Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1837-03-28
SALVATION NOT BY TIE LAW.

SALVATION NOT By THE LAW.
BY the law, he intends the moral law.
viz. the covenant Of works, contracted
with our first parents in state of ineg-
rity, and subsequently promulged by the
ministry OF Moses. This law was to life
! j. c. it was to justify man, if he should con.
! tinue in his integrity; but, through sin we
have found it to be unto death, as 81. Paul
says, "the commandment which was or
dalned to life, found to be unto death -
so that the law is not only incapable OF JUS
tltylng US, but powerful to condemn, and to
augment sin in US. | say incapable of JUS
tiIylng us; for 1t only justiics him who is
! righteous IN himself, but We are found sim
ncrs in ourselves. Hence the apostle, ha.
wing proved that all men are under sin,
says, therefore We conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds Of the
aw;" and eve know, that what things So.
ever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be-
stopped, and all the world become guilty
before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight ;
for by the law is the knowledge OF sin. -
Instead then of justitying, it is only power
tul to condemn, according to what the apos.
tie says in Rom. iv. and V. that it worketh
wrath, and in 9 Cor. iii. 7, he calls it the
ministranon of death, and in verse 9, Of con.
demnation. have also said that the law
was powerful to increase sin in US; for the
commands and prohibitions Of the law, lrrl-
tate the lust of man to sin SO much the
more, as the apostle says, Rom. VII. 8, that
SSH, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concuplscence.
For without the law sin was dead. For |
was alive without the law once; but when
the commandment came sin revived. -
Hence some have condemned the law, as
vicious and bad, not considering that 1t was
the viciousness of man which ought TO have
been condemned. For as TO the fact that
instead of justilying, it accuses and convlcts
US of sin, this is no defect of the law, but
Of man, whose wickednesS is discovered by
it. The law is like mirror, which does
not make the trightful visage, but only shows
It's deiormity, and makes it visible to the
posscssor and like touchs:one does not
debase the metal, but exhibits It's qualities.
And as to the law making sin exceedingly y
sinful, we can no more at ribute 10 the law
the fault, than 10 the sun the increase Of fe-
tor generated by his rays falling on an Of
fenslye mass of matter. Hence the apostle
says, "We know that the law is spiritual,
but am carnal, sold under sin" and in the
passage under consideration he throws the
cause of the laws impotence on man, say
ing that it is weak through the flesh, !. c.
the nature of man corrupted by sin. This
is the representation Of human nature in the
Scriptures, and they are the words of him
who cannot lie. They say that rlan before
his regeneration is dead in trespasses and
sins. In them, to show that man is des;i-
tute of all ability to fulfil the law of the Lord,
he is called the servant Of sin. AS regards
his understanding, instead of the light which
he had before he len, he has been filled
with darkness and become vain in his ina
gination; and in Eph. iv. II and ls, we
are told that "the Gentilcs walk in the va
nifty Of their mind, having their understand.
ing darkened, being aliena,ed from the life
of God thro' the ignorance that is IN them,
because of the blindness Of their heart; =
and John, in the first chapter Of his Gospel,
calls men darkness, speaking of them as
having only natural light. But if the eye
of the understanding and its light be repu-
ted as darkness, what will be the condition
of the man? If thine eye be evil, says Je.
sus, thy whole body shall be full OF dark
ness. If therefore the light that is IN thee
be darkness, how great is that darkness
AS regards the will, instead Of the rectltude
and holiness it possessed al its creation, 1t
Is found biassed and obstinatel y inclined TO
evil, and therefore God calls our hearts
"hearts Of stone. HE says that every
imagination Of the thoughts of mans heart
is ONLY evil continually" and what can be
more express than the affirmation OF the
apostle, that "thc carnal mind is enmlty
against God for it is not subject to his law
neither indeed can be-? or than what God
says, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin,
or the leopard his spots! then may ye also
do good that are accustomed TO do evil. "
Besides, the apostle, speaking of the natural
corruption Of man, says, "There is none
righteous, no, not one: there is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh
after God they are all gone out Of the way,
they are together become Improbable =
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. "
Hence the truth of what the apostle says is
abundantly evident, that the law was weak
through the flesh, or, as the original term
may be rendered, without strength. The
mistake, therefore, Of those who affirm that
the natural man can fulfil the law of God is