by faith, not by sight;" then faith is our rule of walk. standest by faith," says Paul; then faith is the rule of the believer's standing. "Whatever ye shall ask believing, ye shall receive," says Christ; then faith is the rule of that branch of worship. By faith Enoch had this testimony, that he pleased God; "but without faith it is impossible to please him;" then faith is a rule that God approves of, and is pleased with. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin;" then faith is a perfect rule of holiness. "All that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses;" then faith is our rule of righteousness. It is by faith that we overcome the world. To lay hold on eternal life, is to fight the good fight of faith, according to Paul; "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith;" then faith was the rule of his warfare, and the rule of his race; and it was the grace of God that made Paul obedient to that rule. "We have

received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith;" that is, by Christ we have received grace to save our souls, and apostleship to be of use to the church, not as a reward of our obedience, but to furnish us with power to make us obedient to the faith, among all nations for his name, Rom. i. 5; then faith is the rule of apostolic obedience; for it cannot be called receiving grace for obedience to the faith, if faith be not the gracious man's rule of obedience.

Paul counts all things but dung that he may win Christ, and be found in him; not having his own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ; and tells us to walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing. If you take this rule of Paul's to be his pressing forward, or any of his attainments, it is answered, by faith he pressed forward, and by faith he attained; for else his pressing and attaining had been nothing but sin; for whatsoever is not of faith, according to Paul's doctrine, is sin.

By faith Christ dwells in our hearts, and by faith we dwell in him; and "in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature," which is Christ formed within us: "and as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." Faith is the rule of life according to the revealed will of God in Christ Jesus; "and this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth

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on him, may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day," John vi. 40. Thus faith appears to be the believer's rule of life, according to the will of God in Christ Jesus; and the letter of the law is the bond-children's rule of life; he that doth these things shall live in them. Let him do according to this rule and he shall live. The law is not the rule of believing but of doing; the law is not of faith but of works, and the man that doth them shall live in them, Gal. iii. 12.

If to see the Son, and believe on him, entitles us to everlasting life according to God's will, then faith must be the rule of that life; and one would think that, if "he that liveth and believeth shall never die," faith must be a safe rule to live by.

I have sometimes thought that, if the letter of the law in the twentieth chapter of Exodus be the believer's only rule of life, he would be sorely put to his shifts when the devil sets a troop of Arians, Socinians, or Sabellians at him; he would find these words, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This rule would hardly set him right. It is by faith that we apprehend Christ; it is by faith we lay hold of him, as the hope set before us, Heb. vi. 18. It is by Christ that we believe in God, 1 Pet. i. 21; and we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, Gal. iii. 14. By this rule we come to a saving knowledge of the Trinity; for the eye of faith is a light by which

we see what is the fellowship of the mystery, Eph. iii. 9. Without the assurance of understanding, there will be no true acknowledgment of the mystery of God the Holy Ghost, and of the Father and of Christ, Col. ii. 2. The ten commandments will never guide a man into this mystery, nor set him right if he errs in it.

In your epistle, Sir, you tell me that, if I do not enforce the law as the believer's rule of life, I must in some sense make it void. I think I have sufficiently proved that Paul's rule of life and walk was faith; and he asks, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Paul insists upon it that faith worketh by love, and tells us that " love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law," Rom. xiii. 10. If this doctrine be the fulfilling of the law, it cannot make it void.

The sermon that you was so kind as to send me is pregnant with a deal of scholastic unscriptural logic, little better than nonsense, which may serve to display the worldly wisdom of the author, and excite the admiration of unenlightened people. But any spiritual person will easily perceive that he knows little or nothing of the killing letter of the law, or of the spiritual power of the gospel.

The law, as the believer's rule of life, he endeavours to enforce from the fitness of things, which are phrases that stand for any thing or nothing, just as the author pleases. But he does