Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: LECTURE II. HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. WE have seen that the privilege of Justification was enjoyed by all true believers, from the date of the first promise of a Saviour, till His advent in the ' fulness of time.' But the divine doctrine on this subject was in process of time sadly corrupted, both among Gentiles and Jews. Our attention will now be directed to the state of opinion which prevailed in regard to it among the Gentiles, and also among the Jews, when the Gospel was first brought to them, ?to the manner in which their respective errors were treated, by our Lord Himself during His personal ministry, and afterwards by His Apostles, ?and to the controversies on the subject which arose, in that age, within the Christian Church itself, from the influence of Judaizing teachers, on the one hand, and the introduction of Gentile philosophy, on the other. The state of opinion on the subject of Justification before God, which prevailed both among the Gentiles and the Jews, when the Gospel was proclaimed in ' the fulness of time, ' is worthy of special consideration, as it serves to throw much light on the teaching of our Lord and His Apostles. The divine doctrine of the Justification of sinners was associated, from the beginning, with the promise ofa Saviour, and with the significant rite of Sacrifice; and these were universal, or common to the whole race of mankind, on two occasions, ?first, when Adam, the father of the old world, and, secondly, when Noah, the father of the new world, were each admitted into covenant with God. (1) There was as yet no distinction, ?no middle wall of partition, ?between Gentiles and Jews; and God's revelation was available for all mankind. It was transmitted at first from sire to son, and from age to age, by oral tradi