But _is_ this the Apostle's answer to the Jewish oppugners, and the Judaizing false brethren, of the Church of Christ?--It is _not_ the answer, it does not resemble the answer returned by the Apostle. It is neither parallel nor corradial with the line of argument in either of the two Epistles, or with any one line; but it is a _chord_ that traverses them all, and only touches where it cuts across. In the Epistle to the Hebrews the directly contrary position is repeatedly _asserted_: and in the Epistle to the Romans it is every where _supposed_. The death to which the Law sentenced all sinners (and which even the Gentiles without the _revealed_ Law had announced to them by their consciences, _the judgment of God having been made known even to them_) must be the same death, from which they were saved by the faith of the Son of God; or the Apostle's reasoning would be senseless, his antithesis a mere equivoque, a play on a word, _quod idem sonat, aliud vult_. Christ _redeemed mankind from the curse of the Law_: and we all know, that it was not from temporal death, or the penalties and afflictions of the present life, that believers have been redeemed. The Law, of which the inspired sage of Tarsus is speaking, from which no man can plead excuse; the Law miraculously delivered in thunders from Mount Sinai, which was inscribed on tables of stone for the _Jews_, and written in the hearts of _all_ men (Rom. ii. 15.)--the Law _holy and spiritual_! what was the great point, of which this Law, in its own name, offered no solution? the mystery, which it left behind the veil, or in the cloudy tabernacle of types and figurative sacrifices? Whether there was a judgment to come, and souls to suffer the dread sentence? Or was it not far rather--what are the means of escape; where may grace be found, and redemption? St. Paul says, the latter. The Law brings condemnation: but the conscience-sentenced transgressor's question, "What shall I do to be saved? Who will intercede for me?" she dismisses as beyond the jurisdiction of her court, and takes no cognizance thereof, save in prophetic murmurs or mute outshadowings of mystic ordinances and sacrificial types.--Not, therefore, _that_ there is a Life to come, and a future state; but _what_ each individual Soul may hope for itself therein; and on what grounds; and that this state has been rendered an object of aspiration and fervent desire, and a source of thanksgiving and exceeding great joy; and by whom, and through whom, and for whom, and by what means and under what conditions--_these_ are the _peculiar_ and _distinguishing_ fundamentals of the Christian Faith! These are the revealed Lights and obtained Privileges of the Christian Dispensation! Not alone the knowledge of the boon, but the precious inestimable Boon itself, is the _Grace and Truth that came by Jesus Christ_! I believe Moses, I believe Paul; but I believe _in_ Christ.