Might for should, A.V. Being justified by his grace; showing very clearly that righteousness in man did not precede and cause the saving mercy of God, but that mercy went before and provided the justification which is altogether of grace, and which issues in the possession of eternal life.
Heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This seems to be the right rendering rather than that in the margin, heirs, according to hope, of eternal life, making "eternal life" depend upon "heirs."
The passage in Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life," is a very strong reason for taking the same construction here. The answer in the Church Catechism, "Wherein I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven," follows very closely St.
Paul's teaching in the text (see Romans 4:13, Romans 4:14; Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:29, Galatians 4:7).