mself upon his Pharisaic strictness, but when
God revealed to him His glory in the face of Jesus Christ, he was taught
to distinguish between a living faith, and a dead formalism. He still
maintained his social status, as one of the "chosen people," by the
keeping of the law; but he knew that it merely prefigured the great
redemption, and that its types and shadows must quickly disappear before
the light of the gospel. He saw, too, that the arguments urged for
circumcision could also be employed in behalf of all the Levitical
arrangements, [79:2] and that the tendency of the teaching of these "men
which came down from Judea" was to encumber the disciples with the
weight of a superannuated ritual. Nor was this all. The apostle was well
aware that the spirit which animated those Judaising zealots was a
spirit of self-righteousness. When they "taught the brethren and said,
Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, _ye cannot be
saved_" they subverted the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
[79:3] A sinner is saved as soon as he believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ, [79:4] and he requires neither circumcision, nor any other
ordinance, to complete his pardon. Baptism is, indeed, the sign by which
believers solemnly declare their acceptance of the gospel, and the seal
by which God is graciously pleased to recognise them as heirs of the
righteousness of faith; and yet even baptism is not essential to
salvation, for the penitent thief, though unbaptized, was admitted into
paradise. [80:1] But circumcision is no part of Christianity at all; it
does not so much as indicate that the individual who submits to it is a
believer in Jesus. Faith in the Saviour is the only and the perfect way
of justification. "Blessed are all they that put their trust in him,"
[80:2] for Christ will, without fail, conduct to glory all who commit
themselves to His guidance and protection. Those who trust in Him cannot
but love Him, and those who love Him cannot but delight to do His will;
and as faith is the root of holiness and happiness, so unbelief is the
fountain of sin and misery. But though the way of salvation by faith can
only be spiritually discerned, many seek to make it palpable by
connecting it with certain visible institutions. Faith looks to Jesus as
the only way to heaven; superstition looks to some outward observance,
such as baptism or circumcision, (which is only a finger-post on the
way,) and confounds it with the way itsel