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 THE ONE MEDIATOE : 
 
 SELECTIONS AND THOUGHTS ON THE PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE 
 AND INTERCESSION PRESENTED BY 
 
 THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST; 
 
 WITH APPENDED CHAPTERS ON 
 
 THE CONDITIONS OF SALVATION. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 Appended Exposition of Romans v. 11-21, 
 
 WHICH CONTAINS PAUL's COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE RELATION 
 
 OF MEN TO ADAM ON THE ONE HAND, AND TO JESUS CHRIST 
 
 ON THE OTHER; AND NOTES. 
 
 BY REV. J. S. EVANS, 
 
 OF HAMILTON, 
 
 Author of " Christian Predestination " (to suffer with Jesus in order to being glorified with Him), 
 
 " The Martyr's Millennial Reward," and " The Christian's Everlasting Reward " 
 
 (superadded to Salvation by Faitli). 
 
 *4 
 
 TORONTO : 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS, 
 
 78 AND 80 King Street East. 
 Montreal : C. W. Coates. Halifax : S. F. Huestis. 
 
 1884. 
 
£76 
 
 21'i7 
 
 Entered a<;ror(liiig to Act of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, In the year one 
 thonsiind eight hiindred and eiglity-four, by William Brigus, in the Otlice of the 
 Minister of Agriculture. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 An intelligent observer has remarked that, looking 
 at modern society, both in its religious and secular 
 departments, one of the most prominent aspects is 
 "the grandeur and unexampled complexity of the 
 problems which are pressing for solution." (Guizofs 
 Meditations.) The grandest and most complex of 
 these is the Propitiatory Sacrifice presented by the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as our "Great High Priest." "The 
 great fact of Revelation is the mission of Christ ; and 
 the great object of His mission is the salvation of 
 sinners." (Smiley, on Atonement, p. 25.) To Him the 
 inspired writers gave testimony, saying, "We have 
 seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to 
 be the Saviour of the world." (1 John iv. 14.) They 
 " obviously make Christ's atonement the great central 
 truth around which all other truth is to revolve." (Dr. 
 Osborne.) Hence " the interpretation of the death of 
 Christ is the great master problem of theology." (Dr. 
 David Thomas.) 
 
h ! 
 
ANALYSIS, 
 
 INDICATING PROMINENT THOUGHTS. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The grandeur and complexity of the problems before modern society. 
 Tlie grandest of these— Guizot, Smiley, Osborne, Thomas. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Plan of salvation not revealed in terms of systematic theology, p. 
 IX. The reason of this. The history of doctrine presents no 
 early accredited statement respecting it. Theologians have failed 
 to content at once the understanding and the heart. Some think 
 the construction of a true theory impossible.— ^^^^er, X. The 
 biblical writers regarded the subject as not dark, but clear. — 
 Rainey, XI. The scattered meml^ers of truth need to be 
 gathered, and separated from those of error, Milton, Cousin, 
 McCosh, XIII.; and put in systematic arrangement. — Wayland, 
 Xiy. To present the right view is not always sufficient. Error 
 does not die, it must be \a\l\ed. — Wesley, Hooker, Hodge, XV. 
 The true view would, doubtless, appear worthy of all the pro- 
 phetic announcements and apostolic Te']o\cmgB. — Wesley, DaUt 
 XVI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HAD A PRIESTLY OFFICE. 
 
 • 
 
 The Scriptures teach this, p. 0. Authors quoted : Dick, Randies, 
 Watson. The first Christians believed thi^.— Dale. The Fathers 
 also.— ^VcA ,, Hagenhach, 10. Though they had a wrong idea 
 of ransom, ll.—Schaff. Wesley's view of Christ's sacrifice, 12. 
 Agreement of Christian communions in the idea of sacrifice, 
 and the reference to typical sacrifices, 13. 
 
 ■M 
 
VI 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 Their presupposition and idea, W.—Ebrard, llodije.. The point 
 at which the typical priest took part in the service. — Smeaton, 
 Hi. Object of sacrificial suffering, 17. The accompanying 
 incense, 18. Intercession a principal part in priestly wofk, 19 
 The typical service availed for ceremonial transgressions, not 
 for moral ones, 20, 21. The typical pointed to the antitypical, 
 23. This was known to pious Jews, 24. — Wedcy, 25. The 
 Christian interpretation of the Hebrew ritual. — Binney, Bruce, 
 Or out bo 111-71, 2(i. Some have failed to get light wiewa.— Dale, 
 Smeaton, 27. Objections from misunderstood texts, 2*). — Cooke, 
 Hitchcock. Typical sacrifices now taken away, 30. — McLear. 
 Against the will of the Jews, 31. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE ANTITYPICAL HIGH PRIEST. 
 
 He knew that typical rites were inefficacious. He looked forward 
 to His own sacrificial death, Dale, and spake of it, 33. He in- 
 stituted a rite commemorative of it, 34. — Robson, Harris, Dale. 
 His death shown to be an extraordinary event : Explained by 
 His apostles, 35. — Dick, Macknight, 30 ; D. Thomas, Smeaton, 
 37 ; Barrow. Believed in by first disciples. — Dale, 38. Its 
 value to be estimated by the Divine mind. — Crawford. Was 
 understood by Christ ; was accepted by God. — DaU, 3*). Dis- 
 tinction between the fact and the doctrine, 40. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ANTITYPICAL HIGH PRIEST WAS A MEDIATOR BETWEEN 
 
 GOD AND MAN. 
 
 The parties concerned : (1) Man sinful and guilty, 41. (2) The 
 enthroned Divine Moral Governor, 42. — South. (3) The won- 
 derful Mediator. — Schaff. (4) The witnessing angels, 43. 
 
 ill 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 Vll 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FULLER CONSIDERATION OF THE CHARACTER IN WHICH GOD 
 REQUIRED THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 Two classes of doctrinal truths . ( 1 ) Those contained in the principles 
 of divine moral government. (2) Those revealed in the Gospel. 
 A knowledge of the former is presupposed by the latter, 45. 
 Hence we must examine its principles. God in creation and 
 providence. — Lamarck, 4(> ; Coleridge. God's personal relation 
 to man. — Hodge, Vinet, Morcll, 47. Man's responsi])ility. — 
 Olver, liubson, Redford, 48 ; Whedon, 41). Influence of motives. 
 
 — Whedon, 50. Not felt when not voluntarily attended to. — 
 Faber, Edwards, 51. Sin man's own act, 52. Natural conse- 
 quences : (1) Sinfulness. — Aridotle, Plalo, Seneca, Coleridge^ 
 Hitchcock, Godet, 58. Sinfulness hereditary. — Oremer, 54. Im- 
 portance of right views of it. — Stiutrt, Meyer, Ellicott, Coleridge, 
 55. Want of love to God ; willingness to disobey for the sake 
 of forbidden pleasure, 50. Choice of wrong ends of life. — 
 Fuller, 57. Sinfulness a predisposition, distinct from essential 
 attributes and from acts. — Miss Beecher, 5*). Predispositions not 
 objects of direct consciousness, (>0. (2) Consequence : Mortality. 
 — Gbdet, 61, 02. (3) Consequence : Liability to judicial pun- 
 ishment, 03. Object of divine law : God unspeakably values 
 that object, 05. Divine holiness overlooked by philosophers. 
 
 — IFeslcy, 00. Inspired writers give it prominence. — Maclaurin, 
 Cremer, McCosh, 07. God is just. Justice inflicts punishment, 
 if reparation is not made. Man himself cannot make repara- 
 tion. -;-/i«<i?ii«?i, Anselm, 08 ; Oharnock, Cooke, Shakespeare, 09. 
 Man can be punished. Utility of punishment founded on its 
 justice, 70. Just punishment useful to maintain moral govern- 
 ment. Moral government necessary to the best interests of the 
 moral universe. — Cousin, Hodge, 71. The divine right to pun- 
 ish. The object of punishment. — Blackstone, Paley, 72, 73; 
 Bledsoe, Hodge, Dale, Isaac Taylor, 74. • Penalty is inflicted by 
 the will of the Moral Governor. — Dale, 75. May therefore be 
 suspended by the Divine will, if adequate considerations were 
 presented. Objections : (1) That God necessarily punishes, 70. 
 (2) That punishment is an impreventable natural consequence. 
 

 Vlll ANALYSIS. 
 
 — Young, Hodge, Dale, 77. Room, in fact, left for extraordinary 
 intervention to place a mercy-seat between the throne and 
 the judgment-seat, 78, 79. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FULLER CONSIDERATION OF "THE ONE MEDIATOR." 
 
 He declared that God is love. — PuUford, 81, Love does not 
 necessarily exercise mercy, 82. He is a "Righteous Father," 
 83. Christ man's advocate with the Father ; not merely the 
 Father's advoc. *^e with man. — Hodge, W<'diy. The theory 
 that Christ mori ,' exercises moral influence on man, is utterly 
 defective, 84. It cannot explain Christ's suffering and dying. 
 
 — Young, 85. Christ's interposition voluntary. — Winer, Ward- 
 law, 8(». Different illustrations of mediatorial work: (1) 
 Mediating Priest, (2) Mediating Redeemer, v. p. 138-146. — 
 Trench. These supplement each other. — Stanley, Sherlock^ 
 Hodge, 87. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE MEDIATING PRIEST. 
 
 Before making intercession, would make it manifest that He was 
 Jesus Christ the Righteous — (1) by personally obeying the law, 
 89 ; (2) by making a show of sin on the cross, 90 ; (3) by 
 tasting suffering for sin. He would concede that there might 
 have been judgment without mercy. — Edwards, 92. He 
 endured preternatural suffering unto death. — Dale, Sherlock, 
 93 ; Stroud, 94 ; Tischendorf, 95 ; Van Oosterzee, 90. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MEDIATOR RECEIVED CHASTISEMENT, NOT PUNISHMENT. 
 
 Illustrative case, 97. — Joseph Cooke. He did not suffer penalty. 
 — Hodge, 98. All suffering is not penal. — Hodge, Sherlock, 
 Howe, 9d. Suffering for benevolent purposes. — Crawford, 100. 
 This kind not unprecedented. — Goulbourn, Butler, 101; Bledsoe, 
 102. Goodness may do that which justice could not require. — 
 Sherlock, Oxenham, Smeaton. Christ's suffering did not suffice 
 without intercession. — Bowling, 104. 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 IX 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE MEDIATOR MADE SATISFACTION FOR SUSPENSION, AND 
 CONDITIONAL REMOVAL OF PENALTY. 
 
 Distinction between satisfaction and punishment: (1) in Scripture, 
 105; (2) in civil law. — Dick, IVatson, 107. The sinner ought 
 to make satisfaction, or endure punishment. Man could not 
 make the former, but could be forced to submit to the latter. — 
 Watson, Jcnkyns, lOS. Christ could and did satisfy Righteous- 
 ness. — Pyr, Smifh. Therefore did not need to suffer punishment 
 from Justice. — Jcnkyns, Pyc Smith, Dale, 10*). The typical 
 Lamb was not punished. — Bledsoe, Norris, Farrar, 110. Objec- 
 tions : (1) "Law threatens penalty, therefore truth requires its 
 infliction." This is not consistently applied, (2) "Sovereignty 
 could change the threatening so as to make room for a sub- 
 stitute." If so, it could act without any mediation. — J'nr refine, 
 Hodge, 111. A change f dispensation could not be made by sove- 
 reign prerogative, but merely by mediatorial influence. Christ 
 a mediator between two parties ; not a substitute for one of 
 them, to be punished by the other. — Thorncwell, Smeaton, 112. 
 The object of inflicting punishment may be answered by another 
 act of equal influence. — B. Brown, Brit. Quar., 113. The 
 transcendent worth of Christ's mediatorial work, 114. 
 
 ; ''^rS 
 
 ■■:F 
 
 K,M 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HIS PRIESTLY INTERCESSION. 
 
 As in the Type, so in the Antitype, the sufifering was not all that 
 was required ; it was pleaded in intercession, 115. Plurality 
 of Persons in the Godhead. Qualifications of the great Inter- 
 cessor. — Hodge, Godct, 1 1(>. An Advocate, not for their sins, but 
 for them. — Jcnkyns, Barnes, The Father hears Him pray, 118. 
 Punishment by Justice is God's strange work. He prefers 
 to accept satisfaction to Righteousness — McCosh, Archer, 
 Butler, 119. The angels acclaim "Worthy the Lamb," and 
 present themselves as ministering spirits to heirs of salvation, 
 120. Christ's love for all men tended to unite Jews and Gen- 
 tiles, and to influence them to love, not themselves, but Christ, 
 
 \ 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 121. The world is not too little for such a wonderful display 
 of Divine love. — Binney, 122. Magnitude is nothing to infinity, 
 but the interests of moral beings are everything to God. — A. 
 Fuller, D. Thomas, 125$. 
 
 I 
 
 I ! 
 
 i : 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST MORE CLOSELY EXAMINED. 
 
 Its special recjuests (1) briefly stated, (2) more fully examined. It 
 asked (1) that God may be reconciled ; (2) that the first dispen- 
 sation be not enforced ; (3) that tlie covenant of grace be 
 introduced; (4) that man may be ransomed, 124; (5) that the 
 Divine Spirit be sent to his aid ; (H) that Divine forbearance 
 may be exercised for a time ; (7) that the ministry of reconci- 
 liation be appointed, 125 ; (8) that other blessings — namely, 
 pardon, justification, etc. — be offered on condition of repentance 
 and faith on man's part, and on condition of particular inter- 
 cession on Christ's part. — Dick, 12G; LiUledale, Mackennal, 
 Smith, 127. Fulfilment of prophetic types, 128. 
 
 1 I 
 
 CHAPTP]R XII. 
 
 RESUL !!Vi* EDIATELY OBTAINED BY INTERCESSION, MORE 
 
 FULLY CONSIDERED. 
 
 1) Suspensio f penalty ; (2) setting aside the covenant of works, 
 not by so , ereign prerogative, but for Christ's sake ; (3) the 
 covenant of grace granted, 130. — Wesley, Macknigid, Dick, 
 Iloihje, St. Clement, 131. As in covenants there are laws and 
 promises, the new covenant was made by connecting new pro- 
 mises with the old law, 132. Original law adapted, from the 
 first, to all finite capacities. ^^ Thou shalt love with thy heart," 
 etc. Ability to love not now naturally possessed, but made 
 attainable by superadded promises, 133. Law, therefore, does 
 not now demand the impossible. — Hodge, 134. Hence, man 
 may be still treated as a moral agent, 135. Men believe them- 
 selves, and each other, to be moral agents, 13(>. Christ a 
 surety of the covenant, not of man. An unspeakable shame to 
 make Him a minister of sin, 137. 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 XI 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 (4) THE ONE MEDIATOR AS REDEEMER. 
 
 His ransom an equivalent in governmental value, 138. Men 
 said to be redeemed when the ransom is paid. Not forced to 
 return to God. — Morrison. Man estimated at a great price, 
 13*). It was as a ransom for man (not as a sacrifice to God) 
 that Christ was a substitute. Man was redeemed from obli- 
 gations now unsuitable, 140. (1) From the ceremonial yoke of 
 bondage. — Jackson, Meyer, 141. (2) From the law of typical 
 sacrifices. (3) From the covenant of works. Redeemed, also, 
 in a less precise sense, from attending evils, 142. Qualifications 
 of the Redeemer, 143. The relation of ransom to propitiatory 
 sacrifice, 145. A ransom may be accepted conditionally. 
 Slaves redeemed tliat they might be made kings. — Uandks, 140. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 (5) RECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN, THROUGH THE DEATH OF 
 
 HIS SON. 
 
 He exchanges holy indignation for merciful kindness, — Colcridgp, 
 147. The Greek word. — Dale, Cremcr, \'i^. Implies previous 
 mutual alienation. — Dick, Wardlaio, Mackninal, 14J). Recon- 
 ciliation by sacrifice, 150. — Cremer, 152; Dale, 153. Some 
 think God's moods unchangeable. — Hodge, 15(>. Some concede 
 a little change. Their theory reveals no new attribute of 
 mercy.— Hodife, Dorner, Coleridge, 158. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 (6) THE MISSION OF THE D.VINE SPIRIT. 
 
 To inspire the Bible. To qualify the ministry. To accompany the 
 Bible and the ministry, 151). To convince of sin, righteous- 
 ness, and judgment, 1(J(). Watson, 101. He has actually per- 
 formed this work, and continues to do so. — Cockm-, 102 ; 
 Cocker, Hodge, 104. Convinces that unbelief is man's chief sin. 
 Further v rk of the Spirit.— />. Thomas, 105, Th.is manifold 
 work of the Spirit belongs to the plan of salvation, 107. 
 Whedon, Fletcher, 108. 
 
Xll 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 (7) THE MEDIATOR'S MORAL INFLUENCE. 
 
 Illustrative case of Zaleucus. His own son violated one of his laws, 
 1G9. How a just ruler and an affectionate father acted in 
 this case. Strong appeal to filial gratitude. Crowning evi- 
 dence of righteous character, 170. It was influential, but de- 
 fective. T procured pardon only in part, 171. Christ, too, 
 was a king. He died for all His rebellious subjects. Our 
 nature, even when unrenewed, is capable of being affected 
 by one who undergoes suffering to deliver us. Our nature, 
 when renewed, feels this more fully, 172. Christ thus "draws 
 all men unto Him," 173. The other Persons in the Trinity 
 co-operate in other ways. Thus all claim our highest love and 
 service. But Christ's work affects us most deeply while we are 
 unrenewed, 174. Utility of Christ's sufferings in this direc- 
 tion. His moral influence wonderful, but by itself would be 
 insufficient. — Butler, Young, 17G. It could remove the misre- 
 presentations of enmity, but not the enmity itself. It tends, 
 however, to win to repentance, 177. 
 
 lii! 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE EXTENT OF CHRIST'S ATONING AND REDEEMING WORKS. 
 
 His aim was universal. This was foretold by the prophets, and by 
 angelic announcement. He got kingly " power over all flesh," 
 and "died for all." The great commission to make all His dis- 
 ciples, 178. The apostolic testimony, 171). The unlimited 
 mission of the Divine Spirit. The -unbounded blessings of 
 Divine Providence. — Newton. These are not uncovenanted mer- 
 cies, 182. Grace, like Providence, pays regard to the principles 
 and conditions of moral government, 1 83. Hence neither attains 
 all the final results aimed at. It is no disgrace to a remedy 
 that* it does not cure those who persistently reject it, 184. 
 Our gratitude and admiration are proportioned to the amount 
 of benefit intended, 185. Objection answered. Early Christians 
 never limited the extent of the atonement. The idea of limi- 
 tation came from wrongly assuming that Christ's sufferings 
 
 I' 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 were penal, 187. The result does not always indicate the de- 
 gree of power in the cause, 188. The sufficiency of a remedy 
 depends on its nature. The efficiency on its being applied. 
 Objections from foreknowledge ambiguously expressed, 189. 
 H. Moore, 1{)0. Objections from misinterpreted texts, 191. 
 Those who limit the atonement to the elect (1) have no means 
 of knowing who the elect are, (2) have no warrant to preach 
 the gospel to any one in particular, or personally to believe. — 
 Hodge, 192. Objection from wrongly assuming that the atone- 
 ment was made on commercial principles, 193. Some, assum- 
 ing the atonement to be limited, ceased to urge men to repent 
 and believe. Reaction, by Edwards and Fuller, 195. Some 
 based a general call (1) on the wrong assumption that man had 
 natural ability to repent, (2) on the sufficiency, but not in the 
 intention of the atonement, 190. Witsias, Turrctine, Annan, 
 Hodge, 197. (3) On the supposition that God's preceptive will 
 is different from His decretive will. — Hodge, 198. This theory 
 makes out no good warrant for a general call. — Whedon, 199. 
 Remarkable concession. Its defectiveness, 200. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 (8) DIVINE forbearance;. 
 
 God's long-suffering gives space for repentance. Is exercised 
 righteously, because done for Christ's sake. Under the former 
 dispensation, — Trench, Godet, 202. Under the present dis- 
 pensation. Christ set forth to demonstrate God's righteousness. 
 — Godet, 203. The order in which this setting forth took place. 
 How set forth, 204. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE JUSTIFICATION OF HIM THAT BELIEVETH. 
 
 Omittance is not acquittance, acquittance is not unconditional. We 
 are required to believe in Him. The righteousness of acquit- 
 ting the believer demonstrated, 208. A right idea of God 
 at the foundation of all right doctrine. God, the sovereign of 
 innumerable worlds. — Morrison, 209. Note — see chapter on 
 conditions of salvation. 
 
'^ 
 
 I 
 
 I : 
 
 I .' 
 
 m 
 
 XIV ANALYSIS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CHRIST THE ONLY INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN. 
 
 He is divinely appointed and qualified. 'No created being could do 
 His work, 211. Men need no other. He was raised again 
 on account of his sacrifice being all-sufficient for justification. 
 To Him every inquirer is pointed by the written and preached 
 gospel, and by the sacred supper, 212. Some dare to intrude 
 into Christ's priestly office. — Stratton, 213. The typical 
 priestly office taken away against the will of the Jews, 214. 
 Though Christ appointed iiesistants in His prophetic office, He 
 would have no assistant in His priestly office. The record of 
 ministerial service in the apostolic age includes no priest, 210, 
 
 217. Yet in thousands of assemblies men ajipear as priests, 
 
 218. They should consider the case of Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiram, 210 ; and the judgments foretold by John, 220. 
 The apostles and primitive Christians, and their true followers, 
 regarded Christ not only as their great Teacher, but as their 
 only Priest.— DJcifc, 221 ; Toplady, Wesley, 222. 
 
 II I, 
 
 ii^ 
 
 |i III 
 
 11: 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES OF THE ATONEMENT. 
 
 Ansehii's first systematic attempt. — Stoughton, 223. His epoch- 
 making book. The Divine honor must not be permanently 
 injured. The injury must be satisfactorily repaired, or the 
 injurer must suffer punishment. Stoughton, Shedd, Hagenlach, 
 224. Man could not, but Christ could, make satisfaction. 
 Ansclm did not regard Christ's death as penal. — Hagenhach, 
 Dr. Pope, Bruce, 225. The term satisfaction made prominent 
 by Ansehii. He professed merely to present and develop views 
 held by some of the idtXherB.— Hagenhach, Dr. Pope, NeandeVy 
 Dorner, 220. His doctrine commonly received for 400 years. 
 The Reformers confounded satisfaction with punishment ; and 
 took different views of the latter. — Dr. Pope, Crippen, 227. 
 The innocent cannot be punished. Guilt cannot be transferred. 
 — Hagenhach, Hodge, Park, 228. Demands of Justice personal. 
 Personal liability cannot be separated from personal demerit. — 
 
 i 
 
f 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 XV 
 
 Cooke, Hochjr, 220 ; A. Hodge, Dr. Hodge, 280. If transfer 
 were admissible, it would, ipso facto, release. — Farrar, White. 
 Christ's sufferings left room for pardon ; did not render it unjust 
 to punish the impenitent, 232, 233. — R. Hall, 233. Socimis 
 revolted at the idea of inflicting penal suffering on Christ. His 
 objections. — Hagcnbach, 234. Grotius saw the gove^umental 
 aspect of the atonement, but did not properly exhibit it. — 
 Van Oosterzee, 235. Limhorch saw that a sacrifice was dififerent 
 from the payment of a debt. — Curcclla'vs, 23(> ; Oxenham, XX. 
 Article, 237. Christ's sacrifice rendei'ed sin remissible, and 
 salvation attainable. Watson saw, but did not keep in mind, 
 the distinction between satisfaction and punishment ; hence, 
 awakened objections. — Annan, 238. Whedon virtually returns 
 to the idea of satisfaction. — Dr. Pope, 239. Salvation condi- 
 tional. — Bib, Sacra. Some see no need of propitiation, 240. 
 God is more than creditor. — Bledsoe, 241 ; Randies, Dorner, 
 242. For remarks on moral influence theory, see pp. 84, 85. 
 Dr. Pope on three leading Biblical ideas, 243. — Randies, Smea- 
 ton. Superiority of propitiatory theory, 244. 
 
 the 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 APPENDED CONDITIONS OF SALVATION. 
 
 Some results contemplated by the atonement were not immediately 
 produced, 245. Conditions generally required of rational 
 beings. — A. Barnes, 246. Are adapted to all, and easy, 247. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 FIRST CONDITION "REPENT YE." 
 
 Repentance connected with the gospel, not with the law, 249. 
 (I.) Place of repentance in the new dispensation. (1) It is 
 distinct from the work of atonement given to Christ, 250. 
 Many overlook this, and change repentance into penance, 251. 
 (2) It is distinct from the work given to the Divine Spirit. 
 Hence is not self-renewal, 252. Repentance as a sinner, is 
 dififerent from obedience as a saint, 253. (II.) Place of re- 
 pentance in the order of personal experience, 254. It follows 
 
I i! 
 
 XVI ANALYSIS. 
 
 the convincing work of the Spirit, but precedes the regenerat- 
 ing work of the Spirit. Hence may be exercised by a man not 
 yet regenerated, 255. In repentance the misrepresentations of 
 enmity are removed. In regeneration the enmity itself is re- 
 moved, 257. Man may seek and obtain ability for obedience, 
 258. Should therefore repent of disobedience, 250. Repent- 
 ance towards an earthly father is ge \erally understood. — 
 Barnes. Is analogous to repentance towards God, 201. Fear 
 kills out the delight in sin, 2(>8. — Sanderson, 204. Man in- 
 stinctively desires deliverance from ap^^irehended evil, 265. 
 Fruits meet for repentance, 206. — Pimshon. Nothing but 
 demonstration of absolute impossibility of punishment could 
 make it prudent to neglect salvation, 266. We never feel 
 about what we do not think about. We have the power to 
 think. Folly of inconsideration, 207. Repentance something 
 to be done.— Pale y, Pascal, 208. Repentance turns to the 
 offended party to confess. — Barnes, Tillotson, Salter, 209. 
 Sorrow worketh repentance. A command to repent requires 
 us to do all that is necessary to repentance. — Watson, 270. 
 Some excuse impenitence. Repentance is not all that is neces- 
 sary. It is preparatory to faith, 271. 
 
 lii' 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SECOND CONDITION— "BELIEVE THE GOSPEL." 
 
 Faith important. — Hodge. Its place in the order of experience. — 
 Watson, Mclanchton, 273. Faith a condition, 274. Condi- 
 tions should be complied with, 270. Faith accepts testimony 
 because of the character of the testifier, 270. Divine testimony 
 in the Bible, 277. True theory of inspiration.— i^wZ/fir, Charnock, 
 Alexander, 281. Faith precedes the regenerating work of the 
 Spirit, 282, but follows His enlightening work. Some mystify 
 and magnify faith. — Hodge, 283 ; Liddon. Historical evidence 
 convinces that God has spoken : the Spirit, that God is true. 
 Evidence sufficient to persuade, not to enforce, 284. Faith and 
 fear ; faith and desire. The gospel oflfer is a general one, 285. 
 Faith a belief towards a person, not an opinion as to a doctrine. 
 — Dr. Russell, 280, 287. Trust in fellow-men. — Arnot, Robert- 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 XVU 
 
 jnerat- 
 an not 
 ions of 
 t is re- 
 tlience, 
 lepent- 
 tood. — 
 . Fear 
 Vlan in- 
 l, 2G5. 
 ng but 
 it could 
 ver feel 
 ower to 
 mething 
 , to the 
 r, 26D. 
 requires 
 .n, 270. 
 is neces- 
 
 fience. — 
 
 Condi- 
 jstimony 
 jstimony 
 \!harnock, 
 Ik of the 
 
 mystify 
 levidence 
 
 is true, 
 [aith and 
 |ne, 285. 
 
 loctrine. 
 It, Robert- 
 
 'J* 
 
 son, Guthrie. Faith implies consent of the will, 288, Taylor, 
 Baxter, Vinet. Faith on another excluc'' s reliance on self, 289. 
 Faith in \\\e true character of the right object, 290. Faith in 
 a Divine High Priest. — Wesley, 291. Faith puts us in immediate 
 relationship to Christ. — D'AuMgiU. Faith in the word of God, 
 not in the Church. The Great Reformation replaced faith in 
 the written Word. — Bp. ^^ordsworth, 292. Man may do pre- 
 paratory work for us, 293. Faith and man's personality. — Dr. 
 Candl'tsh, 294. Faith glorifies God, 295. Faith apprehends as 
 good, not merely as true. — Hooker. Faith and hope, 29(>. 
 Faith prays. Obtains salvation, 297. The turning point is 
 the ability to hear. Faith should be a constantly repeated act, 
 299. Two facts must hold the attention, 300. — IV. Arthur. 
 Faith believes in the present advoc ,cy of Christ, 301. Faith 
 suited to man's helplessness, 302. Not an inference from an 
 admitted historical fact. — JVardlaiv, 303. Faith is not believ- 
 ing that I am a Christian, 304. Faith refers to things hoped 
 for, 305. Faith of a servant, distinct from faith of a son. 
 Assurance a privilege attainable by all, not attained by some. 
 — Wesley, 308. Faith is ready to confess. Mistaken inference 
 about personal election. — J. Brown, 310. Salvation a gift. — 
 Whilcfield, Christian David, 312. A gift implies acceptance. 
 First obey the gospel, then the law. Illustrations of the life 
 abiding in the Divine Word, '^\^.—Hahakkuk, Paul, Luther. 
 The Reformers, '^Xh.—Ritschl, Sheraton, Wesley, 319. 
 
 APPENDED EXPOSITION OF ROMANS, v. 11-21. 
 
 This section has been generally studied. Interpretations have 
 deeply affected Theology, 321. A prevalent interpretation 
 tested exegetically. Paul treats of two subjects : (1) The rela- 
 tion of man to Adam ; (2) to Christ. ~irod/(^^', Whately, 322. 
 The right interpretation would lead to joy in God, who devised 
 the one as a remedy for the other, 323. The beneficial results 
 came from Christ; as the other results from Adam.— JZ/orc^, 
 Hill, 324. By Adam sinfulness of disposition entered into the 
 human vfor\A.—-Lange, Schaf, Pascal, H2^j. (A mystery, but 
 without it man's state M'ould be more mysterious). This has 
 B 
 

 ilr':' 
 
 XVlll 
 
 ANALYSTS. 
 
 led all to sin personally, 32(>. — Jugustine, JT. Lord, Schaff, 
 Hodge, 326. Mistaken to be a reason for the temporal death of 
 all. — Dick, Godct, Meyer, Hodge, Stunrt, 328. This accounts 
 for the disconformity to law prior to the age of accountability. 
 But such disconformity is not reckoned. — Whcdon, Fisk, 330. 
 PiVen where sin is not reckoned, death reigned. — Stuart, 331. 
 It results, not from judicial infliction, but from hereditary 
 mortality, 332. Adam was not permitted to entail that sinful- 
 ness and mortality, until he was made a type of "Him that 
 was to come," with far after influences.- -f/orfe^, Stuart, 333. 
 Meaning of type, 334. It was after Adam's fall that he was 
 made a type 336. Points of difference, and of similarity be- 
 tween type and antitype. — Watson, Stuart, Alford, 337. As 
 by the typical man came death, so by the antitypical came the 
 resurrection, and in a more glorious body, 33H. By Adam M^e 
 lost probation under a dispensation which condemns for one sin. 
 By Christ we get probation under a dispensation which admits 
 the pardon of many sins. — Lauge, 339, 310. By the one man 
 came death, which lowered us in the scale of being ; by the 
 other comes exaltation into the highest rank, if there is a wil- 
 ling acceptance of the offered abundance of grace, 342. Some 
 measure of grace granted unconditionally, remaining measures 
 given conditionally, 343 ; Fairy, 344. As by the one man 
 came a sinful disposition, leading to personal condemnation, so 
 by the other may come a holy disposition, leading to jus- 
 tification of life. — Alford, 345, 346. For as by the one many 
 have become actual sinners, by the other many may become 
 actually righteous. — Meyer, Smeaton, Hibbard, Hodge, Lange, 
 348, 349. Observe the different tenses, the one icere made, 
 the other shall be made. — Lange, 350. Paul does not teach 
 congenital regeneration. — Brooks, Haven, Whedon, Wesley, 
 Fletcher, Fisk, 351. Man is born of the flesh first. Maybe 
 born of the Spirit afterwards. — Whedon, 352. As children 
 grow up, the law enters into their conscierice, but is not suffi- 
 cient to repress sinfulness. Hibbard, 355. But grace can do 
 what mere law could not. — Brmvn, Alford, 356. Grace super- 
 abounds. — Hodge. Let us therefore joy in God, 359. Note 
 alluding to Ro. vi. Ml, 360. 
 
 I 
 
ANALYSIS. 
 
 XIX 
 
 d, Schnff, 
 1 death of 
 accounts 
 mtability. 
 '^'isk; 330. 
 tart, 331. 
 lerecUtary 
 liat sinful- 
 Him that 
 lart, 333. 
 at he was 
 ilarity be- 
 337. As 
 1 came the 
 Adam we 
 'or one sin. 
 icb. admits 
 e one man 
 g ; by the 
 re is a wil- 
 42. Some 
 measures 
 e one man 
 ination, so 
 ig to jus- 
 one many 
 ay become 
 V/c, Lange, 
 %ccrc made, 
 not teach 
 Wesley, 
 May be 
 s children 
 s not suffi- 
 ace can do 
 race super- 
 51). Note 
 
 '4 
 
 'v 
 
 
 1 
 
 '4 
 
 ";* 
 
 -■» 
 
 APPENDP.D NOTES.— 1. TEMPORAL DEATH, v. p. 328. 
 
 Error should be traced to its source. One source is the common 
 classification of temporal and spiritual death with everlasting 
 punishment. — Herschrll, «*(»1. To put Scripture words out of 
 their right place may originate fatal error. T1 lustrations : 
 "Salvation," "works," 36-. The characteristic marks of a 
 judicial sentence. Everlasting punishment has those marks, 
 3(>3. But where are such ruarks in "death of the body?" 3(>4-. 
 Has not the judicial penalty been postpon<}d to give longer 
 probation ? 30(>. The common interpretation admitted unin- 
 quiringly. Wesley at first accepted it, but rejected it when he 
 saw its erroneous tendency. That tendency is manifold, 307, 
 to Universalism, to Antinomianism, to Popery, to Annihila- 
 tionism, to the Calvinistic theory of (1) Federal Headship of 
 Adam. — Catharin, 370 ; Bethel, JVard, Davenant, Hopkins, 
 Schnff, Stuart, 371. (2) Federal Headship of Christ, 372. It 
 has led some Methodists to infer infant justification, as an ofi'set, 
 373. It perplexes the believer. It leads, by different routes, 
 to all these different opinions. Can such be a true interpreta- 
 tion ? 374. 
 
 APPENDED NOTES. —2. SPIRITUAL DEATH, v. p. 325. 
 
 When Paul considei's man's sinful state, he looks also at man's 
 relation to Christ's remedial plans. Some look at the former 
 apart from the latter ; and then conjecture it to be a judicial 
 punishment, 37o. As this opinion does violence to the sense of 
 right, it has been put into fair forms of speech, which are 
 unwarranted and misleading in this case. — Dr. Alexander. Has 
 spiritual death the marks of a judicial -sentence ? Would it 
 promote the ends of government ? 377. Illustration : Would an 
 infinitely Holy Being inflict it? 378. The theory perplexes, 
 379. Leads men to oppose moral intuitions (1) by means of 
 misinterpreted texts. — Dick, Beechcr ; (2) by giving them the 
 name of carnal reason, 381. Some Methodists have advocated 
 infant regeneration as a set-oflF. Why they favor this, 383. 
 President Edwards' opposing theory. — Lange. His wrong views 
 
 m 
 
XX ANAT.YSTS. 
 
 of what is ncccHsary to personal responsibility, IJS4. Man has 
 not "natural ability to do that whieh is good." Motives do 
 not destroy freedom of will, because they act only on voluntary 
 attention, {JH5. The opinion that spiritual death is part of the 
 judical sentence excludes the rich meaning and joyous character 
 of Paul's words, JJSO, etc. For right view, see Exposition. 
 
 I 
 
 APPENDED NOTES.— 3. THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE HAS 
 NOT A PRIESTLY CHARACTER, v. p. 217. 
 
 The Christian Church built as nearly as possible on the plan of the 
 Jewish. — Wesley f 387. Under the Jewish, the prophetic and 
 priestly offices were distinct, so under the Christian dispensa- 
 tion too. Under the old dispensation there were many priests 
 and many prophets. Under this dispensation there are many 
 prophets, but only one Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. As 
 therfe are no human priests in the Christian Church, priestly 
 rank cannot be necessary to administer Christian ordinances. 
 And Christian ordinances cannot be priestly rites, 388. Any 
 one called of Goc, to preach, and recognized and ordained, may 
 administer the sacraments, 389. The objection made by High- 
 churchmen rebounds against themselves with fatal force, 300. 
 
 - s 
 
Man has 
 'otives do 
 ^'oluntary 
 iii't of the 
 character 
 tioii. 
 
 CE HAS 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 an of the 
 hetic and 
 dispensa- 
 y priests 
 ire many 
 rist. As 
 priestly 
 linances. 
 18. Any 
 led, may 
 by High- 
 ce, 390. 
 
 God did not see fit to reveal to us the plan of salvation in the 
 terms of systematic theology. Some think tliat He ought to 
 have done this; not only so, that He ought to have drawn up 
 for us "a summary of Gospel truths, contrived with such ex- 
 quisite skill as to be well adapted for all-of every age and 
 country." But He has not done so. He knew what the pro- 
 bable result would be. The compendium would of course be 
 deeply venerated, and its very words stored up in the memory. 
 But there would have been a careless and contented apathy 
 about the rest of the Scriptures. It would be thought there was 
 no need of laboriously searching these to ascertain whether they 
 agreed with a compendium of doctrine that was given by in- 
 spiration. - There would have been . . . no call for that, 
 vigilant attention in the investigation of truth which is now 
 requisite, when comparing one passage with another, and col- 
 lecting instruction from the scattered, oblique, and incidental 
 references to various doctrines in the existing Scriptures ; and 
 consequently none of the personal bene/its that arise from this 
 course." (Cautions for the Times.) 
 
 "The history of the early Christian Church does not present 
 any fully received and accredited formulation of doctrine on this 
 subject, sucn as exists, for example, in respect of the Trinity 
 
XXll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1 I 
 
 I '! 
 
 and the Incarnation. This remarkable fact in the history of 
 doctrine throws the inquirer more upon his own resources than 
 if he were exph)ring in ahnost any other direction." (Rev. Rich. 
 F. Littledale, D.D., in Clerical Sijmposium, p. 4.) 
 
 Many books liave been written on this great toi)ic : but at an 
 important point they have failed to "distinguish things that 
 differ;" lience, as David Thomas says, " The book which could 
 content at once the understanding and the heart remains to be 
 written." Prof. Cave says : " There seems to lie before this age 
 a reconstruction of the Doctrine of the Atonement. " He thinks that 
 it should be done on the line pointed out by Jonathan Edwards, 
 namely, that it was not an equivalent penalty, but an equivalent 
 for a penalty. {Cler. Symp., p. 136.) We think investigation 
 would be more successful if conducted on the line indicated by 
 Limborch and other Arminians, that it was an equivalent for 
 the suspension of incurred penalty ; rendering it satisfactory to 
 divine Righteousness to propose a plan of salvation on grounds 
 of grace, and on condition of repentance aiid faith. This view 
 is very distinct from the idea that it was a contentment of divine 
 Justice, by submitting to impreventable penalty. 
 
 Some think that the construction of a true theory is impos- 
 sible. Hence they plead for implicit recognition of the atone- 
 ment as a fact, but protest against all theories of the atonement 
 whatsoever; that is, against all definite views upon the subject. 
 " But the present, above all other periods of human history, is 
 intolerant of all vague, undetermined, and loosely held views." 
 {Dr. Hodge,) True Christianity cannot be separated from ' ' the 
 truth as it is in Jesus." "Clear doctrinal statements are 
 necessary to open profession of the faith, and to frank dealing 
 with those whom we would win or warn." Some agree with 
 
LNTllODUCTION. 
 
 XXlll 
 
 iory of 
 38 than 
 '. Rich. 
 
 it at an 
 lis that 
 h could 
 18 to be 
 this age 
 iiks that 
 dwards, 
 uivalent 
 itigation 
 cated by 
 ilent for 
 ictory to 
 grounds 
 his view 
 f divine 
 
 [s impos- 
 le atone- 
 )nement 
 [Subject, 
 [story, is 
 views." 
 )m "the 
 mts are 
 dealing 
 ree with 
 
 Bi.sh(»i> Butler, that (Jod has left "soniewliat in it unrevealcd," 
 but suppose tliat, for this reason, all conjectures about it must 
 be "at least uncertain" ([». 87.) Some, having personally failed 
 to explain it, assume that others must equally fail ; that it is 
 ineapaV)lc <»f being explained. "This," says Rainey, "cannot 
 mean, surely, tliat we are unable to reduce to complete and 
 perfect theory the principles involved in the atonement," and 
 *' on which it avails." If so, "it follows that at this point we 
 are barred out from insight into the ways of (Jlod, and from 
 sympathy with them, for sympathy requires light." (Prof. Rainey, 
 in Cler. Sump., p. 04.) As "the work of Christ is intended to 
 be the basis of our fellowship with God here and hereafter," it 
 must have "significance for the understanding, heart, and q^n- 
 science of man." (Prof. Rainey, in Cler. Symp., p. 103.) "The 
 Biblical writers do not appear to have regarded the atonement 
 as surrounded with such utter darkness;" they "celebrate it 
 in exulting and ready speech," and "in a manner suggestive, 
 not of darkness, but of light." (Prof. Rainey, in Cler. Symp.y 
 pp. 94, 95. 
 
 "Our ignorance is partial, not total; and it is only total 
 ignorance which precludes investigation." Fichte was wont to 
 say "the thinking man cannot but philosophise ; with at least 
 equal truth it may be said that the thoughtful Christian cannot 
 but theologise." (Rev. Prof. Alfred Gave.) Hence "some concep- 
 tion, however vague, »)f the relations between human oin and 
 the death of Christ, and between the death of Christ and Divine 
 forgiveness, will uake form and substance in the mind of every 
 man who is in the habit of reading the New Testament, and who 
 believes that the teac^ 'ng of Christ and His Apostles reveals the 
 thoughts of God. The theologian proposes to investigate the 
 
j^'viv 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 .1' 
 
 I II, 
 
 :il' 
 
 r I 
 
 ll 
 
 III 
 
 '!) 
 
 principles and grounds of that relation." (Dale, on Atonement^ 
 p. 14-10.) 
 
 This should be done by a fair induction from all the Scriptures 
 teach upon the subject. But this task is not an easy one. An 
 adequate understanding of this topic cannot be hastily accjuired ; 
 for " it is closely connected with right views t)f the moral attri- 
 butes of (iod, of the nature of His moral government, of Law, 
 of Sin and Penalty, of the Person of the God-man, and the 
 Person jind attributes of the Holy Spirit." (Hodge on Atonement^ 
 p. 13.) "Indeed, there is not an important truth but wh'ch is 
 pre-supposed by it, included in it, or arises out of it ; or any 
 part of practical religion but hangs upon it." (A. Fuller, Atone. ^ 
 p. 45.) 
 
 The thoughtful reader will therefore expect to find tliat some 
 portions of this subject cannot be adequately apprehended with- 
 out wakeful and earnest attention. " \s a knowledge of God is 
 not palpable to the thoughtless who behold His works with 
 indifierence ; so neither is a knowledge of the gospel to be 
 attained by men to whom it appears unworthy of regard." 
 {Bishoii Huntingdon. ) ' ' That man does not rightly estimate the 
 value of the pure ore of Divine truth, who grudges the labor that 
 is necessary to dig it out of the mine and separate it from rub- 
 bish ; and who, when he in any good measure succeeds, does not 
 rejoice as one who findeth great spoil." (Dr. J. Brown, Com. on 
 ' 1 Pe^., p. 558.) As Milton observes : "Truth indeed came into 
 the world with her Divine Master, and was a perfect shape, 
 most glorious to look on. But when He ascended, and His 
 apostles after Him were laid asleep, there straight arose a wicked 
 race of deceivers, who took the virgin Truth, and, as the Egyp- 
 tian Typhon dealt with the good Osiris, hewed her lovely form 
 
INTKODUICTION. 
 
 XXV 
 
 ementy 
 
 iptures 
 
 3. An 
 
 [uired ; 
 
 l1 attri- 
 
 f Law, 
 
 md the 
 
 nement, 
 
 dv'ih. is 
 or any 
 Atone., 
 
 it some 
 pd with- 
 f God is 
 8 with 
 il to be 
 ■egard." 
 late the 
 lor that 
 m rub- 
 lloes not 
 'ovi. on 
 me into 
 |t shape, 
 ,nd His 
 wicked 
 Egyp- 
 sly form 
 
 into a thousand pieces, and scattered them to tlie fttur winds. 
 From that time ever since, tlie sad friends of Truth, imitating 
 tlie careful search that Fsis made for the mangled body of 
 Osiris, went up and down, gathering limb by limb, still as they 
 could find them. We have not yet found them all. Lords and 
 Commons ; nor ever shall d(j till her Master's second coming. He 
 shall bring together every joint and member, and shall mould 
 them into an immortal feature of loveliness and perf(3ction." 
 (Milton's Areop., 1044.) Yet, as so much has been done since 
 Milt(m's day, the gatherer may now be more hopeful. 
 
 As the topic is a Biblical study, and as the Bible has had 
 many students, differently trained, in different connriunions and 
 in different .ages ; some of them have more clearly apprehended 
 one poijit, and some another point. It was resolved, therefore, 
 to select those portions of their several interpretations which 
 exhibited " clear thinking and clear speaking ;" and to separate 
 these from parts that had a wrong tinge, or a misleading ten- 
 dency. According to a favorite maxim of Cousin, plausible 
 "error is always partial truth ;" consequently, "the most effec- 
 tive method of rectifying error is to separate the truth from 
 the error with which it has become associated." (Rev. James 
 McCosh, Method of Divine Government, p. 453.) With this view, 
 numerous extracts, from probably one hundred and fifty dis- 
 tinguished writers, were selected and separated ; and then 
 classified and marked as belonging to a certain department 
 and section of the subject. A review of these headings aided 
 in framing the proposed plan of treating the subject. 
 
 It now remained to add many thoughts suggested by these, 
 and by a renewed examination of the inspired writings ; know- 
 ing that "no view of any subject of revelation can be correct, 
 
XXVI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 :i:i 
 
 |lll 
 
 
 if it does not allow the full and obvious meaning of every class 
 of passages which treat upon that subject." (Wayland's Sermons, 
 p. 145.) 
 
 The truths of Scripture are scattered promiscuously over its 
 pages ; but ' * they are as capable of being systematically ar- 
 ranged, as are the diversified objects that are equally scattered 
 over the animal, mineral, and vegetable worlds. And they can 
 only be apprehended in their full force and majesty, when put, 
 by systematic arrangement, in their natural relations and mutual 
 dependence. (Rev. W. Reed, Plumouthism, p. 36.) In physical 
 inquiry, the process of collecting facts is often attended with 
 great difficulty and toil. It is altogether different with the facts 
 of Christianity. They are all given us in the writings of the 
 New Testament. To use the language of St. Paul, "The word 
 is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart : that is, the 
 word of faith, which we preach." (Rom. x. 8.) 
 
 "The theologian, like the astronomer, is nothing more than 
 the interpreter, who observes the facts, and who teaches to 
 others precisely what he has read in the Book, neither more nor 
 less." {Hodge, p. 21.) He should make no attempt to change 
 its thoughts. The whole range of revealed truth in all its future 
 or all its possible developments, lay open like an illuminated 
 scroll before the mind of the inspiring Spirit by whose aid the 
 Bible was given. To assume that uninspired men have authority 
 to modify or add to His teachings, is to claim a dangerous 
 power, and to which no limits could be assigned. 
 
 We may, however, expect more clearly to interpret, and more 
 systematically to present, what has been communicated by the 
 inspired writers. 
 
 To present the true teaching of Scripture is the principal aim 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XXVll 
 
 y class 
 rmons, 
 
 IV er its 
 illy ar- 
 attered 
 ley can 
 en put, 
 mutual 
 )hysical 
 id with 
 he facts 
 i of the 
 he word 
 t is, the 
 
 re than 
 iches to 
 lore nor 
 
 change 
 s future 
 nunated 
 
 aid the 
 uthority 
 mgerous 
 
 lid more 
 by the 
 
 ipal aim 
 
 of the Christian teacher, but it has not been forgotten that it is 
 often advisable to expose wrong interpretations. ' ' Error does 
 not die. It must be killed ; and venerable error is hard to kill." 
 When opposing wrong views, however, it has been judged best, 
 with Mr. Wesley, to distinguish between those which are " com- 
 patible with love to Christ and a work of grace," and those 
 which are not. It is a fact that some views which we deem very 
 erroneous, are held by men who yet give evidence of being really 
 saved by the grace of God. As they have obviously obtained 
 salvation from God, and as clearly retain it, it is manifest that 
 the points on which they diflfer from other children of God, are 
 not universally essential to salvation ; but may be classed among 
 what Mr. Wesley called " opinions as contra-distinguished from 
 essential doctrines." {Weslei/s Journals, May 16, 1765.) When 
 this is the case, they should be allowed ' * a brother's share in the 
 common faith, a brother's place in the household of faith, and a 
 brother's claim to our love." Hooker said, " The more dreadful 
 a thing it is to deny salvation by Christ alone, the more slow and 
 fearful I am, except it be too manifest, to lay a thing so 
 grievous to any man's charge." But, nevertheless, erroneous 
 opinions are very dangerous. They tend to lead men eventually 
 to reject essential points, and ''make shipwreck of the faith." 
 
 It has been thought ' ' necessary to repel that latitudinarian 
 indifference to exact conception and careful statement of doc- 
 trine, which tends secretly, yet not less certainly, to destroy 
 the truth ; and which in the present age is our chief source of 
 danger." (Dr. Hodge.) 
 
 Were the inspired representation of Christ's propitiatory work 
 rightly freed from the perplexing admixture of erroneous inter- 
 pretations, and clearly, coherently, and impressively presented ; 
 

 \ I 
 
 I. i 
 
 'II 
 
 IL 
 
 XXVI 11 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 it would, doubtless, appear worthy of all the glowing announce- 
 ments of the prophets ; worthy the grateful joy of all the 
 Churches of Christ in the apostolic age, and of all the rapturous 
 bliss of the hosts above in full assembly. Inspired by the 
 theme, we too would more frequently sing : 
 
 " With calmly reverential joy, 
 let us all our lives employ 
 
 In setting forth Thy love ; 
 And raise in death our triumph higher, 
 And sing with all the heavenly choir 
 
 That endless song above." — Wesley. 
 
 And " ministers of the gospel would be led with stronger faith, 
 intenser earnestness, and still increasing success, to preach 
 Christ and Him crucified." (Dr. Dale.) The author has aimed 
 to contribute something towards an object so exceedingly 
 desirable. The result has been placed in the hands of the 
 printer, under a solemn sense of the responsibility it involves, 
 and yet with the humble hope and prayer that it may be useful 
 to those who wish to understand " The whole counsel of God." 
 
 I ; 
 
THE ONE MEDIATOE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE LORD JESUS CHRIST A MEDIATOR IN A PRIESTLY 
 
 OFFICE. 
 
 The Scriptures expressly state that the Lord Jesus 
 Christ took the position of a "Mediator between God 
 
 that the Mediator was solemnly appointed to the 
 oiSce o the priesthood. God said to Him : « Thou art 
 
 vii 1 7 1 ir ^^^'" '^"^ "'^'^ °*" Melchisedec." (Heb. 
 vn. 17.) They state also that a priest is one who 
 .s authorized to "draw nigh to God to offer gifts and 
 sacrifices for sin " (Heb. viii. 3) ; that Christ as a priest 
 must have a sacrifice to offer; that His sacrifice was 
 not an animal one. such as was offered by the typical 
 aw It was nhe offering of the body of Jesus^Le 
 tor all. Accordingly we are told that "once in the 
 end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin 
 Christ T:?^ °f Himself '■ (Heb. ix. 26); and'^that 
 Christ hath loved us and given Himself for us, an 
 offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smel ing 
 
10 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I! 
 
 ' 
 
 
 Ml 
 
 ! !i 
 
 savour " (Eph. v. 2) ; that " He is the propitiation for 
 our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the 
 whole world " (1 John ii. 2), and that He is " set forth 
 as such by God " the Father (Rom. iii. 25). 
 
 "It is clearly, therefore, the doctrine of the New 
 Testament that Jesus Christ saves His people by acting 
 for them the part of a Priest." (Dick's TheoL, Vol. IL, 
 p. 515.) It cannot be denied that "the sufferings and 
 death of Christ are set forth in sacrificial terms by the 
 New Testament writers." (Rev. John Randies.) And 
 " it is manifest," says Rev. Richard Watson, "that those 
 terms which, both among Jews and Gentiles, were in 
 use to express the various processes and means of 
 propitiation, were necessarily understood by their hear- 
 ers in the sense which they had been accustomed for 
 ages to attach to them." (Watson's Diet., Art Expia- 
 tion) The apostles knew that such words would be 
 understood in this way by their Jewish readers, and 
 accordingly, when selecting them, they must have 
 intended to teach the sacrificial character of Christ's 
 death. 
 
 Besides, it is manifest that the first " Christians, 
 including the early converts from Judaism, who were 
 familiar with the ceremonial sacrifices, regarded the 
 death of Christ as a sacrifice for their sins." (Dr. 
 Dale, Atonement, p. 269.) The Fathers also, "alike 
 those who immediately followed the apostl^'', and 
 those who flourished before and after the Council of 
 Nice, A.D. 325, adhered to the sacrificial language of 
 the Old Testament." (SchafF-Herzog.) " The Christian 
 
 .'i 
 
 # 
 
CHRIST A MEDIATOR IN A PRIESTLY OFFICE. 11 
 
 ^ans, 
 
 ^ere 
 
 the 
 
 |(Dr. 
 
 llike 
 
 land 
 
 of 
 
 of 
 
 aan 
 
 Fathers," says Hagenbach, "generally adopted the 
 theory that the death of Christ conformed to the idea 
 of a sacrifice as set forth in the Old Testament.'* 
 (Hagenbach's Hist, of Doc, II., p. 355.) For instance, 
 Clemens Eomanus, the father of uninspired Christian 
 literature, says : " Let us look steadfastly to the blood 
 of Christ, and see how precious it is in God's sight ; 
 whicli being shed for our salvation, has brought the 
 grace of repentance to all the world." {Ep. Ad, Cor., 
 c. iv. 5.) Origen saw that " the entrance of sin into 
 the world made a propitiation necessary, and that 
 there can be no propitiation without a sacrificial offer- 
 ing." {Horn. ijJf. on Numbers.) 
 
 It is true that together with this conviction as to 
 the sacrificial character of Christ's priestly work, there 
 prevailed from the time of Origen, A.D. 254, to that 
 of Anselm, A.D. 1109, a strange view of His ransom- 
 paying work, — " a belief that Christ offered a ransom 
 on behalf of men to Satan as one who was supposed 
 to have acquired over them the rights of conquest." 
 (Schaff-Herzog.) These persons grievously misinter- 
 preted the idea of ransom ; but, happily, they did not 
 confound it with the associated idea of atoning sacri- 
 fice, which they rightly regarded as presented to God. 
 Sacrifice and redemption are distinct illustrations, as 
 we will in due time more fully show. We are now 
 pointing out that the apostles' idea of Christ oflfering 
 sacrifice to God, was not lost sight of at the period 
 referred to. It has, indeed, been greatly obscured in 
 some minds by erroneous theories respecting it. But 
 
12 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 1' 
 
 
 the correct views have a^ain and a<jain been broujrht 
 out into prominence. Among others, Mr. Wesley 
 apprehended aright the language of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures and of the Christian Fathers. This is clearly 
 seen in Sermon v. 9. He says : " By the sacrifice for 
 sin made by the second Adam, as the representative of 
 us all, God is so far reconciled to all the world that He 
 hath given us a new covenant ; the plain condition 
 whereof being once fulfilled, there is no more con- 
 demnation for us, but we are justified freely by His 
 grace, through the redemption which is in Christ 
 Jesus." This comprehensive statement admirably 
 presents some essential points, and suggests others. 
 We shall, accordingly, follow out more fully this mode 
 of presenting the subject at the proper place in the 
 course of our remarks. It is now adduced to show 
 that Methodist theology sets forth " the old, old story 
 of Jesus and His love," namely, that He died as a 
 propitiatory sacrifice for the sin of the world. 
 
 "Happily, Christian communions generally agree, in 
 the first place, that Christ was, in some sense, a sacri- 
 fice for the sins of men ; secondly, that the sense in 
 which He was a sacrifice is the same as that in which 
 the sin-offerings of the Old Testament were sacrifices." 
 (Dr. Hodge, Theol. II., p. 498.) They also generally 
 admit that the priests and sacrifices of the old dispen- 
 sation were instituted with the special design ot pre- 
 figuring the priesthood of Christ, and His peculiar 
 work. 
 
 This fact being proved and admitted, it is advisable 
 
 
'^ 
 
 CHRIST A MEDIATOR IN A PRIESTLY OFFICE. 13 
 
 that we look back at those typical sacrifices, and en- 
 deavor to acquire such a knowledge of them as will 
 enable us rightly and adequately to understand the 
 words which relate to them, and which the inspired 
 writers of the New Testament borrowed and employed 
 to describe the all-important sacrifice of Christ, the 
 High Priest of our dispensation. 
 
 wif 
 
 -»^/ 
 
 I; 
 
(14) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 |illi 
 
 i! 
 
 THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 It is obvious that typical sacrifice, in one or other 
 of its many forms, was the distingushing feature of 
 the Jewish worship. It will clearly appear as we 
 proceed that the "entire ritual law, as it was given by 
 God to Moses, rested (1) on the pre-supposition that 
 man, as sinful and laden with guilt, was not capable 
 of entering into immediate communication with the 
 holy God;" who was present in the most holy place 
 of the tabernacle, but in that place was separated 
 from the people. (2) On the idea of mediation be- 
 tween man and God. This appeared in the appointment 
 of a priest to draw nigh to God, on man's behalf, witl 
 sacrifice and incense. (3) On the appointment of or- 
 dinances of purification from ceremonial uncleanness. 
 (See Ebrard's Exordium to Hehretus.) 
 
 But we must examine the matter at some length. The 
 Jewish Highpriest was considered to be, in an eminent 
 sense, the priest, the other priests being regarded as his 
 assistants. Now, the Epistle to the Hebrews informs 
 us that " every High-priest is ordained of God to offer 
 gifts and sacrifices;" and for this purpose was ap- 
 pointed to draw nigh to God in the inner chamber of 
 the sacred tabernacle. We must look at the furni- 
 ture and contents of this tabernacle. An account of 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 15 
 
 ap- 
 of 
 
 •ni- 
 of 
 
 these is given in Exodus xxv. 17-22: "And thou 
 shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold, . . . and make 
 one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on 
 the other end. . . . And the cherubim shall stretch 
 forth thoir wings on high, covering the mercy-seat 
 with their wings. . . . And thou shalt put the mercy- 
 seat above upon the ark ; and in the ark thou shalt 
 put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there 
 I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee 
 from above the mercy-seat." That mercy-seat, be 
 it carefully observed, could be approached only by 
 a mediating priest, and by him only when bringing 
 the blood of a typical sacrifice for sin, and typical 
 incense. This is clearly taught in the 16th chapter of 
 Lev., vv. 2-16 : " And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak 
 unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times 
 into the holy place within the vail before the mercy- 
 seat, which is upon the ark ; that he die not : for I 
 will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat. Thus 
 shall Aaron come into the holy place : with a young 
 bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt- 
 offering . . . and make an atonement for himself 
 and for his house. . . . And he shall take a censer 
 full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before 
 the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense, beaten 
 small, and bring it within the vail : and he shall put 
 the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the 
 cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat that is 
 upon the testimony, that he die not: and he shall 
 take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with 
 
f 
 
 m:' 
 
 Ml' 
 
 I; II 
 11 ' 
 
 16 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 his finger upon the inerey-.seat eastward ; and hefore 
 the mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his 
 fingers seven times. Then shall he kill the goat of 
 the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his 
 blood within the vail, and do with it as he did with the 
 blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy- 
 seat and before the mercy-seat." As the shechinah, 
 the sjjmbol of God's immediate presence, was there, it 
 became evident " that the service terminated in God." 
 (Hodge ii., p. 503.) The typical High-priest did 
 not with the blood draw near to the people to pro- 
 duce a moral effect upon them. He, as already said, 
 drew nigh to God in the most holy place of the sacred 
 tabernacle to sprinkle the blood on the lid that 
 covered the ark which contained a copy of God's law, 
 and which covering was selected as God's throne to in- 
 dicate that He too protected the law. That now blood- 
 bearing lid was also covered by a cloud of incense to 
 denote that the High-priest came to offer intercession 
 as well as sacrifice. The obvious design of this typi- 
 cal institution was to teach that it is only through 
 priestly sacrifice and intercession that a holy God 
 could become a God of grace towards sinners. 
 
 Let us for a few moments pass without the sacred 
 tabernacle. It is important that we should specially 
 notice the point at which the priestly mediator began 
 to take part in the typical service. " The priest," as 
 Dr. Smeaton observes, " was for a time simply a spec- 
 tator." Before 1. e began his work the victim was pro- 
 vided and brought to an appointed place ; and sinners, 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 17 
 
 igh 
 }od 
 
 ired 
 
 tUy 
 
 ran 
 
 as 
 
 [ec- 
 
 Iro- 
 
 jrs, 
 
 or their r«3prcsentatives, laid their hands on the head 
 of the animal. The laying; on of hands was the 
 symbol of prayer that the victim may be accepted for 
 the offerer : " And he shall put his hand upon the head 
 of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him." 
 (Lev. i. 4, 5.) To indicate their faith in the ritual, they 
 confessed over tlie victim the sins of the parties con- 
 cerned. The sacrilicial knife was now emploved to 
 put the victim to death on their behalf. Here we see 
 an innocent lamb suffering for a guilty man. The 
 lamb is not punished in the man's stead, because it 
 does not suffer what the law threatened to inflict on 
 the moral trangressor ; but what is wholly different 
 both in kind and in duration. Besides, there was no 
 judicial examination, and no sentence pronounced on 
 the sinner. The scene teaches us that the innocent 
 may rightfully bear suffering on behalf of the guilty, 
 but it does not teach that the innocent may be right- 
 fully punished for the guilty. The object of this suf- 
 fering was not to accomplish, but to avert the penalty. 
 It was when the suffering was being inflicted on the 
 typical lamb, that the typical priest stepped forward 
 to take part in the service. He held a vessel to catch 
 the blood that was flowing from the victim. Having 
 obtained it he proceeded to sprinkle it on the appointed 
 place or object. 
 
 When the High-priest went into the Holy of Holies, 
 he did not take the dying lamb, he merely took the 
 blood that was the token of its finished sacrificial suffer- 
 ings ; and this h^ sprinkled in the manner that was 
 
18 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 f 1 1 ," 
 
 I i: 
 
 :iiaia 
 
 prescribed. The symbol of sprinkling was used with 
 two applications — heavenward, for the propitiation of 
 divine displeasure ; earthward, to denote the desired 
 obtainment of favor for man. 
 
 Sometimes the ordinary priest took the blood and 
 put it on the horns of the altar, and poured it out at 
 the base, where praying ones went to pray. (Lev. 
 XXV. 34.) 
 
 But on more important occasions, the High-priest, 
 as already noticed, took the blood. When he did so, 
 he entered into the most Holy place in the typical 
 tabernacle or temple, sprinkled the blood on the top 
 of the ark of the covenant near the Shechinah, the 
 miraculous emblem ^i God's presence. (Ex. xix. 22 ; 
 Num. xvi. 5 ; Ex. xlii. 63.) 
 
 He covered it also with a cloud of incense, as an 
 emblem of priestly intercession. Propitiation was not 
 eiTected by the mere suffering which the victim en- 
 dured ; with that suffering was connected subsequent 
 priestly intercession. The High-priest carried typi- 
 cal incense as well as typical blood into the Holy of 
 Holies. 
 
 And then the Shechinah, that was the miraculously 
 formed and miraculously sustained emblem of the 
 Divine Presence, shone forth upon the cherubim on the 
 mercy-seat. The cherubim probably represented those 
 for whom the animal typical sacrifices were slain, and 
 were placed in the most holy place to indicate that those 
 who brought such sacrifices in true repentance and 
 faith, would obtain access into God's gracious presence. 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 19 
 
 e. 
 
 John, in his vision of the heavenly sanctuary, saw the 
 Lamb as it had been slain in the midst of the four 
 beasts, or living cherubim ; and he heard these unite 
 with the elders in singing the new song : " Thou wast 
 slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of 
 every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." 
 (Kev. V. 6-9.) 
 
 Some have thought that, at the same moment, the 
 cloudy pillar, which was above the Tabernacle as the 
 outer emblem of God's presence, assumed a resplen- 
 dent, instead of a dark appearance. At all events the 
 people who were assembled without for prayer, knew, 
 by inhaling the wide-spreading odour of the incense, 
 that t3^pical priestly intercession was being made for 
 them. 
 
 From what has been said, we learn clearly this im- 
 portant fact, that a principal part of the priest's work 
 was intercession with God ; and that a chief plea in 
 that intercession was the suffering endured by another 
 on the sinner's behalf. a 
 
 The High-priest, after coming out from the Holy of 
 Holies, blessed those for whom sacrifice and intercession 
 had been made. He did not bless the people im- 
 mediately after the sacrifice died ; he, as already re- 
 marked, first took the blood and the incense, and went 
 to make intercession in the Holy of Holies. Hence the 
 sacrifices, independently of the intei\.ession, did not 
 avail in any case. It was after the sacrifice was 
 pleaded in intercession ; and after the people's prayer 
 was presented (for " the people prayed without at the 
 
Ml 
 
 lil! 
 
 •'ilii 
 
 1!', 
 
 ill 
 
 20 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 time of incense," Luke i. 10), that the High-priest 
 blessed the people, by ofiering for them an intercessory 
 prayer ; — " The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The 
 Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious 
 unto thee : The Lord lift up his countenance upon 
 thee and give thee peace." (Numbers vi. 24-26.) 
 So that this blessing was evidently procured, not 
 by sacrifice merely, but by sacrifice and inter- 
 cession, and by these for persons who at that hour 
 were "praying without," either in the immediate 
 vicinity of the temple, or at a distance. To offer 
 sacrifice and to pray was the duty of the whole house 
 of Israel. Assuming that they would do so, the High- 
 priest was to make intercession with Jehovah for 
 them ; and was reminded of this part of his duty by 
 the fact that he bore the name of Jehovah on the front 
 of his mitre, and the names of the twelve tribes of 
 Israel on his breast-plate. 
 
 It is proper here to remember that, under the Jewish 
 dispensation, ceremonial laws were enjoined, as well 
 as moral commandments. Hence there were cere- 
 monial transgressions as well as transgressions ag\ainst 
 the moral law, and, accordingly, there were ceremonial 
 penalties as well as judicial penalties. The typical 
 sacrifice and typical intercession were efficacious so far 
 as to procure release from incurred ceremonial penalty. 
 They availed to the " purifying of the flesh." (Heb. ix. 
 13.) They procured forgiveness for such offenders, 
 and a restored right of access to ecclesiastical privileges. 
 
 But typical sacrifices did not release from the penalty 
 
 1 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 21 
 
 ix. 
 rs, 
 es. 
 
 of the niorcd law. In such cases " it was not possible 
 for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. 
 (Heb. X. 10.) The inefficacy of the typical sacrifices, in 
 reference to moral transgressions, was frequently and 
 fully indicated by the fact that they were ordered to 
 be repeated daily, weekly, monthly, by the ordinary 
 priests, and yearly by the High-priest, when re- 
 membrance was again made of sin, of all past sin, and 
 not merely of those committed since the last sacrifice 
 was offered. The ordinary offerers of those sacrifices 
 were not even admitted into the inner sanctuary. 
 The High-priest was indeed admitted annually on the 
 great day of atonement, but only after making atone- 
 ment for himself. And then he had to retire without 
 the veil to make another atonement for the sins of the 
 people. He confessed over the newly appointed 
 victim all the sins of the house of Israel, but he was 
 not permitted to slay it in sacrifice. This interruption 
 of his sacrificial work indicated, as it seems to us, that 
 no priest worthy to make a true atonement for moral 
 transgression had yet appeared. On this account though 
 the victim was selected, and was by the figurative act 
 of laying his hand on its head, laden with sin, it was 
 not slain, but let go in the wilderness. 
 
 Let us take another step. The sprinkling of blood 
 and the offering of incense in the Holy of Holies did 
 not accomplish all that was needed. It was necessary 
 in some cases to have the blood sprinkled on the people. 
 The ritual act of sprinkling blood was performed not 
 only on the covering of the law, it was sprinkled on 
 
22 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 lit ! 
 
 i\ 
 
 :1'S 
 
 persons, at the special renewal of God's covenant 
 with them at the time of Moses, though not afterwards, 
 except to re-establish it when annulled by leprosy, 
 or contact with the ceremonial impurity of death. 
 
 It was also necessary to have water mingled with 
 sacrificial elements (the ashes of a heifer, &c.), 
 which was called the water of purifying, sprinkled 
 upon them, in order to free them from ceremonial im- 
 purity ; and this typified the need of the divine 
 agency of the Spirit to remove moral impurity, the 
 impurity of sinful dispositions. 
 
 It thus appears that while types and ceremonies, 
 as far as they were outward symbols, appealed to 
 the outward senses, they had a spiritual meaning 
 that appealed also to the understanding and the faith. 
 Typical sacrifices had not in themselves power to 
 propitiate, but they taught that sin, in order to be re- 
 mitted, must first be atoned for, and that a true sacri- 
 fice would in due time be offered by a Great High- 
 priest that " was to come," through whom the ungodly 
 could be "justified from all things from which they 
 could not be justified by the law of Moses." And associ- 
 ated rites typified the work of the divine Spirit as 
 the great renewing agency. The law had " a shadow 
 of good things to come, and not the very image of 
 the things ; " words which make "a beautiful allusion 
 to the difl^erent states of a picture, the first faint 
 sketch or outline being contrasted with the figure so 
 filled up, and finished, as to oflfer an exact portraiture 
 of the represented objects." {Pictorial Bible.) As the 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 23 
 
 on 
 lit 
 so 
 re 
 
 le 
 
 full portrait is to the first faint sketch, so the sacrifice 
 of the New Testament is to the sacrifices of the old 
 dispensation. Christ, by one sacrificial offering and by 
 His continued intercessions, fulfils what was typically 
 predicted by the Jewish temple, Jewish priests, and 
 Jewish sacrifices. 
 
 The pious Jews who composed the true Israel of 
 God under the old dispensation did, in fact, regard the 
 sacrifices as typical of a great sacrifice by One who 
 was to come, and knew that the antitypical Lamb 
 would be provided, not by man, but by God himself. 
 While some of the Jewish priests were offering typical 
 sacrifices in the Mosaic tabernacle, there were in the 
 tabernacle of David other worshippers, who sang the 
 prophetic words " Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldst 
 not, but a body hast Thou prepared me. Then said I, 
 Lo, I come to do thy will, God." (Compare Psalm xl. 
 6, 8, with Heb. x. 4, 10.) These words indicated God's 
 intention to send a Great Antitypical High-priest, who 
 would in due time take away the merely typical sacri- 
 fices, that he may establish the antitypical and true 
 sacrifice. Hence David said: "In Thee, Lord, do I 
 put my trust:" (not in mere typical offerings and rites) 
 "deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear 
 to me, deliver me speedily." (Psalm xxxi. 1, 2.) The 
 Jews knew that God announced himself to Moses to be 
 the Lord God, merciful and gracious, forgiving ini- 
 quity, transgression, and sin. That He said by Isaiah, 
 " I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgres- 
 sions for my own sake, and will not remem- 
 
i'^^i '!! 
 
 24 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 i 
 ll 
 
 ber thy sins." (Isa. xliii. 25.) Yet they expected that 
 He could forgive only through a mediator offering 
 sacrifice. Hence, they offered typical sacrifice ; and the 
 prayer of the "publican" was, "God be merciful to me 
 a sinner ; " or, literally, God be propitiated to me, the 
 sinner, adadriTl /lot tu afiaprulu'. And the prayer was pre- 
 sented in the Temple, where typical sacrifices had just 
 been offered. 
 
 Those who knew the typical character of the Jewish 
 sacrifices understood the old Gospel. Abel must have 
 heard that Gospel, for "by faith he offered unto God a 
 more excellent sacrifice than Cain did." (Heb. xi. 4.) It 
 is expressly said that "the Gospel was preached before 
 (beforehand) unto Abraham " (Ga. iii. 8) ; and that 
 unto the Jews was the Gospel preached under that old 
 dispensation. (Heb. iv. 2.) The Gospel of God is dis- 
 tinguished from every human plan of salvation by two 
 essential characteristics : 1. It proposes to pardon sin 
 for the sake of an atonement made, not by the sinner 
 himself, but by another, divinely appointed to mediate 
 on his behalf, whose coming was foretold by the typical 
 rites; and, 2. It proposes to remove sinfulness of dis- 
 position not by a ceremony, not by any human agency, 
 but by a Divine agency, by the renewing power of the 
 Holy Ghost. For God said, under that dispensation, 
 " The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart to love 
 the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy 
 soul, that thou mayest live." (Deut. xxx. 6). " I will 
 sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean." 
 (Ezek. xxxvi. 25.) 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 25 
 
 ;ncy, 
 
 the 
 
 Ition, 
 
 llove 
 
 thy 
 
 Iwill 
 
 fan. 
 
 We are now considering the first of these two char- 
 acteristics, and pointing out that the Gos oel preached 
 beforehand unto the Jews, taught them that pardon 
 could be obtained only through a propitiatory sacri- 
 fice offered to God by a mediating priest, and that 
 God would provide a Lamb that would take away the 
 sin of the world ; so that when the priestly Messiah 
 came and offered that Lamb, they might say with 
 the poet: — 
 
 " thou, whose offering on the tree 
 The legal offerings all foreshowed, 
 Borrowed their whole effect from Thee, 
 And drew their virtue from Thy blood. 
 
 " Vain in themselves their duties were, 
 Their services could never please 
 Till joined with thine, and made to share 
 The merits of Thy righteousness. 
 
 " Forward they cast a faithful look 
 On Thy approaching sacrifice ; 
 And thence their pleasing savour took, 
 And rose accepted in the skies." 
 
 — Wesley^ s Hymns. 
 
 From the moment that the first lamb was slain, as 
 a type of the Lamb that God promised to provide, 
 the Messiah was called "The Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world." The plan of salvation in 
 the divine mind was perfect from the beginning ; at 
 first it was revealed only in germ, but afterwards 
 passed through successive stages of development. 
 3 
 
26 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I ; 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I' 
 
 It is certain that this is the Christian interpretation 
 of the Hebrew ritual ; the idea which Christ found in 
 it ; the idea which inspired apostles developed. That 
 idea must have been embodied in it by the Divine 
 mind. There is no rational ground whatever for as- 
 suming that finite, uninspired minds, could have 
 " originated and perfected a system worthy of being 
 adopted by Christ, and then imitated on the grandest 
 scale, having the wide earth as the place of sacrifice, 
 the upper world as the Holy of Holies, and occupying 
 Himself the place of interceding High-priest over the 
 house of God." Nothing is more unreasonable than to 
 suppose that all this is merely "a divine apotheosis of 
 a Hebrew invention." (T. Binney) The only credible 
 view is, that the Hebrew ritual was the divine " mani- 
 festation of a gracious purpose, evolving itself in the 
 course of ages, and finding its eventual fulfilment in 
 Jesus Christ." (Bruce, The End of Revelation.) 
 
 The typical sacrifices may be classed under two 
 great divisions : the sweet-savour ofierings and those 
 that were not of sweet savour. To the latter class 
 belong the sin-oflferings and trespass-offerings we have 
 already considered, and which typified the propi- 
 tiatory sacrifice that Christ has since made for the 
 sins of the whole world. The other class, " the sweet- 
 savour offerings, or a part of them, were burnt upon 
 the altar or table of God, and were regarded as Jeho- 
 vah's portion. These typified the pure heart and 
 unsullied life which Christ ofifered unto God." {E. M. 
 Goulburn,D.D.) These also represented "the sacrifices 
 
 t 
 
 — a« 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 27 
 
 two 
 
 ihose 
 1 class 
 Ihave 
 
 of righteousness " which all Christians should offer, 
 having for this purpose been made " priests unto God." 
 Some have failed to attain right views of the 
 typical sacrifices, because they were misled when 
 making inquiry. Some have entertained the opinion 
 that the typical sacrifices were unimportant. They 
 unwarrantably inferred this from what Samuel said 
 to Saul : " Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt- 
 ofibrings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the 
 Lord ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to 
 hearken than the fat of rams." Samuel had reference 
 to the particular sacrifices which " on two several 
 occasions Saul offered in his own way, disregarding 
 God's appointed way, and even His special command." 
 " It does not appear that Saul offered or intended to 
 offer, any sin-offerings at all." {Dr. Dale.) He seems to 
 have offered only burnt-offerings. These were not 
 suitable in his circumstances. " While the covenant 
 which God made with Israel was kept unbroken on 
 the part of the worshipper, he could approach by the 
 burnt-offering. If the covenant relation was broken, 
 access was restored and a reunion effected by means 
 of the sin-offering — without which, indeed, there was 
 no remission." (Smeaton on Atone., p. 34.) God would 
 not accept a burnt-offering instead of a sin-offering, 
 but He would accept the latter when rightly offered. 
 Nor would He accept peace-offerings instead of sin- 
 offerings. The peace-offerings conveyed the idea of 
 divine communion with His worshippers, and thus 
 implied previous divine acceptance. 
 
28 
 
 THE ONP] MEDIATOR. 
 
 : 
 
 1 1'' 
 
 Objectors sometimes make reference to the words of 
 David : " Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give 
 it." But they should consider that " he had reference 
 to the sin of murder, for which no typical sacrifice 
 was appointed. It was not only a sin against God, 
 but a capital crime against the civil law ; and, as it 
 was not designed that the ceremonial law should frus- 
 trate the ends of civil government, no sacrifice was 
 appointed for murder. But sacrifices were appointed 
 in other cases, and in those cases were well-pleasing to 
 God." {Cooke.) He knew that the blood of bulls and 
 goats could not take away sin against the moral law — 
 that the Jewish sacrifices had not virtue in themselves. 
 But as a prophet he knew also that Messiah would offer 
 an antitypical sacrifice that would be acceptable to God. 
 Hence he connected these two thoughts on another 
 occasion when he foretold that the Messiah would sav, 
 " Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body 
 hast thou prepared me." This last statement referred, 
 as is shown in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to the 
 antitypical sacrifice of Christ. The latter would be 
 an acceptable sacrifice. And Jewish sacrifices, when 
 regarded as typical of this great sacrifice, were also 
 acceptable, Sacrifices were actually offered by David 
 himself. We are told (2 Sam. xxiv. 25) that " David 
 built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt- 
 offerings and peace-offerings. So the Lord was en- 
 treated for the land, and the plague was stayed from 
 Israel." And he offered other sacrifices at the opening 
 service of the tabernacle of David, though no sacrifices 
 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 29 
 
 ,s en- 
 from 
 
 were subsequently offered in connection with that 
 tabernacle. 
 
 Others have thouorht lightly of Jewish sacrifices 
 because they have misunderstood the words of Jere- 
 miah. " For I spake not to your fathers, nor com- 
 manded them in the day that I brought them out of 
 the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacri- 
 fices : but this thing commandeth I them, saying, obey 
 my voice, and I will be your God and ye shall be my 
 people," etc. (Jer. vii. 21-23.) In reply, it has been 
 well remarked that " it would be wholly unwarranted 
 to infer from this that God was then averse to sacrifice 
 as a mode of worship ;" for on the very day in which 
 the Lord brought them out of Egypt, he commanded 
 them to slay the paschal lamb. But at that time God 
 seems to have required of them simply to commemorate 
 that one paschal sacrifice by an annual paschal feast. 
 But afterwards, to counteract some perverseness on the 
 part of the Jews, God commanded typical sacrifices to 
 be repeated daily, weekly, monthly, and annually on 
 the great day of Atonement. This taught them very 
 impressively the inefiicacy of merely typical sacrifices 
 and the consequent need of a better atonement. The 
 typical system had its perils. There was always 
 danger that type would usurp the place of anti-type^ 
 that atonement would be sought for in the sign rat! "r 
 than in the thing signified. When thus emptied of 
 its great meaning, the whole sacrificial system of 
 course miscarried. No wonder the Greek philosophy 
 made such havoc of the Greek religion. " No wonder 
 
so 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 : 
 
 w 
 
 il' " 
 
 
 .1 , 
 
 the Hebrew prophets denounced their temple services 
 to be an abomination, when the lamb of the priest had 
 ceased to be suggestive of the Laml) of God." {li. 1). 
 Hitchcock.) 
 
 But when Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, 
 His atonement simply needed to be commemorated by 
 the feast of the Lord's Supper. There was thence- 
 forth to be no more sacrifice for sin. 
 
 It was accordingly said, "Godtaketh away the first" — 
 the fre([uently offered typical sacrifices — that he might 
 establish the second, the once offered sacrifice of Christ. 
 This removal of the first has actually taken place 
 throughout Christendom, though a most difficult thing, 
 and, humanly speaking, a most unlikely event. " It is 
 certain that Christianity, where it is established, has 
 removed the ancient sacrificial ritual — a form of wor- 
 ship which commenced with the infancy of the human 
 race, gave employment to thousands of a particular 
 caste in the Mosaic tabernacle, in the temple of Solo- 
 mon and Herod, and in the temples of classic Greece 
 and imperial Rome. In other matters, nations and 
 tri^«^s have differed as widely as it is possible to con- 
 s' In this habit of sacrifice they have been as 
 And yet this common practice "is now unknown 
 CO the civilized world." (a) 
 
 (a) It is true that to the practice of sacrifice there was a great 
 exception in the system of Buddhism. But, along with sacrifice. 
 Buddhism rejects the notion that lay at the root of it ; they deny 
 that past sin presents any objective obstacle to man's reconciliation 
 with God. 
 
 li 
 
 ^j 
 
THE TYPICAL SACRIFICES. 
 
 31 
 
 eny 
 ;ion 
 
 Though religious ceremonies have a special tendency 
 to acquire and retain ascendency over man, yet the 
 most ancient and universal of all such observances 
 have passed away from many nations. But, let it be 
 carefully observed, the feelings implied by them have 
 not passed away. Those who offered sacrifices mani- 
 fested " a sense more or less real of personal short- 
 coming," and a " conviction that something over and 
 above mere repentance was needed to expiate the con- 
 sequences of guilt." Those who have retained and 
 intensified these convictions, have yet set aside those 
 sacrificial observances. Though the ancient sacrificial 
 ritual has disappeared, the ancient sacrificial phraseo- 
 logy has not disappeared. We still speak of " victim," 
 " propitiation," and " atonement." But these terms 
 are grouped round a different centre — an objective 
 historical fact, the death of Christ. And this is com- 
 memorated by the only rite that approximates the 
 ancient ritual, namely, by the Lord's Supper. (Rev. G. 
 F. McLear, D.D., Difficulties on the side of Unbelief.) 
 
 The Jewish typical sacrifices have been terminated 
 against the will of the Jews. I think it is Archbishop 
 Whately who has observed, that God anticipated that 
 many of them would be " unwilling to discontinue the 
 types when antitypically fulfilled, hence He appointed 
 that they should be oft'ered only in the place which 
 He should choose." He finally chose the temple in 
 Jerusalem as the only legitimate place. When they 
 would not acknowledge that these typical rites had 
 been fulfilled and superseded, and when, therefore, 
 
iiif 
 
 ill i! 
 
 !: 
 
 .1' 
 
 . ! Ill ;;i. 
 
 ' r'l 
 
 
 ! ■; 
 
 ! i(i 
 
 32 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 they would not cease to offer them, He, in His wise 
 Providence, terminated them by banishing them from 
 their city and country. In this and other ways He 
 has providentially prevented the rebuilding o':' their 
 temple. Jerusalem is now in the hands of a people 
 who would make it death to a Jew to tread upon the 
 site of the ancient temple. The peculiar religious 
 service^ of the Jews were designedly made such that 
 their observance could be providentially prevented 
 against the will of the Jews. No other religious cere- 
 monies have been framed so as to be terminated in 
 that way. " He taketh away the first " (the typical 
 rites) " that He may establish the second " (the anti- 
 typical sacrifice offered by our Great High-priest). 
 
 I 
 
 j! A' " 
 
 'i 
 
 I ' 
 
 Mi 
 
 i 
 
 ii 
 
 ■ «l: 
 
 r- 
 
(33) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ANTITYPICAL HIGH-PRIEST. 
 
 The Lord Jesus came into the world to take the 
 work of making a true propitiatory sacrifice into His 
 ov/n hands. He knew the clearly indicated inefficacy 
 of merely typical sacrifices and plainly expressed this 
 in His address to the Father : " Sacrifice and offering 
 thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me." 
 (Heb. X. 5-9.) Thus indicating that He knew that He 
 was to be " the Lamb that God promised to provide, in 
 order to take away the sin of the world." Hence, as 
 Dr. Dale remarks, " Christ Himself looked forward to 
 His death, as necessary to the accomplishment of His 
 mission." A few days after the commencement of His 
 ministry, He told Nicodemus that as " Moses lifted up 
 the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man 
 be lifted up. (John iii. 14.) And from the time that 
 Peter made his great confession (" thou art the Christ, 
 the Son of the living God,") Jesus specially began " to 
 shew unto His disciples how that He must go unto 
 Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders, and 
 chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and be raised 
 again the third day." (Matt. xvi. 2L) When He was 
 transfigured, Moses and Elias came from the heavenly 
 world to witness this inauguration into His kingdom, 
 and to speak with Him " of the decease which he 
 
84 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ^i\ 
 
 
 
 ra 
 
 should accomplish at Jerusalem," when dying for His 
 rebellious subjects. (Luke ix. 31.) When He described 
 himself as the Good Shepherd, He repeated no less than 
 three times in the course of a very few sentences, that 
 He was to lay down His life for the sheep. The Lord 
 Jesus Himself spake frequently of His death (Matt. 
 XX. 17-19; xxvi. 2 ; Mark xiv. 8), but only occasionally 
 of the special purpose of His death, because His hearers 
 were not then prepared to listen to that topic more 
 fully. As they could not bear them now, He had to 
 keep back many things which He wished to sa}'". As 
 they were not willing to admit that He was to die, it 
 would have Deen useless to give elaborate explanations 
 of the purpose of His death, we should not therefore 
 expect to find such explanations in His personal 
 teachings, but, merely statements which show that 
 He Himself thought of His death as " an expia- 
 tion." For instance. He proclaimed that His death 
 was necessary to man's salvation from sin, and that 
 He came to offer that necessary sacrifice (John iii. 16, 
 17); that faith wp ] to be the instrument of salvation 
 (John vi. 28, 29) ; that whosoever believeth shall be 
 saved, but that if they refused to believe, the wrath of 
 God was still abiding on them. He expressly in- 
 dicated some of these truths by the fact that on the 
 night before His passion, He instituted the sacred 
 supper which was to be celebrated by His disciples to 
 the end of time, for the purpose of commemorating 
 that His blood was " shed for the remission of sins." 
 He said, " This is My blood of the covenant, which 
 
THE ANTITYPICAL HIGH-PRIEST.. 
 
 35 
 
 n 
 
 is shed for many unto the remission of sins." (Matt, 
 xxvi. 28). " Thus He most distinctly connects His 
 death with the ancient sacrifices, and declares that 
 through it the remission of sins is attained, which 
 through them was sought." (Rev. John Robson.) 
 
 The special object of His coming into the world was 
 "to supply the facts out of which the evangelical 
 doctrines are deduced, and which must philosophically 
 precede them. For what is the doctrinal part of. the 
 Gospel but the exposition of these facts ? their trans- 
 plantation out of the historical or external world into 
 the intellectual or spiritual." (Harris.) " The Lord 
 Jesus did not translate all that He was and all that 
 He did into words. He left some of this work for His 
 apostles, in order that what appears in the Gospels as 
 history might appear in the Epistles as doctrine. 
 When His death occurred all the four evangelists gave 
 an elaborate account of it." (Dr. Dale, Atonement, p. 
 52, 54.) It was proclaimed to be an extraordinary 
 event by " the obscuration of the sun at mid-day 
 without any natural cause ; by the earthquake which 
 clove asunder the rocks, and laid open the graves ; 
 and by the rending of the veil of the temple from top 
 to bottom. He had not been three full days in the 
 grave when He was restored to life by the power of 
 God ; and after an interval of a few weeks He ascended 
 to heaven in the presence of His disciples. Ten days 
 after He poured out the Holy Ghost to give His apos- 
 tles ability to understand, and courage to publish to 
 men of every nation, in their respective languages, the 
 
36 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOK. 
 
 wonders of His death and resurrection." (Dick's 
 Theology, Vol. ii., p. 56, 57.) He opened the under- 
 standing of His apostles that they might understand 
 the Scriptures, and said unto them, " Thus it is writ- 
 ten, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise 
 from the dead the third day ;" or, as in the New 
 Translation, " Thus it is written that the Chri^ should 
 suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and that 
 repentance and remission of sins should be preached 
 in His name among all nations." (Luke xxiv. 45, 47.) 
 The apostles, wherever they went, preached that 
 " He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures." 
 (1 Cor. XV. 3.) 
 
 " In Heb. vii. 27, notice is taken of three particulars 
 which distinguish the sacrifice offered by Christ from 
 the sacrifices offered by the Jewish High-priests : 1st, 
 He offered no sacrifice for Himself, but only for the 
 people ; 2nd, He did not offer that sacrifice annually, 
 but once for all ; and, 3rd, the sacrifice which He 
 ofiered for the people was not of calves and goats, but 
 of Himself." (Macknight) The typical priests could 
 make no end of their work, for besides the two great 
 public sacrifices at morning and evening, any man 
 might bring his sin-offering or trespass-offering at 
 any hour to the temple, and there present it to a 
 priest waiting to receive the blood and to sprinkle it. 
 Then there were additional sacrifices, weekly, monthly, 
 and annually on the great day of Atonement. And 
 all this went on year after year for thousands of years. 
 But the Lord Jesus came as Mediating Priest to "offer 
 
II 
 
 THE ANTITYPICAL HIGH-PRIEST. 
 
 37 
 
 » 
 
 one sacrifice" for sin, and one only; for by that one 
 sacrificial work sin would be eflfectually atoned for. 
 " But this man " (priest), " after He had oflfered one 
 sacrifice for sins for ever" (Knapp's punctuation, 
 adopted by the New Revision), " sat down on the right 
 hand of God, from thenceforth expecting till His ene- 
 mies be made His footstool." (Heb. x. 12, 13.) "We 
 have here," says D. Thomas, " (1) the great fact in His 
 past life. He oflfered one sacrifice for sins. The sacri- 
 fice was unrepeatable — one sacrifice for sins forever. 
 (2) His pr'^ ont position of rest and of honour, sitting 
 at the right hand of God, crowned with glory instead 
 of iihorns. (3) His future prospects — expecting till 
 His enemies be made His footstool. His system of 
 instrumentality is put in operation, He awaits its 
 conquests." 
 
 "Divine power attended the simple preaching of 
 the Gospel," and this gave " most signal proofs that 
 the atonement had been accepted, and is ever valid, 
 for it brings God's present power upon the scene." 
 (Smeaton, Atonement, p. 188.) Accordingly "many 
 thousands (many myriads, i.e., tens of thousands) of the 
 Jews recognized and believed in the antitypical priest- 
 hood and sacrifice of Christ. Many Gentiles also 
 believed that Christ oflfered a sacrifice of atonement 
 not merely for Jews, but also for the sins of the whole 
 world ; " that " whole world " of which the apostle 
 saith in the same epistle that it " lieth in wickedness " 
 (ch. V. 19), " and therefore for the whole community 
 
''Ml! 
 
 li 
 
 38 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 «'!< 
 
 fl 
 
 of mankind, comprehending good and bad, believers 
 and unbelievers." (Dr. Isaac Barroiv.) 
 
 " Our sacrifice is one, 
 
 One Priest before the throne, 
 The slain, the risen Son, 
 Redeemer, Lord, alone." 
 
 One of the first disciples that followed Christ on 
 earth followed him on the testimony of His forerunner. 
 " Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin 
 of the world." The apostle Peter, called Him the 
 Lamb without blemish and without spot by whose 
 precious blood we are redeemed. (1 Peter i. 18, 19.) 
 And the apostle John heard through the unveiled 
 heavens, the new song of the redeemed : " Thou wast 
 slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of 
 every kindred and tongue and people and nation," and 
 he heard thousands of thousands of angels prolonging 
 the cry: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to re- 
 ceive power and riches, and wisdom and strength and 
 honor and glory and blessing." And still the rslpture 
 spread : " And every creature which is in heaven and 
 on earth and under the earth, and such as are in the 
 sea and all that are in them," caught up the exulting 
 strain, "saying, 'Blessing, and honor, and glory, and 
 power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
 unto the Lamb for ever and ever.' " (Rev. v. 9, 10. Dr. 
 Dale Atone, p. 439.) May we too be enabled to under- 
 stand and disposed to meditate till we feel "the same 
 fervent and grateful enthusiasm " and take up on earth 
 
 I 
 
THE ANTITYPICAL HIGH-PRIEST. 
 
 39 
 
 i_ 
 
 the joyous song of the united hosts of the redeemed in 
 heaven. 
 
 The rationale of the atonement viewed as a 
 priestly sacrifice "concerned God rather than man." 
 (Crawford.) It was His to decide what a propitiatory 
 sacrifice should be. The Son of God who undertook 
 to offer that sacrifice knew all that was requisite to 
 make it sufficient. So that here all that is indispen- 
 sably necessary for us to do is to show, as we have 
 done, that Christ "did in fact oflfer what He deemed 
 to be a perfect and sufficient sacrifice, and that God 
 the Father did in fact accept the offered sacrifice." The 
 Scriptures plainly declare these two things to be facts, 
 and their testimony is suflScient ground for believing 
 those facts. "We must accept the fact that by His 
 death He atoned for the sins of men, although we may 
 be unable to construct a theory of the Atonement. (Dr. 
 Dale, Atone, p. 267.) "The power of the great sacrifice 
 for the sins of the world lies in itself, and not in our 
 explanation of it." (Dr. Dale, 430.) "To leave us with- 
 out testimony as to the fact would, indeed, be a 
 perplexing and fearful event. But He might have 
 left us without the means of attaining the philosophy 
 of the fact, and yet not weaken His declaration that 
 it is a fact." The ground of faith is this : God has 
 said it, and God is true. " He that hath received his 
 testimony hath set his seal to this, that God is true." 
 (John iii. 33. — Revised Testament.) Faith pre-supposes 
 and refers to testimony ; and the ground of faith in 
 testimony is the character of the author of the testi- 
 
40 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 f' 
 
 mony. The testimony of a divine author, before 
 whom there is no mystery, is as credible when he 
 affirms things that are mysterious to persons of imper- 
 fect knowledge, as when he affirms things that are 
 plainly analagous to what they learned from other 
 sources. It is not the theory but the fact that is the 
 object of saving faith. "It is expedient," says Rev. R. 
 Hall, "to distinguish between the fact and the doctrine 
 of the atonement. The aspect of the atonement of 
 Christ, considered as a transaction, is towards God ; 
 considered as a doctrine, towards man." The fact 
 operated as the grand consideration which enabled 
 God to offer pardon to penitent believers. The doc- 
 trine of the atonement is that which chiefly draws 
 men to come for pardon in penitence and faith. 
 
 ■'' 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 \ t 
 
(41) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 w 
 
 THE GREAT ANTITYPICAL HIGH-PRIEST WAS A MEDIATOR 
 
 BETWEEN GOD AND MAN. 
 
 To understand the true theory of Christ's priestly 
 work, we must pay attention to the fact that it was 
 performed while He was acting as Mediator between 
 God and man. The scene on that great occasion was 
 wondrous beyond description. 
 
 There were three parties concerned. On the one 
 hand, we see the human family possessed of godlike 
 intelligence and emotions, endowed everlastingly with 
 consciousness and will, capable of great happiness or 
 misery, having a few fleeting years on earth in which 
 to determine the character which shall go with them 
 into an eternity where, if holy, they will be holy still, 
 and if filthy, filthy still. On the occasion before us 
 they had fallen from their first estate, and now ap- 
 peared with hearts and minds alienated from God, in 
 rebellion against His rightful authority, and in diso- 
 bedience to His holy, just, and good law. All their 
 hopes are darkly eclipsed, but they have not yet been 
 dealt with according to their ways. 
 
 On the other hand we see the Lord Jehovah in His 
 relations to men ; having a character divinely perfect 
 in love, holiness, and righteousness; and exercising 
 moral government over them, with all benevolence 
 towards the obedient, and with justice towards the 
 5 
 
42 
 
 THE ONK MEDIATOR. 
 
 1^ 
 
 'J' 
 
 H . 
 
 i 
 
 disobedient. On this occasion He occupies still the 
 throne of divine government. He appears as the all- 
 powerful and faithful guardian of His divine right 
 to govern, and of the law which had been proclaimed 
 to man by the sacred Trinity, and which must not be 
 rendered inefficient by any opposition of man, or any 
 interposition on man's behalf. God on this occasion 
 felt warm displeasure against the transgressors, but 
 had not yet proceeded to His judgment-seat. This 
 scene, therefore, does not exhibit judicial proceedings 
 at the bar of divine justice. Had He already ascended 
 this great tribunal, no Mediator would have appeared 
 between the Judge, and the criminals. But at the 
 first opening of the scene now before us there was no 
 mercy-seat between the throne and the judgment-seat. 
 At this first meeting men are " yet enemies," and God 
 is still on the throne of government, maintaining the 
 rightful authority of divine moral government, and 
 guarding the high and eternal interests of the moral 
 universe. 
 
 But lo ! He is announcing a new plan by which to 
 secure these all-important ends. He confers with His 
 beloved Son, and shows that " His thoughts were not 
 as our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways." Behold ! 
 a Father proposes to deliver up an innocent and infi- 
 nitely beloved Son, to be sacrificed for the redemption 
 of His enemies ; and on the other hand, a Son who 
 loved His Father as much as He could be loved by 
 Him, proposes to lay down His life for the declared 
 enemies of Him whom He so transcendently loved, 
 and of Himself too ; this is such a transaction as we 
 
 ii 
 
THK GREAT ANTITYIMCAL HUiH-PRIEST. 
 
 43 
 
 ih to 
 His 
 not 
 mid ! 
 infi- 
 )tion 
 Iwho 
 
 by 
 
 Lred 
 |ved, 
 we 
 
 
 can find nothincr analafirous to it in all the dealings of 
 man." (Bishop South.) 
 
 As the hinnan race had risen up in rebellion against 
 the authority and laws of God, and had thus acquired 
 notoriety throuohout the moral universe, so there 
 now appears as Mediator the "Wonderful" One of the 
 universe. " He combined in a most real, though mysteri- 
 ous way, tlie double character of a unique divine son- 
 ship, and a unique sinless manhood, in one harmonious 
 jiersonality ; and, by this very constitution of His per- 
 son, was qualitied to mediate between God and man." 
 (P. Schaff.) He undertakes to honour fuHy the rightful 
 Majesty of the Divine Father, and the justness of His 
 claims on men. He concedes that on man's part there 
 is inexcusable disobedience and perverse variance, and 
 "'et He recognizes the dignity which still belongs to 
 man as a finite free agent, and He undertakes to con- 
 fer with him as such. He sees that man is depraved, 
 but not so corrupt as to be irrecoverable. There 
 remains a possibility of recovery to holiness, to duty, 
 and to happiness ; and it is exceedingly desirable to 
 give reality to that possibility, in view of man's 
 immortality, and great and growing capability and 
 receptiveness. He comes, therefore, to offer considera- 
 tions which would make it consistent with the character 
 of God, and with the ends of righteous government, 
 to make room for a mercy-seat between the royal 
 throne and the judgment tribunal, and to introduce 
 accordingly an entire change of dispensation. 
 
 Hosts of angels doubtless were present on an occa- 
 sion so unspeakably important. The Mediator especi- 
 
44 
 
 THK ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 cl * 
 
 'i 
 r 
 
 ally was then "seen of angels." (I Tim. iii. IG.) They 
 looked with deepest interest at this new manifesta- 
 tion in the J)ivine procedure. Tiiey weve subjects of 
 a moral government similar to that under which man 
 was placed in Paradise. They had seen (iod's great 
 goodness and wisdom in dealing with themselves as 
 the grateful and obedient angels. They had seen His 
 warm and powerful displeasure against their fellows 
 who became the unthankful and evil angels ; and they 
 had observed how God verified His determination to 
 execute His threatenings, when no Mediator inter- 
 vened. But now a wonderful Mediator presents 
 Himself. Can even His extraordinary intervention 
 arrest the impending punishment ? Can He open the 
 way for mercy to be shown to transgressors without 
 emboldening them to disobey law again, and to despise 
 authority, without encouraging others also to do like- 
 wise, and thus make void the law and defeat every 
 purpose of divine moral government ? These interested 
 spectators indicated by their presence that the work 
 of Redemption must not be considered in reference to 
 man alone, but " with reference to the whole rational 
 family of God." Man indeed was the sole object of 
 redemption, but the intention was that other worlds, 
 too, might get a fuller knowledge of the character and 
 perfection and dealings of God than could be other- 
 wise attained. 
 
 The glance that we have just taken could not pos- 
 sibly give us an adequate apprehension of this ever- 
 lastingly important scene. We must review it, taking 
 time to make a fuller examination of its several parts. 
 
 <..JL^ 
 
(45) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 pos- 
 
 iver- 
 
 Iking 
 
 )arts. 
 
 THE CHARACTER IN WHICH GOD REQUIRED THE 
 
 ATONEMENT. 
 
 We shall commence our review by reverentially con- 
 templating God as He appeared at the opening of the 
 scene before us. He appeared as a Personal God and 
 as a Supreme Governor of His creatures intent on up- 
 holding the divine supremacy and the principles and 
 ends of moral government. The entire system of doc- 
 trinal truths revealed in the scriptures may be dis- 
 tinguished into two classes, viz. : (1) truths contained 
 in the principles of divine moral government ; and 
 (2) truths revealed in the remedial dispensation of the 
 gospel. The latter were added to the former after 
 the intrusion of sin, and presuppose a knowledge of 
 the former ; and this knowledge will guide us into 
 the right sense of the words which describe the latter. 
 We therefore commence our review by contemplating 
 the Divine l<^ather in his governmental relation to 
 man. " It is by placing together the character of God 
 and the character of man, as it were, in juxtaposition, 
 the one over against the other, that we can best under- 
 stand both. This relation of God and man, the one 
 towards the other, is the department of Divine and 
 human knowledge, in which, in our humble opinion, 
 
 / 
 
46 
 
 THE ONE MP:D1AT0R. 
 
 I 
 
 this generation has most need to be instructed." (Rev. 
 James McCosh, Method of Divine Governinent, p. 26.) 
 
 " Tlirougli faith we understand that the worlds were 
 framed by the word of God, so that thincjs which are 
 seen were not made of things which do appear." (Heb. 
 ii. 3.) They were made by a Personal God, distinct 
 from and above nature, which is "an order of things 
 constituted by the Supreme, and subject to laws which 
 are the expression of His will." (Lamarck, the great 
 Botanist and Geologist.) 
 
 Every creature is as dependent upon Providence for 
 the continuance of its existence, as for the commence- 
 ment of its existence. " He upholdeth all things by the 
 word of His power." (Heb. i. 3.) What a God of in- 
 finite wisdom has made is not unworthy of His ^mar- 
 dian care, no matter how insignificant it may seem to 
 us. 
 
 "From the acts of creation and providence arose 
 God's absolute right of dominion over all creatures." 
 "He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven 
 and among the inhabitants of the earth." (Dan. iv. 35.) 
 
 After God had made the lower orders of livinuj 
 creatures, He formed man. " His peculiar gift of 
 speech, his intelligence by which he rules the animate 
 and inanimate forces of the world, his capacity for re- 
 ligion and communion with God, show that the dis- 
 tance between him and the most approximate brute is 
 immeasurably wider than between the brute and the 
 smallest grain of dust." {Forever, p. 400.) God made 
 man's body, not out of some previous living creature, 
 
GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 47 
 
 (Rev. 
 p. 26.) 
 is were 
 ich are 
 
 (Heb. 
 istinct 
 things 
 which 
 
 great 
 
 ice for 
 nence- 
 by the 
 of in- 
 1 guar- 
 iem to 
 
 arose 
 ures." 
 eaven 
 85.) 
 iving 
 ft of 
 iinate 
 01" re- 
 e dis- 
 ute is 
 il the 
 inade 
 iture. 
 
 but out of the dust of the ground ; and God transfused 
 into man '*a living — that is, a self-subsisting soul; a 
 soul havinix its life in itself. And man became a livino- 
 soul. lie did not merely possess it — he became it. It 
 was his proper being, his truest self, the man in man." 
 (Coleridge.) He was intended to have fellowship with 
 God, and to co-operate in the accomplishment of His 
 benvolent desiixns. Hence he was made in the imai^e 
 of God. God is a spirit ; so is the soul of man. God 
 is holy, Just, and good ; man was made in this moral 
 imafje of God. God is a free beinj; ; God made man 
 like Himself, capable of self-determination and self- 
 action, of choosing ends and means, of originating 
 action for the attainment of these ends. '' For thinking, 
 feeling, willing, and acting in God, are, in all that is 
 essential, analogous to what those term'^ signify in us." 
 (Hodge, ThevL i. p. 424, 425.) Hence God can sustain 
 personal relations to man. Those philosophers greatly 
 err who make God to be " power without personality, 
 and essence without feeling" {Vinet), "which the holy 
 cannot love, and the wicked need not fear." (Morel I, in 
 Method of Divine Gover. p. 45G.) 
 
 God loved man, and manifested His love by His 
 bountiful gifts. "The earth hath he given to tho 
 children of men" (Ps. cxv. 16) ; " and he subjected 
 the brute creation to their use and benefit." (Gen. ix. 
 2, 3.) Hence men were made stewards of the great 
 C. ator, and sole proprietor of all ; " Moreover, it is re- 
 quired of stewards that a man be found faithful." 
 (l Cor. iv. 2.) Upon this foundation of divine good- 
 
!i 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 II 
 
 i I 
 
 I • 
 
 48 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ness was based human responsibility to obey divine 
 law, both in its demands and prohibitions. Hence 
 "the divine character includes not only the Father- 
 hood, but the Governorship and the Judgeship." (Rev. 
 T. W. Olver, D.D., in Cler. Symposium, p. 55.) 
 
 " Our first parents had a nature perfect in its capa- 
 bilities and adaptation ; but still needing divine revela- 
 tion respecting the will and purposes of God. And 
 revelation was given in a way suited to their intelli- 
 gence." {J. Rohson, D.D.) It showed them that their 
 relation to God was one of dependence, intelligent 
 obedience, confidence in divine goodness, and observ- 
 ance of divine institutions, such as the Sabbath and 
 matrimony." (Bedford.) The special manner in which 
 their attention was called to " the tree of life in the 
 midst of the garden," taught the possibility of attain- 
 ing eternal life by continuance in well-doing. And the 
 reference to the tree of knowledge of good and evil 
 indicated the possibility of a fall into sin and death. 
 
 They were placed under divine moral government. 
 Hence we must examine the principles of such govern- 
 ment ; because they were recognized and honored by 
 the Mediator between God and man, and that so fully, 
 that without attention to them w^e cannot apprehend 
 clearly either the nature or results of His mediation. 
 
 We must examine the character of God as He Him- 
 self has represented it, not as men have modified it to suit 
 their purposes. God's moral perfections are a law to 
 Himself. But His legislative will framed a law for 
 man, enjoining what He could recognize as right and 
 
id by 
 Ifully, 
 
 jhend 
 btion. 
 IHim- 
 suit 
 iw to 
 for 
 and 
 
 
 ■ ■( 
 
 GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 good, as properly adjusted to the fitness of things, and 
 to the varying capacities of moral creatures, and rightly 
 adapted to promote the highest interests of the moral 
 universe. Material things do not possess the power to 
 revolt from God, because they are not connected with 
 God by intellect, affections, and will. But man is thus 
 connected, and therefore does possess this power. He 
 is not under a necessitating force, but under a moral 
 law, which commands obedience indeed with absolute 
 authoritativeness ; but, at the same time, requires that 
 obedience to be the manifestation of the freedom of 
 the will. If man were not free, God would not be a 
 moral Governor. "If man's will is as fixed as the 
 physical machinery of the universe, then all is 
 machinery and not government, and God is a 
 machinist and not a ruler." (Whedon, What is Armin- 
 ianisni ? p. 10.) Then, too, there would be no provi- 
 dential direction ; no wise, holy, just, and continual 
 guidance of all things ; in contradistinction fron a 
 predetermination of all things once for all. If man 
 has no freedom of choice, there is no room for self- 
 discipline, no foundation for moral responsibility, no 
 accountableness to moral government — parental, civil, 
 or Divine. But that man is a free agent is proved by 
 the universal consciousness of man, and the universal 
 conviction of personal responsibility. The denial of 
 this is opposed to the judgment of all governments 
 which make laws to punish crime. These all assume 
 that, in order to true responsibility, there must be in 
 the agent a free will. "In a true responsible free 
 
I 
 
 Ml I 
 
 I 
 
 I ■ ■ ■! 
 
 I . 
 
 hi 
 
 I 
 
 ' I ' 
 I' .1 
 
 I I 
 
 ii 
 
 50 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 will, the freedom must consist in the power, even in 
 the same circumstances and under the same motives, 
 of choosing either way." ( Whedon.) This possibility of 
 choosing evil instead of good was fitted to make men 
 humble, watchful, and prayerful ; and ought to have 
 had that result. 
 
 There was a time when there was no sin in the 
 world. God could have prevented its entrance by re- 
 solving- no' to create moral free aoents. To decide 
 against creating such agents, however, would have pre- 
 vented not merely the possibility of sin, but the pos- 
 sibility of finite holiness, and happiness, and honor, 
 and glory everlasting. To omit the work of creation 
 would, therefore, prevent a multitude without number 
 from enjoying these glorious blessings eternally. To 
 decide that a free moral agent shall be created, and 
 placed in probation, is to render it possible for such 
 creatures to introduce sin. But possibility need not 
 have become actuality ; since God resolved to do, and 
 did do all that could be wisely done to prevent it. 
 As the freedom of a finite agent implies the possibility 
 of evil ; so the possibility of evil led the Creator to 
 guard against its occurrence by expressing His will in 
 the foi'm of a ij^eneral rule, and in the lanofuagfe of com- 
 mand. And He made this law binding, whether the 
 creature assents or not. 
 
 To man was given a sense of responsibility for the 
 use of his wonderful power of self-agency. He was 
 also placed within view of motives. He was made 
 capable of pleasure and pain, and consequently of hope 
 
GOD AS MORAL OOVERNOR. 
 
 .1 
 
 even in 
 
 motives, 
 
 libility of 
 
 ake men 
 
 to have 
 
 n in the 
 ce by re- 
 ro decide 
 liave pre- 
 the pos- 
 ul honor, 
 creation 
 b number 
 ally. To 
 ited, and 
 for such 
 need not 
 ► do, and 
 •event it. 
 )ssibility 
 eator to 
 1 will in 
 of com- 
 piler the 
 
 for the 
 He was 
 IS made 
 of hope 
 
 and fear. And God presented before him motives in 
 favor of obedience much greater than those which 
 could be even imajxined against it. And He threat- 
 ened to connect transgression with consequences that 
 would make it utterly and everlastingly ruinous to 
 commit it. In these circumstances, " the free-will of 
 spontaneous preference should have become the good- 
 will of preferring virtue to vic^;" and should not have 
 become the evil will of preferring vice to virtue. 
 (Faber, Doctrine of Election.) 
 
 But motives are not felt when not attended to : man, 
 being free, finds it possible to neglect to give due atten- 
 tion to right motives ; and, on the other hand, to yield 
 attention to a tempter's efforts to give evil the ap- 
 pearance of good, and may be thus induced to cherish 
 wrong desires and to perform wrong acts. It is true 
 that *' desires will spontaneously arise in the mind, in 
 view of appropriate objects, and at that point do not 
 wait for the bidding of the will." (Edtuards.) But 
 they had to wait for the bidding of the will before 
 they could begin or continue to view those objects. 
 We must in such cases contemplate in order to feel, 
 and contemplation depends on voluntary attention. 
 He who has the power to contemplate is not neces- 
 sarily compelled to contemplate, or to have feelings 
 without contemplation. Hence feeling is dependent 
 oil man's voluntary attention, as well as in God's im- 
 partation of the power to feel. Consequently desires 
 and emotions, when from a right principle and a right 
 exercise of attention, are virtuous and commendable. 
 
m 
 
 M- till 
 
 52 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I "It 
 
 ;i 
 
 1 1 
 
 ■I 
 
 1 , 1 
 
 '•I I 
 ■ 'I • 
 
 
 .^ 
 
 !tl} 
 
 So desire, when awakened by a wrung act of volun- 
 tary attention, is a wrong feeling. In short, right 
 powers and pre-dispositions were imparted by Divine 
 creative power, but God's method of governing does 
 not and could not necessitate a man to exercise them 
 aright. He could not secure holiness otherwise than 
 by appealing to the conviction of responsibility, and 
 using the influences of motives, and, among these, re- 
 wards and punishments. 
 
 The case then stands thus : It seemed good to an 
 infinitely wise God to create finite free agents ; what it 
 seemed cjood to Him to do, it was rii^ht to do. The 
 creation of the power of finite free agency made it 
 merely possible for those creatures to originate moral 
 evil. The actual origination of it would be man's own 
 wilful act, God judo-ed that it would be unwise to 
 force man's will. He hates sin in man more than any- 
 thing which man doeth ; but that is no reason why He 
 Himself should do wrong to prevent man from going 
 wrong. He did all that could wisely be done to pre- 
 vent it. He would not resort to plans that were not 
 wise, simply because they were within the compass of 
 His almighty power. What could not have been wisely 
 prevented, cannot, properly speaking, be said to 
 have been permitted. 
 
 Law having been given, man must take the position 
 either of obedience or disobedience to the legislative 
 will and authority of God. Unhappily, man chose the 
 path of disobedience and committed sin, — inexcusably, 
 foolishly, and with most injurious consequences, both 
 natural and judicial. 
 
GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 53 
 
 f volun- 
 rt, right 
 r Divine 
 ing does 
 se them 
 ise than 
 lity, and 
 iiese, re- 
 
 d to an 
 
 ; what it 
 
 io. The 
 
 made it 
 
 :e moral 
 
 an's own 
 
 Lwise to 
 
 lan anv- 
 
 why He 
 
 1 ffoinoj 
 
 iO pre- 
 
 ere not 
 
 pass of 
 
 wisely 
 
 aid to 
 
 >osition 
 slative 
 ose the 
 isably, 
 s, both 
 
 One natural consequence was a sad change to a de- 
 praved state of heart, which is prone to evil and averse 
 to ffood, and is transmissible from father to son. 
 Mysterious as the transmission is, " Man," says Pascal, 
 ''is moi'e incomprehensible without this mystery, 
 than this mystery is incomprehensible to man." The 
 result is manifest to all. " It is clear," says Aristotle, 
 in his A lc//orihachian Ethic», " that not one of the moral 
 virtues springs up in us by nature." "Virtue is 
 neither natural nor ac(iuired by study," says Plato. 
 " We all have sinned," says Seneca ; " some more, others 
 less." In reo-ard to the oriorinatinjx cause of this con- 
 fessed depravity, the ancient philosophers were greatly 
 at fault. Assuming a better original state of men, 
 they explained his present character by supposing a 
 gradual degeneracy ; the golden age being followed by 
 the ages of silver, of brass, and of iron. " They had 
 no notion," says Coleridge, " of a fall of man." But 
 Revelation " sets in a clear lio^ht the orio-inal rectitude 
 of man, reveals the tempter, and reports the fall." 
 (R. D. Hitchcock.) 
 
 It will be requisite to look much more fully at the 
 origin of this sinful disposition, and then to indicate 
 how, notwithstanding this man is still a fit subject of 
 moral government. Paul teaches us that " by one 
 man sin entered into the world." (Rom. v. 12.) His 
 meaning is, "It was by one man that sinful dis- 
 position entered into all men." "As the best 
 physicians turn their whole attention to find out 
 the root of maladies, and reach the very source of 
 
ri' 
 
 ii'i 
 
 I! 
 
 54 
 
 THE ONK MEDIATOR. 
 
 ■■| ! ' 
 
 I 
 
 "'i|! 
 
 lljlt ; 
 
 
 '','i 
 
 1 Dil 
 
 Ill 
 
 111 
 
 the evil, so it is that Paul acts." (Godet.) He points 
 also to the extent of the ruin that was to be repaired. 
 " By one man sin entered into the world," not into the 
 Jewish race merely, but into the whole human race. 
 Not by one man as created, but by one man as 
 sinning ; not by any defect in the constitution of his 
 nature, but by the inexcusable violation of his obliora- 
 tions. " By one man," — observe, Paul does not say " by 
 one woman." He therefore does not mean to speak 
 about the first act of sin that was committed by 
 human beings. Had he meant this he would have 
 said by one woman. Paul knew the historic facts in 
 this case. He said to Timothy, " Adam was not de- 
 3eived, but the woman, being deceived, was in the 
 transgression." (1 Tim. ii. 14.) He does not say "by 
 one fallen angel ;" he therefore does not intend to 
 speak about the first act of transgression that was 
 committed in other parts of the universe. What he 
 does say is that "by one man sin entered into the 
 world." This is true in the following sense, and only 
 in this sense. By one man, as the father of the 
 human world, sin, meaning sinfulness of disposition, 
 passed into all his offspring. "Afiapna," says Cremer, 
 " would seem to denote primarily not sin considered 
 as an action, but sin considered as the quality of 
 action, that is, sin generically. It sometimes signifies 
 sin as a principle, manifesting ii3elf in the activity 
 of the subject. ' Sin that dwelleth in me." (Cremer's 
 Lexicon.) It is here personified, and represented as 
 entering. Adam, by consenting to commit a sinful 
 
GOD AS MORA]. GOVERNOR. 
 
 55 
 
 e points 
 
 'cpaired. 
 
 into the 
 
 an race. 
 
 man as 
 
 1 of his 
 
 > ol)lif^a- 
 
 ^ay 'M)y 
 
 o speak 
 
 ;ted by 
 
 Id have 
 
 facts in 
 
 not de- 
 
 in the 
 
 3ay '-' by 
 
 tend to 
 
 lat was 
 
 V^hat he 
 
 nto the 
 
 id only 
 
 of the 
 
 osition, 
 
 remer, 
 
 sidered 
 
 of 
 
 gnifies 
 
 ctivity 
 
 •emer's 
 
 ted as 
 
 sinful 
 
 "N 
 
 lify 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■'I 
 ■4 
 
 '4 
 
 act, became sinful in disposition ; and he transmitted 
 this sinfulness of disposition to all his posterity; "just 
 as in some analagous manner the disease of a germ 
 and root will aftect the tree and branches proceeding 
 from it." Able writers admit that " The world here 
 means the world of human beings, collective humanity." 
 (Stewart, Meyer, Ellicott.) 
 
 " Without just and distinct views respecting the 
 article of original sin, it is impossible to understand 
 aright any one of the peculiar doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity." (Coleridge's Aids to Reflection.) Without right 
 ideas of the nature of the disease, we cannot form 
 right opinions as to the nature of the remedy. Let 
 us, therefore, look at the former carefully. Adam's 
 voluntary act of transgression had an immediate effect 
 on his own disposition. It instantly produced a pre- 
 disposition to continue in sin, to set his own will above 
 that of God's, and to care not whether God is pleased 
 or displeased with this course of wrong doing. In 
 man's heart, when fallen, there remained not "any 
 good thing towards the Lord God;" no adoring, 
 obedient love to God, no just appreciation of His 
 character, no confidence in Him, no pleasure in the 
 principles of His government, no proper regard for 
 His will, no true desire to honor Him, no desire to 
 please Him. no desire to pray to Him, no germ that 
 may be expanded into these. Adam, as the parent of 
 the human family, transmitted this sinful disposition 
 to his offspring, so that their heart by nature is not 
 right towards God. The natural heart has no religion, 
 
w 
 
 \ \ 
 
 56 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ( I 
 
 i!i; 
 
 ! 'I 
 
 I' I 
 
 i I 
 
 'hi' i 
 
 I! 
 
 |i!l 
 
 iiotlnnjjj wliicli emi ^row up into rcliju^ion, nothing 
 wliich can be a substitute for it. The natural man 
 may, indeed, be trained to regard his fellow-beings 
 with justice and sympathy, to manifest filial affection, 
 conjugal fidelity, strict integrity, large benc^volence, 
 and gi-eat si'lf-conti'ol ; and to make great sacritices, 
 and endur- (exposure to great dangers, from love to 
 man, ar ^^mpathy with human misery. The un- 
 renewed iLiiin admits of such moral culture as well as 
 of intellectual culture. But even those who have been 
 trained to regard their fellow-beings, do not by mere 
 moi'al trainino; come to feel riffht re2:ard for God. 
 They still feel alienation towards Him. Perhaps it 
 may be said that God is the only being to whom they 
 show cold neglect. They mark out God as the only 
 one to be treated with indiflference. They are thus 
 more insulting to God, than those are who, with 
 common indiflerence, neither "fear God nor regard 
 man." This want of love to God is a general feature 
 which pertains to all, and discovers that all men, in 
 their natural state, belong to one fallen family. Since 
 we know that love to God is the fulfilling of the law, 
 it is easy to see that want of love to God is the trans- 
 gression of the law. As love to God is the principle 
 of true religion, so the principle of depravity is a want 
 of love to God that is ever ready to disobey Him for 
 the sake of any forbidden pleasure. Sinfulness does 
 not consist in the capacity to feel pleasure in a 
 forbidden thing, but in disobeying God for the sake of 
 such pleasure ; and it may sometimes be so indifferent 
 to God's thoughts about it as to enjoy that pleasure. 
 
GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 57 
 
 , nothing 
 aral man 
 )\v-l)eing.s 
 affection, 
 levolonce, 
 sacriticos, 
 I love to 
 The un- 
 s well as 
 lave been 
 by mere 
 for God. 
 ei'haps it 
 horn they 
 tlie only 
 are thus 
 ho, with 
 )v regard 
 1 feature 
 men, in 
 Since 
 the law, 
 le trans- 
 principle 
 s a want 
 Him for 
 ess does 
 re in a 
 e sake of 
 difterent 
 Dleasure. 
 
 This hereditary disposition has led men to personal 
 transgression, and so frequently and fully, that in a 
 few generations the wickedness of man was " great in 
 the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his 
 heart, were only evil continually." This wickedness 
 proceeded from the heart. The testimony of God is 
 " The heart is deceitful above all things, and 
 desperately wicked." Ages afterwards its state was 
 (Hjually sinful ; for, said the Son of God, " Out of the 
 heart of man proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, for- 
 nications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, 
 deceit, laciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, 
 foolishness." These, as one has remarked, were " foul 
 streams from a fouler spring ; corrupt fruit from a 
 bad tree." This state of things is confirmed by the 
 testimony of heathen philosophers. It is attested also 
 by our own observation, and our own consciousness or 
 memory. There is no mere human being who has 
 lived long enough, to act according to his choice and 
 will, that has not acted sinfully. It is not enough to 
 say that men commit particular acts of transgression 
 impulsively and thoughtlessly : " They choose wrong- 
 ends of life ; and this choice is deliberate, and persistent 
 and regulates their leading plans and actions." We 
 find none of Adam's descendants who naturally desire 
 to please God. All are earthly-minded. " Men love to 
 think, but not about God. They love conversation, but 
 not abo. God. They love activity, but not in the 
 service of God.' (A. Fuller.) They do not admiringly, 
 adoringly, obediently, love the holy and true God. 
 6 
 
\ \ 
 
 I ! 
 
 58 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ^iil 
 
 ! .. ' I 
 
 1 1' ': 
 
 i! 
 
 Ml ill 
 
 M 
 
 ''ill 
 
 t 'I ; 
 
 They feel no admiration for God till they have 
 changed, and fashioned Him after the imagination of 
 their own hearts. They may be glad of the bounties 
 of Providence, as animals are ; but they do not feel 
 gratitude, and render heartfelt thanks for them, as 
 rational beings ought to do, and good beings gladly 
 do. They love the gifts without loving the Giver. 
 
 "We cannot go back on the track of memory, to a 
 point when we were conscious of the first entrance of 
 sin. The earliest sinful act w^hich presents itself to 
 our consciousness, does not appear, as the incoming of 
 an altogether new element into the youthful life ; but 
 rather as the development and manifestation of a 
 hidden agency, the awakening of a power slumbering 
 in the deep. Sin does not then, for the first time, 
 exist in us ; but only steps forth into light. However 
 important the epoch of awakening moral consciousness 
 may be, it has a past behind it, which is not without 
 co-determining influence upon the conduct of the child 
 in that crisis." (Mr. Robies' Summary of J. Muller's 
 Views, Bihliotheca Sacra, for May, 1849. B. p. 469.) 
 
 As all have sinned from the commencement of 
 moral agency, and deliberately formed wrong ends of 
 life, there must be in man some adequate cause before 
 action, of a course of action so universal ; so contrary 
 to right relations towards the will and government of 
 God ; and so opposed to their own highest interests. 
 This universal conduct finds its cause in hereditary 
 disposition. 
 
 Some call this disposition a corrupt nature. But the 
 
 III' 
 
GOD AS MOUAL (JOVEUNOH. 
 
 59 
 
 bhcy have 
 
 ;'ination of 
 
 e bounties 
 
 not feel 
 
 • them, as 
 
 igs gladly 
 
 Giver. 
 
 niory, to a 
 
 'n trance of 
 
 /S itself to 
 
 looming of 
 
 il life ; but 
 
 ation of a 
 
 Numbering 
 
 first time, 
 
 However 
 
 isciousness 
 
 )t without 
 
 f the child 
 
 U. Muller's 
 
 p. 469.) 
 
 cement of 
 
 ig ends of 
 
 use before 
 
 contrary 
 
 rnment of 
 
 interests. 
 
 lereditary 
 
 But the 
 
 '' term nature, In consequence of its various senses, has 
 become misleading when applied to this topic. The 
 word nature often means that original constitution of 
 things whieli is given by the Creator for the purpose 
 )f invariably pi'oducing certain effects. The author of 
 such a natural constitution would be ivsponsible for 
 tlu' i-csults ; an<l the evil ivsults of such a constitution 
 would pi'ove that the Creator was not a good being; 
 "because the nature of a contrivance is proof of the 
 character and intention of the author." (Miss Hcechev,) 
 Man has not a corrupt nature in this sense of the word. 
 But, say some, errcmeously as we shall find, " A thing 
 CMU be wrong in oiily two conceivable ways; one is by 
 its nature or original construction ; and the other is 
 by its action." (MIsk Hcechcr) This statement, how- 
 ever, is based on an imperfect enumeration of wdiat is 
 in man. Man has predispositions which cannot be re- 
 solved into essential attributes, or subordinate acts. 
 " An ai'tist, for instance, has not only essential attri- 
 
 . hutes, but abiding tendencies to use them with an ease 
 and i-apidity impossible to connnon men. This ten- 
 dency was formed by a repetition of his own acts ; and 
 therefore is not an essential attribute, for man could 
 not add to the number of his essential attributes. 
 This tendency is not an act ; for the man has his skill 
 when it is not exercised and when he is asleep. It is 
 not nothing ; for he can go through the peculiar busi- 
 ness of his art more skilfully than others can possibly 
 do." It is manifest, then, that besides powers adapted 
 to certain acts, there are also dispositions or abiding 
 
ll 
 
 60 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 
 t> 
 
 I, ill 
 
 >'i 
 
 !!.M 
 
 MJI 
 
 l' '1 
 
 I", 
 
 tendencies to produce acts. Man in his natural state 
 has such predispositions, and these are prone to evil 
 actions. These predispositions are rather a disease 
 than a natui'e. As the suhstance of the body is not 
 itself disease, but is pel* verted and disordered in its 
 action by disease, so the substance of the soul is not 
 itself sin, but is perverted and disordered by pre- 
 disposition to sin. 
 
 Man's predispositions do not manifest tlieniselves 
 directly to man's consciousness, but they discover 
 their presence by the active exercises to which they 
 incline him. That tliis may be so can be seen by look- 
 ing at pi'cdispositions of another class, namely, those 
 which man can now form in liimself, l)y repetition of 
 acts of tlie same kind. For instance, "anai'tist has 
 acquired a habit which is usually denominated skill ; 
 an ability to jj^o throuoh tlie ])rocesses of his art with 
 greater faciUty, exactness, and success tlian ordinary 
 men can do." That habit, however, is not a subject of 
 direct consciousness, and yet he knows he has it. Such 
 cases are somewhat analagous to that of Adam's ; but 
 there is this difference : In Adam's case (^ne act 'f 
 transgression produced a predisposition, whih^ his de- 
 scendants re(i|uire a fre([uent repetition of similar acts 
 to produce a somewhat analagous tendency. 
 
 Men cainiot change tlieir hereditary dispositions. 
 " We are noblK)rn of blood, nor of the will of theHesh, 
 etc., but of God." We might discontinue certain out- 
 ward acts ; might give up lying, or swearing, etc., but 
 we cannot incline our hearts to love the Divine Law- 
 
 '11 
 
 l\ 
 
GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 61 
 
 ural state 
 )ne to evil 
 a disease 
 odv is not 
 red in its 
 ioiil is not 
 I by pre- 
 
 -honiselves 
 ' ( liscover 
 liich they 
 n l)y look- 
 u'lv, those 
 petition of 
 ai'tist has 
 ited skill ; 
 s art witli 
 ordinary 
 subject of 
 it. Such 
 im's ; but 
 lie act ^f 
 le his de- 
 Ill ilar acts 
 
 ;positions. 
 til e flesh, 
 'tain out- 
 
 [, etc., but 
 ine Law- 
 
 n-iver, and to <jiv<' thanks at the remembrance of His 
 Holiness. Human nature is hopelessly disarranged as 
 far as human efi'ort is concerned, but is not unarrange- 
 able by a Divine agency. On this last-mentioned ac- 
 count, some will not allirm it to be in a strte of total 
 corruption ; they think these terms would imply that it 
 was so f a^" gone as not to be capable of re-arrangement 
 by any power. 
 
 The fact of the transmission of sinfulness from 
 Adam to his posterity seems plain, but the manner is 
 and will remain a mystery. It is, however, more im- 
 portant tliat we should know what the condition of 
 the soul is through Adam, than it is that we should 
 understand how it came to be in that condition. 
 
 After the apostle ha<l stated " that by one man sin 
 entered uiito the world," he added, "and death by 
 sin ; " or as the words are placed in the Greek, and by 
 "sin death," so that this death too entered bvone man. 
 ' In Adam all die " a bodily death. When sinfulness 
 of disposition entered into man, mortality of body also 
 entered. Soon as it happened that Adam's soul became 
 sinful "it was appointed unto him to die." The appoint- 
 ment was made by God ; who saw that it would not 
 be wise to let sinful souls have, during the freedom of 
 probation, the unwearying and undying energy of an 
 immortal body. They could be much more easily 
 checked if placed in a frail, mortal body. Hence God 
 said "Thou art dust (that is to say thou canst die), and 
 to dust tliou shalt I'eturn" (that is to say, thou slialt in 
 fact die) " (Godet, on Romans, p. 206.) Evtn before 
 
Il- 
 
 lil 
 
 ^ 
 
 I :i 
 
 iHi 
 
 ( li 
 
 i& 
 
 \i 
 
 [\\ 
 
 62 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 the fall Adam's body was not necessarily immortal, 
 but capable of becoming such by partaking of the tree 
 of life. Ha zing fallen, he was by Divine appoint- 
 ment excluded from the w^ay of access to that tree, 
 and became mortal. In this way it was " appointed 
 to men once to die." We thus understand the two- 
 fold statement that death came by man, i.e. by Adam, 
 and that death was an appointment of God. " By 
 man came death," because by man came the sinfulness 
 of nature which rendered it prudent in God to render 
 mortal the body of Adam, which was naturally capable 
 of inmiortality, and which by the use of the tree of 
 life would have been kept actually immortal. At the 
 same time death was an appointment of God, because 
 God forbade him to touch the tree of life, and drove 
 him from the garden where it was. By depriving 
 man of this fruit, God appointed himx " once to die." 
 
 Thus by one man sin entered into the world, and 
 death by sin, and so death passed upon all men. Thus 
 Adam transmitted sinfulness of disposition and mor- 
 tality of body to all his offspring. 
 
 The apostle proceeds to say " for that all have 
 sinned." That is, "for that reason all have sinned.'' 
 Sinfulness of disposition, as well as mortality of body, 
 passed on all men, and on this account all have sijined 
 personally. The apostle did not say that it was by 
 Adam's agency all sinned. Hf did not say in whom 
 all sinned, ^tti cannot have the meaninor of in. 
 {Godet, on Rom., p. 209.) The Latin Vulgate falsely 
 translated this verse, " in quo omnes peccavenmt" — 
 
 11 
 
 s'^' 
 
GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 63 
 
 immortal, 
 of the tree 
 e appoint- 
 
 tliat tree, 
 ' appointed 
 1 the two- 
 
 by Adam, 
 :^d. " By 
 
 sinfuhiess 
 1 to render 
 lly capable 
 the tree of 
 il. At the 
 )d, because 
 and drove 
 
 depriving 
 
 to die." 
 world, and 
 en. Thus 
 and mor- 
 
 all have 
 e sinned.' 
 y of body, 
 
 "in whom all sinned." And that false translation 
 completely misled Augustine and his followers. The 
 apostle did not say in whom or by whom all sinned. 
 He said 'eci^'u on which account, i.e., on account of the 
 sinfulness which passed from Adam into all men, all 
 have sinned personally. It is accordingly of personal 
 sin that he proceeds to treat. " For until the law, sin 
 was in the world." * 
 
 It should be carefully observed that the two con- 
 sequences of which we have now spoken (namely, sin- 
 fulness of disposition and mortality of body), take 
 place before the day of judgment. Adam's heart be- 
 came sinful in disposition before God came into the 
 Garden of Eden to call him before Him. This was 
 seen in the folly of mind and alienation of heart which 
 led him to try and hide himself from the presence of 
 the Lord under the trees of the garden. So, also, the 
 appointment of bodily death preceded the judgment 
 day. " It is appointed unto men once to die, but after 
 this the judgment." (Heb. ix. 27.) 
 
 But other consequences are to follow judicial trial, 
 for God's plan is " to reserve the unjust unto the day 
 of judgment, to be punished." (2 Ps. ii. 9.) Then there 
 will be "tribulation and anguish upon every soul of 
 man that doeth evil," (Rom. ii. 9,) and " these shall go 
 away into everlasting punishment." (Matt. xxiv. 46.) 
 
 * It is well known that a very different interpretation of this clause 
 widely prevails. It will be apecially examined in a subsequent 
 chapter. 
 
illi 
 
 64 
 
 'I'lIK ONK MlODIATOll. 
 
 % 
 
 I 
 
 Let us (>ii(|uii'(' into i\u' 4'(|uiiy of Mic npitoiiitinriii. 
 of a. Judi^mciit Jny, ajxl its judiciMl |)(>MM,ll.y, in i\u\ vaihi'. 
 of persons horn sinliil aixl mortal. Let it he considcnMl 
 tliat we arc not l>orn in licil. We a,i"<' hoin where our 
 condition can l»e iidhieneed hy the mediation of Christ. 
 'rhrou<;li A<hi,m we are horn with sinl'ul <lispositions ; 
 hut tljroUL;h (^hrist we are hoi'n where (lod has made; 
 ^I'acious provision l,o meet oui* casi'. He lias said, " J 
 will }>ut my law into their mind: and write them in 
 their lu^arts, " an<l "I will he mereil'ul t,o t,heir un- 
 riL;hte()usness," if they confess and forsake sin and 
 |)ra.y for meiry. W(! shall, in due t.ime, <lwell some- 
 what fully on these points. We now allude to them 
 to indicat«' the <^rounds of personal i'es])onsihilit,y, and 
 the nature of ])ersonal jn-ohation. Though horn sinful 
 we need not continue so. Thoui^h horn without ahility 
 to ohey (Jlod acceptahly, we may ask and ohtain that 
 ahility. If we have it not, it is hecause we ask not, 
 and not merely lu^cause of our state hy natui'c. In 
 thesis circumstances (Jod can e(juitahly make ohedi(^nce 
 hindin^, and piuiish <lisohedierice. 
 
 To understand tlie evil of dis()he(|ience, we sliouhl con- 
 sider that a sinful act is not merely tliird<in<r, feeling-, 
 willini;-, and actin<; contrary to the dignity of Iniman 
 natui'c and at variance witli tlit; fitness of tlnni^s. It 
 is doinuj wronijj in opposition to the will of (jiod, in <lis- 
 ohedience to tlie laws of God, in rehellion ai^ainst the 
 authority of Ood, and in disre<^ard of the wrath 
 revealed from heaven aj^ainst all unj^odlincss and 
 unrighteousness of men. It is counteracting God's 
 
 II 
 
(;()!) AS MOIIAI, (JOVKKNOU. 
 
 on 
 
 ))()iiii>iii<;nt> 
 II i]\v. ca.s(» 
 'onsidri'CMl 
 kvlicrc our 
 of Christ, 
 ifxvsitions ; 
 lias iiimlo 
 s said, " I 
 
 tiiciM in 
 Micir iin- 
 ' sin and 
 '('II soinii- 
 
 to tlicin 
 >ility, and 
 i>ni sinful 
 u(; jihility 
 tain tliat 
 
 ask not, 
 turc. In 
 >lM'di('nce 
 
 ould con- 
 , Tot) lino-, 
 
 i' liuinan 
 in ITS. It 
 
 <l, in dis- 
 linst the 
 (i wrath 
 less and 
 ig (Jud'a 
 
 inis|i('M,l<al»I(' hciKivolcnt ])Ians in i-cfi^rcnci^ to tlir 
 ('utirc moral univcrso. 
 
 To s(!(; clearly tin; (!vil of trans^rrcsssion, w(! must 
 look at th(; ol»j(!ct which tlu; DivitK; law was int<Midc(J 
 to promote. It sou^lit to make tlie holiru^ss, or moral 
 perfection, of man to !»:; his chief ^^ood ; and t(^ pro- 
 portion happin(!ss to his lioliiuiss. it was (h;si;^ned to 
 ^ui(l(; a universes of fre(! a;^ents into moral conformity 
 to (Jod's own (rharact(jr ; and thus to promott; their 
 hijrh(;st vveli"ar<!. littini^ thcMri for all the; nohh; pleasure 
 of doin^r i^ood, for all the liappim^ss of full harmony 
 and everlastiiiL,^ ftillowship witli eacli otlier, and for all 
 the hlessedn(\ss of ahidin*; communion with tlie in- 
 finitely loving- and liappy Trinity, (jiod unspeakahly 
 values tlijit i;r(!at and <(ood o])jyct. Jle lii<^hly a[)- 
 proves of his law as the directive means (A' attaining 
 tliat <^dorious aim. 
 
 On th(^ other hand, (iod liates sin, hecause its t(}n- 
 deiH^y is to disr(^;^rard or (hispise the f^loriou.s end He 
 liad in view, and to n(!<,dect or op})ose tlie way of ob- 
 tainiiiL; it; hecaus*^ it is a creature's self-will daring 
 to say to (jiod, "not thy will Ijc done, hut mine," — 
 " not tliy })en(!V()l(;nt purposes and [)lans, l)ut my sel- 
 lish ones;" hecause it missapplies the (jod-like attri- 
 butes of fre<'-will and free agency ; because it not only 
 does wrong acts, l>ut chooses wrong principles of action, 
 and wrong (;nds of life. "The deliberate contempla- 
 tion of an end is that wliich distinfjui.slies man from 
 the otlier creatures that are upon the earth." To 
 choose wrong ends is, therefore, a very marked and 
 perverse trans^frcssioii. 
 
 ^ 
 
f!;i'i 
 
 66 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 U 
 
 T 
 
 Ml 
 
 God hates sin because it is injurious to man 
 himself. It degrades him, it defiles him, it renders 
 him unfit for holy and happy society. It inclines 
 him to be most injurious to his fellow-men. By 
 a single act done in a moment of time, he may 
 cause unending injury, may separate from us the 
 most dear and useful friend on earth, may influence 
 others to enter the downward road to endless ruin. 
 
 A just God is angry with the wicked. "What!" 
 exclaims one, "is there wrath in God? Is not wrath 
 a human passion ? We may answer this by another 
 question : Is there not love in God ? and is not 
 love a human passion ?" (Wesley.) Love and wrath, 
 as they exist in man, have defects which do not 
 exist in God's feelings and principles. Some can- 
 not understand God's indignation against sin, be- 
 cause they have not right views of His holiness. 
 This sad fact has been forcibly presented by a 
 good writer. " The Jehovah of Israel," he remarks, 
 " is altogether different from the God of the Philo- 
 sophers, whetlier of the demi-civilized nations of 
 the East, of ancient Greece and Rome, or modern 
 Europe. Their gods are all of a class. However, 
 they may differ in other matters, some of them being 
 clothed in more meagre and others in more gorgeous 
 colors ; they all agree in this, that they are shorn of 
 the attribute of holiness. They all diff'er from the 
 livinir and true God, who, while clothed with attri- 
 butes as lofty as any which the reason of philosophers 
 can develop, or the imagination of poets can conceive, 
 
 ) • 
 
 r' 
 
GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 67 
 
 1 to man 
 it renders 
 t inclines 
 men. By 
 , he may 
 n us the 
 influence 
 s ruin. 
 " What ! " 
 lot wrath 
 J another 
 d is not 
 id wrath, 
 I do not 
 )me can- 
 sin, be- 
 holiness. 
 d by a 
 remarks, 
 e Philo- 
 ions of 
 modern 
 owever, 
 m being 
 orgeous 
 horn of 
 om the 
 1 attri- 
 sophers 
 Hiceive, 
 
 is yet raised above their crude conception by being 
 constituted a holv Governor and Judcje." The fault 
 of not recognizing this, "lay in philosophers them- 
 selves, and not in philosophy," as Maclaurin remarked 
 in reference to another subject. 
 
 The inspired writers give the attribute of holiness 
 due prominence. " Who is like unto Thee, Lord, 
 amono- the o-ods ? Who is like unto Thee, oflorious in 
 holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" (Ex. xv. 
 11.) From His temple the Cherubim proclaim, '•' Holy, 
 Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts : the whole earth is 
 full of His glory." (Is. vi. 8.) In short, "The Biblical con- 
 ception of holiness moulds the whole divine revela- 
 tion." (Cremer.) 
 
 A consistent character must bear opposite affections 
 .owards opposite things. Sin and holiness are op- 
 posite. He must hate the one who loves the other. 
 It is because God loves righteousness that his wrath 
 is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness 
 and unrighteousness of men." God cannot be in- 
 diflerent to his own claims upon man's obedience and 
 love; or to the well-being or interests of his subjects.' 
 A just being could not become indifferent to evil with- 
 out being indift'erent to good, for evil prevoiits and 
 counteracts good and seeks to destroy it. "Divine 
 love and Divine holiness have often been represented 
 as antagonistic principles ; and yet truly they are not 
 so, though there are conceivable and actual circum- 
 stances, in which their separate action might seem to 
 tend iu opposite ways, yet in themselves they are con- 
 
T 
 
 68 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 l".*. 
 
 hi 
 
 ;l^ 
 
 '!!!! 
 'i!' 
 
 1^1 
 
 spiring, and nut contlicting principles. When Divine 
 love is exercised it has the approbation of Divine holi- 
 ness ; and Divine holiness is exercised in honoring and 
 guarding Divine love." (Rev. Jas. McCosh, Meth. of 1). 
 Gov. p. 833.) 
 
 God is just. Justice is that moral excellence 
 which has "a constant and perpetual v^ill to render 
 to every one that which is his due." {Institutes 
 of Justinian.) It wills to render punishment to the 
 sinner. When a subject of Divine government sins 
 against such a holy, just, and good law, punishment 
 should be inflicted upon him, or reparation should be 
 made by him. But man himself cannot make repara- 
 tion for sin committed against the law and majesty of 
 God. He may make reparation for some wrongs done 
 to a fellow-creature, though it is very seldom that he 
 can do so fully. But he cannot make reparation for 
 disobeying God's laws, or opposing his purposes and 
 plans. Reparation for past disobedience could not be 
 made by man's future obedience, for all the obedience 
 he could render was required previously and indepen- 
 dently. " If," says Anselm, " I owe Him myself, and 
 all I can perform, when as yet without sin, that I may 
 not be involved in sin, I have nothing to render Him 
 for sin committed." This would be true, even if sin 
 had not destroyed ability for right obedience in future. 
 But it has destroyed this ability, and man cannot of 
 himself recover that ability, and re-commence that 
 progress in holiness and happiness that God benevo- 
 lently designed him to pursue. As sin, then, not only 
 
 HU 
 
OOn AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 69 
 
 n Divine 
 ^ine holi- 
 )ring and 
 eth. of D. 
 
 xcellence 
 .0 render 
 institutes 
 nt to the 
 lent sins 
 riishment 
 hould be 
 e repara- 
 lajesty of 
 ►ngs done 
 
 that he 
 ition for 
 )oses and 
 
 1 not be 
 )bedience 
 indepen- 
 self, and 
 at I may 
 ider Him 
 en if sin 
 in future, 
 annot of 
 nee that 
 
 benevo- 
 not only 
 
 incurs present guilt, but plunges into inability for 
 future obedience, it follows that satisfaction cannot be 
 rendered by any personal efforts of the sinner. And 
 when satisfaction cannot be made, punishment must 
 be submitted to. 
 
 " A debt of obedience to the law in our whole course 
 was upon our first parents by creation, but upon sin a 
 new debt of punishment was contracted." This debt 
 was to be paid " in some way to which a person was 
 not obliged before the offence was committed." {Char- 
 nock.) It was to be paid by the personal suffering of 
 the threatened penalty. That penalty imposes un 
 endinjj sufferinor. 
 
 Sorrow for the crime or hatred of it will not blot out 
 guilt. Rev. Joseph Cook illustrates this by quoting the 
 words which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Mac- 
 beth : 
 
 "Will all great* Neptune's oce<aii wash this blood 
 Olean from luy hand '.' No ! this]^my hand will rather 
 The multitudinous seas incarnadine, 
 Making the green one red." 
 
 Lady Maobetii.— Yet here's the sj)ot. 
 
 Doctor. — Hark ! She speaks. 
 T will set down what comes from her. 
 
 Lady Macbeth. -Here's the smell of the blood still. 
 All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. 
 
 As our sorrow does not quiet our own conscience; we 
 are convinced it will not satisfy Divine righteousness. 
 There is a feeling that something else must be done to 
 satisfy the majesty of Divine law. " Conscience of 
 guilt is propliecy of pain." 
 
m 
 
 70 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 m 
 
 ,tH 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 i 1 
 
 ' I 
 I , 
 
 1 I 
 
 Man is so constituted that he can be punished, 
 whether he consents or not. He cannot be made to 
 obey aj^ainst liis will, but he can be punished against 
 his will. Having* only a small measure of finite pow^r 
 at his comman(l, he can be arrested, imprisoned, and 
 punished by superior power. No man can resist or 
 escape from the supreme power of God. " Just as none 
 of those things which are under the heaven can ^et 
 away from under the heaven. For whencesoever, 
 whithersoever, and in what way they might go, they 
 would still bo under the heaven, and the farther they 
 might remove from any part of heaven, the more 
 would they approach the opposite part. Even so, 
 thoucfh a man or evil ancrel be unwillin^: to su))iect 
 himself to the Divine will or disposal, yet he cannot 
 flee from it ; for if he would flee from under the pre- 
 ceptive will of God, he falls under the punitive will of 
 God." (Anselm.) 
 
 Punishment is therefore reserved as a means of up- 
 holding the principles and interest of moral govern- 
 ment, when these are not maintained by free and 
 loyal obedience ; and when reparation for disobedience 
 has not been made. 
 
 "The right to administer punishment is grounded not 
 merely on authority to punish, but on the justice of 
 the punishment. The justice of the punishment is 
 grounded on the ascertained fact that an accountable 
 moral agent has done what is contrary to existing, 
 righteous, and authoritative law," and what he cannot 
 make reparation for. "Then after this decision as to 
 
GOD AS MORA I. (iOVEUNOH. 
 
 71 
 
 lunished, 
 
 made to 
 
 [ against 
 
 te power 
 
 ined, and 
 
 resist or 
 
 t as none 
 
 can get 
 
 cesoever, 
 
 go, they 
 
 ;her they 
 
 he more 
 
 Even so, 
 
 ) subject 
 
 e cannot 
 
 tlie pre- 
 
 ^e will of 
 
 ns of up- 
 
 jTOvern- 
 
 free and 
 
 bedience 
 
 nde 1 not 
 ustice of 
 iment is 
 ountable 
 existing, 
 e cannot 
 ion as to 
 
 the justice of the punishment comes the consideration 
 of the utility of inflicting it publicly, that it may be 
 an example tending to the advantage of others, 
 leading them to nnticipate the same punishment in 
 case of transm-ession, and urofinj; them to resolve to 
 avoid the crime in order to avoid its judicial conse- 
 quences." (Cousin.) " It is the justice of punishment 
 which renders its effect on community good, and not 
 its effect on community which renders it just." 
 (Hod'je, p. 513.) Speaking in reference to civil 
 government, it has been said : " Take away from 
 punishment the foundation of justice and you destroy 
 its utilit}^ you substitute indignation and abhorrence 
 for a salutary lesson and for repentance, both in the 
 condemned and in the public ; you put courage, sym- 
 pathy, all that is noble and great in human nature, on 
 the side of the victim ; j^ou rouse all energetic souls 
 against society and its artificial laws. Then even the 
 utility of punishment rests upon its justice. The punish- 
 ment is the sanction of law, not its foundation." 
 (Cousin, History of Modern Pkilosophy, vol. ii. pp. 
 279, 280; Cousin, Psychology, translated by G. S. 
 Henry, pp. 317, 318.) It is equally true that "just 
 punishment is useful to maintain moral government, 
 and moral government is necessary in order to the 
 best interests of the moral universe." {Hodge, p. 311.) 
 These considerations impose upon the Divine Ruler 
 the obligation to inflict punishment, when the protec- 
 tion of public rights and interests cannot be secured 
 by other means. 
 
 \.A 
 
 1!' 
 
■H 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 / 
 
 A 
 
 // 
 
 
 
 A 
 
 Y 
 ^ 
 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 1^ IIIIM 
 
 M 
 
 2.2 
 
 ^ tiS, 11112:0 
 
 1.8 
 
 11.25 11.4 il.6 
 
 f 
 
 V] 
 
 <^ 
 
 /} 
 
 y: 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 >^ 
 
'Qa 
 
 a wj>.< 
 
 y 
 
 ^ 
 
 its 
 
m 
 i 
 
 3, J,' 
 li / 
 
 ; ! Ilii 
 ■ * !! 
 
 ? i 
 \ \ 
 
 liij 'm' 
 
 
 
 1 ' 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 J ■ 
 
 f 
 
 1 1 
 
 j; , 
 
 ' i 
 
 i 1 
 
 i 
 ■i 
 
 i 
 
 i ■ . 
 i 
 
 : ^1 
 
 1 
 
 ( 
 
 ' 
 
 '!"■ 
 
 [I 
 
 1 
 
 '\ 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 M| 
 
 '"SS^^TSil 
 
 Ljl 
 
 72 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 The right to punish, belongs to God, and to those 
 to whom he has delegated it. Human governments 
 exercise a delegated right. 
 
 " Human governors punish as a precaution against 
 future offences of the same kind." (Blackstone, Vol. II. 
 Book IV., p. 11). They make "the prevention of 
 crimes the proper end of human punishment." (Paley, 
 Moral and Pol. Phil. Book VI., chap, ix.) When 
 they inflict capital punishment, they do not aim at 
 the moral care of the offending party, but at the com- 
 pulsory suppression of his wrong-doing by destroying 
 his power to do. This appeases the community who 
 were indignant at the crime. So, according to the 
 Scriptures the final judgment of God, will effect com- 
 pulsory suppression of sinful doings in the future. 
 Leaving man's will untouched, it will destroy his 
 power to do. It will paralyze the future body, to put 
 an end to the outworking of sinful dispositions and 
 purposes. It illustrates tl^s by representing the rich 
 man in hell, as rendered utterly unable to use hand or 
 foot to procure the water which he needed and was so 
 near. The punitive fire did not consume, it merely 
 crippled him. His power to do was paralyzed, that 
 he may no longer be a worker of iniquity. As far as 
 usefulness is concerned, the body is " destroyed." If 
 men will not place their active powers in willing and 
 loyal subjection to God, if they prefer to yield them- 
 selves to sin and Satan, those active powers will be 
 forever crippled, so that they can no longer work out 
 their wicked plans. It will be useful punishment. 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 

 GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 73 
 
 to those 
 rnments 
 
 against 
 , Vol. II. 
 ition of 
 (Paley, 
 When 
 aim at 
 -he com- 
 troying 
 ity who 
 to the 
 ect corn- 
 future, 
 jroy his 
 i, to put 
 ons and 
 the rich 
 hand or 
 i was so 
 b merely 
 5ed, that 
 Is far as 
 ed." If 
 ling and 
 Id them- 
 will be 
 vork out 
 ishment. 
 
 I 
 
 .»4 
 
 m 
 
 It will not be inllicted irrespective of the good effects 
 which may flow from it. It will restrain the incorri- 
 gible sinner, and the fear of it is well fitted to deter 
 those who are yet teachable. Creatures made after the 
 Divine image, endowed with intelligence, and will, and 
 sell: agency, cannot be permitted to continue to use 
 these God-like powers in doing what they cannot 
 make reparation for ; and in counteracting infinitely 
 wise, and benevolent plans that embrace a universe 
 and extend through everlasting ages. The incorrigible, 
 will be placed in paralyzed resurrection bodies. 
 
 If temporal punishments are justified on the ground 
 that they are necessary to meet the exigencies and up- 
 hold the interest of temporal governments, surely 
 eternal punishment may be justified on the same 
 ground in relation to an eternal government." (Bled- 
 soe, Theodicea, p. 307.) 
 
 Divine Justice is wholly distinct from human re- 
 venge : Justice punishes for an unlawful act and for 
 the governmental end of restricting the power to re- 
 peat it ; it aims to keep order in the world : Revenge 
 retaliates for a personally injurious effect with the in- 
 tention of inflicting a similar injury. 
 
 Judicial punishment is not remedial in reference 
 to him who violated the law. It is brought on him 
 " for evil and not for good." In this respect punishment 
 is like temporal judgments. In many of these the 
 nature of the infliction " precludes the possil ility of 
 the good of the offender being the ground of its 
 infliction. The deluge, the destruction of the cities of 
 
'[■.I! 
 
 t ' 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 '■m 
 
 B ■; 
 
 
 74 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 the plain, and the overthrow of Jerusalem were 
 certainly not designed for the benefit of those who 
 suffered from those desolating afflictions." (Dr. Hodge, 
 TkeoL, I. p. 418.) There is this difference, however ; 
 temporal judgments take place before the day of 
 judgment, but " the Lord reserves the unjust to the 
 day of judgment to be punished." (Ps. ii. 9.) Suffer- 
 ing inflicted upon a man to make him better in the 
 the future, is not punishment, but chastisement. " If 
 punishment was intended to be a reformatory process, 
 a process intended to promote the moral benefit of the 
 sufferer, its degree of severity would have to be 
 measured, not by the magnitude of the sin for which 
 it is inflicted, but by the difficulty ' of inducing the 
 sinner to amend ; " " and should not be inflicted at all 
 if reformation may be produced by other and gentler 
 influences." (Dr. Dale, Atonement, p. 373.) If punish- 
 ment were intended to be reformatory, it would follow 
 that Christ, by undertaking to save man from it, 
 became the greatest enemy of the human race. Any 
 opinion that leads to such a consequence must be 
 utterly wrong. 
 
 The coming punishment is revealed to faith, but 
 not yet exhibited to' sight. As Isaac Taylor observes : 
 " God secluded man from the sight of other worlds 
 that His will may have freer play in choosing good, 
 and refusing evil ; that the great irrevocable choice 
 may be less a matter of necessity and terror, and more 
 of voluntary consent. Could we see all the conse- 
 quences, whether of good or of bad, that are mani- 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 1 
 
mm 
 
 GOD AS MORAL GOVERNOR. 
 
 75 
 
 m were 
 ose who 
 . Hodge, 
 lowever ; 
 
 day of 
 t to the 
 
 Sutfer- 
 sr in the 
 int. " If 
 ' process, 
 fit of the 
 3 to be 
 )r which 
 cing the 
 ted at all 
 1 gentler 
 £ punish- 
 ild follow 
 
 from it, 
 ce. Any 
 must be 
 
 'aith, but 
 observes : 
 ;r worlds 
 ing good, 
 )le choice 
 and more 
 he conse- 
 ire mani- 
 
 fested in other worlds, we should be driven, not led, 
 from vice, and into virtue — so enormous would appear 
 the superiority of the one over the other in its effects." 
 Penalty for moral transgression is made to follow 
 l)y judicial appointment, not by mere natural conse- 
 (luence. Punishment, proper so called, does not result 
 n<icessarily from the nature and fitness of things, but 
 is inflicted after judicial decision by the authoritative 
 command of the judge. As the precepts of written 
 law are not " self-acting, but require the free concur- 
 rence of the human will ; so the penalties of that law 
 are not self-acting, they require the concurrence of the 
 Divine will." This last statement is put by Dr. Dale 
 in the form of a bare probability. But the following 
 scriptures, and others of the same kind, show that it 
 may be stated as certainly true. " It is a living person, 
 who, according to the ancient historical scriptures, 
 punishes the sins and rewards the righteousness of 
 men. It is impossible to suppose that these books 
 were meant to teach that self-acting spiritual laws 
 brought a flood upon the old world, rained fire upon 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed the first-born of 
 Egypt, excluded from the Land of Promise Aaron and 
 Moses, and nearly the whole congregation that crossed 
 the Red Sea." (Dr. Dale, Aton^-p. 326.) According to 
 the New Testament, too, it is a living Person who will 
 finally reward and punish men. It never states or 
 implies that rewards and punishments are sufliciently 
 dispensed by self-acting laws. On the contrary, the 
 Great Teacher says, " The Son of Man shall come in 
 
 
76 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 It 
 
 ' i! 
 
 'i 
 
 ill 
 
 tl 
 
 the glory of His Father, with His angels ; and then He 
 shall reward every man according to his works." 
 (Matt. xvi. 27.) St. Peter says, " He commanded ns to 
 preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He 
 who was ordained by God to be the Judge of quick 
 and dead." (Acts x. 42.) St. Paul warned the 
 Athenians that God " hath appointed a day in which 
 He will judge the world in righteousness, by that 
 Man whom He hath ordained." (Acts xvii. :31.) And 
 he assured the Corinthians that " we must all stand 
 before the Judgment-seat of Christ ; that every one 
 may receive the things done in the body according to 
 that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Cor. 
 V. 10.) 
 
 As punishment is inflicted by the Divine will, it 
 would of course be possible for the Divine will to 
 suspend or withdraw it, should adequate considerations 
 be presented by the extraordinary intervention of a 
 Divine Mediator. 
 
 But, say some, there is no room for the remission of 
 penalty. They see none, because they say that sin is 
 punished, not by the Divine will, but by the self-acting 
 principles of the Divine nature. They say that " the 
 Holiness and Justice of God necessarib/ hate sin, and 
 determine to punish it ; that God cannot divest him- 
 self of these attributes, and that He cannot refrain 
 from exercising them ; that incurred penalty cannot 
 be set aside." If this were so, there would be no 
 forbearance towards sinners for a single day or hour ; 
 but in fact forbearance has been actually exercised 
 
 ,v* 
 
 I' 
 
 jiU 
 
(iOD AS MORAT. OOVEl^NOK. 
 
 77 
 
 then He 
 works." 
 led us to 
 it is He 
 )t* quick 
 led the 
 lin which 
 by that 
 I.) And 
 dl stand 
 very one 
 )rding to 
 (2 Cor. 
 
 e will, it 
 e will to 
 derations 
 tion of a 
 
 nission of 
 lat sin is 
 elf-acting 
 that "the 
 e sin, and 
 vest him- 
 ot refrain 
 ty cannot 
 lid be no 
 ' or hour ; 
 exercised 
 
 
 -^ 
 
 1 
 
 Si 
 
 for years and scores of years, towards millions of 
 sinners, during many centuries. Immediate punish- 
 ment, then, is not inflicted by God's nature, indepen- 
 dently of His will. On the contrary, Judicial punish- 
 ment awaits the will of the Judge of all. 
 
 Others dethrone God, and place self-acting law 
 above Him. They say : — " The laws of the spiritual 
 universe do not depend even on the highest will. The 
 great God did not make them: they are eternal, as 
 He is. The groat God could not repeal them ; they are 
 immutable, as He is. In perfect harmony with the 
 Divine will, they are nevertheless independent of it ; 
 and as they were not created, they cannot be annulled, 
 or altered, even by the Almighty." " It is assumed that 
 without aid from any quarter they avenge themselves, 
 and exact, and continue without fail to exact, so long 
 as the evil remains, the amount of penalty — visible or 
 invisible — to the veriest jot or tittle, which the deed of 
 violation deserves. There is no formal trial of the 
 criminal. . . . No judical verdict is pronounced, and 
 no officer of justice is appointed to carry out the sen- 
 tence ; but at once punishment, or reward visible, or 
 invisible, or both, dispenses itself, and in the amount 
 in which either is merited." (Dr. Jno. Young, sum- 
 marized by Dr. Dale, Atonement, pp. 317, 318.) lu 
 short, they set aside the idea that God rules in the 
 moral realm. " They think that penalties are natural 
 consequences, not judicial ones, and are self-acting and 
 unpreventable." {Dr. Hodge, p. 64.) They suppose the 
 moral universe to be under the iron rule " of a vast 
 and awful mechanism, dispensing rewards and punish- 
 
 1 
 
 
 
\' 
 
 P : ' 
 
 I ! 
 
 'i;: 
 
 ill! 
 Ill : 
 
 il! 
 
 :(i! 
 
 ii'i 
 
 78 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 merits from eternity to eternity, in exact proportion 
 to righteousness and sin ; instead of perceiving it to 
 be under the rule, gracious as well as Just, of the living 
 God." {Dr. Daley p. 885.) This position, says Dr. 
 Hudfjc, is " so repugnant to scripture that it needs no 
 refutation." 
 
 But, in point of fact, such mechanical Justice is not 
 administered in the world. It is, and must be admit- 
 ted, that " the whole course of the world from the 
 creation till now, and the manifest system of provi- 
 dence towards the good, and towards the bad, are 
 right in the face of such rectilineal Justice." " In this 
 world the penalties of sin are constantly evaded 
 escaped, or alleviated." (Dr. Dale, on Atoneriient.) 
 However acfreeable to the nature of thinofs that the 
 guilty should be punished according to their deserts, 
 they are not punished by the nature of things, by any 
 natural or necessary connection between moral and 
 physical eviL They will, however, be punished by a 
 living Ruler and Judge, if not shielded by some extra- 
 ordinary interposition. 
 
 God feels a righteous obligation to punish sin, when 
 there is no other way to secure the interests of moral 
 government. But when these can be equally secured 
 by the Mediatorial plan, punishment is not absolutely 
 irremissible. 
 
 The threatening was not made in such a manner as 
 to leave no room for mediation. It did, in fact, leave 
 room for extraordinary interrvention. There is no an- 
 tecedent objection to this. We have no adequate 
 knowledge of the Divine perfections, by direct in- 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 
m 
 
 GOD AS MORAL GOVEllNOB. 
 
 79 
 
 )portion 
 ng it to 
 e livinu' 
 lys Dr. 
 eecls no 
 
 e is not 
 admit- 
 '0111 the 
 t* provi- 
 md, are 
 ' In this 
 evaded 
 lement.) 
 ;hat the 
 deserts, 
 , by any 
 )ral and 
 ed by a 
 ,e extra- 
 
 n, when 
 
 •f moral 
 
 secured 
 
 solutely 
 
 inner as 
 2t, leave 
 s no an- 
 dequate 
 rect in- 
 
 tuition ; we must examine what Divine Justice is, by 
 examining, not merely the laws which it has pro- 
 claimed to man, and the penalty which it has threat- 
 ened to inflict upon the transgressor ; but also the pro- 
 pitiation which it has accepted from the Mediator, 
 instead of the penalty which might have been inflicted 
 on man. From its actual acceptation of such a pro- 
 pitiation we learn that the remission of punishment is 
 not absolutely impossible ; that, on the other hand, it 
 is quite possible ; but possible only through a 
 Mediator, who proposed to save man not merely from 
 punishment, but from sin, and to do so consistently 
 with the Holiness of God and the free agency of man. 
 Satisfaction may be off'ered by a Mediator, and when 
 satisfaction is accepted, punishment is not enforced J 
 and, on the other hand, when there is a determination 
 to enforce punishment, satisfaction is not accepted. 
 (See Numbers xxxv. 31, 82.) We shall examine this 
 point more fully in due time. 
 
 We have now closed our preliminary review of those 
 principles and ends of moral government which the 
 Divine Moral Governor was resolved to uphold ; which 
 must not be set aside by any opposition of man, or by 
 any interposition on man's behalf. It was as the 
 Divine Guardian of those principles that God appeared 
 on the great occasion now under consideration. As 
 such he was much displeased with rebellious men. But 
 " while we were yet ._emies " a Mediator intervened, 
 and made room for a Mercy-seat between the Throne 
 of Majesty and the Judgment-seat ; and for a new and 
 remedial dispensation. 
 
 I 
 

 (80) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 l\ 
 
 K 
 
 A Mediator did in fact appear, for " there ib one God and 
 one Mediator between God and man" — the Man Christ Jesus. — 
 1 Tim. ii. 5. 
 
 When the human family foolishly and presumptu- 
 ously left the path of duty and entered on the down- 
 ward ways of iniquity, transgression, and sin, their 
 Divine Moral Governor was justly displeased, and 
 might have instantly arrested them, as He did the 
 angels that sinned, and reserved them too, unto Judg- 
 ment. But at this most solemn crisis, " God so loved 
 the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that 
 whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
 have everlasting life ; for God sent not His Son into 
 the world to condemn the world, but that the world 
 through Him might be saved." (John iii. 16, 17.) " God 
 is love, and in this was manifested the love of God 
 towards us, because that God sent His Only Begotten 
 Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 
 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He 
 loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our 
 sins." (1 John iv. 9, 10.) 
 
 When acting as Mediator, the Son of God " did not 
 ascribe to His Father all the sternness and severity, 
 and claim as His own all the tenderness and compas- 
 
^ 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 81 
 
 God and 
 ; Jesus. — 
 
 jumptu- 
 j down- 
 in, the?r 
 ed, and 
 did the 
 Judg- 
 10 loved 
 on, that 
 ish, but 
 on into 
 3 world 
 ) "God 
 of God 
 egotten 
 [h Him. 
 tiat He 
 for our 
 
 lid not 
 sverity, 
 Dmpas- 
 
 sion. He takes especial pains to impress us with the 
 assurance that the purpose of His mission was to pro- 
 claim the loving message, and to execute the loving will 
 of His Father, who is in heaven." (Ci'awford, Atone- 
 ment, 235.) The apostles, too, represent the sufferings 
 and death of Christ as the highest commendation of 
 God's preexisting love and pity for sinful man. 
 
 The Divine love to man was vastly superior to man's 
 love for man. " For scarcely for a righteous man will 
 one die ; yet peradventure for a good man some would 
 even dare to die. But God commended His love 
 towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ 
 died for us." (Rom. v. 7, 8.) Some men are slow of heart 
 to believe that God so loved the world. " They can 
 believe in a God afar off, but they cannot believe in 
 a God nigh at hand. They can conceive God to have 
 almighty power, infinite wisdom, and Justice, but they 
 cannot give Him credit for infinite affection. They 
 know that a woman will light a candle and go into 
 every hole and corner, stooping and searching until 
 she find that which she has missed ; but they have no 
 idea that this can be a true parable of God's concern 
 for His lost children." (Pulsford.) Yet it illustrates 
 but very feebly the seeking love of God. 
 
 There are two kinds of love in God; His love of pity 
 towards those who have departed from the right way, 
 and His love of delight and complacency towards His 
 grateful and obedient children. The latter is a higher 
 display of love than the former. Hence, God cannot 
 love a person in the degree He loves a saint, till he is 
 
 
 I 
 
'¥ 
 
 I i 
 
 m y 
 
 iii' • 
 
 m 
 
 fhi'i 
 
 m 
 
 82 
 
 THi. ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 1 1' I 
 
 i'i'i 
 
 Ml 
 
 HI' 
 
 I H 
 
 
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 M 
 
 such. But He loves him as a prodigal sinner. And 
 this love to the unloving and unloveable was so 
 great, that it provided a mediator, and gave the sinner 
 his first hope. Tlie fact that God provided and sent a 
 mediator, pre-supposes "love to an enemy surviving his 
 enmity, and, notwithstanding that enmity, acting to- 
 wards him for his good ;" but this is not yet pardoning 
 love, .and cannot become such without the reasons fur- 
 nished by the interc >sion of the priestly mediator. The 
 Divine nature did not necessarily exercise mercy ; else 
 that mercy would have been shown to the angels that 
 sinned, and they would not have been reserved unto 
 judgment. Their case shows plainly that we cannot 
 infer that God is merciful, from the fact that He is good. 
 This inference would be unfounded with respect to 
 those sinning angels, and therefore could not be trust- 
 worthy with respect to sinning men. Divine goodness 
 renders sin more worthy of punishment, not more 
 worthy of pardon. It is only through an atonement 
 that sin could be forgiven consistently with the prin- 
 ciples and interests of righteousness. According to 
 the scriptures, ^the most prominent feature of the 
 Divine character is love ; but love acting in harmony 
 with the principles of Holiness, and with the claims of 
 righteousness. 
 
 It is not correct to suppose that " all the moral per- 
 fections of God are comprised in benevolence." As we 
 have already seen, the scripture exhibits Divine holi- 
 ness as well as Divine love. It emphatically describes 
 the indignation felt by that holiness against sin. The 
 
^ 
 
 THE ONK MKDIATOH. 
 
 83 
 
 And 
 was so 
 le sinner 
 id sent a 
 iving his 
 ^tinc^ to- 
 ardonino' 
 sons fur- 
 tor. The 
 rcy ; else 
 gels that 
 v^ed unto 
 e cannot 
 e is good, 
 espect to 
 be trust- 
 goodness 
 lot more 
 :onement 
 the prin- 
 irding to 
 3 of the 
 barmony 
 claims of 
 
 oral per- 
 As we 
 dne holi- 
 describes 
 in. The 
 
 Old Testament speaks of God as an everlasting King, 
 at whose " wrath the earth shall tremble, and the 
 nations shall not be able to abide His indignation." 
 (Jer. X. 10.) The Nr v Testament speaks of " the wrath 
 of God coming upon the children of disobedience." 
 (Kph. V. 6.) " For the wrath of God is revealed from 
 heaven aixainst all unjjodliness and unrii^hteousness of 
 men, who hold," (hold down;Jleris. Trans, hold captive), 
 " the truth in unrighteousness." (Rom. i. 18.) Divine 
 holiness and Divine love are blended harmoniously on 
 the sacred pages. " Gracious is the Lord and righteous." 
 (Ps. cxvi. T)), said the Psalmist. 
 
 The apostle John, who announced most emphatically 
 that " God is love," announced as distinctly that *' God 
 is ri'o'hteous. * Rifjhteous Father,' said the Beloved 
 Son who came to reveal Him, *0 righteous Father, the 
 world hath not known Thee.' " (John xvii. 25.) Some 
 called Him " Father," but not " Righteous Father.'' 
 Some called Him the Righteous One, but not the 
 Righteous Father, because the world had not known 
 Him. But, said the Lord Jesus Christ, " I have known 
 Thee, . . . and I have declared Thy name unto them, 
 and will declare it." And He has declared it to be 
 Righteous Father. He declared this still more 
 emphatically by becoming " the propitiation for the 
 sin of the world." Yet some think that Christ did 
 need to propitiate the righteousness of God. Christ 
 came, say they, merely to reveal Divine love to man, 
 h\ order to persuade men to lay aside their wicked 
 enmity to God. But if this were so, " in what sense, 
 
84 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ,1 
 
 I 
 Mil! 
 
 I!i I 
 
 *■■ '^ 
 
 consistent with the honest use of lan<rua<]:e, can He be 
 said to be our Priest, our Ransom, our Advocate with 
 the Father, the propitiation for our sins ?" (Rev. A. A. 
 Hodo-e, on Atoneinent, p. 11)5.) If Christ came merely 
 to manifest the Divine fatherliness, and if that Father 
 is not a Riojhteous Father, if He feels no holy in- 
 dignation, He does not need to be propitiated. Christ 
 in that case would be merely the Father's advocate 
 with us, as Jesus Christ the pitiful. He would not be 
 '•'our Advocate with the Father as Jesus Christ the 
 righteous." On the supposition here adverted to, there 
 is no need of any mediating High-Priest to approach 
 God on man's behalf, no need of our coming to Hini as 
 " the way" to the Father. In short, " if, as some teach? 
 God never was offended, there was no need of the 
 propitiation ; and, if so, Christ died in vain." {Wesley s 
 Notes on Roiiw^' iii. 25.) 
 
 But those 'O set the idea of propitiation aside, 
 feel that they ' tve left a sad and perplexing void. 
 When the consc >usness of guilt revives in them, they 
 then are anxious to fill up the wide and distressing 
 vacancy in their theory. Bushnell, for instance, at- 
 tempts to fill this void by "giving a thought-form to 
 the facts which he sees not in the facts themselves." 
 He for this purpose imagines, what he ought to have 
 perceived, that Christ is a propitiatory sacrifice for 
 sinners. He finds that he cannot do without " these 
 sacred forms of the altar. They fill an office which 
 nothing else can fill, and serve a use which cannot be 
 served withont them." buch a confession is fatal to 
 
THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 85 
 
 n He be 
 a-te with 
 ev. A. A. 
 e merely 
 fc Father 
 loly in- 
 Christ 
 iclvoeate 
 cl not be 
 irist the 
 to, there 
 pp roach 
 ) Hrni as 
 16 teach; 
 of the 
 Wesley's 
 
 ti aside, 
 ig void, 
 m, they 
 
 bressinir 
 nee, at- 
 'orm to 
 selves." 
 o have 
 ice for 
 " these 
 which 
 not be 
 ital to 
 
 
 that theory ; it shows the utter deficiency of the mere 
 moral influence view of the atonement. To convince 
 men that God is love would not suffice. It would not 
 reconcile those who hate the holiness of that love, and 
 its holy laws. 
 
 The moral influence theory fails to explain why 
 Christ's love manifested itself in self-sacrifice, in 
 sufi'ering and dying for us. This cannot be supposed 
 to l)e done merely to show His love, and the love of 
 His Heavenly Father. His love cannot he conceived 
 of as doing anything fo; vvhich there was no call in 
 the circumstances of the case viewed in themselves. 
 A man may love another so as to be willing to die for 
 him ; but he will not actually lay down his life merely 
 to show his love, and without there being anything to 
 render his doing so necessary in order to save the life 
 for which he yields up his own." (Dr. J. Young, 
 quoted hy Randies, p. 206.) Christ's sufierings, then, 
 cannot be supposed to be endured simply to produce a 
 moral effect upon men. Besides, on that supposition, 
 they would fail to effect even that result. It is " only 
 when sufferings are unavoidable in the accomplishment 
 of an object dearer than life, that their endurance 
 deeply effects those who witness or hear of them. 
 Self-sacrifice is love's expression only when there is a 
 necessity demanding it." Christ saw such a necessity. 
 It was written *' that Christ should suffer," and He 
 pointed his followers to that record. 
 
 No attribute of the Divine nature, no principle of 
 the Divine government, no utterance of the Divine 
 
 i| 
 
 I ^ 1 
 
% 
 
 ml 
 
 
 
 :l ' 
 
 lliili ' 
 
 ,;::.|i 1 
 
 n. 
 I, J 
 
 I.:' : 
 
 3. 
 
 86 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 voice demanded that God should provide a Mediator 
 to make atonement on man's behalf. Such inter- 
 position was a voluntary act of love. It was not 
 necessitated by the apostasy of man. It was spon- 
 taneously thought of and provided by the goodness of 
 God. "One necessity there was in the case, and only 
 one, viz., that if God interposed at all, it should be in a 
 manner consistent with the intinite perfections of His 
 character. (Eev, E. C. Winer, D.D.) One attribute of 
 God must work harmoniously with all his other 
 attributes. Every act of the Almighty Agent must 
 be in full harmony w^ith the glorious combination of 
 excellencies, which constitute the infinite perfection of 
 His nature. His varied perfections may be contem- 
 plated separately, yet He is not a " sphere of separate 
 stars, but one glorious Sun of pure and holy light." 
 The light of the material sun may be divided by a 
 prism into its various colourod rays, and each of these 
 may be made the object of distinct attention; "yet 
 it is the combination of the seven that constitutes 
 light, of which its colorless purity is the prime excel- 
 lence. Thus may we make the various perfections 
 of the Divine nature the subjects, one by one, of 
 separate consideration ; but it is the union of them all 
 in inseparable existence and exercise, that forms the 
 character of that infinite Being, of whom it is said God 
 is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (Wardlaw 
 on Socinian Controversy, p. 206.) As a prophet Christ 
 taught that God is righteous, but did not, like some, 
 make His righteousness more prominent than His 
 
 ■1 
 
 
 ■M 
 
 M 
 
 i. 
 
m 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 87 
 
 I I 
 
 t 
 
 lediator 
 1 inter- 
 vas not 
 Ls spon- 
 Iness of* 
 id only 
 be in a 
 of His 
 ibute of 
 J other 
 it must 
 ation of 
 etion of 
 3ontem- 
 eparate 
 r light." 
 id by a 
 3f these 
 
 i; "yet 
 
 stitutes 
 3 excel- 
 'ections 
 one, of 
 lem all 
 ms the 
 lid God 
 ardlaw 
 Christ 
 s some, 
 n His 
 
 M 
 m 
 
 love or general benevolence. He presented them in 
 due proportion and in due relation, when fulfilling 
 His prophetic oflRce. But when acting as Mediator, 
 He paid special regard to God's righteousness, and to 
 the interests of the moral universe. 
 
 It is importantto notice that the inspired writers, 
 when treating of the Mediatorial work of Christ, tind 
 it necessary to use different illustrations in order to 
 exhibit it fully. " The inestimable benefits of Christ's 
 death and passion transcend all human thought, and 
 fail to find anywhere a perfectly adequate expression 
 in human language, or by means of human relations. 
 It therefore became necessary to employ different il- 
 lustrations, that these may severally supply the de- 
 ficiencies of one another." (Trench's Synonyms, § 76.) 
 They give special prominence to two of these illustra- 
 tions ; one of them represents Him as a Mediating 
 Priest, who draws nigh to God with a sin-offering and 
 intercession to procure the forgiveness of human trans- 
 gression on prudential conditions. 2. The other re- 
 presents Him as a mediating friend, who kindly pays 
 a great ransom to liberate captives, that they may 
 have an opportunity to return to their Master's home 
 and service. The sacred writers sometimes use one of 
 these figures and sometimes the other, and at other 
 times they find it necessary to associate these ideas of 
 ransom and atonement. Paul does so when he says, 
 "Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 
 whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation," etc. 
 (Rom. iii. 2, 25.) St. Peter, too, conjoins them similarly : 
 
 t! 
 
w 
 
 i i 
 
 ' 'I! 
 
 
 88 
 
 THL ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 H 
 
 i 
 
 
 I9» 
 
 iL 
 
 , 
 
 ■III: 
 
 ■iff' 
 
 li:;. 
 
 " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things. . . . 
 but with the precious blood of Chiist, as of a lamb with- 
 out blemish and without spot." In the Hebrews also, 
 it is said, " by His own blood He entered in once into 
 the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for 
 us." (Heb. ix. 12.) 
 
 But although inspired men associated these illus- 
 trations they did not confound them, but used them 
 to supplement each other. For instance, the idea of a 
 ransom accounts for deliverance for a certain con- 
 sideration, but not for deliverance by pardon. Hence, 
 in the Scriptures, as Dean Stanley observes, " when 
 the idea of forgiving sins is intended, it is under the 
 figure of a sin-offering," which is presented by a 
 Mediating Priest, as in Rom. viii. 8, 1 Peter iii. 18, 
 1 John ii. 2, iv. 10. A true theory of Christ's work 
 must explain and account for both illustrations. But 
 it is very important to show that they are different 
 illustrations, and to " distinguish things that differ." 
 This is especially necessary in this most important and 
 manifold subject. But it has not been done by many, 
 and the sad result has been, that " there is nothing 
 which the perplexed wits of men have more entangled." 
 (Sherlock.) The " exact discrimination of the point 
 in question is the first thing to be done, the well doing 
 of which is of the very highest importance." (Rev. A. A. 
 Hodge on Atonemient, p. 328.) 
 
 i 
 
 \ I 
 
V ^ 
 
 ff! 
 
 kt 
 
 IgS. . . . 
 
 lb with- 
 3WS also, 
 nee into 
 Dtion for 
 
 se illus- 
 id them 
 dea of a 
 lin con- 
 Hence, 
 " when 
 nder the 
 d by a 
 : iii. 18, 
 ^'s work 
 IS. But 
 3 liferent 
 differ." 
 ;ant and 
 y many, 
 nothing 
 angled." 
 le point 
 11 doing 
 3v. A. A. 
 
 4 
 
 (89) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 •f 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATING PRIEST. 
 
 We consider, first, the work of Christ as a Mediatins: 
 Priest. It has been already shown that intercession was 
 a most important part of the priest's work. Christ 
 accordingly intended to make intercession for sinners. 
 But He would do so as " Jesus Christ the Righteous." 
 (1 John ii. 1.) Christ united in His own person 
 righteousness and goodness. " When He will appear as 
 the Righteous Judge it will not be in a new character, 
 but only in a new office." (D. T. Woolsey.) He resolved 
 to make it manifest to all that He was Jesus Christ 
 the Righteous before He appeared as Jesus Christ the 
 Intercessor. To make this as evident as possible, He 
 would not begin His mediatorial intercession for sin- 
 ners until He had, in the first place, honored the law 
 of holy commandments by His personal obedience. 
 The Son of God when manifest in the flesh placed 
 Himself in subjection to the law that had been given 
 to mere creatures, and obeyed it willingly and heartily, 
 so that He could say, " I delight to do Thy will, 
 God: yea, Thy'law is within My heart." (Psalms xl. 
 8. Compare Heb. x. 7.) He thus made it manifest 
 that to render full and constant obedience to the moral 
 law which God had enjoined on His subjects, would 
 not lower the dignity of any one, not even that of the 
 8 
 
 W 
 
^ 
 
 90 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR, 
 
 
 ii"i 
 
 ■j 
 
 ■:ii 
 '111 
 
 |« 
 
 >i|i. . I 
 
 ;N!i.i 
 
 Hi' ■ 
 
 M 
 
 Son of God ; would not stain His purity, would not 
 restrict His liberty, would not damp His happiness, but 
 rather promote it. He delighted to obey it. He thus 
 most impressively showed that the DivineLawgivci had 
 imposed no unwise or unkind restraints on man, had 
 taken no advantajje of the weakness and ^'gnorance of 
 man. The law imposed on His subjects was one which 
 His own Divine Son could obey fully with unmingled 
 deliiGjht. 
 
 (2.) The Mediator wished to be known also as one 
 who hated iniquity, as well as loved righteousnes. 
 Hence, before befjinnins: His intercession for sinful 
 men, He saw it would be proper also to honor and 
 magnify the Divine holiness which hated sin as an 
 abominable thing. He availed Himself of an oppor- 
 tunity to make a show of sin openly. His Jewish 
 hearers had begun to hate Him, because He hated 
 their wronjf- doing, and testified aojainst them that 
 their works were evil. They had manifested their 
 hatred by crying, "jNway with Him, away with Him; 
 crucify Him, crucify Him." By bringing false accusa- 
 tion against Him, they got Him to be exposed on the 
 place of execution to public abhorrence. He was thus 
 made a curse for us, for it is written "cursed is every 
 one that is hanged on a tree." The desired opportu- 
 nity was now given and was used by Him. While the 
 Jews saw only Christ on that tree, Paul saw far more 
 than that. He viewed it as " the cross of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified." The 
 New Translation reads, the cross " through which the 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 
 •3 
 
 T 
 
 I 
 
 f C(] 
 
T* 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATING PRIEST. 
 
 91 
 
 uld not 
 ess, but 
 ie thus 
 Vcihad 
 an, had 
 ance of 
 3 which 
 ningled 
 
 as one 
 
 jousnes. 
 
 sinful 
 
 nor and 
 
 1 as an 
 
 oppor- 
 Jewish 
 J hated 
 m that 
 d their 
 h Him; 
 accusa- 
 . on the 
 ^as thus 
 ^s every 
 pportu- 
 hile the 
 ar more 
 ar Lord 
 ." The 
 lich the 
 
 world is crucified." Christ Himself did no sin, and did 
 not deserve to be crucified ; but the world sinned, and 
 tiie sin of the workl was laid on Him by a Higher 
 hand, though the Jews perceived it not. '' God laid 
 on Him the iniquity of us all," and by that means 
 " the world was crucified," all its sins were exposed 
 on the place of public execution as objects of abhor- 
 rence to every rightly instructed mind and rightly 
 disposed heart throughout the intelligent universe : 
 '' Ail that is in the world, the lust of the fiesh, and the 
 lust of the eye, and the pride of life," was branded by 
 the holiest indignation of God and of mgels as de- 
 serving of being paralyzed into inactivity, and then 
 banished with disgust and horror from every habita- 
 tion of every moral agent, into that blackness of dark- 
 ness which then preternaturally shrouded the scene. 
 Paul understood the scene in this way ; not only so, he 
 regarded it in this manner. He said, " the world is 
 crucified unto one." And all spectators should join in 
 this sentiment of holy aversion to all sin. But, alas! 
 many lift the shroud and embrace the crucified carcase 
 of iniquity, and " glory in their shame," Christ felt 
 unutterably under the abhorrent load of multitudinous 
 transgressions. " His soul is exceeding sorrowful even 
 imto death," at such amazing ingratitude to the good- 
 ness and love of God, such offences to the holiness of 
 God, such rebellion against the majesty of God, such 
 convulsion of the moral order of the world, such 
 a counteraction of divinely benevolent purposes 
 and plans. Yet with thai clear sight of the dreadful 
 
 h 
 
 ii 
 
M, 
 
 92 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 
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 ■■I H! 
 
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 I'll'' 
 
 '111;! : ' 
 
 . I'!." I 
 
 
 Ill 
 
 evil and horrible odiousness of sin, Christ still felt 
 love for those who were so unworthy of it as to commit 
 such things. His love resolved still to suffer and die for 
 them. 
 
 It seemed also proper that He should have a "taste" 
 of the suffering from which He undertook to deliver 
 them, " That He should taste death for every man." 
 (Heb. ii. 9.) He knew there was "a distinction between 
 pain suffered in view of sin, for the sake of upholding 
 the authority of the law ; and pain suffered as punish- 
 ment for sin, as the literal execution of the legal 
 threat." (Pres. Edtuanh.) To expose and lament sin 
 was not enough ; He would concede the principle'that 
 paralyzing sufferings may justly be imposed on 
 sinning free agents. But He would concede this in 
 the first instance, " not by inflicting such suffering on 
 the personal sinner, but by personally enduring 
 suffering of that kind." Crucifixion and temporal 
 death paralyzed, for the time being, His power to do. 
 By submitting to paralyzing suffering, He conceded 
 that God may wisely employ suffering for that pur- 
 pose, as a final resort for upholding the authority of 
 the law and preserving the interests of the moral 
 universe; (as has been already illustrated in the case of 
 the rich man who was unable to use hand or foot to 
 reach the water to quench his burning thirst). Christ 
 would, in this most emphatic manner, concede the 
 justness of appointing punishment of that sort, and 
 He would do this before pleading for the remission of 
 the penalty. He wished it to be most clearly seen 
 
 m 
 
 .1*; 
 
' ""rrrpr 
 
 \m 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATING PRIEST. 
 
 93 
 
 AW felt 
 commit 
 
 [ die for 
 
 "taste" 
 deliver 
 f man." 
 )etween 
 holding 
 punish- 
 le legal 
 lent sin 
 ple'that 
 ised on 
 
 this in 
 ring on 
 nduring 
 emporal 
 3r to do. 
 onceded 
 lat pur- 
 lority of 
 e moral 
 e case of 
 
 foot to 
 Christ 
 
 ede the 
 ort, and 
 ission of 
 rly seen 
 
 that when He began to act as our Advocate with the 
 Father, he was " Jesus Christ the Righteous." 
 
 Let us notice that He voluntarily submitted to pre- 
 ternatural suffering. There was more suffering than 
 was occasioned by the scourging, and crown of thorns, 
 and the crucifixion by wicked hands. " Not one of the 
 evangelists dwells upon the physical anguish which 
 Christ must have endured upon the cross. Their ample 
 narratives say nothing of the throbbing pain which he 
 must have suffered from the nails which were driven 
 through His hands ; nothing of the sharp pangs which 
 must have shot through every fibre of His frame." 
 (Dr. Dale, Atonement, p. 58.) But they do speak of a 
 preternaturally-caused agony, which made Him sweat 
 drops of blood. This was not from fear. " Fear makes 
 the blood fly from the skin, and rush back upon 
 the heart." The Lord bruised the human nature of 
 Christ, and left it without sustaining aid. Hence the 
 cry, " My God ! my God 1 why hast Thou forsaken 
 Me ?" The agony ruptured His heart and caused His 
 death. Notice the extraordinary manner of Christ's 
 dying. He " cried with a loud voice, bowed His head, 
 and gave up the Ghost." This led the centurion to say, 
 " Truly this man was the Son of God," which, even in 
 the Pagan theology, signified something more Divine 
 than a mere man." (Sherlock on Immortality.) The 
 centurion had been previously convinced that Christ 
 was "a righteous man," because the miraculous dark- 
 ness, earthquakes, etc., seemed to him to be a testimony 
 that Christ was innocent of what was laid to His 
 
 !lr 
 
 liiiilV 
 
i 
 
 ii':; 
 
 li 
 
 ii 
 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
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 ■ I 
 
 : I 
 
 
 
 94 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 charge. But the extraordinary manner of His dying, 
 as already observed, led the centurion to believe that 
 Christ was the Son of God. He could not attribute 
 His death solely to the agony of crucifixion inflicted 
 by man. He was only six hours on the cross. The 
 great majority of the crucified, even women and chil- 
 dren, have lived from one to four days. There was 
 no probability that Christ was physically delicate. 
 " He was brought up to a mechanical trade, and after- 
 wards was used to healthful journeys from place to 
 place. The various words He spoke on the cross, and 
 His last ' cry with a loud voice,' showed that His 
 bodily strength was not exhausted." But the suf- 
 ferings of crucifixion were not His only sufferings. 
 V\^ith these were combined the preternatural ly-inflicted 
 sufferings which causec. an agony of soul that brought 
 on death by producing rupture of the heart, as the 
 physiological effect of such distress upon the human 
 system. Evidence of this cause of death was after- 
 wards given when the soldier pierced His side. " The 
 blood and water which now flowed out was a proof 
 that blood had previously effused from the ruptured 
 heart into the distended pericardial sac ; and, as is 
 usual with blood when let out of its proper vessels, 
 had separated into red clots of blood and watery 
 serum." The beloved apostle John was standing where 
 he could see these flow out. He made special and 
 emphatic mention of the fact, and properly so, because 
 it was a scientific proof that death had actually taken 
 place, that Christ was dead before the penetration of 
 
 
 1 
 
 yJSU 
 
 ;m1 
 
THE ONE MEDIATING PRIEST. 
 
 &5 
 
 dying, 
 
 v^e that 
 tribute 
 nflicted 
 ;. The 
 d chil- 
 pre was 
 elicate. 
 d after- 
 )lace to 
 ss, and 
 at His 
 16 suf- 
 ferings, 
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 wrought 
 as the 
 human 
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 a proof 
 iptured 
 I, as is 
 vessels, 
 watery 
 J where 
 al and 
 Decause 
 ' taken 
 tion of 
 
 the Soulier's spear, And that the immediate cause of Ilis 
 death was agony of soul, producing rupture of the 
 heart. It was because the " blood and water" which 
 flowed from the wound opened by the soldier's spear 
 was a proof of this, that John said, " And he that saw 
 it bare record, and his record is true ; and he knoweth 
 that he saith true, that ye might believe." (John xix. 
 25.) See a " Treatise on the Physical Cause of the 
 Death of Christ," by W. Stroud, M.D., or references to 
 it in Dale on the " Atonement." 
 
 [Note. — Some Greek copies of the New Testament 
 insert in Matt, xxvii. 49, words which represent the 
 soldier as piercing Christ's side before death had taken 
 place. But these words are rejected by Tischendorf, 
 etc., and seem to have been borrowed from John by 
 some copyist, and misplaced. John clearly places that 
 event after the death of Christ. It may be also re- 
 marked that some have erroneously supposed that 
 Christ " dismissed His spirit," and " gave up the Ghost," 
 by a mere act of His own will. These persons have 
 not recognized that those words are simply Greek 
 translations of a known Hebrew circumlocution for 
 death. Others have supposed that Christ, by an official 
 action, " dismissed His spirit," being a priest as well as 
 the Lamb of God. But they forget, or have not noticed, 
 that priestly action was not requisite in slaying the 
 animal. It commenced with receiving the blood of 
 the slain victim, and presenting it as a token of fin- 
 ished sacriflcial suffering when making intercession 
 for sinners.] 
 
 i|i' 
 
I 
 
 II 
 
 96 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOK. 
 
 His death, as already shown, was caused by preter- 
 naturally-inHicted agony combined with the pains of 
 crucifixion. God had said, " Awake, O sword, against 
 my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow ; 
 smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered " 
 (Zech. xiii. 7) ; so that He will be forsaken by His 
 disciples, too, that He may "tread the wine-press 
 alone." Thus, " the chastisement of our peace was 
 upon Him," and " the cross was made the propitiatory 
 altar of the world." (Van Oosterzee.) 
 
 i.) 
 
 ;''ri:i 
 
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 preter- 
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 against 
 fellow ; 
 btered " 
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 biatory 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE MEDIATOR VOLUNTEERED TO RECEIVE CHASTISE- 
 MENT FOR MAN, NOT TO SUFFER PUNISH- 
 MENT IN HIS STEAD. 
 
 Chastisement voluntarily submitted to for the pur- 
 pose of upholding the authority of law, differs from 
 punishment which is forcibly inflicted for the same 
 end. Let us examine an illustration of this. A dis- 
 tiuixuished schoolmaster once substituted his own 
 voluntary chastisement in the place of a disobedient 
 pupil's punishment. " One day," says he, " I called up 
 before me a pupil of eight or ten years of age, who as 
 the other pupils knew, had violated an important 
 regulation of the school and was liable to "punishment. 
 I put the ruler into the hand of that offending pupil ; 
 I extended my hand ; I told him to strike. I saw a 
 struggle begin in his face. I kept my hand extended, 
 and the school was in tears. The boy seemed trans- 
 formed by the idea that I should take chastisement 
 in place of his punishment. He went back to his seat, 
 and ever after was one of the most docile of all the 
 pupils in that school, although he had been at first one 
 of the rudest." 
 
 "What has the master done?" says Rev. Joseph 
 Cooke. " He has so substituted his own chastisement 
 for the pupil's punishme^ as to remove the necessity 
 
 1 : 
 
 iii, 
 
 1 . 
 
 1 
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II 
 
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 98 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR 
 
 for the pupil to suffer in order to preserve the honor of 
 the law of the school. He did not remove the pupil's 
 ill desert, but only his liableness to suffer to preserve 
 the honor and vindicate the authority of the law of 
 the school. As intrinsically credible, it had a very 
 salutary effect on the children. It answered the dis- 
 ciplinary ends of penalty. All could see the master's 
 merciful kindness, yet no one would think that he 
 regarded with lighter reprobation the evil of oflence 
 against the law of the school, or that he was lesi» 
 resolved upon a rigid enforcement of obedience. Here 
 a distinction is made between chastisement and pun- 
 ishment ; because facts require it In this 
 
 example, was Bronson Alcott punished ? Not at all. 
 Was the personal demerit of the pupil transferred to 
 Bronson Alcott ? Not at all. What did happen ? 
 Bronson Alcott voluntarily accepted chastisement, not 
 punishment." What is the definition of punishment ? 
 Pain inflicted for personal blameworthiness, but not 
 for personal benefit. What is chastisement ? Pain 
 suffered for the benefit of the one who suffers it, or 
 for the benefit of those who are dear to him. 
 
 x^ow such chastisement was inflicted on the Great 
 Mediator. " Suffering without any reference to the 
 reason of its occurrence is calamity ; if inflicted for 
 the benefit of the sufferer it is chastisement." (Dr. 
 Hodge, ii. 474.) So if inflicted on a voluntary and 
 innocent substitute for the benefit of others, it is still 
 chastisement. " It is sufficiently certain that Christ did 
 not suffer the same degree or duration of pain that 
 
 y 
 
 HOI 
 
HIS SUFFERINGS SACRIFICIAL, NOT PUNITIVE. 
 
 99 
 
 His people would have suffered in person, nor in all re- 
 spects suffering of the same kind. Theirs would have 
 been eternal, His wore temporary." (Rev. A. A. Hodge, 
 Atonement, p. 61.) To admit this is to admit that the 
 original penalty was not inflicted on Him, and, accord- 
 ingly, that the guilt was not literally transferred to 
 Him. "It is essential to the nature of a sacrifice that 
 it dies not for itself, but for another, and therefore not 
 for its own guilt, but for another's guilt, continuing 
 another's : As He died for our sins it is plain that the 
 guilt is accounted ours still, and His death is accounted 
 His still. That anv suffering's which were not under- 
 gone by us, but by another in our behalf, should be 
 accounted ours, any otherwise than as we receive the 
 benefit and advantage of them implies a contradiction." 
 (Bev. W. Sherlock) 
 
 But some assert that Christ's sufferings were a pun- 
 ishment, because they have unwarrantably assumed 
 that " all suffering is mediately or immediately the 
 penal effect of sin." Some Methodists oven have 
 been misled by this assumption. Randies, in his 
 work on the Atonement, p. 105, takes this position. 
 He quotes with approval John Howe's reasoning on 
 this point. " Considering that God has vouchsafed to 
 govern His reasonable creatures by a law, and accord- 
 ing to the tenor of a covenant. He would never lay 
 anything of affiictive evil upon them which was 
 not legally due." {John Hoive.) He thinks it must 
 be assumed, therefore, that sufferings are penal ; or 
 else must be regarded as an unnecessary evil inconsis- 
 
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 100 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 tent with the wisdom and power of God. But this is 
 not a legitimate conclusion. He omits to notice some 
 important uses of sufiering. For instance, the suffer- 
 ings of the present time may lead to the exercise of 
 patience and fortitude, of sympathy and benevolence, 
 and so fit those who have patiently endured them for 
 a much higher degree of eternal reward. All suffering 
 is not penal suffering. It is true that " if God imposes 
 suffering on a moral creature, it must have a moral 
 cause." (John Randies, p. 104.) But it is not true that 
 the moral cause is found only in their having deserved 
 punishment. Some sufferings are undergone by in- 
 nocent persons for benevolent purposes. " There are 
 examples of self-sacrifice for the good of others, such 
 as needs must excite the warm and unqualified admira- 
 tion of every generous mind. The mother, for ex- 
 ample, who watches day and night by the bed of her 
 young child smitten with a malignant fever, and who 
 in doing so catches the mortal infection, and only lives 
 long enough to see her child restored ; the youth who 
 plunges into the deep to save a drowning brother, 
 after wonderful exertions reaches him, and holds him 
 up till other help arrives, then sinks exhausted and 
 perishes; and the physician going to a dead body 
 which contains the secret of some new and terrific dis- 
 ease, to open it and discover the seat and nature of 
 the malady, that he may furnish others with the 
 means of saving the lives of hundreds, and survives 
 only long enough to write down what he has dis- 
 covered." (Crawford's Mysteries of Christ, p. 229.) 
 
HIS SUFFERINGS SACRIFICIAL, NOT PUNITIVE. 101 
 
 K' 
 
 There are examples of benevolent sufferings, though 
 in some points not analogous to the sufferings of 
 Christ. There is no antecedent objection to the ap- 
 pointment of suffering for a benevolent purpose. To 
 connect suffering with the procuring of human re- 
 demption " is not a wholly unprecedented thing. It 
 rather indicates a unity of principle in God's dealings. 
 Almost all our temporal blessings are purchased at the 
 expense of sorrow somewhere. Since the entrance of 
 sin into the world it seems to be the condition of our 
 every blessing, nay, in many instances of life itself, 
 that some one shall suffer to procure them. We live 
 in the midst of comforts most of which are furnished 
 by the severe toil of the handicraftsman. Our lives 
 are supported by animal food, and in providing animal 
 food some innocent creature is made to bleed and die. 
 The structure of civilization is built upon the groans 
 and toils of the few. It is then surely in accordance 
 with a law that seems to pervade God's universe, that 
 the highest, the inappreciable blessing of redemption, 
 should be purchased by the deepest anguish that ever 
 rent the human soul asunder." (Goulbourn.) Still some 
 object to the idea of causing the innocent to endure 
 any kind of suffering on account of others. But Bishop 
 Butler says : " This objection concludes altogether as 
 nmch against God's whole original constitution of 
 nature, and the whole daily course of divine provi- 
 dence in the government of the world, i.e., against the 
 whole scheme of theism, and the whole notion of re- 
 ligion, as against Christianity. For the world is a 
 
 i I 
 
 Ml' 
 
 M 
 
102 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 li 
 
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 'i|;l ! 
 
 hi : 
 
 constitution or system whose parts have a mutual re- 
 ference to each other, and there is a scheme of things 
 gradually carrying on called the course of nature, to 
 the carrying on of which God has appointed us in 
 various ways to contribute ; and when in the daily 
 course of natural providence it is appointed that in- 
 nocent people should suffer for the faults of the guilty, 
 this is liable to the very same objection as the instance 
 we are considering. The infinitely greater importance 
 of that appointment of Christianity which is objected 
 against does not hinder, but that it may be, as it plainly 
 is, an appointment of the very same kind with what 
 the world affords us daily examples of. Nay, if there 
 were any force at all in the objection, it would be 
 stronger in one respect against natural providence than 
 against Christianity, because under the former we are 
 in many cases commanded, and even necessitated 
 whether we will or no, to suffer for the faults of others, 
 whereas the sufferinofs of Christ were voluntary." 
 " The doctrine of a Mediator between God and man 
 should not be rejected, because the expediency of some 
 thinsts in it is not understood. There is nothing; 
 peculiar in this objection. The constitution of the 
 world and God's natural government over it is all 
 mystery as much as the Christian dispensation. Yet 
 under the first God has given us all things that per- 
 tain to life, and under the other all things pertaining 
 to godliness." {Bishop Butler, pp. 224, 225, chap, v.) 
 " We are nowhere told in Scripture that it is wrong to 
 inflict suftering that good may come." (Bledsoe, Theo- 
 
HIS SUFFERINGS SACRIFICIAL, NOT PUNITIVE. 103 
 
 i-t 
 
 tual re- 
 thinfifs 
 ture, to 
 us in 
 e daily 
 hat in- 
 guilty, 
 istance 
 ortance 
 bjected 
 plainly 
 1 what 
 f there 
 uld be 
 ce than 
 we are 
 isitated 
 others, 
 ntary." 
 d man 
 f some 
 othinof 
 of the 
 i is all 
 , Yet 
 it per- 
 aining 
 ap. V.) 
 ong to 
 Theo- 
 
 clicea, p. 272.) " Goodness may do that which justice 
 cannot require to be done, nay, which would be unjust 
 if required to be done, but is so far from being unjust 
 when goodness does it, that it is the glory and perfec- 
 tion of goodness." (Sherlock, 314.) To pay another 
 man's debts and redeem him out of prison, would be a 
 generous act of kindness, but could not be required by 
 justice. So it would be very unjust for any* judge to 
 condemn any man to die to save the best man in the 
 world, and yet it would not be an unjust act but an 
 heroical act of goodness for any man to offer himself 
 to death to save the life of such a good man. ** To 
 die for mankind, like Prometheus; or for one's country, 
 like the popular heroes of Roman and Athenian legend; 
 or for one's friend, like Nisus for the young Euryalus 
 in iEneid, represents the highest type of Pagan virtue." 
 (Oxenham, Catholic Doctrine of Atonement, p. 92.) 
 ^ow St. Paul represents the love of Christ in dying 
 for sinners, by one man's dying for another. " Scarcely 
 for a righteous man would one die, yet peradven- 
 ture for a good man some would even dare to die ; 
 but God commended His love toward us, in that, 
 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 
 v. 7-8) Dr. Smeaton paraphrases these words thus : 
 'Scarcely for a righteous man will one die:' I say 
 rigliteous, for perhaps for a good man — that is a great 
 benefactor — some would even dare to die. But in the 
 world's history it was never heard that one died for 
 an enemy. Now the commendation of Divine love 
 is that Christ died for enemies and sinners" — (Smeaton, 
 on Atonement, p. 150) — and did so freely and lovingly. 
 
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 104 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 * 
 
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 In some cases suffering may not be even a chastise- 
 ment. It may be intended i>o make perfect through 
 suffering, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, 
 and patience experience, and experience hope, and 
 hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God 
 is shed abroad in the heart of the sufierer, who thus 
 knows that his sufferings are not a judicial infliction. 
 " I feel," said a bereaved minister, " that repeated 
 afflictions come not as lightnings on the scathed tree, 
 blasting it yet more ; but as the strokes of the sculptor 
 on the marble block, forming it into the image of life 
 and loveliness. Let but the Divine presence be felt, 
 and no lot is hard. Let me but see His hand, and no 
 event is unwelcome." (Quoted by J. Dowling, D.D.) 
 
 Be it carefully observed that the sufferings were 
 not the only plea, nor the obedience and sufferings 
 taken together ; but these as presented in intercession 
 by Jesus Christ the Righteous. 
 
 Intercession was a most prominent part of the 
 High-priest's office. Christ had magnified the precepts 
 of the law by personal, willing, and perfect obedience ; 
 and honored the threatenings by voluntarily sub- 
 mitting to chastisement for His rebellious subjects; 
 and then, as Jesus Christ the Righteous, He made 
 intercession for transgressors, pleading for the suspen- 
 sion of the penalty and for the introduction and 
 appliance of a plan of salvation. " He," not hi" suf- 
 ferings apart from Himself, but He Himself, " is the 
 propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but 
 also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John ii. 2.) 
 
(105) 
 
 r 
 
 !i 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE MEDIATOR PROPOSED TO MAKE SATISFACTION IN 
 ORDER TO AVERT THE INFLICTION OF PENALTY. 
 
 He proposed to make atonement, but " an atone- 
 ment is a measure or an expedient that is a satis- 
 faction for the suspension of the threatened 'penalty. 
 A suspension, or non-execution, of the literal threat- 
 ening is always implied in an atonement." (Jenhyns, 
 p. 252.) The English word atonement primarily 
 meant at-one-ment, the being at one, the reconciled 
 state of parties who were at variance. But as a 
 secondary meaning it came to denote the means 
 necessary to effect this reconciliation. It does not of 
 itself express the particular mode of doing this. 
 " Whatever is a means of averting punishment and 
 conciliating the Divine favour is called in Scripture 
 an atonement. It included intercession ; for the inter- 
 cession of Moses (Ex. xxxii. 30) and the act of 
 Phinehas (Num. xxv. 13) are so called." (Scott.) But 
 it has been specially set apart to denote what the Son 
 of God suffered and did, as a satisfaction for the sus- 
 pension of the threatened penalty in order to the 
 introduction of a remedial plan. 
 
 It is very important to observe the distinction 
 between satisfaction and punishment. The distinction 
 between these words is recognized in the Scriptures. 
 9 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 They teach that satisfaction should not be accepted, 
 where punishment ought to be enforced. In Numbers 
 XXXV. 31, 32, we read the Divine command : " More- 
 over ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a 
 murderer who is guilty of death." In the next verse 
 it is said : "And ye shall take no satisfaction from him 
 that is fled to the city of refuge, that he should come 
 again to dwell in the land, until the death of the 
 priest." These verses show that at the time the trans- 
 lators used the word, the idea of satisfaction was still 
 distinct from that of punishment ; so distinct that in 
 certain specified cases the former could not be accepted 
 instead of the latter. It is plainly implied that in other 
 cases the one could be accepted in place of the other. 
 
 Farther, the translators regarded an atonement to 
 be a satisfaction, and not a punishment. The Hebrew 
 word, which they here rendered satisfaction, literally 
 means "a covering," and then "an atonement," for the 
 blood of atonement and the accompanying cloud of 
 incense covered the mercy seat. They rendered it 
 here, however, by the word satisfaction, showing that 
 they understood an atonement to be a satisfaction for 
 sin, in contradistinction to a punishment for sin. The 
 Septuagint translators thought the satisfaction in this 
 case was a " ransom ;" for they translated it thus : 
 " Ye shall not accept ransoms for life." A ransom 
 distinguished from a punishment, would be a satis- 
 faction only. 
 
 Let us look still more closely at the word satisfac- 
 tion. It was found in the Roman law, and adopted 
 
 4 
 
;epted, 
 imbers 
 ' More- 
 e of a 
 t verse 
 im him 
 d come 
 of the 
 ) trans- 
 as still 
 that in 
 ecepted 
 n other 
 other, 
 nent to 
 lebrew 
 iterally 
 for the 
 do ad of 
 ered it 
 n£f that 
 bion for 
 n. The 
 L in this 
 thus : 
 ransom 
 a satis- 
 
 atisfac- 
 adopted 
 
 HE SATISFIED FOR SUSPENSION OF PENALTY. 107 
 
 into theology, and is in frequent use. " In law," says 
 Dr. Dick, '' it strictly signifies a payment which may 
 or may not be admitted, according to the pleasure of 
 him to whom it is due ; and it takes place when not 
 the very thing is done which he had a right to demand ; 
 Ijut something which he is pleased to accept as equiva- 
 lent." '* That word, indeed, is used to signify anything 
 with which the person having a claim is contented, 
 whether he receive the whole that he claims, or only 
 a part of it, or something instead of it." (Dick's TlieoL, 
 ii., p. 74.) " The value offered being some other than 
 the previously stipulated one, it must await the 
 acceptance of him who possesses the original claim." 
 If he accepts the satisfaction, he does it graciously ; 
 and he may accept it only conditionally. In which 
 case the condition must be attended to in order that 
 the punishment may not be inflicted, but remitted. 
 Kev. Richard Watson, too, properly contended for the 
 distinction between satisfaction and literal penalty\ 
 " Satisfaction," says he, " indicates the contentment 
 of the injured party by anything which he may choose 
 to accept in the place of the enforcement of his obliga- 
 tion upon the party indebted or offending." (Institutes^ 
 vol. ii., p. 824.) Unhappily Watson did not keep this 
 distinction steadily in mind. He sometimes " leaned 
 too much toward Calvinism," which generally effaces 
 this occasionally admitted distinction, confounds satis- 
 faction with punishment, and bases itself on that 
 error. And dangerous consequences have resulted 
 from confounding them. " The legal sense of the 
 
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 108 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 word satisfaction is the appeasing a creditor on the 
 subject of his debt, not necessarily by the payment of 
 it (solutioX but by any means that he will accept." 
 (Arch. Thompson, in Aids to Faith, p. J3.50.) The true 
 doctrine is that Christ made satisfaction for sin, but 
 did not suffer punishment for sin. 
 
 When wrong has been done, satisfaction should be 
 made, or punishment should be submitted to. As man 
 could not make the former, he was sentenced to 
 submit to the latter. But the Mediator was able to 
 offer satisfaction, and hence did not need to endure 
 the penalty. If Christ had suffered punishment it 
 would be implied that He was not able to make 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Christ was a substitute in making satisfaction, not 
 a substitute in enduring punishment. Punishment 
 could not be inflicted before judicial trial. That trial 
 has not yet taken place. The day of judgment has 
 not yet come. Punishment therefore has not been 
 inflicted either on the sinner, or on a substitute. When 
 the day of judgment does come Christ will appear not 
 as a substitute for the sinner, but as the judge who is 
 to conduct the judicial proceedings. 
 
 The death of Christ was a satisfaction " with respect 
 to its effect upon the mind of the supreme Lawgiver." 
 (Watson's Institutes, ii., p. 324.) It was " a satisfac- 
 tion for the suspension of threatened penalty." (Jen- 
 kyns on Atonement, p. 252.) It was a satisfaction of 
 divine righteousness. It would be misleading to 
 speak of a satisfaction of divine justice, because the 
 
HE SATISFIED FOR SUSPENSION OF PENALTY. 109 
 
 )n the 
 lent of 
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 atisfac- 
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 tion of 
 ing to 
 ise the 
 
 word justice has become associated with the idea of 
 punishment, as contradistinguished from satisfaction. 
 The word Justice is generally applied to that divine 
 principle of action which undertakes to uphold govern- 
 mental interests in a particular way, namely, by the 
 infliction of threatened punishment on the personal 
 sinner. It is better, therefore, to avoid the expression 
 " satisfaction of justice," and to speak of the satis- 
 faction of " righteousness " — a word which is nearly 
 synonymous with justice, which aims at the same 
 governmental ends, but admits other means of uphold- 
 ing them. It could accept the satisfaction ofiered by 
 a Mediator, instead of the satisfaction which the sinner 
 was unable to render; and in consideration of it could 
 suspend the penalty. What Christ did was to offer 
 satisfaction to Divine Righteousness, in order to procure 
 a suspension of the punishment threatened by Divine 
 Justice. "A suspension, or non-execution, of the literal 
 penalty is always implied in an atonement." (Jenkyns, 
 Extent of the Atonement, p. 252.) "Atonement is 
 introduced into the administration, not to execute the 
 letter of the law, but to preserve the spirit of the con- 
 stitution, when a penalty is to be remitted." " Expia- 
 tion," said Dr. Pye Smith, " denotes anything that 
 may supply an adequate reason for exempting the 
 criminal from the penalty due." (Dr. Dale, Atonement, 
 p. 485.) 
 
 The Mediator did not come in the regular course 
 of law to be punished by justice. The law did not 
 require Him to come. The Mediator came voluntarily 
 
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 110 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 to offer a satisfaction which may be graciously accepted 
 instead of the original obligation. In doing this He 
 manifested the love, and recojjnized the ri^diteousness 
 of God. " It is impossible to exhibit those in the most 
 affecting manner, except in union with each other." 
 (Bledsoe, ii., p. 289.) 
 
 Archdeacon Norris, a careful and competent theo- 
 logian, sa}s that " in the whole Jewish I'itual there 
 is no trnce of such an idea as that the victim was 
 suffering the punishment which the offender would 
 otherwise have suffered ; " and it must be admitted 
 that *• if no such idea attached to the symbol, we 
 may be sure no such idea attaches to the reality to 
 which the symbol pointed." (Rudiments of TheoL, p. 
 129, quoted by the Rev. Canon Farrar in CUr. Symp., 
 p. 72.) That atonement was not substitutional pun- 
 ishment, is plain from the fact that atonement was 
 made " for the holy place," " for the altar," and 
 " for the tabernacle of the congregation." The Jews 
 were expressly forbidden to substitute man for man. 
 '* The son shall not die," i.e., be put to death, " for the 
 iniquity of the father." " The son shall not bear the 
 iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear 
 the iniquity of the son." " The soul that sinneth it 
 shall die." (Ezek. xxxiii. 17, 20.) Accordingly it was not 
 the punishment of our sins, but " the chastisement of 
 our peace " (Isaiah liii. 5) that was laid upon Christ. 
 
 The strongest argument for the punitive theory 
 of the atonement, is the one used on behalf of the honor 
 of eternal truth. They say the penalty was threatened 
 
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HE SATISFIED FOR SUSPENSION OF PENALTY. Ill 
 
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 by God. His eternal and immutable veracity, there- 
 fore, requires that it should be inflicted either on the 
 personal sinner, or on a substitute. But this objection 
 is self-inconsistent. It would prove too much. If im- 
 mutable verity requires that the threatened penalty 
 should be inflicted, it ec^ually requires that it should be 
 inflicted on the personal sinner, and not on a substitute. 
 "The law exacts personal enduring of the penalty," 
 says Turrctine. It therefore does not exact the vica- 
 rious enduring of it. It is monstrous to suppose that the 
 threatening had a double meaning, so that it might be 
 inflicted either on the personal sinner or on a substi- 
 tute, who may be a friend, I.e., tha^ it might be inflicted 
 either for evil and not for good, or for good and not 
 for evil ; and that the Divine Lawgiver reserved the 
 right to choose which it should be, whether He would 
 turn the threatening into the greatest curse, or the 
 highest blessing. This is an incredible assumption. 
 It is impossible that such an interpretation could be the 
 true one. Oh, say they, " the Divine sovereignty could 
 relax the law so as to admit a substitute to assume 
 the guilt, bear the penalty, and thus give freedom 
 to the offender." (Hodge, Theol. Institutes, ii., p. 496.) 
 But if sovereign pleasure could alter the penalty, it 
 could relax it altogether, and do without either substi- 
 tute or Mediator. On this supposition there is no 
 unchangeable principle in the Divine Lawgiver, and no 
 need of a Mediator in order to a change of adminis- 
 tration. We must maintain against them that there 
 is unchangeable principle in God, and therefore no 
 
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 112 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 room for any change by mere sovereign prerogative. 
 There was only room for admitting the interposition 
 of a great Mediator ; and a change of administration 
 was possible only in consideration of the plea which 
 He presented. If the penalty must be inflicted, there 
 was no room for mediation. If the penalty must be 
 inflicted on a substitute, there is still no room for 
 a Mediator. There would be merely two parties 
 — a substitute for one party to be punished by the 
 other party. A Mediator between two parties could 
 not, at the same time, be a substitute for one of them. 
 To assume that Christ became a substitute for one 
 party to be punished i^j the other, leaves no place for 
 priestly mediation at all. Some concede this, they 
 say : " All that seems to be indispensable to salvation 
 is the obedience of a substitute voluntarily assuming 
 our guilt, and able to endure the curse of the law." 
 (J. II. Tkorniuell.) As a natural consequence, they 
 think little of what seems to them unnecessary. They 
 admit that this is the fact. " It is amazing how little 
 and seldom we enter into those views of the death of 
 the Redeemer, which spring from the consideration of 
 it as a real and proper sacrifice." (J. H. Tkormuell.) 
 That theory causes the atonement to be wholly re- 
 jected by some, and to be sadly gainsaid by others. 
 It is for this reason that " no article has been so much 
 impugned in every variety of form." (Smeaton on 
 Atonement, ip. 6.) There is no light responsibility in 
 presenting it in a way that exposes it to such op- 
 position, and that leads many to reject atonement 
 
UE SATISFIED FOR SUSPENSION OF PENALTY. 113 
 
 altogether, not knowing that there is another and a 
 better theory of it. 
 
 The supposition of a substitute submitting to im- 
 preventable penalty, is very different from the view 
 which the Scripture presents, which is that a Mediator 
 took a priestly oiiice, and presented a propitiatory 
 sacrifice to avert impending penalty, and to bring the 
 exercise of mercy into harmony with the principles 
 and interests of holiness. " He who sees no meaning, 
 or but poor meaning, in the word sacrifice, as applied 
 to the work of the Lord Jesus, must miss the very core 
 of the theological ideas of St. Paul. (Baldwin Brown, 
 The Pure Idea of Suhd.) 
 
 " As the atonement is alleged to be the ground on 
 which the penalties of sin are remitted, the true 
 solution of the great problem, if a solution be possible, 
 must be sought in the moral reasons on which those 
 penalties rest." (British Quarterly Review, AJl>. 18()7.J 
 The threateninors would not be inflicted for their own 
 sake, but for the sake of showing God's regard for 
 moral principles, and for the authority of moral law, 
 and for the moral interests of the universe. It was 
 proposed to honor the one and maintain the other, 
 not according to the original plan, not by inflicting 
 punishment on the personal transgressors, but by ap- 
 pointing " another Divine act of at least equal inten- 
 sity to take its place." (British Quarterly Review 
 18G7.J That other act of equal influence on moral 
 government did take place when He who had honored 
 the precepts of the law by personally obeying them 
 
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 114 
 
 THE OISIE MEDIATOR. 
 
 with all gladness, further honored the threatenings of 
 the law by voluntarily submitting to suffer chastise- 
 ment on man's behalf ; and then as the Son of God, 
 and as Jesus Christ the Righteous, made intercession 
 for transgressors that they may get space for repent- 
 ance, and pardon if they do repent. He by this pro- 
 cedure presented a consideration which was satisfac- 
 tory to Divine Righteousness, and so propitiated God 
 to grant what He requested. " The transcendant 
 worth of that obedience which Christ rendered, of 
 that oblation which He offered, the power which 
 it possessed of countervailing and counterbalancing 
 a world's sin, lay in this, that He who offered these, 
 while He bore a human nature, and wrought human 
 acts, was a divine person ; not indeed God alone, 
 for as such He would never have been in the con- 
 dition to offer; nor man alone, for then the worth 
 of His offering could never have reached so far; 
 but that he was God and man in one person indis- 
 solubly united, and in this person performing all 
 those acts : man, that He might obey and suffer and 
 die ; God, that He might add to every act of His obe- 
 dience. His suffering, His death, an immeasurable 
 worth, steeping in the glory of His divine personality 
 all of human that He wrought." (Richard Trevenix 
 Trench, D.D., in Bible Reader's Commentary, Rom. 
 v. 19-21. 
 
(115) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PRIESTLY INTERCESSION. 
 
 i ! 
 
 Christ not only suffered for sin, He makes inter- 
 cession for sinners. 
 
 We must here remember what has been already 
 observed in connection with the typical sacrifices, that 
 everything that it was proposed to accomplish was 
 not effected by the suffering of the atoning victim- 
 That suffering was immediately pleaded by an inter- 
 cessor. The Jewish High-priest took the blood that 
 was the token of the suffering, and the incense that 
 was the token of accompanying intercession, and 
 carried them into the most holy place of God's taber- 
 nacle. This was so important a part of the service 
 that it was made the peculiar work of the priest. The 
 typical priest did not personally suffer, nor was he the 
 one who inflicted the suffering on the typical animal. 
 His connection with the sacrifice commenced with 
 receiving the blood, and presenting it with attendant 
 incense before God. The great antitypical Priest, 
 however, was also the antitypical Lamb of God. As 
 such He personally endured the atoning suffering. 
 But when this was finished on the cross He im- 
 mediately passed through the veil of His flesh into 
 the presence of God to make mediatorial intercession 
 for transgressors. It was not necessary that He 
 
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 116 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOK. 
 
 should go through the veil between the holy and the 
 most holy place in the typical tabernacle. That veil 
 was just then rent in twain from the top to the bottom, 
 as a sign that the work of- the typical tabernacle was 
 set aside, the moment that Christ passed through the 
 veil of His llesh to present the great antitypical 
 sacrifice for the sin of the world. 
 
 " The Scriptures exhibit a plurality of persons in the 
 Godhead, the union and distinctions of whom are not 
 fully explained ; but are shown to be such as to admit 
 of their taking different positions and offices in the 
 economy of salvation." (Dr. Hodge.) The Divine 
 Father assumed the office of Guardian of the highest 
 principles and interest of moral government. He 
 deemed it right to maintain His dignity as the Guard- 
 ian of the normal relations between free beings. " God 
 knows that in preserving His place, He is securing the 
 good of others." For, as Gess admirably expounds it, 
 *' God, in maintaining His supreme dignity, preserves 
 to the creatures their most precious treasure. — a God 
 worthy of their respect and love." (Godet on Romans, 
 p. IGl.) The Divine Son, the second person of the 
 Trinity, assumed the office of mediating between God 
 and man. He has been on the propitiatory altar which 
 was without the veil of God's heavenly sanctuary. 
 He now enters within the veil, with the token of His 
 sufferings, to make intercession for transgressors. 
 
 This great Intercessor had every possible qualifica- 
 tion in the fullest degree and the highest perfection. 
 By His willing obedience He had magnified the moral 
 
I.» 
 
 PRIESTLY INTERCESSION. 
 
 117 
 
 law, by His voluntary sufferings He had conceded the 
 equity of its penal clauses. He had a personal charac- 
 ter infinitely approved and loved by the Divine Moral 
 Governor. An approved character is of the utmost 
 importance to a pleader. Paul recognized this when, 
 making intercession for Onesimus, he reminded Phile- 
 mon that he who interceded with him was " such an 
 one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus 
 Christ." (Philemon, v. 9.) Amyntas trusted in it when 
 he interceded with the Athenian Senate for the life of 
 his brother iEschylus. " He lifted up the stump of 
 his arm, and thus pleaded that he had a share in pro- 
 curing the honor which the battle of Salamis had 
 achieved for their government. The Senate, at the 
 instance of a person of such character and worth, 
 granted the pardon." (Jenkyn on Atonement, p. 37.) 
 So the Lord Jesus Christ as the " Wonderful " One 
 attracted the attention of all worlds. He had honored 
 and magnified the law which God had given to man 
 by personally rendering it full and joyous obedience. 
 Though He was pre-eminent in holiness. He became 
 equally pre-eminent in suflfering, that He might honor 
 also the Righteousness that guarded the law by con- 
 ceding that it could have justly carried out its purpose 
 to inflict paralyzing suflfering on personal sinners. He 
 conceded this in the most impressive manner by 
 suffering chastisement and dying for His rebellious 
 subjects. Having thus obeyed, and thus suflfered. He 
 could plead for the sinner without seeming to wink at 
 sin. He was then manifestly an " Advocate not for 
 
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 118 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ^Mm 
 
 their sins, but for them." (A. Barnes, Way of Salvation, 
 440.) Not to excuse wrong, not to repeal the law, 
 not to lessen the penalty, but to suspend it, and in- 
 troduce means of inducing men to repent, and entreat 
 pardon and ability for future obedience; and to ask 
 that these things be done for the sake, and only for 
 the sake, of Jesus Christ the Righteous. The Interces- 
 sor is deeply interested in the sinner. Moses when at 
 Horeb, pleading that Israel may be forgiven, requested 
 to die rather than not succeed. Jesus loved men so 
 that He actually died for them. With the same degree 
 of love He pleads for them. 
 
 '* The Father hears Him pray, 
 His dear Anointed One ; 
 He cannot turn away 
 
 The presence of His Son. " 
 
 411. 
 
 i:i' 
 
 11::/ 
 
 i! 
 
 That manifestation of the righteousness of God 
 which is called the wrath or indignation of God, is not 
 an unreasoning, transient feeling. It is a principle 
 whose feelings and decisions abide unchanged, while 
 the considerations before it remain unaltered. But 
 new considerations may be presented by a great 
 Mediator, and these considerations may allay the 
 Divine displeasure so that it would suspend the 
 penalty, in order to introduce measures at once pruden- 
 tial and remedial, maintaining the ends of government 
 and yet fitted to recover man to holiness and happi- 
 ness. It is essential to the honor of the Divine Moral 
 Governor that the order of the moral universe should 
 
vation, 
 le law, 
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 [terces- 
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 But 
 
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 happi- 
 
 Moral 
 should 
 
 PRIESTLY INTERCESSION. 
 
 119 
 
 be preserved either by willing obedience, by adequate 
 punishment of the disobedient, or by some other mani- 
 festation of at least equal influence. Punishment is 
 God's "strange work," in which He has "no pleasure." 
 It is felt to be right, but not pleasurable. " As I live, 
 saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
 wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and 
 live." " How shall I give thee up ? mine heart is 
 turned within me, my repentings are kindled toge- 
 ther." (Ezek. xxxiii. 11 ; Hos. xi. 8.) In the New 
 Testament, too, we find it recorded by Peter : " God is 
 not willing that any should perish, but that all should 
 come to repentance." (2 Peter iii. 9.) 
 
 Hence God would prefer the other plan ; and when 
 a Mediator presented a propitiation. He graciously 
 accepted it and granted what was asked in man's be- 
 half. Divine love now assumed the aspect and atti- 
 tude of grace. " Grace is undeserved mercy, bestowed 
 in consistency with justice." (Rev. James McCosh, 
 Method of Divine Government, p. 29.) God now gave 
 the Mediator every facility to work out the redeem- 
 ing plan. He gave Him supreme authority to carry 
 out, with all wisdom and patience, the accepted plan 
 of winning the alienated world back to God. 
 
 " All He wills to do He can do, such is His power 
 all that He can rightly do He will, such is His love !" 
 (W. Archer Butler, in Bible Readers Commentary, 
 1 Tim. 3. 16.) "He did not think it love enough to 
 die for us ; He lives again and reigns for us." He 
 undertakes to sanctify as well as to justify us, to 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
120 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 ii :' i I 
 
 
 sympathize with and help us in every time of need, 
 and to secure for us resurrection bodies as well as 
 sanctified souls. And lo ! " the voice of manv anojels 
 was heard round about the throne, and the number 
 of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and 
 thousands of thousands ; saying with a loud voice, 
 ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
 power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
 honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature 
 which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under 
 the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that 
 are in them, heard I saying. Blessing, and honor, 
 and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon 
 the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.'" 
 (Rev. V. 11-13.) Christ undertook to bring the whole 
 creation into union. " In the dispensation of the ful- 
 ness of time," it is said that God would " gather to- 
 gether in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
 heaven and which are on earth even in Him." " The 
 language here used supposes that the introduction of 
 .sin had effected a disunion between men and the 
 other parts of God's creation. It is natural to suppose 
 it should be so. If a province of a great empire rise 
 up in rebellion against the lawful government, all com- 
 munication between the inhabitants of such a prov- 
 ince, and the faithful adherents to order and obedience, 
 must be at an end. A line of separation would be im- 
 mediately drawn by the sovereign, and all intercourse 
 between the one and the other prohibited. Nor 
 would it less accord with the inclination, than with 
 
PRIESTLY INTERCESSION. 
 
 121 
 
 the duty of all the friends of righteousness to with- 
 draw their connection from those who were in rebel- 
 lion against the supreme authority, and the general 
 Cfood. It must have been thus with rej^ard to the 
 holy angels on man's apostasy. Those who at the 
 creation of our world had sung together, and even 
 shouted for joy, would now retire in disgust and holy 
 indignation." (Andreiv Fuller.) But through the me- 
 diation of Christ man may be reunited to God, and 
 and hence may be " united to all who love Him, 
 throughout the whole extent of creation." Hence, all 
 the hosts of angels gladly present themselves to be- 
 come ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation. 
 It was intended to have a similar unifying effect on 
 the different nations of men. Paul had this idea 
 when he said, " for the love of Christ constraineth 
 us." 2 Cor. v. 14. Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, 
 and Timothy said this when earnestly engaging in 
 beseeching the Gentile Corinthians " to be reconciled 
 to God." Why had their love thus overstepped the 
 bounds of kindred and nation ? Because, say they, 
 "the love of Christ" i.e., Christ-love to man, "con- 
 straineth us." Christ's love led him to die for all 
 men," whether Jews or Gentiles. Hence, Paul says, 
 "We thus judge that if one died for all, then were 
 all dead," rather " therefore all died." (Revised Trans.) 
 They were placed by such an example under the 
 highest obligations, to die to every alienated thought 
 and feeling towards fellowmen, not of their own 
 kindred or nation. Not only so, Christ died for them 
 10 
 
122 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 that " they might not live to themselves " any lont^er, 
 but " to Him who died for them and rose again ;" and 
 who now wishes them to co-operate with Him in 
 benevolently promoting the well-being of men of 
 every tongue and people ; that they may be influenced 
 no longer by belittling selfishness, but by expanding 
 benevolence, " Wherefore, hencefore know we no man 
 after the flesh." Our thouo^hts and feelincfs towards 
 fellowmen are no longer determined by their gene- 
 alogy, "Yea though we have known Christ after the 
 flesh," i.e. as a Jew, " of the seed of David according 
 to the flesh ;" yet, since " he tasted death for every 
 man," and ever lives to make intercession for all who 
 come to Him, " we know him as a Jew no more," 
 (T. Binney) but as the all-loving all-redeeming Son of 
 God. " Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new 
 creature, old things have passed away ;" his old selfish 
 thoughts and aims have gone, and " all things have 
 become new ;" for the Lord has taught them " to 
 abound in love one toward another, and toward all 
 men, to the end he may establish their hearts un- 
 blameable in holiness." (2 Cor. v. 14-17 ; 1 Thess. 
 iii. 12, 13.) 
 
 This world is not too small a sphere for such a won- 
 derful display of Divine love. " Let creation be ever 
 so extensive, there is nothing inconsistent with reason 
 in supposing that some one particular part of it should 
 be chosen out from the rest as a theatre on which the 
 great Author of all things would perform His most 
 glorious works. Every empire that has been founded 
 
v- 
 
 PllIESTLY INTERCESSION. 
 
 123 
 
 in the world has had some one particular spot where 
 those actions were performed from which its glory has 
 arisen. The glory of the Caesars was founded on the 
 event of a battle fought near a very inconsiderable 
 city, and why might not this world, though less than 
 " twenty-live thousand miles in circumference," be 
 chosen as the theatre on which God would bring about 
 events that should fill His whole empire with glory 
 and joy ? " The truth is, the comparative dimension 
 of our world is of no account, if it be large enough for 
 the accomplishment of events which are sufficient to 
 occupy the minds of all intellis^ences." (Andreiv Fuller.) 
 God's care of man will not be considered inconsistent 
 with the greatness of God if we "remember that 
 whilst magnitude is nothing to infinity, and locality is 
 nothing to immensity, the interests of morality are 
 everything to justice, and the happiness of being is 
 everything to benevolence." (D. Thomas.) 
 
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 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 INTERCESSION OF CHRIST CONTINUED. 
 
 It is specially important to examine in detail what 
 the great Intercessor asked for immediately after His 
 sufferings. We can ascertain what the particular re- 
 quests were by looking at what the Divine Father 
 granted in reply. We shall tirst briefly enumerate 
 the particulars, that they may be brought into one 
 view. We shall afterwards consider them severally at 
 greater length. 
 
 (1) The hostile attitude of Divine Righteousness 
 towards sinners was changed, for Christ's sake, into the 
 friendly act of holding back the incurred penalty, and, 
 thus opening the way for the exercise of mercy and 
 grace. "We were reconciled to God by the death of 
 His Son:" 
 
 (2) ', for Christ's sake, set aside the dispensation 
 of s under which Adam had been placed in 
 1 aise : 
 
 (3) God graciously introduced the new covenant of 
 grace, which is suited to man's fallen state, and adapted 
 to his recovery. Christ's blood is called " the blood of 
 the covenant:" 
 
 (4) God accepted Christ as a ransom, and fo)' His 
 sake granted a new probation to the human race, 
 
INTERCESSION OF CHRIST CONTINUED. 
 
 126 
 
 what 
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 lar re- 
 i'ather 
 nerate 
 ■jO one 
 ally at 
 
 usness 
 to the 
 , and, 
 y and 
 ith of 
 
 sation 
 \d in 
 
 within reach of the remedial agencies and means that 
 were graciously introduced : 
 
 (5) God, in further compliance, sends the Divine 
 Spirit in the name of Christ to reveal to man the 
 covenant of grace that had been made, and to aid 
 them to understand it: 
 
 (G) God, for Christ's sake, exercises forbearance with 
 sinners, while the gracious plans of the new covenant 
 are employed and can be prudently continued. " I," 
 said Christ to one, " I gave her space to repent:" 
 
 (7) He also sends the ministry of reconciliation to 
 "beseech men in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God" 
 on their part, and for this purpose to take the steps 
 which lead to restored confidence and fellowship. 
 
 The results just mentioned were actually and im- 
 mediately secured by Christ's death and intercession, 
 independently of any condition on man's part. But 
 there are also other blessings which can be condition- 
 ally secured. For conditions were introduced at this 
 point in order to deal with man as a free agent, whose 
 recovery to holiness, and continuance in it cannot be 
 necessitated ; but must be effected, if at all, without 
 doing violence to His will. Hence these other con- 
 templated results were not immediately effected, but 
 provision was made for their accomplishment when 
 conditions were attended to. It will be remembered 
 that in the typical sacrifices everything that it was 
 proposed to do, was not effected by the intercession of 
 a typical priest. After the offering of typical sacrifice 
 and incense, there was still a necessity for sprinkling 
 
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 126 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 water, mixed with sacrificial elements (the water of 
 purifying), before ceremonial guilt was actually re- 
 moved, and the defiled were admitted into the services 
 of the temple and the fellowship of God's people. So 
 the offering of the true sacrifice did not immediately 
 accomplish everything that was in contemplation. 
 But it made abundant provision for securing those 
 remoter resi ^s, on compliance with repentance and 
 faith, as prudential and practicable conditions. 
 
 (8) Pardon, (9) Justification, (10) Adoption, (11) The 
 Witness of the Spirit, (12) Regeneration, (13) Entire 
 Sanctification, (14) An everlasting inheritance, may 
 thus be obtained. 
 
 One provision for securing these farther results was, 
 that Christ was to ascend into the most holy place of 
 the true tabernacle in heaven, to appear in the presence 
 of God for us, and to make intercession in " every 
 time of need." (Heb. ix. 24.) He now appears before 
 God, graciously enthroned on the mercy-seat, and is 
 ready to be an Advocate for every sinner who comes 
 before it in a penitent state of mind, asking pardon and 
 renewing grace, and for every child of God who needs 
 more grace. As He tasted death for every man, He 
 makes intercession for every man, for "it may be 
 assumed as certain that the same persons are the 
 objects of both." (Dick's TheoL, ii., p. 556.) But He 
 specially pleads for those who " call Him to their aid," 
 as the word irapaKiriTo^ (Advocate) literally means. The 
 subject will come up again when we are considering 
 the conditions of salvation. 
 
 I 
 
INTERCESSION OF CHRIST CONTINUED. 
 
 127 
 
 Christ entered heaven, not " to present continuously 
 His own oblation of Himself, once ofiered here below, 
 but to make intercession for us. Accordingly the 
 Lord's Supper was not intended to symbolize on earth 
 a perpetual presentation by Christ Himself in heaven, 
 till the High-priest returns from behind the veil." 
 {Rev. Rich. T. Littledale, D.D.) His abiding there is 
 a proof that there is no need whatever of more offering 
 for sin. The sacrifice has died once for all ; and " the 
 offering has been presented once for all." " Nothing 
 could have more fully impressed on the mind of a Jew 
 the thought that the work of presentation, as well as 
 the mactation, was for ever over, than the statement 
 that the High-priest was no longer standing before 
 the mercy-seat, but sitting down within the most holy 
 place." (Rev. Alex. Mackennal, M.A., in Clerical Sym- 
 posium, p. 30.) 
 
 Our great High-priest is now in heaven. " At the 
 time when the apostle John first beheld the vision of 
 the heavenly propitiatory, there was only an unde- 
 fined glory as of a jasper or a sardine stone in the 
 midst of the Shekinah. Around the throne, however, 
 there was a rainbow, the token of prophecy unfulfilled, 
 the pledge that it would be fulfilled. That fulfilment 
 was accomplished when the apostle looked again. 
 The obscurity was now removed and the occupant of 
 the throne fully revealed. And lo! it is "a Lamb as it 
 had been slain," indicating therefore chat the throne 
 of Majesty is now a heavenly mercy-seat." (Smith, on 
 the Cheruhiwj.) Our High-priest now abides on that 
 
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 128 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 heavenly mercy-seat, and exercises there the interces- 
 sory part of His priestly office. The typical high- 
 priest was not permitted to continue in the typical 
 holy of holies. Since he had not offered an effectual 
 sacrifice, he had to return and resume his sacrificial 
 ministrations, and by this means teach the need of a 
 better priesthood. But Christ needed not to return, 
 because by one offering He had made a sufficient 
 oblation and satisfaction for the sin of the world. He 
 was a great High -priest, for He had done by one 
 offering what many typical priests could not do by 
 centuries of ministration. He offered sacrifice " once 
 for all " on earth. He ever lives to make intercession 
 in heaven. The altar of incense is the only altar 
 in heaven. (Rev. viii. 3, 4.) His atoning sufferings 
 need no repetition. His intercession is needed and 
 is repeated in every time of need. 
 
 , " The Jewish religion was from God. It therefore 
 was necessary to shew that Christianity was in perfect 
 harmony with it when rightly understood, and was 
 necessary to its comp^ ;tion." (Mark Hopkins, in Bible 
 Readers Commentary, Heb. viii. 1-4.) Christianity 
 has Christ as a High-priest, — " the Cross as the altar 
 of propitiation, and the upper world as the Holy of 
 holies, where the risen Redeemer appears in the 
 presence of God for us." Thus the typical priest 
 and sacrifice appear to be only shadows and signs 
 of what was to be found, substantially, in the Person 
 and work of the Great High-Priest of our profession !" 
 (T. Blnney.) 
 
(129) 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF INTERCESSION MORE FULLY 
 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 We return to examine more fully the immediate 
 results of Christ's propitiatory sacrifice. We enumer- 
 ated them briefly in order to place them in one view ; 
 we now look at them severally, and more closely and 
 searchingly : 
 
 (1) As already mentioned, one of the immediate 
 results of Christ's propitiatory sacrifice and interces- 
 sion was a suspension of the penalty incurred by 
 transgression. Our first parents did not " die on the 
 day they ate the forbidden fruit." The descending 
 penalty was stopped and held back for the sake of 
 Him who is represented as " the Lamb slain from the 
 foundation of the world." Instead of the infliction 
 of the penalty we see a suspension of the penalty. 
 
 (2) Not only so, we see a setting aside of the 
 covenant of works to which the suspended penalty 
 belonged. Man " w as under that covenant of works 
 for a certain probationary period. This constitu- 
 tion provided everlasting well-being on condition of 
 perfect obedience." (Dr. Hodge.) Adam in his first 
 estate was capable of such obedience ; but one failure 
 to render it would cause a forfeiture of the ofier of 
 eternal blessedness. To that covenant was appended 
 
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150 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 a threatening of everlasting ill-being in case of dis- 
 obedience, and this was to be inflicted for even one 
 transgression. One transgression would close up for 
 ever personal probation. If transgressed by our first 
 parents, when they alone existed, it would, if wound 
 up as first intended, have consigned them to a place 
 of punishment, and prevented the personal existence 
 of their ofispring. 
 
 But, in fact, that covenant was not carried out to 
 its intended results, because men were redeemed form 
 under it by Christ who gave Himself a ransom for 
 their deliverance. 
 
 Adam and Eve were thus placed again in circum- 
 stances in which they could become the heads of the 
 human race. These being born unholy, in consequence 
 of the fall of their first parents, it would not have 
 been possible for them to have observed the conditions 
 of the covenant of works. Hence Christ redeemed 
 them from that covenant by presenting considerations 
 which made it satisfactory to Divine righteousness to 
 set it aside. 
 
 Not only so, He procured for them a covenant of 
 grace which makes provision to restore man to ability 
 to obey, which pardons many offences, which makes 
 " all the sufferings of the present time work together 
 for good," which will furnish a more glorious body, 
 and a more glorious everlasting inheritance. So that 
 we are under a much more desirable covenant than 
 Adam first was. This change was not made by sove- 
 reign prerogative. It was procured by Him who is 
 
IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF INTERCESSION. 
 
 131 
 
 represented as " the Lamb slain from the foundation 
 of the world," i.e., from the death of the first typical 
 lamb. As Mr. Wesley said : It is by His " sacrifice 
 for sin " that " God is so far reconciled to all the 
 world, that he hath given them a new covenant ; the 
 plain condition whereof being once fulfilled, 'there 
 is no more condemnation ' for us, but we are profited 
 freely by His grace, through the redemption which is 
 in Christ Jesus." {Sermon V. i. 9.)' James Macknight, 
 D.D., took a similar view. He says : For Christ's sake 
 God has "placed all mankind, ever since the fall, under 
 the gracious new covtrs ,nt procured for them through 
 the obedience of Christ, in which the pardon of sin 
 is offered to them, together with eternal life, on their 
 fulfilling its gracious requisition." (Macknight on 
 Rom. V. 10.) Thus " the Qfifect of the atonement was 
 a change of dispensation." (Dr. Dick's TheoL, i., p. 79.) 
 Dr. Hodge says : " Christ died for all that He might 
 arrest the immediate execution of the penalty of the 
 law upon the whole of our apostate race ; that He 
 might secure for men the innumerable blessinsjs at- 
 tending their state on earth which, in one important 
 sense, is one of probation, and that He might lay the 
 foundation for the offer of pardon and reconciliation 
 with God on condition of faith and repentance. These 
 are universally admitted consequences of His satisfac- 
 tion." {TheoL, ii., p. 558.) St. Clement said that Christ 
 "changed the sunset to the sunrise." These words 
 may be applied to His introduction of the new cove- 
 nant. 
 
 ]■ ' 
 
 ii 
 
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 132 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 This covenant of grace was confirmed by Christ's 
 sacrificial blood, called for this reason "the blood of 
 the New Testament" (or covenant). The Hebrews 
 knew that covenants were confirmed by sacrifice. 
 David referred to this fact when, as a prophet, he said: 
 " Gather my saints together unto me, those that have 
 made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Mr. Wesley 
 clearly saw that this covenant of grace was introduced 
 in this way. He says : " By the sacrifice for sin made 
 by the second Adam, as the representative of us all, 
 God is so far reconciled to all the world that He hath 
 given them a new covenant, the plain condition 
 whereof being once fulfilled, there is now no more 
 condemnation for us ; but we are justified freely by 
 His grace through the redemption which is in Christ 
 Jesus." {Sermons, i., 9.) " This passage," says Dr. Bur- 
 wash, " is probably the most exact statement of the 
 work of Christ to be found in Mr. Wesley's writings." 
 (Wesley's Doctrinal Standards, 190.) 
 
 God's promises were given in covenant form in con- 
 descension to the fact that men attach more confidence 
 to a particular promise made at a particular time and 
 place, and written, sealed, and delivered ; than they 
 are disposed to attach to a general declaration of kind 
 feelings and purposes. 
 
 In covenants there are laws and promises, and 
 these are so connected together as that the fulfilment 
 of the one depends on the performance of the other. 
 A new covenant was made by connecting the same 
 law with new promises, and in this way the law 
 
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 IMMEDIATE llESULTS OF INTERCESSION. 
 
 133 
 
 i ( 
 
 was not destroyed but perpetuated, while the covenant 
 was changed. 
 
 The orif^inal law did not need to be lowered in 
 order to be thus placed in connection with a new 
 covenant. The Divine law is indeed a transcript of 
 God's moral perfections, but it is adapted to finite 
 creatures. It is not the fullest possible transcript of 
 the infinite perfection of divine moral excellence; it is 
 one that is fitted to the capacity and ability that is 
 possessed, or that is attainable by creatures made 
 after the imaoje of God. It was from the beorinninoj 
 so framed as to be adapted to finite capacities, and 
 equally adapted to every capacity. Its requirement 
 was and is : " Thou slialt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thine heart," etc. From Adam, in Paradise, it 
 required all the love of which Adam was then capable. 
 Eve was required to love with all the mind she then 
 had ; perhaps her capacity was not of the same 
 measure as Adam's. Had they continued holy, their 
 offspring would have been holy too, and would have 
 loved with all their minds and hearts, before they 
 were capable of loving in the degree that was possible 
 to their father's mind and heart. When Adam fell by 
 transgression he lost for himself and his offspring the 
 natural ability to love God. But ability for this duty 
 was made obtainable through the Mediator. Means 
 were graciously provided by the new covenant. For 
 this purpose suitable promises were superadded : " I 
 will write My laws in their mind and in their heart," 
 that they may get ability to render the still required 
 
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 134 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 obedience. This was to be done partly by giving a 
 written revelation, and partly by sending the con- 
 vincing and renewing Spirit. (See chapter on the 
 Spirit.) These superadded promises of the new 
 covenant, therefore, concern the yet unrenewed and un- 
 enlightened, and accordingly include the infant world. 
 The covenant says : " I will put My laws into their 
 minds," not I have put them, etc. The new covenant 
 adds, " I will be merciful to their unrighteousness," 
 thus making provision for pardoning sin, and healing 
 backsliding, and giving everlasting well-being on 
 condition of repentance and faith in those promises. 
 These conditions are expressed on some occasions, and 
 are supposed to be known and implied when they are 
 not expressed. 
 
 As such provision has been made by Christ, it is 
 manifest that it is wrong to say that the law is now 
 "an inexorable taskmaster demanding the impossible." 
 (Hodge, p. 153.) This position falsely assumes that 
 man's present state has been influenced by Adam only. 
 But man's position in this world is affected also by the 
 results of the work of Christ. It was divinely resolved 
 that Christ, the second Adam, was to come before the 
 first Adam was divinely permitted to propagate the 
 race under the influence of hereditary sinfulness of dis- 
 position. Accordingly, though born sinful, they are 
 born where a remedy is provided, by which they may 
 be renewed and fitted to become personally righteous. 
 To have native ability to obey the law is not necessary 
 to accountability, when there is opportunity to obtain 
 
IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF INTERCESSION. 
 
 135 
 
 gracious ability. The obtaining of it is dependent on 
 reasonable conditions in the case of those who are old 
 enough to be in responsible probation. Grace is given 
 unconditionally in the case of those who die before 
 the years of personal accountability. In the case of 
 dying infants, the law is unconditionally written in 
 their minds and in their hearts, fitting them to know 
 God, and to love God, and, consequently, to " do His 
 will as it is done in heaven." This is done for Christ's 
 sake. And from this point of view we can see the 
 relation of Christ's work to children, whether those 
 who die before the years of accountability, or those 
 who live to mature years. 
 
 Since such aid is obtainable through Christ, those 
 who fell in Adam are still regarded and treated as 
 moral agents, when they come to years of under- 
 standing. 
 
 A moral agent must have the following qualifica- 
 tions : 1st. An intelligence that makes him capable 
 of seeing the relations which exist- between the crea- 
 ture and the Creator. 2nd. An opportunity to get a 
 knowledge of his duty. He must have either actual 
 ability for his duty, or an opportunity to obtain 
 ability. 3rd. A conscience that may be made to feel 
 the conviction that he is under responsibility to use 
 those opportunities in order to get ability; and when 
 it is got, to use it in doing what is right and avoiding 
 what is wrong. 4th. A capability of feeling happiness 
 and misery, and of hoping for the one, and fearing the 
 other; and of fearing threatened punishment more 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 than he loves forbidden pleasure. 5th. A will capable 
 of giving attention to the commands and motives pre- 
 sented by authority ; and which may be influenced by 
 such attention to choose and act as required. But the 
 will, being free, must be left independent enough to 
 give or not to give attention, and to use its power 
 to do, or not to use it. This independence of the will 
 is absolutely essential as an attribute of moral agency. 
 It is necessary to being a proper subject for praise or 
 blame, for reward or punishment. " Whoever praised 
 the sun for shining; or condemned the lightning 
 for killing ? " In short, man, though fallen through 
 Adam, obtains through Christ what still makes it 
 equitable to deal with him as a moral agent. Hence 
 God left him under moral government ; praises and 
 will reward the right use of his opportunities, and 
 condemns and will punish a wrong use of them. 
 
 Men believe themselves and each other to be moral 
 agents, for they approve or condemn themselves ; they 
 applaud and censure each other. These things are 
 done even by those who inconsistently deny that man 
 is a moral agent. All men put their children under 
 moral training, and resort to moral means to move 
 them to right actions. And it is by temptation, rather 
 than by force, that persons generally try to lead 
 others to "wrong actions. Ecclesiastical and civil 
 governments try to rule by the conviction of responsi- 
 bility, the authority of the law, and the influence of 
 motives. If men are not moral agents, it would fol- 
 low that all the intelligent beings referred to have 
 
IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF INTERCESSION. 
 
 137 
 
 been deceived; and that no government, parental, civil, 
 or divine, is adapted to man's nature. 
 
 It was, of course, anticipated that some men would 
 abuse the covenant of grace. Hence when Christ gave 
 Himself as the sacrificed Lamb of God to confirm that 
 covenant, He gave Himself to be also "a surety of the 
 covenant." Should man ungratefully make a wrong 
 use of the space for repentance and of the goodness 
 that was intended to win him to repentance, Christ 
 would be present to plead that He Himself had 
 magnified the law by His personal obedience, and that 
 He had submitted to chastisement on man's behalf, and 
 it was for His sake that man had got what he ungrate- 
 fully abused. • 
 
 But it would be an unspeakable shame for any man 
 to render th^' ^ necessary. Hence, as we shall see, one 
 work of the Spirit, when sent in Christ's name, is to 
 convince man of sin in not believing in Christ — the 
 sinfulness of making their Redeemer a Minister of sin 
 instead of a Saviour from sin. We should on this 
 account " pass the time of our sojourning here in fear, 
 knowing that we were not redeemed with corruptible 
 things such as silver and gold, but with the precious 
 blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and 
 without spot." (1 Peter i. 17.) 
 
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 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR AS REDEEMER. 
 
 Great importance is attached to His work of re- 
 demption. Take, for instance, the memorable saying 
 of our Lord Himself, recorded by two of the Evan- 
 gelists, "The Son of man is come not to be ministered 
 unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom 
 livrpov^ for many." (Matt. xx. 28, Mark, x. 45.) And the 
 testimony of Paul, " There is one God, and one Media- 
 tor between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who 
 gave Himself a ransom, avTi?.vTpov, for all." (1 Tim. ii. 
 5, 6.) Hence we read of " the redemption which is in 
 Christ Jesus," i.e., Christ Himself was the ransom or 
 price of deliverance. 
 
 In some cases a ransom was a commercial equiva- 
 lent. In Christ's case it was an equivalent in govern- 
 mental value. This figure illustrates the fact that 
 what Christ did was done voluntarily, and also that 
 He who delivered up the captives, did so voluntarily. 
 Redemption delivers a captive not by superior power 
 or authority, but by a ransom freely offered by a 
 friend, and freely accepted by the party holding them 
 in bondage. The one is not forced to pay, the other 
 is not forced to receive the ransom price. What is 
 done is done voluntarily. 
 
 To redeem is not merely to buy, but to buy back. 
 
THE ONE MEDIATOR AS REDEEMER. 
 
 139 
 
 Christ did not intend to release men in such a way as 
 would leave it optional to go where they please, and 
 henceforth do what they choose ; but to induce them 
 to come back to their proper home, and to the duties 
 connected with it. " Thou hast redeemed us to God 
 by Thy l)lood." (Rev. v. 9.) 
 
 " A slave, or a prisoner of war, is said to be redeemed 
 when a sum of money, or another person, is given in 
 exchange for him." {Felix Neff.) So men were said 
 to be redeemed when Christ gave Himself a ransom 
 for them. 
 
 Those who are redeemed, however, are not forced to 
 return when released. They are not compelled to 
 make the intended use of the gracious opportunity 
 procured for them. " As men are free agents, not 
 chattels, it is left to the free determination of their 
 own will to say whether they will serve Him who has 
 bought them." (Morrison.) They are, however, placed 
 under fresh obligations to do so. They are " bought 
 with a price," and should manifest gratitude to their 
 gracious Benefactor, as well as allegiance to their 
 Iluler. 
 
 The ransom paid clearly shows that Christ did not 
 rate us at a low price, but " at a great price." He did 
 not think our worth could be estimated in gold and 
 silver. He gave Himself for us. He regarded us as 
 having souls made after the image of God, which, 
 though not retaining His moral image, bear still His 
 natural image, His spirituality, His free agency, His 
 immortality. He therefore did not try to ransom us 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 with " corruptible things sucli as silver and gold, but 
 with the precious blood of Christ." " The real value 
 of an object is that which one who knows its worth 
 will give for it. He who made tin; soul knew its 
 worth, and gave IJis life for it." {Javkmti.) 
 
 Here a substitution of Christ's person isspok(*n of, 
 but, as ])ean Stanley o})serves, " it is in connection 
 with the idea of ransom, not with that of sacrifice." 
 He was a sin-off'ering before He was a ransom. The 
 sacrifice was for us, or on our behalf. Th(! ransom 
 was in our stead. This suljstitution is expressed by 
 avTi, inst(!ad of (Matt. xx. 2'S, Mariv x. 45. Lange on 
 1 Cor., p. iUO.) Wh(!n the aHusion is to a sin-offering 
 the word used is ttiju^ for respecting, as in Rom. viii. 
 3 ; 1 Jo. ii. 2 ; iv. 10, nrpi afinpT/nr or TTff)/. n/japTf(.)v. HcncG 
 the work of Christ as a Mediating Priest is distinct 
 from His work as a Redeemer. The former takes 
 logical precedence of the latter ; and it is in this order 
 that we have considered them. 
 
 Deliverance from unsuitable law is plainly con- 
 nected with the scriptural idea of redemption. Paul 
 told the (lalations that, "In the fulness of time Christ 
 was mad(^ under the law, to ledeem them that were 
 under the law, tliat we might receive the adoption of 
 sons." (Gal. iv. 5.) He had said " Christ hath re- 
 deemed us from the curse of the law, being made a 
 curse for ns: for it is written. Cursed is every one that 
 hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might 
 come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we 
 might receive the promise of the Spirit tlirough faith." 
 
M 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR AS REDEEMER. 
 
 141 
 
 (Gal. iii. 13, 14.) "Paul always conceives of the law as 
 an individual whole, while he yet has in his mind 
 sometimes more the ritual, sometimes more the moral 
 aspect of this one divine w//or (Uw), accordin<^ to his 
 object and connection." (Meyer on Rom. iii. 20.) The 
 reference in this passaj^^e is to the added ceremonial 
 law that was intended to keep Jews and Gentiles dis- 
 tinct, as far as ..larriage relationship was concerned, 
 till the Messiah came. Jt, for this purj)0se, ordered the 
 Jews to o})serve ceremonies to which the heathen were 
 averse, and to reject those to which the heathen were 
 attached, and thus formed a ceremonial wall of par- 
 tition between them. But it was a "yoke of bondage," 
 and it treated the Jews as servants, as children under 
 age. It was in compliance wi'^h one of the threaten- 
 ings of that ritual law that the Jews crucified Christ 
 on the tree. But Christ, after submitting to cruci- 
 fixion, repealed and set aside that added ritual law, 
 and thus delivere<l that people from its bondage, and 
 from the curse of crucifixion which is pronounced on 
 disobedience. The Apostle; did not say that " every 
 one that is hange<l on a tree is accursed " of Hod. He 
 omitted these wor<is, he left them unquoted, (l)eut. 
 xxi. 23.) (Jhrist was an exception, lie was not One 
 whom God thought worthy (jf exposure on the cross. 
 Christ was accursed by man, but not by God. The 
 sufferings inflicted by "wicked hands" were altogether 
 distinct from ciiose which it " pleased the Lord " to 
 inflict, when " the chastisement of our peace was upon 
 llim." 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 The law of typical sacrifices, also, was set aside by 
 " the body of Christ." His death, as the great anti- 
 typical sacrifice, fulfilled and set aside the law of typi- 
 cal sacrifices. All people became " dead to this law " 
 by the sacrificed " body of Christ." (Rom. vii. 4.) 
 
 Redemption indicates also that men were deliverfid 
 from under the covenant of works first imposed on 
 Adam and his posterity, in order that they may be 
 placed under the covenant of grace. That first cove- 
 nant was not sovereignly withdrawn and destroyed. 
 Men were redeemed from under it; they were de- 
 livered in consideration of the satisfaction which 
 Christ presented for this purpose also. 
 
 Christ by His atoning sufferings had opened the 
 way to deliver guilty man from the penal conse- 
 quences of transgressing the great moral law. But 
 deliverance from punishment was not the only thing 
 which men needed. They were in a state of bondage 
 to sinfulness and mortality, and they needed to be 
 redeemed from these. It is only through the media- 
 tion of Christ that the Holy Spirit divine could 
 approach an unholy soul, to reason with it, and "renew 
 it after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, 
 and true holiness," (oawrf/g, beneficence, merciful kind- 
 ness.) 
 
 When captives were freed from a human conqueror 
 who held them in bondage, they were freed also from 
 attending evils, such as servile labor and oppression. 
 They were, on this account, said to be redeemed from 
 these also ; though in a less precise sense of the word. 
 
 li-l. i 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR AS REDEEMER. 
 
 143 
 
 So, when Christ redeemed men to place them under 
 a covenant of grace, it was with the ultimate object 
 of freeing them from every attendant evil. Hence, by 
 a similar extension of the meaning of the word in 
 theology, they are said to be ''redeemed from ini- 
 quity" (Tit. ii. 14); from "this present world" (Gal. 
 i. 13) ; from the " vain conversation, received by tra- 
 dition from the fathers" (1 Pet. i. 18, 19); and from 
 mortality, by " the redemption of the body." (Rom. 8.) 
 And mention is also made of the redemption of man's 
 abode from the curse introduced by the fall, that it 
 may become " an inheritance, incorruptible and unde- 
 iiled, and that fadeth not away." (1 Peter i. 4.) 
 
 In this case the captives were utterly insensible to 
 the misery of their sinful state, and to the desirable- 
 ness of being delivered from it. The Redeemer, there- 
 fore, must appoint agencies " to convince them of the 
 misery of their state, and to awaken in their hearts 
 the desire of liberty. The captives were totally 
 ignorant of the way that leads back to the home 
 whence they had been exiled, and totally incapable of 
 encountering the manifold difficulties and dangers 
 with which that way abounds. The Redeemer, there- 
 fore, must possess power, both to lead them in the 
 right way, and to support, and strengthen, and uphold 
 them against all opposition. The captives had acquired 
 habits and dispositions which totally incapacitate 
 them for the occupations and enjoyments of the 
 country to which they are to be brought. The Re- 
 deemer, therefore, must possess power to change the 
 
 
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144 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 whole tenor and current of their habits, affections, and 
 dispositions." (Marcus Dods Incarnation, p. 17.) 
 
 It must be remembered, also, that "the captives 
 had been guilty of crimes, and that they must not be 
 returned in a way that would be an infringement of 
 that law by which they were condemned, or be a 
 dishonour to the Sovereign by whom they were 
 banished, or dangerous to those of His subjects who 
 never rebelled. The M iiator, therefore, must possess 
 a power to ensure them a welcome reception ; He 
 must bring them back in such a way as to magnify 
 and make honourable the law which they disregarded ; 
 He must display the equity and justice, as well as the 
 goodness and mercy, of the Sovereign by whom they 
 were exiled, — and thus give stability to all the prin- 
 ciples of His moral government and additional security 
 to all His faithful subjects." (Marcus Dods Incarna-' 
 tion, p. 17, 18.) 
 
 On this account, as we have already stated on a 
 former page, Christ had to appear first as a Mediating 
 Priest to offer propitiatory sacrifice and intercession 
 in their behalf. To suppose that deliverance could 
 be effected by a ransom merely, would be to suppose 
 that sin is merely a debt, in which case full and 
 immediate deliverance could be procured on pecuniary 
 principles. Deliverance, in that case, could be effected 
 by a commercial transaction. But sin is not a mere 
 pecuniary debt; it is a moral crime, and satisfaction for 
 it requires to be made, not on pecuniary, but on moral 
 principles. Satisfaction on pecuniary principles leaves 
 
: I 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR AS REDEEMER. 
 
 145 
 
 no room for pardon ; satisfaction on moral principles 
 does. The reason of the difference is easily perceived. 
 Debts are transferable ; crimes are not. In cases of 
 debt and credit among men a person may offer to take 
 the place of a debtor. In which case, " from the 
 moment that offer is accepted, the debtor is free, and 
 may claim his liberty, not as a matter of favour, at 
 least on the part of the creditor, but of strict justice. 
 Or, should the undertaking be unknown to him for a 
 time, yet as soon as he knows it he may demand his 
 discharge, and, it may be, think himself hardly treated 
 by being kept in bondage after his debt had been 
 actually paid. Debts that are transferred cannot be 
 pardoned." {A. Fuller.) That our sins are debts is 
 perfectly true ; but many and mischievous are the 
 errors into which men have been led by considering 
 them merely as debts ; and one of the worst of these 
 errors is, that if sin be regarded merely as a debt, then 
 an atonement by a Mediating Priest must be looked 
 on as altogether unnecessary. But sin is seen to 
 assume another aspect, the aspect of crime, when 
 God is looked upon not as a mere creditor, but 
 as the supreme Moral Ruler of all, appointing a law 
 for the welfare of the universe, and pledged to main- 
 tain its authority before the eyes of every creature ; 
 then it is seen that disobedience against such a Gover- 
 nor could be forgiven only for the sake of what Christ 
 did as a Mediating Priest. On this account there 
 must be a propitiatory offering by a Mediating Priest, 
 as well as a ransom by a Mediating Friend. 
 
 h 
 
1 
 
 PBHI 
 
 146 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 B^ 
 
 A ransom may be accepted conditionally. " A 
 philanthropist, for instance, may pay the ransom price 
 of an enslaved family in such a manner that the 
 children shall be freed unconditionally ; but that the 
 parents shall be liberated on condition of their suitably 
 acknowledging the kindness." (Randies, p. 10.) So 
 Christ intended by His ransom to procure eternal 
 redemption, unconditionally in the case of all children 
 dying in infancy; but conditionally in the case of 
 persons come to the years of accountability. The 
 latter are required to repent and ask grace to lead a 
 new life in order to obtain " eternal redemption." 
 
 In the case before us, the slaves were redeemed that 
 they might be made kings, and that they might reign 
 with Christ in the everlasting kingdom. Many have 
 availed themselves of the gracious and glorious privi- 
 lege. Already they form a multitude whom no man 
 could number. Let us follow their example, that 
 finally we may unite with them in the adoring excla- 
 mation : " Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to 
 God by Thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, 
 and people, and nation ; and hast made unto our God 
 kings and priests ; and we shall reign on the earth " 
 (Rev. V. 9), when the earth shall have been made a 
 new earth, specially adapted to men renewed after the 
 image of God, and far excelling its first Edenic loveli- 
 ness ; because specially prepared for the Lord Jesus 
 as the heir, though to be shared by all who have been 
 graciously made joint-heirs with Him. 
 
(147) 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 RECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN THROUGH THE DEATH 
 
 OF HIS SON. 
 
 We continue to reconsider the things for wliich the 
 Mediator made intercession immediately after His suf- 
 ferings. That intercession, as we have already seen, 
 had some immediate results. It actually procured a 
 suspension of the penalt} It actually procured the 
 redemption of man from under the covenant of works, 
 and his being placed within reach of the covenant of 
 Grace. Now the production of these immediate re- 
 sults, seems to constitute that reconciliation of God, 
 which was effected by the death of His Son; and which 
 led to the appointment of the ministry of reconcilia- 
 tion, to beseech men to be reconciled to God. Kara/Jaacu 
 means primarily to change. "In the elder Greek 
 writers the verb KaraXTiaaau means to exchange for an 
 
 opposite 5 as KaraA^aGoeru T7/v exp^iv roig (rraaiuTaig. He ex- 
 changed within himself enmity for friendship (that is, 
 he reconciled himself) with his party ; or, as we say, 
 made it up with them." (Coleridge, Aids to Reflection, p. 
 288.) In the much graver case of sin against God, media- 
 tion was necessary. God was reconciled to man "by the 
 death of His Son." (Rom. v. 10.) For Christ's sake 
 He exchanges holy indignation for merciful kindness. 
 
 Iji;- 
 
148 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I I' I I 
 
 m 
 
 God desisted, on His part, from His purpose to inflict 
 immediate punishment; He accepted the satisfaction 
 presented by Christ, and consented to the terms on 
 which pardon and renewal are offered to man. 
 
 The Greek word means the establishment of friendly 
 relations between persons who had previously been 
 at variance : " on which side the antagonism exists 
 is not to be determined by the word itself, or by 
 the grammatical construction." (Dr. Dale, Atonement, 
 p. 493.) Hence other words are used in connection 
 with it to show whether the enmity has been mutual, 
 or one-sided , and if so, on which side is the active 
 enmity. (Cremer.) For instance, when it was said, 
 " Wherewith shall David reconcile himself to his mas- 
 ter," the context shows that the meaning is, "What 
 shall David do to turn away Saul's anger from him, 
 and dispose him to pardon." When our Lord said, 
 as reported by Matthew, " If thy brother hath aught 
 against thee, go and be reconciled to thy brother," 
 nothing can be plainer than that the purpose of going 
 to the offended person is to persuade him to avert his 
 anger and be at peace with the off*ender ; that is, it 
 means in such cases to reconcile the offended jJerson 
 to the offender. The word has the same meaning in 
 the statement, we "were reconciled to God by the 
 death of His Son." (Rom. v. 10.) God was the offended 
 party, but the mediation and death of His Son dis- 
 posed Him to open the way for re-admitting the offend- 
 ers to renewed fellowship. The cause of this recon- 
 ciliation, which the Scripture assigns is " the death of 
 
it 
 
 RECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN. 
 
 149 
 
 Christ, and consequently His death was a propitiatory 
 sacrifice." (Dr. Dick's Theol. ii., p. 76.) 
 
 This meaning is made more clear by reading the 
 preceding context in connection with it, which speaks 
 of our being "juHtificd by His blood." In this sense 
 the sacrificial death of Christ reconciled God, i.e., 
 averted from us the Divine displeasure when ready 
 to inflict the incurred penalty. This is confirmed by 
 the fact that " in many parts of Scripture words and 
 phrases, which are in their meaning perfectly equiva- 
 lent with reconcile and reconciliation, are used respect- 
 ing the state of God's regards towards sinful creatures ; 
 — as when He is said to be * pacified,' and to have His 
 'anger turned away.' It is not about the word we 
 dispute, but about the thing." (Wardlaw, Soc. Contro- 
 versy, p. 217.) The second of our Articles of Religion 
 speaks of *' Christ, very God, and very man, who truly 
 suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile 
 His Father to us ; * and to be a sacrifice not only for 
 original guilt, but also for the actual sins of men." 
 
 " Reconciliation implies previous mutual alienation. 
 The offences given by the one party have been felt by 
 the other." (Rev. Alex. Mackennal, M.A., Clerical Sym- 
 posium, p. 27.) " Your iniquities have separated be- 
 tween you and your God, and your sins have hid His 
 face from you, that He will not hear." (Is. lix. 2.) 
 
 The intervention of a Mediator between God and 
 
 man presupposes that a change of relationship be- 
 
 _ , — . 
 
 * The same phrase is used by the Augsburg confession, " ut recon- 
 ciliaret nobis Patrem." 
 
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 150 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 tween the parties may be effected, that God's legal 
 purposes, and man's moral enmity, were not absolutely 
 unchangeable ; that the former may be modified in 
 compliance with the considerations presented by a 
 Mediator, and that the latter may be removed by re- 
 medial means. This idea of change is included in the 
 principal words used ^ '^ the inspired writers to denote 
 the effect of Christ's ^ . as it respects God. KaTa'/zaaaeiv 
 means (a) to change, (b) to change from enmity to 
 friendship, (c) to change from righteous displeasure to 
 merciful forbearance, with a view to renewed fellow- 
 ship. The Divine displeasure admitted of such change 
 in such circumstances. The many examples of God's 
 anger being " kindled or quenched towards portions of 
 His subjects, show that change is possible to it." (Dr. 
 Randies, Substitution, p. 20.) 
 
 We find reconciliation by sacrifice spoken of in con- 
 nection with the typical ceremonies. Take the follow- 
 ing instance : " And one lamb out of the flock, . . . 
 for a meat offering, for a burnt offering, and for a 
 peace offering, to make reconciliation for them, saith 
 the Lord God." (Eze. xlv. 15.) This was reconciliation 
 by sacrifice. Such a result is prophetically attributed 
 to the Messiah's sacrifice by Daniel : " Seventy weeks 
 are determined ... to make reconciliation for 
 iniquity." (Dan. ix. 24.) In the Septuagent the Greek 
 word is E^iiarTKEodai (to make reconciliation.) This word 
 is used historically by Paul when he declares that 
 Christ is " a faithful and merciful High-priest to make 
 reconciliation for the sins of the people." (Heb. ii. 17.) 
 
RECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN. 
 
 151 
 
 "In 2 Cor. V. 18-20, the phrase 'God was in Christ 
 reconciling the world unto Himself ' is explained by 
 .sayinpj in the same sentence, * not imputing their tres- 
 passes unto them.' " (liev. A. A. Hodge on Atonement, 
 p. 167.) This showed reconciliation to some extent. 
 Instead of sending His ambassadors as ministers of 
 justice, to charge upon men the guilt of their sins in 
 order to punish them ; He commissioned them as 
 ministers of mercy. They were sent to say, " we pray 
 you in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God." Here 
 we are exhorted to be reconciled to Him on the 
 ground of His previous reconciliation. This previous 
 reconciliation was, of course, in the lower sense of the 
 word. 
 
 The extent of meaning which a writer attaches to a 
 word is sometimes made known by the order in which 
 he places it. The reconciliation on God's part, which 
 precedes sending the ministry of reconciliation, who 
 try to win man by using persuasion and entreaty as 
 ambassadors and substitutes for Christ, was not recon- 
 ciliation in the fullest sense of the word. It did not 
 include, in this instance, the idea of restored fellowship 
 and harmony. It is equally obvious that the word 
 reconciliation, as elsewhere placed after " making 
 peace," has the fuller sense, as when the apostle said •. 
 " For it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) should 
 all fulness dwell ; and, having made peace through the 
 blood of His cross, by J!im to reconcile all things unto 
 Himself." (Col. i. 19, 20.) This order shows that the 
 word reconciliation is now used in a high sense, but it 
 
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 152 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 also shows that the words " making peace " are here 
 used in a low sense. " Making peace," says Cremer, 
 " can here mean only putting an end to strife with a 
 view to brinfjinoj about reconciliation in the fuller 
 sense of the word. When reconciliation is used in 
 the low sense it has much the same meaning as 
 that here given to " making peace through the blood 
 of the cross." It means that God had put away His 
 hostile attitude, and assumed one which manifested 
 desire to win man back to restored friendship and ser- 
 vice. He who had shown forth His holy indignation, 
 and was ready to judge and punish the transgressors, 
 is now exhibiting gracious forbearance, and proposing 
 to pardon on repentance, and to use means to induce 
 men to repent. 
 
 Hence it is clear that when God so loved the world 
 that He gave His only begotten Son to be a propitia- 
 tory sacrifice for our sins. His love was not as yet 
 pardoning love, but merely "a divinely benevolent 
 disposition" to deliver us, for the sake of a great 
 Mediator ofiering a proper propitiation, to accept it 
 when presented ; and then to unite with Christ in send- 
 ing "the ministry of reconciliation," which entreats 
 men to receive the reconciliation offered by God. 
 
 When the Hebrews spake of propitiating God, they 
 generally made reference to the human offence that 
 occasioned the need of it. " Ye have sinned a great sin," 
 said Moses to the people after they had worshipped 
 the golden calf, " and now I will go up unto the Lord ; 
 peradventure, I shall make atonement (or propitiation) 
 
Ihat 
 
 RECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN. 
 
 153 
 
 for your sins." (Ex. xxxii. 10.) Tho Jews never at- 
 tributed to Jehovah the unreasonable and unreasoning 
 passion which was ascribed to heatlien deities. They 
 knew that in the true God "there is never any cause- 
 less anger and therefore it was their habit, when 
 they spoke of propitiation, to describe it as a propitia- 
 tion for sin. The justice of the Divine displeasure 
 was always and explicitly acknowledged." (Dale, 
 Atonement, p. 167.) God is not naturally alienated 
 in feeling from man, as the heathen supposed their 
 gods to be. God naturally is loving to man. But 
 He is also a holy God, and a just Moral Governor ; 
 and, as such, is not willing to exercise mercy, unless it 
 could be done in a manner consistent with the honor 
 of His government, and with the safety of His 
 subjects. 
 
 God's holy indignation against ill-doing is not a 
 feeling that may be appeased by any means that could 
 produce pity in its stead, as those seem to think who 
 undervalue Christ's work, and think it sufficient to 
 change man's work of repentance into penance, i.e., 
 into showing such mental and bodily suffering as may 
 awaken pity in a beholder. This plan aims to appease 
 a mere feeling, not to satisfy a principle. But God's 
 indignation is an intelligent, reasonable, equitable 
 principle, whose object is to oppose and restrain those 
 violations of public law, that would convulse and over- 
 throw the moral order of the universe. The question, 
 therefore, is not how can a feeling of anger be changed 
 into a feeling of pity, but how can it be changed into 
 12 
 
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 11^ 
 
 154 
 
 THE ONK MEDIATOR. 
 
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 a feelin<x of calm assurance, that its <xovcrnmcntal 
 interests can be maintained without inflictinn^ the in- 
 curred penalty. It can be propitiated, and pacified 
 only by means that answer the ^rc^at ends of moral 
 government as efiectually, as the infliction of punish- 
 ment on the personally <^uilty. God's riohteousness 
 does not act with unprincipled and unnuisoning 
 emotion, Init with the most deliberate aim, and the 
 most wise purpose of guard in^j the sacrtidness of public 
 law and the safety of the moral universe. The ([uestion 
 was. How to reconcile the holiness of the Lawgiver 
 and the preservation of the law, with th(^ act of sus- 
 pending the penalty, for the purpose of giving time to 
 induce the disobedient to consider and n^pent, and 
 entre«>,t pardon and renewal ? God indeed, when 
 acting as Creatoi' consulted His own infinite per- 
 fections only ; but when acting as Moral Govei'nor 
 and Providential Guide of men, He has regard also 
 to considerations arising out of the state and interests 
 of His creatures. He has governmental ends to be 
 attained, and governmental measures for attaining 
 them. He determined to uphold government by law, 
 ajjrainst the influence and efforts of transfjressors. He 
 
 o o 
 
 devised two plans for eflfecting thi.s purpose. 
 
 His first plan was to uphold governmental authority, 
 by proclaiming that He would inflict paralyzing 
 penalty on the personal transgressor. His X)ivine 
 righteousness, when pledged to uphold th'\t end in 
 that way, is called the justice of God. 
 
 JJi3 second and extraordinary plan of upholdinjj 
 
"im 
 
 \ i 
 
 IIECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN. 
 
 155 
 
 pro vern mental authority, was to provide a great 
 Mediator between God and men, who should honor 
 th(; Divine law by personal obedience to it ; and the 
 Divine righteousness, by voluntarily submitting to 
 chastisement on man's l)ehalf, before making inter- 
 cession for transgressors ; and who, having thus obeyed 
 and suffered, should intercede for man, asking (jlod for 
 His sake to suspend the penalty, in order to give 
 sinners time for repentance, and allow space for using 
 means and motivi s to bring them to repentance; who 
 should make further intercession for the pardon of the 
 penitent (i.e., for their full release from the condition- 
 ally suspended punishment), and for the renewal of 
 the pardoned unto obedience for the future; who would 
 ask these things for the sake, and only for the sake, of 
 the satisfaction presented by the personal obedience 
 and voluntary sufferings of the Son of God, pleaded 
 by His intercession on man's behalf. This view satis- 
 fies the human conscience, which is convinced by the 
 Spirit sent to convince the world of sin, of righteous- 
 ness, and of judgment, that thus and only thus may 
 forgiveness be granted consistently with the princi- 
 ples and interests of moral government. This con- 
 viction "has sustained the doctrine of atonement 
 ai^ainst the attacks of vain philosophy century after 
 century." By means of this doctrine all the attri- 
 butes of Deity harmonize : Mercy is glorified in the 
 highest de^xrce, and Righteousness is satisfied to the 
 utmost. 
 
 Some will not admit that any change in God was 
 
 
 H 
 
156 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 If! 
 
 ,-.1 
 'i{-{ 
 
 made by the mediation of Christ. To avoid implying 
 the idea of a change made in this way, they suppose 
 that God assumed from eternitj that love for the per- 
 sons of His own people which the anticipated work of 
 Christ was fitted to produce. But how could He have 
 done that, if He was as unchangeable then as they 
 suppose Him to be now ? Besides it would follow, 
 by parity of reason, that (Jod had from eternity to 
 assume displeasure against man's anticipated sins, that 
 no change of mood may take place when they were 
 actually committed. Accordingly, they do in fact con- 
 tend that " God's love for the persons of His own 
 people, and His displeasure for their sins, were existent 
 states of -mini] from eternity." (Hodge, Atomwienty p. 
 174.) If so. He must continue to feel displeasure 
 against all sinners through all future eternity. But 
 this most assuredly is not the view of the inspired 
 writers. These represent God "as blotting out sins" 
 and " remembering them no more." And they repre- 
 sent Him as feeling towards persons " according to 
 their ways" (Ezek. xxxiii. 20), and consequently as 
 feeling diiierently towards them at different times, 
 according to their different ways. 
 
 If God does not change. He does not forgive the 
 penitent sinner. They accordingly are driven to 
 imagine that what He does is, " to change the condition 
 of the sinner so that he does not need forgiveness;" 
 "that He renders non-existent the only ground on 
 which the claim of Justice stands ;" that Christ did 
 this by suffering punishment in the sinner's stead. 
 
le 
 lo 
 
 In 
 Id 
 
 RECONCILIATION OF GOD TO MAN. 
 
 157 
 
 They call this the expiation of guilt; and they sup- 
 pose that this expiation of guilt is all that is meant by 
 propitiating God. And this theory of expiation is 
 made "the central point of the Reformed doctrine on 
 this subject." (Dr. Hodge, Ato7iement, p. 44.) 
 
 Some see that they should concede a little change in 
 God. They suppose that Christ, by endurance of the 
 penalty, restrained the operations of infinite Justice ; 
 but only " as a creditor is restrained from again im- 
 prisoning a debtor for a debt once discharged ; " that 
 Christ changed the Divine feelings or dispositions 
 towards sinners, but " only as a judge's feeling toward 
 a criminal is chan2:ed after the full infliction of the 
 penalty ; "that Christ induced God to be merciful, but 
 only " as a creditor is induced to release his debtor 
 upon the full payment of his debts." But such a 
 representation is as far removed from the Scripture 
 idea of propitiation as the east is from the west. It 
 is so repugnant to the Scripture idea of the " Father of 
 Mercies," that it needs no refutation. 
 
 Unhappily some have imagined that God is so un- 
 changeable, that He could not accept satisfaction in- 
 stead of enforcing punishment. Misled by false philo- 
 sophy, they have supposed that " God's moods and 
 states are absolutely unchangeable;" that incurred 
 punishment is, therefore, absolutely unpreventable. 
 Hence they can find no room for satisfaction, as dis- 
 tinct from punishment ; no room, therefore, for a 
 mediator, but only for a substitute for one party to 
 come and be punished by the other. This theory 
 
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 11 
 
 158 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 reveals no new attribute of mercy. On the other hand 
 it totally obscures the love of God, and equally obscures 
 His justice. Instead of awakening man's grati- 
 tude it shocks his conscience. To interpret scripture 
 so as to contradict what the Spirit has written on the 
 heart is very injurious. It does more than anything 
 else to make men " slow of heart to believe " the glo- 
 rious gospel. Dr. Hodge says, " It is a monstrous evil 
 to make the Bible contradict the common sense and 
 common consciousness of men." (Lang on Rom., p. 179.) 
 It is at least equally wrong to make it clash with man's 
 clearest convictions of justice, which is " the guardian 
 of distinctions and of personal rights." (Donier.) 
 
 Coleridge said : "In my intercourse with men of 
 various ranks and ages, I have found the far larger 
 number of serious and inquiring persons little, if 
 at all, disquieted by doubts respecting articles of 
 of faith simply above their comprehension. It is only 
 where the belief required of them jars with their moral 
 feelings ; where a doctrine, in the sense in which they 
 have been taught to receive it, appears to contradict 
 their clear notions of right and wrong, or to be at 
 variance with the Divine attributes of goodness and 
 justice, that these men are surprised, perplexed, and, 
 alas! not seldom otiended and alienated." {Aids, 
 p. 168.) Not only so, " great, holy and pure truths, 
 upon which hang the destiny of humanity, and the 
 glory of God, are most painfully assailed and maligned 
 befors the judgment-seat of human parties." 
 
 I i 
 
(159) 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE MISSION OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT. 
 
 Is, 
 
 IS, 
 
 lie 
 
 The mediation of Christ procured the sending of 
 the gr{;cious Spirit Divine to reveal the plan of salva- 
 tion, to enable men to discern their need of it, and to 
 incline them to call on the name of the Lord. The 
 Holy Spirit inspired the prophets by whom God spoke 
 unto the Fathers. He came to the apostles and the 
 first ministers to fit them in an extraordinary way for 
 the work of the ministry. They could not be fitted 
 in the ordinary way when the New Testament Scrip- 
 tures were not yet written. Hence the first ministers 
 were fitted for their work by plenary inspiration. He 
 thus fitted some of them to complete the Bible by the 
 addition of the New Testament. This was a most 
 important part of the Holy Spirit's work. 
 
 But even an inspired Bible, and a properly called 
 and qualified ministry, cannot do all that needs to be 
 done in the work of human recovery. It was necessary 
 that the Spirit should accompany the divinely inspired 
 Bible, and the divinely sent ministry, to give the world 
 a knowledge of " sin, of righteousness, and of judg- 
 ment" on the one hand; and of the gospel on the other 
 hand. The original word used by Christ in announcing 
 this part of the Spirit's commission is equally applicable 
 to the three things here mentioned ; hence it is better 
 
 il 
 
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 160 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 il 
 
 III 
 
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 translated by "convince," than by " reprove." "He will 
 convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judg- 
 ment ;" or, as in the new translation, " He will convince 
 the world respecting sin, and respecting righteousness, 
 and respecting judgment." (John xvi. 8.) It is by the 
 aid of the Divine Spirit that fallen man forms right 
 moral judgments, and feels corresponding moral senti- 
 ments; ricfht views of the essential distinction between 
 good and evil, of the obligation to conform to the one 
 and avoid the other ; right views of God's moral char- 
 acter and the duties we owe to God ; a right apprehen- 
 sion of the commendableness of obedience, and of the 
 punishablencss of disobedience ; a deep conviction 
 of God's purpose to be the rev/arder of the one, and 
 the punisher of the other ; a conviction that God is so 
 righteous that He could not avert the penalty against 
 the sinner without such a consideration as was pre- 
 sented by the Great Mediator between God and man. 
 Hence Christ said, " The Spirit will convince of right- 
 eousness, because I go to the Father " (John xvi. 8, 9.) 
 as mediating High-priest, to offer satisfaction for the 
 suspension of the incurred penalty, and to carry out 
 the Gospel plan of salvation. "And ye see me no 
 more," because by once drawing nigh to God I can 
 make a perfect and sufficient oblation and satisfaction 
 for the sin of the world , 1 will not have to return 
 and repeat the sacritice as the typical high-priest had 
 to do. I can, by one offering, make an all-sufficient 
 propitiation, and thenceforth abide in the most holy 
 place of the heavenly tabernacle. 
 
THE MISSION OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT. 
 
 161 
 
 It is by the aid of the work of the convincing 
 Spirit that men can in some measure understand God's 
 views and feelings respecting these things ; not be- 
 cause men liave naturally right moral judgments and 
 sentiments, but because the Spirit has convinced them 
 respecting sin, and righteousness, and judgment." 
 Many have asked the question, "Are there any ideas 
 in the human mind which have not come in throuofh 
 the senses from the external world ?" Certainly there 
 are, namely, the ideas imparted by the Divine Spirit 
 when convincing the world of sin, of righteousness, 
 and of judgment." The ideas of the just, the true, 
 and the good, the idea of duty and responsibility thus 
 communicated, are designed to shape all human rules, 
 and guid' all human conduct; and are binding on all 
 rational. . ...^ , These ideas may have been native to 
 man when unfallen, but they are communicated to 
 fallen man by the convincing Spirit divine. "The 
 Gentiles (edi>f/, heathen) which have not the written 
 law, do, by the guidance of nature" (thus enlightened 
 by the Spirit) "the works enjoined by the revealed law. 
 These, havinc: no written law, are a laiu unto them- 
 selves, who show plainly the works of the law written 
 on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and 
 also their reaSonings one with another when they 
 accuse, or else excuse, each other." (Rom. ii. 14, 15, 
 Macknight's Translation.) It was by the Divine Spirit 
 that the principles of the law were " written " on their 
 hearts. Verbal instruction — Scripture or tradition — 
 does not originate these ideas, as Rev. Richard Watson 
 
 II 
 
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BBilW 
 
 162 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOn. 
 
 ?■. 
 
 11 
 
 supposes. Tliey are not native intuitions of fallen 
 man, as Rev. B. T. Cocker assumes. (Examination of 
 Watson in Quarterly Review for January, 1864.) As 
 already stated, they are immediately communicated 
 by the convincing- Spirit. With these fundamental 
 principles we expect the fundamental truths given by 
 divine revelation will be in accordance. The inspired 
 writers expected that the truth which they proclaimed 
 would " commend itself to every man's conscience in 
 the sight o^' Crod." (2 Co. iv. 2.) They did not mean 
 by this tt.at the truths of direct revelation would con- 
 form to views derived from direct revelation. 
 
 (Note. — On this latter supposition the internal 
 evidences of Scripture would have no argumentative 
 value ; and miracles alone would be left to evidence 
 the authority of divine revelation.) 
 
 They meant that the truths taught by the revealing 
 Spirit, would accord with truths inwardly written on 
 the heart by the convincing Spirit. The former, how- 
 ever, would more fully develop the latter, and would 
 add to the obligation of moral principles, the obligation 
 of divine law publicly enjoined by divine authority. 
 
 That He has actually performed this work, becomes 
 evident when we examine the moral judgments and 
 sentiments of the human race. All nations speak of 
 good and evil, of duty and right. All languages con- 
 tain different words for good and evil, for just and un- 
 just. Men not only see an essential distinction be- 
 tween these, but they feel the obligation of conform- 
 ing to goodness and justice, and of avoiding their 
 
THE MISSION OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT. 
 
 1G3 
 
 oppositos. " If I do well," said one, " I approve of that 
 act; and this approving judgment is attended with 
 a feeling of internal satisfaction. If I do evil, I dis- 
 approve of it ; and when I disapprove, I feel remorse 
 on account of it. These two sentiments do not be- 
 long to the act that I have just done, since they follow 
 it. They also follow the judgment which I form re- 
 specting the character of the act." 
 
 "I judge and feel similarly respecting fellow-beings. 
 I approve and admire their good acts. I disappove 
 and am either indignant or angry, or both at their bad 
 acts. My disapproving judgment is followed by in- 
 dignation at the injustice of their acts, or by anger at 
 the injuriousness of them. The indignation is a dis- 
 interested emotion. The anger is an interested one." 
 
 "Do I witness a bad action, I feel antipathy for the 
 author of the action. I desire that he should suffer for 
 the crime that he has committed, and in proportion to 
 the gravity of the crime. I feel this because I judge 
 the action to be bad, and that the author of a bad 
 action deserves to suffer. I do not judge thus 
 because I feel thus. I regard the injustice as the 
 proper measure of indignation and rule of punish- 
 ment. The injury is not the rule. An eye for an eye 
 is barbarous justice. This sentiment is not malevo- 
 lence. Malevolence is a personal and interested senti- 
 ment, which makes us wish evil to others because they 
 are an obstacle to us ; because they obstruct, surpass, 
 or injure us. But there is a generous indignation 
 that springs from a shocked conscience. Emotions 
 
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 164 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 vary in degree, but judgments are unvarying. We 
 are conscious that we possess these judguients and 
 emotions. We believe that other men also possess 
 them." {V. Cousin.) 
 
 The Spirit convinces us that God also disapproves 
 of wrong-doing, and feels indignation towards it, and 
 resolves to punish it. "All men, despite of the sophistiy 
 of the understanding, and in despite of their moral de- 
 gradation, know that it is the judgment of God that 
 those who sin are worthy of death." (Hodge, Theol. ii., 
 
 Any one could probably get us to tliink of the sins 
 of our neighbors. The Spirit only can persuade us to 
 think earnestly and impartially about our own sins, 
 until we see their greatness, their inexcusableness, 
 their just deservings. The Spirit can quicken the 
 sense of right and wrong, of good and evil, that we 
 may not deny or excuse the guilt of personal sin ; but 
 may blush at the consciousness of it, and groan at tlie 
 remembrance of it. He convinces that sin is that 
 principle which, for the sake of some temporal plea- 
 sure, or gain, is willing to disobey God, to sin against 
 Love divine. In it there is want of gratitude, want 
 of love, want of obedience. 
 
 The Spirit convinces of sin, because they believe 
 not in Christ. He charges them as being held respon- 
 sible for sin, because they reject the remedy which is 
 able to effect the removal. The way in which we act 
 towards the agencies which God employs for our re- 
 covery is a most important part of our probation ; and 
 
THE MISSION OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT. 
 
 165 
 
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 hnnco tho commission given to the Spirit, to convince 
 us that resisting the words and entreaties of the 
 Mediator, is man's chief sin. He convinces that un- 
 Ixdief is a sin, a sin against the remedy, and therefore 
 tho cause of tlie continuance of the dominion of all 
 other sin. It involves manifold transgression. For 
 instance, time is giv^en only for Christ's sake, and only 
 for the repentance and obedience to which it leads. 
 How sinful to use that time in continuing in sin, and 
 in multiplying transgressions ! The blessings of good- 
 ness are given for Christ's sake, and for the purpose 
 of leading to repentance. How shameful to use them 
 in gratifying unholy appetites and desires, and thus 
 making Christ a minister of sin ! Pleasing manners 
 are given to some, to enable them to make right prin- 
 ciples and conduct pleasing and attractive. If they 
 use theui to make folly pleasing and vice alluring, 
 they use them in a very injurious manner. 
 
 Observe the time in which the Spirit convinces of 
 sin. The Spirit convinces while you are where you 
 can " behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the 
 sin of the world." He discovers pollution, while the all- 
 cloansinq- fountain is open. He shows the danger of 
 your di:^v.c^..e while there is an all-healing balm and a 
 world-renowned physician at hand. Conviction by 
 the Spirit enables a person to repent. Repentance 
 authorizes him to believe the promise made to the 
 penitent. And in the case of the penitent, "faith 
 Cometh by hearing." 
 
 Resent not the effort of the loving Spirit to produce 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 conviction. If vou do, " the Judsfe will come to con- 
 vince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds 
 which they have ungodly committed." (Jude, ver. 15.) 
 This conviction will be at the bar of Justice, after the 
 door of mercy is closed forever. You must submit to 
 love or to wrath. You have a choice only between 
 these two. The time to choose may soon pass away. 
 It is possible to neglect once too often. 
 
 But the Spirit not only teaches man the need of the 
 great plan of salvation, but also the desirableness of 
 salvation, and the way of salvation, and inclines them 
 to call upon the name of the Lord for salvation, and to 
 believe that He will save according to His promise. 
 And also to renew the praying and pardoned believer, 
 that he may again love God, the law of God, and the 
 people of God. 
 
 The Spirit not only writes the laws of the new 
 covenant on the mind, by opening it to understand 
 the Scriptures ; but also in the heart, by purifying and 
 ennobling the affections to love what is " holy, just, 
 and good." 
 
 The object of man's supreme love is evermore the 
 monarch of his soul. The object of man's earliest 
 supreme love is not God, as it ought to be. " Pleasure 
 is the sovereign of the sensual ; Gain is the sovereign 
 of the covetous ; Power is the sovereign of the ambi- 
 tious ; Display is the sovereign of the vain. To depose 
 these and enthrone God as the supreme object of love 
 is the aim of the renewing part of the plan of salva- 
 tion." (Dr. Thomas.) In order to this result, four things 
 
 ?% 
 
M ' 
 
 THE MISSION OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT, 
 
 167 
 
 must take place. 1. A supremely attractive revelation 
 of Him. This was given by the character, works, and 
 word of Christ, as ''God manifest in the flesh ;" and by 
 the Divine Spirit, as a witness who made these and 
 other revelations, and got them recorded in an in- 
 spired Bible. 2. Clearness of moral vision to see this 
 revelation. This is the enlightening work of the 
 Spirit. S. It is necessary that our assisted moral 
 vision be directed to the revelation that has been 
 placed before us. This voluntary attention is man's 
 own act. 4. There must be a renewal of the heart to 
 make it capable of grateful love in response to God's 
 love, of reverence in response to His holiness, of loving 
 activity in compliance with His commandments. This 
 is the Spirit's work. 
 
 It is most important to understand and remember 
 that this manifold work of the Spirit belongs to the 
 plan of salvation. This remedial plan provided a 
 propitiating and interceding Mediator in order that 
 incurred penalty may be suspended, and probation 
 prolonged. It provided, also, the application of en- 
 lightening and renewing influences by a Divine Spirit. 
 These two parts were embodied in the one remedial 
 plan. And that plan was already formed when our 
 first parents were spared after their fall, and permitted 
 to propagate a family with hearts unfit for holy 
 obedience. They were placed under obligations to 
 render obedience. But they were also placed under 
 obligation to ask the Spirit's aid, in the assuied hope 
 that God will actually " give the Spirit to them that 
 
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 168 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ask Him." These, taken together, form a gracious 
 plan ; but the former, if arbitrarily separated from the 
 latter, would neither be grace, nor justice. 
 
 " The race inherits the nature of fallen Adam, not 
 by being guilty of His sin, but by the law of natural 
 descent, just as all posterity inherit the species and 
 qualities, physical, mental, and moral, of the progeni- 
 tor." (Whedon, What is Arminianism ? p. 11.) 
 
 But provision was made for this inherited disease. 
 They are, through Christ, "placed on a new redemptive 
 probation," in what Fletcher calls a state of " initial 
 salvation," and the means of full and final salvation 
 are placed within the reach of their free choice dur- 
 ing that probation. "All the institutes of salvation — 
 personal probation, the Spirit, the Word, the pardon, 
 the regeneration, resurrection, and the life eternal — are 
 through Christ." (Whedon, What is Arminianism? 
 p. 13-15.) Hence, " to fallen man there is no law with- 
 out gospel : neither is there any gospel without law, 
 for we are under the law to Christ." (Macafee, Pillar 
 and Ground of Truth, p. 443.) 
 
(169) 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE MEDIATORS MORAL INFLUENCE ON MAN. 
 
 n» 
 
 The crucified Mediator was set forth to influence 
 man too, to " draw all men unto Him." (John xii. 32.) 
 To understand this important topic we may avail our- 
 selves of the aid of an illustrative case which has been 
 frequently adverted to in connection with this subject, 
 namely, that of Zaleucus. It is of a kind which has 
 been very rarely shown by men. The rarest human 
 example, however, can exhibit only a very partial 
 analogy to the wonderfully unique work of Christ. 
 " The magnificence of infinite mysteries cannot bo 
 adequately presented under the miniature of human 
 analogies." Still the case alluded to presents a partial 
 illustration. Zaleucus was the founder of an ancient 
 kingdom in Southern Italy, a few centuries before the 
 Christian era. He attained to celebrity as a law- 
 maker and ruler. His laws, which contained judicious 
 selections as well as original enactments, were dis- 
 tinguished from those of other nations, by the circum- 
 stance that they precisely stated the penalty that 
 should be inflicted for each crime ; instead of leaving it 
 to be chosen by the judge who happened to try the 
 case. One of his laws prohibited adultery, and enacted 
 that the transgressor should lose both his eyes. It 
 
 came to pass that his own son violated that law. The 
 13 
 
 « 
 
' 
 
 170 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 J ii 
 
 '«; 1 1 1 
 
 a 
 
 question then was, How should a just ruler and an 
 affectionate father act in this case ? Could he show 
 that he retained his high estimate of his law, and his 
 determination that it should not be i"fepealed or exist 
 without efficiency ; and yet manifest clemency to his 
 son ? Could he partly forgive him for the past in a 
 way fitted to reclaim him. for the future ? The thought 
 occurred that this could be done. Acting as a just 
 ruler, he commanded the proper officer to proceed to 
 inflict the penalty ; but as soon as one of his son s eyes 
 was pulled out, he shov/ed the feelings of a father by 
 commanding one of his own eyes to be taken out, to 
 spare the remaining eye of his disobedient son. He 
 did not ask some lowly subject to suffer instead of his 
 son : he himself submitted to the suffering to show 
 his great love for his son, even when he had become 
 an offender. Now, if that son still retained the or- 
 dinary feelings of a human heart, he must have been 
 deeply affected by this additional and wonderful 
 manifestation of parental love. It must have made a 
 strong appeal for filial gratitude. It must have re- 
 moved any misapprehensions that may have existed 
 respecting his father's love to his son. 
 
 Again, it is easy to see that this act of Zaleucus was 
 a crowning evidence of the character of a righteous 
 Governor. Had he pardoned without any considera- 
 tion, it would probably have been thought that the 
 pardon was owing to disregard of his law, as much as 
 to affection for his son. In which case pardon may, 
 indeed, have awakened a sense of the father's love, but 
 
THE mediator's MORAL INFLUENCE ON MAN. 171 
 
 :W 
 
 would not sustain confidence in the father's principles. 
 The other course led the son to see that his royal 
 father's regard for his law, and for the interests of his 
 subjects was really and deeply felt, and was unalter- 
 ably firm ; and, accordingly, that his opposition to 
 transgression was unchangeable ; and that his stead- 
 fast judgment was that it was right to use such 
 measures as would maintain a good government. This 
 was calculated to remove evil surmisings ; and to 
 make his subjects reverence the kingly authority, and 
 fear to transgress its laws. 
 
 It was not an unsuccessful expedient. His laws, 
 according to Demosthenes, continued in full force for 
 two hundred years. 
 
 The plan of Zaleucus answered the wise ends of 
 government-by-law to some extent. But it was de- 
 fective. The person for whom Zaleucus suffered was 
 only partly pardoned. Zaleucus could not contrive 
 a plan which would make an offer of full pardon, 
 consistent with the interests of righteousness. It 
 took the Divine mind to devise a plan by which full 
 pardon for all sin may be given consistently with the 
 character of God, and the interests of His supreme 
 government. Christ's mediation was fitted to give 
 man clear and impressive views of the righteousness 
 of the Divine government, and yet to obtain a sus- 
 pension of its penalty. 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ, after having for a time 
 reigned jointly wdth His Father (like a prince with his 
 royal sire) was, on the mount of transfiguration, in- 
 
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 I'Ff' ii 
 
 
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 172 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 
 vested with supreme kingly authority over men. He 
 got this " power over all flesh, that He, by the grace 
 of God, should taste death for every man ;" for all His 
 subjects were disobedient. He sufl'ered in a way which 
 showed that He was a righteous as well as a merciful 
 Ruler. He did not excuse or palliate the sins of men. 
 He sufl'ered chastisement for them. He was manifestly 
 influenced by a resolution to uphold righteous govern- 
 ment on the one hand, and, on the other hand, was 
 equally influenced by a desire to win men back to 
 obedience. When the Son of Man thus came in His 
 kingdom. He took the earliest opportunity to perform 
 this gracious act of suflering on behalf of His subjects, 
 to show His great love for them, even when rebellious ; 
 and His strong desire for their return to the path of 
 duty, and to all the privileges and blessings connected 
 with it. And by this means He sought " to draw all 
 men unto Him." (John xii. 32.) 
 
 Our nature, even when in its unrenewed state, is so 
 constituted as to be capable of being aflected deeply by 
 the kindness of a benefactor, who undergoes great 
 suflering to deliver us from impending ruin. Our 
 nature, after being renewed, is aflected yet more 
 deeply by such great loving-kindness. So Paul thought 
 when he said, "Greet Priscilla and Aquila, who have 
 for my life laid down their own necks, unto whom not 
 only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the 
 Gentiles." (Rom. xvi. 4.) The influence which such 
 a benefactor has upon us, increases with the degree 
 of greatness and nearness of the danger, from which 
 
 \l':u 
 
THE mediator's MORAL INFLUENCE ON MAN. 178 
 
 He interposes to deliver us ; and tlie more fully 
 we are conscious of our utter inability to rescue our- 
 selves ; in short, the more we feel the want and de- 
 sirableness of a deliverer ; our gratitude to a benefactor 
 becomes yet greater in proportion to the ditference be- 
 tween his rank and ours ; and according to the degree 
 of toil and suffering which he had to endure, in order 
 to accomplish his benevolent undertaking. 
 
 Now, the Lord Jesus, who alone possessed the 
 dignity of being the true and proper Son of God, 
 stooped to pass through intense personal suffering, in 
 order to open a way for our escape from, impending 
 and endless suttering, that must paralyze our active 
 powers, as effectually as those of " the rich man," who 
 was rendered unable to use either hand or foot, and in 
 that way was made to cease being "a worker of 
 iniquity." Jesus, as God manifest in the flesh, was the 
 only one who could do what was necessary in order to 
 our deliverance; and He, in unspeakable love, did 
 come and open up a way of salvation. This appeals 
 to our gratitude still more strongly. Hence He said, 
 " And I, if / he lifted up from the earth, will draw^ all 
 men unto me, etc. This, He said, signifying what 
 death He should die." 
 
 The occasion on which this was said was an inter- 
 esting one ; and indicated that His plan was fitted to 
 draw men of every nation, and was graciously intended 
 to do so. It hap^ .iied that certain Greeks desired to see 
 Jesus. The Jews looked upon Him as the Messiah to 
 the Jews alone, and hesitated to present them. They 
 
 'I 
 
174 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 U 
 
 •m 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 thought He would draw the Jews alone. He says 
 He would draw all men. The Jews thought the 
 Messiah was to live and reign uninterruptedly in this 
 world. " We have heard out of the law that Christ 
 eoideth for ever; how say est thou, then, the Son of 
 Man must be lifted up," etc. He intended to draw 
 them towards a higher throne. 
 
 When this remedial plan shall have been fully car- 
 ried out : when we have been not merely redeemed by 
 Christ, but also pardoned and adopted by God the 
 Father " as an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ 
 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away ; and when sanctified wholly by the 
 Divine Spirit, and made meet for the inheritance of 
 the saints in light, and when we have obtained a re- 
 surrection body fashioned by that Spirit" (Rom. viii. 11), 
 like unto Christ's glorious body — then fully saved, we 
 shall feel that the harmoniously co-operating Trinity 
 have equal claims on our supreme affection, worship, 
 and service through all eternity. 
 
 But while the blessed Trinity do graciously co- 
 operate in the work of salvation, it is still true that 
 Jehovah Jesus is the only One of the Three Persons, 
 that has undergone suffering in order to procure 
 human salvation ; and hence it is true that the work 
 of Christ is the best adapted to affect the heart of 
 man while still unrenewed ; and is that which does 
 most readily and fully affect it. 
 
 We can now see that there was great force in His 
 words when He said, that when "lifted from the earth 
 
THE mediator's MORAL INFLUENCE ON MAN. 175 
 
 He would draw all men unto Him," plainly meaning 
 that, by His great suffering on behalf of all men. He 
 would draw the hearts of all, for " He tasted death for 
 every man." 
 
 Whoever conferred such benefits upon us would 
 have claims upon our highest love. And " the object 
 of our highest love is the governing power of our life, 
 the sovereign that directs our thoughts, our plans, and 
 our actions." It was therefore proper that the work of 
 our salvation, if undertaken at all, should be jointly 
 undertaken by the blessed Trinity, that they may re- 
 main the object of our highest love, and the sovereign 
 of our life. Christ was properly associated with the 
 other divine persons in this work of deliverance. But 
 if Christ were a mere creature. He never would have 
 been permitted to do what would gain for Him that 
 supreme affection, which man should feel only to a 
 Divine being. A mere creature could not possibly 
 make a true and efficacious atonement. But even if 
 it were possible for a creature to do this, he would not 
 be commissioned to do it, or authorized to attempt it ; 
 because a creature could not be permitted to do what 
 would entitle him, equally with the Creator, to man's 
 highest love and service. So that the very fact that 
 Christ was appointed to be a Saviour is a proof that 
 He is a Divine being, that He is the Son of God, and 
 that accordingly it is the will of God that " all men 
 should honor the Son even as they honor the Father." 
 
 We can thus see the utility of Christ's sufferings as 
 far at least as man is concerned. They were conducive 
 
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 176 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 to the ends proposed to be accomplished. They had, 
 on the one hand, " an apparent natural tendency to 
 vindicate the authority of God's laws, and deter His 
 creatures from sin." They had, on the other hand, " a 
 fitness to awaken the gratitude of man, and to win him 
 back to God. This claim of utility " has never been 
 answered, and is, I think, plainly unanswerable ; 
 though I am far from thinking it an account of the 
 whole of the case. (Butler s Analogy.) 
 
 Besides this, there is the moral influence of Christ's 
 wonderfully beautiful character, enlightened teaching, 
 and benevolent acts ; on these we have no room here to 
 enlarge. But Christ knew that even the influence of 
 these was not enouofh. He knew that He could not 
 accomplish all that was needed, by "simply unveiling 
 all that was possible of Divine truth and purity, and 
 beauty and sweetness, and loving-kindness and com- 
 passion." (Young, in Hodge, p. 295.) Simply doing 
 this could not kindle love in the breast of man, blot 
 out sin, and with sin its guilt. To think it could, 
 would leave no room for the propitiatory sacrifice of 
 Christ ; a propitiation would not be offered to God to 
 produce merely a moral influence on man. This theory 
 overlooks also the state of man's unrenewed heart ; 
 and leaves neither room, nor need for the regenerating 
 work of the Divine Spirit. But man's natural mind 
 is enmity to God, and this enmity can be changed 
 only by the Divine Spirit. 
 
 It is important, however, to notice that there are 
 misrepresentations of the character of God, which h ave 
 
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 THE MEDIATOR S MORAL INFLUENCE ON MAN, 
 
 177 
 
 been imagined by hmnan enmity, and which may be 
 removed by moral means. To remove these misrepre- 
 sentations is one thing ; to remove the enmity itself is 
 another. '. le former may be done by the moral in- 
 fluence of Christ's teachings and life. These show 
 that men "hated Him without a cause." But the 
 natural alienation of the heart from God can be re- 
 moved only by the Divine Spirit. " I will circumcise 
 thy heart to love the Lord thy God," etc. We are 
 not born " of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of 
 the will of man, but of God." (John i. 13.) In a word, 
 moral influence may aid in bringing man to " repent- 
 ance toward God ; " but moral influence cannot renew 
 him to obedience to the holy law of God. It is only 
 the work of the regenerating spirit that can do this. 
 "I," said God, "will circumcise thine heart to love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
 soul." This love, and this only is the "fulfilling of 
 the law." 
 
 Thus the innocent Mediator, voluntarily suffering 
 for the guilty, and then making intercession for them, 
 tends to reform the sinner, as well as to propitiate 
 Divine justice to open a way for their reformation. 
 "The truth respecting God's character," as revealed 
 in the great atonement, when rightly understood and 
 believed, has a tendency to win us to true repentance. 
 " And it seems to be for this very reason, that the par- 
 doning benefits of the atonement are connected with 
 belief of the atonement." 
 
 t! 
 
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 ij :l life 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE EXTENT OF CHRIST'S ATONING AND REDEEMING 
 
 WORKS. 
 
 The Mediator desired to benefit the whole human 
 race. The prophets foretold that His aim would be 
 universal, for they tell us that "in the seed of Abra- 
 ham, that is, in Christ, should all the nations of the 
 earth be blessed." (Gen. xxii. 18 ; Gal. iii. 16.) In 
 Gen. xii. 3, the expression is stronger still. God said 
 to Abraham, " In thee shall all families of the earth be 
 blessed." This was the gospel that was preached to 
 Abraham. The angelic intelligences, who had been 
 studying the prophecies for thousands of years, were 
 sent to annr aice the first advent of the Messiah, and 
 to represent n .s "glad tidings of great joy to all 
 people." (Luk i. 10.) 
 
 In due time He got " power over all flesh," being 
 " crowned with " this, " glory and honor that He by 
 the grace of God should taste death for every man." 
 (Heb. ii. 9.) He accordingly " died for all," being " a 
 propitiation for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 
 ii. 2.) And His purpose, when lifted up from the 
 world, was to " draw all men unto Him." (John xii. 
 32.) And He said, " Him that cometh unto Me I will 
 in no wise cast out." (John vi. 37.) 
 
 The great commission, (Matt, xxviii. 19,20,) enjoined 
 
 S-! 
 
\W 
 
 K 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 179 
 
 the discipling of all nations to Christ, and thus plainly- 
 directed that His gospel is to be taught to all, and that 
 it is obligatory upon all to hear and accept it. The 
 ransom which He paid was given for the human race. 
 The great apostles taught that Christ " gave Himself 
 a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Tim. 
 ii. 6.) The ransom in this case was an intelligent sub- 
 stitute ; and the very conception of such a substitute 
 implies " a definite recognition on the part of the sov- 
 ereign and of the substitute, of the persons for whom 
 the substitute acts " {Hodge, p. 369.) In this case the 
 substitution was that of Christ for all men. 
 
 The apostles set forth the Mediatorial plan as uni- 
 versal in its design. Peter, after " inquiring " into the 
 testimony of Moses, and all the prophets from Samuel, 
 and all those that follow after, uses these remarkable 
 words, " Ye are the children of the prophets, and of 
 the covenant which God made with our fathers, 
 saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the 
 kindreds of the earth be blessed ; unto you first, God 
 having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless, in 
 turning away every one of you from his iniquities." 
 (Acts iii. 25, 26.) He again says : " Of a truth I per- 
 ceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every 
 nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteous- 
 ness, is accepted with Him. The word which God 
 sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by 
 Jesus Christ, (He is Lord of all) — to Him give all the 
 prophets witness, that through His name, whosoever 
 believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." 
 
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 180 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 (Acts X. 34, 35, 36, 43.) Paul preached to Jews and 
 Gentiles everywhere, "that they should repent and 
 turn to God, and do works meet for repentance ; " an J^ 
 in his view, this universal call was simply taking up 
 and passinor on the voices of the prophets ; he says, 
 " Having theref .e obtained help of God, I continue 
 unto this day, witnessing both to small and (jreat, 
 saynig none other things than those which the pro- 
 phets and Moses did say should come." (Acts xxvi. 20, 
 22.) Thus the apostles knew that " God was in Christ 
 reconciling the world to Himself." (2 Cor. v. 20.) 
 
 Hence Christian ministers are warranted to find out 
 every individual of the human race ; and their com- 
 mission is, "As many as ye shall find, bid unto the 
 marriage." They are, when preaching the gospel, to 
 give a universal call on the ground that Jesus Christ 
 has, " by the grace of God, tasted death for every man," 
 and has said " Whosoever will, let him come," and 
 " him that cometh I will in no wise cast out." 
 
 The extent of the atonement is also shown by the 
 fact that the mediation of Christ procured the sending 
 of the Spirit to " convince the world of sin, and of 
 righteousness, and of judgment." (John xvi. 8.) It 
 procured the exercise of forbearance towards all men, 
 to give them time to be convinced of sin, and persuaded 
 to accept the offer made. It procured for all the 
 blessing of divine goodness, "making the sun to rise on 
 the evil and on the good, and sending rain on the just 
 and on the unjust," that " the goodness of God may 
 lead to repentance." All these things have been 
 
 h ! 
 
irr 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 181 
 
 actually done for Christ's sake, and indicate the extent 
 of the design of Christ's work. " The covenant of grace 
 procured by the mediation of Christ, made provision 
 that all children dying before the years of account- 
 ability, shall be in due time regenerated and made 
 partakers of the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, 
 with eternal glory." These may number more than 
 half of the human family. The many millions of such 
 in the kingdom of Christ must be reckoned as part of 
 the success of the mediation of Christ. The covenant 
 has made provisiv>n for the conditional salvation of 
 those come to the years of personal responsibility, that 
 the success of the death of Christ may become un- 
 limited in extent, as far as the human family are con- 
 cerned. 
 
 A general atonement seems " analogous to that un- 
 bounded magnificence and grandeur, which overwhelm 
 the attentive mind in the contemplation of the divine 
 conduct in the natural world. When God waters the 
 earth. He waters it abundantly." (Psalm Ixv. 10.) "He 
 does not restrain the rain to cultivated or improvable 
 spots. His clouds pour down water with equal abun- 
 dance upon the barren mountains, the lonely desert, 
 and the pathless ocean." (Newton.) 
 
 Some have imagined that the good things of Provi- 
 dence " are given to the wicked as uncovenanted 
 mercies." " Uncovenanted " means irrespective of the 
 promises connected with the atonement. But, if God 
 could honorably give any mercy without the ap- 
 
 r' 
 

 
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 Ml 
 
 ' 
 
 ' I 
 
 182 
 
 thjs one mediator. 
 
 pointed atonement, He might give every mercy, and 
 thus render the atonement " unnecessary." 
 
 Others think that they are granted to the ungodly 
 as a bonus, for the purpose of beneficing the Church. 
 In that case, if a non-elect man should pray for provi- 
 dential blessings at all, it should be "for the elect's 
 sake, not for Christ's sake." If he should return thanks 
 at all, it should be " in the Church's name, but not in 
 the name of Christ." Papists might approve of such 
 a doctrine m order to have " at their disposal the 
 entire worthiness and merits of the Church." (Jenkyns, 
 199.) But the Scriptures show that it is for Christ's 
 sake that God is good to all, that His goodness may 
 lead them to repentance. 
 
 So the Holy Scriptures teach that it was not favor- 
 itism to some, but love to all, that provided the atone- 
 ment. " God so loved the world that He gave His 
 only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him 
 should not perish, but have everlasting life." " The 
 grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to 
 all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and 
 worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and 
 godly, in this present world." Christ gave Himself 
 for us, not because we were a peculiar people, but that 
 we might become " a peculiar people, zealous of good 
 works." Our position, accordingly, is that " Our Lord 
 Je.sus Christ did so die for all men as to make salva- 
 tion attainable by all." (Watson, Theol. ii. p. 285.) 
 
 It has been already shewn that the covenant of 
 grace has a universal aspect like that of the provi- 
 
 fi' f 
 
EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 183 
 
 dence of God. Both are administered on the principles 
 of moral government. Both treat men as moral and 
 free agents. ''Providence gives seed to the sower, but 
 will not sow it, nor reap the crop ;" will " fill the ship's 
 sails with wind," but " will not steer at the helm." 
 Man must steer, and it is possible to steer wrong, as 
 well as right. " Providence has made bread to be the 
 staff" of life," but leaves it to our own free agency to 
 partake of it; and if we do not partake thereof, it 
 will avail us nothing. So the new covenant has con- 
 ditions which must be attended to by man. If man 
 neglects these, the new covenant will not save him. A 
 way of salvation has been opened independently of 
 man's will ; yet the walking in that way, in order to 
 realize that salvation, has been left dependent on the 
 will of man. God would not force Adam to continue 
 obedient. He will not coerce his descendants to accept 
 recovery. The will that had once power to choose 
 evil, has still power to refuse good, and that at any 
 period of probation. He may choose right for a time, 
 and afterwards turn away. It is possible for a sinner, 
 once forgiven for Christ's sake, to relapse into guilt, 
 and even into impenitency. " For if after they have 
 escaped the pollutions of the world through the know- 
 ledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are 
 again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end 
 is worse with them than the beginning." (2 Pet. ii. 20.) 
 Christ Himself said, " If a man abide not in Me, he is 
 cast forth as a branch, and is withered ; and men 
 
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 184 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are 
 burned." (John xv. 6) 
 
 Both Providence and grace have failed to attain 
 some of the final results aimed at. That parts of 
 those divine plans which are administered within the 
 circle of moral government, " are susceptible of failure " 
 is proved by " daily matters of fact." This failure 
 has taken place in creation — it was made "very good," 
 but now is " groaning and travailing together in 
 pain." It takes place in providence, for God has 
 determined "The bounds of men's habitation, that 
 they might seek the Lord, if haply they might feel 
 after Him " (Acts xvii. 26, 27) ; but, " they are all gone 
 astray, every one in his own way." " In vain have I 
 smitten them, they have refused to receive correc- 
 tion." (Jer. ii. 30.) It takes place, too, in the gospel 
 plan of salvation ; "Christ died for all, that they which 
 live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but 
 unto Him who died for them" (2 Cor. v. 15) — but many 
 do live to themselves, deny the Lord that bought 
 them, and consent not to His reign over them. Human 
 failures of this kind in connection with the covenant 
 of sfrace, are no more dishonorable to the character of 
 God, than similar failures in connection with the course 
 of Providence. It is no disgrace to a remedy, that it 
 does not cure those ivho persist in rejecting it. " It is 
 no dishonor to a fortress, that it does not defend those 
 who refuse to enter it." 
 
 From the two facts : (1) That salvation was made 
 obtainable by all, and (2) salvation is nevertheless not 
 
;nf'-" 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 185 
 
 obtained by many ; it follows that the death of Christ 
 was not intended to save inevitably and irresistibly 
 every individual for whom He died. 
 
 "The gospel testimony is not that I as an individual 
 am secure of salvation." (J. Brown, Rortians, p. 100.) 
 But that " God so loved the world as to give His only 
 begotten Son," "to make propitiation for the sin of the 
 world," that " whosoever believeth in Him may not 
 perish, but have everlasting life." To have ground for 
 personal faith it must be known that Christ died for 
 all, and provided means sufficient for the salvation of 
 all ; that on the part of God and Christ, everything 
 necessarv to that end has been done, or offered to be 
 done ; that " God has no pleasure in the death of the 
 sinner," that His pleasure is to " have all men to be 
 saved." (Ez. xxxiii. 11; 1 Tim. ii. 4); that He sincerely 
 invites all to come and call upon His name, and assures 
 them that " whosoever shall call on the name of the 
 Lord shall be saved." (Rom. x. 13.) 
 
 We are grateful to one who offers to be a benefac- 
 tor, not barely in proportion to the amount effected, 
 but to the amount intended. On this principle more 
 gratitude can be felt and rendered to God for giving 
 His Son to " taste death for every man," that " the 
 world through Him may be saved ;" than could be felt 
 if it was thought He gave Him to die merely for the 
 part that will be actually saved. 
 
 If the atonement were not general, the offer of 
 pardon would not be general ; or else pardon may be 
 offered without an atonement in some cases. But if 
 14 
 
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 186 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 sovereignty may do this in some cases, why not in 
 all ? Why require an atonement at all ? If the 
 atonement was made only for a part of mankind, then 
 it would not be consistent with holiness to give the 
 other part space to listen to any gospel call. It was 
 not given to the angels that sinned, and for whom no 
 atonement was made. It is true that sovereignty 
 bestows some blessings ; but only what is over and 
 above that which equity prescribes. After equity has 
 given to every man what is necessary to a fair proba- 
 tion, sovereignty gives to some more talents than to 
 others. " God has a sovereign right to confer favors 
 of that kind on any He pleases." But all favors are 
 not of that kind. Sovereignty does not exercise for- 
 bearance, does not pardon sin. Sovereignty does not 
 regenerate. If sovereignty could do these things, there 
 would have been no need of the mediation of Christ. 
 Some have supposed that if man had power to 
 refuse, " it would thus be possible for every man to 
 refuse ; and then Christ would have died without 
 a single soul obtaining salvation." Suppose that 
 not to be absolutely impossible ; it yet was utterly 
 improbable. The antecedent probability was that an 
 innumerable multitude would accept salvation, and 
 this anticipation has been justified by the result. But 
 even if the boon had been refused by all men, " the 
 atonement, in the view of angelic minds, had still 
 been a glorious display of the righteousness and mercy 
 which, at such amazing cost, made the offer of life to 
 all." (if. Randies, p. 135.) " To enlarge the number 
 
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 11 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 187 
 
 of tlie savefl would indeed increase the external 
 ascription of glory to Christ, but would not increase 
 His intrinsic glory, for it was in His heart to save all." 
 The early Christians seem to have never limited the 
 extent of the atonement. They have made no allu- 
 sion to any controversies respecting it. But in process 
 of time, Christian teaching was so altered " as to 
 excite objections and controversies which were not 
 raised by the ministry of the apostles.' (Rev. T. W. 
 Jenhyn, D.D.) Some men wrongly assumed that 
 Christ endured the penalty due to those for whom He 
 died. Having taken this erroneous position, they 
 were soon led to reject the doctrine that some of those 
 for whom He died may perish. Such a doctrine 
 would, in their estimation, imply that God would 
 " punish one sin twice, that is to say, both in His Son 
 and in them that perish." Hence they concluded that 
 those for whom Christ died cannot perish. And then 
 they contended further, that Christ did not die for 
 those that will perish. Paul did not take this view of 
 the nature of the atonement, for he understood and 
 taught that some may fall short of " the rest which 
 remains for the people of God," and which was pro- 
 vided through Christ. (Heb. iv. 1.) It is plain that 
 no one can be properly said to fall short of a thing 
 that was never provided and intended for him. Paul 
 thinks it also a supposable case that an uncharitable 
 Christian may destroy "him for whom Christ died," 
 (Romans xiv. 15,) that it would be possible to cause 
 " a weak brother to perish for whom Christ died," — 
 
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 188 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I I 
 
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 that men may " deny the Lord that bought them, 
 and brin<^ destruction upon themselves," (2 Peter ii. 1,) 
 notwithstanding His death for them. The Great 
 Mediator Himself anticipated that His work would 
 be of none effect in some cases. By the mouth of 
 Isaiah He said, " I have labored in vain and spent 
 my strength for nought." (Isaiah xlix. 4.) And by 
 His own mouth He says, " How often would I have 
 gathered thy children, as a hen gathereth her chickens 
 under her wings, and ye would not." (Matt, xxiii. 
 37.) Thus some perish for whom Christ died. 
 
 It is frequently objected, " If Christ has authority 
 over all, and made an atonement for all, how comes 
 it to pass that all are not saved ? " The objector, 
 if consistent, would apply the principles of that ob- 
 jection to " the 1 ng-sufFering of God," as well as to 
 the atonement of Christ. Thus, " if God's long- 
 suffering towards all be designed for the salvation 
 of all, how comes it to pass that all are not saved ?" 
 If it is admitted that it is no disproof of the universal 
 design of the " long-suffering of God," that it is not 
 really successful for salvation to every sinner to whom 
 it is exhibited ; it should likewise be admitted, that 
 there is no disproof of the general design of the atone- 
 ment, in the fact that it is similarly unsuccessful. 
 
 The result does not always measure the degree of 
 power in the cause. " Could God create no more 
 worlds than He did ? Could, Christ perform no more 
 miracles than He did ? But that the extent of a 
 design cannot be measured by the result, is especially 
 
f 
 
 EXTENT OF CHUIST S ATONING VVOllK. 
 
 18U 
 
 true when power deals with free agents." " There is 
 an obvious and important difference between the suf- 
 ficiency of any remedy, and its ejjiclency. The former 
 arises from the nature of the remedy itself ; the latter 
 depends on its being applied." ( Wardlaiv.) And its 
 application manward, is, at some points, dependent on 
 conditions to be observed by man. This being so, the 
 sufficiency of tne atonement cannot be measured by 
 its actual efficiency in reference to man. 
 
 Calvinists say, Christ foreknew who would not be- 
 lieve in Him, and therefore would not lavish His blood 
 for such. Christ, say they, foreknew perfectly and in- 
 fallibly those who would continue in sin, and purposed 
 from eternity to destroy them. Therefore, they think 
 they may infer, that it is not reasonable to suppose He 
 died with a design or purpose to save them. Their 
 argument seems plausible, but only when it is am- 
 biguously expressed. Let us state it unambiguously. 
 They assume that Christ perfectly and infallibly knew 
 those who would continue in sin, and that He pur- 
 posed from eternity to destroy such, i.e., such charac- 
 ters. And therefore, say they, it is not reasonable to 
 suppose that He died with a design to save such, i.e., 
 such characters. True, He did not. Do they say. You 
 misunderstand us ? We mean, that it is not reasonable 
 to suppose that He intended to save such persons. 
 True, for with God " there is no respect of persons," But 
 it is equally true, that He died to procure for them space 
 for repentance, and gracious aids to repentance ; and to 
 
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 190 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 render it just to pardon tliein if they come to repent- 
 ance during probation. 
 
 Arininians contend " that foreknowledge has not 
 any influence upon the future of the act, as prede- 
 termination has. Predetermination fixes the act of 
 the creature, — foreknowledge is fixed by the act of the 
 creature." Some Arminians contend that the fore- 
 knowledge of a future contingency, is an intrinsic im- 
 possibility : that actual foreknowledge would prevent 
 freedom. If this were shown to be so, Arminians 
 would generally reject the doctrine of absolute fore- 
 knowledge. Most Arminians, probably, would say 
 with the eminent philosopher. Dr. Henry Moore, " If 
 the Divine foreknowledge of the volitions of a free 
 agent contradicts the freedom, then the freedom and 
 not the foreknowledge is to be believed." (Whedon, 
 What is Avminianisin t p. 10.) If the statement that 
 Christ died for all, and the statement that He infallibly 
 foreknew that some would perish, are so contradictory 
 that they cannot both be true ; then those who see 
 manifest proof that Christ did die for all, would be 
 warranted to infer that He did not infallibly know 
 that some would continue in sin : so that this argu- 
 ment from foreknowledge cuts both ways. 
 
 Besides, Calvinists do not carry out their own argu- 
 ments. To be consistent, they ought to say: It is 
 perfectly foreknown that some will continue in sin 
 and perish, and therefore it is not reasonable to sup- 
 pose that Christ has invited them to come to Him and 
 be saved. Why do they refuse to draw this conclusion? 
 
f 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 191 
 
 Why should He invite any that will not come, if it 
 was absolutely foreknown that they will not? Yet 
 they inconsistently hold that there is, nevertheless, a 
 universal call. This argument, too, cuts both ways : If 
 it can be shown that a gospel call is actually given to 
 some who will not accept the invitation, it is as reason- 
 able to infer that it was not absolutely foreknown 
 that they would reject it. Farther, Calvinists are 
 inconsistent in contending for the doctrine of fore- 
 knowledge at all. On their principles, there can be 
 no real foreknowledge in God. They say, God fore- 
 knows a thing only because He has decreed it. If so, 
 there is no foreknowledge at all ; there is merely present 
 knowledge of an already existing decree : their theory 
 of foreknowledge is suicidal. And their arguments in 
 favor of it are often plainly inconclusive. They often 
 quote the words spoken by the mouth of Isaiah, " De- 
 claring the end from the beginning, and froiii ancient 
 times the things that are not yet done, saying, My 
 counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." 
 (Isa. xlvi. 10.) But He does not say "every man will 
 do all My pleasure." "I have declared the former 
 things from the beginning ; and they went forth out 
 of My mouth, and I shewed them ; I did them sud- 
 denly, and they came to pass." (Isa. xlviii. 5.) This 
 refers to foretelling things which He Himself pur- 
 posed, and wh'ch He Himself did. But God does not 
 do everything. He is not the only agent in the uni- 
 verse. If He was, it would follow that He was the 
 only sinner ; or tl .« there is not, and never was, such a 
 
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 192 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
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 thing as sin in lieaven or earth ; and if no sin, no 
 atonement ; and if no atonement, the gospel is a fable. 
 
 Those who suppose the atonement to be limited in 
 design, who dwindle the world of humanity into the 
 world of the elect, have no means of knowing who the 
 elect are. They say "they are mixed, indistinguishably 
 to human eye, with the mass of humanity." (Hodge, 
 p. 395.) In such a case they have no warrant to tell 
 any particular sinner that Christ died for him, i.e., 
 they have no authority to preach the gospel to him. 
 They have no authority to preach the gospel tc any 
 one of whose election they are not assured by in- 
 spiration. And until they get similar proof of their 
 own election, they have no warrant for their own faith. 
 They have no warrant to exhort persons to trust in 
 what Christ once did, for thev do not know it was 
 done for them. They have left no room to exhort the 
 sinner to "trust in Christ Himself to receive them 
 now, and save them ;" for they hold that He now does 
 nothing of that kind; that He long ago did all that is 
 necessary to save all that are to be saved. 
 
 Some think there is no need of this previous proof 
 of personal election, because every man has " the pre- 
 sumption that Christ died for himself." (Hodge, p.-395.) 
 But this must, in many cases, be a false presumption, 
 if the atonement is really a limited one. And it must 
 be a dangerous presumption, too. It must lead many 
 to cry, " Peace, peace, when there is no peace," and no 
 right seeking of it. 
 
 Those who deny the universality of the atonement 
 
I proof 
 
 pre- 
 
 ..395.) 
 
 jption, 
 
 must 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 193 
 
 would, if consistent, " also deny the universal obliga- 
 tion of the Lord's-day as a commemorative remem- 
 brance of the resurrection of Christ " (Hessey), which 
 specially proved the efficacy of the atonement. If 
 there were no gospel for them, they would not be 
 placed under obligation to keep holy the day in which 
 it is specially proclaimed. 
 
 " Some argue that God has not given His Son an 
 atonement for all, because He has not sent a revelation 
 of that fact universally to all. This objection assumes 
 erroneously that the atonement was based on the prin- 
 ciple of commercial justice ; and bound God to dispense 
 unconditionally all the good contemplated by the death 
 of His Son," and to secure that its designs should be 
 " infallibly attained." But we have already shown 
 that the atonement was not made on commercial prin- 
 ciples. When God accepted the propitiatory atone- 
 ment, He set Christ forth in His revealed word as an 
 accepted propitiation, and made it the duty of those 
 who heard the word to communicate it to others. All 
 people who possess this knowledge are under the 
 highest responsibility to communicate it to those who 
 need it. That this has not been fully done, " is owing 
 to the negligence of the people who possess the gospel, 
 and hold it back in unrighteousness." Those who have 
 not this revelation cannot indeed exercise faith in 
 Christ. But they have the light of nature, and the 
 aid of the Spirit, and may repent. All men will be 
 dealt with according to the light they actually have, 
 or have opportunity to obtain. As infants are saved 
 
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 194 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 for the sake of the atonement, as a sacrifice offered by 
 Christ to God, though without faith in the doctrine of 
 the atonement preached by man to man ; so probably 
 may a heathen, on repenting, be saved for the sake of 
 the fact that Christ died for his sins, but without faith 
 in the doctrine. But the gospel should be sent to them 
 to give them additional encouragement and aid to re- 
 pent towards God ; and when they repent, stronger 
 grounds for hoping and praying for mercy. 
 
 It should be remembered that the mere salvation of 
 sinful men was not the only thing for which the soul 
 of Christ travailed. He travailed to declare the love 
 of God, to manifest the righteousness of God, to mag- 
 nify the law of God, to procure the continuance of the 
 human family after the fall of the first parents, and 
 secure for millions the inestimable opportunity of 
 knowing, loving, and enjoying God forever. The 
 exercise of forbearance toward sinners, the introduc- 
 tion of the new covenant, and the sending of the 
 Spirit, and the ministry of reconciliation, were glori- 
 ous results of Christ's mediation. 
 
 What if some persist in neglecting the great salva- 
 tion! Even in their case He can say, "Though Israel 
 be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of 
 the Lord." But a great multitude, whom no man could 
 number, will enjoy " the salvation which is in Christ 
 Jesus with eternal glory." It will be secured by all 
 who die in infancy, or before the ' age of personal 
 accountability, and by all who never were morally re- 
 sponsible ; and who, taken together, probably form a 
 
 il 
 
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 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 195 
 
 I'' 
 
 considerable majority of the entire race. And to these 
 will be added the great multitude who have repented 
 and prayed according to the light of nature, or accord- 
 ing to the more winnino^ liorht of revelation. It will 
 be to Him an unspeakable and eternal pleasure to 
 see all these restored to holiness, and happiness, and 
 fellowship with God for ever. 
 
 If any are under the general results of the fall of 
 Adam, without being within the benefits resulting 
 from the work of Christ, they must be unable to per- 
 form the duties of repentance and faith, upon which 
 salvation is conditionally suspended. Seeing this, 
 some ministers omitted to urge immediate repent- 
 ance and faith as reasonable and practicable duties. 
 The result was they almost entirely ceased to preach 
 the gospel to the impenitent. '* The unconverted were 
 not exhorted to repent towards God ; but were directed 
 to enter into a full or partial covenant with the 
 Church, and to attend the means of grace with moral 
 sincerity, and with such outward services as were in 
 their power. In short, very little was said to the 
 unconverted, and they did not consider themselves as 
 in any way concerned in what they heard from the 
 pulpit." A reaction against this course was com- 
 menced by Edwards in America, and by Andrew Fuller 
 in England. They contended that " the inability as- 
 cribed to the sinner in the Bible was not an absolute 
 inability, caused by a want of natural powers ;" but a 
 moral inability, consisting in a voluntary and fixed 
 unwillingness to do what God requires. This, they 
 
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 196 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 thought, instead of excusing the sinner enhanced his 
 guilt, and yet made it proper to urge him by every 
 possible motive to the immediate performance of his 
 duty." " They accordingly preached to the unconverted 
 with great directness, pungency, and power ; and con- 
 sequently great revivals of religion began under such 
 preaching." (Beecher's Con. of Ages.) There was some 
 truth underlying these appeals. There is an ability 
 to repent, but it has been graciously given for Christ's 
 sake. To regard ability to repent as a mere natural 
 ability, is to withhold from Christ, and from the Spirit 
 sent in His name, the gratitude and thanks which are 
 due to them. This error opened the way for a return 
 to the Pelagian position. " We owe it to God that we 
 are men ; to ourselves that we are righteous." The 
 truth is, that repentance is exercised by the aid of the 
 convincing work of the Spirit, but it may be exercised 
 previous to the regenerating grace of the Spirit. 
 
 They now thought that ministers should give a 
 general gospel call. But how could those who be- 
 lieved the atonement to be limited, find warrant for 
 doing so ? It was supposed that it might be made 
 out in this way : They might, in future, regard the 
 efficiency of the atonement as the measure of its in- 
 tention only, but not of its sufficiency. It might be 
 henceforth assumed that the sufficiency was unlimited. 
 They would still limit the former, but magnify the 
 latter. " The obedience and sufferings of Christ, con- 
 sidered in themselves, are, on account of the infinite 
 dignity of His person, of that value as to have been 
 
•nwi 
 
 EXTENT OF CHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 197 
 
 sufficient for redeeminf^, not onl}'' all and every man in 
 particular, but many myriads besides, had it pleased 
 God and Christ that He should have undertaken, and 
 satisfied for them." (Witsiiis on the Covenants, vol. 1, 
 p. 225.) Turretin says : " It *is confessed by all, that 
 since its value is infinite, it would have been sufficient 
 for the redemption of the entire human family, had 
 it appeared good to God to extend it to the whole 
 world." Hence, they say, there is a very important 
 sense in whiqh the Saviour died for all — that is, He 
 died sufficiently for all ; so that if all had been saved 
 there would have been required no more sacrifice for 
 sin. No soul will perish because of a deficiency in 
 the merits or intrinsic worth of the atonement. 
 " That we hold to be, in the strictest sense of the 
 terms, infinite, absolute, all-sufficient." (Annan, Dif. 
 of AvTYhinianisni, p. 170.) They concede that the 
 atonement was equally suitable for all. They affirm 
 that " what was suitable to one was suitable to all." 
 They admit " that the death of Christ had a relation 
 to man, to the whole human family, which it had not 
 to the fallen angels. It is the ground on which salva- 
 tion is offered to every creature under heaven who 
 hears the gospel ; but it gives no authority for a like 
 offer to apostate angels. It moreover secures to the 
 whole race at large, and to all classes of men, inixam- 
 erable blessings, both providential and religious. It 
 was, of course, designed to produce these effects ; and 
 therefore He died to secure them." (Hodge, Theol. ii., 
 p. 545.) 
 

 ' ' '1 
 
 
 i i: 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 : 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ,_ 1 
 
 
 1 
 ■ I 
 
 198 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Take another extract. "Remember what we have 
 over and over again afR; med — (a) Christ did literally 
 and absolutely die for all men, in the sense of secur- 
 ing for all a lengthened respite and many temporal 
 benefits, moral as well as physical ; (b) His atonement 
 was sufficient for all ; (c) exactly adapted to the needs 
 of all ; (d) it is offered indiscriminately to all ; hence, 
 as far as God's preceptive will is concerned, the atone- 
 ment is universal. It is to be preached to all, and to 
 be accepted by all. It is for all as far as determining 
 the duty of all, and laying obligations upon all. And 
 practically it makes salvation objectively available to 
 all upon the condition of faith." (Hodge, Atonement, 
 p. 393.) But the Doctor shamefully throws utter 
 insincerity into all this provision, and consequently 
 causes utter uncertainty and doubt, by supposing and 
 asserting that " God had a decretive will or design 
 in making the atonement," which is very different from 
 " God's preceptive will." The latter " makes salvation 
 objectively available to all upon the condition of faith;" 
 the former (the decretive will) is supposed intentionally 
 to leave many in a state in which it is subjectively 
 impossible for them to comply with that condition. 
 Of what use, then, was it for God to take compassion 
 on their inability to satisfy divine Justice, when com- 
 passion is not felt for their inability to believe ? 
 What kindness is there in calling men to come, if 
 compliance with that call was known to be impossible 
 without the aid of the Divine Spirit ? This aid, say 
 they, God was under no obligation to give to the non- 
 
 1^ 
 
EXTENT OF (JHRIST S ATONING WORK. 
 
 199 
 
 elect, and does not give. If so, the offer of eternal life, 
 if made to them, is made on impossible conditions. 
 Such an offer shows no wisdom or sincerity, and, much 
 more, no grace. 
 
 This theory makes out no warrant for ministers, 
 Sabbath-school teachers, or parents to give a general 
 gospel call. " What right has a man to offer salva- 
 tion to any whom God, by an eternal decree, has ex- 
 cluded from salvation ? What rijjht to exhort men 
 to repent, when God determines by volitional neces- 
 sity that they will not repent ?" "What right to 
 exhort men to do otherwise than God has willed, 
 decreed, and foreordained they shall do?" (Whedon, 
 What is Arminianism ? p. 17.) 
 
 One more quotation : " He died for all that He 
 might arrest the immediate execution of the penalty 
 of the law upon the whole of our apostate race ; that 
 He miofht secure for men the innumerable blessin^js 
 attending their state on earth which, in one important 
 sense, is a state of probation ; and that He might lay 
 the foundation for the offer of pardon and reconcilia- 
 tion with God, on condition of faith and repentance. 
 These are universally admitted consequences of His 
 satisfaction, and, therefore, they all come within its 
 design. By this dispensation it is rendered manifest 
 to every intelligent mind in heaven or upon earth, 
 and to the finally impenitent themselves, that the 
 perdition of those that perish is their ov/n fault. They 
 will not come to Christ that they may have life. 
 They refuse to have Him to reign over them. He 
 
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 RSf' 
 
 ; 
 
 k 
 
 
 I • ■ n 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 calls, but they will not answer. He says : ' Him that 
 Cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.' Every 
 human being who does come is saved." (Hodge, Theol. 
 ii., p. 558.) True, and good so far as it goes ; but alas ' 
 this remarkable concession is made essentially void, 
 by its intentionally omitting to mention the aid of the 
 Spirit, sent for Christ's sake, and in pursuance of the 
 design of His death ; without which, renewal unto re- 
 pentance is impossible ; but with which we would have 
 the covenant of grace, which promises not merely to 
 be merciful to unrighteousness, for Christ's sake ; 
 but, by the Spirit's agency, to write God's laws in 
 our minds and in our hearts, " that we may be to Him 
 a people, and that He may be to us a God." 
 
 |! ; 
 
 1 i 
 I 
 
(201) 
 
 i 
 It 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 FORBEARANCE. 
 
 It is for the sake of the atonement and intercession 
 of Christ that God (1) exercises " forbearance" towards 
 sinners, and (2) justifies the penitent believer. 
 
 (1) It is for the sake of Christ that God has for- 
 bearance and long-suffering with transgressors ; " not 
 willing that any should perish, but that all should 
 come to repentance." (2 Peter iii. 25.) Christ was the 
 procuring cause of this long-suffering. "Whon> God 
 hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in 
 His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remis- 
 sion of sins that are past (Rom. iii. 25) ;" rather, as the 
 revised translation reads, " for the passing over of sins 
 done aforetime," i.e., (ha on account of the apparent 
 overlooking of them for a time. The word which the 
 apostle uses is not acpeaic afxapru^v, the remission of sins 
 or letting them quite go ; but naprMtc; afiapriuv, the passing 
 them by on the part of God for awhile, in considera- 
 tion of the great sacrifice which was one day to be- 
 offered. This long pretermission manifested the for- 
 bearance of God, though there was no " adequate ex- 
 pression of His righteous wrath against sin, during 
 all those ages which preceded the revelation of Christ ; 
 which manifestation of His righteousness at length 
 took place, when He set forth no other and no less 
 15 
 
 ■ Mil 
 
 I 
 
 •!■ 
 
f 
 
 ri 
 
 202 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 i|:, I:; 
 
 ^^M 
 
 :• f 
 
 hi 
 
 than His own Son, to be the propitiatory sacrifice for 
 sin." (Trench, on Bible lieu., pp. 90-98.) " For four 
 thousand years, with the exception of some great ex- 
 amples of judgments. Divine Righteousness seemed to 
 be asleep ; one might even have asked if it existed. 
 Men sinned here below, and yet they lived. They 
 sinned on, and yet reached a hoary old age. Where 
 were the wages of sin ? It was this relative impunity 
 which rendered a solemn manifestation of righteous- 
 ness necessary." (Godet on Romans, p. 155.) God un- 
 veiled and brought it to light, by showing that it was 
 in consideration of the expected propitiatory media- 
 tion of Chrivst, that He exercised that long forbearance. 
 Hence Christ is called " the Lamb slain from the foun- 
 dation of the world" (Rev. xiii. 8) ; an expression which 
 refers to the death of the first appointed typical lamb, 
 as a prophetic assurance that the antitypical Lamb 
 would in due time be slain. As fallen man was clc bed 
 first with the skins of animals, these animals were, 
 most probably, slain in sacrifice ; they were not slain 
 for use as food till after the fiood. Lambs' skins were, 
 probably, the first typical " white robes." (Rev. vii. 9.) 
 " And for this cause He is the Mediator of the New 
 Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption 
 of the transgressions that were under the first testa- 
 ment, they which are called might receive the promise 
 of eternal inheritance." (Heb. ix. 15.) This shows that 
 His sacerdotal work had a retrospective reference. The 
 blessings hoped for by Old Testament believers were 
 promised because, and only because, the Christ was 
 
\\r 
 
 1 i 
 
 FORHEARANCE. 
 
 203 
 
 e for 
 four 
 
 ,t ex- 
 ed to 
 isted. 
 They 
 Vhere 
 lunity 
 teous- 
 )d un- 
 it was 
 media- 
 irance. 
 J f oun- 
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 I lamb, 
 Lamb 
 clc bed 
 i were, 
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 IS were, 
 . vii. 9.) 
 le New 
 mption 
 t testa- 
 promise 
 iws that 
 ce. The 
 rs were 
 ist was 
 
 to come and ofter a true propitiatory saci'itice, and thus 
 " confirm the promises made to the fathers." 
 
 God exercises forbearance towards sinners under the 
 present dispensation too, and continues it for months, 
 or years, or scores of years ; but He does it for the 
 sake of the propitiation that lias been offered l)y 
 Christ. This removes the obscurity, and reveals the 
 righteousness. " I," said Christ of one, " I gave her 
 space to repent." (Rev. ii. 21.) It is by His inter- 
 cession that the barren fig-tree is left alone, year after 
 year, until there seems no hope. 
 
 " For the demonstration of His righteousness." The 
 ti;rm sometimes denotes moral perfection in general. 
 It has, accordingly, been applied by interpreters to 
 different special attributes, each commentator " apply- 
 ing it to the particular attribute which agreed best 
 with his system in regard to the work of redemption." 
 (Godet) It has thus been taken to express — (1) good- 
 ness (Theodor., Abel., Grot., Semi., etc.) ; (2) veracity or 
 fidelity (Amhr., Beza, Turret.)) (3) holiness (iVi^^scA, 
 Neand., Hofmi., Lipsius). " Retributive justice in 
 God, considered as the mode of action by which God 
 maintains order in the moral universe by punishing 
 the individual who violates that order." As Godet 
 remarks, " the first three meanings fall before one com- 
 mon objection. The Greek language, and Paul's voca- 
 bulary in particular, have special terms* to express 
 each of those particular attributes : xpn<^'^oTm, goodness ; 
 
 ahidem, VCracity ; iriariq, faithfuluCSS ; ;t:«P'f, grace; ayiuawtj, 
 
 holiness ; and would have used them if it had been 
 
1 , • 
 
 fin I 
 
 204 
 
 TIIK ONK MEDIATOR. 
 
 intended to convey onq of tlicse meanings." Hut 
 neitlier is retri])utivc justice tlio precise meaning here, 
 because this is understood to maintain order in tlie 
 moral universe by punishing the personal transgressor : 
 and in this case the personal sinner was not punished. 
 The word here, therefore, expresses righteousness, tliat 
 mode of divine action which maintains order in the 
 moral universe by appointing a Mediator, and accept- 
 ing the satisfaction which He presented, and the terms 
 on which pardon and reconciliation may be offered to 
 sinners. 
 
 It is important to notice precisely the order in 
 which this "setting forth" took place. It was after the 
 propitiation was offered by Christ, and was accepted ; 
 that God set it forth as a demonstration of His right- 
 eousness in exercising forbearance. He did this by 
 setting Christ forth in " His blood." "In this term is 
 concentrated the ''whole symbolism of the Jewish sac- 
 rifice." (Godet.) It represents Him as having suffered 
 for man, as having pleaded those sufferings on man's 
 behalf, and as having been accepted by His divine 
 Father ; who then set Him forth before men as an 
 effectual propitiation. He was also set forth by the 
 <livinely appointed preaching of the gospel. He was 
 thus set forth before the Galatians, who were distant 
 from Calvary. Yet Paul, when addressing them, said, 
 *' Before ydur eyes Jesus Christ was evidently set 
 forth, cruc fied among you" (chap. iii. 1). He was 
 set forth in heaven, when " the God of peace brought 
 again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that Great 
 
Hut 
 here, 
 L the 
 ssor : 
 slied. 
 , that 
 1 the 
 ;ccpt- 
 berms 
 :ed to 
 
 er in 
 er the 
 jpted ; 
 riffht- 
 lis by 
 ^rm is 
 1 sac- 
 ffered 
 
 N 
 
 i 
 
 FORbEARANCE. 
 
 205 
 
 Shepherd of tlie sheep, through (or with) tlui blood 
 of the everhusting covenant" (Hub. xiii. 20); the 
 blood that procured and contirnied the new and ever- 
 lasting covenant ; and then set Him forth " in tli^ 
 midst of the throne as a lamb that hath been slain." 
 The place of typical propitiation w^as concealed from 
 public view. The high-priest alone could see it, and 
 that only once a year, and through a cloud of smoke. 
 But the veil was rent in tv/ain at the time of otii ring 
 the antitypical sacrifice, to intimate that the anti- 
 typical sacrifice was accepted, and set forth publicly 
 to demonstrate to the moral universe the righteousness 
 of the Divine Ruler who exercises such forbearance. 
 
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 !iii 
 
 (206) 
 
 CHAPTER XTX. 
 
 THE JUSTIFICATION OF HIM THAT BELIEVETH. 
 
 We have seen that for the sake of the propitiation 
 made by Christ, God exercises gracious forbearance. 
 But— 
 
 (2) Omittance is not acquittance. Hence another 
 purpose for wliich that efficacious propitiation was 
 publicly placed before the whole world, was to declare 
 that God acts righteously when He pardons sin on the 
 ground of Christ's mediation, and on the condition of 
 repentance and faith. The propitiatory sacrifice which 
 Christ oifered for men when enemies, was the ap- 
 pointed condition of forbearance. The propitiatory 
 sacrifice of Christ, looked to and trusted in by the 
 faith of a penitent, and pleaded by the present ir.ter- 
 cession of Christ, is the appointed condition of pardon 
 and justification. There would be no righteousness 
 in pardoning without His mediation. There would 
 be no prudence in pardoning without repentance 
 and faith. There is a manifestation of righteous- 
 ness in mercy, shown only for the sake of a propitia- 
 tory sacrifice, presented by a great Mediator, and 
 publicly set forth to be the ground of hope and prayer 
 by penitent believers. As Dr. Dick observes : " Christ's 
 propitiatory sacrifice did not ipso facto set men free 
 from guilt and condemnation. Men continue under 
 
 III 
 
PARDON AND JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 207 
 
 these until they believe " (Dick's Theol. ii., p. 74), and 
 till Christ, as advocate, presents the prayer of the be- 
 liever. 
 
 Christ's saerilice did not need to be repeated ; what 
 was now wanting was "faith in His blood." To 
 bring men actually to believe is the work of the gospel 
 and the gospel ministry, aided by the gracious Spirit 
 divine. "Faitli cometh by hearing, and hearing by 
 the word of God." The actual exercise of faith de- 
 pends on the efficacy of the gospel, and on the atten- 
 tion given to it by man ; not on the efficacy of the 
 sacrifice offered by Christ to God. The sacrifice 
 otFered by Christ had immediate efficacy in reference 
 to God. It enabled Him to be just in setting aside 
 the covenant of works, in introducing the covenant 
 of grace, in exercising forbea unce with transgressors, 
 and in offering pardon to every ungodly man w^ho re- 
 pents, and believes the gospel promises. 
 
 The Epistle to the Hebrews argues from the partial 
 efficiency of the type to the full efficiency of the anti- 
 type. " If the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes 
 of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the 
 purifying of the flesh, ho>v much more shall the blood 
 of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Him- 
 self without spot to God, purge (cleanse) your con- 
 science from dead works to serve the living God?" 
 (Heb. ix. 13, 14.) The Jew was not merely taught 
 about ceremonial cleanness and iincleanness. " He 
 was taught to cherish a conscience towards God in 
 all the concerns of life. An offence against his neigh- 
 
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 208 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 bor was a sin against Jehovah ; disregard of his 
 obligations towards the Commonwealth was a wrong 
 to the authority of God ; the minutest breach of 
 ceremonial observance required to be confessed and 
 covered before God ; the failures and the shortcomings 
 that escaped thg subtlest human observation, he was 
 taught were not unmarked by God." (Rev. Alex. Mac- 
 kennal, M.A., in Clerical Symposiuvi, p. 25.) His con- 
 science could not be cleansed from sin against God by 
 typical sacrifice ; but the antj typical sacrifice of Christ 
 could "cleanse his conscience from dead works to serve 
 the living God." 
 
 The righteousness which is demonstrated by the 
 atonement is " God's righteousness," that " He might 
 be just." All moral attributes centre in a moral being. 
 The righteousness here spoken of is that which is re- 
 vealed in His mercy. " Holiness is the principle at once 
 of God's love and justice, and not exclusively of His 
 justice." (Godet.) Mercy, shown for the sake of Christ, 
 is holy mercy. The apostle is not now speaking of 
 the manifestations of righteousness in the divine act 
 of inflicting suffering on Christ. He is speaking of a 
 subsequent divine act, done for the sake of the finished 
 suffering pleaded in intercession — the divine act of 
 justifying the believer. His meaning now is, that 
 this act of justification was done consistently with the 
 holiness of His love ; because it was done for the sake 
 of the propitiation oflered b}^ the Mediator and accepted 
 as satisfactory, and set forth as such in the province 
 where the offence was committed, as the ground of 
 
 ^¥i 
 
 111 
 
||T^" 
 
 PARDON AND JUSTIFICATION. 
 
 209 
 
 his 
 
 M 
 
 showing mercy. This setting forth was fitted to use 
 a moral influence on man in favor of the ends of 
 moral government. 
 
 " A right idea of God is at the foundation of all right 
 doctrine and riorht conduct." God's holiness and love 
 uphold the moral government of the world. But .from 
 the very nature of the silbjects of this department of 
 His dominion, divine holiness and love must be per- 
 ceived in order to have efficient influence." It is dif- 
 ferent in reference to the physical world. Here divine 
 power and wisdom can operate fully without being 
 intelligently perceived, or voluntarily attended to. 
 But holiness and love require intelligent attention to 
 their perfect and unchanging principles, emotions, and 
 purposes ; in order to lead moral subjects in the right 
 course, and with the best progress to the highest at- 
 tainments. 
 
 In this all-important work God acts as the sovereign 
 of innumerable intelligent beings severally destined to 
 live forever ; and as One who knows that " the conse- 
 quences of His actions must be regarded, not as termi- 
 nating upon the individuals themselves, to whom they 
 may be immediately directed, but as extending to, and 
 influencing the whole mass of created intelligence 
 down to the latest ages of eternity." (Rev. G. T. 
 Morrison, London.) Hence the necessity for exercis- 
 ing mercy consistently with the maintenance of a just 
 authority is plainly greater, " in proportion to the 
 number of agents who are the subjects of the Divine 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
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 ■ in ■ 
 
 H 
 
 \ 'li 
 
 1. 
 
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 Ill 
 
 ■^11 
 
 1 .1 
 
 210 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Governnieiit, and to the period of tlieir duration." (Bev. 
 G. T. MoTi'ison.) 
 
 We have now seen that the Mediator did not pro- 
 pose to save men irresistibly. He did not coine to be 
 punished in their stead that they may be released 
 unconditionally. He came to otter satisfaction for the 
 suspension of the penalty incurred by personal sinners ; 
 for the exercise of forbearance towards them ; and for 
 using every influence, consistent with finite free agency, 
 to induce and enable men to repent and believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; and to procure, by His farther 
 intercession, pardon and renewing grace for those who 
 comply with these prudential and practicable con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Note. — See appended chapters on " The Conditions 
 of Salvation, namely, Repontance and Faith." 
 
 \4 
 
(211) 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CHRIST IS THE ONLY INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN. 
 
 The Lord Jesus Christ is " a priest upon His 
 throne." (Zech. vi. 13.) He is a divinely-appointed 
 and a divinely-qualified Intercessor; and He will be 
 heard on our behalf. He only can, at the same time, 
 hear the prayers of persons in all places on earth. To 
 suppose the need of any other, is to imply that there is 
 a deficiency in Him. To suppose that created beings 
 could do His work, is to attribute to them divine attri- 
 butes, to regard them as omnipresent : able at all times, 
 and in all places, to hear the prayers addressed to them, 
 and to relieve the wants of their worshippers." {Hodge, 
 p. 595.) Christ is dishonored by those who seek the 
 intercession of saints in heaven. It implies that, in 
 their opinion, Christ has not interest enough with His 
 Father to obtain for them the blessings which they 
 need ; or that He does not kindly permit an immedi- 
 ate approach to Him, or that He is less disposed to 
 sympathize with them, than the saints would be !" 
 " We have not a High-priest who cannot be touched 
 with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in all 
 points tempted as we are." (Heb. iv. 15.) 
 
 The Scriptures represent no other departed one as 
 praying for the living. As under the old economy the 
 High-priest only could enter within the veil on behalf 
 
 ll 
 
 p.- 
 
 
 ♦ 1 
 
' I' 
 
 
 212 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 of the people, so only Christ can appear in heaven 
 as man's advocate with the Father. There is no 
 room for any other. The argument might be com- 
 prised in a few words : " God, in the infinity of 
 His knowledge, is perfectly acquainted with the whole 
 wants of the whole Church. In the infinity of His 
 resources He is able fully to provide for the whole 
 wants of the whole Church. If He made any pro- 
 vision at all, regard to the honor of His character 
 required that it should be perfect and complete. He 
 has provided a priest in the person of His Son. He 
 has appointed no other to the office ; and the inference 
 is undeniable, that the Church can want no other." 
 As He was delivered to death for (on account of) our 
 offences, so He was raised again for (on account of) 
 our justification." His resurrection showed that His 
 sacrifice is all-sufficient for justification. The blood 
 which has been shed for the remission of sin, is " the 
 blood of Jesus Christ His Son." It follows that 
 nothing can be wanting to it ; that nothing, therefore, 
 can be wisely associated with it. God has declared its 
 sufficiency for justification ; and, doubtless, for its 
 sake, actually justified the penitent thief and others, 
 previous to the resurrection of the sacrificed body 
 of Christ ; and signified its sufficiency for this pur- 
 pose by raising the sacrificed body to a life that 
 could not die again. To that one sacrifice the earnest 
 enquirer is pointed, " by the written Word which 
 he reads, by the preaching of the gospel which he 
 hears, and by the institution of the Supper which 
 
aven 
 
 s no 
 
 com- 
 
 ;y of 
 
 A^hole 
 
 £ His 
 
 whole 
 
 ' pro- 
 
 racter 
 
 .. He 
 
 1. He 
 
 erence 
 
 Dther." 
 
 of) our 
 
 ant of) 
 
 iat His 
 
 blood 
 
 "the 
 
 that 
 
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 ired its 
 tor its 
 others, 
 body 
 IS pnr- 
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 earnest 
 which 
 lich he 
 which 
 
 LS 
 
 S 
 
 CHRIST THE ONLY INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN. 213 
 
 he observes. His conscience is tran(|uilized, not by 
 these, but by the sacrifice to which they conduct him, 
 and to which, in their absence as well as in their 
 enjoyment, he can repair. His conscience is easy, be- 
 cause he has applied to Christ, who, in the means of 
 grace, has been set before him ; because he has cast the 
 burden of his guilt upon Him, and committed the 
 keeping of his soul unto Him." (Stratton, on the Priest- 
 hood.) 
 
 But some, erring greatly, teach men to withdraw 
 their reliance from the true, divinely-appointed, and 
 divine High-priest, and to place it in those who dare 
 to intrude into His office. They teach men, even in 
 the hour of dissolution, " to have the mind occupied, 
 the conscience soothed, and the hope inspired, not by 
 what Christ has suffered and pleaded, but by what an 
 unauthorized priest has performed. He has heard the 
 confession, has pronounced the absolution, has given 
 the host, has administered the unction, and therefore 
 all is safe." " Fatal delusion !" placing " between the 
 soul and God, as the ground of hope," the unauthor- 
 ized work of an intruder into Christ's office. 
 
 As Christ had no assistant in His priestly office, so He 
 has no successor. In this respect He was " after the 
 order of Melchisedec," who is represented as without 
 predecessor, assistant, or successor in office. Christ 
 has left no room for priests or priestly work ; no need 
 of any one to make supplementary satisfaction for sin. 
 As no other priest is necessary, so no other has been 
 appointed by God. No other has liberty of access to 
 
 'i 
 
 ti 
 
I|!i 
 
 
 214 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Ml^ 
 
 ; Jiiii 
 
 God. No other could ofi'er a true propitiatory sacrifice. 
 No other can make prevailing priestly intercession. 
 Under the former dispensation, God gave a call 
 to Aaron and his sons. But the priestly office of the 
 sons of Aaron has been taken away by the same 
 Divine authority, and it has been put out of their 
 power to attend to its duties. The typical dispensation 
 expressly forbade them to offer sacrifices anywhere 
 except in the place which God should choose, which, 
 by His last appointment, was the temple at Jerusalem. 
 He knew that, by this arrangement. He could put it 
 out of their power to continue typical sacrifices after 
 the great antitypical propitiation had been made. If 
 they rejected the latter, He could providentially put 
 a stop to the observance of the former. " The Jewish 
 religion," it has been observed, " is the only one that 
 could be so interrupted. And it has been thus inter- 
 fered wuth. The Jews have been banished from their 
 country. The temple in which alone their priests 
 could officiate has been destroyed, and on its site is 
 now the Mosque of Omar, reared for the disciples of 
 Mahomet, the false prophet, and it is death to a Jew 
 to pass over its threshold." The Jews have been now 
 for centuries " without a king, and without a prince, 
 and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and 
 without an ephod" (i.e., without a priest, for an ephod 
 was that part of a priest's dress which distinguished 
 him from all other men, and is therefore here employed 
 to designate his office), " and without teraphim." The 
 very sons of Aaron are now extinct, or unknown. 
 
i i : ( 
 
 ifice. 
 
 ision. 
 
 call 
 
 I the 
 
 same 
 
 their 
 
 ation 
 
 vhere 
 
 ^hich, 
 
 ialem. 
 
 put it 
 
 ; after 
 
 e. If 
 ly put 
 [ewish 
 that 
 inter- 
 their 
 priests 
 site is 
 pies of 
 a Jew- 
 in now 
 prince, 
 rre, and 
 ephod 
 uished 
 ployed 
 ' The 
 known. 
 
 e 
 
 1 
 
 CHRIST THK ONLY INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN. 215 
 
 The Jews retain nothing but the name, and the pain- 
 ful initiatory rite of the religion of their fathers. 
 The Jewish priests and rites were types of Christ 
 and of His sacrifice. The former were taken away, 
 to establish the latter. 
 
 Christ Himself appointed no assistant in the sacri- 
 ficial part of His office, though He did appoint 
 assistants in His prophetic work. The commission 
 which He gave to the twelve disciples, and which 
 they were to fulfil during His tabernacling in the 
 flesh, was a commission to preach through the land of 
 Judea, not to administer priestly rites in Jerusalem. 
 They w^ere simply to preach, and to work miracles in 
 proof of their authority to preach. Mark gives a brief 
 account of the execution of this commission : " And 
 they w^ent out, and preached that men should repent, 
 and they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil 
 many that were sick, and healed, them." (Mark vi. 
 12, 13.) This anointing w4th oil, which was also 
 performed afterw^ards by the elders of the Christian 
 Church, was for the purpose of restoring the body to 
 health, not of restoring the soul to holiness. 
 
 At another time He sent out seventy disciples, but 
 tliey, like the twelve, were sent to teach, not to offer 
 sacrifices. 
 
 As the first commission of the tw^elve sent them 
 to Judea alone, He gave them a subsequent commis- 
 sion to al] nations ; not to offer propitiatory sacri- 
 fice for them, but to make disciples, by baptizing and 
 teaching. The teaching part of their work was partly 
 
 i 
 
 ii|: 
 
 « i 
 
 t- 
 
 
«' 
 
 Ml I* 
 
 i I 
 
 In 
 
 i;i 
 
 
 4 1 1 
 
 m 
 
 
 fi 
 
 216 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOH. 
 
 executed by writing. By this means tliey teaeli to 
 the present day, and will teach to the end of the world. 
 " That which we have seen and heard declare we unto 
 you, that ye also may have fellowship, and truly our 
 fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus 
 Christ." To accomplish this glorious result, they were 
 sent to declare and write what they had seen and 
 heard of the manifested Jesus ; and as what they wrote 
 was to produce the " fulness of joy," we may be 
 assured tliat they wrote the whole substance of what 
 they taught. They erected no altars. They cumbered 
 not themselves with censers, or priestly vestments. 
 But they went as preachers, and as such their " sound 
 went unto all the earth, and their words unto the end 
 of the world." 
 
 The full provision made for the ministerial service 
 of the Church in the apostolic age is given in Eph. 
 iv. 11, 13, in special detail: — "And He gave some 
 apostles . . . prophets . . . evangelists . . . pastors and 
 teachers." Here we look in vain for the word priests. 
 The object of these ministers was to produce unity of 
 the faith and knowledge of the Son of God, and to do 
 this by teaching. Paul, in his Epistles to Timothy and 
 Titus, speaks of elders or bishops as the permanent 
 ministry of the Christian Church, but speaks nothing 
 concerning priesthood. Hence, the conclusion is evi- 
 dent that the Christian ministry were not appointed to 
 do any part of Christ's propitiatory work. Their duty 
 was to proclaim the all-sufficiency of His work, and 
 
CHRIST THE ONLY INTERCESSOR IN HEAVEN. 217 
 
 P 
 
 :li to 
 irorld. 
 unto 
 y our 
 Jesus 
 T were 
 n and 
 wrote 
 lay be 
 : what 
 nbered 
 bments. 
 " sound 
 ,he end 
 
 service 
 in Epb. 
 e some 
 ors and 
 priests, 
 nity of 
 id to do 
 tliy and 
 rmanent 
 nothing 
 1 is evi- 
 omted to 
 leir duty 
 ork, and 
 
 to direct tlio guilty to Him for pardon, and the tried 
 and tempted to Him for sympatliy and help. 
 
 In a word, it is most important to remendjer that 
 by the holy prophets no priest was predicted for the 
 service of the Christian Church, hut Christ. By the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as already observed, there was no ap- 
 pointment of priestly orders for the Christian Church, 
 no prescription of priestly rites. By the holy apostles, 
 no priest is described as officiating for tlie Christian 
 world but Christ, no reference made to priestly rites 
 discharged by one man for another ; this omission is 
 most remarkable in writers who were educated in the 
 Jewish dispensation, and who do, on other subjects, 
 employ Levitical terms profusely ; and would in all 
 probability in this case too, if it was proper to do 
 so. But it was not proper ; hence this utter silence. 
 The obvious and important conclusion is that there is 
 now no one in the universe, besides the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who has a divine appointment to officiate for 
 men in the priestly office. Accordingly none but He can 
 now show a call from God to the office of the priest- 
 hood. 
 
 It was not till after the destruction of the Jewish 
 temple, that the ministers of the Christian Church 
 imagined and assumed that they succeeded to the 
 character, rights, and privileges of the typical Jewish 
 priesthood. Bishops having first supposed that they 
 were distinct from elders, imagined next that bishops 
 ought to have rank and character similar to those of 
 the high-priest of the Jews ; and that the Christian 
 16 
 
 f 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 ; \ 
 
I! 
 
 :*' it' 
 
 218 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 prcsbytor ought to be ref^ardcMl as representing the 
 Jewisli priests ; and the deacons, the Levites. But 
 " the Jewish types are types of things wliich are now 
 in heaven, and which cannot again be brought down 
 to eartli. They are enibodi(Ml in tlie offices of Clirist's 
 priestliood, and can never again be required or allowed 
 in the services of men. The heavenly things them- 
 selves are presented to our view, and the earthly 
 things, which were the pattern of them, are regarded 
 as being no longer necessary, and are forever with- 
 drawn." To introduce another priest now is to invade 
 the prerogative of God, to whom alone the right of 
 appointment belongs ; is to arraign the wisdom of God 
 for omitting to appoint more than Christ Jesus ; and 
 to detract from the Saviour's competency to perform 
 the work entrusted to Him alone. 
 
 " How is it, then, that in looking at thousands of 
 the professing Christian assemblies on earth, we see in 
 them altars erected for sacrifices, persons in sacerdotal 
 vestments, holding that they need no personal know- 
 ledge or piety, but merely official authority from a 
 
 dy of men, to perform priestly rites ; who repeatedly 
 present sacrifices on those altars; receive confessions 
 of sin, as if they were interceding priests, and pro- 
 nounce absolution ; and allege that they can confer 
 salvation by means of ceremonies administered by 
 their hands ; and, last of all, that they can, by extreme 
 unction, prepare for heaven ? These earthly priests, 
 one and all, are presumptuous intruders into the 
 priestly office of the Lord Jesus Christ. Long-estab- 
 
\ \ 1 
 
 I I' 
 
 g tbB 
 
 But 
 
 B now 
 
 down 
 hrist's 
 llowed 
 
 tliem- 
 jarthly 
 rrarded 
 • with- 
 
 invade 
 iMit of 
 
 of God 
 is; and 
 perform 
 
 CHRIST THE ONLY INTRRCESSOU IN HEAVEN. 219 
 
 lished possession may indeed obtain human sanction 
 for secular claims which originated in usurpation ; but 
 they cannot obtain Divine sanction for ecclesiastical 
 and spiritual usurpation : because He ever lives whose 
 prerogative has been invaded ; and His laws and insti- 
 tutions remain imperative on the conscience, in their 
 primitive and uncorrupted simplicity." (Stratton, on 
 the Priesthood.) 
 
 He appointed His apostles to bind and loose ; but 
 this referred to doctrines, not to persons. He said 
 whatsoever ye shall bind, not ivhomsoever ye shall bind ; 
 whatsoever ye shall loose, not tuhomsoever. 
 
 Those who have proudly claimed that they are in- 
 vested with the priestly office, ought to consider that, 
 under the typical dispensation, no sins drew down 
 heavier punivshment than those which made innova- 
 tions on the institution of the priesthood. When 
 Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with the two hundred and 
 fifty princes of the people, rose up before Moses and 
 murmured on account of the sacerdotal pre-eminence 
 which Aaron possessed ; and, usurping the office which 
 had been given exclusively to him, took their censers 
 and oflfered incense before the Lord, — " a fire from the 
 Lord consumed the two hundred and fifty men that 
 offered incense ;" " and the earth opened and swallowed 
 up all that appertained to them, and all their goods." 
 (Num. xvi. 31-35.) And their censers were made into 
 broad plates for covering the altar : as a memorial to 
 the children of Israel that no stranger, " which is not 
 of the seed of Aaron, come near to oflfer incense before 
 
 >: 
 
 J 
 
 m 
 
 \ i 
 
mm 
 
 22'J 
 
 TfiK onp: mediator. 
 
 \ ' 
 
 I 
 
 the Lord." (Num. xvi. 40.) Notliing but a special com- 
 mission from (\()d could sot aside tliese rules pertaining 
 to tlie priesthood. It was under such a special com- 
 mission tliat (jlideon, David, and Elijah acted when 
 they, though not priests, built altars for sp(!cial and 
 temporary pui'poses. No man now lias such a com- 
 
 iii' ion. 
 
 The conduct of tliose und(;r the old dispensation, 
 who guiltily interfered with tlie office of the typical 
 priesthood, corresponds with the conduct of those 
 who, under this dispensation, interfere with the sole 
 priesthood of Christ, })y taking upon themselves the 
 offic(5 of a sacrificing priest. And such sliould seri- 
 ously ponder the fearful danger they are in of the 
 special judgments threatened against such. They 
 should consider that John, the revelator, foretells such 
 judgments in one of the visions with which he was 
 favored in the isle of Patmos. He, in vision, saw 
 heaven represented under the symbol of the Jewish 
 Teniple ; and, in particular, that the angel who had 
 the golden censer in which he had been offijring much 
 incense with the prayers of all the saints, was seen to 
 make another and a ver}" different use of that censer; 
 he filled it with fire from the altar and cast it {i.e., the 
 fire) " into the earth ; and there were thunderings, and 
 voices, and lightnings, and earthquakes." These 
 recall to mind the punishment on Korah, Dathan, and 
 Abiram and their company, and lead us to infer that 
 the judgments called for hy the seven trumpets wore 
 to be inflicted on account of ecclesiastical usurpations 
 
i com- 
 lining 
 I com- 
 
 al and 
 a coin- 
 
 nsation, 
 
 typical 
 
 ►f those 
 
 the soh3 
 
 -Ives the 
 
 uld seri- 
 
 n of the 
 
 ,. They 
 
 tells such 
 
 \\ he was 
 
 sion, saw 
 c Jewish 
 who had 
 
 ring nnich 
 r^s seem to 
 at censer, 
 
 it (ie-, ^^^6 
 
 |erings, and 
 
 These 
 
 iathan, and 
 
 I) infer that 
 
 rnpets were 
 
 lusurpations 
 
 ClIUIST THE ONLY INTEUCESSOH LN HEAVEN. 221 
 
 of the priestly ofliccj of (Jhrist. 'J'hose jud^iiients are 
 approaching, according to the prophetic page, in un- 
 broken succession and unmingled with one line of 
 relenting pity. " Let those who take mystic Bal^ylon 
 as their model take hcsed lest they share her plagues." 
 " It is not encnigh that we should receive the doctrine 
 of Christ, or endeavor to regulate our lives hy His 
 moral precepts; or that we confide in His protection, 
 or submit to His control, as one into whose hands all 
 power in heaven and earth has been committed. It is 
 not enough that we should open our hearts to all the 
 influences fgr good which flow from His person or His 
 works." (Dr. Dick's TfteoL, ii. p. 522.) We must trust 
 in Him as our mediating High-priest. We must give 
 up the idea that we ourselves can make reparation or 
 atonement for our past sins by anything we could do, 
 suffer, or experience. We must rely on the sacrifice 
 and intercession of our great High-priest. W(; nuist 
 also give up the idea that we ourselves could obey 
 aright for the future. We need, and must ask the 
 renewing grace of the Divine Spirit, given in answer 
 to Christ's intercession, in order to be fitted for well- 
 doing. Such trust in Christ as mediating High-priest 
 was exercised by the apostles and prindtive Christians; 
 and has continued to be exercised from that day to the 
 present by the true people of God in various denomi- 
 nations. " This is clear," says Dr. Hodge, *' from their 
 confession of faith, from their liturgies and prayers, 
 from their hymns, and from all the records of their 
 inward religious life." He refers in particular to two 
 
 
 ii 
 
 r 
 
tf , 
 
 222 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 hymns — the first written by Charles Wesley, an Armi- 
 nian, and the other by Toplady, a Calvinist ; 
 
 1. " Jesu, lover of my soul, 
 
 Let me to Thy bosom fly," etc. 
 
 2. ' ' Let the water and the blood, 
 
 From Thy wounded side which flowed, 
 
 Be of sin the double cure ; 
 
 Cleanse me from its guilt and power." 
 
 (See Dr. Hodge, Theol, ii. p. 524-527.) 
 
 |M^ 
 
 1 iJ 
 
 ''1 , 
 
 ;. I 
 
(223) 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ^. 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 
 
 Anselm (born 1033, died 1109 A.D.) made the first 
 systematic attempt to explain the atonement, in rela- 
 tion to the divine attributes and the moral govern- 
 ment of the universe. "Anselm sought the aid of reason 
 in support of religion. He felt sure that as the human 
 mind, and the gospel of Jesus Christ were both divine 
 gifts they could not be at variance, but must be capable 
 of reconciliation ; and contain in them a profound har- 
 mony manifest to an inquirer, who brought them into 
 fair comparison with each other." (Dr. Stoughton, His- 
 torical Theology, p. 217.) His position was that reli- 
 gious faith rests entirely on authority — the authority 
 of the Bible, the authority of the Church ; that reason, 
 accordingly, could not make it more sure, but only 
 more luminous. Anselm's fundamental principle was : 
 " First believe, then understand." " The profoundest 
 truths must first be accepted by faith, in order that they 
 may be aft r wards examined and discussed by reason. 
 Such examination and discussion," he says, "ought to 
 follow ; for it betrays negligence to believe, and then 
 not to aim at understanding what is believed." (Dr. 
 Stoughton, Historical Theology, p. 217.) Yet he did 
 not carry out this plan consistently. " He did not 
 proceed from fact to theory, but rather from theory to 
 
i't 
 
 nil 
 
 224 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 il rlijl^ 
 
 ■■ I 
 
 
 n 
 
 l\ 
 
 t s, 
 
 fact. He did not say, There is in Scripture the doc- 
 trine of satisfaction for sin through the atonement of 
 Christ, therefore there must be a necessity for such 
 satisfaction. But, on independent grounds, he con- 
 cluded there must be a satisfaction : in the nature of 
 things it is indispensable ; therefore such a satisfac- 
 tion has been provided." (Dr. Stoughton, Historical 
 Theology, p. 224.) 
 
 We proceed to notice that in his epoch-making 
 book, Gur Deus Homo, he propounded the question : 
 " Why is it necessary that God should have humbled 
 Himself so far as to become man, and suffer death ? " 
 In answering the question, he exhibited, says Dr. 
 Shedd, "A depth, breadth, and vigor of thinking, not 
 surpassed by any production of the same extent in 
 theological literature." " He set forth in more forcible 
 light than earlier writers, the nature and responsibi- 
 lities of sin." (Dr. Shedd.) 
 
 To Anselm the divine honor seemed to be a supreme 
 good which must not be permanently violated. This 
 honor is concerned with the prevalence and main- 
 tenance of holiness and morality in the world ; not 
 with private rights, which may be set aside by the will 
 of God. It is the duty of man to honor God ; but by 
 sin he has deprived Him of the honor due to Him. 
 God must insist upon His demands, if not for His own 
 sake, yet for the sake of His creatures : the order and 
 harmony of the universe require Him to do so. This 
 injured honor must be repaired, or he that injured 
 it must suffer punishment (Necesse est ergo, ut aut 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 225 
 
 IT 
 
 ahlatus honor salvatur, aut poena sequatur). (Hagen- 
 bach, Hist of Doc, ii. p. 48.) 
 
 Bat man cannot make satisfaction, inasmuch as he 
 is corrupt by original sin. {Hageubach, ii. p. 44.) To 
 render satisfaction for past sin was impossible to man, 
 because all the good that he can do, he already owes 
 as an accountable, rational creature. He could be pun- 
 ished for his sin, but this would set aside the divine 
 plan, which aimed at the perfection and happiness of 
 the race. 
 
 Christ, therefore, proposed to render satisfaction. 
 The divine Ei . hteousness would not allow of forgive- 
 ness out of pure compassion, apart from such satisfac- 
 tion. But a Divine Mediator could make satisfaction, 
 and did make it ; and for His sake God could forgive 
 the sinner. 
 
 Anselm does not distinguish between the obedience 
 and the sufferings of the God-man in making this 
 satisfaction ; " but he certainly lays the stress on the 
 latter : dare animani sen tradere se Ipsurti morti ad 
 honorem Dei, hoc ex debito Deus non exigit ab illo." 
 (Dr. Pope, TheoL, ii. p. 305.) 
 
 " It is well known that Anselm, who first formu- 
 lated the theory of satisfaction, did not regard Christ's 
 death as penal. Satisfaction, in his system, did not 
 consist in paying the penalty, but was rather one of 
 two alternatives ; the other being the paying of the 
 penalty." (Bruce, The HuTniliation of Christ, p. 353.) 
 Anselm distinguished satisfaction from punishment. 
 He said, " Necesse est, ut onvne peccatum satisfaciio 
 
 I- 
 
■ 
 
 
 
 II ^ ■ 
 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 « 
 
 
 i 
 
 i, 
 ■ .f 
 
 «lljjllfil 
 
 !■ 
 
 J 
 
 H 
 
 L-aiii 
 
 l 
 
 226 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 aut pcena sequatur. It is necessary that every sin 
 should be followed by satisfaction, or punishment." 
 (Hagenhach, ii. p. 48.) 
 
 Hilary and Ambrose had taken the term satisfaction 
 from jurisprudence into theology, and applied it to 
 the sufferings of Christ ; but " Anselm revived it from 
 long slumber as a watchword for all future time." 
 (Dr. Pope, TheoL, ii. p. 305.) " The idea of satisfaction 
 has been made by him the inalienable possession of 
 the Church." (Neander.) 
 
 Anselm rightly distinguished between satisfaction 
 and punishment. This was the great service which 
 he rendered to this all-important subject. But he did 
 not rightly apprehend the way in which satisfaction 
 was made. He thought Christ's active obedience had 
 no part in it, assuming this to be obligatory. But he 
 regarded Christ's sufferings (he seems to have thought 
 of those only that were inflicted by man) as non- 
 obligatory and spontaneous ; and that, accordingly, 
 they were meritorious, and hence satisfactory. (See 
 Dorner, History of Doc, vol. iv.) This was a com- 
 mercial satisfaction, rather than a propitiatory one. 
 
 Anselm professed merely to collect, arrange, and 
 develop the views handed down from the fathers. 
 He, of course, rejected some views. He did not agree 
 with Abelard, that there was nothing in the divine 
 essence which required satisfaction for our sin. He 
 did not hold with Athanasius, that Christ " endured a 
 penalty, because this being threatened must be in- 
 flicted." He did not agree with Augustine, that 
 
'1! 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 227 
 
 omnipotence must be independent of justice, and that 
 therefore the atonement was not indispensably neces- 
 sary, but merely selected by the will of the Father. 
 He maintained that omnipotence does not act indepen- 
 dently of righteousness. 
 
 " It is important to notice that his doctrine was, for 
 four hundred years, the common one." (Dv. Pope.) We 
 have accepted his distinction between satisfaction and 
 punishment, and given what we take to be the proper 
 view of the former in the case before us. 
 
 Ansel m had said God's injured honor demanded 
 either punishment, or the substitution of satisfaction 
 for punishment. The Reformers (especially Calvin 
 and Melanchton) agreed with the opinion of Athana- 
 sius, that God's justice demands punishment. Ac- 
 cordingly, they could not in any case, see satisfaction 
 except in the infliction of punishment. Hence, con- 
 founding satisfaction and punishment, they thought 
 that there was no alternative : that punishment must 
 be inflicted either on the personal sinner, or on a 
 substitute. Accordingly some asserted the theory of 
 Equivalentism — " That Christ's vicarious suflferings 
 were exactly equal in amount to the penal suflferings 
 deserved by the whole number " for whom He died ; 
 " so that if they had been fewer, a less degree of suffer- 
 ing would have sufficed, and if more numerous, a 
 greater amount would have been necessary." (Crippen, 
 History of Doc, p. 141.) "The Heidelberg Catechism 
 (1563) affirms that He bore the divine wrath during 
 the whole period of His earthly life." (Doc, p. 139.) 
 
 !! 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 

 j 
 
 j 
 
 \. 
 
 11 
 
 
 i 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
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 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ifli 
 
 •^Pll 
 
 
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 ii' ^ 
 
 
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 s'i' i 
 
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 ! 
 
 1 
 
 
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 228 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 And iEpinus (1538), "thought that Christ's soul en- 
 dured the punishments of hell, while His body lay in 
 the grave." (Doc, p. 189.) " This opinion was com- 
 bated by the divines of the Roman Church. Bellar- 
 mine called it ' a new, unheard-of heresy.' " (Hagen- 
 bach, Hist, of Doc, ii. p. 854-858.) 
 
 To a reflecting mind it becomes manifest that 
 this theory cannot be right. The innocent cannot 
 be guilty, and if not guilty he cannot be punished ; 
 for punishment is the judicial infliction of evil on 
 account of guilt. It is a definite kind, degree, and 
 duration of suffering, " inflicted on the wrong-doer in 
 person " (Hodge) : he should have added, because of 
 his personal offence or ill-desert, and as a proper 
 expression of what is due to it. The sufferings of 
 Christ cannot be regarded as a penal infliction, be- 
 cause, " in strictness of language and thought, neither 
 crime, guilt, nor punishment is personally transfer- 
 able." (Bib. Sac, April, 1862.) " Real and proper 
 punishment," says Andrew Fuller, " is not only the 
 infliction of natural evil for the commission of moral 
 evil, but the infliction of the one upon the person who 
 committed the other, and in displeasure against him ; 
 it not only supposes criminality, but that the party 
 punished was literally the criminal." (Quoted with 
 approval by Prof. Park, Bib. Sacra., 1865, p. 174.) 
 " Guilt signifies, first, personal blameworthiness ; 
 second, liableness to suffer, in order to preserve the 
 honor of a violated law. Guilt cannot be transferred 
 from person to person. Hence the doctrine of the 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 229 
 
 atonement does not imply that an innocent \mng is 
 made guilty in the sense of being personally blame- 
 worthy ; and, secondly, that an innocent being is 
 punished in. the sense of suffering pain for ill-desert. 
 Both these propositions all clear thought discards." 
 (Rev. Joseph Cook.) An unbiased mind judges that 
 punishment is of so personal a nature as not to 
 allow of its being so transferred. Dr. Hodge admits 
 that there is special force in this objection. He says : 
 " By far the most plausible objection that is brought 
 to our doctrine is that the demands of Justice for 
 penal satisfaction are essentially personal." (P. 286.) 
 He admits that if guilt "means personal criminality 
 and ill-desert, and if punishment means evil inflicted 
 on the ground of such personal demerit, then vicarious 
 punishment would indeed involve an impossibility." 
 (Hodge, TheoL, ii., p. 532.) He therefore has to ima- 
 gine that a change was made by sovereign prerogative, 
 separating personal responsibility to satisfy the de- 
 mands of Justice, from personal demerit. Then, as- 
 suming that this was done, he thinks the separated 
 legal liability "may be transferred from one to another, 
 or may be assumed by one in place of others." (Id., 
 vol. ii. p. 532, 537.) But if it could be thus separated, 
 it need not be transferred at all. The law did not 
 require a transfer. He sees this, and hence supposes 
 that by sovereign prerogative another change was 
 made to authorise this transfer, and to add a substi- 
 tuted penalty for the substituted person. According 
 to this, the law was not enforced at all ; it was changed 
 
 liiii 
 
) 
 
 m 
 
 , 
 
 f 
 
 j 
 
 ■ i '■, 
 
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 It 
 
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 ^^^. '^ 
 
 
 230 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 by sovereign prerogative. If sovereign pleasure could 
 so change it, it could wholly repeal it. Such per- 
 sons cannot speak of the law having been enforced, 
 without putting a new meaning into the word law. 
 It is made to mean, not a definite, complete act of 
 legislative authority, but the legislative authority 
 that made, and that could alter acts of that kind. For 
 instance. Rev. A. A. Hodge makes this change, when 
 he says : " In crime the demand is for that kind, de- 
 gree, and duration of suffering which the law — i.e., 
 absolute and omniscient Justice — demands in each 
 specific case, the person suffering and the sin to be 
 expiated both being considered." (Atonement, p. 35.) 
 But this introduces a sovereifjn chano^e, which sets 
 aside the original law altogether, and leaves only a 
 law-making power at liberty to prescribe a new 
 penalty. 
 
 Dr. Hodge thinks that the sufferings of Christ may 
 be penal ; and yet not be the same in kind, nor in de- 
 sign, as the sufferings of those whom Christ died to 
 redeem. (Hodge, Systematic Theol., ii. p. 476.) Did 
 the law not designate any particular kind or degree of 
 suffering ? Would any kind or any degree do, if 
 judicially inflicted ? Was the original penalty as in- 
 definite as this ? Did it define only the design of the 
 infliction, but not at all its nature or degree ? This 
 position virtually abandons the theory of punishment, 
 and accepts a species of satisfaction in its stead. Under 
 the pressure of objections he seems to set aside the 
 tiheory of "the absolute irremissibility of merited 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADINa THEOUTKS. 231 
 
 IT 
 
 !l 
 
 Ji 
 
 could 
 I per- 
 orced, 
 I law. 
 ict of 
 liority 
 . For 
 
 when 
 d, de- 
 V — i.e., 
 1 each 
 
 to be 
 p. 35.) 
 ;h sets 
 only a 
 a, new 
 
 st may 
 in de- 
 iied to 
 Did 
 of 
 do, if 
 as in- 
 of the 
 This 
 hnient, 
 Under 
 ide the 
 nerited 
 
 orree 
 
 penalty, which is the determining principle of the 
 Calvinistic system of theology." A distinoruished 
 writer well observes : " It is hardly possible to state 
 the * substitution ' theory in any form which does not 
 shock the moral sense, except by so modifying the 
 plain meaning of the words as to make it desirable to 
 choose different words altogether." (Rev. Canon Far- 
 rar, in Cler. Sijmp., p. 82.) On the other hand, it 
 readily admits of being represented in a most revolt- 
 ing manner, as when Cowper said in frightful lan- 
 guage : " God is always formidable to me, except when 
 I see Him disarmed of His sting, by having sheathed 
 it in the body of Jesus Christ." (Quoted by Rev. Ed. 
 White, Cler. Sijmposiwni, p. 146.) " Who would rejoice 
 that the anguish due to him was rigorously exacted 
 from Another ? " (Rev. Canon Farrar, in Cler. Symp., 
 p. 7S.) How could man love an unforgiving God ? 
 The theory that Christ suffered the penalty which 
 justice demanded from the sinner, exhibits God in no 
 new relation to man. It leaves no room for a revela- 
 tion of mercy. 
 
 If an obligation to suffer punishment could be 
 transferred to a substitute, the personally guilty 
 would be immediately and fully released by that 
 transfer. The subsequent enduring of the punish- 
 ment would release only the substitute himself. 
 
 Had Christ borne man's punishment, the result must 
 have been the immediate and unconditional acquittal 
 of man on the ground of equity, not of grace ; leaving 
 no possible room for pardon. But we know that th^ 
 
 .'/■ 
 
 !^/>.- 
 
 Hi 
 
 I , 1 
 
 n 
 
«•■ 
 
 \i 
 
 it 
 
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 m ^ 1 
 
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 Hi 
 
 
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 j" 
 
 
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 f 
 
 282 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 sufferings of Christ were, in fact, such as did leave 
 room for pardon, and therefore they were not the 
 penalty, nor equivalent in point of sutierings to the 
 penalty. The sufferings of Christ, were such as to 
 leave man's release from liability to punishment, to be 
 dependent on evangelical repentance and justifying 
 faith, in the case of those who have the revealed 
 gospel ; and perhaps on condition of repentance only 
 in the case of those who have only the light of nature, 
 and the convincing Spirit. 
 
 Again, on the hypothesis that Christ suffered the 
 penalty due to sinners, it would follow that the more 
 sinful a man was, the more sufiering Jesus Christ 
 would have to endure for him, and the greater bless- 
 ing would He merit for him ; and the less a man has 
 sinned, the less would Jesus Christ purchase for him. 
 " If the atonement were of that kind, it would confer 
 a bonus on a^^gravated transojression. It would make 
 it most desirable to be the chief of sinners." 
 
 Had the penalty been inflicted once on Christ, it 
 could not be inflicted afterwards on those for whom 
 He died, no matter how they neglected, or rejected the 
 great plan of salvation. For punishment cannot be 
 doubly inflicted under the just government of God- 
 But we know that the atonement did not render it un- 
 just to punish those for whom it was made, if they 
 should reject the remedy. It did not put an end to 
 moral government. It did not repeal the threatenings. 
 It suspended them to give time for using motives to 
 bring men back as penitents to resume their duties. 
 
leave 
 )t the 
 to the 
 
 as to 
 >, to be 
 iifying 
 tvealed 
 :e only 
 nature, 
 
 ited the 
 le more 
 Christ 
 ir bless- 
 nan has 
 for him. 
 d confer 
 Id make 
 
 hrist, it 
 r whom 
 cted the 
 m.not be 
 of God. 
 er it un- 
 ,if they 
 in end to 
 atenings. 
 lotives to 
 ir duties, 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADINO THEORIES. 2.S.S 
 
 and to save them from punishment if they penitently 
 return. But it leaves moral government still in exist- 
 ence. It leaves the laws of that government still in 
 force, and its threatenings still impending over sinners 
 who impenitently reject the remedy. 
 
 This theory represents sufiering as constituting the 
 whole atoning value, and the Son of God as giving so 
 much suffering for so many favors and blessings for 
 men ; and the Divine Father as dispensing the latter 
 for so much value received. This is the commercial 
 atonement, " which degrades the gospel and fetters 
 its ministers, which sums up the worth of a stupendous 
 moral transaction with arithmetic, and with its little 
 span limits what is infinite." (Rev. Robert Hall, on 
 Substitution, Book i. p. 270.) 
 
 If Christ had been a mere creature, there might be 
 some plausibility in supposing that He would need, as 
 Mediator, to bear the literal and full penalty. But He 
 had a higher nature, and other considerations were to 
 be united with the sufferings of Christ to give them 
 value. Consequently, the degree of suffering may be 
 diminished in proportion to the value of these other 
 considerations. When it is considered that Christ is 
 the Son of God, and the kingly Ruler of men with all 
 power in heaven and earth, and that He magnified the 
 law by personally obeying it ; there may, in His case, 
 be sacrificial suffering in the place of penal suffering. 
 Any suffering voluntarily submitted to by such a per- 
 sonage in deference to the feelings and interests of 
 righteousness, would confer the highest honor on the 
 17 
 
 
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 234 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 principles of the Divine nature, and on the sacred- 
 ness of the Divine law. If Christ had to endure the 
 exact amount of suffering which sinners are liable to, 
 or an amount equivalent in point of suffering ; then, 
 in that case, Christ would have needed no other quali- 
 fication than that of ability to suffer. But it is mani- 
 fest that the inspired writers attribute vast importance 
 to the personal and official dignity of the mediating 
 sufferer. They say it is " the blood of Jesus Christ 
 His Son " that cleanseth from all sin. The great ends 
 designed were to express God's love of righteousness, 
 and His abhorrence of unrighteousness ; and these 
 ends are answered bv the obedience and chastisement 
 of Christ, and that " in a higher degree owing to the 
 dignity of His character, than if man had kept the 
 law, or suffered the penalty for the breach of it." (A. 
 Fuller.) 
 
 Faustus Socinus (b. A.D. 1539, d. 1604) opposed this 
 idea of penal suffering. He argued that if satisfaction 
 had been made by enduring punishment, forgiveness 
 is no longer required. And, on the other hand, that if 
 there is room for forgiveness, the punishment has not 
 been inflicted (for to forgive implies that grace takes 
 the place of justice). (Hagenbach, History of Doctrines, 
 V. ii. p. 359.) He contended that mercy implied a 
 suspension of the penalty. True, but it also implied 
 satisfaction for the suspension of penalty. Of satis- 
 faction in this sense, he unhappily knew nothing; 
 satisfaction in the other sense, he rejected ; and origin- 
 ated Socinianism. The Socinians maintain that " the 
 
VV" 
 
 jfM 
 
 cred- 
 
 3 the 
 
 (le to, 
 
 then, 
 
 quali- 
 
 mani- 
 
 rtance 
 
 liating 
 
 Christ 
 
 it ends 
 
 usness, 
 
 [ these 
 
 sement 
 
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 it." (A. 
 
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 has not 
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 n 
 
 BRIEP^ HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 285 
 
 objects of Christ's life and death were merely (a) to 
 furnish an example to men, (6) to confirm the promises 
 of God, and (c) to render possible His resurrection, by 
 which He entered into glory." 
 
 Grotius combated vhe views of Socinus; and dis- 
 tinguished satisfaction from punishment (satisfactio 
 from solutio). The latter meant the rendering the 
 precise sum that was due, or its real value. The 
 former means something which is other than the real 
 value, but which is graciously accepted as satisfactory. 
 He rejected the idea that the sufferings of Christ were 
 M penal infliction for the demerit of past sin. But he 
 unhappily thought they were a penal example for the 
 prevention of future sin ; that the punishment of one 
 person was allowed '' (acceptitatio) to be equivalent to 
 a judgment upon al much as in the decimation of a 
 mutinous Roman legion, those who were punished 
 suffered for the other guilty ones, as well as for them- 
 selves." (Van Oosterzee, Christian Dogmatics, p. 611.) 
 
 Hugo Grotius saw that the atonement had a govern- 
 mental aspect, but he did not rightly exhibit it. He 
 gave prominence to the administrative prudence of 
 the great moral Governor ; rather than to His right- 
 eousness, PS he should have done. He represented God 
 as studying the distinction between the expedient and 
 the inexpedient, rather than the difference between the 
 right and the wrong. He erred also in adopting the 
 position that the sufferings of Christ were a punish- 
 ment, instead of a satisfaction. Punishment supposes 
 personal demerit in the sufferer ; but Christ was inno- 
 
 i 1 
 
 
 \ 
 
 • I 
 
236 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 cent. It supposes that the suffering inflicted is that 
 prescribed by the law ; but the law called for the 
 punishment of the personal sinner, not of another on 
 his behalf, or in his stead ; the law called for ever- 
 lasting punishment, but the sufferings of Christ were 
 temporary. He supposed that the death of Christ 
 was a penal example, but the punishment of the in- 
 nocent could not deter the guilty. 
 
 Happily, other writers had more correct views. 
 Limborch (b. 1633 ; d. 1712, A.D.), the representative 
 of Arminianism, argued that " the sufferings of Christ 
 were those of a sacrifice divinely appointed io take 
 the place of a penalty." (Pope, TheoL, vol. ii. p. 314.) 
 Christ presented a satisfaction which opened the way 
 for the gratuitous, and conditional remission of the 
 penalty. Curcelloeus (b. 1586, A.D.), another distin- 
 guished Arminian theologian, agreed with Limborch, 
 " in insisting chiefly on the death of Christ as a 
 sacrifice, which is a diflferent idea from the payment 
 of a debt." Curcelloeus opposed the confounding 
 satisfaction with solutio. He says, " Christ did not 
 satisfy by suffering all the punishment which we de- 
 served for our sins. Because, in the first place, that 
 does not belong to the idea of sacrifice, for sacrifices 
 are not full payments of debts {solutiones dehitorum.) 
 Secondlv, Christ did not suffer the eternal death 
 which was the punishment due to sin. He was only a 
 few hours on the cross, and on the third day rose 
 again from the dead." {Opera Theologica, p. 300, quoted 
 in Latin by Dr. Hodge, TheoL, ii. p. 486.) Limborch, 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 237 
 
 that 
 r the 
 er on 
 
 ever- 
 i were 
 Christ 
 he in- 
 
 views. 
 [itative 
 Christ 
 ,0 take 
 p. 3U.) 
 ,he way 
 of the 
 distin- 
 mborch, 
 
 st as a 
 ,ayment 
 'ounding 
 
 f4. 
 
 '■I 
 
 too, rejects the theory that Christ suffered the punish- 
 ment due to our sins. He says " that opinion has no 
 foundation in Scripture. The death of Christ is 
 called a sacrifice for sin ; but sacrifices are not pay- 
 ments of debts, nor plenary satisfaction for sins ; but 
 free remission of sin is granted to those who have been 
 convicted." (Theologia Christiana, p. 255, quoted in 
 Latin by Dr. Hodge, Theol., ii. p. 486.) They taught 
 that " Christ did not strictly and fully suffer the 
 punishment of our sins, for then our pardon would 
 not be of mercy, but of justice ; that Christ's righte- 
 ousness and sanctity are not imputed to us, for then 
 there would be no ground for our observing the moral 
 law, or for God's demanding either faith or obedience 
 from us." (Oxenham, Catholic Doctrine of Atonement.) 
 
 Mr. Wesley, as we have already shown, agreed with 
 the Scriptures, and the Christian fathers, and with 
 Limborch, etc., in the idea that the death of Christ 
 was a sacrifice for sin. He also rightly stated that, for 
 the sake of that sacrifice, a new covenant of grace was 
 made with man, which offers pardon and renewal on 
 prudential and practicable conditions. He accepted, 
 to some extent, the idea (advocated by Cocceius) of a 
 twofold covenant between God and man — the cove- 
 nant of works before, and of grace after the fall. 
 This covenant of grace was made for the sake of the 
 atonement, as has been shewn in preceding chapters. 
 
 " The atonement," says the twentieth Article of our 
 Creed, " is a perfect propitiation and satisfaction for 
 all the sins of the whole world, both original and 
 
It 'Ui 
 
 238 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 actual." The immediate result was that God was so 
 far reconciled as to announce that " the sins of every 
 man are rendered remissible, and that salvation is 
 consequently attainable by every man." (Watson's 
 Inst., ch. 25.) Arminians hold that the atonement 
 was designed to make it possible to save by grace, on 
 prudential conditions practicable for all men. Cal- 
 vinists hold that the atonement was designed to make 
 salvation ceitain, irrespective of any condition de- 
 pendent on the will of man, and hence was intended 
 only a part of mankind. 
 
 Richard Watson knew that there was a distinction 
 between punishment and satisfaction. He clearly 
 pointed out that distinction, but, unhappily, he did 
 not always keep it in mind. He so.netimes " leaned 
 too much" towards a system which confounds these 
 things. He thus occasionally supposed that Christ's 
 satisfaction for sin was made by " bearing the punish- 
 ment due to our offences." But satisfaction, in the 
 Calvinistic sense, cannot harmonize with Arminian 
 theology. Calvinists, seeing this, have replied : " If 
 Watson believes that Christ ' bore the punishment of 
 sin' for men, he is inconsistent when he says that 
 some for whom Christ died may be finally condemned 
 and punished ; " "For," says Annan, " how can the law 
 condemn when its penalty is perfectly paid ? How 
 can the Judge pronounce sentence when He has been 
 perfectly satisfied ? " (Annan's DifficvbUies of Atone- 
 'inent, p. 155.) But at other times Watson said : " Our 
 Lord Jesus did so die for all men as to make salvation 
 
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 "Our 
 alvation 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 230 
 
 attainable by all." (Watson, ii. p. 285.) This statement 
 implies that the atonement is a satisfaction for the 
 suspension of the penalty to give space for repentance ; 
 not a punishment for the prevention of the penalty, 
 whether a man repents or not. 
 
 Dr. Whedon saw the dangerous tendency of making 
 the death of Christ a substituted punishment, and 
 avoids it in some of his statements. He says : *' The 
 case of Damon, dying as a substitute for Pythias, does 
 not exactly represent the case of Christ dying for 
 sinners. To make the parallel complete, Damon 
 should so die for Pythias as that, unless Pythias should 
 accept the substitution of Damon in all its conditions, 
 he should not receive its benefits, and Damon's death 
 should be for him in vain : Pythias may be as right- 
 fully executed as if Damon had not died. If the 
 sinner accept not the atonement, but deny the Lord 
 that bought him, Christ has died for him in vain ; he 
 perishes for whom Christ died." (Bibliotheca Sacra., 
 vol. xix. pp. 260, 261.) " If Damon died in Pythias' 
 stead, the justice thereby satisfied was not absolute, 
 intuitive justice; but rectoral justice, the justice that 
 requires that law and government shall be sustained." 
 (lb. on Rom. iii. 25.) This illustration represents the 
 atonement to be, not a punishment by Justice, but a 
 satisfaction to righteousness. "The true doctrine," 
 says Pope," " is not that a penalty has been endured 
 by Christ instead of His people ; that He has occupied 
 their legal place, and borne their legal responsibility ; 
 and therefore they are forever discharged. It is 
 
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 240 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 rather that a sacrificial offering has been presented by 
 Him instead of the race ; and that He, making the 
 virtue of His atonement the strength of His plea, 
 represents all that come unto God by Him." (Pope, 
 Theol. ii. p. 271.) If they will not come to Him, the 
 proposed end is not secured. Accordingly, " Methodist 
 theology is clear and settled in the position that the 
 atonement renders man salvable, but does not neces- 
 sarily save him ; " that salvation is conditional on 
 trusting and confessing Christ ; and that, " if any 
 sinners deny the Lord that bought them, Christ has 
 died for them in vain ; in this case, he perishes for 
 whom Christ has died." {Bibliotheca Sacra., vol. xix. 
 pp. 260, 261.) 
 
 Some parties cannot see the need of priestly propitia- 
 tion in order to pardon and ref^c negation. They 
 think that " God is a mighty possessor of private 
 rights, not a public Ruler ; that the moral law is an 
 arbitrary expression of God's will ; that, if it pleased, 
 that will could reverse all moral distinctions ; that 
 the penalty was an arbitrary compensation for per- 
 sonal injury, and that a simple act of will could 
 sufficiently discharge from its obligation ; and that 
 God could exercise that will as freely as a creditor 
 or earthly master often does." The most free and 
 unconditional exercise of the pardoning power may 
 show a creditor to be a good creditor ; but it does 
 not follow that it would prove a ruler to be a good 
 ruler. " A creditor may release a debtor without 
 affecting the interest of any one but himself." But a 
 
 Pt:,l 
 
 Kit 
 
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 241 
 
 •II 
 
 ruler knows that public law is ordained, not merely for 
 the ruler, but for the benefit of all his subjects, and 
 that an unrestrained use of the pardoning power may 
 only cause " the most sacred rights of the community 
 to be disregarded, the protection of the law to be 
 removed, and the general good invaded." (Bledsoe, 
 part ii. p. 288.) God is more than creditor, guilt is 
 more than debt. Sin is a violation of public law, 
 which governmental authority has publicly proclaimed 
 and pledged itself to uphold, if necessary, by infliction 
 of punishment. " It is for the universal good that 
 punishment is enforced against the individual trans- 
 gressor." (Bledsoe.) This furnishes an answer to the 
 question : " Why may not God forgive sin without 
 any ground besides His own will, as a creditor forgives 
 his debtor, as a civil ruler forgives a criminal ?" He 
 cannot do so, because God is more than creditor, and 
 " guilt is more than debt." 
 
 It is true that earthly kings sometimes pardon by 
 mere prerogative, but it is because of the imperfection 
 of human institutions which cannot produce a law 
 suitable to all circumstances ; and which, therefore, 
 have occasioned decisions which seem far from being 
 equitable. An earthly ruler is sometimes induced 
 by a plea of this kind, to release from the sentence of 
 a judge. In these cases, however, pardon is an act 
 of equity rather than of mercy. But there is no such 
 defect in the law of God, or in its administration. 
 Besides, off'ence against human authority is a trifle in 
 comparison with offence against Divine authority. 
 
 Ml 
 
 ii 
 
M 
 
 242 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 m 
 
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 I 
 
 4' '. 
 
 %m 
 
 And even those lesser offences should be forgiven only 
 for the cjreat Mediator's sake : " Forgiving one another, 
 as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Eph. iv. 
 32.) " If a ruler treats sin as a trifle, how can his 
 subjects be expected to treat it otherwise?" (Randies.) 
 A reduced estimate of the evil of sin leads to a reduced 
 estimate of the beauty, and excellence, and obligation 
 of holiness. We should not ** obscure holiness by love, 
 or love by holiness ; but exhibit both in their Divine 
 harmony." (Dorner.) 
 
 God, as a Moral Governor, cannot forgive from mere 
 feeling or caprice. He must have due regard to the 
 prevention of crime, the preservation of order, and 
 the promotion of the best interests of those under His 
 authoritv. He must consider that fororiveness, on 
 slight grounds, would annul the authority of the law, 
 and render it powerless to accomplish its important 
 governmental ends. In a word, that it would not be 
 consistent with the interests of moral government to 
 pardon sin in a manner that would impair the 
 authority and efficiency of the law. Hence there 
 were obstacles in the way of mercy which the Mediator 
 undertook to remove. If, indeed, God did not rule 
 according to the principles and plans of moral govern- 
 ment ; if He acted from unconditional purpose, and 
 with irresistible power, there would be no obstacles in 
 the way ; and, therefore, no need of a Mediator at all. 
 On this supposition, if one was introduced, it would be 
 merely by arbitrary appointment, and would make 
 Him a mere subordinate link in the chain of a neces- 
 sitating decree. 
 
JfT 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LEADING THEORIES. 
 
 248 
 
 Dr.* Pope calls attention to the fact that the media- 
 torial work of Christ is described in Scripture under 
 various figures or analogies, because no one of them 
 could adequately present the whole of His work. But 
 many interpreters have overlooked this fact, or have 
 not followed its guidance. Instead of examining the 
 whole of the analogies, they have selected, some one, 
 and some another, and made it the sole basis of their 
 theological views. They have thus formed different 
 theories. But, as Dr. Pope says, " They have fallen 
 into many erorrs from failing to connect the three 
 leading Biblical ideas : the atonement in God, as a 
 necessity in the Divine attributes ; the reconciliation 
 on earth, as vindicating to the universe the rectoral 
 justice of God ; and the exhibition of the redemption 
 to man as moving upon the conscience and will and 
 heart. The union of these is the doctrine set forth in 
 Scripture. Neither of these theories is valid standing 
 alone. Each is necessary as the complement of the 
 others. The doctrine would commend itself more 
 than it does to the mind of all devout persons if jus- 
 tice was done to every aspect. The champion of 
 either of these theories who thinks it necessary abso- 
 lutely to deny the truth of the others, proves that his 
 own is wrong." (Theol. ii. p. 314.) 
 
 Of all theories of the sufferings of Christ, the pro- 
 pitiatory "affords the fullest disclosure of Divine 
 benevolence." " Say His death was but the incidental 
 result of His incarnation and brotherhood, then we 
 lament it as a misfortune, rather than rejoice in it as a 
 requisite moral leverage to raise abject humanity." 
 
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 244 
 
 THE ONE MEDrATOU. 
 
 
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 " Say Christ died only as a martyr, then the love re- 
 vealed must rank with that of the noble army." " Say 
 He suffered to an incomparable and inconceivable 
 depth of His own free-will . . . because by such 
 means alone" He could open a way of deliverance 
 from the horrid evil of sin, and from its fearful penalty ; 
 "then the lo^^'i of God beams forth with surpassing 
 brilliance, t- *ag more than aught beside to melt us 
 into con trie ..x for sin against so loving a God, to per- 
 vade our obdurate hearts with warmest gratitude, to 
 inspire confidence in the overture of His gospel, and to 
 constrain us ' to seek grace,' to run in the way of His 
 commandments." (Randies, p. 149.) " The gospel is 
 grace to man through a propitiation offered to God." 
 (Smeaton, Atonement, p. 436.) God wins men's hearts 
 by the perfect blending of righteousness and mercy 
 in the work of redemption. His unswerving righteous- 
 ness inspires a solemn reverence, while His teeming 
 mercy suffuses reverence with filial love." (Randies, 
 p. 150.) The propitiatory theory of the atonement 
 has also every element of moral influence. It in- 
 cludes, " whatever there is of power in a perfectly 
 sinless life, of a life of self-sacrifice and devotion to 
 the service of God, whatever there is of power in the 
 prolonged' exhibition of a love which surpasses know- 
 ledge ; whatever there is of jiower in the truths which 
 Christ taught, and which He sealed with His blood, 
 truths either before entirely unknown or only imper- 
 fectly apprehended " (Hodge, Theology, ii. p. 542) ; all 
 these are contained in a higher degree in a propitiatory 
 theory, than in any other theory. 
 
( 245 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 APPENDED CONDITIONS OF SALVATION. 
 
 Christ's atoninor sacrifice did not produce im- 
 mediately all the results that were in contemplation. 
 Some of them were left dependent on conditions. 
 Paul knew that salvation was not dispensed the 
 moment Christ's propitiation was accepted ; for he in- 
 forms us that Christ was afterwards " exalted to be a 
 Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel 
 and remission of sins." These were to be given after 
 His exaltation, and in compliance with His subsequent 
 intercession ; and therefore were not bestowed the 
 moment that His propitiatory sacrifice was completed. 
 
 The whole work of Christ, from His incarnation to 
 His ascension, was " accomplished without interfering 
 ivith the free agency of any one being." " It does not 
 constrain God to exercise mercy ; and it does not con- 
 strain the sinner to accept of pardon." (Jenkyns.) It 
 left the offer of pardon to be God's own voluntary act ; 
 and the bestowment of offered pardon to be dependent 
 on conditions expressed in the offer, and on the volun- 
 tary intercession of Christ for those who attend to 
 these cor^Hions. And it left the bestowment of some 
 other all-important blessings to be equally voluntary, 
 and equally conditional and dependent. A condition is, 
 
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 ' I 
 
 II 
 
 i|i ^ 
 
 1 
 
 III 
 
 'll 
 
 246 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 properly speaking, a free act done by us, not a qualifi- 
 cation irresistibly wrought in us, as some erroneously 
 describe it. The great law under which we act, is that 
 there are conditions on which nearly all that we hope 
 for depends. " It is true that favors are sometimes 
 conferred without respect to any known conditions ; 
 but it is also true that such interpositions are very 
 rare ; so rare that they never enter into a wise man's 
 calculations, when deciding on a course of action. 
 But as a general thing, " If we are to have anything, 
 it is on certain conditions ; if wealth, we are to labor 
 for it ; if health, we are to take proper precautions in 
 regard to it ; if reputation, we are to show that we 
 deserve it." (^1. Barnes.) Since this is the general law 
 under which we live, no one should complain if the 
 offer of heaven is put on a conditional footing. Heaven 
 is God's home, and He has a right to say on what con- 
 ditions man may be permitted to enter and dwell 
 there. It is, in fact, the common opinion of mankind 
 that there are conditions of salvation ; though they 
 differ widely as to the precise nature of those con- 
 ditions, and sometimes dispute about the offered terms, 
 and propose modifications. 
 
 For wise reasons the atonement made by Christ 
 did not bind God to pardon, but merely rendered it 
 just in God to give pardon and regeneration on pru- 
 dential conditions ; and therefore to the penitent and 
 believing only — not to the impenitent and unbelieving. 
 And God, by His Word and Spirit, employs motives 
 and influences suflScient to induce men to become peni- 
 
CONDITIONS OF SALVATION. 
 
 247 
 
 lalifi- 
 
 oiisly 
 
 ; that 
 
 hope 
 
 itimes 
 
 tions ; 
 very 
 
 man's 
 
 iction. 
 
 'thing, 
 
 ) labor 
 
 ons in 
 
 lat we 
 
 ral law 
 if the 
 
 [leaven 
 
 at con- 
 dwell 
 
 ankind 
 they 
 e con- 
 terms, 
 
 Christ 
 ered it 
 m pru- 
 jnt and 
 
 ieving. 
 otives 
 
 e peni- 
 
 tent and believing. There is no intention to make 
 man a mere passive recipient of the blessings con- 
 nected with the plan of salvation, " as a stone is made 
 warm in the sunshine, or wet in a shower of rain." 
 Rational beings may expect that the attainment of 
 some benefits would be made dependent on some use 
 of their own agency. The propriety of making them 
 thus dependent is widely acted on. For instance, 
 " when the authorities of a town establish a public 
 pump, they invite all to use it, but see no impropriety 
 in omitting to compel men to comply with their invi- 
 tation." They have made it easy to get water ; they 
 have granted permission to use it ; they do not think 
 it advisable to go so far as to compel them to do so. It * 
 is reasonable to require that men should in some way 
 show an interest in salvation, a sense of its value, and 
 a desire to obtain it. God has provided and offered 
 salvation, but left room for our- voluntary act of 
 coming for it, and made our doing so a condition for 
 obtaining it. The conditions of salvation are of a 
 general character, so as to be adapted to all, and are so 
 easy that all can attend to them no matter how they 
 differ in talents, wealth, or rank. The conditions ap- 
 pointed by God are, (1) repentance, (2) faith. 
 
 Mi 
 
(248; 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 1 1. 
 
 FIRST CONDITION — UKPKNT YE. 
 
 Repentanck is a condition of salvation. " Ropont, 
 for th(; kin<£(loin of luiaven is at liand." " It bdhoviHl 
 tlie Clirist to suffer, tliat repentance; and r-eniission of 
 sins might b(; pn^aclu^d." " Him luith God exfilted for 
 to jL^iv(; n^pentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." 
 Ood to the' Gentiles also bath gi*anted r(qi(!ntanc(; to 
 life. Paul t(^stified to the UrfH^ks "repentance towards 
 God." "(iod connnanded all men evcirywlu^re to 
 n^pcuit." Repentance is mentioned l)y Paul as the 
 foundation to be laid f)y man. (Heb. vi. I.) 
 
 We cannot in any one text of Scriptun; find, in dis- 
 tinct (h^tail, and according to the ord(;r of experience, 
 all the reflections, convictions, feelings, purposes, and 
 acts, that are <lirectly, or indirectly, connected with 
 repentance. The omission of such a summary was not 
 an ovcM'siglit ; it was manifestly intentional. Very 
 |)lain an<l full details wouhl by too many be made an 
 occasion, and an excuse for setting aside, a reconsid- 
 eration of principle's ; and without such a reconsider- 
 ation we could not feel and exercise re.'pentance, no 
 matter how fully we understood tlie nature and ordei* 
 of its (h'tails. But by an (examination into principles, 
 conducted under divine assistance, we can be brought 
 
 :lN|i 
 
lopont, 
 (shoved 
 ision of 
 Ited for 
 it sins, 
 aiicc to 
 towards 
 lic.ro to 
 as the 
 
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 ^s(5S, and 
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 was not 
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 ladt^ an 
 [(^consid- 
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 inciples, 
 brought 
 
 HP:rKNT VK. 
 
 249 
 
 true 
 
 at onco to understand, feel, and exercise 
 repentance. 
 
 Repentanc(^ is connected witli the Gospel. " It be- 
 hoved th(; (yhrist to suHer that n^pentance may be 
 pr(!ac]i(!d." (Lulvi; xxiv.) He was (exalted a Princ(; and 
 a Saviour " to give repentance' to Israel and remission 
 of sins." Il('p(!ntanc(; is not command(Ml by the law. 
 The law has only threatenings for tlu^ sinner. Henc(; 
 conviction by th(! law makes the, sinner tr(;mble, and 
 sh(;ws the ne(Ml of salvation by spfjcial mediation. 
 But the if )sp(;l has good n(;ws foi* the sinn(;r, that, for 
 Christ's sak<;, spac(^ is given to*rep(;nt , that pardon is 
 oHV^red to the; pnnitent ; that renewal is offered to the 
 pardon(^d;and that thc^se are offered through th(i Medi- 
 ator. The parabl(5 of the prodigal son illustrates (Jod's 
 fathcirly disposition towards the penitent ; l)ut it does 
 not touch on i\w, (pi(!stion of tlu^ necessity of atone- 
 iiH^nt. ()th(!r scriptuHis show that it is only through 
 (vhrist that r('p(;ntanc(i could be of any avail towards 
 reconciliation. "The doctrine of the Gospel appears 
 to be, not only that Christ taught the efficacy of 
 repentance, but that He made it to be of the efficacy 
 which \u has ; not only that fie r(!veal(;d to sinners that 
 they w(U\', in a capacity of salvation, but that I-.: put 
 them into this capacity, by what H<i did and suffered for 
 tluim." (Kmory's A n/dtjsw of JiuUer,\). Ixvii.) The 
 Gospel is good news to a sinner. It tells him In; may 
 repent, and that means are used to enable him to 
 repent. It is good news to a penitent; it says he may 
 believe and trust the Go;, pel ofler of pardon and 
 1« 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
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 I 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 I 
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 Mi 
 
lwm> 
 
 
 250 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 renewal made to the penitent. A sincere, affectionate 
 and urgent offer of salvation is made to every personal 
 sinner ; and nora perish but those who reject a mercy 
 free for all and attainable by all. 
 
 We must carefully keep in remembrance, then, that 
 repentance belongs to the Gospel plan of salvation — 
 to the covenant of grace — not to the covenant of 
 works. " It behoved the Christ to suffer that repent- 
 ance and remission of sins may be preached in His 
 name." (Luke xxiv.) He was exalted to give repent- 
 ance. It did not behove the Christ to suffer and to be 
 exalted, that obedience to the law of holy command- 
 ments should be proclaimed. This was proclaimed to 
 ang^els, for whom Christ never suffered. 
 
 Let us look at the place that repentance occupies in 
 the covenant of grace. When arranging the plan of 
 salvation, God assigned the work of making atonement 
 for the guilt of past sin to the Lord Jesus Christ ; and 
 He assigned to the Divine Spirit the work of regen- 
 erating man's present sinfulness of disposition. After 
 having given to God the Son and God the Spirit, the 
 works just mentioned. He gives man something to do. 
 He calls on all men everywhere to repent. Therefore 
 man's work of repentance must be wholly distinct 
 from Christ's work of atonement, and from the Spirit's 
 work of sanctification. Yet many overlook these dis- 
 tinct arrangements, and consequently erroneously 
 imagine man's work of repentance to be the same as 
 those which were assigned to the divine agents already 
 mentioned. 
 
Vf 
 
 " 
 
 REPENT YE. 
 
 251 
 
 iionate 
 
 jrsonal 
 
 mercy 
 
 m, 
 
 that 
 
 ation — 
 nant of 
 repent- 
 in His 
 repent- 
 nd to be 
 unmand- 
 imed to 
 
 Let us look at these points more closely. And (1), 
 at the distinction between man's work of repentance 
 and Christ's work of atonement. The work of making 
 atonement for the guilt of past sins was given to 
 Christ, was undertaken by Him, was accomplished by 
 Him by one sacrifice of Himself ; and that one offering 
 was accepted of God the Father. After this atoning 
 work had been given to the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 work of repentance was given to man ; it is obvious, 
 therefore, that this work of repentance was not to be 
 an atoning work, did not enjoin the sinner to endure 
 any suffering which God may regard as a satisfaction 
 or propitiation for sin. It was Christ who was to 
 undertake this work, and He has made a perfect pro- 
 pitiation for the sin of the world. Yet many disregard 
 this special appointment, and think that man should 
 do the work which God assigned to Christ. On this 
 account, repentance has been changed into penance. 
 Its object has been supposed to be to get man to do 
 something to atone for the sins which he has com- 
 mitted. But to attempt to make atonement for our- 
 selves is to deny the sufficiency of the sacrifice which 
 Clirist has made, if not to supersede it altogether. To 
 give efficacy to the atterript is impossible. Man himself 
 could not offler satisfaction, and hence was sentenced 
 to suffer punishment. All that man himself could do 
 would be to go instantly and endure uninterruptedly 
 the " tribulation and anguish which will be everlast- 
 ing." To make reparation to God is not possible for 
 man. To make restitution to a fellow-being, who has 
 
 I ! 
 
 i. I 
 
■V 
 
 i t 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 m 1 
 
 252 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 been wronged by us, is sometimes in our power, and is 
 required of us. But this is a wholly different matter. 
 
 Some think Christ's atonement was insufficient. 
 They think they have to do something to move God to 
 pity them, and dispose Him to forgive. Hence, they 
 imagine that to repent is to punish themselves in this 
 life by some outward act of mortification. They think 
 they may substitute the sufferings felt by a sinner, in re- 
 pentance, for the punishment due to the sinner. Hence, 
 in prostrate humiliation, they lie in sackcloth, they 
 defile the body with dust, fast, sigh, weep, and groan, 
 whole days and nights before the Lord God. For 
 what ? To move divine pity. What ! Is not God love ? 
 Did not divine love, of its own accord, propose the 
 plan of salvation, and send Christ to make atonement 
 for them, and the Spirit to renew them ; and is He 
 not in Christ reconciling the world to Himself ? Why, 
 then, try now to originate in Him the disposition to 
 show mercy ? It has been originated. You cannot 
 take the first step ; God has taken it. 
 
 (2) The work of regenerating the human heart was 
 assigned to God the Holy Ghost. And then to man 
 was given the work of repenting. It is obvious, there- 
 fore, that man's work of repentance is wholly different 
 from the Spirit's work of regeneration. Yet many 
 confound these, and think that the command to repent 
 is a command to awaken within themselves that holy 
 love to God which excludes all indifference, lukewarm- 
 ness, and enmity ; and which cheerfully and zealously 
 keeps the commandments of God. They find, however, 
 
 I 
 
w 
 
 and is 
 natter, 
 fficient. 
 God to 
 36, they 
 i in this 
 !y think 
 er,inre- 
 Hence, 
 th, they 
 d groan, 
 )d. For 
 \od love ? 
 >pose the 
 tonement 
 nd is He 
 n Why, 
 Dsition to 
 ,u cannot 
 
 heart was 
 In to man 
 ms, there- 
 different 
 "et many 
 to repent 
 I that holy 
 ikewarm- 
 zealously 
 however, 
 
 REPENT YE. 
 
 253 
 
 that they cannot do this work. They cannot renew 
 their own dispositions ; and then they strangely con- 
 clude that they cannot repent. They were not trying 
 to do the work of repentance, which God assigned to 
 man ; they were trying to do the Spirit's work of 
 regeneration. That they cannot do tlie latter is no 
 proof that they could not do the former. In short 
 repentance pre-supposes that man's unfitness for holy 
 obedience is too great to be removed by the will of 
 man. A process of depressing sorrow cannot do the 
 renewing work of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 Repentance is not simply turning round after going 
 wrong, and beginning to go right. The command to 
 repent is addressed to a sinner ; it is therefore obvious 
 that it is entirely distinct from the command to obey 
 as a saint. Yet many confound these, and imagine 
 that repentance is to be performed by obeying the 
 law of the holy commandments. This could be obeyed 
 only from that love which is the fulfilling of the law. 
 This love is not found in any unrenewed heart ; hence 
 no unrenewed heart can obey the law acceptably. 
 Some try to do it, but soon discover that they cannot 
 succeed. From this failure they wrongly conclude 
 that they cannot repent : that repentance is to them 
 an impossibility. But the fact is they were not even 
 trying to repent. Instead of trying to repent as sin- 
 ners, they were trying to obey as saints. Previous 
 regeneration, or renewal in love, would be necessary in 
 order to perform holy obedience ; but is not neces- 
 sary in order to repent as sinners. 
 
 ^ii 
 
 iUh 
 
i*i 
 
 I J n! 
 
 254 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 It is not easy, however, to change a man's good 
 opinion of hi.^; own heart, so that he will admit that 
 he cannot V)y :>uch means lead God to entertain a good 
 opinion of him, and receive him into favor. Men 
 think they can show God that their hearts are 
 better than their past works seem to indicate. They 
 would at least like to climb up a little way, on a self- 
 made ladder, out of the horrible pit, in the hope that 
 God may coniiuiserate their earnest struggles and do 
 for them all the rest that is needed. They would like 
 thus to grow out of inability into ability. " God's 
 order is to bring the soul to Christ, in order that it 
 may be brought to holiness. Man's order is to try 
 and come to holiness, that he may then come to 
 Christ." (Beard.) Men would rather try to deserve 
 that God should love them ; than believe that He 
 has already loved them, so as to devise a plan of 
 salvation. 
 
 It is next important to notice the place which 
 repentance occupies in the order of personal experi- 
 ence. It pre-supposes that we have sinned, for it 
 means to think differently after (from /lera in the 
 double sense of differently and after ; and voeu to think). 
 On the other hand it comes before justifying faith. The 
 scripture order is repent ye and believe the gospel." As 
 repentance precedes faith ; so faith precedes justifica- 
 tion ; for the scripture doctrine is, that "God justifieth 
 the ungodly who believe." Since a man's heart is un 
 godly, at the time of first exercising justifying faith, 
 it is evident that he does not need to be regenerated in 
 
REPENT YE. 
 
 25 
 
 o 
 
 order to believe ; and therefore that he does not need 
 to be regenerated in order to the repentance that pre- 
 cedes justifying faith. The help that the Spirit gives 
 for these exercises, is not given in the form of regen- 
 erating grace. Regeneration is a renewal unto obe- 
 dience to the law. But before the renewal unto 
 obedience, there is a " renewal unto repentance," and 
 this is performed by the Spirit's work of " convincing 
 of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment." Hence re- 
 pentance follows the convincing work of the Spirit ; 
 but precedes the regenerating work of the Spirit. 
 
 As repentance may be exercised previous to regen- 
 eration, it includes only such convictions, feelings, 
 purposes, and acts, as may be awakened by the 
 convincing word and Spirit of God, in the intellect, 
 ''.on science, and will of an accountable free agent, 
 Wiiose heart is still unregenerate. Being exercised at 
 this stage, it is evident that it is not necessary to 
 have the most tender feelings and holy affections in 
 order to ask God to take away our " stony heart, and 
 give us a heart of flesh." Yet many think they can- 
 not repent ; because they cannot feel such blushing 
 emotions as an archangel may be supposed to show 
 if forcibly pushed into, and held in some loathsome 
 defilement. The Son of God "came not to call the 
 righteous to repent, but to call sinners to repentance." 
 They should come in this character, and not try to 
 clothe themselves with feelings and emotions, that 
 would make them appear to have little or no need of 
 repentance. The Holy Spirit's work is to convince 
 
 H! 
 
! ,' 111 
 
 1 ' 
 "'1- 
 
 ^ lilt 
 
 f 
 
 ill 1 
 
 
 25G 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 them of sin, 8o that they may become clissatisfied 
 with themselves. To try to do something that would 
 make them feel self-satisfied, is to try to defeat the 
 Spirit's work of conviction. The man who is con- 
 vinced, on undoubted evidence, that lie labors under a 
 grievous malady, can never think highly of himself on 
 account of that conviction. "A man dying of thirst 
 would be very unwise if he refused to dip up water 
 with his own marred pitcher, and insisted upon wait- 
 ing ^\\\ he could purchase a golden bowl." 
 
 The Divine Spirit is sent in Christ's name to enable 
 men to repent. For this purpose He convinces the 
 world of sin, and of righteousness and judgment ; and 
 thus aids fallen men to form I'ight moral judgments, 
 and feel corresponding moral sentiments. They can, 
 by this means, form right views of the essential dis- 
 tinction between good and evil. They can be brought 
 to feel the obligations under which they are to con- 
 form to the one, and avoid the other. They can, by 
 His aid, form in some measure right views of God's 
 moral character ; and of the dutief^ tney owe to God. 
 They can have a right apprehension of the commend- 
 ableness of obedience, and the punishableness of diso- 
 bedience. They can be made to understand that 
 obedience to the law of God is binding, not because 
 they have ability by nature to obey it, but because 
 the provisions of the new covenant place it in their 
 power to obtain that ability. That covenant says : 
 " I will put my law into their minds, and in their 
 hearts will I write them." Hence, if man's heart con- 
 
 m 
 
REPENT YE. 
 
 257 
 
 tinucs to bo unfit for duty, it is because bo neglects or 
 rejects tb(i remedy. Such neglect is no excuse for 
 omission of duty or commission of sin. 
 
 The Divine Spirit disposes them to try and under- 
 stand the bearing of the Divine law on their own case, 
 to examine and prove their own selves, and to discover 
 the guiltiness of their past conduct, and the sinfulness 
 of their present predispositions. They are thus led 
 " to come to themselves." " The world," says one, " is 
 full of fugitives from themselves." They resort to 
 all the various sorts of amusements to become forgetful 
 of themselves. But the Spirit opens their eyes to see 
 themselves, and disposes them to make the examina- 
 tion. Men in their unrenewed state have wrong views 
 and feelings, arising from a wrong state of heart. 
 The heart hy nature is enmity to God, and is not 
 subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. En- 
 mity is prone to misrepresent and caricature the object 
 hated, and leads the mind to imagine that the hated 
 thing deserves the hatred felt. Because they hate 
 God they imagine that He is a hard task-master, and 
 that His perfect law of liberty is an arbitrary appoint- 
 ment, and a severe slave law. Now, to remove the 
 misrepresentations of enmity is one thing ; to remove 
 the enmity itself is another. The misrepresentations 
 of enmity are to be removed during the process of 
 repentance and faith ; the enmity itself is to be re- 
 moved by the Spirit's work of regeneration. Those 
 misrepresentations of enmity may be removed by 
 giving voluntarily attention to the testimonies and 
 
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 11 
 
 258 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 laws of God. Our intellect can thus become convinced 
 that the views which the carnal mind led us to form 
 of the cliaracter and law of God are misrepresenta- 
 tions ; that we "hated Him without a cause ;" that His 
 law is, in fact, " holy, and just, and good." Paul, for 
 instance, while still carnal, was brought to admit this, 
 and even to " delight in the law of God after the inner 
 man," after the intellectual man. What our under- 
 standing thinks to be the law of God, our conscience 
 will prompt us to do. What our understanding thinks 
 to be contrary to the law of God, our conscience will 
 prompt us to avoid. Conscience may be brought to 
 do this, even while the heart is still unrenewed, and 
 therefore still averse to the law of God. Not only 
 so, conscience will condemn the unrenewed when they 
 do what is wrong. They feel this condemnation to 
 be a righteous one ; not because they by nature have 
 ability for holy obedience, but liecause that ability 
 may be obtained by those who penitently and believ- 
 ingly pray for it ; and they might have been, and still 
 may be, brought to pray thus penitently and belie vingly, 
 by giving voluntary and due attention to the motives 
 presented for consideration in the word of God. And 
 these may be rightly understood by the aid of the 
 Spirit of God. And they have had power to giv;3 
 attention to such motives, because man's understanding 
 is under the direction of His free-will. Our will can 
 turn the attention of our understanding to consider 
 motives of any kind, good or bad. By thus giving 
 attention to the teachings of the word and Spirit of 
 
REPENT YE. 
 
 259 
 
 God, man can be " convinced of sin and righteousness." 
 What they need is graciously placed within their 
 reach. It is their duty to seek this attainable aid, in 
 order to obey the law. To remain without thi^ ability, 
 is inexcusable heedlessness, or perverseness on their 
 part. Hence it does not excuse transgression of the 
 law. On the contrary, transgressions in these circum- 
 stances is imputed as conduct that is justly deserving 
 of condemnation and punishment. Thenceforth they 
 have not only to seek ability for proper obedience, but 
 to repent of disobedience. The characters and work- 
 ings of our predispositions are not beyond our control 
 when we can get them regenerated by the Spirit in 
 answer to prayer. The propriety of requiring men to 
 repent is thus clearly seen. Man's sinful disposition, 
 though inherited from Adam, is retained by personal 
 choice, in the case of those who reject the proffered 
 remedy. God can justly be angry with such cherished 
 propensities, and with the acts which proceed from it, 
 and can equitably require that man should repent of 
 them. 
 
 The plan of salvation pre-supposes the guilt and 
 sinfulness of man. Only those who feel these can see 
 the need of that plan, and the wisdom of it. Only 
 those who see these will apply to it, and find it to be 
 the "power of God to salvation." It is not enough to 
 be convicted by argument that the race is guilty, and 
 therefore that we as part of the race are guilty. We 
 must be convicted by the Spirit that we are person- 
 ally guilty ; and the Spirit does produce this convic- 
 
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 260 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 tioii, notwithstanding the presence of perverted views 
 of mental philosophy, morals, or theology. 
 
 "The Spirit convinces of righteousness." He pro- 
 duces a deep conviction that the conduct of God has 
 been honorable and right, and that the sinner's conduct 
 towards God is dishonorable and wrong." The Lord 
 Jesus Christ admitted and honored the divine right- 
 eousness, when He went to make propitiation for sin 
 and transgression. To a mind which regards God's 
 acts towards him to be at variance with the funda- 
 mental principles of equity and honor, genuine con- 
 viction of sin, honest confession, and honorable re- 
 pentance are impossible. Hence the tempter specially 
 tries to get men to question God's dealings with them, 
 in order to prevent their repentance towards God. 
 Not only so; but to feel angry by the Divine procedure. 
 Anger shuts out repentance. On the other hand, to 
 induce repentance the Spirit convinces of righteous- 
 ness. Law work precedes gospel work in all God's 
 dealings with souls. 
 
 The original word Metanoia properly denotes after- 
 consideration ; such reflection on one's past life as 
 produces a serious change of purpose from a wrong to 
 a right course. It differs from the word Metarnelia, 
 which denotes grief for what has been done, without 
 any purpose to change one's conduct for the future. 
 
 "Repentance is, in some sense, understood by all 
 persons, and is in some form practised by all. You 
 cannot find a person who has not at some time exer- 
 cised repentance towards man. You have broken the 
 
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 ]T 
 
 REPENT YE. 
 
 261 
 
 commands of an earthly father. His law was plain 
 and his will was clear. When the deed is performed 
 you reflect on what you have done. You see that his 
 commands were right ; that you have done wrong by 
 breaking his law, and have incurred his just displea- 
 sure. He has always treated you kindly; his com- 
 mands have never been unreasonable, and you cannot 
 justify yourself in what you have done. You see that 
 you have done wrong. You feel pain or distress that 
 you did the wrong. You resolve that you will do 
 so no more ; but go and confess it. If you had 
 allowed your mind to be influenced by slanderous 
 reports concerning him, and had joined with those 
 who manifested suspicion and alienation towards him ; 
 you discover that this was as unjust as it was un- 
 grateful, and you resolve to go to him and confess this, 
 too, and implore forgiveness." "Let these simple 
 elements be transferred to God, and to religion, and 
 you have all that is included in repentance towards 
 God." (Barnes.) 
 
 When a man examines himself, he becomes con- 
 vinced that he has misrepresented the character of God 
 and His purposes ; that he has been alienated from God 
 without cause ; that he has transgressed the holy, just, 
 and good laws of God; that he has done this frequently, 
 not by a few negligences in a course of obedience, not 
 by one or two failures in a generally successful 
 struggle ; but, on the one hand, by entire omission of 
 duty during the unrenewed state. He considers these 
 omissions in particular, one after another ; for general 
 
 iii 
 
 HI' 
 
 >]r 
 

 5 ' 
 
 262 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 views make no proper impressions. He thinks of his 
 want of love, his want of gratitude, his want of rever- 
 ence, his neglect of the Bible, his neglect to keep holy 
 the Sabbath day. Human laws are content with regu- 
 lating the actions, because they cannot take cognizance 
 of the heart. But men, in their private judgment of 
 one another, take into account not merely actions, but 
 feelings and motives, as far as they can discover them. 
 So God looks upon the heart, upon the thoughts and 
 feelings and motives, and judges the outward acts by 
 these. And the sinner is made especially to feel this, 
 so that a sense of indifference and alienation of affec- 
 tion specially induces him to seek salvation from such 
 a stony heart. 
 
 He thinks, on the other hand, of his many wrong 
 thoughts, words, and acts. He has personally trans- 
 gressed the law of God. That law is perfect ; there is 
 no appeal, therefore, from law to equity. This appeal 
 can be made only where the law is imperfect. He sees 
 that he sinned against a wise and benevolent ruler, 
 against a patient and long-suffering God, who has no 
 pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he 
 should turn from his wicked ways and live. 
 
 This "godly sorrow" — sorrow towards God — "work- 
 eth repentance towards God." This comprehensive 
 conviction produces some degree of real sorrow, that 
 he had misrepresented the character of Gou ; sorrow, 
 that he had been transgressing a holy, just, and good 
 law ; sorrow, that he had been " forsaking the fountain 
 of living waters, and hewing out cisterns, broken cis- 
 
 M^ t 
 
 il i^ 
 
REPENT YE. 
 
 263 
 
 3 of his 
 ; rever- 
 5p holy 
 h regu- 
 nizance 
 nent of 
 ms, but 
 r them. 
 bts and 
 acts by 
 3el this, 
 )f affec- 
 )m such 
 
 J wrong 
 kr trans- 
 there is 
 appeal 
 He sees 
 it ruler, 
 3 has no 
 that he 
 
 -"work- 
 hensive 
 
 >w, that 
 sorrow, 
 
 Qcl good 
 'ountain 
 ken cis- 
 
 terns that can hold no water;" sorrow, that while 
 omitting righteousness, he has been forfeiting the eter- 
 nal rewards of righteousness. As a convicted child 
 is made sorrowful by his father's looks, so is man 
 brought to feel penitential sorrow by the looks of a 
 divine and righteous Father, who is grieved at ingra- 
 titude, offended by impurity, and indignant at wrong- 
 doing. 
 
 When awakened by reflection, men will think, also, 
 of their conduct towards their fellow-men. " They 
 may not have gone to the excesses that have awakened 
 public condemnation, yet they may find their treat- 
 ment of men less perfect than they supposed ; their 
 treatment of their father less respectful than they had 
 imagined, their treatment of mother less kind, their 
 compassion for the suffering and the sad less tender, 
 their charities less generous, their temper less amiable, 
 than they should have been. And they probably will 
 be convinced of many worse faults, or even of some 
 crimes." 
 
 When convinced that we have done wrong, there 
 is self-condemnation, a sense of ill-desert, of blame- 
 worthiness. This, it may be, is manifested in our 
 present bodily organization by a blush of shame, or an 
 averted or downcast eye. 
 
 As there is distress in remembrance of the past, 
 caused by the moral character of what we have done ; 
 so there is apprehension in view of the future, because 
 after the Spirit convinces of sin and of righteous- 
 ness. He convinces of "judgment to come." He con- 
 
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 m 
 
 :t 
 
 IHIIII 
 
 li 1 ' 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 264 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 vinces that where there is guilt there is danger of 
 punishment; that "the wrath of God is revealed from 
 heaven aojainst all unjjodliness and unricjliteousness of 
 men ;" that that punishment is threatened by a God 
 who cannot deceive, and who can arrest and punish 
 whether men like it or not. Where there is threaten- 
 ing there should be fear ; and where there is no fear 
 there is no true belief in God's threateninjjs. Unbe- 
 lief makes God a liar. "The Spirit convinces that 
 God's threatenings are true, and that we should not 
 presume on His forbearance ; but fear, since He has 
 threatened that, unless we repent, He will strike us. 
 Yet His threatenings are conditional ; let us not des- 
 pair, but hope that if we repent He will spare us." 
 (Sanderson.) 
 
 Men everywhere, even in their unrenewed state, are 
 so constituted that they fear punishment more than 
 they love forbidden pleasure. Hence, through fear 
 of the wrath to come, they may be led to renounce 
 those unlawful pleasures which their sinful heart 
 loves. Fear kills out the delight in sin. Damocles 
 cannot eat the banquet with any pleasure so long as 
 the naked sword hangs by a single hair over his head. 
 There are moments of strong temptation and sudden 
 surprisal, especially in youth, when all other motives 
 may fail to influence. Arguments drawn from the 
 beauty of virtue, and the excellencies of piety, are too 
 ethereal for persons in such moments. But even then 
 the terror of the Lord can persuade them to depart 
 from evil. This, too, can enable them to overcome 
 
 rfStlMHlll 
 
w 
 
 REPENT YE. 
 
 265 
 
 ijrer of 
 id from 
 mess of 
 
 a God 
 
 punish 
 ireaten- 
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 Unbe- 
 ces that 
 )uld not 
 
 He has 
 irike us. 
 not des- 
 3are us." 
 
 state, are 
 ore than 
 ugh fear 
 renounce 
 ul heart 
 Damocles 
 
 long as 
 his head, 
 d sudden 
 
 motives 
 from the 
 y, are too 
 even then 
 to depart 
 overcome 
 
 human opposition. The fear of God delivers from the 
 fear of man. 
 
 This fear, however, is but a means to an end. It 
 is intended to lead to repentance, and then to give 
 place to the perfect love that casteth out fear. Some 
 are not willinrr to be led to Christ by a sense of dan- 
 ger, or by a fear of the wrath to come. But if they 
 have not felt the force of higher motives, it is per- 
 verseness to refuse to yield to these. When God 
 presents such motives it cannot be wrong to be influ- 
 enced by them. It is not wrong when pained to wish 
 for relief ; it is not wrong when sick to send for a 
 physician. Without apprehension of danger, many 
 will not listen to the invitations of the Saviour. 
 
 A sinner may, from a sense of his danger and 
 misery, pray to be saved from that danger and misery. 
 The desire of even a wicked man to be saved from 
 suffering may be sincere, for it is the "instinctive 
 desire of every percipient being," whether holy or 
 unholy. Such a desire is "neither morally good nor 
 morally evil. Not being morally evil, the desire to be 
 saved from suffering, and the cry of the sinner for 
 mercy, are not therefore in themselves displeasing to 
 God. Not being morally good, they are not in them- 
 selves pleasing, but being sincere, they may be heard 
 and regarded." (Altered from Diuight.) 
 
 The ojeneral character of this solicitude is a sense of 
 
 danger and insecurity in their present state, a feeling 
 
 that something ought to be done in order to be saved, 
 
 an awakened interest in the plan of salvation, a grow- 
 
 19 
 
 I 'Hi' 
 
m 
 
 266 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ing conviction of the importance of religion. There 
 arc "fruits meet for repentance — the crushing sense of 
 ingratitude — the careful avoidance of evil — the earn- 
 est; inquiry after good — the submissive search for 
 truth — and the restless anxiety which refuses to be 
 satisfied without the experience of its power." (Mev. 
 W. M. Punshon.) 
 
 Men can be brought to act for the purpose of avoid- 
 ing evil, whether they regard it as certain, as probable, 
 or merely as possible. For example, we get our pro- 
 perty insured, when we know it is only possible that it 
 may be burned. We use expensive precautions against 
 cholera, when it is only probable that it will come 
 near us. We could act on similar convictions respect- 
 ing the threatened judicial consequences of sin. A 
 conviction of even the possibility of a judgment to 
 come, of a heaven and a hell, and of being banished 
 from the one and condemned to the other, would be 
 sufficient to induce a prudent man to inquire after a 
 way of escape, and to use it. 
 
 Not merely so, nothing short of absolute demonstra- 
 tions of the impossibility of future judgment and 
 punishment could make it prudent to neglect the 
 means of escape. If these are not impossible, they 
 may be ; and if they may be, the man who neglects 
 the way of salvation may be ruined forever. 
 
 If a man replies, I was never troubled with fear on 
 account of sin, he only proves that he has not allowed 
 his mind to think of the testimony of God, or of the 
 convictions of the Spirit. We never feel about any- 
 
)T'1 
 
 REPENT YE. 
 
 267 
 
 There 
 mse of 
 earn- 
 ch for 
 i to be 
 ' (Rev. 
 
 ; avoid- 
 'obable, 
 »ur pro- 
 3 that it 
 against 
 ill come 
 respect- 
 sin. A 
 ment to 
 Danished 
 rould be 
 after a 
 
 thing that we do not think about. If we do not think 
 of the promises we will have no desires or hopes ; so 
 if we do not think of the threatenino^s we will have 
 no fears. But we have been given the power to think, 
 and God will make us responsible for the use of it. 
 The power of reflecting on the past, the present, and 
 the future, is one of the highest endowments of man. 
 ThQ worth of the soul rightly claims consideration. 
 Truth respecting the way of salvation and the path of 
 duty is important enough to demand attention, and is 
 plain enough to be understood if attended to. '* The 
 meek will He guide in judgment : the meek will He 
 teach His way." If any man will do His will he shall 
 know of the doctrine." 
 
 But, alas ! many do not consider " the work of God 
 nor the operations of His hands ;" " how great things 
 He hath done for them." They do not " consider their 
 own ways " (Hag. i. 5) ; nor " their latter end." (Deut. 
 xxxii. 39.) They do not cherish the disposition to 
 reflection. They do not avoid the scenes that indis- 
 pose them to it. They do not consider that '' when 
 the former part of one's life has been nothing but 
 vanity, the latter end of it can be nothing but vexa- 
 tion." (Seed.) 
 
 But the salvation of the soul is unspeakably more 
 important than anything we can gain or lose, enjoy 
 or suffer, on this side the grave. Nothing which 
 the world offers can make up for o loss of it. " This 
 truth is self-evident, but not thought of, not consid- 
 ered, not believed in the degree to which it ought." 
 

 m 
 
 
 268 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 (Paleij.) " There are but two sorts of persons that 
 deserve to be called reasonable; either those who serve 
 God with all their heart because they know Him, or 
 those who seek Him with all their heart because as yet 
 they know Him not." (Pascal.) " The proper use of 
 reason is to act reasonably." Nothing is so important 
 to any man as his own estate and condition ; nothing 
 so great, so amazing as eternity. If, therefore, we find 
 persons indifferent " to the danger of endless misery, it 
 is impossible that this temper should be natural. They 
 are quite other men in all other regards ; they fear the 
 smallest inconveniences, they see them as they ap- 
 proach, and feel them when they arrive." Therefore to 
 have " wonderful insensibility with respect to things 
 of the most fatal consequence, in a heart so nicely 
 sensible of the meanest trifles, is an astonishing pro- 
 digy, an unintelligible enchantment, a supernatural 
 blindness and infatuation." (Pascal.) 
 
 Repentance is something to be done. "A wise man 
 feareth and deparfceth from evil." There may be a fear 
 of the punishment of sin, while there is a willingness 
 to continue in sin. There may be sorrow that does 
 not turn from sin. But true sorrow induces us to 
 turn to God in order to confess our transgressions and 
 ask forgiveness. That repentance does include a turn- 
 ing to the party aggrieved by our wrong-doing, for the 
 purpose of confessing the wrong, and asking forgive- 
 ness and reconciliation, is clearly indicated by that 
 passage which says : " If a brother trespassed against 
 us seven times a day, and seven times a day came, say- 
 
jpr 
 
 REPENT YE. 
 
 269 
 
 ing 'I repent,' we should forgive him." (Luke xvii. 4.) 
 Repentance towards God includes, therefore, the turn- 
 ing of convinced and sorrowful souls to God to confess 
 their sins. Without sincere confession men could not 
 regain the confidence of God, or be re-admitted to fel- 
 lowship with Him. God wishes this restoration, and 
 hence requires that confession. It is probable that it 
 is chiefly for this reason that repentance is made a 
 condition of salvation. 
 
 "In like manner repentance is required of those 
 who have committed offences against a community. 
 Of the man who has been guilty of theft, burglary, 
 arson, or forgery, even if he has been sentenced and 
 punished for these offences, the community demands 
 evidence that he has repented of the crime, and that 
 he purposes to do so no more, before it will admit him 
 again to its favor." (Barnes.) " He is utterly incapa- 
 ble of mercy who is not sensible that he hath done 
 amiss, and resolved to amend. No prince ever thought 
 a rebellious subject capable of pardon upon lower 
 terms than these. It is, in the nature of the thing, 
 unlit that an obstinate offender should have any mercy 
 or favor shown to him." (Tillotson.) 
 
 "You repent not, if you turn not." (Baxter.) "Some 
 men sin and repent, and repent and sin ; and walking 
 in a continual circle, of repenting and relapsing, take 
 not one step towards heaven." (Salter.) Repentance 
 not merely resolves to arise and return : it does arise 
 and come. It puts an end to all dilatoriness and pro- 
 crastination. It sees that it would be foolish and 
 
270 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 danjrerou.s to defer any longer a work that is rendered 
 more difficult by delay. " Be zealous, therefore, and 
 repent." 
 
 Sorrow worketh repentance. To a sorrowful mind 
 it seems natural to turn from wrong-doing. " The de- 
 gree of sorrow for sin, and alarm upon the discovery 
 of our danger as sinners, is nowhere fixed to a precise 
 standard in scripture; only it is supposed everywhere, 
 that it is such as to lead men to inquire earnestly, 
 What shall I do to be saved ? and with earnest serious- 
 ness to use all the appointed means of grace, as those 
 who feel that their salvation is at issue, that they are 
 in a lost condition, and must be pardoned or perish." 
 ( Watson's Diet., Art. Faith.) There may be sorrow 
 without tears. Tears may indicate peculiarity of 
 physical constitution, not tenderness of moral sensi- 
 bility. 
 
 A command to repent is a command to do all that is 
 necessary to enable us to repent. It is therefore a 
 command to examine, and prove our own selves, to try 
 ourselves by the law of God, that we may ascertain 
 the need of salvation ; and then to examine the Gospel 
 in all its grace and glory, that we may find the way of 
 salvation. 
 
 The question is not, is repentance easy or difficult, 
 pleasant or unpleasant? But is it duty, and is it 
 necessary to pardon and salvation ? If repentance is 
 a commanded duty, and if impenitence is a sin, you 
 should not say I cannot repent. What ! cannot ascer- 
 tain the fact of transgression, cannot confess it, cannot 
 
REPENT YE. 
 
 271 
 
 fear the consequences of sin, so as to tly from it ! You 
 should speak out and say, / luill not ; not, / cannot. 
 
 Some do not say, I will not repent ; but they excuse 
 their impenitence. It is tr^3 that the case of the 
 irreligious is not desperate, while he thinks excuses 
 proper and necessary. As, on the other hand, it is 
 true that when a sinner disdains to oiler an excuse, 
 and is proud of his impudence, his case is sad indeed. 
 But to excuse omission of repentance, is not repent- 
 ance ; nor any substitute for it. 
 
 Some will not repent now because they think they 
 may repent at some future time. They shamelessly 
 " sin because grace abounds." They should, however, 
 consider that " though God hath promised pardon to 
 him that repenteth, He hath not promised repentance 
 to him that sinneth." (St. Augustine.) 
 
 The penitent must have a conviction that, to confess 
 and forsake sin will not repair the evil that has been 
 done, and place them in the situation of those that 
 have never offended. Repentance does not repair our 
 own health, injured by intemperance. Repentance 
 does not bring back time lost in indolence. It does 
 not restore the property wasted by the drunkard, the 
 gambler, the spendthrift. Repentance will not repair 
 the wrong done to the person, character, or property 
 of a neighbor. It cannot call from the grave a 
 broken-hearted parent. The penitent, therefore, must 
 feel that he has been such a sinner as to need the 
 mediation and intercession of Christ, in order to obtain 
 pardon, and that he should therefore confess his utter 
 
272 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 inability to make satisfaction for it, and his desire to 
 know the way of salvation which has been opened by 
 a Mediator. Repentance is " the disposition of heart 
 that would receive Jesus Christ were He known." It 
 is therefore, as we said, properly preparatory to faith. 
 Man, when penitent, may hear the promises made to 
 the penitent. If he hears, he may believe and pray. 
 
 ill HI I 
 
 iS 
 
 ^ : 
 
 
 I i\ 
 
 
 1*1 
 
(273) 
 
 n 
 
 * 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SECOND CONDITION — liELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 I? 
 
 EvEKY reader of Scripture can see that in ev^iy 
 part of it great importance is ascribed to faith ; and 
 for this we shall find all-sufficient reasons. " The 
 most prominent and important characteristic of the 
 gospel preached by the apostles is, that they habitually 
 presented salvation to all their hearers as an instant 
 gift, to follow immediately upon the exercise by them 
 of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." (Hodge, Atonement, 
 p. 212.) "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
 shalt be saved." (Acts xvi. 31.) " He that believeth in 
 Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is 
 condemned already." (John iii. 30.) 
 
 This saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ follows 
 repentance, in the order of personal experience, and of 
 divine command. Repentance being the first subject 
 of evangelical preaching, and then the injuncx^ion to 
 believe the gospel, " it is plain that Christ is only im- 
 mediately held out in this divine plan of redemption, 
 as the object of trust in order to forgiveness to persons 
 in this state of penitence, and under this sense of 
 danger." (Watson's Dictionary — Article, Faith.) Me- 
 lancthon rightly said, " Faith cannot exist except in 
 penitence ;" so that faith pre-supposes that, under the 
 
 ill 
 
m 
 
 i 
 
 * 
 
 .mHI 
 ' flHUi' 
 
 1 
 
 
 mi 
 
 li 
 
 
 M^ 
 
 .A 
 
 
 274 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 teaching of the word and Spirit of God, man has a 
 conscience convinced of the need of salvation, and a 
 contrite spirit desirous to hear the Gospel which 
 teaches what God has done for man, and what He pro- 
 poses farther to do on prudential and practical con- 
 ditions. 
 
 Salvation by grace is not given unconditionally. 
 There is a condition : " Believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ and thou shalt be saved." (Acts xvi. 31.) 
 " Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through 
 faith in His blood." (Rom. iii. 22.) " God so loved 
 the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that 
 whosoever helieveth in Him should not perish but 
 have everlasting life." (John iii. 14-18.) " This is the 
 work of God, that ve believe in Him whom He hath 
 sent." (John vi. 29.) " This is His commandnent, that 
 we should believe on the fname of His Son Jesus 
 Christ." (1 John iii. 23.) " By Him all that believe are 
 justified from all things." (Acts xiii. 39.) "He that 
 heareth My word and belie veth on Him that sent Me 
 hath everlasting life." (John v. 24.) " We have known 
 and believed the love that God hath to us." (1 John , 
 iv. 16.) "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth, and 
 shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him 
 from the dead, thou shalt be saved." " To Him give 
 all the prophets witness, that through His name who- 
 soever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." 
 " He that believeth hath everlasting life, and he that 
 believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath 
 of God abideth on him." (John iii. 36.) "■ He that be- 
 
TO 
 
 ijll 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 275 
 
 lieveth on Him is not condemned : but he that be- 
 lieveth not is condemned already, because he hath not 
 believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 
 (John iii. 18.) "The name of a person," says John 
 Wesley, " is often put for the person himself. But 
 perhaps it is further intended in that expression, that 
 the person spoken of is great and magnificent." " If 
 ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins ; 
 and where I am thither ye cannot come." (John viii. 
 24.) "But without faith it is impossible to please 
 Him ; for he that cometh to God must believe that He 
 is, and that He is a rewarder of all those who dili- 
 gently seek Him." (Heb. xi. G.) The conditions which 
 are thus expressed on some occasions, are supposed to 
 be known and implied when they are not expressed. 
 Paul says that Christ is set forth " as a propitiation 
 through faith." John briefly said, " He is the propiti- 
 ation for our sins." Here faith is implied though not 
 expressed. Paul told the Romans they were "justified 
 by faith." He told the Corinthians they were "justi- 
 fied in the name of the Lord Jesus." Here, too, faith 
 is implied. 
 
 Faith is properly made a condition, for it is an act 
 of man's own soul. Faith is not, as some have imag- 
 ined, " something separate or separable from the mind 
 in which it exists. It really is the mind itself acting 
 in a particular way." (J. Brown, D.D., Rem., p. 51.) 
 " Faith is always an act of the soul ; it is not a sub- 
 stance created independently of the soul and placed 
 within it by almighty power." (Barnes, on Rom. iv. 3.) 
 
1l 
 
 i tt n 
 
 
 276 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 When conditions are appointed, they should be com- 
 plied with. When the only terms on which salvation 
 has been offered are not complied with, there is no 
 rational ground for hoping to attain it. A condition 
 of salvation is something done in order to obtain it, and 
 tlierefore done before it is obtained. Hence the faith 
 that goes before salvation, does not need the saving 
 grace of the regenerating spirit to render it possible. 
 The Scripture does not say believe, because thou hast 
 been saved ; but " believe, iind thou shalt be saved." 
 
 Mr. Wesley, finding that some of his leading asso- 
 ciates could not give a satisfactory definition of faith, 
 called in a woman of good sense and deep piety, and 
 asked her, " What is faith ?" She replied, " It is taking 
 God at His word." "That will do," exclaimed Mr. 
 Wesley. As this answer implied, faith, when the 
 word is properly used, pre-supposes the existence of 
 testimony made by a competent witness whose char- 
 acter is trustworthy. It relies on the character of the 
 author, and, on this ground, accepts the testimony. 
 Testimony may be either human or divine. Divine 
 testimony is the object of faith, in the theological sense 
 of the word. It relies on the word of God, because 
 God has said it, and " God is true." " He that hath 
 received His testimony, hath set to his seal that God is 
 true;" or, as it reads in the Revised Version, " hath set 
 his seal to this, that God is true." (John iii. 33.) 
 Hence, whether His testimony is plain or mysterious 
 in itself, it is equally worthy of faith. All mystery is 
 imperfect knowledge ; but with God, the author of 
 
 iii 
 
99 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 277 
 
 be com- 
 alvation 
 re is no 
 ondition 
 n it, and 
 the faith 
 e saving 
 possible, 
 hou hast 
 saved." 
 ins: asso- 
 L of faith, 
 ,iety, and 
 is taking 
 imed Mr. 
 i^hen the 
 stence of 
 ose char- 
 ter of the 
 stimony. 
 Divine 
 cal sense 
 , because 
 ihat hath 
 at God is 
 * hath set 
 iii. 33.) 
 [ysterious 
 lystery is 
 Luthor of 
 
 scripture testimony, there is no imperfect knowledge. 
 He fully knows what is mysterious to us, as well as 
 what is plain ; hence His testimony is as trustworthy 
 in the former, as in the latter case. 
 
 This divine testimony is contained in the Bible. 
 Holy men wrote it as they were " moved by the Holy 
 Ghost." The Holy Ghost acted in this case as a 
 Divine witness. It was in this character that He 
 made all the quotations and reports that are given in 
 the sacred volume. That witness is not the original 
 author of all that He testifies. Sometimes He ''searches 
 the deep things of God," and tells us what God 
 thought, felt, willed, counselled, commanded, promised, 
 or threatened, respecting men. His testimony on 
 these points furnishes us with a rule of faith, of 
 worship, and of practice. Sometimes the Divine 
 witness looks at men, and gives us a biography, 
 or a history. He reports what the wise man said, 
 and what "the fool said in his heart." Their 
 words could be reported with equal truthfulness, and 
 without changrinor their character in the least. The 
 words of a fool do not cease to be such when reported 
 by a wise being. The words which Satan spoke to 
 Eve could be truly repeated, without making them 
 cease to be a lying temptation. When He reported 
 the words of Job's friends, He afterwards said they 
 •' did not speak of God the thing that was right." But 
 He did not always add such a remark ; He frequently 
 left us to judge of men's words or acts by those other 
 parts of His testimony which report the words of one 
 
ff*""^^ 
 
 i 
 
 i;r ij 
 
 278 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 of the Persons of the sacred Trinity, and which, 
 therefore, furnish a standard by which to try all other 
 words and acts. 
 
 Note. — We Iiuve not space to enlarge here on this 
 theory of the Inspiration of the Bible. Ifc stands un- 
 touched by the objections which are made against 
 other theories. 
 
 The faith that we are now specially considering, has 
 reference to the part of the Spirit's- testimony which 
 repeats the "words of God." " Faith cometh by hear- 
 ing, and hearing by the word of God," or " by the word 
 of Christ," according to the reading adopted by the 
 Revised Version (Rev. x.). 
 
 Christ is " the author of eternal salvation to all them 
 that obey Him," i.e., as High Priest ; for it is imme- 
 diately added, "who was called of God a High Priest 
 after the order of Melchisedec" (who was both king 
 and priest). Christ requires man to come to Him and 
 believe in Him as a priest, and to submit themselves 
 into His hands to be led back to God, and fitted to act 
 as His people. The fathers, says Bairow, " compare our 
 Lord to a physician who professes to relieve and cure 
 all that shall have recourse to His help, but doth cure 
 only those who seek for remedy, and are willing to 
 take the medicine." " He doth not compel the unwil- 
 ling : they only receive health who desire medicine." 
 
 The Mediator proposed to accomplish a twofold 
 object: first, to propitiate God; and, second, to bring 
 millions of revolted men to repentance towards God, 
 and to renewed fellowship with Him. "He could not 
 
™ 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 279 
 
 accomplish this twofold work unless there were confi- 
 dence in Him on both sides of this unhappy contro- 
 versy." '^ . Barnes, Way of Salvation, p. 344.) God 
 the Father reposed unlimited confidence in the Medi- 
 ator, and showed it by investing Him with kingly 
 authority over man, "crowning him with this glory and 
 honor ; that he by the grace of God should taste death 
 for every man." (Heb. ii. 8-9 ; Matt, xxviii. 18.) Man, 
 too, ought to believe in Him. Accordingly, means are 
 employed to influence man to do so. In our natural 
 state we have a good opinion of ourselves, and a bad 
 opinion of God. The former is removed by repenta ice, 
 the latter by faith. 
 
 It is true indeed that faith has the entire testimony 
 of God as its general object ; and His testimony is 
 manifold. It teaches that God is an infinitelv excel- 
 lent and amiable Being, worthy of being loved with 
 all the heart, and soul, and mind, and strength ; and 
 that we are not at liberty to think Him to be less 
 worthy than He has shown Himself to be. That His 
 law is holy, just, and good. " That those who trans- 
 gress it, are inexcusably blameworthy and justly pun- 
 ishable, and that they ought not to think better of sin 
 than God does ; ought not to call evil good, and good 
 evil; ought not to put too low or t6o high an esti- 
 mate on worldly things ; the former is ingratitude, 
 the latter idolatry ; ought not to undervalue the hea- 
 venly things which God has prepared for them that 
 love Him; ought not to question the sincerity of the 
 threatenings, or to lower their solemn meaning, so as 
 
 ^f 
 
 H 
 
 !l 
 
 i I 
 
 ■t ' 
 
 't 
 
 1 * f 
 
:?7T 
 
 li 
 
 « 
 
 
 Mil 
 
 280 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 to embolden the rebellious. That sinful acts can be 
 forgiven only by grace for the sake of the atonement 
 made b3^ the mediating Son of God ; that sinful hearts 
 can be renewed only by the Divine Spirit sent in 
 Christ's name ; that it is all-important to ask salva- 
 tion while God wants to be gracious." (Andretv Fuller's 
 Works.) 
 
 But looking through the transparency of that whole 
 testimony, we find that the grand scope or design of 
 all the Scripture is to testify of Christ; to declare 
 what He is in Himself, what He is to us ; His doing 
 and dying on earth, and His intercession in heaven. 
 These constitute the substance of the gospel, which is 
 the special object of saving faith. " There are many 
 things in Christ which faith afterwards considevs, and 
 that are worthy of our deepest enquiries and medita- 
 tions, but these only are considered in the first appli- 
 cation." {Charnoch.) We shall afterwards have an op- 
 portunity to proceed " from faith to faith," as one 
 truth believed opens the way for embracing another ; 
 for after promises to the penitent, come promises to 
 the pardoned, etc. " The gospel is a manifold message : 
 (1) of forgiveness obtainable through the Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; (2) of personal holiness through the renewing 
 and ever-gracious help of the Spirit; (3) of blessed- 
 ness amid all earthly changes, for those who love and 
 serve God" {T. A. Alexander^ ; and of unmingled and 
 unending blessedness as fellow-heirs with Christ in 
 the final and everlasting kingdom. We have first 
 to do with Christ as a Person whom to trust. At a 
 
m 
 
 RELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 281 
 
 can be 
 nement 
 1 hearts 
 sent in 
 c salva- 
 Fuller's 
 
 at whole 
 esign of 
 ) declare 
 lis doing 
 1 heaven, 
 which is 
 are many 
 ide'.s, and 
 i medita- 
 rst appli- 
 
 j> 
 
 subsequent stage, we will h^ve to do with Him as a 
 Person whom to love, and for whom to work. But at 
 first we have to do with Him as a Person to be 
 trusted. 
 
 The object of saving faith is Christ Himself, fuS our 
 great High Priest, appearing in the presence of God 
 for us, waiting to present the penitent's prayer for 
 pardon and renewing grace. He assures you that in 
 consequence of the great propitiatory sacrifice already 
 offered, God is already disposed and pledged to answer 
 prayer presented by His advocacy. Faith looks at 
 this present fact. It does not dwell solely on the past 
 and historical facts of Christianity ; it looks at present 
 realities, a great High Priest enthroned at God's right 
 hand on the heavenly mercy-seat, who has already 
 made satisfaction for the suspension of the penalty, 
 and the offering of mercy on prudential and practicable 
 conditions ; and who, as our Advocate with the Father, 
 waits to present the penitent's prayer. 
 
 Some think that first faith in Christ must include 
 not merely intellectual apprehension of His glory and 
 trust in Him ; but that with these must be mingled 
 ''feelings of adoring reverence and love." (Rev. C. 
 Hodge, TheoL, vol. iii., p. 92.) It is true that that 
 great object, when apprehended correctly, is naturally 
 fitted to call forth such emotions in a heart that is 
 rightly constituted. But a penitent's heart is as yet 
 unrenewed, and therefore incapable of those higher 
 feelings. 
 
 As repentance can be exercised by man, by the aid 
 20 
 
 1 • 
 
 I ; 
 
282 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 of tlie convincing work of the Spirit, previous to that 
 work of the Spirit which renews unto ohedience : so 
 can faith ; it can be produced by tliat enlightening 
 work of the Spirit which precedes the regenerating 
 work of the Spirit. Men can believe before they are 
 saved ; for the inspired direction is, " Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 
 xvi. 31.) The faith of a penitent does not necessarily 
 require anything which an unrenewed nature could 
 not exercise. It is an error to suppose that faith 
 is impossible to an uniegenerate mind. Yet some 
 have fallen into that error, and consequently assume, 
 that only the regenerating work of the Spirit can 
 enable them to believe. They even say that regenera- 
 tion is the production of faith in the soul. In this they 
 err. Regeneration is the productio of love, that love 
 that inclines a man to obey the law. The faith which 
 goes before regeneration, does not need the saving 
 power of the regenerating Spirit to render it possible- 
 It does not need this, because it does not include in it 
 full ability for future obedience; it is not for this reason 
 that faith saves. If this were so, how would it appear 
 that salvation by faith was salvation by grace ? It 
 w^ould rather seem, on that supposition, to be salva- 
 tion by works. " It is not faith that saves us ; it is 
 Christ that saves us, and saves us through faith." (A. 
 Maclaren.) 
 
 Others, erring in the same direction, imagine faith 
 " to be a great exercise or effort of soul which must be 
 very accurately gone through, in order to make it 
 
RELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 288 
 
 ^ to that 
 ence: so 
 (Thtening 
 merating 
 they are 
 e on the 
 d." (Acts 
 ecessarily 
 ure could 
 :,hat faith 
 Yet some 
 ly assume, 
 Spirit can 
 t, regenera- 
 n this they 
 ;, that love 
 aith which 
 |the saving 
 lit possible- 
 elude in it 
 this reason 
 |d it appear 
 grace ? It 
 be salva- 
 is us; it is 
 faith." (A. 
 
 igine faith 
 Ich must be 
 lo make it 
 
 and us acceptable to God." " They mystify and mag- 
 nify faith in order to give it merit or importance in 
 itself, so that self-righteousness may Hatter itself on 
 having exercised it ; on having done some great thing 
 in order to win God's favor." But salvation is by 
 faith, that it might be by grace. We must not there- 
 fore suppose that faith includes, or pre-supposes, any- 
 thing that would make salvation appear to be not of 
 grace. Faith is not in itself a meritorious thing- 
 There is nothing great in hearing, looking, and trust- 
 ing, and consenting to commit ourselves to Christ, and 
 to ask Him to plead for us that God may mercifully 
 pardon us. He who labors under a most dangerous 
 and self-incurable disease, does nothing meritorious 
 when he puts himself under the care of a renowned 
 physician, and holds out his hand to take the freely 
 offered remedy that has healed thousands, and is fitted 
 to heal countless thousands more. The act of taking 
 an undeserved favor offered by wondrous grace has no 
 more merit, than " the hand of the beggar that receives 
 the proffered alms." (Liddon.) Faith, in its earliest 
 stages, we repeat, may be exercised by a rational being 
 enlightened but not yet regenerated by the Divine 
 Spirit. Such a person could believe what God testi- 
 fies, because God is true. He could trust what God 
 promises, because God is faithful to His promises. His- 
 torical evidence can convince such that God has spoken 
 to men. The Divine Spirit can convince that " God 
 is true," and faithful, that what He said remains trust- 
 worthy for ever. These fur^iish the ground of faith 
 
284 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 2? ii 
 
 in the testimony, and in the promise. God has said 
 it ; God is true ; therefore His testimonies can be be- 
 lieved ; His promises can be relied on. 
 
 The evidence on these points is strong and prepon- 
 derating ; but does not irresistibly constrain consent. 
 It does not convince where there is voluntary neglect 
 or refusal to examine the proofs ; or where there is re- 
 sistance to the meaning of the truth, and to its tendency 
 which is " according to godliness." There is room for 
 " recognizing and intelligently struggling with objec- 
 tions and difficulties, that will show what manner of 
 spirit we have. Hence, the evidence is sufficient to 
 persuade (niaTu:, faith, is derived from Tveieu, to persuade) 
 the attentive, but not to constrain attention and en- 
 force conviction. The motives presented are very 
 powerful. If men were forced to attend to them they 
 could hardly act as free agents. But God has placed 
 them under obligation to examine the evidence, and 
 He has commanded them to believe it, that is, to hear 
 in order to believe, for faith will "come by hearing." 
 One part of the probation under which God has placed 
 men is to give a candid and earnest attention to the 
 message which He has sent them. This is an impor- 
 tant part of our probation, and one which it is ruinous 
 to neglect. "It shall come to pass, that every soul that 
 will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from 
 among the people." (Acts iii. 23 ; comp. Deut. xviii. 
 15-18.) 
 
 Faith believes what God has spoken because God 
 is true. Now the divine testimony sometimes con- 
 veys a fearful threatening, at other times a pleasing 
 
 •/ft . 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 285 
 
 ls said 
 be be- 
 
 repon- 
 oiisent. 
 neglect 
 e is Te- 
 ndency 
 Dom for 
 1 objec- 
 nner of 
 cient to 
 ersuade) 
 and en- 
 ire very 
 em they 
 placed 
 nee, and 
 , to hear 
 learing." 
 BIS placed 
 i>n to the 
 impor- 
 ruinous 
 soul that 
 ed from 
 t. xviii. 
 
 inse God 
 mes con- 
 pleasing 
 
 -S 
 
 promise. In tln^ one case there will he faith and 
 fear : in the other case faith and desire. The faitli in 
 each case is the same, because the author of the testi- 
 mony is the same. The feelings connected with the 
 faith ditier, because the matter of the testimony is dif- 
 ferent. There may be faith and desire, where there 
 is not yet %ith and love, or faith and adoration. To 
 teach that faith must produce the two last is to teach 
 regeneration by faith, not justification by faith. 
 
 The gospel otter is a general one. The testimony is 
 that " God so loved the world that He gave His only 
 begotten Son, that whosoever belie veth in Him should 
 not perish, but have everlasting life," and is now, " in 
 Christ, reconciling the world to Himself." The testi- 
 mony is not that I, as a person, have received a pecu- 
 liar privilege, or a special interest, or a private otter 
 of salvation. A general otter has been made. Hence 
 there need not be any waiting for fresh, independent 
 promises, made to ourselves personally and individu- 
 ally. Historical evidence proves that God has already 
 given a general otter, addressed to the penitent, which 
 therefore may be appropriated by every penitent. 
 " Nothing can be more evident," says Dr. Russell, 
 " than that whatever God calls us to believe must be 
 already true, and therefore true, whether we believe it 
 or not. The Bible calls us to believe that God will 
 have mercy on the seeking penitent ; not that He may 
 have. It says He will save, because God, for Christ's 
 sake, has promised to save such He has pledged 
 Himself that " whosoever shall call upon the name of 
 
 (i.„ 
 
 I i 
 
iiii 
 
 fi Wi 
 
 286 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 the Lord shall be saved." The ground of faith is the 
 word of God, already revealed in the name and on the 
 authority of God. 
 
 Faith looks to, and believes on, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ; not in Christianity, but on Christ. "It is a 
 belief towards a Person, not an opinion as to a doc- 
 trine." Mark that little, yet great word, " on." It is 
 not enough to believe in Jesus Christ, " as they believe 
 in Howard as a noble philanthropist; or in Washington 
 as a pure patriot ; or in Newton as a profound teacher 
 of science." They must not merely believe in, but rest 
 ON Jesus as an atoning and interceding High Priest, 
 letting go every other reliance in the wide universe, 
 and trusting Him to obtain for them pardon, grace, and 
 final salvation. " Believe, and thou shalt be saved ;" 
 because the love of God desires to extend its mercy to 
 such, and the atonement has made it just to do so. He 
 that believeth not shall not be saved, but the wrath of 
 God abideth on him ; because the atonement has not 
 made it just to pardon the impenitent. Hence the 
 great importance of faith. 
 
 " When a penitent sinner believes the gospel, his 
 mind is occupied with the thing believed, and not 
 with the manner of believing it." "Do not then perplex 
 yourself with questions about the mental operation of 
 believing ; but consider what it is you are called upon 
 to believe." Think of Him who invites you to come 
 to Him — think of His atonement and the love there 
 displayed — think on the many proofs which have 
 been given of His sacrifice, on His resurrection and 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 287 
 
 glory, and on the many promises of salvation through 
 Him. (RusseWs Letters, vol. i., p. 50, 51.) "Faith is the 
 act of cleaving to Christ ; but all its value depends 
 upon the worth of the Christ to whom you cleave." 
 (A^mot). " Faith is not the foundation ; but it is the 
 first stone of the building." 
 
 Faith, so far as the intellect is concerned, is opposed 
 to doubt. Faith with the heart is opposed to distrust. 
 The heart trusts the person of Christ, while the intel- 
 lect believes the doctrine of Christ. It is said that 
 "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness," 
 i.e.y man trusts in the Divine veracity which made the 
 promises, and in the Divine faithfulness, which will 
 fulfil them. God has spoken. " God is true " and 
 faithful, therefore His testimony can be believed and 
 trusted. The gospel introduces God not merely as a 
 testifier, but as a promiser and engager. Faith in one 
 who truly engages to be a benefactor, takes the form of 
 trust. We trust our fellow-men, as well as believe them. 
 " A merchant commits his ship, with all his fortunes 
 on board, to a hired captain, whose temptations are enor- 
 mous." (F. W. Robertson.) " Human society is united 
 by trust. In all business transactions it is called 
 credit. In the family, in the State, in the church, it 
 is confidence that binds all together and gives force to 
 all activity. We think it reasonable to trust our 
 fellow-beings, though we have not infallible assurance 
 that we may not be mistaken. We are not quite cer- 
 tain that our food may not be poisoned ; yet we eat it. 
 We are obliged to eat, or we should cease to live." 
 

 §^'^ 
 
 288 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 " The farmer ploughs and sows, when fields are bare 
 and trees are naked. He places reliance in the laws of 
 Providence — on the due return of day and night, sum- 
 mer and winter, seed-time and harvest." (Guthrie.) 
 Yet he is not perfectly certain that his labor will be 
 remunerated. If we had only similar probability 
 respecting the things of a future world, it would still 
 be our duty to act in respect to the future ; as we are 
 every day acting at present. But we have a most safe 
 object of trust ; a Divine and righteous Father, who 
 cannot possibly err or deceive in His testimonies, or 
 be unfaithful to His promises. " The Christian religion 
 is characterized hj a promise or pledge on the part 
 of the Deity. No other system has such a promise. 
 Our system makes promises only in view of the great 
 sacrifice made on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 Faith implies consent of the will, marcg, faith, and 
 nsidu, to persuade, are from a common stem, says 
 Cremer. The former, accordingly, means consent pro- 
 duced by persuasion. There must be this consent to 
 give ourselves into Christ's hands, and there must be 
 an actual committal of ourselves. Belief is made a 
 subject of command ; the response to this includes an 
 act of the will. It is the will, not the understanding, 
 which performs the act of committal into Christ's 
 arms, and renounces all other ways of salvation. The 
 strength of a man's conviction may vary ; but the de- 
 cision of self-surrender and of committal to God may 
 abide unchanging. " The miner trusts himself not by 
 an opinion, but by an act of the will, to the well- 
 
 i 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 289 
 
 braided rope that lifts him out of the tremendous 
 chasm." {Taylor.) " This believing is the accepting of 
 Christ as thy Lord and Saviour, as He is offered to 
 thee with His benefits in the Gospel ; and this accept- 
 ing is principally, if not only, the act of thy will. So 
 that if thou be willing to have Christ upon His own 
 terms, that is, to save and rule thee, then thou art a 
 believer, thy willingness is thy faith." {Baxter.) " God 
 has not made our salvation to depend on the vacilla- 
 tions of our feeble understanding. It is not the under- 
 standing which consents to accept of grace ; it is not 
 the imagination which is moved by it ; it is the will, 
 the only faculty always free, though feeble, which 
 receives pardon, turns itself to God, and may even cry, 
 ' Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief.' " (Quoted by 
 Vinet, Pastoral TheoL, p. 265.) 
 
 As faith depends on the will, unbelief may not 
 only be watched against, but resolved against. " The 
 doubts we are called upon to resist do not spring from 
 real evidence, but chiefly from the influence of a species 
 of infirmity and vacillation of mind resulting from 
 former habits of unbelief." (p. 132.) 
 
 Since saving faith involves trust on another, its 
 very essence excludes all reliance on self, all idea of 
 merit or worthiness in self. Its trust goes wholly out 
 of self, and goes to another, and to Jesus Christ as 
 that other and only object of reliance for salvation. 
 The Jew was required to renounce his dependence on 
 typical priests and sacrifices, and to look to the anti- 
 typical sacrifice made by the Lord Jesus Christ, as the 
 
■I 
 
 
 290 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Great High Priest. The heathen were required to re- 
 nounce their idols, and every refuge except Him who 
 made " propitiation for the sin of the world." 
 
 Faith must be attached to its proper object, and to 
 the true character of that object. Faith in a wrong 
 object is not saving faith. " The Turk has faith that 
 the mission of Mahomed was divine. The Negro has 
 faith in his fetish. The Christian has faith in God 
 and in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the one Mediator who 
 made propitiation for the sin of the world, and who 
 waits to make intercession for the pardon of every 
 penitent and believing one. Herein, therefore, it is 
 sufficiently absolutely distinguished from the faith 
 either of ancient or modern heathens." ( Wesley) 
 
 Faith must be attached to the facts and principles 
 which are fundamental to the gospel, and distinctive 
 of it. That there are such essentials is evident from 
 Paul's statement : " If any man preach any other 
 gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him 
 be accursed." Every other plan of acceptance is em- 
 phatically excluded ; " neither is there salvation in 
 any other," for there is none other name under heaven, 
 given among men whereby we must be saved." To 
 believe a wrong gospel is to " believe a lie;" not to be- 
 lieve the truth as it is in Jesus. True faith implies a 
 knowledge of the essential facts and doctrines of 
 Christianity. (Rom. x. 14.) 
 
 They were to come to God through Christ. " Par- 
 don through a mediator is more humbling to the 
 offender, more honorable to the offended, than pardon 
 at one's own request." 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 291 
 
 The inspired writers direct the eye of faith to a 
 Divine High Priest, not to a human one. They point 
 the enquirer immediately to Christ in His priestly 
 office: and to God on the mercy-seat, which He occupied 
 for the sake of the propitiatory sacrifice of His Son ; 
 and where He listens to that Son's intercession for 
 those who penitently and believingly implore His ad- 
 vocacy, and come unto God through Him. Christ has 
 no assistants or successors in the priestly office. 
 
 The relation of the believing soul to Christ is an 
 immediate relationship ; no human mediation is neces- 
 sary to establish it, or to maintain it. " It is a funda- 
 mental principle of the blessed Reformation that 
 nothing that man can give to, or take from man, con- 
 stitutes the communion of the soul with God, or salva- 
 tion. This communion proceeds solely from the act 
 by which the soul, without any intervening object, 
 attaches itself to Jesus Christ by means of justifying 
 faith." {UAnhigne) 
 
 God has commanded us to believe on the name of 
 His Son Jesus Christ, as set forth in the word of God. 
 Some make this word of none effect by teaching that 
 faith is the belief of those things which the church 
 commands them to believe, and that there may be an 
 act of faith without knowledge. The Church of Rome 
 admits, indeed, that "faith is a conviction that those 
 things are true which God has revealed and promised ; 
 and especially that God justifies the impious by His 
 grace, through the redemption which is in Christ 
 Jesus." {Gone. Trid., Sess. vi. c. h.) But it makes the 
 
'ill I 
 
 292 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 concessson of none effect, by further t^;aching that 
 faith is also an unquestioning assent, in submission 
 to the authority of the church ; and that there can 
 be no objection to its teaching. " The strongest per- 
 haps of all the peculiarities of Romanism is their 
 claim that nothing, not even perceptions or impres- 
 sions of the senses, can furnish a valid objection to 
 any doctrine which the church teaches. That the 
 visible head of their church must be assumed to be 
 an infallible interpreter or revealer of doctrine ; that 
 its doctrinal teachings must therefore be received 
 with unhesitating confidence, with uninquiring assent. 
 Faith in the church, they say, must be right, whatever 
 sensible perceptions or arguments there may be to the 
 contrary. This is the principle on which the whole 
 system of transubstantiation is based." {Morgan, 
 Christianity v. Scepticism.) They thus take away all 
 means of correcting their errors, and virtually put the 
 priests in place of the Bible, and claim that allegiance 
 of faith which is due to God only. To counteract this 
 was one of the chief efforts of the Reformers. And 
 one of the best results of the Great Reformation 
 was that it removed human faith from the unin- 
 spired ministry of the church, and replaced it in the 
 inspired Bible ; and taught that God, after giving us 
 the certainty of the scripture, placed us under per- 
 sonal responsibility to use our best efforts to attain the 
 certain interpretation of scripture. "The true sense 
 of scripture, that, and that alone, is scripture." (Bp. 
 Wordsworth.) To accept ancient tradition as a certain 
 
 io m^ 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 293 
 
 interpretation would be to make the human reason 
 of time past our supreme rule ; just as Rationalism 
 makes the human reason of the present time the 
 highest rule. Human reason has an important sphere 
 of usefulness, but it would be presumptous arrogance 
 and rebellion to place it on the throne of the universe. 
 The reason of fellow-beings may render most desirable 
 and important assistance, but must not be allowed to 
 set aside our own right of private judgment. As each 
 man must give account for himself, he should think, 
 enquire, judge, and decide for himself. It would be 
 possible to believe all that God has revealed as neces- 
 sary to salvation, and yet to make it of none effect by 
 believing also a lie. Additions wrongly made may 
 fatally divert attention from the essential parts. 
 Men may thus be misled to rest their hope only in 
 part on the atoning efficacy of Christ's sacrifice. 
 They may regard it merely as a supplement to make 
 up the deficiency of their own claims to salvation. Or 
 they may be led to place their chief reliance on cere- 
 monies administered by an order of men who pre- 
 sumptuously intrude into the priestly office of the only 
 Mediator between God and man. 
 
 Man may indeed do a preparatory work for us. As 
 men must "call upon the name of the Lord in order to 
 be saved, and must believe in order to call, and must 
 hear in order to believe ;" it is plain that a fellow- 
 man may be employed to induce and assist us to hear. 
 Fellow-men can show us the need of salvation, the im- 
 possibility of saving ourselves, the fact that God only 
 
ilfi 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 
 294 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 can save, that He will be inquired of for this purpose. 
 They can show the need of prayer, the nature of 
 prayer, and may exhort us to pray. But all fellow- 
 beings must then stand back, and let the praying soul 
 approach through the one Mediator, to ask and accept 
 salvation, from that God who only can renew the dis- 
 positions of man's heart. " We are not born of the 
 will of man, but of God." 
 
 Man's' personality and free agency are recognized 
 in making faith the condition of salvation. Faith is 
 a personal committal into the hands of a personal 
 Saviour. "All schemes of false religion tamper with 
 one or other of these two things — the personality of 
 God, or the personality of the sinner. But one great 
 recommendation of the true way of salvation is that 
 it brings out clearly and unequivocally the personality 
 of God on the one hand, and the personality of the 
 sinner on the other. It is not that God deals in the 
 lump with the church ; it is not that God sanctifies in 
 the mass ; and then that I am admitted, through some 
 mystical ceremonial rite, into the benefit of the bless- 
 ing which the church has received. It is the very 
 error of Popery, and Puseyism, that it makes God deal 
 thus in a wholesale way." "It is not through the 
 church I come to my God ; but through God I come to 
 His church. He makes a church not by any wholesale 
 process, but by units — one by one, soul by soul. And 
 for this purpose God personally deals with each 
 person." (Dr. Candlish.) 
 
 Faith believes that God, for Christ's sake, can for- 
 
RETRIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 295 
 
 give our great wickedness. It is not easy for us to be- 
 lieve this. It is against our nature implicitly to trust 
 in any being as ready to forgive so many, so great, so 
 repeated, so heavy offences, as ours have been. " When 
 we ourselves have been often and long ofiended our 
 thoughts are bitter, our ways unforgiving. Not so 
 those of Him whom we have grieved. Here comes in 
 a wonderful word of God : * Let the wicked forsake 
 his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and 
 let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy 
 upon him ; and to our God, for He will abundantly 
 pardon.' ' For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord.' 
 * Glory, glory, glory to God ; He delighteth in mercy.' " 
 (W. ATthu7\) We glorify God by believing. "Abra- 
 ham was strong in faith, giving glory to God." As 
 we greatly honor a man when we trust him, so as to 
 put our lives and estates in his hands ; so we glorify 
 God when we commit ourselves to Him for time and 
 for eternity. We encourage ourselves to believe, not 
 by persuading ourselves that there are extenuating 
 circumstances in our case ; but by listening to the 
 promise of God, and looking to the interceding 
 Mediator. 
 
 We desire the blessings offered. " Whatsoever things 
 ye desire when ye pray." " The things attested are 
 apprehended not merely as true, but as good, and 
 that to us." (Hooker.) Hence we desire them. We 
 desire them earnestly because they concern us deeply, 
 lastingly, eternally. We desire that God wouM pardon 
 
 J imj Cf-B4>V i 
 
P 
 
 296 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 
 and renew, and admit us to fellowship with Him. We 
 desire these things now. It is not enough to desire to 
 get them at some more convenient season. " Now is 
 the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation." 
 
 Faith not only desires, but hopes for the blessings 
 offered. " Faith is the substance of things hoped for." 
 Tt is " that which stands under " our hope. It stands 
 under and sustains the hope of these things. Faith 
 points to things hoped for, both in the present and the 
 future world ; while it is the evidence of things not 
 seen. It sees the transitory things of time to be sur- 
 rounded with the spiritual realities of eternity, thus 
 counteracting the undue attractiveness of the former, 
 and " overcoming the world." In subsequent verses, 
 the inspired writer proceeds to show that the desires 
 and hopes of unseen things were, from the beginning 
 of the world, strongly felt by all who have given 
 eminent examples of piety and virtue. 
 
 Faith prays. It " calls upon the name of the Lord." 
 It prays with the publican, " God be merciful to me a 
 sinner," tlaadjjrc, God be propitiated to me the sinner. 
 (Luke xviii. 13.) It asks the blessings of pardon and 
 regeneration for the sake of the past propitiation and 
 present intercession of Christ. It is only for the sake 
 of the atonement made by His redeeming love, and 
 pleaded on our behalf by His intercession, that sin, 
 that abominable thing, can be forgiven. 
 
 Faith beseeches, it does not demand. As God had a 
 right to decide whether pardon should be offered or 
 not ; so He retains His right to determine how long an 
 
 LI. i 
 
 ' Iffi xli 
 
1. We 
 
 sire to 
 "^ow is 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 297 
 
 essings 
 id for." 
 
 stands 
 
 Faith 
 
 and the 
 
 QCTs not 
 
 be sur- 
 ty, thus 
 
 former, 
 t verses, 
 i desires 
 
 ginning 
 
 e given 
 
 le Lord." 
 to me a 
 sinner, 
 rdon and 
 jion and 
 Ithe sake 
 [ove, and 
 ^hat sin, 
 
 )d had a 
 
 fered or 
 
 long an 
 
 offer shall be made, or how soon it may be with- 
 drawn. Comply with His terms v/hile they are 
 offered, and you have the highest possible reasons to 
 hope for salvation. Refuse to comply, and you have 
 no grounds of hope whatever. He may withdraw 
 His offer when persistently and shamefully refused, or 
 neglected. It would be possible for us to disregard so 
 long that " the Lord could no longer bear." But "as he 
 who by one single step outran the avenger of blood was 
 safe in the city of refuge ; so he, who even in the last 
 struggle of departing life, is truly led to cast himself 
 on the mercy of God in Christ, may take comfort from 
 the recollection of the expiring malefactor, who heard 
 almost as the last sounds which reached his ears in 
 this world, * To-day shalt thou be with me in Para- 
 dise.' " {Ryle.) But he may not expect to hear the 
 worc's, " Well done good and faithful servant." He 
 was iiot such. He had omitted righteousness up to his 
 last hour. He was therefore continually forfeiting 
 the rewards of righteousness. " He was saved, but 
 not rewarded." (See Evans' Christians Rewards.) 
 
 Every man who prays aright and in the name of 
 Jesus, obtains salvation from God. He who has not 
 obtained salvation, has not offered one right prayer 
 for it. " For whosoever shall call upon the name of 
 the Lord shall he saved." (Rom. x. 13.) 
 
 Faith is a condition on which God bestows salva- 
 tion; but it is only a condition: it is not an effica- 
 cious or instrumental cause of salvation. "We are 
 not born of the will of the flesh." Faith does not save 
 21 
 
 m 
 
1 
 
 I I'!: 
 
 mi 
 
 298 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 US by its own excellency or worthiness ; but as an in- 
 strument whereby we lay hold of Christ, and depend 
 on Him. 
 
 Faith inclines a man to offer prayer. " How shall 
 they call on Him in whom they have not believed ?" 
 Pray in faith, not in order to faith. You should not 
 believe that He is not willing to bless you, in order 
 that you may persuade Him to make you believe that 
 He is willing. A.sk in faith, not in unbelief. 
 
 Salvation turns upon believing, and the power to be- 
 lieve turns upon whether the word and Spirit of God 
 are attended to or not. Man can hear the testimony 
 of God. If he hears, the Spirit will enable him to un- 
 derstand, and be convinced of the sinfulness of sin 
 and of the desirableness of holiness. When con- 
 vinced, he can repent. When he repents, he can hear 
 the offer of salvation made to the penitent. When he 
 hears, he can believe. The turning point is the ability 
 to hear. This is in man's possession ; and since faith 
 comes by hearing, man is by God and man held re- 
 sponsible for his belief. Little blame may be attached 
 to a man for believing wrong in little affairs; but 
 where great interests are at stake, severe condemna- 
 tion awaits him who, through careless or prejudiced 
 inattention, forms an incorrect belief, however sincere 
 it may be. " An agent will be severely blamed for 
 thus ruining an employer. A physician would be un- 
 sparingly condemned for thu;^ destroying a patient's 
 life. It is everywhere felt that men are under obli- 
 gations to give sufficient attention to know the truth 
 
"EMEVE THE OOSPEI.. gOfl 
 
 belief in all rnLrs^l^'T^J'' ^nUt oi ^rong 
 kincl, in exact proZttuX'' '\' "^'^'''<' "^ ""^"t 
 involved, and to the ollrt^r^ J "' °' *''^' '"'^^e.sts 
 fining information E !'\'"'"^^^ ^"^ °^ 
 
 Snlltot inattention to!teLf1' *'^'="' "'••^■^' '"^ *he 
 not hear the word and SpTr o" otL "' ^'"'^ '^^ 
 without excuse, and cannn '^''' *''">' ^'" be 
 
 of neglecting the onlyTZr'' " ""^^"^"- 
 
 soul, continuing its depen^e^oXS "f " °' ^"^^ 
 ening itself by the r«„„ T, "*' ^n'' strength- 
 
 groweth exceedVJ;;."^*' exercise-" your f:ith 
 once for all believed but teTh .'k ',' " "°' ''^ ^^at 
 «nues to place faith altru^f-nlr"'' *'^''* "=- 
 Pnest that has everlasting 1^3" /"'■*' ^'="'> 
 shall hve by faith "_trus J ,n "' *•' "^hejust 
 
 •nent of God's promise If r''=""»" ^l^^ *•")«- ' 
 "in the face of the p ide of th. P.',? ^'"' *'''« f«"> 
 - the Christian keeps it under ^if"" " ^^'•^--)- 
 helplessness without Divine a^d en-cumstances of 
 
 Faith abideth in heaven It „•„ 
 torm of confident trust in God iT T' '"^^'^ '"^^ 
 I»;vine testimony resnerH-n \ ! ""''" ^^^r believe 
 not, and Divine"^ p^^T '^ings which we s 
 But there will be noTr I oT'TK '"'"^^ ^''ing- 
 '^^ to personal interest hTtheV, ''*''" ^^ ''"nbt 
 n Christ Jesus with ZTg^^'' "'^^"^ ^''-h '« 
 
^^p^m 
 
 M. 
 
 m 
 
 : 
 
 300 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 " Two facts, then, must hold the attention. First, I 
 am a sinner, deserving everlasting misery, in myself 
 without help, and without hope : if I die in this state, 
 I shall be lost. Secondly, deliverance is offered me : 
 Jesus the Son of God died for me ! It is affirmed that 
 if I confess and forsake sin, and desire, and ask pardon, 
 and holiness as a gift for His sake, I shall be saved. 
 Here is a hiding-place for me. A sure hiding-place." 
 Such ought to say at once, 
 
 "Other refuge have I none, 
 Hangs n^y helpless soul on thee. " 
 
 '* Nothing in my hand I bring, 
 Simply to thy cross I cling." 
 
 "And through the Saviour's blood alone, 
 I look for mercy at thy throne. " 
 
 Faith believes He is able ; He is willing ; He is ready 
 now. It --ays, Lord Jesus, save me now ; and waits for 
 Him to do it. It does not turn its attention away 
 from Him. It does not listen to men who say, " You 
 believe, then you are saved ; dismiss your fears." " Tell 
 them you cannot be healed by logic. Wait, wait ; 
 wait at the feet of! Christ till your wounds are touched 
 by an unearthly hand, till the burden is undone by 
 the Lord alone." ( W. Arthur.) It believes and hopes 
 till love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy 
 Ghost which God has given. 
 
 Unbelief is sin. The Spirit convinces of the sin of 
 unbelief ; He thus aids a man to believe, and yet 
 leaves faith to be man's own act. 
 
 We do not need to say, How can we persuade 
 
First, I 
 myself 
 is state, 
 •ed me: 
 ted that 
 pardon, 
 Q saved. 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 301 
 
 -place." 
 
 
 is ready 
 waits for 
 n away 
 "You 
 ^' Tell 
 |it, wait ; 
 touched 
 done by 
 |nd hopes 
 ihe Holy 
 
 Ihe sin of 
 and yet 
 
 [persuade 
 
 God to give us an offer of salvation ? We have got 
 it. The question, therefore, is, Will we accept or 
 reject it ? To reject it would be to perish without 
 excuse. It would disappoint the desires of redeeming 
 love. Our duty and our interest is to look to Him 
 and say : 
 
 " Just as I am, witliout one plea 
 But that thy blood was shed for me. 
 And that thou bid'st me come to thee, 
 O Lamb of God, I come ! " 
 
 Thus, relinquishing all other hope, we say : " I believe 
 the Gospel, and, by the aid of the Divine Spirit, trust 
 in Christ, and commit the keeping of my soul into 
 His hands, in humble confidence of His ability ^nd His 
 willingness to save me." (Watson, Diet, Art. Justif.) 
 
 Faith believes in the advocacy of Christ, not in our 
 own feelings. Suppose you were in prison for debt. 
 A wealthy friend sends a messenger with a letter, 
 saying, " Send me your note, drawn for the amount of 
 your debt : I will endorse it, and it will certainly be 
 honored at the bank." You draw the note. The mes- 
 senger retires to take it to your friend. You expect 
 that the note will be cashed, not because of your 
 anxious feelings, but merely because it bears your 
 friend's name. So we hope to obtain pardon because 
 the Advocate with the Father presents our prayer, 
 and not because of our anxious feelings. 
 
 No condition could be better suited to man's help- 
 lessness, than an act of trust in another. No condition 
 'could be more easy : an Israelite, stung by the fiery 
 

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 11 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 serpent, could look to and trust in God's uplifted 
 remedy. Faith is an instantaneous act, adapted to 
 man's immediate danger. "As in creation we see many 
 things adapted to each other — the eye to light, the ear 
 to sound, the lungs to air ;" so in the spiritual world, 
 faith is adapted to grace, for it is merely " the hand 
 which is held up to receive the benefit which Christ 
 lays in it." (A. Madaren.) It is the purse which 
 " holds the treasure grace imparts." " Faith is simply 
 receptive, and can contribute nothing of its own : and 
 it is therefore by faith that we are enabled to receive 
 of His fulness and grace for grace." "Wherefore it is 
 of faith that it might be by grace." Its being by 
 grace is essential to the very nature of the Gospel ; 
 and its being by faith is represented as securing this 
 essential point. " There is a perfect contrariety between 
 grace and works; but there is a perfect and simple 
 and beautiful harmony between grace and faith." 
 (Wardlaw's Essays on Assurance, p. 47.) 
 
 The announcement of this plan of salvation is fitly 
 called the gospel, because it is good news to those who 
 enquire, " What must I do to be saved ?" The penitent 
 can see the love that provided the atonement, and the 
 love that offered the atonement, though he has not yet 
 comprehended the philosophy of the atonement. "As 
 a philosopher," said one, " I cannot understand the 
 atonement ; but as a penitent sinner I can understand 
 it." Such can see that it manifests the mercy of God, 
 though they do not see how it manifests also His 
 righteousness. They can believe Him when He says 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 303 
 
 Uplifted 
 ipted to 
 ee many 
 , the ear 
 il world, 
 :,he hand 
 ;h Christ 
 je which 
 LS simply 
 wn : and 
 o receive 
 ifore it is 
 being by 
 5 Gospel ; 
 ring this 
 ' between 
 d simple 
 faith." 
 
 is fitly 
 lose who 
 I penitent 
 and the 
 not yet 
 it. "As 
 tand the 
 lerstand 
 of God, 
 llso His 
 He says 
 
 that, when pardoning the penitent believer, He is as 
 just as He is merciful. The thing which we believe 
 may be in some respects incomprehensible ; "but what 
 we believe concerning it is the testimony of God with 
 respect to it, which is quite comprehensible." (Di\ 
 Carson.) The Christian religion is a science, because 
 its principles can be reduced to a system of truth 
 intelligible to all intelligent minds ; but it is also an 
 art which may be practiced by many who do not 
 understand it as a science. For one man of science 
 there are a thousand artisans. "To the philosopher it 
 is the grandest possible science, and to the unlearned 
 the simplest possible art. Who can reach the lofty 
 thousfht of Redeeming Love ? Who cannot trust the 
 loving Saviour ?" 
 
 There is but one way of pardon for the sins of be- 
 lievers and unbelievers. For " if any man sin we have 
 an Advocate with the Father : and He is the propitia- 
 tion for our sins : and not for ours only, but also for 
 the sin of the whole world." Leigh Richmond said 
 in dying : " It is only by coming to Christ as a little 
 child, and as for the first time, that I can get peace." 
 
 Some erroneously teach that faith is an inference 
 from an admitted historical fact. They say, "Did Jesus 
 die for all men ?" Yes. "Are not you a man ?" Yes. 
 "Then did not Jesus die for you ?" Yes. "Do you be- 
 lieve that ?" Yes. "You believe; then, clearly, you are 
 saved." This reasoning makes a false and dangerous 
 assumption. It assumes that the death of Christ pro- 
 cured salvation for all men, unconditionally. This 
 
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 304 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 assumption is not true. The true view is this : He died 
 to render it consistent with the principles of the Divine 
 character and government to offer all men space for 
 repentance ; and to offer pardon to the sinner who is 
 penitent, and to give pardon to the penitent who 
 accepts the offer. (Rom. iii. 25, 26.) You are not asked 
 to believe that you are already saved, but that for the 
 sake of an already offered and accepted atonement, 
 God is now ready to save the contrite, and will in 
 nowise cast out those who come to Him through His 
 mediating Son. Do not imagine that you must first 
 find out whether you are elected to be saved. It is 
 " through belief of the truth that God has from the 
 beginning chosen us to salvation." (2 Thess. ii. 12.) 
 
 In the first act of faith, the thing believed is not 
 that we are in a state of acceptance with God. " And 
 if the thing believed in the first act of faith is not our 
 own acceptance, it cannot be such in any subsequent 
 act of faith : or it would follow that what we first be- 
 lieved, was not the Gospel ; or that the Gospel under- 
 goes a change after we have given our confidence to 
 it, which is absurd." {Rev. G. Payne, LL.D.) " Noth- 
 ing can be more evident," says Dr. Russell, " than that 
 whatever God calls us to believe must be already true, 
 and therefore true whether we believe it or not ; and 
 that before we believe it, evidence of its truth must be 
 given us. But it is not true that a man is a Christian 
 till he believes the Divine testimony ; and, therefore, 
 his believing that he is a Christian can be no part of 
 the faith of the Gospel." (Quoted by Payne.) 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 305 
 
 He died 
 J Divine 
 pace for 
 r who is 
 nt who 
 )t asked 
 ■j for the 
 nement, 
 will in 
 acrh His 
 lUst first 
 i. It is 
 :rom the 
 . 12.) 
 id is not 
 "And 
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 irst be- 
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 " Noth- 
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 it; and 
 ust be 
 ristian 
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 art of 
 
 Saving faith has reference to " things hoped for." 
 The exhortation is, " Believe, and thou shalt be saved." 
 The responding faith is, d believing hope of salvation — 
 a confident expectation of the mercy of God through 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith that I will be saved, 
 precedes faith that I am saved. The faith that pre- 
 cedes salvation cannot include a consciousness of sal- 
 vation already received. Faith in the promise of sal- 
 vation ready to be fulfilled, is different from faith in 
 the evidence of salvation already conferred. The 
 former is the faith of a penitent, the latter is the faith 
 of a son. The former has not the consciousness of 
 acceptance ; the latter has this consciousness. " The 
 faith of a son," says Mr. Wesley, " is a sure trust and 
 confidence in God, that through the merits of Christ 
 my sins are forgiven." But this is not the justifying 
 faith of a penitent. Mr. Wesley said : " I cannot allow 
 that justifying faith is such an assurance, or neces- 
 sarily connected therewith ; because, if justifying faith 
 necessarily implies such an explicit assurance of par- 
 don, then every one who has it not, and every one so 
 long as he has it not, is under the wrath and curse of 
 God. But this is a supposition contrary to scripture 
 and to experience." (Whitehead, Life of Wesley, Vol. 
 II., p. 235, cited by Tyerman, Vol. I., p. 552.) This is 
 dated 1747. Twenty years later he adds this emphatic 
 sentence : " I have not for many years thought a 
 consciousness of acceptance to be essential to justify- 
 ing faith. (Journal, vii. p. 495.) He accordingly 
 founded assurance of present acceptance with God on 
 
J ii I 
 
 !': '\ 
 
 306 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 1 
 
 V i! 
 
 HI 
 
 the witness of the Spirit, and on the fruit of the Spirit ; 
 not on the nature of saving faith. 
 
 Mr. Wesley held that " the faith which is properly- 
 saving may be held by a person who is at present 
 only a servant of God, not properly a son." He adds : 
 "Nearly fifty years ago, when the preachers com- 
 monly called Methodists began to preach that grand 
 scriptural doctrine, salvation by faith, they were not 
 sufficiently apprised of the difference between a ser- 
 vant and a child of God. In consequence of this they 
 were apt to make sad the hearts of those whom God 
 had not made sad. For they frequently asked those 
 who feared God, ' Do you know that your sins are for- 
 given ?' And upon their answering ' No,' immediately 
 replied, * Then you are a child of the devil.' No," ex- 
 claimed Mr. Wesley, " that does not follow. It might 
 have been said (and it is all that can be said with pro- 
 priety). Hitherto you are only a servant, you are not a 
 child of God. You have already great reason to praise 
 Him that He has called you into His honorable service. 
 Fear not, continue crying unto Him, and you shall see 
 greater things than these." (Wesley's Works, Vol. VIL, 
 p. 190.) 
 
 Faith is not assurance, for there is a promise to 
 them that "mourn that they should be comforted ;" and 
 an exhortation to them that "walk in darkness, to 
 trust in the name of the Lord." A little faith is faith, 
 as a spark of fire is fire. A friend complained to 
 Gotthold of the weakness of his faith, and the distress 
 this gave him. Gotthold pointed to a vine that had 
 
 Wi 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 307 
 
 twined itself around a pole, and was hanging loaded 
 with beautiful clusters, and said : " Frail is that plant; 
 but what harm is done to it by its frailty ? As little 
 will it prejudice your faith that it is weak," provided 
 only it " takes for a pole and prop the cross of the 
 Saviour and the word of God, and twines around 
 these with all the power that it has." {Scaver.) A 
 thing may exist in different degrees. " A drop of 
 water is as truly water as the whole ocean ; a little 
 man is as truly a man as a great giant. So a little 
 faith is as truly faith as lull persuasion." (Downame.) 
 " The question is not whether you trust Him perfectly, 
 so as to have no fear, no troubles, no doubts ; but 
 whether you trust Him sincerely, so as to venture all 
 upon Him, in His way. If you can venture all on 
 Him, and let go all to follow Him, your faith is true 
 and saving." (Baxter.) Faith in its simplest form 
 embraces Christ, and in its greatest expansion can only 
 comprehend more perfectly the infinite excellencies of 
 Christ. In this respect it is susceptible of degrees. 
 
 As the faith of a penitent precedes the fact of ac- 
 ceptance, so the fact is necessary to the evidence of 
 acceptance. The evidence is twofold: 1. The witness 
 of the Spirit attesting adoption to the person adopted. 
 2. The fruits of the Spirit discernible both by oneself 
 and by others. This twofold evidence is sufficient to 
 produce assurance, and it is the privilege of every 
 Christian to have it. Some do not profess to have it. 
 Mrs. Wesley stated that her father, Dr. Annesly, de- 
 clared, a little before his death, that for more than forty 
 
1 
 
 rti; 
 
 li 
 
 iii 
 
 i 
 
 308 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 years he had no darkness, no fear, no doubt at all of his 
 being accepted in the beloved ; but that, nevertheless, 
 she did not remember to have heard him preach even 
 once explicitly upon it ; whence she supposed he 
 looked upon it as the peculiar blessing of a few and not 
 as promised to all the people of God." (Women of 
 Meth., p. 48.) The doctrine of assurance had always 
 been admitted by the Puritan divines of both Old and 
 New England ; but by a logical inference from the 
 Calvinistic theology, it was regarded as an assurance 
 of eternal, as well as of present salvation; and the 
 perilous tendencies of such an inference led to the 
 opinion that it was intended only for the specially 
 initiated. "Arminianism alone could safely restore 
 the precious truth as a common privilege to the 
 church." Wesley connected assurance not with the 
 essence of faith, but with the witness of the Spirit ; 
 and he regarded the witness of the Spirit as the 
 assurance of present adoption, and as therefore very 
 different from an assurance of final salvation. His 
 Arminianism enabled him to make this practically 
 important distinction, and to avoid the dangers of the 
 doctrine of infallible final perseverance. 
 
 It is the privilege of a believer to have the faith of 
 assurance ; but all do not possess it. Perhaps some 
 have it not for this reason : If they had assurance of 
 present salvation, they would be led by other parts of 
 their creed to regard it as warranting also an assur- 
 ance of future and final salvation as unforf eitable ; 
 and such an assurance may lead to presumptuous 
 
TV 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 309 
 
 omissions, or transgressions. It is perhaps for this 
 reason that some do not receive the witness of the 
 Spirit. They would make a wrong application of its 
 testimony. In their case, too, the fruits of the Spirit 
 are not as distinct as they would otherwise be. Men 
 cannot have a full assurance of final salvation, when 
 they have frequent questionings about their present 
 salvation. 
 
 It should, however, be remarked that assurance of 
 final salvation ig attainable by those who would not 
 make a wrong use of it : but it is reached at a later 
 stage. Paul said : " I know whom I have believed, 
 and am persuaded that He is able to keep that 
 which I have committed unto Him against that day." 
 " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my 
 departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I 
 have finished my course, I have kept the faith : hence- 
 forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
 ness." *(2 Tim. iv. 6-8.) This was said near the close 
 of his distinguished career. Others may attain the 
 same. He said to them : " We desire that every one of 
 you do show the same diligence to the full assurance 
 of hope unto the end." (Heb. vi. 11.) "The God of 
 hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that 
 ye may abound in hope, through the power of the 
 Holy Ghost." (Rom. xv. 13.) 
 
 Faith is ready to confess what it believes. It is not 
 ashamed of it. Hence faith must be followed by con- 
 fession. Two things are required : (1) to have a heart- 
 felt trust in Christ as a crucified and glorified Medi- 
 
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 !lil 
 
 ill » i 
 
 310 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ator ; (2) to make an open and oral confession of Him 
 in that character before men. " Here is an unanswer- 
 able refutation of two perilous errors : (1) That faith 
 alone, without profession, is enough ; and (2) that 
 profession alone is all that is required of us. Faith 
 in the heart must precede confession with the mouth. 
 Confession with the mouth must manifest faith in the 
 heart. By faith in the heart we hold communion 
 with God ; and by confession with the mouth we hold 
 communion with the children of God.'i Those who do 
 not relate their experiences at the time of conversion 
 are very liable to retain no definite views of it, and 
 soon forget it, and even deny it. " Open confession of 
 what we are persuaded to be truth and duty is one of 
 the first of our obligations as rational, social, religious, 
 accountable beings." (J. Broiun, D.D., Rom., p. 539.) 
 We must desire in order to pray. We must pray in 
 order to receive. We must receive in order to feel. 
 We must feel in order to profess. 
 
 Some anxious enquirers have prayed for salvation 
 without distinctly remembering that they had done 
 so. Hence when salvation came to them they sup- 
 posed that it came unprayed for, and therefore because 
 of electing grace. A man once exclaimed : " The Lord 
 converted me unconditionally and irresistibly." " In- 
 deed," said a person present, " I never knew a case of 
 that kind. I wish you would tell me how it hap- 
 pened." "Well," said the man, "as I walked along 
 the road I felt that I was such a miserable sinner, and 
 saw that I ^was in such danger of perishing, that I 
 
 ^:i I U 
 
Tn 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 311 
 
 besjan to say, ' Lord, have mercy ' — oh ! I remember 
 now, I did pray for salvation, didn't I ?" Of course he 
 did, or he would not have got it. No adult ever 
 obtained salvation without praying for it. Show me 
 a man that has obtained salvation, and I will show 
 you a man who has prayed for it. Show me a man 
 that has never obtained salvation, and I will show you 
 a man that never offered for it one acceptable prayer. 
 Whitefield thought he must have been elected by 
 sovereign grace, because he was conscious of being a 
 vile sinner at the moment of looking for and obtaining 
 mercy. But there was nothing peculiar in that. He 
 would have seen this if he had, like Wesley, imme- 
 diatelv after his conversion, visited the Moravians in 
 Hernhutt, and heard their Christian David say : " If 
 you would lay a right foundation, go straight to Christ 
 with all your ungodliness ; tell Him, ' Thou, whose 
 eyes are as a flame of fire, searching my heart, seest 
 that I am ungodly. I plead nothing else. I do not 
 say that I am humble, or contrite ; but I am ungodly. 
 Therefore bring me to Him that justifieth the un- 
 godly. Let Thy blood be the propitiation for me.'" 
 (Christian David, Hist, of Meth., p. 107.) 
 
 But, say they, salvation is the gift of God ? True. 
 " By grace ye are saved through faith ; and that not of 
 yourself ; it is the gift of God." The pronoun trans- 
 lated " that " cannot refer to faith, but must refer to 
 the salvation by grace. Read the next verse : "Not 
 of works, lest any man should boast." "What is not of 
 works ? Faith or salvation ? To say that faith is not 
 
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 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 of works is nonsense. To argue that salvation is not 
 of works is to do just what Paul is doing." (Gladden.) 
 It might have been said that faith is the gift of God, 
 as He is the author of the testimony and promise which 
 are believed, and the exhibitor of motives. But, as 
 Dean Alford says, " and that " (mt rnvm) refers not to 
 faith, but to salvation, as being the gift of God. Sal- 
 vation is a gift from God. Yet, as one has said, " a 
 gift is not a gift until it is accepted." That which is 
 forced upon another without his consent is not a gift ; 
 it is an imposition. The word implies two persons, 
 one of whom is free either to bestow it or to withhold 
 it ; the other of whom is free either to accept it or 
 reject it." " The free act of God in bestowing salva- 
 tion is grace ; the free act of man in accepting it is 
 faith." (Gladden.) "To receive a gift is not to believe 
 it to be my own, though after I have received it, it is 
 so ; but to have my pride so far abased as not to be 
 above it, and my heart so much attracted as to be 
 willing to relinquish everything that stands in com- 
 petition with it. To receive a guest is not to believe 
 him to be my par"* r friend, though such he may 
 be ; but to o- .,y door to him and make him 
 
 heartily welcv. ^. To receive an instructor is not to 
 believe him to be my instructor, any more than 
 another ; but to embrace his instruction and follow his 
 counsel." (Andrew Fuller.) 
 
 The penitent believer " surrenders himself to Christ 
 and all holiness for time and eternity." (Whedon, 
 What is Arminianism ? p. 16.) God's requirement is 
 
™ 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 313 
 
 is not 
 dden.) 
 I God, 
 which 
 3ut, as 
 not to 
 , Sal- 
 lid, "a 
 hich is 
 a gift ; 
 )ersons, 
 ithhold 
 t it or 
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 believe 
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 Is to be 
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 e may 
 Ike him 
 not to 
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 low his 
 
 Christ 
 
 l^hedon, 
 
 lent is 
 
 first obey the gospel — get the tree made good ; next 
 obey the law — bring forth good fruit. He knows 
 that the end of pardon is to set free from punishment, 
 not from law: for concomitant with pardon is the com- 
 munication of the regenerating grace of the Holy 
 Spirit, that " the righteousness of the law might be ful- 
 filled in us who walk . . . after the spirit;" and the spirit 
 leads in the way of the commandments. He knows 
 that the righteousness of the law was to be fulfilled in 
 us personally, not for us by proxy. If fulfilled for us. 
 it should not be fulfilled by us. Christ is the end of 
 the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, 
 Paul here used the words " the end of the law," in the 
 same sense as the similar phrase " the end of the com- 
 mandment." He tells Timothy that the end of the 
 commandment is love, out of a pure heart a good con- 
 science, and faith unfeigned. End here means the de- 
 sign ; the object aimed at. The object of the law is to 
 get us to fulfil the righteousness of the law. As we 
 have not by nature the love that is the fulfilling of 
 the law, how are we to obtain it ? We cannot obtain 
 it from the law. The compelling authority of law 
 can direct love where it is, but cannot produce it 
 where it is not. It is only the fulness of love and 
 grace in Christ, that can incline us to desire and ask 
 this love. Christ sends His Spirit to impart it to those 
 who ask, and the love thus obtained willingly yields 
 obedience to the law. Thus Christ is the end of the 
 law for righteousness to every one that believeth. He 
 enables every one of them to attain that design. 
 22 
 
314 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Mm 
 
 mirj 
 
 " Implicit belief in the doctrines of the Bible, and the 
 faithful doin^ of the duties which it enjoins, are both 
 essential to a rounded and stable Christian character." 
 His blood is the blood of the covenant ; and the cove- 
 nant promises to write the law in their minds and 
 hearts, that they may be to God a people, and that He 
 may be to them a God. The atonement was intended 
 to procure deliverance from punishment, as a step 
 to deliverance from sinfulness — to pardon in order to 
 make holy. For this reason the priestly work of 
 Christ is inseparably associated with the sanctify- 
 ing work of the Divine Spirit. "And the God of 
 peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord 
 Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through 
 [literally, in] the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
 make you perfect in every good work to do His will." 
 (Heb. xiii. 20.) The Gospel brings with it a universal 
 call to repentance, faith, and holiness. " The first of 
 these we account, as it were, the porch of religion ; 
 the next, the door ; the third, religion itself." ( Wesley.) 
 And the great end of the Gospel ministry, as he under- 
 stood it, was to "spread scriptural holiness over the 
 land." 
 
 As an illustration of the life which abides in the 
 Divine word, Bishop Simpson remarks: "Six hundred 
 years before Christ, the prophet Habakkuk had writ- 
 ten, * The just shall live by his faith.' The apostle 
 Paul felt the power of the utterance, and quoted it in 
 his epistle to the Romans, as well as in those to the 
 Galatians and the Hebrews. Nearly fifteen centuries 
 
 li. ^ 
 
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 ; i» 
 
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 315 
 
 and the 
 re both 
 iracter." 
 lie cove- 
 ads and 
 that He 
 intended 
 ; a step 
 
 order to 
 work of 
 sanctit'y- 
 B God of 
 our Lord 
 
 throuprh 
 covenant, 
 
 |His will." 
 universal 
 le first of 
 religion ; 
 (Wesley.) 
 he under- 
 over the 
 
 les in the 
 hundred 
 I had writ- 
 le apostle 
 loted it in 
 |)se to the 
 centuries 
 
 passed when the eye of Luther fell upon it, as he 
 turned the pages of the chained Bible in his convent." 
 It was not originated by him. He says expressly, 
 "The doctrine is not mine." (Ritschl, p. 164.) He im- 
 bibed it from the tradition current within the Church. 
 " Luther notoriously was indebted to an old monk for 
 the first consolatory reference to it in the midst of his 
 struggle of conscience; and it was Staupitz, his patron, 
 who aided him in further developing his views." (Ibid, 
 p. 165.) When Luther was first specially awakened to 
 see that he was a great sinner, and that God is a holy 
 and just God, he had not yet learned the Bible way to 
 obtain pardon and holiness. But he had heard of 
 persons going to live in a convent or monastery 
 that they might become holy. So he determined 
 to leave his parents, his friends, his studies, every- 
 thing he loved, and enter the monastery of Erfurt, 
 and become an Augustine monk. And he did so on 
 August 17, 1505. Luther was then 21 years and 9 
 months old. His father was astounded, and, regarding 
 all his fond hopes to be now suddenly blasted, he 
 became alienated from him. Luther's plan brought 
 him no peace. But he sincerely wished to be led right ; 
 and God accordingly provided one to lead him. Stau- 
 pitz, the vicar-general of the order, came round on one 
 of his visitations to the convent, and all the monks 
 had to appear before him. The pale and thin appear- 
 ance and sunken eyes of Luther arrest his attention. 
 He apprehends that he is passing through just such 
 a state of mind as he himself once felt. He took 
 
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 316 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 an opportunity to see him alone, and to ask him why 
 he was so cast down. Luther said because he was a 
 •great sinner. " I am sure," said Staupitz, " you are a 
 great sinner ; but I know also that Jesus is a great 
 Saviour. He came to seek and to save the lost. If, then, 
 you are a lost sinner, you are just the person to come 
 to the Saviour of sinners." " That is very encourag- 
 ing," said the trembling monk. But the next day he 
 began to fear that God did not love him. And Stau- 
 pitz said, " Why do I see you again unhappy ?" Said 
 Luther, " If I were sure that God loved me I would 
 not be unhappy." " Well, replied his faithful friend, 
 " if you really want to see God's love toward you, look 
 away from yourself, and turn your eyes to the Lord 
 Jesus. Look at Him on the cross ! Look there, and 
 you will see that God loves you." Luther had never 
 before heard such good and comfortable words. Stau- 
 pitz, on leaving the monastery, handed his own Bible 
 to Luther, and affectionately said : " Read this book 
 often, and when you read it, pray for the Holy Spirit's 
 teaching to enable you to understand it." He read 
 therein, "The just shall live by faith," and these words 
 became to him glad tidings which he delighted to 
 announce to others. He diligently considered the 
 language of Paul : " For if righteousness come by the 
 law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Gal. ii. 2L) He saw 
 that Christ suffered death ; that Christ suffered not in 
 vain ; and, consequently, that it followed by necessity 
 that righteousness cometh not by the law. 
 
 The proclamation of this doctrine of salvation by 
 
' T' 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 317 
 
 Q why 
 was a 
 are a 
 , great 
 I, then, 
 
 come 
 jourag- 
 day he 
 
 1 Stau- 
 ' Said 
 '. would 
 
 friend, • 
 DU, look 
 le Lord 
 jre, and 
 j. never 
 Stau- 
 n Bible 
 is book 
 Spirit's 
 e read 
 |e words 
 ted to 
 ed the 
 by the 
 [He saw 
 not in 
 cessity 
 
 Lion by 
 
 faith, and the defence of it when assailed, occasioned 
 the Reformation. The Great Reformation was distin- 
 guished by two great principles : the supremacy of 
 Scripture as the only infallible authority, and salvation 
 by grace through faith only. In defending this doc- 
 trine, Luther became the man of one book, the Bible, 
 which gives not a mere statement of positive dogmas, 
 but the revelation of the heart of a Divine Person ; 
 exhibiting that God is love, and hath " so loved the 
 world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that who- 
 soever believeth in Him shall not perish but have ever- 
 lasting life;" that a heart of infinite love embraces us 
 on every side and rules in heaven. " The abiding 
 revelation of the love of God in Christ was Luther's 
 theological first principle*. He surpassed all previous 
 theologians in the prominence given to the love of 
 God. Luther sought to guide enquiring minds into a 
 proper attitude toward Christ, as the sole High Priest 
 and Mediator. He who has taken such an attitude 
 soon becomes a true believer. A company of true 
 believers is a true Church. It was, however, by in- 
 ducing men to exercise saving faith, and not by his 
 exposition of the doctrine v f faith, that Luther effected 
 the Reformation. Luther never allowed theoretical 
 reflection to work independently of his religious ex- 
 perience. He never gave himself to the business of 
 framing a theological system." (Eitschl, p. 168.) 
 
 The Reformation had a simultaneous origin through- 
 out all Christendom. " It was not from Luther that I 
 learned the doctrine of Christ," said Zwingli ; '* it was 
 
if 
 
 r\ 
 
 
 
 1. 
 1^ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 -'1 
 
 
 gl 
 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 ^t 
 
 '11 
 
 318 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 from God's word. I began to preach the gospel at a 
 time when the name of Luther had never been heard 
 among these mountains." " What power," said Ulric 
 Zwingli, " can there be in unprofitable works, weary 
 pilgrimages, offering prayers to the Virgin and the 
 saints, to secure you the favor of God ? Christ alone 
 saves, and He saves everywhere." 
 
 In the year that Luther nailed his theses to the 
 Wurtemburg church door, a young student in one of 
 the English universities unexpectedly found a copy 
 of Erasmus' Greek Testament. He hastened to shut 
 himself up in his room to peruse it. At the first 
 opening his eye caught the words of St. Paul : " This 
 is a faithful saying, that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." He laid 
 down the book and meditated on the astonishing de- 
 claration. "What! St. Paul the chief of sinners, yet 
 St. Paul is sure of being saved." He read the verse 
 again and again. "0, assertion of St. Paul, how sweet 
 thou art to my soul !" he exclaimed. " I also am like 
 Paul, and more than Paul the greatest of sinners. But 
 Christ saves sinners. At last I have heard of Jesus." 
 (Evangelical Alliance, 1873, p. 468.) 
 
 " The Reformers, thrusting aside all the develop- 
 ments and obstructions of legalism, sacerdotalism, and 
 formalism, went back to Christ. They were led to 
 their ultimate position, not as enquirers into specula- 
 tive and abstract theology, but as earnest seekers after 
 God, as men with burdened conscience and weary of 
 sin, putting the anxious question, ' W^hat must I do to 
 
lel at a 
 1 heard 
 d Ulric 
 , weary 
 md the 
 st alone 
 
 ; to the 
 I one of 
 a copy- 
 to shut 
 the first 
 I: ''This 
 into the 
 He laid 
 hing de- 
 ners, yet 
 ,he verse 
 w sweet 
 am like 
 rs. But 
 if Jesus." 
 
 develop- 
 llism, and 
 re led to 
 specula- 
 :ers after 
 I weary of 
 it I do to 
 
 T}\ 
 
 
 BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. 
 
 319 
 
 be saved V Each of them was brought into peace 
 with God through simple trust in the all-sufficient 
 merits of Christ. Out of this personal and heartfelt 
 experience of the living truth came the reconstructed 
 theology of the Reformation." (Rev. Principal Shera- 
 ton.) " Two centuries more had passed when Wesley 
 listened to Luther's account of it, and ftlt his heart 
 strangely warmed." (First (Ecumenical Conference, p. 
 10.) Mr. Wesley was one of a little company of half- 
 a-dozen tutors and students who believed the Bible to 
 be the word of God, and r -amined it carefully and 
 critically, that they might be able more intelligently 
 and more perfectly to obey it. They readily under- 
 stood its practical parts, and gave all their spare mo- 
 ments to works of charity and benevolence. There 
 was at this point Bible study and benevolent activity. 
 But they did not as readily understand the way of 
 salvation. Wesley had read, "Being justified by faith, 
 we have peace with God ;" but he did not rightly ap- 
 prehend its meaning till he heard one reading Luther's 
 preface to the Epistle to the Romans, where he teaches 
 what faith is, and that faith alone justifies. When 
 listening to this, he says : " I felt my heart strangely 
 warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, 
 for salvation ; and an assurance was given me that 
 He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved 
 me from the law of sin and death." Having believed 
 with the heart, he confessed with the mouth. He 
 added, "And I then testified openly to all these what 
 I now first felt in my heart." That was the end of 
 
 I \f 
 
 
■1"' f 
 
 ml 
 
 !r I 
 
 320 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 
 legalism, and formalism, and ritualism. "Then com- 
 menced Wesley's life of joyous and triumphant faith. 
 His ministry assumed a new phase. There was now 
 Bible study, Bible experience, and Christian activity. 
 To repeat that experience in the hearts of others was 
 the object of his subsequent plans, and organisms, and 
 modes of work. As long as Methodism keeps to that 
 work, and as long as there are men that need that 
 experience, the mission of Methodism will never be 
 ended." {First (Ecumenical Methodist Conference.) 
 
 Note. — I have alluded only occasionally to the doc- 
 trine of Justification by Faith, because T prepared a 
 chapter on that important topic ; but as the book 
 has already too many pages, I have not placed it in 
 the printer's hands. For the same reason I have not 
 inserted a carefully-preparpd chapter on the Lord's 
 Supper, which cannot be fully understood without a 
 correct theory of the atonement. 
 
 i AW 
 
ben com- 
 ant faith, 
 was now 
 
 activity, 
 ihers was 
 isms, and 
 )s to that 
 eed that 
 Qever be 
 3nce.) 
 
 the doc- 
 epared a 
 ihe book 
 eed it in 
 have not 
 le Lord's 
 dthout a 
 
 APPENDED EXPOSITION. 
 
 PAUL'S COMPARATIVE STATEMENT OF THE RELATION 
 
 OF MEN TO ADAM ON THE ONE HAND, AND 
 
 TO CHRIST ON THE OTHER. 
 
 Exposition of Romans v. 11-21. 
 
 The paragraph before us is one to which special 
 aUenfon has been given by earnest students o'f he 
 Bible m every part of Christendom. 8ermons without 
 number have been preached upon it ; and volume after 
 volume has been written. "Poets have madrit the 
 burden of imn.ortal song." Like other portions t has 
 
 P eTatirS Ih"*"'"'^'- ^"* -^^ *^^ Sfferent'inter! 
 tm^K , r''^^' "°^ ^'^"'^ "«■ different sys- 
 tems of theology have been based-systems that have 
 shaped the thoughts aad influenced the emotTons I? 
 
 sh:;t^T;b'""'' "^"^ ^'^'^^ generatior In 
 short, no other passage can be mentioned, the interpre- 
 tation of which "has so deeply affected the theo W 
 and spirit, and plans of the Christian Church." 
 
 [!■ 
 
322 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 : >i 
 
 i 
 
 El ; 
 
 ■•^1- 
 
 Dr. Hodge very properly observes, that " The only 
 legitimate method of controverting a doctrine, which 
 purports to be founded on the Scriptures, is the exege- 
 tical. If its advocates undertake to show that it is 
 taught in the Bible, its opponents are bound to prove 
 that the Bible, understood agreeably to the recognized 
 laws of interpretation, does not teach it." (Dr. Hodge, 
 Theol. ii. p. 527.) Granting this, the aim of the fol- 
 lowing exposition is to show very clearly that Paul's 
 words, above referred to, when rightly interpreted, do 
 not teach the doctrine which Calvinist writers have 
 supposed : that they put in by unwarranted assump- 
 tion, what they bring out by logical inference. Hence 
 their inferences are utterly baseless. Let us examine, 
 with all due care, the words which the apostle uses, 
 and the end at which he aims. 
 
 His chief aim is to give instruction respecting two 
 most important subjects — (1) the influence of the apos- 
 tasy of Adam on the earthly state and circumstances 
 of the human race ; (2) the influence of the mediation 
 of Christ, the second Adam, on the race so aflfected by 
 the first Adam. The comparative statement which he 
 makes respecting these different influences, refers to 
 things which are generally classed among those that 
 are " hard to be understood." But " that is a reason 
 why Christians should take the more pains to under- 
 stand them; and why those who are commissioned by 
 the Chief Shepherd for that purpose, should the more 
 diligently explain them to their flocks.' (Whately, 
 Essays on the Writings of St. Paul, ii. sec. 2.) 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 823 
 
 le only 
 , which 
 J exege- 
 at it is 
 3 prove 
 offnized 
 Hodge, 
 the fol- 
 t Paul's 
 reted, do 
 3rs have 
 assump- 
 Hence 
 examine, 
 stle uses, 
 
 ting two 
 ,he apos- 
 stances 
 ediation 
 fected by 
 hich he 
 efers to 
 lose that 
 a reason 
 |o under- 
 oned by 
 ,he more 
 hately, 
 
 Paul regarded the arrangements of which he speaks 
 in such a way as to lead him to "joy in God 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. v. 11.) 
 Hence his words, rightly understood, are fitted to lead 
 all right-minded hearers or readers to rejoice also 
 before God. Any view which is not fitted to cause 
 heartfelt thanksgiving in a rightly-disposed heart, is 
 not the one which the apostle intended to convey. 
 He saw nothing in it to shock man's moral^sentiments. 
 We shall keep this clear and important fact in mind 
 to aid us in getting a clear apprehension of the 
 apostle's inspired statements ; that we may unite with 
 him in intelligently and heartily adoring the gracious 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we 
 may not only be saved, but saved so as to be, like 
 Paul, in a triumphant state of mind respecting the 
 plan by which we have obtained it. May we, too, be 
 able to say : " We also joy in God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ: by— through— whom we have now 
 received the atonement," or "the reconciliation," 
 as the Revised Version properly renders the original 
 word. Man should gladly receive the OiFered recon- 
 ciliation. " The verb rendered ' receive ' (/.a/u^aveiv) does 
 not denote in the New Testament a passive reception " 
 (Lange), but a willing acceptance and appropriation, 
 as in John i. 11, 12 : " He came unto His own and His 
 own received Him not ; but as many as received Him," 
 i.e., with willing acceptance, " to them gave He power 
 to become the sons of God, even to them that believe 
 on His name." So Paul speaks of those who willingly 
 
*?5i 
 
 ■• I 
 
 I 
 
 ■I 
 
 'i 
 
 il 
 
 
 ji. 
 
 324 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 received the word of reconciliation ; and who, now 
 mutually reconciled, rejoice in contemplating God in 
 that new relation, and in considering the glorious 
 remedial plan and the great benefits which it confers. 
 All these benefits flowed to the persons spoken of 
 through the act of another, through the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. This need not surprise us, the apostle sug- 
 gests, as we find in one ancestor the origin of the 
 alienated disposition which occasions the need of 
 reconciliation, ver. 12 : " Wherefore, as by one man 
 sin entered into the world." The word " wherefore " 
 makes a retrospective reference to what was spoken 
 of as coming to man through the mediation of Christ. 
 He intends to say that the coming of this result 
 through Christ was " as," " like as," " by one man sin 
 entered into the world." " So that the word ' as ' 
 introduces the second member of a comparison" 
 (Alford), of which the first member is supplied by 
 preceding words. By one man, Jesus Christ, the 
 benefits pertaining to the reconciliation were given to 
 those who receive them ; as it was by one man, 
 Adam, that " sin entered into the world." The apostle 
 does not point his readers to Abraham, the father of 
 the Jewish nation, and the source of many blessings ; 
 he ascends to a more remote ancestor, from whom both 
 Jews and Gentiles were descended, and through whom 
 they both inherit the same dismal legacy. " In ascend- 
 ing to Adam, the distinction between Jews and Gen- 
 tiles is lost, and the necessity of a Saviour is laid on 
 that condition, which is common to all mankind." 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 325 
 
 (G. Hill, in Bible Reader's Commentary, Rom. v. 
 12-21.) And the intention was to benefit all. 
 
 He had treated, in chapters i.-iii., of the manifesta- 
 tions of sin in actual transgression ; he now looks 
 back to the origin of that sinful disposition. " By one 
 man sin," i.e., sinfulness of disposition, " entered into 
 the world," into the human world. We have on a 
 former page shown that the apostle was not speaking 
 of the entrance of the first act of sin, because this 
 did not enter by one MAN, but by one woman. The 
 apostle means that by one man, as the parent of the 
 human family, sinful disposition entered, and passed 
 by hereditary descent into all his off'spring. "Adam's 
 fall vitiated human nature itself, and prospectively 
 hie whole posterity, in the same manner in which the 
 disease of the germ and root will affect the tree and 
 branches proceeding from it." (Lange, on Romans, 
 p. 179.) " Augustine, who searched the problem of sin 
 more profoundly than any divine before or after him, 
 taught the fall of the whole race in Adam, and the 
 sinfulness of our nature, as the source of all sinful 
 volitions, words, and acts." (P. Schaff, in Lange.) But 
 he erred in regarding this state as a judicial punish- 
 ment. He did not take into sufficient account the fact, 
 that man's state is influenced by the grace of Christ, 
 on the other hand ; that man is in a state of probation, 
 not in a state of .punishment. The fact of human sin- 
 fulness cannot be denied, however mysterious its origin 
 may seem. The pregnant words of Pascal cannot be 
 gainsaid : " It is astonishing that the mystery which 
 
^lil 
 
 \imi 
 
 ^W 
 
 326 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 is farthest removed from onr knowled<:je (I mean the 
 transmission of original sin), should be that without 
 which we can have no knowledge of ourselves. It is 
 in this abyss that the clue to our condition takes its 
 turns and windings, insomuch that man is more in- 
 comprehensible without this mystery, than this mys- 
 tery is incomprehensible to man !" 
 
 Paul says it was " by one man " this sinfulness 
 entered. No, say some, it was by one Person of the 
 Holy Trinity, who caused it by judicial infliction. 
 This is an amazingly strange opinion. It is very 
 wrong and very injurious to class the natural conse- 
 quences of man's conduct, which take place during 
 probation, with the judicial consequences which are 
 appointed to follow after the close of probation. 
 We shall point out the error and danger of this 
 opinion in an appended note. 
 
 The inspired apostle teaches, as we have seen, that 
 it was " by one man " that sinfulness entered. He 
 proceeds to say, " for that " reason, or f^ w, on which 
 account "all have sinned." That is, on account of 
 the sinfulness which passed from Adam into the 
 human world, all have sinned personally. 
 
 It is supposed by Rothe that e<P w may be here 
 equivalent to em tovtu uote. The meaning then is, that 
 sinfulness entered into the human world in such wise 
 that all sinned personally. Some suppose that there 
 may be an ellipsis of ev avru after iffiaprov, and that the 
 meaning is, all (collectively) sinned in Adam. But the 
 apostle evidently did not mean this, because he knew, 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. .S27 
 
 and very soon after mentioned the fact, that some 
 " did not sin after the similitude of Adam's trans- 
 gression." He could not have said this if they had 
 sinned in Adam. Augustine imagined that all sinned 
 in Adam, because he rested very much on the false 
 translation of verse 12 in the Latin Vulgate : "In quo 
 omnes peccaverunt," which means, " in whom all 
 sinned." Hence he often says that " all men were one 
 in Adam, and that Adam, though one, was all men." 
 His false philosophy led him to imagine that there may 
 have been an actual participation of all in Adam's act. 
 " But the personal identity of differing millions is 
 impossible and absurd." (Rev. W. Lord.) And "the 
 individual co-existence and co-agency of the race in 
 Adam, is equally impossible and absurd." (P.S. in 
 Lange.) Others merely suppose that God effected, 
 in some undefined manner, a mysterious identity of 
 Adam and his race ; in consequence of which the 
 parent's act was, in an equally undefined and mys- 
 terious way, the act of his posterity. " It is no new 
 thing, in the history of the human mind, that even 
 great men should deceive themselves with words, and 
 take mystic phrases, or vague imaginings for definite 
 ideas." (Dr. Hodge, Theol. ii. p. 536.) This notion 
 " clothes itself in mystery to screen itself from pointed 
 attack." " It is not enough to tell us that God has 
 power to effect a moral oneness in some way or 
 another ; for the question is not what He could do, 
 but what it was consistent with His character to do." 
 " When we are asking whetlier it was right in God to 
 
Mil 
 
 i.i- 
 
 328 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 do SO, we cannot be satisfied by being told that He 
 was able to do it." An answer which ends in this 
 point has unquestionably failed. " The difficulty re- 
 mains as it was." (Dick's Lect, vol. i., p. 462.) But 
 the translation on which these theories are based is 
 grammatically false ; as Godet remarks, " f^f cannot 
 have the meaning of ev'' (Godet on Romans, p. 209.) 
 
 Many interpreters have supposed that the clause 
 " all have sinned " was intended to give a reason for 
 the temporal death of all ; and accordingly they regard 
 temporal death as a judicial penalty. But, ad Meyer 
 replies, " The view that the death of individuals is the 
 result of their personal sins, would vitiate and even 
 contradict the whole parallel between Adam and 
 Christ which the apostle is making. As Hodge says, 
 " It would make the apostle teach that, as all men die 
 because they personally sin ; so all men live because 
 they are personally and inherently righteous. This is 
 contrary not only to this whole passage, but to all 
 Paul's teaching, and to the whole gospel." (Quoted in 
 Lange on Rom., p. 179.) Paul's statement is this : 
 " For as the sin of Adam brought death to all (there- 
 fore not their self-committed sin), so the obedience of 
 Christ (not their own virtue) brought life to all." 
 (Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 22.) As Moses Stuart says, "There 
 remains, therefore, only the first plain and simple 
 method of interpretation, viz., all men have sinned in 
 their own persons," (quoted in Lange on Rom., p. 179) ; 
 and they sinned personally, because of the sinfulness 
 which they inherited from Adam. 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. .329 
 
 ,hat He 
 in this 
 julty re- 
 l) But 
 based is 
 ■I cannot 
 p. 209.) 
 e clause 
 ason for 
 sy regard 
 Lo Meyer 
 als is the 
 md even 
 iam and 
 dge says, 
 men die 
 because 
 This is 
 |ut to all 
 luoted in 
 is this: 
 il (there- 
 ience of 
 to all." 
 "There 
 [l simple 
 nned in 
 p. 179) ; 
 Infulness 
 
 The opinion that temporal death is a judicial penalty, 
 will be examined in an appended not'3. Dr. Whedon 
 admits that man's sinfulness and mortnlity are part of 
 a natural train of events, " hereditarily resulting from 
 the fall." He says : " Man is but a species of the great 
 living generative genus. Of this a fundamental and 
 universal regulation i» the law of descent. By that 
 law the nature of the progenitor is the nature of all 
 his generations. . . As is the parent, such is the child ; 
 as is the first progenitor, such is the entire posterity." 
 (Dr. Whedon, Meth. Quar. Rev., Oct., 1861.) But, un- 
 fortunately, he supposed that they had also a wholly 
 different cause — that what resulted by a " process of 
 cause and effect, resulted also by a p. cess of sin and 
 penalty." This is wholly unwarranted. And it is very 
 inconsistent, for he says immediately afterwards : " The 
 sentence was literally pronounced in the second person 
 singular upon Adam alone. Its literal expression im- 
 plied an immediate execution, leaving no time for the 
 propagation of a race. Its execution upon him alone 
 would have been its full literal and hnal fulfilment." 
 Certainly ; but if so, the p^^nalty did not include also 
 hereditary or any other results to his offspring on his 
 account. It did not specify that he should propagate 
 children under condemnation to temporal, spiritual, 
 and eternal death. 
 
 Looking again at trie passage now before us, we 
 find that Paul, after saying that all sinned in conse- 
 quence of hereditary depravity, proceeds to show that 
 this will account for sinful actions previous to the age 
 23 
 

 iiii: 
 
 ' I 
 
 im 
 
 
 .^30 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 of accountability to law. He had talked of all sin- 
 ning personally ; this included the case of children. 
 If all sin be a disconformity to law, then there may 
 be a " sinful nature or state, as well as a sinful act." 
 (Dr. Whedon.) " The fact is, there are certain dis- 
 positions and acts that are in their nature opposite to 
 holiness, abstractly from the power of being or doing 
 otherwise at the time. If not, then the new-born in- 
 fant has no moral character, or he has power to be- 
 come holy with the first breath." (Dr. Fisk, Calv. 
 Controv., p. 209, 210.) Sin may certainly exist where 
 it would not be just to impute it to the sinner. 
 
 "For until the law, sin was in the world." 
 From the days of infancy to the days of accountability 
 to law, sin has existed in the human world, and has 
 manifested itself in acts of sin. "But sin is not 
 imputed where there is no law." Sin is not con- 
 sidered punishable when the persons who commit it 
 are not of sufficient age or capacity to take knowledge 
 of the existence and sacredness of the law. This 
 statement refers to the case of infants before the age 
 of accountability to law. It has been erroneously 
 supposed by some to refer to the case of adults before 
 the time of Moses. It would not be true to say that 
 sins were not imputed to adults during the period of 
 time between Adam and Moses. "To assert this," 
 says Moses Stuart, " is directly to contradict the whole 
 tenor of Old Testament history and declarations, (I 
 appeal to the case of Cain ; of the antediluvians, who 
 perished in the flood ; of Sodom and Gomorrah ;) and 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 881 
 
 all sin- 
 bildren. 
 :re may 
 iul act." 
 ain dis- 
 )Osite to 
 or doing 
 born in- 
 2r to be- 
 sk, Cal'v. 
 ibt where 
 
 r. 
 world." 
 
 stability 
 [, and has 
 in is not 
 not con- 
 lominit it 
 nowledge 
 iw. This 
 le the age 
 •roneously 
 Its before 
 say that 
 period of 
 ,ert this," 
 the whole 
 •ations, (I 
 ians, who 
 Irah;) and 
 
 is to overturn the very foundation the apostle has 
 taken so much pains to lay, in chaps, i.-iii., in order to 
 make the conclusion entirely evident and unavoidable, 
 that all men need gratuitous justification." (Stuart, 
 on Romans v. 13.) Another reason why the view 
 referred to cannot be admitted, is, as Stuart further 
 remarks, " that, by parity of reason, it would follow 
 that all who are without revealed law would, every- 
 where and at all times, escape the imputations of their 
 own transgressions — a conclusion that would come 
 into conflict with other declarations of Paul." 
 
 What the apostle means, then, is that his statement 
 that sinfulness is hereditary, will agree with, and 
 account for, the historical fact that sin actually appears 
 prior to the time of accountability to law. This state- 
 ment applies to the infant part of the world. But sin 
 is not reckoned as punishable where the law is not ; 
 and the law is not where infancy is; or where idiocy is. 
 
 But though sin is not reckoned as transgression of the 
 law where law is not, "nevertheless death reigned 
 from Adam to Moses, even over them that had 
 not sinned after the similitude of Adam's trans- 
 gression." It prevailed over those to whom sin was 
 not reckoned, as well as over those to whom it was 
 imputed ; because it results from mortality of body 
 transmitted by Adam, not from personal wrong-doing. 
 It reigned from Adam to Moses. Death was not intro- 
 duced by the law of Moses, for it reigned before 
 Moses proclaimed any law. Not only so ; it reigned 
 then, as it does still, over those ** who had not sinned 
 
332 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I'l 
 
 i ■ i 
 
 i 
 
 nil life 
 
 ; iJij|B|l^: 
 
 . i '^^flf''^ 
 
 
 after the similitude of Adam's transgression," " who 
 did not sin against a known law, and its felt obligation ; 
 as Adam did when he ate of the forbidden tree. It 
 reigned over infants and idiots, as well as over re- 
 sponsible adults. Infants, b6ing partakers of heredi- 
 tary sinfulness of disposition, manifested feelings and 
 actions contrary to a holy, just, and good law. But 
 while they have "no knowleage between good and 
 evil " (Deut. i. 39), these manifestations are not sins 
 after the likeness of Adam's transgression. Many of 
 them, however, die antecedently to personal guilt; their 
 death, therefore, is not a judicial infliction for personal 
 sin. 
 
 Nor are they regarded as sinners by imputation of 
 Adam's sin. Had Adam's sin been imputed to them, 
 Paul would not have said, that they " had not sinned 
 after the similitude of Adam's transgression." Hence 
 it is because of Adam's frailty of body, transmitted to 
 them, that death reigns over infants. In a word, as 
 Meyer says, " The conclusion which Paul draws is, it 
 is by Adam's sin (not by individual sins), that death 
 has been produced." (Lange, on Romans, v. 13.) As 
 Paul elsewhere teaches, it is " in Adam all die." 
 
 We are, of course, aware that many maintain that 
 bodily death is a judicial infliction for sin, personal 
 or imputed ; we shall, in an appendix, point out the 
 exceedingly injurious and misleading inferences that 
 have been logically drawn from that assumption. 
 
 We have seen that the apostle showed that Adam 
 entails on all his offspring a sinfulness of spirit, which 
 
"who 
 cration ; 
 'ee. It 
 ver re- 
 heredi- 
 ags and 
 V. But 
 )od and 
 not sins 
 Vlany of 
 It; their 
 personal 
 
 bation of 
 bo them, 
 pt sinned 
 Hence 
 litted to 
 ;vord, as 
 ws is, it 
 t death 
 3.) As 
 
 Lin that 
 )ersonal 
 lout the 
 jes that 
 ion. 
 
 Adam 
 ), which 
 
 RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 333 
 
 leads them all to personal transgression, and a frailty 
 of body which results in the temporal death of all. 
 Our own observation daily confirms the fact of the 
 universal dominion of sin and death over the human 
 race — over the entire human race, infants as well as 
 full-grown sinners — which dominion goes back in un- 
 broken line to our first parents. Sin existed before 
 the gospel, as disease existed before the science and 
 art of healing ; and, however explained, the stubborn, 
 terrible fact remains. It is all important to distin- 
 guish clearly between the fact itself, and the different 
 modes of explanation ; and, in general, between the 
 primitive truths of the Bible, and the after-thoughts 
 of human philosophy and theology. 
 
 Adam, however, did not by his own act determine 
 unconditionally and finally the everlasting interests of 
 his offspring. He merely aft'ected them during\ the 
 term of their probation. And when permitted to do 
 even this, he had been made "the figure {tvtto^) of 
 Him that was to come," i.e., of Christ, who was 
 also to affect them deeply. "Christ's coming was 
 future in relation to the first Adam, not to the time 
 when the apostle writes." (Oodet.) 
 
 "In the English language the word type is used, not 
 for similitude merely, but for something under the 
 ancient covenant, which was specially designed, on the 
 part of God, to be the symbol of some person or event 
 that was to exist or take place under the new one." 
 (M. Stuart.) The Greek word "rvTroc, from tvtttu, to 
 strike, has a variety of significations, which are closely 
 
 I'. 
 
 ^i 
 
384 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 I I 
 
 i 
 
 ; 
 
 
 i 
 
 I' 
 1 
 
 1 ; , 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 - 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 ( 
 
 i('- 
 i 1 
 
 
 
 
 li l.<^ rll ' 
 
 
 
 ! k J • ' 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 li^.iUl: 
 
 
 related, and yet may seem in some cases contradictory. 
 It means (1) a blow ; (2) a print or impression which 
 has been made by a blow ; (8) a form, image, figure 
 (Acts vii. 48); (4) a pattern, model (Rom. vi. 17) ; (5) 
 a moral model, or example for imitation (2 Thes. iii. 
 9; 1 Tim. iv. 12; Tit. ii. 7; Phil. iii. 17; 1 Pet. v. 3) ; (6) 
 a historical prefiguration or type in the usual theolo- 
 gical sense — i.e., a person or thing designed to fore- 
 shadow or symbolize a future person or thing, which 
 is the avTiTVTToc (1 Cor. x. 6-11, and here.") (P.S., in 
 Lange.) As a type, in its theological sense, is some 
 arrangement which is used for the purpose of pointing 
 to something of a corresponding nature, but of more 
 importance ; and whose manifestation is to take place 
 in the future : so the representation of the latter by 
 the former is made, not by means of superficial resem- 
 blance perceptible to the senses ; but by exhibiting to 
 the understanding the same principles or elements of 
 truth: which, however, in the type are presented more 
 simply, and therefore in a form more level to the com- 
 prehension of those to whom they are given. Its pre- 
 paratory lessons may, therefore, aid them to give a 
 higher application of the same sense to the antitype. 
 " Mere coincidence," says Townsend, " will not do ; it 
 must be shown that the resemblance was originally 
 designed ; and as nothing but Scripture can show this, 
 there is no other rule by which to distinguish a real 
 from a pretended type/' but the statements of inspired 
 men. 
 
 Here Scripture expressly calls Adam " a figure or 
 
iictory. 
 I which 
 ;, iigure 
 L7) ; (5) 
 ?hes. iii. 
 . 3) ; (6) 
 theolo- 
 to fore- 
 r, which 
 'P.S., in 
 is some 
 pointing 
 of more 
 ,ke place 
 atter by 
 il resem- 
 biting to 
 nents of 
 bed more 
 ,he com- 
 Its pre- 
 sfive a 
 l^ntitype. 
 ^t do ; it 
 liorinallv 
 low this, 
 |h a real 
 [nspired 
 
 fure or 
 
 RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 385 
 
 type of Him that was to come." That Christ is meant 
 by Him that was to come is clear from the 15th verse, 
 where He is by name brought into comparison with 
 Adam. Here, therefore, we learn the important truth, 
 that a deliberately planned arrangement that the 
 Christ was to come, had been made before Adam was 
 permitted to bring his offspring into such a state as 
 we have noticed. God did not permit that the human 
 race should be affected by the acts of the first Adam, 
 until He had resolved that their state and circum- 
 stances should be influenced also by the acts of the 
 second Adam. Let us carefully note and ever remem- 
 ber this all-important fact. 
 
 Some parts of a system may be so related to other 
 parts, that it would not be right to permit the one to 
 take place without providing the other. Hence, " as 
 it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the 
 judgment : so Christ was once offered to bear the sin 
 of many," etc. (Heb. ix. 27, 28.) 
 
 The true state of the case, then, is this: When 
 Adam apostatized, God, in accordance with His 
 redeeming purposes, held back and suspended the 
 incurred penalty, and granted him a second term of 
 probation, under agencies and means suited to effect 
 his recovery. Having done so, He permitted Adam, 
 now sinful and mortal, to become the natural head of 
 a sinful and mortal race, who, however, through Christ, 
 were to be born within the reach of a remedial plan, 
 applied by the wisdom and patience of the God of all 
 grace. If our present condition consisted only of the 
 
 i 
 
836 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ''■1^ it 
 
 ^\ 
 
 It 
 
 '-^1 1 .1! 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 ik 
 
 
 
 L 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 consequences resulting to us from Adam's act, then 
 our present state would be our misfortune. But our 
 present state is affected not merely by the act of 
 Adam, but also by the act of Christ; and so affected, as 
 we shall soon see, that our present condition is on the 
 whole a ground of " glorying in God through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 It was after Adam fell that he was made a type of 
 Him that was to come. To say that holy Adam, when 
 under a covenant of works was made a type, would 
 imply that the subsequent fall was designed of God. 
 But if we affirmed that the first covenant was in- 
 tended to pave the w^ay for the second, we would be 
 " liable to be charged with believing that God did not 
 design the happiness of man by the first covenant ; 
 and, consequently, that there was no goodness in 
 making it : and that, in opposition to a law which He 
 has prescribed to us, He did evil that good might 
 come." (DicJcs Lect.,\o\. i., p. 458.) "The apostle then 
 does not undertake to tell us what the condition of 
 the human race after the fall would have been, if 
 Christ had not interposed as our Redeemer. No ; he 
 is presenting the state of the human race in conse- 
 quence both of the fall of Adam, and of the inter- 
 position of Christ." {Watson's Inst, vol. iii., p. 137.) 
 That God could permit the human family to come 
 within the influence of the former only, is incon- 
 ceivable. " That the race would have been propagated 
 under an absolute necessity of sinning, and of being 
 made eternally miserable, we may boldly affirm to be 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 337 
 
 ct, then 
 But our 
 3 act of 
 ected, as 
 Ls on the 
 )ur Lord 
 
 type of 
 im, when 
 >e, would 
 I of God. 
 ; was in- 
 would be 
 d did not 
 jovenant ; 
 Ddness in 
 hich He 
 d might 
 •stle then 
 dition of 
 been, if 
 No; he 
 n conse- 
 e inter- 
 p. 137.) 
 to come 
 tS incon- 
 ipagated 
 [of being 
 to be 
 
 impossible ; because it supposes an administration con- 
 tradicted by every attribute which the Scripture 
 ascribes to God." (Watsons Inst., vol. iii., p. 137.) 
 
 We shall find, as we proceed, that " the one Adam is 
 compared with the other in reference to the fact that 
 each has exerted influence on many others ; not in 
 reference to the kind of influence, or the degree of it, 
 for here is a wide diversity." (Moses Stuart) The 
 apostle does not undertake to compare the personal 
 qualities of the one Adam with those of the other ; it 
 is the act of one and its consequences, which is com- 
 pared with the act of the other and its consequences. 
 " It is irapaTTTu/m and KaraKpt/ia on ouc side, and vTTaii,o7] and 
 6ii^aiu/ia on the other." (Stuart.) But in each case we 
 discover the important fact that one person may 
 deeply affect the state and conduct of others for evil, 
 or for good. 
 
 When two things are compared, we may find points 
 of disparity and points of similarity ; and these may be 
 examined separately. The apostle first looks at the 
 points of difference. 
 
 ** But not as the oflPence so also is the free gift," 
 xapifffia — the act of grace. Alford thinks the meaning 
 is, " The one is not in all points " as the other. The 
 word rendered offence — n-apaTrTUjua — primarily means "a 
 fall beside." It was probably used to imply the 
 known existence of the prescribed rule of duty ; and 
 to mean that Adam's act was a conscious wilful trans- 
 gression of a command which Adam knew he should 
 have obeyed. On the other hand, the act of Christ 
 
m 
 
 ^t 
 
 -.Hi ■? 
 
 i-ftn 
 
 338 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 was an act of grace, because He freely and lovingly 
 assumed the office of a Mediator. The apostle goes on 
 to mention some particulars in due order. 
 
 "For if through the offence of one," i.e., of 
 Adam, " many," or rather, oi ironoi — the many, ** be 
 dead." The authorized version " has much obscured 
 the meaning by omitting the p 'e before many, as if 
 it were antithetical to some, ./xiile "the many" are 
 opposed to " the one," « eic. (P.S., in Lange on Rom., 
 p. 189.) The apostle refers to the fact that "in Adam 
 all die " a bodily death. " Much more the grace 
 of God and the gift of grace, which is by one 
 man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." 
 The kindly-given gift here referred to, is the gift of 
 immortal bodies, which will be given to the spirits 
 that have been disembodied by death. " As by man 
 came death, by man came also the resurrection of the 
 dead." (1 Cor. xv. 21.) 
 
 There were some points of similarity too. The 
 numbers influenced by the acts referred to are equal. 
 The word used to denote the number, is the same in 
 each case — namely, the word "many." This word is here 
 contrasted with one definite individual in each case ; 
 leaving ali the rest as the number on which the act 
 of each had influence. By Adam's act, all descended 
 from him became mortal. This is elsewhere expressly 
 stated : " As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive." But the gift did much more abound, 
 because through Christ they shall get a better body 
 than Adam had in Paradise, or would have got if he 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 339 
 
 ^TIT 
 
 >) 
 
 vingly 
 
 Toes on 
 
 i.e., of 
 y, "be 
 bscured 
 ^?/, as it* 
 ny" are 
 n Rom., 
 n Adam 
 e grace 
 by one 
 many. 
 e gift of 
 te spirits 
 by man 
 n of the 
 
 00. The 
 re equal, 
 same in 
 rd is here 
 ach case ; 
 1 the act 
 escended 
 xpressly 
 all all be 
 abound, 
 ter body 
 got if he 
 
 had remained faithful under the covenant of works. 
 They will get a more glorious kind of immortal body. 
 And this may be fashioned, more or less fully, after the 
 likeness of the risen and glorified body which Christ 
 now wears. This favor results from the mediation of 
 Christ. So that, as far as the body is concerned, there 
 is ground for glorifying with Paul, that we are under 
 the dispensation introduced by the mediation of 
 Christ, rather than under the dispensation previously 
 given to Adam in Paradise. 
 
 Another difference is announced in the next words. 
 " And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the 
 gift." " The Codd. D, E, F, G, read a/xapr/i/mrug, one deed 
 of disobedience ; the one well-known act of one man." 
 Some think this reading suits the remainder of the 
 sentence, " which contains only definitions of things, 
 not persons." {Lange.) There is an ellipsis in the 
 grammatical construction of these words. The word 
 corresponding to gift is omitted, but is implied by 
 what follows: "for the judgment was by one to 
 condemnation, but the free gift is of many 
 offences unto justification." The judgment here 
 referred to, pertained to the original covenant under 
 which Adam was placed in Paradise. Under that 
 dispensation, one act of wrong-doing (" We simply 
 supply the foregoing afxapTr^/ia," Lange) would lead to 
 condemnation. Condemn"''on is a legal term. It is 
 the formal declaration of the sinner's degree of guilt, 
 and of the amount of suffering incurred by it. Such. a 
 sentence could be pronounced for one offence under 
 
m 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 li 
 
 340 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 the original Adamic dispensation, " but the free gift 
 is of many ofiFences unto justification." As sug- 
 gested by the corresponding term in the previous 
 clause, the free gift here referred to is the graciously 
 granted dispensation of grace which was procured by 
 Christ as Mediator of the new covenant of grace. 
 This is of many offences unto justification. " Of many 
 ofiences," TrapmruofiaTn. He uscs a different expression 
 from n/i(ii)T>j/inTa, in order to include, not merely Adam's 
 sin, but those of his descendants. . . " Unto justifica- 
 tion." As the above mentioned t^arai^pifia was a con- 
 demnatory sentence, so fiiK,aiuiia is here a justificatory 
 sentence — a sentence of acquittal from what has been 
 laid to our charge, which is obtained through the 
 mediation and intercession of Christ. 
 
 So that here the covenant of works, under which 
 Adam was first placed, is compared with the covenant 
 of grace, procured for us, and granted to us, by Christ 
 the second Adam. The basis-principle of that first 
 dispensation was judgment ; the bar of justice was its 
 only tribunal. From that tribunal there was no 
 appeal. From that judgment-seat there was but one 
 judgment or righteous sentence for sinners, namely, 
 condemnation to the merited punishment — a con- 
 demnation pronounced for even one transgression. 
 Such is the iniquity of sin, when committed by those 
 qualified to be under such a dispensation, that it could 
 draw down immediate and final condemnation for one 
 departure from the right way. Shall we not, then, 
 joy in God who, in consideration of the atonement and 
 
 :il 
 
 s & 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. .S41 
 
 intercession of Christ, graciously placed us under the 
 new covenant, which has a mercy-seat as well as a 
 judgment-scat ; 'vhich from that mercy-seat pro- 
 nounces a sentence of pardon for many offences ; 
 which justifies God in thus pardoning, and the peni- 
 tent in hoping for, and rejoicing in that pardon ; which 
 can pardon, not merely one offence, though this must 
 be admitted to be a great act of mercy — for even one 
 sin is a dreadful evil, and, if unpardoned, would be 
 productive of fearful consequences — it can equally 
 pardon many offences ; " blotting out sin as a cloud, 
 and iniquity as a thick cloud." It can heal even back- 
 slidings, and restore again the joys of salvation. It is, 
 indeed, elsewhere taught that it does not pardon those 
 who impenitently persist in sin. It leaves them in 
 danger of eternal condemnation. But it can pardon 
 all penitents. 
 
 This passage, therefore, teaches us the important 
 and pleasing truth, that through Christ, the descend- 
 ants of Adam are placed in a more favorable condi- 
 tion for making sure their final salvation than they 
 would have been in, if our first parents had continued 
 under a covenant of works. Adam lost for mankind, 
 not a state of confirmed holiness, without trial or 
 danger; but only a probationary trial in a legal state, 
 from which, even if born holy, they might have fallen 
 irrecoverably by a single transgression. Adam and 
 Eve fell : why may not their offspring, too, fall from 
 such a state ? Possible liability to sin was not intro- 
 duced by the fall ; that previously existed. The fall, 
 
h % 
 
 W (! 
 
 I-'; ! 
 
 I 
 
 W: 
 
 m 
 
 342 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 indeed, introduced a predisposition to sin, and a vastly 
 increased liability to commit it. But this does not 
 necessarily imply increased liability to punishment, in 
 circumstances where many offences may, throuf^^h the 
 mediation of Christ, be forgiven, if the offenders re- 
 pent, as they may do, and are urgently entreated to 
 do. >Jone will actually perish, except they personally 
 refuse or neglect to repent of those many offences. 
 
 He proceeds to mention another ground of joying 
 in God. ** For if by one man's offence death 
 reigned by one, much more they which receive 
 abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteous- 
 ness, shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ." 
 Here " death " and " life " are looked at in a point of 
 view different from that previously referred to. A 
 contrast is now drawn between the degradation of 
 being reigned over by bodily death, and thus placed 
 " lower than the. angels ;" and the peculiar exaltation 
 of being adopted into the family of God, and made 
 joint heirs with Christ ; and being thus raised above 
 angels to reign in life eternal. On account of the sin 
 of Adam, man was " made lower than the angels by the 
 suffering of death." (Hob. ii. 9.) But through Christ, 
 man shall be freed from death, and liability to death, 
 which of itself would raise us to a level with the 
 angels. But not merely this (which was implied in a 
 previous statement), some of us shall be raised above 
 angels, namely, they who " receive abundance of grace, 
 Lnd of the gift of righteousness," for such shall reign 
 in life. 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 348 
 
 a vastly 
 ioes not 
 ment, in 
 utjh the 
 iders re- 
 eated to 
 Tsonally 
 nces. 
 
 f joying 
 3 death 
 receive 
 hteous- 
 Ohrist." 
 point of 
 i to. A 
 ation of 
 s placed 
 altation 
 d made 
 d above 
 the sin 
 lis by the 
 1 Christ, 
 o death, 
 ith the 
 ied in a 
 d above 
 f grace, 
 11 reign 
 
 Mention is here made of the " abundance of grace." 
 Some measures of grace are given unconditionally, the 
 remaining measures are given conditionally. The 
 conditional benefits must be added to the unconditional 
 ones to make up the abundance of grace. We said 
 that some gracious benefits are given unconditionally. 
 Of this kind was the suspension of the execution of 
 the penalty incurred by Adam and Eve, and which, if 
 inflicted, would have preve.xted them from having any 
 offspring, so that Christ procured permission for the 
 descendants of Adam to come into existence. Coming 
 through sinful parents they are indeed born sinful 
 and mortal. But, as already indicated, they are not 
 born in hell. They are born in a state of probation, 
 and within the reach of a plan of salvation by grace. 
 If mortality takes effect before they come to years of 
 accountability, they will be eternally saved by grace, 
 without faith. If permitted to come to years of 
 personal accountability, they are placed under the 
 influence of the Spirit, sent to convince the world of 
 sin, and o^ righteousness, and of judgment, and also, 
 in many cases, within the Hght of written revelation. 
 These means enlighten and urge man's reason and 
 conscience to contend against the dispositions to evil 
 and the aversions to good ; and to exercise repentance 
 toward God. The providential goodness of God is 
 also employed to wm them to repentance. If they 
 repent they will then obtain the conditional benefits. 
 If they have the light of revelation, they are required 
 to exercise also faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
;il! 
 
 1^^ 
 1 
 
 !*i 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ii 
 
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 WW 
 
 1 ww! 
 
 
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 Ill 
 
 
 
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 j MiK 
 
 
 
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 SHB' 
 
 
 
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 ■jj^nSk 
 
 
 
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 Ph 
 
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 ■ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
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 844 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Those who repent and believe obtain pardon, justifica- 
 tion, adoption, the witness of the Spirit, and renewal 
 after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, 
 and true holiness. These, added to the other, make 
 up the abundance of grace. 
 
 Here we find a condition imposed : this grace must 
 be "received," it will not be forced upon us. "The 
 graciousness of an offer does not diminish the necessity 
 for a condition." (Foley.) * 
 
 But he speaks not only of the abundance of grace, 
 but " of the gift of righteousness." Those who receive 
 the former can use it so as to obtain the 'latter, namely, 
 those rewards which " the riorhteous Judgre will give " 
 in the great day of judgment. The righteous Judge 
 will then give " the crown of righteousness " unto the 
 righteous, not to the sinner. He can give it unto 
 righteousness only. He cannot reward sin ; neither 
 sins of omission nor sins of commission, nor zeal with- 
 out knowledge, nor backsliding in heart or life. He 
 may pardon these, if pardon be asked for penitently 
 and for Christ's sake, during probation ; but He cannot 
 reward these. In order to reward, there must be 
 acceptable obedience ; and it is our own personal obe- 
 dience which will obtain a reward, not the obedience 
 of another imputed to us, " for every man will receive 
 his own reward according to his own labour." (1 Cor. 
 iii. 8.) (See The Ckristiana Reward, by the Rev. J. S. 
 Evans.) 
 
 Those who have received *' the abundance of grace 
 and of the gift of righteousness," shall soar to the 
 
istifica- 
 •enewal 
 )usnes3, 
 [•, make 
 
 3e must 
 ,. "The 
 lecessity 
 
 )f grace, 
 receive 
 , namely, 
 
 give 
 IS Judge 
 unto the 
 it unto 
 neither 
 eal with- 
 ife. He 
 nitently 
 e cannot 
 [must be 
 nal obe- 
 fbedience 
 [1 receive 
 (1 Cor. 
 Lev. J. B. 
 
 jof grace 
 to the 
 
 RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 845 
 
 highest rank and shall " reign in life ; " " blessed with 
 all spiritual blessings in heavenly places," or among 
 heavenly beings, "in Christ." Being granted to sit 
 with Christ on His throne, they shall " reign in life," 
 and while thus reigning, have the closest fellowship 
 and union with God which creatures could possibly 
 enjoy. Saved under a covenant of redeeming grace, 
 they will thus have much higher dignity, and much 
 closer communion with God ; than if accepted as ser- 
 vants under the original covenant of works. They 
 may now be adopted as sons, and be thus, above 
 angels ; and may even be joint heirs with Christ to an 
 inheritance specially prepared for Him, and therefore 
 far more glorious than the one that would have been 
 prepared for men under the first covenant. 
 
 The apostle proceeds to other points. " Therefore, 
 as by the offence of one " (or by one offence) "judg- 
 ment came upon all men to condemnation, even 
 so by the righteousness" (by one righteous act) 
 " the free gift came upon all men unto justifica- 
 tion of life." We find it necessary here to call at- 
 tention to the circumstance that in the authorize<l 
 English version some of the words just <|uoted are 
 printed in italic letters. The translators frequently 
 used italics, to indicate the words which they put in 
 to fill up an ellipsis in the grammatical construction 
 of some f-entences in the Greek Testament. In this 
 part of their work they sometimes failed. They did 
 so here. Had they given closer attention to the 
 apostle's train of reasoning, they would have per- 
 24 
 
I 
 
 m^ 
 
 \ i 
 
 i 
 
 ,4 
 
 j;i !Wl! 
 
 |l|n 
 151 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 j ?fi;i'f i' 
 
 M 1 
 
 "1 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 346 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 ceived that other words should have been used to 
 supply the ellipsis in the passage now before us. 
 Dean Alford supplies the ellipsis thus : " Therefore, 
 as through one trespass, the issue tvas unto all men to 
 condemnation ; even so throus^h one riijhteous act, the 
 issue tvas unto all men to justification of life." (Henry 
 Alford, in Bible Readers Comraentary, Rom. v. 12-21.) 
 We think the apostle's meaning is, " By the offence of 
 one — i.e., by Adam's disobedience to the positive com- 
 mand respecting the forbidden fruit — sinful disposi- 
 tion came upon Adam, and through him upon all 
 men." It came " unto condemnation," that is, this 
 sinfulness came in such power as to influence men 
 personally to transgress, and thus to come unto and 
 into the condemnation that has been pronounced 
 against all personal transgressors. It is not said that 
 by the offence of one, condemnation came on others. 
 No ; what came on others from Adam was not con- 
 demnation, but something that led them '' unto con- 
 demnation." Depravity came upon all men, and this 
 led them personally to sin, and so to come under 
 condemnation. 
 
 " Even so by the righteousness of one " (by one 
 act of righteousness, Rev. Trans). The reference may 
 be to a single requirement in this case, too — namely, 
 to Christ's approved and accepted act of making pro- 
 pitiation for the sin of the world. " The free gift " 
 of enlightening and renewing grace ''came upon all 
 men unto justification of life." That is, it comes 
 in such power as to enable those who receive it to 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 847 
 
 ised to 
 ore us. 
 eret'ore, 
 men to 
 act, the 
 (Henry 
 
 12-21.) 
 
 Fence of 
 
 ve com- 
 
 (lisposi- 
 
 ipon all 
 
 is, this 
 rice men 
 into and 
 mounced 
 aid that 
 ti others. 
 
 not con- 
 Into con- 
 
 knd this 
 under 
 
 (hy one 
 ice niay 
 Inaiuely, 
 Ing pro- 
 
 e gift 
 
 it 
 
 >on 
 
 all 
 
 It comes 
 it to 
 
 live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
 world; "to be righteous before God, walking in all 
 the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame- 
 less;" and therefore so as to obtain justification of 
 life, not of a past sinful life, but of a present holy 
 life — the justification which will be pronounced by 
 God when He will say. " Well done, good and faithful 
 servant." Elsewhere Paul talks about another justifi- 
 cation, which is by faith without works. But here he 
 treats, as 8t. James also does, about "justification by 
 works." St. James said : "Ye see how that by works 
 a man is justified, and not by faith only." There is a 
 twofold justification: justification by faith, and justi- 
 fication by works. Justification by faith is the justifi- 
 cation of a sinner, who believingly asks and hopes for 
 pardon and salvation for Christ's sake only. He is 
 admitted to fellowship, and peace with God, in full 
 accordance with the design and efficacy of the atone- 
 ment, and with the promises and invitations of the 
 Gospel, etc. Justification by works, on the other hand, 
 is the justification of a renewed man, who hopes to 
 obtain the moral approbation of God, and the rewards 
 of righteousness. Such a man is justified only by 
 good works, for these only can obtain the approval of 
 a God who " loves righteousness and hates iniquity." 
 These only can obtain reward ; for reward is " accord- 
 ing to works " that are right in the sight* of God. 
 
 The grace here spoken of was not justification of 
 life, but w^as " unto justification." The grace con- 
 ferred on them ability to " live soberly, righteously, 
 
348 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 mm' 
 
 !JM!l!l ■ 
 
 and godly," and, by this means, to obtain the justifica- 
 tion of life. This justification of life pertains to re- 
 generate and obedient adults. Children are not 
 capable of acting so as to obtain justification of life 
 until they are old enough to obey their parents in tbe 
 Lord, so as to be " well pleasing unto the Lord." The 
 justification of life supposes personal obedicrce. Of 
 this all very young children are incapable. Hence 
 the apostle does not here make any statement tliat 
 relates to them. 
 
 Provision has been made for the attainment of per- 
 sonal righteousness, as the apostle proceeds to shovr : 
 " For as (uarref,, precisely as) by one man's disobedi- 
 ence — through the disobedience Trafianom (transgression 
 of the known will of God) of the one man — many 
 were made sinners," or rather, " the many were set 
 down in the rank or category of sinners." {Meyer.) 
 This is the fundamental meaning of the verb. They 
 became actual sinners by their own act ; they were, 
 accordingly, accounted as being what they were. The 
 translation, " were made sinners," is stronger than the 
 Greek word warrants, as Professor Smeaton admits 
 (Atonement, vol. ii., p. 160.J They were set down as 
 sinners, only because they were personally sinners. 
 They were not set down as sinners without being such, 
 for this principle of interpretation could not be applied 
 to the other 'part of the comparison. We could not 
 say that the others were set down as righteous with- 
 out being actually righteous.j This would not har- 
 
 it- 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 349 
 
 stifioa- 
 
 to re- 
 re not 
 of life 
 5 in tbe 
 " The 
 ce. Of 
 
 Hence 
 nt that 
 
 of per- 
 ,0 shov7 : 
 sobedi- 
 ^oression 
 
 —many 
 
 iwere set 
 (Meyer.) 
 They 
 ey were, 
 re. The 
 han the 
 admits 
 lown as 
 sinners. 
 [n^ such, 
 applied 
 )uld not 
 lis with- 
 10 1 har- 
 
 
 monize with the "justification of life" spoken of in 
 the previous sentence. 
 
 It is not said that by the disobedience of one man 
 the many were made, or set down as guilty. Hence we 
 cannot in this verse, any more than in former verses, 
 find any foundation for the opinion that the guilt of 
 the sin, by which Adam first rebelled against God, is 
 imputed to his offspring. The idea of the transfer of 
 moral qualities is absurd in philosophy and false in 
 divinity. " There is no sinning by proxy, as there is 
 no repenting by nroxy. God requires repentance of 
 no being in the universe except the sinner ; and He 
 will accept of no repentance, or faith, at the hand of 
 any other bo- .o- in lieu of the sinner." (Ilibbard, 
 p. 178.) Pau "Jt not mean that they were regarded 
 as sinners by imputation. He means that they were 
 reckoned as personal sinners. 
 
 "So by the obedience of one shall many be 
 made righteous." He means that they were to 
 become personally righteous ; and then would be 
 ret^arded and set down in that class. He did not 
 mean that they would become righteous by imputation. 
 Such an interpretation would be a subversion of the 
 Gospel, by destroying its conditions. It destroys the 
 very nature of the Gospel. If the perfect obedience 
 of another were imputed to us, we would need no 
 pardon, and therefore no atoning Mediator ; we would 
 need no regeneration, and therefore no renewing Spirit. 
 We would be justified and saved by works. This text 
 has no such meaning. Kadtarvf^i, says Hodge, " never in 
 
350 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOK. 
 
 III! 
 
 '' m 
 
 ml 
 
 the New Testament trieans to make, in the sense of 
 effecting or causing, a person or thing to be in its 
 character or nature other than it was before. KaOiG- 
 raven Tiva ufiufnioAov (loes not mean to make one sinful, 
 but to set him down as such — to regard him to be of 
 that class." (Lange.) So the corresponding clause does 
 not mean to make righteous, but to set down in the 
 rank of the righteous. 
 
 The obedience, which was the opposite of Adam's 
 disobedience, was Chrst's obedience to the will of God 
 respecting the great plan of salvation. As the dis- 
 obedience of Adam did not produce the alleged results 
 directly, but by transmitting depravity, through the 
 medium of a subsequejit relationship : so the obedience 
 of Christ produced the corresponding effects, not im- 
 mediately, but through the medium of subsequent 
 regeneration, wrought by the Divine Spirit, who is 
 sent for the sake of the death and intercession of 
 Christ, to penitent, believing, praying souls. Through 
 the obedience of one the many may come, and some of 
 them have come to be personally righteous, and to be 
 reputed as such. Observe the different tenses em- 
 ployed. Of sinners, Paul says they " were made " — 
 set down. Of the righteous, he says they " shall be 
 made " — set down. It is important to notice this 
 diff<Tence in tense, because it is evident that the 
 same persons could not be both sinners and righteous 
 at the same time. " A fountain doth not send out at 
 the same place both sweet water and bitter." But the 
 same persons may become sinners first, and may after- 
 
 I'l'i 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO (^HIIIST. .S51 
 
 mse of 
 in its 
 
 KaOia- 
 
 sinful, 
 bo be of 
 ise does 
 1 in the 
 
 Adam's 
 I of God 
 the dis- 
 d results 
 >u<zh the 
 bedience 
 , not im- 
 bsequent 
 who is 
 ission of 
 Through 
 some of 
 ,nd to be 
 ises em- 
 iiade " — 
 shall be 
 Itice this 
 that the 
 [ighteous 
 ^d out at 
 But the 
 iV after- 
 
 wards become rif:,'hteous. Accordingly they, in fact, 
 are first born of the tlesh, and show it by acting as 
 sinners; they may afterwards be born of the Spirit, 
 and act a.'i righteous persons. Hence the passage does 
 not teach, what some strangely assert, that by an 
 unconditional benefit of the atonement, all infants 
 that ever were or shall be born, whether of Hebrew, 
 Jewish, or Christian parents, are " born of the flesh " 
 and " born of the Spirit," at the same time. This 
 could not be. They are born of the flesh first. Ac- 
 cordingly tlie Saviour teaches that every one must 
 " be born again ;" that this is needful in every case. 
 " Our Lord's language to Nicodemus plainly taught 
 that the new birth is distinct from the natural birth, 
 forming a marked epoch in one's history ; that it is 
 the initial change in which spiritual life originates, 
 and that to Nicodemus, and others in like condition, 
 it was an event yet future." (Rev. Cyrus Brooks, 
 Meth. Qaar. Review, Oct., 18G4.) 
 
 There is therefore no ground for supposing with Dr. 
 Haven, that " spiritual regeneration is congenital with 
 carnal generation." The statement amounts to a self- 
 contradiction. Dr. Whedon admits that Arminius, 
 Weslev, and Fletcher could not be said to hold that 
 infants are born regenerate. He says " the true state- 
 ment would be that they are born into the world de- 
 praved;" but he thinks, as Dr. Fisk expresses it, that 
 " the atonement meets them with its provisions at their 
 entrance." This is perfectly true ; but it does not 
 follow that these provisions must immediately pro- 
 

 H- 
 
 ' I'M ■' <■ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ^i 
 
 
 
 L 
 
 ^B 
 
 352 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 duce the intended result, and renew "infants, as a leper, 
 entering a room tilled with a purifying influence, is 
 cleansed by getting within its walls." The Doctor 
 admits that " it may be objected as absurd that a man 
 should be generated and regenerated in instantaneous 
 succession." (Meth. Quar. Rev., Jan., 1873.) 
 
 Dr. Hibbard thinks the difficulty would be relieved 
 by supposing that "infants receive a seminal regenera- 
 tion — a principle of life of the same quality and 
 nature as that of adults, differing indeed in extent 
 and force, and in the circumstances and conditions of 
 bestowment ; but not in the essence, quality, or effi- 
 cacy : as an acorn has it in the life of an oak, but not 
 in the same expansion and force." He supposes that 
 grace then imparted neutralised the poison of sin, so 
 that humanity never felt it, but feels only seminal 
 regeneration. But it is evident that the great majority 
 of children give no manifestation of such renewal. If 
 there are some cases that seem to manifest regeneration 
 in infancy, it would not follow that they are instances 
 of congenital regeneration. The change may have re- 
 sulted from grace given by Christ, when the young 
 children were brought by parents for His blessing. 
 
 Through Christ provision has been made for re- 
 generation ; but those provisions do not immediately 
 and unconditionally accomplish that end. The Scrip- 
 ture doctrine is, that man is born of the flesh first, but 
 may be born of the Spirit afterwards. Being under 
 no legal condemnation, there is no legal impediment 
 in the way of restoration to spiritual life, should they 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 353 
 
 a leper, 
 ence, is 
 Doctor 
 ■j a man 
 tant'ous 
 
 relieved 
 jcrenera- 
 ity and 
 I extent 
 .tions of 
 , or effi- 
 , but not 
 )ses that 
 )£ sin, so 
 I seminal 
 majority 
 
 wal. If 
 neration 
 nstances 
 have re- 
 e young 
 fesing. 
 
 for re- 
 lediately 
 ie Scrip- 
 
 irst, but 
 kor under 
 
 ro 
 
 lediment 
 lid they 
 
 die in infancy. The Divine Spirit has, for Christ's 
 sake, engaged to effect regeneration unconditionally in 
 the case of dying infants, conditionally in the case of 
 living children, whether young or old. The prayers 
 of parents and friends entreating the loving Mediator 
 to " bless them," may be one of the conditions in their 
 case. When children were brought to Christ, " He 
 took them up in His arms, put His hands on them 
 and blessed them." Were this done more frequently, 
 more children would be disposed to obey their parents, 
 which is their only duty, before they are old enough 
 to render obedience directly to God. * 
 
 Some have been anxious to find in this passage 
 some proof that a child is iborn regenerate, in order 
 that they may plead it as a moral ground of fitness 
 for its baptism. But such a ground is in no case 
 requisite. Baptism is not a seal of moral fitness in 
 any case. The qualification for baptism is teachable- 
 ness. The rite of baptism administered by man is in 
 Scripture associated with the work of teaching im- 
 parted by man, as in the great commission which en- 
 joins "bapti'''^'^ and teaching." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) 
 Baptism puts persons as pupils into the royal school 
 of Christ, to be taught all that Christ commands. It 
 is accordingly to be followed by teaching. All children 
 are teachable in reference to their duty in relation to 
 parents, etc., which for a time is their only duty; 
 or could be made teachable by bringing them to Christ 
 for His blessing. (Mark x. 13-16.) Adults are not 
 properly teachable as to their duties in relation to the 
 
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 354 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, until they are penitent. Repentance 
 brings an adult back to the teachableness of a child. 
 Hence Peter said to adults, " Repent and be baptized." 
 (Acts ii. 38.) When penitent they can learn the way 
 of salvation by faith. 
 
 The warrant for baptism is that the offering of the 
 atonement for the human race set them apart to be 
 placed, in teachable infancy, in the school of Christ, 
 that they may be trained for the service of God ; for 
 it is written, " By the which will we are sanctified 
 through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once 
 for ali" (Heb. x. 10.) Again, the blood of Jesus is 
 called " the blood of the covenant by which we were 
 sanctified :" the offering of the atonement for us conse- 
 crated us to the service of God, set us apart to be in- 
 structed in the promises of the covenant, and to have 
 its laws written in our minds and hearts. Recog- 
 nizing this consecration, Christ commands them to be 
 baptized, and regards all who are teachable, i.e., all 
 infants, and all penitent adults, as fit subjects for bap- 
 tism. And these by baptism are placed solemnly and 
 publicly under obligations to hear and obey the will 
 of God. 
 
 Note. — The whole subject of baptism needs re- 
 investigation. The most important texts relating to 
 it are interpreted very defectively, or very erroneously. 
 Under this conviction, I prepared (and finished a few 
 years ago,) " Selections and Thoughts on the Design, 
 Subjects, and Mode of Baptism, and its Relation to 
 Christ's outer Kingdom of Disciples or Pupils." 
 
 . ; I ! . 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 355 
 
 pentance 
 : a child, 
 aptized." 
 the way 
 
 ig of the 
 irt to be 
 f Christ, 
 Grod; for 
 lanctified 
 rist once 
 Jesus is 
 we were 
 us conse- 
 to be in- 
 . to have 
 Recog- 
 lem to be 
 ;, i.e., all 
 for bap- 
 nnly and 
 ' the will 
 
 leeds re- 
 lating to 
 oneously. 
 ed a few 
 J Design, 
 slatioii to 
 
 >> 
 
 This chapter, then, does not teach that children are 
 born regenerate. It teaches a very different doctrine 
 respecting the natural state of infants, namely, that 
 they are born into the world with sinful predispositions. 
 It is important to know this, because " no system of 
 moral education can be successful which ignores this 
 fact." (Hibbard, Religion of Childhood, p. 70.) " The 
 views which one entertains of the moral condition of 
 childhood will, more than anything else, tend to shape 
 his whole practical system of training and culture of 
 the child." (76. p. 30.) " We must know the malig- 
 nity of sin, and the power and office of grace, and the 
 child's relation to each, before we can be prepared to 
 educate its powers according to both constitutional 
 capability, and gracious design." (lb. p. 71.) On 
 these topics this Scripture gives most important in- 
 formation : 
 
 " Moreover the law entered that the offence 
 might abound." He had spoken of sinfulness en- 
 tering and leading to sinful manifestations, even in 
 the case of those who were too young to be under law. 
 But as those children grow up to years of accounta- 
 bility, law enters (T^apetaj^Wev enters silently and gradu- 
 ally) and places under the obligation of its sacred com- 
 mands. But the felt obligation of law is not sufficient 
 to repress sinfulness of spirit ; but rather causes it to 
 abound. "As a rapidly flowing river rolls calmly on, so 
 long as no obstruction checks it, but foams and roars 
 when any hindrance stops it ; just as calmly does the 
 sinful element find its .course through the man, so long 
 
Wf 
 
 356 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 '11 
 
 
 m 
 
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 as nothing comes to stem it ; but when the Divine 
 commandment rises as a dyke oi' adamant across its 
 progress, then the man feels the force of an element, of 
 the dominion of which he had no adequate conception." 
 {German Interpreter, quoted by J. Brown, D.D., p. 133.) 
 Some think there is special reference to the moral 
 law given by Moses. If so, it is implied that that law 
 could not of itself repress sinfulness, but caused 
 persons to increase the number of omissions of duty, 
 and the perverseness of transgressions. 
 
 The clause, " That the offence might aboimd," cannot 
 refer to Adam's one act of disobedience. This being 
 finished in the day that he ate of the forbidden fruit 
 could not be increased by any subsequent law. The 
 sin of taking the forbidden fruit could not be imitated 
 since man was driven out of Paradise. 
 
 ** But where sin abounded, grace did much more 
 abound." Grace exceedingly abounded vTEpenepiaaevaev. 
 " Words compounded with vizep have a superlative, not 
 a comparative, signification." (Alford.) This abound- 
 ing grace comes to do what mere law could not do. 
 It comes to the heart that has daringly defeated the 
 restraining power of law ; and by its patience and 
 forbearance, by the act and entreaties of all-redeeming 
 love, it subdues the increasedly rebellious spirit of 
 man, and brings it into penitence. It brings the peni- 
 tent to hear, believe, and pray. It can pardon the 
 many offences of the penitent and praying believer. 
 It can, in compliance with their prayer, remove the 
 carnal mind that is enmity to God ; and place in its 
 
RELATION OF MEN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 357 
 
 i Divine 
 icross its 
 ement, of 
 ception." 
 '., p. 133.) 
 le moral 
 that law 
 b caused 
 of duty, 
 
 ," cannot 
 lis being 
 den fruit 
 -w. The 
 imitated 
 
 ch more 
 
 TEptaaevaev. 
 
 tive, not 
 abound- 
 not do. 
 ated the 
 ice and 
 deeming 
 pirit of 
 le peni- 
 don the 
 3eliever. 
 love the 
 in its 
 
 stead love, admiring, adoring love to the Lawgiver, 
 and thus inspire the spirit of obedience to the law. It 
 can do this not only for Gentiles under the light of 
 nature merely up to the time of conversion ; but for 
 Jews who have had a clearer and fuller law, and have 
 more numerous transgressions against law. Law 
 could direct love where it is, but could not produce it 
 where it is not. But grace can inspire love, that 
 " love that is the fulfiUinsj of the law." 
 
 "That as sin had reigned unto death." He 
 here looks, on the one hand, at the sad fact that sin- 
 fulness not only makes all men sinners for a time, but 
 makes some continue to sin even unto death. Yea, so 
 that sin reigns in them unto death, and in death, ev ru 
 dnvaTo) — that eternal death which is the opposite of 
 the everlasting life, mentioned in the corresponding 
 clause. 
 
 "Even so might grace reign through righteous- 
 ness unto eternal Ufe." Grace can not only subdue 
 sinfulness, but renew unto obedience ; so that men are 
 inclined " to will and to do of God's good pleasure,' 
 and to be "steadfast, immovable, always abounding 
 in the work of the Lord." In such, grace reigns 
 through righteousness unto eternal life. By contem- 
 plating duly this result, we will see that the highest 
 and everlasting blessings of grace surpass the highest 
 consequences which sin produces where it is permitted 
 to reign. The final consequences of sin are according 
 to the strict measure of justice. The final consequences 
 of grace will be permitted richly to overflow its mea- 
 
w 
 
 HH 
 
 358 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 sure, so as to exhibit the exceeding riches of the grace 
 of God. 
 
 Both cannot reign in the same person at the same 
 time ; they are contrary the one to the other. If sin 
 is permitted to reign, it reigns unto death everlasting. 
 Wliere grace is permitted to reign, it reigns through 
 righteousness unto eternal life. 
 
 It is the will of God that all should come and par- 
 take of the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with 
 eternal glory; but, alas, many have neglected, and many 
 are neglecting the great salvation ! Still, the saved 
 are " a great multitude whom no man could number." 
 The number of the saved will doubtless greatly ex- 
 ceed the number of the unsaved. It is supposed that 
 hitherto the half of mankind have died before comingr 
 to years of personal accountability ; all these, accord- 
 ing to the Protestant interpretation of the Bible, are 
 heirs of salvation. And since the remaining half con- 
 tains many millions that have been saved, and that are 
 in the way of salvation ; it is plain that the saved will 
 form a large majority of the entire race. 
 
 Moreover, the benefits of redemption are not to be 
 confined to the human race. Christ is to be admired 
 in His saints " as well as by them." It is " through 
 the Church that the manifold wisdom of God is to 
 be revealed throughout all ages, to principalities and 
 powers." (Hodge.) Thus we see God's bountiful grace 
 not only Kepiaaebovaa-, not Only bursting forth round 
 about — round about all ages ; round about all nations — 
 but vTrepnepiaaevovaa (ver. 20), surrounding alj those 
 
the grace 
 
 the same 
 r. If sin 
 erlasting. 
 1 through 
 
 and par- 
 isus with 
 md many 
 he saved 
 number." 
 eatly ex- 
 osed that 
 •e coming 
 k accord- 
 ible, are 
 half con- 
 that are 
 ved will 
 
 tot to be 
 I admired 
 through 
 lod is to 
 [ties and 
 [ul grace 
 round 
 Ltions — 
 those 
 
 RELATION OF MAN TO ADAM AND TO CHRIST. 359 
 
 rounds, and with surplus and advantage overflowing 
 all. Not only TrAfomComa an abounding grace, abound- 
 ing unto all, to the whole world, but vTrepTT?.eovd^ovaa a 
 
 grace superabounding. (Dr. Richard Clarke, in Lange.) 
 Let us therefore receive the reconciliation, pray for 
 the abundance of grace, labor for the gift of righteous- 
 ness, and joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Thus the apostle, in this chapter, passed in review 
 the important facts that deeply and lastingly concern 
 man, facts that are " the fountain heads of principles 
 and tendencies," which are in continual conflict. He 
 puts these in their proper place in the present system 
 of things. " The great object is to produce conviction 
 of sin, and purification from it, and to set before the 
 purified soul a God whom it can fully trust and love." 
 It proves that His dominion is a reign of benevolence 
 and righteousness, and therefore a ground of universal 
 joy and gladness. " The Lord reigneth : let the earth 
 rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof." 
 (Ps. xcvii. 1.) 
 
 " Who can rise from the study and contemplation 
 of this wonderful passage, full of such profound views 
 and pregnant meanings, with all its variously com- 
 plicated, yet beautifully discriminated relations, and 
 interlacements of members and thoughts, without an 
 overpowering admiration and irresistible conviction 
 of the superhuman wisdom that must have dictated 
 its minutest details." {Forbes in Lange.) All power 
 and dominion, praise and glory to Him, whose match- 
 

 860 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 iil 
 
 '*! 
 
 i 
 
 less grace has for so many ages been carrying out this 
 wonderful design. 
 
 [Note. — If the exposition of Rom. v. 11-21, which 
 has been now given, is correct, the commentators and 
 others have been sadly defective, or erroneous in their 
 views of this passage. I believe they have equally 
 failed to bring out the precise and full meaning of 
 Rom. vi. 1-11, and some other important texts per- 
 taining to the topic of baptism. I accordingly, as 
 already stated, prepared " Selections and Thoughts on 
 the Design, Subjects, and Mode of Baptism, and its 
 relation to Christ's Kingdom of Disciples."] 
 
ng out this 
 
 -21, which 
 tators and 
 us in their 
 ^e equally- 
 leaning of 
 texts per- 
 dingly, as 
 oughts on 
 n, and its 
 
 APPENDED NOTES. 
 
 I. 
 
 TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 The universal dominion of sin and death over the 
 entire race, infants as well as full-grown peions i! 
 an undeniable fact But thW f»„f i, u P^'^°"^' '» 
 for in verv rlJH-o . "' ^'^ ''««" accounted 
 
 error h7.\ l' T^' ' ^""^ ^^^ ^""^ "^ these ways 
 
 error has been introduced, and perplexindy diffused 
 
 source" ??;rf;? ?'^ ^^ '"^'"^ ^^'^'^^^ *« its 
 
 call atte- ? r f ™"^'"-^ ^ P^-P^^'^' therefore, to 
 call attention to what I take to be the chief sou ce 
 
 of he errors, that most disfigure the central truth! 
 of atonement and justification. I believe they ean 
 be clearly shown to be inferences, which have been 
 drawn from unwarrantably classifying spiritual del h 
 and temporal death, with everlasting dea'thandtts 
 putting them into the judicial sentence. These i^ 
 ferences cannot be drawn from the former unti they 
 are put into such a sentence. But ma. have plloed 
 them there, and then drawn inferences, which they 
 have used a. the framework of the enti e system of 
 Calvinistic theology. I will, in the coursl of the 
 
m^' 
 
 362 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOn. 
 
 m 
 
 followin<^ remarks, point out how this has been done ; 
 and show the necessity of re-examininor the question 
 whether spiritual death and temporal death, which 
 take place before the day of judgment, should be 
 classed with everlasting death, which is to be inflicted 
 after the judgment day. 
 
 In the preceding exposition we have viewed the 
 consequences of Adam's sin that took place before the 
 day of judicial examination, as distinct from those 
 penal consequences that will follow judicial trial. We 
 think that those who classify natural or providential 
 consequences with judicial consequences, do not "dis- 
 tinguish things that differ." But many have paid no 
 attention to this distinction in the case now before us. 
 It is a very common opinion that the sentence, " Thou 
 shalt surely die" (Gen. ii. 17) includes three deaths : 
 (1) Death temporal, or death of the body ; (2) Death 
 spiritual, or depravity of heart ; and (3) Death eternal, 
 or everlasting punishment of soul and body in hell." 
 Observe, I do not ask : Are these three deaths taught 
 in the Bible ? They certainly are. But there still 
 remains the inquiry : Are those three deaths threat- 
 ened in one judicial sentence ? Is it right to class 
 them together in that manner ? This is no trifling 
 question. To put an important Scripture word out of 
 its right place in the system of revealed truth, may be 
 sufficient to originate and uphold a fatal heresy. In 
 proof of this assertion, take an instance noticed by 
 D'Aubigne: "Present salvation" is taught in the 
 Bible, and " works " are taught in the Bible. When 
 
TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 3G3 
 
 3en (lone ; 
 question 
 ,h, which 
 houhl be 
 i inflicted 
 
 ewed the 
 Det'ore the 
 'om those 
 trial. We 
 ovidential 
 , not " dis- 
 e paid no 
 before us. 
 ce, " Thou 
 ie deaths: 
 (2) Death 
 ,h eternal, 
 in hell." 
 ;hs tatlght 
 ,here still 
 s threat- 
 to class 
 o trifling 
 rd out of 
 , may be 
 Iresy. In 
 ticed by 
 in the 
 When 
 
 each is put in its right place in the system of truth, 
 Salvation comes first, and then works as a manifesta- 
 tion and evidence of salvation. But the Church of 
 Rome puts works first, and is thus led to teach salva- 
 tion by the merit of works." Thus a most dangerous 
 heresy is created by simply putting Scripture terms 
 out of the right order. But if the improper arrange- 
 ment of Scripture words may cause fatal error in one 
 case, it may do the same in other cases. It is there- 
 fore prudent to examine very carefully whether it is 
 right to put temporal and spiritual death' with ever- 
 lasting death into one judicial sentence ? 
 
 When interpreting a judicial sentence we surely 
 ought to consider the characteristic marks of such a. 
 sentence. A judicial sentence pre-supposes judicial 
 trial. It pays respect to distinction of character, being 
 inflicted onlv on those convicted of sin or crime, and 
 only on those who are of responsible age and capacity. 
 These marks are found in the third item, namely : 
 Everlasting Punishment. This w411 make distinction of 
 character, for it will take place only on the guilty, and 
 only on those who were fairly responsible ; and on 
 them only after judicial trial and conviction. And in 
 the present dispensation, we may add, it will take 
 place only on the unpardoned. The first covenant 
 had no pardoning power, no provision for averting 
 incurred penalty in any case. But the covenant of 
 grace has a provision of that kind, and offers a con- 
 ditional pardon. So that everlasting punishment will 
 not take place under this • covenant until a person is 
 
'ij 
 
 ■' .,s. 
 
 i 'J 
 
 i z TE- Zf 
 
 iill 
 
 ; 7 
 
 
 
 .%4 
 
 THE ONK MEDIATOR. 
 
 doubly ^aiilty — ^^uilty of tran.s<^^ressiiig tlie biw, and 
 guilty of rejecting- or neo-lecting the gospel. Under 
 this dispensation, therefore, ju<licial penalty may be 
 averted by pardon, and therefore will be inflicted on 
 the unpardoned only. Everlasting punishment, at 
 the day of judgment, will make this distinction, too ; 
 it will be inflicted on the unpardoned only. In ever- 
 lasting punishment of soul and body w<' can see the 
 essential characteristics of a judicial sent ice. 
 
 But is temporal death of the body properly classed 
 with everlasting punishment ? Has it the essential 
 marks of a judicial sentence ? Not at all. Bodily 
 death takes effect before the day of judicial trial. " It 
 is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the 
 judgment." (Heb. ix. 27.) When the day of judgment 
 will come it cannot be inflicted. At that time the body 
 that died, will be raised incorruptible ; so that it cannot 
 die after judicial trial has been made. Bodily death 
 does not make distinction of character ; it takes effect 
 on children as well as on adults ; it takes effect on the 
 pardoned as well as the unpardoned ; it takes place 
 on f hose who have faith in Christ Jesus, and respect- 
 ing whom the Scripture declares, "There is no con- 
 demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." As there 
 is no condemnatory sentence against the pardoned 
 believer, how can the temporal death of such a person 
 belong to such a sentence ? If physical death is still as- 
 sumed to be a part of the condemnation, then if one 
 part of the condemnation could be executed where 
 there is no condemnation, why may not the remaining 
 
hiw, and 
 i. Under 
 T may be 
 flicted on 
 nnont, at 
 ition, too ; 
 In ever- 
 m sec the 
 
 •ly classed 
 ; essential 
 I. Bodily 
 trial. "It 
 ?r tliis the 
 judgment 
 e the body 
 t it cannot 
 lily death 
 kes effect 
 ict on the 
 kes place 
 d respect- 
 s no con- 
 As there 
 pardoned 
 a person 
 lis still as- 
 ;n if one 
 ;d where 
 lemaining 
 
 TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 305 
 
 parts be executed also, and thus make pardon wholly 
 vain, faith wholly void, the atoncnent utterly ineffi- 
 cacious, and the promises utterly untrustworthy. I 
 have seen an intelligent Christian perplexed in a 
 dying hour by this thought. Hence J have given at- 
 tention to the subject. It may account for the per- 
 plexity which others have felt at that solemn crisis 
 
 If bodily death belonged to a judicial sentence pro- 
 nounced against all men, would the whole of the last 
 generation of men, amounting to many millions, 
 including good and bad, be freed from it? Yet 
 they will be exceptions, for the last generativ-^n will 
 not die, but, like Enoch and Elijah, be "changed in 
 a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. xv. 
 15), from mortality to immortality, without passing 
 through death. 
 
 How could the physical death of the body, and the 
 everlasting punishment of the body belong to the 
 penalty that was connected with the original covenant 
 of works ? If we put in the first, we must put out the 
 last. For the first covenant made no provision for the 
 resurrection of the body. Hence, if under that cove- 
 nant the body was made to suffer physical death, it 
 could not be raised and reunited with the spirit in 
 order to suflTer the everlasting death ; on the other 
 hand, if the intention was to inflict everlasting punish- 
 ment on the united soul and body, then physical 
 death could not belong to the penalty under that first 
 dispensation at least. 
 
 How can physical death be a part infliction of the 
 
IT' 
 
 I 
 
 'mlU 
 
 ifsiiiit 
 
 
 366 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 original penalty when that original penalty has not 
 been inflicted at all ? It was suspended in consequence 
 of the mediation of Christ, for the purpose of granting 
 Adam a new probation under a new dispensation. The 
 words, " thou shalt return to dust," were spoken im- 
 mediately after announcing that a new dispensation 
 was granted for the sake of the promised seed of the 
 v^oman. The announcement of temporal death fol- 
 lowing this surely was not a retraction in part of the 
 remedial promise, and an execution of a portion of the 
 original penalty. Did God repent of having formed 
 the plan of human redemption, retract His publicly 
 pledged promise, and go back to re-affirm and enforce 
 unconditionally the previously incurred penalty ? 
 
 If physical death were inflicted as a penalty, how 
 could Paul say that "to die is gain ?" What kind of 
 a penalty would gain be ? It is g*" ^ tr depart from 
 the present infirmities and pains of t ; body. It is 
 true that in another respect, death is \ >resented as an 
 " enemy." But it is then viewed as reigning over the 
 bodies that have fallen asleep in Jesus, and keeping 
 them from reunion with the disembodied spirits in 
 Paradise, and as thus preventing their full consumma- 
 tion of bliss. It is only in this sense that death is an 
 enemy. And it is such only to the righteous, for 
 these are the characters spoken of in the context of 
 the passage. In this sense it is not an enemy to the 
 wicked, but a friend. It keeps their bodies for a time 
 out of the conscious sufferings of the final state 
 
 Many, we know, have given unii>quiring assent to 
 
TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 :^67 
 
 has not 
 5eqnence 
 Qjranting 
 ion. The 
 >ken im- 
 ensation 
 3(1 of the 
 jath t'ol- 
 ,rt of the 
 3n of the 
 T formed 
 publicly 
 I enforce 
 Ity? 
 
 xlty, how 
 kind of 
 )art from 
 T. It is 
 ,ed as an 
 over the 
 keeping 
 pirits in 
 isumma- 
 ,th is an 
 ous, for 
 ntext of 
 |y to the 
 r a time 
 ie 
 Usent to 
 
 the connnon interpretation. Mr. Wesley at first did so, 
 and hence put bodily death into his interpretation of 
 the sentence ; for instance, in sermons v. 5, vii. 4. But 
 he put it out of his interpretation when he found it 
 led to bad consequences — when he saw that some 
 wanted to make out that the death of the body was 
 the only death threatened in the penalty, he replied 
 that it did not refer to bodily death at all. He said 
 (sermon xiv. 8) : " The answer is plain ; to affirm this 
 is flatly and palpably to make God 9 liar, to aver 
 that the God of truth affirmed a thing contrary to 
 truth. For it is evident Adam did not die in this 
 sense on the day that he ate thereof. He lived in the 
 sense opposite to this death above nine hundred years 
 after, so that this cannot possibly be understood of 
 the death of the body, without impeaching the 
 veracity of God." We know that many of his fol- 
 lowers have put it back into the judicial sentence. 
 W^hy ? Have people ceased to make a bad use of it 
 when in ? Not at all. They make fearfully bad use 
 of it. For instance : Bodily death, say some, is part 
 of the penalty ; assuming this to be correct they of 
 course reason from it : It must be admitted, say they, 
 that this threatened bodily death always takes effect ; 
 it follows, therefore, that judicial penalty is always 
 inflicted. Hence the principle on which the Divine 
 Government acts is this : If a man incurs punishment, 
 he must suffer it. There is, therefore, no such thihg as 
 pardon ; and if no pardon, no atonement. The as- 
 sumption therefore pleases and suits the Universalist. 
 
 'A 
 
 u 
 

 1 
 
 ill 
 
 an 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 li'i! 
 
 mmv: 
 
 m^ 
 
 w 
 
 'm : 
 
 M ., 
 
 t 1 
 
 H^ ^i:f 
 
 M- 
 
 w? 
 
 368 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 But he can go another step. Assuming that bodily 
 death is part of the penalty, he combines this with 
 the well grounded belief in the general resurrection at 
 a future day, which is to take place unconditionally 
 and irresistibly; he then infers that a judicial pen- 
 alty will be reversed unconditionally and irresistibly. 
 And if one part of the penalty will be thus reversed, 
 why not every other part — why not expect universal 
 restoration after universal punishment ? Why not 
 believe in final universal salvation ? 
 
 It suits the Antinomian too. Assuming that bodily 
 death is part of the penalty, and believing that Christ 
 died a bodily death ; it follows, he thinks, from these 
 two positions that Christ's sufferings were of a penal 
 character. And if He suffered one part of the penalty 
 literally and fully, why not every part ? But if so, as 
 punishment cannot be inflicted a second time under 
 the just government of God, he infers that those for 
 whom Christ suffered are safe, no matter how they 
 sin. Thus the Law is made void, and the threaten- 
 ings are mere scarecrows. 
 
 The assumption suits the Roman Catholic also. As- 
 suming that bodily death is part of the penalty, an 
 old writer argued thus: that part was left to be endured 
 by ourselves as well as by Christ, hence it appears 
 from this that His suflferinofs were not all-sufficient. 
 He left part of the atonement to be made by our own 
 suffering of part of the penalty. And lest our death 
 might be too easy a one, it may be better to turn re- 
 
 ! 1 
 
 U \ 
 
bodily 
 is with 
 jtion at 
 iionally 
 al pen- 
 sistibly. 
 Bversed, 
 niversal 
 4iy not 
 
 ,t bodily 
 ,t Christ 
 im these 
 : a penal 
 ! penalty 
 if so, as 
 e under 
 hose for 
 )W they 
 reaten- 
 
 iso. As- 
 alty, an 
 jndured 
 [appears 
 ifficient. 
 iur own 
 ir death 
 lurn re- 
 
 TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 309 
 
 pentance into penance, and to endure mortifications 
 beforehand to help out our part of the atonement for 
 sin. 
 
 It suits him still farther, assuming that bodily 
 death is part of the penalty, and knowing that that 
 part will continue in force till the time of the resur- 
 rection. He says, we cannot consistently hope that 
 the soul will go into "The joy of the Lord," while the 
 body is suffering judicial punishment we must expect 
 to wait in some purgatorial state till the resurrection 
 morn, or at least, in some place intermediate between 
 hell and heaven. 
 
 It suits the worldling likewise ; assuming that bodily 
 death is part of the penalty, and observing that it 
 often causes but a slight and momentary pang, and 
 leaves, sometimes, the impress of placid serenity on the 
 countenance; it may be inferred that a judicial penalty 
 has very little, if anything, appalling about it, nothing 
 sufficiently dreadful to deter him from fashionable and 
 besetting sins. 
 
 It suits the annihilationist also; assuming that 
 bodily death is part of the penalty, and seeing that it 
 results in reducing the body to an unconscious state ; 
 it leads him to infer that a judicial penalty finds its 
 accomplishment in reducing its subject to unconscious- 
 ness. If any part of the penalty therefore is to take 
 eflTect on the soul, it may be expected to reduce it too 
 to unconsciousness, so that it will not feel the penalty. 
 He supposes, therefore, that God will act like the 
 mother who decided that she could not prudently re- 
 
'■iW 
 
 1:: 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 370 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 frain from whipping her son, but tenderly resolved to 
 give him chloroform beforehand. 
 
 It specially suits those who are Calvinistic in their 
 opinions. They not only assume, but earnestly con- 
 tend that bodily death is part of a judicial penalty. 
 .Then they proceed thus : the infliction of penalty im- 
 plies the violation of law ; the infliction of penalty on 
 all men implies that all have violated law. The inflic- 
 tion of penalty on children impli<is that the violation 
 was not personal in their case, but imputed. And if 
 so, the transgression imputed must have been Adam's 
 transgression. And if this part of the penalty is in- 
 flicted for Adam's transgression ; so will the other 
 part that threatens everlasting punishment of soul and 
 body be inflicted on all Adam's offspring for Adam's 
 sin. 
 
 This is not by any means all. He proceeds to say, it 
 follows from all this that Adam must have been made 
 a Federal Head under the first covenant ; that the 
 whole race must have been tried in Adam, must have 
 sinned in Adam, and must by imputation of his sin, 
 have been adjudged to suffer the penalty of the law. 
 Thus the theory of Federal Headship is an inference 
 from the opinion that bodily death ought to be placed 
 with everlasting death in the judicial sentence. 
 
 The federal theory, if not first formed, was at least 
 brought into prominence by Catharin, one of the 
 schoolmen. "He contended before the council of 
 Trent, that Adam must have made a compact with 
 God in which he was supposed to covenant for all his 
 
TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 371 
 
 descendants, and to bind them down to the conse- 
 quences of his own conduct as their federal head and 
 representative; that, on this account, when Adai.i 
 sinned his posterity were as deep in the transgression 
 as Adam himself, and as liable to the pains and penal- 
 ties denounced against it. This afterwards became a 
 fashionable doctrine among the scholastic Calvinists. 
 Dr. S. Ward has a treatise on the subject, in which his 
 arguments are avowedly borrowed from the writings 
 of Catharin. The same scheme of imputation was 
 maintained by Bishop Davenant, on the authority of 
 the schoolmen, and is accepted by Bishop Hopkins in 
 his doctrine of the two covenants." (Bishop Bethel, on 
 Beg., p. 181.) It was then put more briefly thus : It 
 is inferred from temporal death as a penalty, that God 
 " made a covenant with Adam, that he should stand a 
 moral probation on behalf of all his descendants, so 
 that his act of obedience or disobedience, with all its 
 consequences, should be judicially imputed to them, or 
 accounted theirs in law. (P. S., in Lange.) 
 
 To assert that human beings are punished, not for 
 their own personal sin, but for another's transgression 
 imputed to them, "is a position so revolting with 
 respect to the justice, and goodness, and impartiality 
 of the sovereign Judge, who will render to every man 
 according to his works; that it should not be made out 
 from constructive evidence: it requires most ample 
 and satisfactory arguments to support it." (Moses 
 Stuart, on Rom., v. 13.) Yet they have no such argu- 
 ments ; they come to it by inferences from the unproved 
 
'■ ill 
 
 n ' 
 
 
 I: 
 
 ii ! 
 
 1^1 
 
 !iv:n? 
 
 I i 
 
 372 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 assumption that temporal death is a part of the 
 judicial penalty; and, as we shall see, from a similar as- 
 sumption respecting .spiritual death. If Adam were 
 made a Federal Head in that sense, he could, by his per- 
 sonal obedience, have secured the eternal holiness and 
 happiness of all mankind ; and if he had proved faith- 
 ful, then the burden of their eternal song would be, 
 Glory be to father Adam. Adam would, in that case> 
 receive more glory than, under the covenant of grace, 
 will be given to the Lord Jesus Christ. But to give 
 such glory to Adam would be idolatry, and would lead 
 to the banishment of them all from heaven. And 
 Adam himself, if so applauded, would in all probability 
 be lifted up with pride and " fall into the condemnation 
 of the devil." If, on the other hand, Adam by his per- 
 sonal disobedience could have caused, and has caused, 
 the eternal condemnation and punishment of his 
 offspring, then their everlasting gnashing of teeth will 
 be at Adam; not at any personal conduct of their own. 
 Instead of guilty remorse, they would forever be con- 
 scious of the deepest and most irreparable injury. 
 
 But their inferences go a step farther. They say, 
 if Adam was such a Federal Head, we may assume 
 that Christ was a Federal Head in a corresponding 
 sense. As they had supposed that liability to punish- 
 ment was transferred from Adam to his offspring, 
 thev infer that it was transferred aejain from them to 
 Christ — that He was a substitute for the personally 
 condemned, and endured in their stead the punishment 
 due to them. Thus their ideas of the intervention of 
 
TEMPORAL DEATH. 
 
 873 
 
 •t of the 
 dmilar as- 
 1am were 
 )y his per- 
 liness and 
 ved faith - 
 would be, 
 that case> 
 , of grace, 
 lit to give 
 k^ould lead 
 ,'en. And 
 robability 
 ieinnation 
 )y his per- 
 as caused, 
 nt of his 
 teeth will 
 heir own. 
 r be con- 
 jury, 
 'hey say, 
 assume 
 [sponding 
 punish- 
 |offspring, 
 them to 
 jrsonally 
 lishment 
 intion of 
 
 Christ are shaped by their ideas of the Federal Head- 
 ship of A I m. Instead of accepting the Scripture 
 doctrine that Christ was a Mediator between two 
 parties, propitiating the one and winning the other ; 
 they see only a substitute for one party, punished by 
 the other. Instead of beholding priestly sacrifice and 
 intercession to avert penalty, they see only an act of 
 submission to impreventable penalty. They see no 
 mercy-seat, but only a judgment tribunal ; and well 
 nigh subvert the whole gospel. 
 
 They say, if men were tried in Adam, and sinned in 
 Adam, and fell in Adam, it may be inferred,by parity of 
 reasoning, that those represented by Christ got in Him 
 a new probation, obeyed in Him, and are saved for His 
 sake, independently of personal probation, or any con- 
 dition that is subject to the will of man. The ulti- 
 mate conclusion of their method of reasoning is, that 
 the destinies of the innumerable millions of the 
 human race have been fixed eternally by the acts of 
 two persons: one part of them in everlasting joy ; the 
 other, in everlasting punishment ! 
 
 Some Methodists, too, have made use of the opinion 
 that bodily death is part of the penalty. On this 
 account they look upon children as " born condemned 
 by the covenant in Adam." They suppose, however, 
 that, as a set-ofF on the other side, children are im- 
 mediately freed from condemnation through Christ. 
 Hence some of them speak of " Infant Justification ;" 
 and say that all infants receive this — that " through 
 the grace of the gospel they are born free from con- 
 

 874 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 demnation." (Dr. Fisk.) They must then have been 
 condemned, and freed from condemnation in instan- 
 taneous succes^iion. What wisdom would there be in 
 such momentary condemnation ? 
 
 To assume that the bodily death of children is a 
 penal evil is to cause perplexity to the believer ; and 
 to furnish objections to the infidel, who uses it as a 
 ground for impeaching the divine justice. The theory 
 of Federal Headship does not parry these objections. 
 No other theory can do so. Irreconcilable contradic- 
 tions cannot be harmonised. 
 
 Thus, following what Coleridge called " an ever- 
 widening spiral ergo" (therefore) men have built up an 
 immense pyramid of dogmas, and the apex of their in- 
 verted pyramid rests on the point that bodily death is 
 a penal evil, and is rightly placed in the judicial sen- 
 tence; and, consequently, that we are in a state of pun- 
 ishment, and not in a state of probation ; that earth is a 
 province of hell. We have surely said enough to illus- 
 trate the use made of this common interpretation. The 
 opinion that it is correct, leads not merely to one or to 
 another of the conclusions pointed out, but to one as 
 well as another. It is continually leading different 
 thinkers, at the same time, by those different routes to 
 those different conclusions. An interpretation so 
 fruitful in error cannot be a true interpretation. 
 
(375) 
 
 11. 
 
 SPIRITUAL DEATH. 
 
 In the fifth chapter of Romans, says Snieaton, " Paul 
 puts the disobedience of Adam in express antithesis to 
 the obedience of Clirist. Nor can I forbear to say, 
 that it would have contributed not a little to the 
 clearer understanding of the whole subject, had the 
 Scripture method on this great theme been universally 
 followed." (Smeaton, on the Atonement, p. 159.) This 
 is a very true and important statement. But many have 
 not paid attention to Paul's plan. They, on the other 
 hand, look at man's sinful state apart from the remedial 
 provisions made by special divine interposition. They 
 try to account for the former without taking the latter 
 into consideration. They then reason thus : "Since the 
 moral corruption, which we bring from the womb of 
 our mothers, is the source of all sin, and therefore a 
 very great evil, it must be a judicial punishment." It 
 must therefore be part of the judicial sentence. And 
 they think they may reason from it, as they did when 
 they assumed temporal death to be a penalty. They 
 argue thus : The infliction of a penalty supposes the 
 violation of law ; the violation must have been previous 
 to the infliction, and must therefore have been com- 
 mitted by Adam. They accordingly infer that Adam 
 " underwent, as the punishment of sin, the corruption 
 
\n 
 
 I m 
 
 i 
 
 liijt 
 
 •\ 
 
 W 
 
 ■■yi 
 
 ill: 
 
 '^ ! 
 
 iiiimk 
 
 m 
 
 ■'' I i: 
 
 876 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 of soul and hody, and also transmitted to posterity a 
 nature in the Hrst place guilty, in the next corrupted." 
 (Theodore Beza, in Hodge, i). 118.) They felt that this 
 opinion does violence to the sense of honor and justice 
 which God has implanted in the human mind. It 
 seemed to them advisable, therefore, " to pay homage 
 to the sentiment, so far, at least, as to use fair forms of 
 speech." This has been plausibly done by framing the 
 theory of Federal Headship, which supposes that those 
 who were said to be punished were represented by Adam 
 as their federal head ; that they may thus be spoken 
 of as having been once upright ; as having been under 
 just legal responsibility ; as having failed in the trial ; 
 as having thereby justly exposed themselves to the 
 anger of God. But are not these fair forrr^ of speech 
 utterly unwarranted and misleading in this case ? 
 How could Adam's responsibility be transferred to 
 those who never authorized him to act for them ? How 
 could a sinful volition be transferred from person 
 to person ? " Surely those who did not exist when a 
 sin was committed, are innocent of that sin in every 
 possible respect ;" and, as Dr. Alexander says, "All in- 
 tuitively discern that for a ruler to punish the innocent 
 is morally wrong." " Where we have intuitive cer- 
 tainty of anything, it is foolish to demand other 
 reasons." 
 
 Spiritual death is a fact; but is it rightly ac- 
 counted for when it is called a judicial infliction ? 
 Did it take place after judicial trial ? Could the 
 ends of government be answered by making it a 
 
SPIRITUAL DEATH. 
 
 377 
 
 judicial penalty ? Certainly the ends of human gov- 
 ernment would not be promoted by such a penalty. 
 Let us look at this point by the light of an illustration: 
 Suppose a person was brought before one of our 
 iudijes, and convicted of a fjreat crime • and that the 
 judge pronounced that his punishment should be in 
 whole or in part as follows: That he should immediately 
 lose all proper regard for the constituted authorities 
 of the British Empire ; all proper sense of his own guilt 
 and degradation as a criminal, and all desire to return 
 to his duty as a citizen. Would that look like a judi- 
 cial sentence ? Would it answer any wise end of 
 government ? Would a judge punish the violation of 
 law by producing a disposition to repeat continually 
 such violation ? 
 
 Yet this supposed case would be analogous in 
 civil government to what is strangely imagined to 
 have been done in the divine government. Moral de- 
 pravity supposes the absence of all proper regard for 
 divine authority ; all proper sense of the exceeding sin- 
 fulness of sin ; and all penitent desire to return to the 
 way of holiness. Would the divine moral Governor 
 inflict that as a punishment ? Dr. Hodge admits that 
 such a course could not be " explained on the common- 
 sense principles of moral government." (Prin. Rev., 
 April, 1851, p. 318.) Would an infinitely Holy Being 
 inflict moral corruption on His subjects ? To relieve 
 the case, some suppose that He did not do it directly, 
 that He simply withheld supernatural influence, and 
 that depravation resulted from this deprivation. But 
 V 26 
 
! 
 
 Ill 
 
 >;l 
 
 i 
 
 11 
 
 Si;'(- 
 
 
 ^, 
 
 V 
 
 ... f'j^B ! j 
 
 
 ' «■! 
 
 , : . ll 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 878 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 would ()o(l (loprave man indirectly ? Bosid(\s that 
 would not relieve the difficulty of the case. To sup- 
 pose that depravity may have been caused by simply 
 withholding supernatural aid, is, as Moehler observes, 
 to imply " that man originally had a defective nature 
 which needed to be supernaturally kept right. But 
 to say that the creature was originally defective, is to 
 impeach the Creator." Besides, would God punish 
 before He called him to appear before Him ? When 
 Adam was summoned, he tried to hide himself under 
 the trees of the garden, and thus showed that he 
 had already been alienated in heart. 
 
 But in fact there has been as yet no judicial trial, 
 or judicial punishment. The day of judgment was 
 postponed through the mediation of Christ, and a new 
 dispensation- established, with remedial provisions to 
 meet man's fallen state. Without taking the latter 
 into consideration, we cannot rightly understand the 
 former. 
 
 The theory that depravity is a transmitted punish- 
 ment cannot be vindicated on anyprinciples of honorand 
 right known to the human mind. Some of its advocates 
 admit tliis. Dr. Woods, for instance, asks : " But how is 
 this proceeding just to Adam's posterity ? What have 
 they done to merit the evil " — (" the tremendous 
 calamity," as he elsewhere calls it), — " of existing with- 
 out original righteousness, and with a nature prone to 
 sin ? " " These dealings of God cannot be explained 
 on the common-sense principles of moral government. 
 The system which Paul taught was not a system of 
 
I 
 
 SPIRfTUAL DEATH. 
 
 879 
 
 sid(\s that 
 . To sup- 
 by .simply 
 iY observes, 
 tivc nature 
 ncrht. But 
 Bctive, is to 
 lod punish 
 ni ? When 
 [uselE under 
 ed that he 
 
 adieial trial, 
 lorment was 
 ■j, and a new 
 :ovisions to 
 the latter 
 erstand the 
 
 ied punish- 
 if honor and 
 Is advocates 
 [But how is 
 'hat have 
 :emendous 
 ^ting with- 
 [e prone to 
 explained 
 Ivernment. 
 [system of 
 
 common sense, but of profound and awful mystery." 
 (Prin. Rev., April, 1851, p. 318.) But there is no room 
 to appeal to mystery here. Mystery implies imperfect 
 knowledge ; it cannot be pleaded where we have suf- 
 ficient knowledge for a judgment in the case. Dr. Woods 
 himself sometiuics admits that our moral intuitions are 
 sufficient to decide that some things are too appalling 
 to be true. For instance, he rejects the position that 
 infant ciiildren will be doomed to misery in the 
 
 4/ 
 
 world to come, merely for sinful propensity. This re- 
 pudiated position is, indeed, in opposition to the most 
 obvious principles of equity and honor : but so also 
 are other positions which he does not repudiate, but 
 should do.. If our intuitions are trustworthy in the 
 one case, they are equally so in the other. If untrust- 
 worthy in the one, they are unreliable in the other 
 case also. Must it not be admitted that " there are 
 moral intuitions founded on the constitution of our 
 nature, and constituting a primary revelation of the 
 nature of God, which no external revelation can pos- 
 sibly contradict?" (Dr. Hodge, TheoL, Pt. ii. p. 531.) 
 Some admit that their opinions perplex them, and 
 yet they hold them. Listen to Abelard : " Would it not 
 be deemed the summit of injustice among men, if any 
 one should cast an innocent son, for the sin of a father, 
 into those flames, even if they were to be endured but a 
 short time ? How much more so if eternal ? (Opera, 
 Paris, 1616 ; p. 395, in Beecher, Pt. iii.; But he 
 thought it was not wrong in Grd to do so, because, in 
 his opinion, right in God consi-.^ed simply in following 
 
lir 
 
 380 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 HivS own will. This rsfers the case, not to the justice, 
 but to the sovereignty of God. But sovereignty does 
 not set aside the laws of equity and honor. It merely 
 confers favors over and above those which equity has 
 already granted. Listen to Pascal, too : " What can be 
 more contrary to the rules of our turetched justice 
 than to damn eternally an infant, incapable of volition, 
 for an offence in which he seems to have no share 
 and which was committed six thousand years before 
 he was born ? Certainly nothing shocks us more rudely 
 than this doctrine." Yet he reverently believed the 
 doctrine, because he supposed it was taught by inspired 
 men. Man's moral intuitions are often counteracted 
 and invalidated by means of misinterpreted texts of 
 Scripture. For, as Dr. Dick remarks, " There is 
 nothino so monstrous and incredible which a man 
 might not be prevailed upon to acknowledge, if he 
 w^ere first persuaded that it was taught in the Scrip- 
 tures." (Dick's Theol., ii. p. 410.) "Who could estimate 
 the amount of painful emotion which such misadjust- 
 ments of the system of Christianity have caused in 
 minds eminent alike tor intellectual power and bene- 
 volence ? Truly reasonable, humble, and holy minds 
 have felt the want of harmony caused by this plan, 
 and felt it the more, the more holy, humble, and rea- 
 sonable they have been." (Beecher, Con. of Ages.) 
 Yet there are some who can embolden themselves to 
 defend doctrines which are at war with the concep- 
 tions of the human mind as to honor and right, be- 
 cause they had first undermined the authority of 
 
SPIRITUAL DEATH. 
 
 381 
 
 10 justice, 
 <Tnty does 
 It merely 
 equity has 
 hat can be 
 ed justice 
 )f volition, 
 no share' 
 ars before 
 lore rudely 
 ilieved the 
 by inspired 
 interacted 
 jd texts of 
 "There is 
 ch a man 
 ire, if he 
 the Scrip- 
 d estimate 
 misadjust- 
 caused in 
 and bene- 
 loly minds 
 this plan, 
 , and rea- 
 of Ages.) 
 tn selves to 
 |ie concep- 
 right, be- 
 ihority of 
 
 these convictions : they gave them an evil name to 
 destroy their power. Theycall them "carnal reason," 
 " unsanctified philosophy." But they do not consider 
 that God Himself appeals to those convictions, and 
 wishes His acts to be fairly tested by them. "O 
 House of Israel, are not My ways e(|iial ^ Ava not your 
 ways unequal ? " It was by the convincing Spirit 
 divine that those views were implanted. Plainly, 
 then, *he case does not lie wholly out of the province 
 of these sentiments. It is true that no doctrine really 
 taught in the Bible should be given up at the demand 
 of carnal reason. But there is a previous question : 
 Should the decisions of the human mind as to honor 
 and right be called carnal reason ? And should the 
 doctrines opposed to these be unenquiringly assumed 
 to be really taught in the Bible ? It surely is not too 
 much to ask men to examine whether the human in- 
 terpretation, which has been shown to be the source of 
 these perplexities, is a correct one ? Whether conse- 
 quences which take place during probation, and before 
 judicial trial, should be classed with consequences 
 which take place after probation and after judi- 
 cial investigation ? Especially when, putting them 
 together in one judicial sentence, furnishes premises 
 on which inferential reasoning has raised that inverted 
 pyramid which exhibits so many different systems of 
 theology. Soon as enlightened re-examination has un- 
 dermined that interpretation, great will be the fall of 
 the systems ^hat have rested on it. " The true sense 
 of Scripture, that and that only is Scripture." (Bp. 
 
ml 
 
 . f 
 
 m 
 
 ] 
 
 1 ' '' 
 
 I 
 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
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 R' 
 
 ; ■( 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 Jr 
 
 ii^^ii*^^ 
 
 
 Mtiii 
 
 
 382 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Wordsworth.) An untrue sense is the word of man, not 
 the word of God. 
 
 Methodists have admitted that children are born 
 with sinful predispositions. But, having unenquiringly 
 assumed the Calvinistic position that this depravity is 
 a part of a judicial penalty inflicted for Adam's sin, 
 some of them have thouojht that it oui>'ht to follow as 
 an ofF-set to this, that children, for Christ's sake, are 
 born regenerate ; or (as they sometimes put it, to avoid 
 the contradiction of supposing them to be at the same 
 time degenerate and regenerate) that they are " gen- 
 erated and regenerated in instantaneous succession " — 
 that this regeneration takes place by means which are 
 provided by the atonement, and which the infant soul 
 meets at its entrance into the world : " like a leper 
 entering a room filled with a purifying influence, and 
 cleansed by getting within its walls." Revs. Mercein, 
 Hibbard, Gilbert Haven, and D. D. Whedon, D.D., 
 favored this opinion. But the latter admits that Ar- 
 minius, Wesley and Fletcher did not. {Meth. Quar. 
 Revieiu.) Mr. Wesley held that " the state of mankind 
 did so far depend on Adam, that by his fall they all 
 fall into sorrow and pain and death, spiritual and 
 temporal And that all this is perfectly consistent 
 with the justice and goodness of God ; provided, all 
 may recover through the second Adam whatever they 
 lost through the first." But it does not follow that the 
 recovery must instantaneously follow the fall, and 
 must be irrespective of conditions. 
 
 - f ■ . i 
 
 P;l::lli| 
 
SPIRITUAL DEATH. 
 
 383 
 
 (Note. — Some Methodists have looked favorably on 
 the doctrine of infant regeneration, because they 
 thought it would furnish a common reason for the 
 baptism of infants and adults. But regeneration is 
 not necessary, even in the case of adults. Repentance 
 is all that is necessary in the latter case. " Repent 
 and be baptized," said Peter on the great day of Pente- 
 cost. Repentance brings an adult back to the teach- 
 ableness of a child. "Baptizing is associated with 
 teaching." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.) Infants and penitent 
 adults have the common qualification of teachableness.) 
 
 President Edwards, " who has never been surpassed 
 in vigorous logical deduction," perceived that if God 
 was the cause of this depravity, He is the author of 
 sin. So, to set aside this conclusion, he labored to 
 prove that all mankind caused their own depravity by 
 sinning in Adam and falling with him ; that the sin of 
 the apostasy is theirs " by virtue of a real union be- 
 tween the root and the branches of mankind estab- 
 lished by the Author of the universe." (Lange on 
 Romans, ch. v.) His intention was well meaning. 
 His pious heart disposed him to justify God. And he 
 managed, for once, at least, to find free agency enough 
 to shield the position which he took for this purpose, 
 from the testing operations of his own logical head. 
 Even he could not prove that men before they were 
 born had co-agency and co-responsibility with Adam. 
 " To assert the personal identity of difiering millions 
 is absurd." • 
 
 Edwards rightly defined a moral agent to be "a 
 
1 ' t^ 
 
 384 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 being that is capable of those actions that have a moral 
 quality, and which can properly be denominated good 
 or evil in a moral sense, virtuous or vicious, commend- 
 able or faulty." (Quoted by Wkedon, Meth. Quar. Re- 
 view, July, 1861.) But Edwards failed to enumerate 
 correctly the elements necessary to constitute an 
 action " commendable or faulty." He omitted to men- 
 tion responsible volition, for instance. All men were 
 not capable of this at the time that Adam sinned. Nor 
 had they what Edwards himself thinks to be necessary 
 to personal responsibility. He imagined that respon- 
 sibility is grounded on natural ability to obey God, 
 notwithstanding moral inability ; and this inability, 
 he thinks, is merely another word for disinclination to 
 employ natural ability in the service of God. But 
 when he spoke of disinclination in men who have no 
 free will, he represented man to be like the old 
 lady's clock, which she said " had only one fault — it 
 wouldn't go." That was quite a serious fault in a clock, 
 to be sure ; but that alleged disinclination was not 
 censurable. Nor is the disinclination of man punish- 
 able, if he has no more free agency than that clock. 
 
 But Edwards erred also when he said that man had 
 natural ability to obey God. He has not. Paul, re- 
 ferring to his unrenewed state, said : " How to perform 
 that which is good I find not." (Rom. 7.) But Paul 
 found what President Edwards could not. He said : 
 " To will is present with me." (Rom. 7.) And he dis- 
 tinguished what many confound, namely, freedom to 
 will, and power to do, that which is good. Freedom 
 
 Ik 
 
 
SPIRITUAL DEATH. 
 
 385 
 
 Lve a moral 
 
 to will is not power to do; but it can pray for 
 power to do, and God can give it in answer to prayer. 
 To state this more fully : The will can employ the 
 understanding to give attention to the counsels of God 
 and to the gracious offers of ability for obedience. If he 
 voluntarily gives attention to what he understands, he 
 will feel motives by the aid of which he can pray 
 aright for the needed aid. But, observe, nothing be- 
 comes a motive until it is voluntarily attended to, 
 and only as long as it is voluntarily attended to. 
 Hence motives do not destroy the freedom of the will ; 
 they appeal to the reason, " the proper use of which is 
 to act reasonably;" and to the conscience, w^hich has 
 respect to the rightful authority of God. In short, 
 man cannot perform the duties of the saved with- 
 out regenerating grace, and he cannot save himself. 
 But he can perform the conditions of salvation previous 
 to receiving regenerating grace. Regenerating grace 
 is not necessary to human responsibility. Man 
 naturally has freedom to will. He can therefore hear 
 the word of God. If he hears, he can understand by 
 the aid of the convincing Spirit. If he understands, 
 he can repent. If he repents, he can believe the 
 offers made to the penitent and pray for their bestowal. 
 If he prays, he can obtain pardon for sin and ability 
 for future obedience. Having thus the opportunity to 
 obtain ability, he is placed under obligation to seek 
 and to use it. 
 
 In conclusion, I ask. Have I not shown good ground 
 for questioning the correctness of the interpretation 
 
Ifil.i 
 
 386 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 that makes bodily death and spiritual death parts of 
 a judicial sentence ? Have I not shown that they have 
 not the marks of a judicial sentence, and therefore 
 should not be classed with everlasting punishment ? 
 lias not the putting them in such a sentence been the 
 cause of multiplying errors on most important sub- 
 jects ? And, on the other hand, has it not caused 
 interpreters to impoverish utterly the words of Paul 
 in the celebrated part of the fifth chapter of Romans, 
 which has been considered in the preceding exposition? 
 Even Dr. Hodge, after adopting it, can find in this 
 passage little more than a frequent repetition, in 
 varied statement, of a meaning imported into its first 
 clause. Interpreted aright, the words are full of inter- 
 esting and important thoughts, are exceedingly rich in 
 instruction; and call for heartfelt gratitude for the 
 plan of general redemption, and for "joy in God 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Note.— The candid reader will observe that, if the 
 course of my remarks has led me specially against some 
 errors held by Calvinistic writers, it has also conducted 
 me to many precious truths which they have clearly 
 and admirably expressed, and which I have selected 
 and presented where they can shine undimmed by 
 erroneous admixtures. 
 
( 387 ) 
 
 III. 
 
 THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE HAS NOT A PRIESTLY 
 CHARACTER, (t?. p. 217.) 
 
 Mr. Wesley, in his sermon on The Ministerial Office, 
 took for his text : "No man taketh this honour unto 
 himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." 
 (Heb. V. 4.) He rightly regards the words as referring 
 definitely to the priestly office. This being so, he 
 shows that those were wrong who quoted it as if in- 
 tended to guard the entrance to the office of preaching 
 also : because, as he remarks, in those " ancient times 
 the office of a priest, and that of a preacher, were 
 known to be entirely distinct;" and, as he infers, 
 are equally distinct under the Christian dispensa- 
 tion. The ground for this inference is that " the 
 Christian Church was built as nearly as possible on 
 the plan of the Jewish." From this statement he 
 further infers the continuance of the priestly as well 
 as the prophetic office. This was a right inference. 
 But he was not right in concluding, as he seems to 
 hu/e done, that there would now, as formerly, be 
 many priests as well as many prophets : and, if so, 
 that the administration of the Christian sacraments 
 would be the work of the former, and not of the 
 latter. It was for this reason that he forbade his 
 
388 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 
 
 
 :) 
 
 "lay preachers" to administer the sacraments. He says: 
 " We received them as prophets, not as priests — wholly 
 and solely to teach, not to administer sacraments." Had 
 he taken time to examine the grounds of his argument ' 
 more carefully, he would have discovered that he over- 
 looked an important difference which God Himself made 
 between the two dispensations, notwithstanding other 
 points of agreement. God's plan was to have but one 
 priest under the Christian dispensation. There were 
 to be many preachers, but only one priest. He called 
 His own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to l)e our " Great 
 High Priest," and to " abide a Priest continually." 
 Christ offered one priestly sacrifice ; it was " a full, 
 perfect, and sufficient oblation and satisfaction " for 
 the sin of the world. Hence, " no more offering for 
 sin " was needed, or allowable. Priestly intercession 
 for conditional blessings was still needed : but Christ 
 "ever lives to make intercession." Hence He needs 
 no assistant, and no successor in this respect either. 
 And, in fact, God has called no other into the priestly 
 office under this dispensation. Christ appointed suc- 
 cessors in His prophetic office, but appointed none in 
 His priestly office. No human priest is found among 
 the officers of the primitive Christian Church. Hence 
 no minister, or association of ministers, could claim, 
 or transmit the authority that would be requisite for 
 the exercise of the priestly office. 
 
 At this point, Mr. Wesley forgot his own " Appeal 
 to Men of Reason and Religion," — " If it be possible, 
 for one hour lay prejudice aside ; g>ve what is ad- 
 
 
SPIRITUAL DEATH. 
 
 389 
 
 vancecl a fair hearing." When a member of the little 
 society ir London affirmed that " there is no order of 
 men in the Christian ministry that, properly speakin2^, 
 are commissioned to exercise the functions of the priest- 
 hood;" he was met, not by patient argument, but by 
 quick expulsion. " Error is always in haste." Mr. 
 Wesley here laid aside his remarkable forbearance 
 with difierences of opinion. It seemed utterly unbe- 
 coming to inquire whether the Church of England 
 may not possibly be wrong in assuming " that there 
 are Christian priests ; and that none but priests 
 could administer the sacraments without sin." He 
 thought that all should yield uninquiring assent to 
 this claim. When Mr. Wesley was so positive and 
 unforbearing on this point, we need not wonder 
 that other High Churchmen were still more so; and 
 would rather have all the Methodists shut out, than 
 resign one particle of their fancied priestly honour. 
 They have, indeed, since regretted much that Me- 
 thodists have been alienated from them; and they 
 have frequently expressed a strong desire for reunion. 
 But they guard zealously as ever the notion that they 
 have priestly authority to administer the Chribtian 
 ordinances ; and that those who have not their ordina- 
 tion, must not intrude into their work. This is ex- 
 alted into the one indispensable condition of unity 
 with them. On all other points they would not ob- 
 ject to make large concessions. 
 
 But as Christ appointed no sacrificing priests "'- His 
 Church, priestly rank is not, and cannot je, re<[aisite 
 for administering the Christian ordinances. 
 
PiillllilW^: 
 
 BM 
 
 11 
 
 
 300 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 Further, it follows, by parity of reason, that the 
 Christian ordinances are not priestly rites. The Lord's 
 Supper, accordingly, is not a sacrifice on an altar, pre- 
 sented by a priest, to procure for man the exercise of 
 Divine mercy. It is a feast on a sacred table, shewing 
 forth evidences of the efficacy of Christ's once offered 
 sacrifice ; because exhibiting by outward and visible 
 signs the spiritual blessings which Christ procured 
 for man and otters to him. To regard it as a sacrifice 
 on an altar, and to administer it as such, is, by impli- 
 cation, to deny (lie sufficiency of Christ's own sacrifice : 
 and to intrude into the priestly office without a call 
 from God. Those who do this are, therefore, the per- 
 sons who should seriously consider the words of the 
 text : " No man taketh this honour unto himself, but 
 he that is called of God, as was Aaron." (Heb. v. 4.) 
 These are the ones who should remember the fate of 
 Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and apprehend the judg- 
 ments threatened against their imitators. (See Rev. 
 viii. 5; and remarks on page 220.) So sacredly does 
 God wish to guard the sole priesthood of Christ. 
 
 The High-Church opinion, that the sacraments, ad- 
 ministered by rightly-ordained men, are the appointed 
 and indispensable means of conveying saving grace, 
 was fully disproved by the well-known fact that many 
 thousands were saved under the Methodist ministry, 
 at a time when they did not administer the sacra- 
 ments. This was abundantly proved in England, but 
 still more clearly in America, where, for a time, the 
 Methodists had no opportunity to receive the sacra- 
 
SPIIIITUAL DKATH. 
 
 801 
 
 ments at all. These facts led men to see clearly tluit 
 salvation is ol)taincd by faith — by personally trnstinpj 
 in a Divine Hi<^h Priest, and personally " calling upon 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 The Lord'n Supper, tliough designed for another 
 purpose, may be attended with the connnunication of 
 saving grace. It was often so when aihninistered hy 
 the Wesley s, and others ; because, as they administered 
 it, the mind of a penitent was pointed to " the meri- 
 torious sufferings of our Lord, as the only sure ground, 
 whereon God may give, and we obtain, the blessings 
 we pray for." (Works, vol. xxiii., pp. 1G8.) Such an 
 exercise of faith would obtain saving; blessings at the 
 Lord's table, or anywhere else. God will have regard 
 to faith in the Gospel wherever it is exercised. Such 
 blessings how^ever, would not have been given if the 
 communicants had been thinking that the ordinance 
 was a sacrifice offered by a human priest. 
 
 Christian bishops and elders, wdiether they were of 
 the same or of different rank, were equally destitute 
 of priestly rank. They were ministers of the Gospel of 
 Christ. Their duty was to point men to " behold the 
 Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world ;" 
 and to bring men " into the unity of the faith and 
 of the knowledge of the Son of God." And they 
 might ordain successors in this kind of work, if they 
 rightly recognized and acknowledged tlwse that had 
 received a divine call. Christ Himself, however, was 
 made the Great Head of the Church, and continues to 
 be so ; and reserves the right to call whom He will 
 
If' 
 
 I 
 
 mi 
 
 li 
 
 III 
 1' 
 
 :li 
 
 K li' 
 
 ^wk 
 
 litliii'iiN-^ 
 
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 i 
 
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 li 
 
 ■J ^m : ' 
 
 3f)2 
 
 THE ONE MEDIATOR. 
 
 into the ministry of His Gospel. As in ancient times 
 God called to be prophets men who were not in the 
 " school of the prophets ;" for instance, as Mr. Wesley 
 mentions, Amos was a herdsman when called to the 
 prophetic office : so Christ reserves the right to call 
 men who were not in a particular theological school, 
 as well as those who are. He can thus strengthen the 
 ministry of a true Church, and provide for the reforma- 
 tion of a fallen one, or the revival of a dead one. At 
 first Mr. Wesley did not see this. When he heard 
 that " plain Thomas Maxfield had turned preacher, he 
 hastened to London to put down the astounding irregu- 
 larity." But W^esley's mother said, " John, take care 
 what you do with respect to that young man, for he 
 is as surely called of God as you ar3. Hear him for 
 yourself." He heard, was convinced, and reverently 
 said, " It is the Lord ; let Him do what seemeth Him 
 good." He now perceived that this new ministry 
 must produce one or other of two results. " We be- 
 lieve," said he, " they will be thrust out, or they will 
 leaven the whole Church." (Minutes, 1744.) The 
 latter he ardently desired, but it was in great part 
 prevented. And the chief counteraction was the influ- 
 ence of the unauthorized priestly spirit. 
 
 These remarks are sufficient to parry off" the objec- 
 tion which High churchmen so often bring against 
 the followers of Mr. Wesley. Not only so, they shew 
 the false and dangerous assumption on which High 
 churchism rests. Their objection rebounds against 
 themselves with fatal force. 
 
icient times 
 not in the 
 Mr. We.sley 
 lied to the 
 i?lit to call 
 ical school, 
 ngthen the 
 ie refonna- 
 J one. At 
 he heard 
 feacher, he 
 ing irre^:^,!- 
 take care 
 lan, for he 
 ir him for 
 'everently 
 neth Him 
 ministry 
 " We be- 
 they will 
 4.) The 
 reat part 
 the influ- 
 
 he objec- 
 
 against 
 ley shew 
 ch Hi^h 
 
 against 
 
 INDEX OF Tii:XTS. 
 
 Oen. ii. 17. p. 362 ; vi. r., 67; xii S 178- 
 '''x. 22, 18 ; xxii. W 178. 
 
 *^''" xvJ' ?7 '.l' -^^- ?^ 67: ^ix22, 18: 
 XgXv.l7, 15- xxxii. 10, 153; xliL m, 
 
 Lev. xvi. 2-16, 15 ; xxv. 34, 18. 
 ^"'"Vn'L^i--*'- 20 ; xvi. 3i..r,, 219 . vvi 
 40^ 220 ; xxv. IH, 105 ; XXXV. V:S: 
 
 Dent, xviii. ir,.ij^ 284 ; xxi 03 141 . „„„ 
 0. 24; xxxii. ;J9, 267. ••'' 
 
 1 Sam. XV. 22, 27. 
 
 2 Sam. xxiv. 2.5, 28. 
 
 4;:c!x;i'.t=8r"-i''s^=^'^^-i«' 
 
 Isa. vi. .3, 67;xliii. 2.^ 24- xlvi in 
 9':xlviii.r,,67.xlix:4l^8;xVix.5' 
 •94;lni. .r., 91,96, ||0;lix. 2, 149 
 
 '^'^''\^;:i:';\'|^;^ii-21-2:}.29;x.l0,83; 
 
 Ezek xxxiii. 11. 119, 185: xxxiii. 17-20 
 
 •10; xxxvi. 2r,, 24 ; xlv. 1.5, 150. 
 Dan. iv. 3.'), 46 ; ix. 24, 150. 
 Hos, xi. 8, 119, 
 Hag. i. .5, 267. 
 Zech. vi. 13, 211 ; xiii. 7, 96. 
 Matt iii. 2, 248 ; iii. 8, 266 ; xvi. 21, 
 
 ?3 ; >[vi. 27, 76 ; XX. 8. 138; xx. 17- 
 • ?i;i o""" ^^' '88 ; xxiv. 46, 63 • 
 
 xxvi.28,35:xxvi.38. 91; xxvi i. 49 
 
 95;xxvm 19, 20, 178. 
 
 Mark vii 21 57 ; x. 4.'-,, 138 ; xii. 30, 133; 
 XIV. 8, 34; XV. 34, 93 ; xv. 39, 93. 
 
 Luke ii. 10, 178 ; Ix. 31. 34; xvii 4, 269- 
 xvni 13. 24: xxiii. 4.3, 297' xxiv' 
 45-47,36,249,250. ' ^'^'^ ' ^''•^• 
 
 John i. 11, 12, 323 ; i. 1.3, 60, 177. 297- 
 
 "'•14^33.274, 275; iii.' 16, 17, 34,' 
 80 185; v. 24^274: vi. 28 29 34 
 274;vi 37, ir8;xii. 32, 169, l?2 
 173 ; XVI. 8, 9, 159, 160, 164, 180 
 256, 260 ; xvii. 25, 83. ' 
 
 Acts iii. 23, 284 ; iii. 25, 26, 179 ; v. 31 
 248;x.34.36, I80;x. 42, 76;x.43; 
 olo ' i^'"- 3^' 274 ; xvi. .31, 273 
 
 30, 248 ; xxvi. 20, 180. 
 
 "°'"ii'oV^3;ii.9,63:ii.l4.1.Me. 
 
 27^1J5i^:-,:^;?^«V?'8?°5 
 
 337\?n°' ^^■*' 331, 333; .1.5 
 34?- ,^®i:'oi*'' 339, 340: V. 17 
 342 , V. 18, 345, 346 ; v 19 3Aa 
 
 ^f^r,y'^.^^'366;\.Jl''l57 
 
 , ' '^ ' X. !). 274; X. 1.3 laR 007 
 
 x.1^7.207, 279:xiv.l.5,',|^7;'xJi. 
 
 1 Cor. iv. 2, 47; XV. 3. 36; XV. 15. 365 
 
 2 Cor. iv. 2. 162 ; v. 10. 76 • v 14 121 • 
 V. 14-17.122; v. 20, 180. '"''2'. 
 
 ^'''•l''i^ii^?A.= ''--21'3l6;iii.8. 24;iii 
 13. 14, 141 ; „,. !<;, 173 ; ,.{. 14, q'q"' 
 
 Eph. ii. 8. 311 ; iv. 11-13, 216- v 2m. 
 V. 6, 83. ' • '^' '"' 
 
 Col. i. 19, 20, 151. 
 
 1 Thess. iii. 12, 13, 122. 
 
 2 Thess. ii. H, 304. 
 
 1 Tim i. 15, 318 : ii. 4, 185 ; ii .5 q an 
 138; ii. 6, 179 ; ii. 14, 64. '^' ^' 80, 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 6-8, 309. 
 Titus ii. 14, 143. 
 Philemon i. 9, 117. 
 
 Heh i. 3, 46 ; ii. .3. 46 : ii. .5, 9. 80 I3n • 
 ii. 6, 179 : ii. 9, 92, 178 279 'i 17' 
 I50:iv. 1.187; iv. 1.5,211; v'l 14: 
 V. 4, 387; vi, 1, 248; vi n' qno.' 
 
 vii. 17.9: vii. 07,36 ;\^;.3V88.' 
 viii. 10, 133, 134; ix. 12, 88'- ix lV 
 20;ix. 24, 126; ix. 26. 9 ;' ix 27 
 63; X. 1. 22; X, 4-10. 23 • x 5 9 
 33; x. 7, 89; x. 9. 32 x? 4 24 
 
 ^ ^'ai: 14a ^ ' '■ ^^' '^^ ' '• ^^-^^^ 38. 
 
 2 Pet. ii. 1, 188 ; ii. 9, 63, 74 : ii. 14 54. 
 ^^20j^|83:ii.l.l88;iii,9,,,9';iH: 
 
 1 John i. 3. 216 ; ii. 2. 10, 88. 104 140 
 
 I78:ii. 16,9l;iii. 23 274'iv '9 10 
 80, 88 ; iv. 16, 274 : v. 19,'37 ' 
 
 Rev, ii, 21, 125 ; v, 6-9. 19. 38, 127 139 
 146 :v. 11-13, 120 ; viii. '3, 4,128 • 
 vm. 5, 220 ; xiii. 8, 25. ' 
 
 ^ 
 

 ; 1 
 
 t 1 
 
 ; i ' 
 
 ki 
 
 y*' 
 
 THE NEW BRANCH 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CHILDREN'S HOME. 
 
 ► ^♦►^ 
 
 I INVITE the attention of benevolent readers to the 
 interesting fact that a New* Branch of The Children's Home 
 has recently been established near Birmingham in England, 
 for the purpose of receiving the destitute orphans of pious 
 parents, and training them apart from other children who 
 have had unfavorable surroundings. About fifty have 
 already been admitted ; and the number could be greatly 
 increased, if Christian benevolence would furnish the 
 needed aid. Such children are, in a special sense, the 
 children of Providence ; and what is done for them will 
 be peculiarly pleasing to Him who is " able to make all 
 grace abound towards you ; tliat ye, always having all 
 sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work." 
 (2 Cor. ix. 8.) 
 
 Contributions would be gladly received by Rev. Dr. 
 Stephenson, Principal, Chief Office, Bonner Road, London, 
 England ; or by W. E. Sanford, Esq., Hamilton, Ont. 
 
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