3. The estate of grace under the gospel.
SERMON I And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.—GAL. 2:20.
THEY are the words of a man pursued by the law unto Christ, proceeding from the Spirit of Christ; the nature whereof is, to apply generals to particulars. So St Paul here, 'The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.' He sees he is dead by the law; therefore he seeks for a better husband. The law finds him dead, and leaves him dead. Thus pursued by the tenor of the law, he flies to Christ, and says, 'I am crucified with Christ,' nevertheless I live. How? 'Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.'
There be three ranks of men in the world, under which all men may be comprehended.
1. The estate of nature.
2. The estate of men under the spirit of bondage.
3. The estate of grace under the gospel.
This is the speech of one of the third rank, of a man awaked by the spirit of bondage, who hath attained to a clear and evident sight of his misery, and of the excellent remedies, of a man who hath attained to a new frame and temper of soul. It is the speech of a person in the state of grace, who now aspires to a more noble and excellent life. In the words we may consider divers things.
1. That there is another manner of life than the ordinary life of nature.