on the part of the debtor, yet it is otherwise in relation to crimes. In the interpofition of the prince as ftated above, an honourable expedient was adopted, by means of which the fovereign was fatisfied, and the exercife of mercy rendered confiftent with juft authority: but there was no lefs grace in the act of forgiveness than if it had been without a fatisfaction. However well pleased the king might be with the conduct of his son, the freeness of pardon was not at all diminished by it; nor must the criminals come before him as claimants, but as fupplicants, imploring mercy in the mediator's name. The Such are the leading ideas which the fcriptures give us of Redemption by Jefus Chrift. Apoftle Paul efpecially teaches this doctrine with great precifion-Being juftified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jefus Chrift: Whom God hath fet forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remif fion of fins that are paft, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the juftifier of him that believeth in fefus.* From this paffage we may remark, First, That the grace of God, as taught in the fcriptures, is not that kind of liberality which Socinians and deifts afcribe to him, which fets afide the neceffity of a fatisfaction. Free grace according to Paul, requires a propitiation, even the fhedding of the Saviour's blood, as a medium through which it may be honourably communicated. Secondly, Redemption by Jefus Chrift was accomplished, not by a fatisfaction that should preclude * Rom. iii. 24—25. the exercife of grace in forgiveness, but in which the difpleasure of God against fin being manifested, mercy to the finner might be exercised without any fufpicion of his having relinquifhed his regards for righteoufnefs. In fetting forth Jefus Chrift to be a propitiation, he declared his righteousness for the. remiffion of fins. Thirdly, The righteoufnefs of God was not only declared when Chrift was made a propitiatory facrifice; but continues to be manifefted in the acceptance of believers through his name. He appears as Juft while acting the part of a juftifier towards every one that believeth in Jefus. Fourthly, that which is here applied to the bleffings of forgivenefs and acceptance with God, is applicable to all other spiritual bleffings: all, according to the fcriptures, are freely communicated through the fame diftinguished medium. See Ephef. i.* * The Chriftian reader, it is prefumed, may from hence obtain clear view of the ends anfwered by the death of Christ, a subject which has occupied much attention amongst divines. Some have afferted that Chrift by his fatisfaction accomplished this only, " that. God now, confiftently with the honour of his juftice, may pardon (returning) finners if he willeth fo to do." This is doubtless true as far as it goes: but it makes no provifion for the return of the finner. This scheme therefore leaves the finner to perish in impenitence and unbelief, and the Saviour without any fecurity of feeing of the travail of his foul. For how can a finner return without the power of the Holy Spirit? And the Holy Spirit, equally with every other spiritual bleffing, is given in confideration of the death of Chrift. -Others, to remedy this defect, have confidered the death of Chrift as purchafing repentance and faith, as well as all other fpiritual bleffings, on behalf of the elect; and upon this ground have maintained that " God is bound in ftrict juftice, in refpect of. Jefus Chrift, to confer grace and glory on all thofe for whom he died."* The writer of thefe pages acknowledges he never could *See Dr. Owen's Differtation on Divine Juftice, Ch. XII. Sec. v, vi, vii. Thefe remarks may fuffice to fhew, not only. that Mr. Paine's affertion has no truth in it, but that all thofe profeffors of Chriftianity who have adopted his principle, have fo far deviated from the doctrine of Redemption as it is taught in the Scriptures. perceive that any clear or determinate idea was conveyed by the term purchase in this connexion, nor does it appear to him to be a doctrine taught in the scriptures. The notion of grace being bestowed on account of value received appears to him inconfiftent with the freeness of grace itself, and with the perfection of the Divine Being, to whom nothing can be added or given which can lay him under obligation. If the falvation of finners had been a commercial tranfaction, he might poffibly have been bound in strict right, with refpcc to Christ, to bestow grace and glory; but in that cafe there would have been no room for free remiffion, with refpect to the Father. If fin be what Dr. Owen very juftly contends it is, not a dibi, but a crime; and if the fatisfaction of Christ was not a reimbursement of loft property, but an expedient devised for the pre ferving of the divine character in the exercife of mercy, no fuch confequence will follow. God will be under no other obligation to fave any finner than that which spontaneously arises from his own nature, and the promife made to his Son. If we fay, A WAY WAS OPENED BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST FOR THE FREE AND CONSISTENT EXERCISE OF MERCY, IN ALL THE METHODS WHICH SOVEREIGN WISDOM SAW FIT TO ADOPT, perhaps we fhall include every material idea which the Scriptures give us of that important event. There are three kinds of blessings in particular, which God out of regard to the death of his Son bestows upon men. First, He sends forth the gospel of falvation, accompanied with a free and indefinite invitation to embrace it, and an affurance that whofoever complies with the invitation, (for which there is no ability wanting in any man who poffeffes an honeft heart) fhall have everlasting life. This favour is beftowed oN SINNERS AS SINNERS. God giveth the true bread from heaven in this way to many who never receive it. He inviteth thofe to the gofpel fupper who refuse and make light of it. John vi. 32, 36. Matt. xxii. 4, 5. Secondly, He beftows his Holy Spirit to renew and fanctify the 0 As to what Mr. Paine alledges, that the innocent fuffering for the guilty, even though it be with his own confent, is contrary to every principle of moral juftice, he affirms the fame of God's vifiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children.* But this is a truth evident by univerfal experience. It is feen every day, in every part of the world. If Mr. Paine indulge in intemperance, and leave children behind him, they may feel the confe- . quences of his mifconduct when he is in his grave. The fins of the father may thus be vifited upon the children to the third and fourth generation. It would however be their affliction only, and not their punishment. Yet fuch vifitations are wifely ordered as a motive to fobriety. Nor is it between parents and children only that fuch a connexion exifts, as that the happiness of one depends upon the conduct of others: a flight furvey of fociety, in its various relations, muft convince us that the fame principle pervades creation. To call this injuftice, is to fly in the face of the Creator. Unto us it foul gives a new heart, and a right spirit, an! takes away the heart Thirdly, Through the fame medium is given the free pardon of all our fins, acceptance with God, power to become the fons of God, and the promise of everlasting, life. Your fins are forgiven you for bis name's fake, 1 John ii. 12. God for Chrift's fake bath forgiven you, Ephef. iv. 32. We are accepted in the beloved, Eph. i. 6. By means of his death we receive the promise of eternal inheritance, Heb. ix,. 15,This kind of bleffings is conferred on BELIEVING SINNERS. Age of Reafon, Part I. p. 4, Note With fuch an objector I have nothing to do: He that reproveth God, let him anfwer it. If the idea of the innocent fuffering in the room of the guilty were in all cafes inadmiffible, and utterly repugnant to the human understanding, how came the use of expiatory facrifices to prevail, as it has, in every age and nation? Whether the idea first proceeded from a divine command, as. Chriftians generally believe, or whatever was its origin, it has approved itself to the minds of men; and not of the most uncultivated part of mankind only, but of the most learned and polite. The facrifices of the Gentiles it is true were full of fuperftition, and widely different, as might be expected, from those which were regulated by the Scriptures; but the general principle is the fame: All agree in the idea of the difpleasure of Deity being appeafable by an innocent victim being facrificed in the place of the guilty. The idea of expiatory facrifices, and of a mediation founded upon them, is beautifully expreffed in the book of Job; a book not only of great antiquity, but which feems to have obtained the approbation of Mr. Paine, having, as he fuppofes, been written by a Gentile.—And it was fo, that, after the Lord had spoken thefe words unto Job, the Lord faid to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy twa friends for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my fervant fob bath. Therefore take unto you now feven bullocks and seven rams, and ga to my fervant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering, and my fervant fob fhail pray for you; for him will I accept: left I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my fervant Job. So Eli |