agent or author of men’s sins. On the contrary, he goes on, ‘I make myself a transgressor’ (verse 18, AV). In other words, ‘if after my justification I am still a sinner, it is my fault and not Christ’s. I have only myself to blame; no-one can blame Christ.’ Paul now proceeds to refute his critics’ argument. Their charge that justification by faith encouraged a continuance in sin was ludicrous. They grossly misunderstood the gospel of justification. Justification is not a legal fiction, in which