results, which did not depend at all on the disposition of those on whom it was bestowed -namely, that it placed them all in a new course of trial and responsibility, by conferring on them all a new capacity of right

eousness.

In ver. 16th, he led us to see that the gift bestowed was the nature of Christ, which, wherever it entered, carried with it the seal of God's approbation and blessing; and now in ver. 17th, he teaches us, that the gift only enters into those who accept it—and that consequently such only as accept it, shall reign with Christ in life eternal.

He thus shows us, that, although the natural birth of man, is a thing entirely independant of his own volition, it is far otherwise with his regeneration or spiritual birth, which cannot be effected without his own consent and co-operation.

Here then we see, that the doctrine of righteousness, and the doctrine of election, are one and the same thing. We see that the nature of Adam is the unrighteous nature, which God reprobates, and that the nature of Christ is the righteous nature, which God elects, we see that they are both in every man, and that though the old evil nature has

an advantage over the new, by being, as it were, first in possession of us, in consequence of our being born in its life, yet the new nature, as a seed of God, is given to every man in the gift of grace, and continues within his reach during his life, whatever his offences may have been, so as to be a full counterbalance, in the judgment of eternal wisdom, to the weakness and the condemnation brought on by the fall;—we see that, whilst we are walking in our first natural life, and not accepting the gift, that is, not living to God by faith, which is the nature of Christ, we are still under the reprobation, and that it is only by accepting the gift, which personal act God lays upon us to do, as our part in the work of salvation, that we come under that election which ever rests, and exclusively rests, on the righteous nature of Christ, and on all who join themselves to it.

Let me call the reader's attention to the agreement of all this with the beginning of John's gospel, where it is said of the True Light that cometh into the world, "that He lighteth every man," and yet it is only to as many as receive or accept him, that "he giveth power or right to be the sons of God"-that is, to be identified and sharers with himself,

who is the Son. The light is God's nature, it is the gift of righteousness, which abounds to the many, but only those who accept it, are really partakers of God's nature, and those only shall reign in life with Jesus Christ.

I may refer also to 2 Cor. v. 21, and the verse following, at the beginning of the next Chapter; "For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him: we then as workers together with him, beseech you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain:" and to Philip. ii. 12, 13, "work out therefore your own salvation, with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do, of His good pleasure."

I know that there are difficulties connected with the interpretation of the 18th and 19th verses, but I shall not enter upon them. I think the key to them is contained in what we have already found in the verses which we have examined--and I know that if I did enter upon them, they would carry me into subjects, which would require more space than I can here allot to them.

Before leaving this most fruitful Chapter, however, I would observe, that commentators

seem to me generally, to have demanded, in the parallelism which it institutes between the two Adams, a kind of reciprocity which the Apostle never contemplated. They have looked for such a reciprocity, that the advantages of the restoration should remove the disadvantages of the fall;-whereas, the parallelism for which the Apostle contends, is such a meeting of the supply from the one, with the damage from the other, that a man may be enabled to find a gain in the damage, so as to pass through it into an immortal glory. Nothing of the damage is put away yet -the evil infusion remains-and the condemnation to sorrow and death remains ; and the supply which the restoration brings, is a good infusion—a gift of righteousness in which a man may live, defended against the evil infusion, and by which he may survive, and rise out from, the full execution of the original sentence, a gift which bears witness that the prodigals of the earth have a loving Father who sincerely longs for their return, and has provided them with means altogether and abundantly sufficient for their so doing.

I am sure that there must be many who, on considering the statement given of the

parallelism between the fall and the restoration in these verses, will be of the opinion that the fall is really not met by the restoration, inasmuch as the evils arising from the former, are, many of them, necessary and inevitable, whereas the benefits of the latter depend on their being accepted. To such I will now only reply, that the re-establishment of man in a true and hopeful state of probation, with opportunities of moral growth, and of obtaining eternal life placed within his reach, is a benefit bestowed independent of the use made of it, and constitutes a true and substantial counterbalance to the fall; being indeed a necessary and inevitable benefit, for men are made responsible by it, whether they will or not.

The parallelism seems to me to consist in the three following particulars :-First, The fall and the restoration have come, each of them, through one man. Second, Both affect all the race. Third, Both operate through the infusion of a principle, derived from the respective Heads, and identifying those who join themselves to it, with the Head from which it flows.

This last particular, however, is to be taken in consistency with what I have already said,