with relation to his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the lineage of David as to his body,

and the men unnaturally leaving the sex, were inflamed with mutual passions, which they shamefully indulged, and received in their own persons, the retribution that was justly due to such enormities.

for if Abraham was justified by works, he had matter of pretension, whereas he had no such claim from God.

for what saith the scripture? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness."

Is this happiness then for the circumcised only, or for the uncircumcised also? for we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

how was it then accounted? whilst he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? he was not then circumcised, but uncircumcised:

Besides, the promise that he should possess the world, was not made to Abraham, or to his posterity in consideration of the law, but with regard to the righteousness by faith.

he it was who against hope believed in hope, that he should become the father of many nations, according to what was told him, "so shall thy posterity be:"

he was not incredulously diffident of the divine promise; but was strong in faith, and did honour to God,

by the full persuasion he had, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

and therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.

now this saying, "that it was accounted to him," was not written for his sake alone,

who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

sin indeed was in the world all the time before the law: but then sin is not punished when there is no law.

the type of him that was to come: but yet the damage of the fall does not exactly correspond to the advantages of the divine favour: for tho' through the fall of one, mankind became mortal, yet this is greatly over-ballanced by the favour and bounty of God, in the benevolence of one man, Jesus Christ, to all mankind.

neither is the gift, as was the fall by one sin: for the sentence of condemnation, was for one offence; but the divine favour extends to justification from a multitude of sins.

the law was introduc'd, that the greatness of the fall might fully appear; but the more sin display'd its enormity, the divine favour was so much the more transcendent.

therefore we are buried with him by being plunged into a sort of death: that as Christ was raised up from the dead into a state of glory with the father, even so we also should proceed to a new state of life.

Do we then conclude, that the law is the cause of sin? by no means; but I should not have had such a notion of sin, had it not been for the law: for I should not have known concupiscence was a sin, unless the law had said, "thou shalt not covet."

then it was I once liv'd secure; but when the prohibition came, sin exerted it self, and I was in a dying condition:

and the commandment which leads to life was instrumental to my ruin.

was it then good that brought death upon me? no, but it was sin, that sin might show it self by being able to bring death upon me by means of that which is good; that sin, I say, by the commandment might appear to be exceedingly destructive.

for whom he before approv'd, he predispos'd to follow the example of his son, who was to conduct them all as their elder brother;

it was said to her, "the elder shall serve the younger."

as he saith himself in Osee, "I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her, beloved, which was not beloved.

and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people; there shall they be called, the children of the living God."

for the end of the law was to bring men to Christ, that every one who believeth, might be justified.

For Moses describes the justice that was to be had by the law, thus : "the man who performeth the things here required, shall have life thereby."

but Esaias is more express, and says, "I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest to them that asked not after me.

for if you were taken from the wild olive, which was natural to you, to be grafted into a good olive-stock of a different nature, with how much greater reason shall these who are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive-tree?

now whatever was heretofore writ, was writ for our instruction; that we through patience and the comfortable promises of the scriptures might have hope.

wherefore be kindly affected to one another, as Christ was to you, that you might glorify God.

for I tell you, that Jesus Christ was a minister to the Jews, to manifest the veracity of God in fulfilling the promises made to the fathers:

I have effectually preached the gospel of Christ: yet so as studiously to avoid preaching it where Christ was owned, lest I should build upon another man's foundation; for,

as it is written, "they to whom he was not mentioned, shall see: and they that have not heard, shall understand."

Now to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, conformable to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret from antient times, but now is laid open,