_What advantage then hath the Jew?_ The foregoing reasonings being contrary to the prejudices of the Jews, one of that nation is here introduced objecting, If our being the children of Abraham, members of the church of God, and heirs of the promises, will procure us no favour at the judgment, and if... [ Continue Reading ]
_For what if some_ And they a considerable number, of those who once possessed these invaluable treasures; _did not believe_ Them, or did not duly consider what they speculatively believed, and so rejected the gospel to which they were intended to lead; _shall their unbelief make without effect_ Sha... [ Continue Reading ]
_But_ It may be further objected; _if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God_ Be subservient to God's glory; or, if our infidelity be so far from making void the faithfulness of God, that it renders it more illustrious, then we ought not to be condemned for it. But Dr. Whitby understan... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ Or _but_ (the objector may reply) _if the truth of God hath more abounded_ Has been more abundantly shown; _through my lie_ If my lie, that is, practice contrary to truth, conduces to the glory of God, by making his truth shine with superior advantage; _why am I yet judged as a sinner_ And arr... [ Continue Reading ]
_What then_ Well then, (may a Jew further urge,) since you grant that the Jews have the advantage of the Gentiles in point of privileges, having the oracles of God, the promises which he will never fail to observe, and the principles of righteousness which he will never himself violate in his conduc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now what things soever the law saith_ That is, the Old Testament, for these quotations are not made from any part of the five books of Moses, but from the Psalms and Prophets; _it saith to them that are under the law_ That is, to those who own its authority, to the Jews, and not to the Gentiles. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_But now the righteousness of God_ That is, the manner of becoming righteous which God hath appointed; _without the law_ Without that perfect and previous obedience which the law requires; without reference to, or dependance on, the law, ceremonial or moral, revealed or natural; _is manifested_ In t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Whom God hath set forth_ Before angels and men: hath in his infinite mercy exhibited to us in the gospel, _to be a propitiation_ Greek, ιλαστηριον, _a propitiatory_, or mercy-seat, where mercy may be found by the penitent, in a way consistent with divine justice. The reader will observe, the cover... [ Continue Reading ]
_Where is boasting then?_ The boasting of the Gentiles in their philosophy, or of the Jews in the rites of the law of Moses, as sufficient for their salvation. Or the boasting of the Jews against the Gentiles, or that of any one in his own righteousness, or on account of any peculiar privileges he m... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore we conclude_ As if he had said, Since it appears, by what has been said, that all are sinners, involved in guilt and condemnation, and so cannot be justified by the law, whether natural or revealed, and that God has appointed another way of justification, we draw this conclusion; _that a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is he the God of the Jews only?_ He argues from the absurdity of such a supposition. Can it be imagined that a God of infinite love and mercy should limit and confine his favours to the little perverse people of the Jews, leaving all the rest of mankind in an eternally desperate condition? That wou... [ Continue Reading ]