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1 '^tJSB. 6%"Ca®2feBi rM
foritM fai^B^ig yf.jtCcU.egf in this Colony''

RECENTLY PUBLISHED
BY GOULD, KENDALL & LINCOLN, BOSTON.

VITAL CHRISTIANITY:
Essays and Discourses on tlie Religions of Man and the Religion of God.
By Alexander Vinet, D. D., Professor of Theology in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Translated, with an Introduction, by Rev. Robert TURNBULL.
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A Complete Concordance to the Holt Scriptures. Bt A. Cruden, m. a.
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By Rev. David King, LL. D.
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GODFREY WILLIAM VON LIEBNITZ.
On the Basis of the German Work of Dr. G. E. Guhrauer.
By John M. Mackie.
il The peculiar relation which Liebnitz sustained during his life to Locke and ;
Newton, may partly account for the fact that a biography of this great man has ;
been so long wanting in the English language. We commend this book, not only ;
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stitutions." — Christian Watchman.
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By Barnas Sears, President of Newton Theol. Inst. B. B. Edwards, Prof. An- j
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' l This volume is no common-place production. It is truly refreshing, when we
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»

^WA^WWWWW ^s^*^J^**^^^~-*v*~yV*~~^^^

NOTICES

OF THE

EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

IN ITS RELATION TO
I GOD AND THE UNIVERSE.
¦ FROM ENGLISH REVIEWS.
" We have been exceedingly gratified by the perusal of this volume, ;
; and only regret that it should have reached a second edition without our !
: having had an opportunity of recommending it, as we now most cordially j
do, to the notice of the public. We really do not know any work which 1
we would sooner recommend than this, to those Christians who desire to
obtain rational and scriptural views of the Atonement." — Evangelical \
Magazine. " We think, with conclusive certainty, that this paramount and trans- j
cendent doctrine has never been presented in such a series of lucid dis- j
quisition, and with a comprehension so adapted to the majesty of the J
subject, in any book published in the United Kingdom. According to ',
our judgment, we think it difficult for any man to read this work thought
fully without having his mind overwhelmed with astonishment at the \
: wonderful process by which is brought before him the Atonement of I
Christ in its relations to all the administrations of God ; and without j
feeling his soul kindling with emotions the most devout and glowing in !
; the presence of the glorious sacrifice of the Mediator. We have received <
' so much information, edification and delight in the perusal of this work,
that we most unhesitatingly commend it, and do, in the warmest manner,
press it upon the attention of our readers." — Home Missionary Mag
sine. " An excellent treatise, on the most solemn and interesting subject of !
which the human heart is cognisable. Its strictly scriptural, and its ten ;
derly benevolent tone is not more to be praised than its arguments and '
: illustrations are convincing and satisfactory." — Monthly Review.
[From the New York Evangelist.]
" As a treatise on the grand relation of the Atonement, it is a book '¦
which may be emphatically said to contain 'the seeds of things,' the I
elements of mightier and nobler contributions of thought respecting the :
sacrifice of Christ, than any modern production. It is characterized by ;
| highly original and dense trains of thought, which make the reader feel !
; that he is holding communion with a mind that can ' mingle with the '
universe.' We consider this volume as setting the long and fiercely agi
tated question, as to th£ extent of the Atonement, completely at rest.
: Posterity will thank the author till the latest ages for his illustrious argu-
| ments. The grandeur with which it invests the Son of God, and the
! glories of his sacrifice which it displays as shedding their light and influ-
¦ ence over the whole extended empire of Jehovah, give it an extraordinary '
. claim upon the attention of the reading community. We think it not j
improbable that this volume will prove a star in the east, to guide ' the I
wise men ' again to the incarnate, suffering Redeemer, and to bring back j
the genius of this apostate world to pay its homage, and yield its richest j
contributions of thought, to the theme of the crucifixion."
'«
Just published' by the same Author.

UNION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH !

CONVERSION OF THE WORLD.
FEOM ENGLISH REVIEWS.
[From the Evangelical Magazine."]
" A very excellent work upon a very important subject. The author
seems to have studied it in all its bearings, as presented to his contem
plation in the sacred volume. These productions of so gifted an author
deserve to be universally read. We sincerely thank Mr. Jenkyn for the
valuable additions he has made to the theological department of our
: literature." [From the Revivalist.]
" Fine talent, sound learning, and scriptural piety pervade every page.
It is impossible the volume can remain unread, or that it can be read
without producing great effects. Mr. Jenkyn deserves the thanks of the
whole body of Christians for a book which will greatly benefit the world
and the church." [From the Leeds Mercury.]
" The subject is an important one, and the powers of reasoning and
of language displayed by the writer in treating it are great."
[From the Family Magazine.]
" A handsome 12mo. volume, of extraordinary value. The author has
brought to his mighty work a cleaa- head and a well-regulated heart, and j
has blended scriptural doctrine with Christian practice, like ' a workman \
that needeth not to be ashamed.' "

%

EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT

IN ITS RELATION TO

GOD AND THE UNIVERSE.

Just published by the same Author.

UNION

HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHURCH

CONVERSION OF THE WORLD.

EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT.

IH ITS RELATION TO

GOD AND THE UNIVERSE.

THOMAS W. JENKYN, D. D.
PRESIDENT Off COWARD COLLEGE, LONDON.
Consider of it, take advioe, and speak your minda. — Jon xis. 30.

SECOND AMERICAN,
FROM THE THIRD REVISED LONDON EDITION.

BOSTON:
GOULD, KENDALL AND LINCOLN,
59 WASHINGTON STREET.
1846.

Boston :
Printed by S. N. Dickinson & Co.
52 "Washington Street.

REV. J. PYE SMITH, D. D.

THEOLOGICAL TUTOR ITT THE OLD COLLEGE, HOMBETON.

Dear Sir, I count myself happy in having this opportunity of publicly
testifying the high esteem and veneration in which I hold your character,
as a valued Friend, and a distinguished Theologian.
It is among the goodliest allotments of my heritage, that I was placed
under your theological instructions, and introduced into the circle of your
friendship. As my attendance on your Divinity Lectures, and my perusal of your
polemical writings, have had no small share in directing and forming my
mind to the study of the Christian Propitiation, I feel bound, in affection
and duty, to present to you the first cluster that has ripened under your
training. God has raised you to a high elevation in English theology. In that
eminent position may God long preserve you, the amiable expounder, and
the able defender, of the sacrifice and the testimony of Christ.
Accept of this volume as an expression of the deep and sincere affection
with which I am Your attached Friend,
And obedient Servant,
T. W. JENKYN.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. — Page 1.
On the Nature and Design of the Atonement.
CHAPTER H. — Page 9.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Person of the Son of God.
Sect. 1. The personal dignity of Christ, 13
2. The personal relationship of Christ to mankind, 16
3; The personal character, or the active righteousness of Christ, 18
4. The personal substitution of Christ, 20
5. The personal voluntariness of Christ, 24
6. The personal sufferings of Christ, - 26
CHAPTER HI. — Page 34.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Perfections of God.
Sect. 1. The whole character of God concerned in the Atonement, 34
2. On wrong views of the relation between the Atonement and
the divine perfections, - 36
3. The divine perfections honored by the Atonement, 40
4. The extent of the Atonement illustrated by its relation to the
divine attributes, • - 53
CHAPTER IV.— Page 56.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Purposes of God.
Sect. 1. The Atonement the foundation of the divine purposes, 57
2. The Atonement an expression of the divine counsels, - 60
3. The Atonement a vindication of the decrees of God, - 63
4. The extent of the Atonement explained by the character of
the divine purposes, - 74

X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V. — Page SO.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Works of God.
Sect. 1. The constitution of the universe mediatorial, 81
2. The intelligences of the universe benefited by the Atone
ment, S3
3. Christ the President of the universe, 67
4. The extent of the Atonement illustrated by its relation to the
universe, 90
CHAPTER VI. — Page 97.
The Atonement in its Relation to Divine Moral Government.
Sect. 1. The elements of moral government, 97
2. On public justice, 99
3. The suspension of a penalty consistent with public justice, 102
4. The death of Christ the ground for suspending the penalty, 103
5. A limited Atonement inconsistent with moral government, 113

CHAPTER Vn.— Page 118.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Providence of God.
Sect. 1. All Providence centring in the Atonement, 118
2. The administration of Providence founded on the Atone
ment, 121
3. Providence subservient to the ends of the Atonement, 126
4. The administration of the Atonement analogous to that of
Providence, 130
5. A limited Atonement inconsistent with the Providence of
God, 136

CHAPTER VHI. — Page 143.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the whole System of Divine Truth-
Sect. 1. Every divine truth related to the Atonement, 143
2. A limited Atonement inconsistent with the whole system of
divine truth, 153

CONTENTS. XI
CHAPTER IX.— Page 167.
On the Atonement in its Relation to Sin.
Sect. 1. The Atonement a demonstration of the evil of sin, - 167
2. The Atonement substituted instead of the punishment of
. sin, * 172
3. The Atonement the medium of salvation from sin, - 185
4. Particular Atonement inconsistent with the substituted suf
ferings of Christ, - 189

CHAPTER X.— Page 194.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Salvation of the Human Race.
Sect. 1. The Atonement rendering the salvation of all men possible, 194
2. The duty of every one who hears the Gospel to believe that
Christ died for him, 203

CHAPTER XI. — Page 214.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Work of the Holy Spirit.
Sect. 1. The personal agency of the Holy Spirit in connexion with
the Atonement, 214
2. The influences of the Spirit accessible to all through the
Atonement, 219
3. The sovereignty of divine influences founded on the Atone
ment, - 224

CHAPTER XH.— Page 233.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Church.
Sect. 1. The designs of the Atonement to be infallibly secured in
some, - 233
2. The influence of the . Atonement on the interests of the
Church, - 242

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XTH. — Page 244.
On the Atonement in its relation to the various Dispensations of
Revealed Religion.
Sect. 1. The progressiveness of divine dispensations, 244
2. The influence of the Atonement retrospective as well as
prospective, 246
3. The universality of the Atonement consistent with the lim
ited promulgation of the Gospel, 250

CHAPTER XIV. — Page 253.
On the Atonement in its Relation to the Eternal State of the Universe.
Sect. 1. The influence of the Atonement on the happiness of heaven, 253
2. The aspect of the Atonement on the perdition of the lost, - 255

CHAPTER XV. — Page 261.
On the Moral Grandeur of the Doctrine of the Atonement.

ON THE

EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT.

CHAPTER I.
ON THE NATURE AND DESIGN OP THE ATONEMENT.
The atonement which the Lord Jesus Christ by his death
gave to the divine government, is a subject of stupendous
interest to every sinner. It concerns him personally : it is a
matter of life and death to him. No man can be innocently
indifferent to the doctrine of the gospel concerning this
atonement. By its dignity and authority, it deserves and
demands the most serious consideration of every man who
hears of it.
It is extremely difficult to make this subject plain to a
careless inquirer, or to a captious disputant. Should this
book be read by a convicted offender, whose eternal life
depends on the answer to the question, " How shall a man be
just with G-od ? " I should regard the task of unfolding this
doctrine as comparatively easy. On the contrary, should the
offender think lightly of the evil of his offence, he will care
proportionably little about the means of his acquittal. It is
always found true, that slight thoughts of the atonement of
Christ, engender and foster slight thoughts of the evil of sin.
" What is an atonement ? " This is a question rarely
if ever pondered, either by those who deny the atonement as an
absurdity, or by those who wrest it for licentiousness. Yet a
distinct and well-defined conception of the nature of an
atonement is indispensably necessary to a successful inquiry
into the design, the aspect, and the extent of the atonement.
"What, then, is an atonement ? An atonement is any provision
1

2 ON THE nature and design
introduced into the administration of a government, instead
of the infliction of the punishment of an offender — any
expedient that will justify a government in suspending the
literal execution of the penalty threatened — any consideration
that fills the place of punishment, and answers the purposes
of government as effectually, as the infliction of the penalty
on the offender himself would ; and thus supplies to the
government just, safe, and honorable grounds for offering and
dispensing pardon to the offender.
This definition or description may be more concisely
expressed thus ; atonement is an expedient substituted in
the place of the literal infliction of the threatened penalty, so
as to supply to the government just and good grounds for
dispensing favors to an offender.
Let this definition of atonement be fairly tried by the usage
of the word in the administration of civil justice ; and let it
be compared with the sense of all the passages of holy scrip
ture in which the word, or the doctrine of the atonement is
introduced. It will not wrest one text of scripture : it will
not torture one doctrine of Christian theology.
In the administration of a government, an atonement means,
something that may justify the exercise of clemency and
mercy, without relaxing the bands of just authority. The head
of a commonwealth, or the supreme organ of government, is
not a private person, but a public officer. As a private person
he may be inclined to do many things which the honor of his
public office forbid him to do. Therefore, to reconcile the
exercise of his personal disposition and of his public function,
some expedient must be found, which will preserve the honor
of his government in the exhibition of his clemency and favor.
For want of such an expedient, a public organ of government
must often withhold his favors. This principle is practically
adopted every day in the discipline of children in a family,
as well as in the civil administration of public justice.
I will endeavor to illustrate this definition of an atonement
by two remarkable instances, one borrowed from the holy
scriptures, and the other from profane history.
The first instance is that of Darius and Daniel, in Dan. vi.
14, 15, 16. King Darius had established a royal statute, and
made a firm decree, and signed the writing, that whosoever
should ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days save of
the king himself, should be cast into the den of lions. Daniel,
one of the children of the captivity of .Tudah. was found to he

OF THE ATONEMENT. 3
the first offender. " Then the king, when he heard these
words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on
Daniel to deliver him : and he labored till the going down of
the sun to deliver him. Then these men assembled unto the
king, and said unto the king, ' Know, O king, that the law of
the Medes and the Persians is, That no decree or statute
which the king establisheth may be changed.' Then the king
commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the
lions' den."
Here is an instance of an absolute sovereign setting his
heart on the deliverance of an offender, and laboring to obtain
it ; and yet prevented from exercising his clemency, by a due
sense of the honor of his government. Could not Darius at
once have pardoned Daniel ? Yes ; Darius could, as a
private person, forgive any private injury ; but he could not,
as a public officer, privately forgive a public offence committed
against the authority of his office. — Could not Darius have
repealed the law which he himself had made ? Yes ; but not
with honor to the laws of the Medes and Persians. Such a
repeal would have shown egregious fickleness in him ; and such
a fickleness and uncertainty, in the administration of his
government, might encourage any disaffection or treason
among the presidents, princes, and satraps of the provinces —
Could not Darius have banished or silenced all the abettors
of the law, and enemies of Daniel ? Yes ; but such a. deed
would have told his folly, imbecility, and injustice, in every
province of his empire : his folly, in enacting a law which he
found it unreasonable to execute : imbecility, in want of due
authority in his own council, and of due firmness to enforce
his own edict ; and his injustice, in protecting and favoring
an offender at the expense of the loyal supporters of the law
and the throne.
What, then, is to be done ? Cannot some means be found
which will enable the king to keep the honor of his public
character, and yet save Daniel ? No : the king labored till
the going down of the sun to deliver him. He pondered and
thought, and devised about a way to deliver him honorably,
but failed. Consequently, the very personage who had set his
heart to deliver him, '<¦ commanded " with his own lips that
Daniel be brought forth, and thrown into the den of lions.
Why was this done ? Not because the king had no mercy
in him, but simply and only, because no expedient could be
found, which would at once preserve the honor of the govern-

4 ON THE NATURE AND DESIGN
ment, and allow the exercise of clemency towards the offender.
Daniel was cast into the lions' den, then, merely because no
atonement was found to vindicate and to " show forth" the
public justice of the governor in his deliverance. Here, then,
is an instance of mercy being withheld, merely from the want
of an honorable ground or medium for expressing it.
The other instance to which I alluded, is from profane his
tory. In this instance also there was a strong disposition to
save the offender, and yet there was a difficulty, almost
insurmountable, in the way of his honorable acquittal. His
deliverance, however, was devised by a wise expedient intro
duced by the governor himself. I allude to the case of the
son of Zaleucus.*
Zaleucus, the king of the Locrians, had established a law
against adultery, the penalty of which was, that the offender
should lose both eyes. The first person found guilty of this
offence, was the king's own son. Zaleucus felt as a father
towards his own son, but he felt likewise as a king towards his
government. If he, from blind indulgence, forgive his son,
with what reason can he expect the law to be respected by the
rest of his subjects ? and how will his public character appear
in punishing any future offender ? If he repeal the law, he
will brand his character with dishonor — for selfishness, in sac
rificing the public good of a whole community to his private
feelings ; for weakness, in publishing a law whose penalty he
never could inflict ; and for foolishness, in introducing a law,
the bearings of which he had never contemplated. This
would make his authority for the future a mere name.
The case was a difficult one. Though he was an offended
governor, yet he had the compassion of a tender father. At the
suggestion of his unbribed mercy, he employed his mind and
wisdom to devise a measure, an expedient, through the medi
um of which he would save his son, and yet magnify his law
and make it honorable. The expedient was this, the king
himself would lose one eye, and the offender should lose
another. By this means, the honor of his law was preserved
unsullied, and the clemency of his heart was extended to the of
fender. Every subject in the government, when he heard of
the king's conduct, would feel assured that the king esteemed
his law very highly ; and though the offender did not suffer
the entire penalty, yet the clemency shown him was exercised
* See jElian, V. H. 2, 37 ; Val. Max. i. 2, 6 ; Cic. ad Attic. 6, 1.

OF THE ATONEMENT. 5
in such a way, that no adulterer would ever think of escaping
with impunity. Every reporter or historian of the fact would
say that the king spared not his own eye, that he might spare
his offending child with honor. He would assert that this
sacrifice of the king's eye, completely demonstrated his abhor
rence of adultery, and high regard for his law, as effectually,
as if the penalty had been literally executed upon the sinner
himself. The impression on the public mind would be, that
this expedient of the father was an atonement for the offence
of the son, and was a just and honorable ground for pardoning
him. Such an expedient in the moral government of God, the
apostles asserted the death of Christ to be. They preached
that all men were "condemned already," — that God had
" thoughts of peace, and not of evil" towards men, — that these
thoughts were to be exercised in such a manner, as not to
" destroy the law," and that the medium or expedient for doing
this, was the sacrifice of his only Son, as an atonement or
satisfaction to public justice for the sin of men.
The sufferings of the Son of God were substituted, in the
room of the execution of the penalty threatened to the of
fender. The atonement in the death of Christ is not the
literal enduring of the identical penalty due to the sinner ;
but it is a provision, or an expedient, introduced instead of
the literal infliction of the penalty ; it is the substitution of
another course of suffering, which will answer the same pur
poses in the divine administrations, as the literal execution of
the penalty on the offender himself would accomplish.
Had Darius found any person willing to be thrown into
the lions' den instead of Daniel, and literally to bear the
penalty threatened, this could never have been deemed an
atonement to the laws of the Medes and the Persians. These
laws had never contemplated that the offender should have
the option of bearing the penalty, either in person, or by his
substitute. It would have been a much more likely atonement
to the laws, if one of the presidents of the provinces, one
high in the esteem of the king, one concerned for the honor
of the government, and one much interested in Daniel, had
consented, either to lose his right hand on a public scaffold, or
to fight with a Hon in an amphitheatre, for the sake of honor
ably saving Daniel.
Atonement is not an expedient contrary to law, but above
law : It is what Law, as Law, cannot contemplate. It is
1*

6 ON THE NATUKE AND DESIGN
introduced into an administration, not to execute the letter of
the law, but to, preserve " the spirit and the truth" of the
constitution. The death of Christ is an atonement for sin
committed, it is a public expression of God's regard for the
law which has been transgressed; and it is an honorable
ground for showing clemency to the transgressors. That the
atonement is a doctrine of the word of God, is evident from
the facts, — that it suggests itself to every unprejudiced reader
of the New Testament, — that in the churches which used the
original text only, it was never deemed a heresy, — and that
one end of the modern opponents of it, in constructing an
" Improved Version of the New Testament," was to exclude
it. The simple and unbending language of the scriptures
speak of Christ as an atoning Mediator, " whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins past through the
forbearance of God, to declare at this time his righteousness,
that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus." Rom. iii. 25.
If this representation of the death of Christ be correct and
scriptural, it must be evident that the atonement of the Son of
God did not consist in suffering literally the identical penalty
threatened, or the identical amount of penalty, due to a certain
number of offenders for a certain number of offences. The
atonement of Christ is represented by men sometimes, as if he
would have had to suffer more, had there been more to he
saved ; or less, had there been fewer to be saved. Sometimes '
also another aspect is given to the atonement, as if God saved
a number more or less, of offenders, in proportion to the value
received for them in obedience and suffering from their sub
stitute. Here, let us pause. Let us bethink ourselves, and seriously
consider — " Is this the atonement of the scriptures ?" This
invests with the meanest calculating mercenariness a moral
transaction of the utmost grandeur in the universe. By sup
posing the literal infliction of the threatened punishment upon
the substitute, it exalts the condemned suppliant into a pre
sumptuous claimant, it excludes grace from the dispensation
of pardon, and, hi fact, annuls the idea of an atonement. By
maintaining the certain salvation of so many persons, in con
sideration of so much suffering endured for them, and for them
only, this hypothesis prescribes dimensions to the mercy that
" loved the world ;" it makes the salvation of some offenders

OF THE ATONEMENT. 7
utterly impossible ; and it destroys the sincerity of that
universal call which summons all men to " receive the atone
ment." This commercial atonement accumulates the obligations of
the elect to the Son, at the expense of their obligations to the
Father ; for, on this showing, he has granted no boon without
being compensated for it. And it completely darkens the
justice of that " sorer punishment" which shall befall the
rejecters and despisers of salvation. By its absurdity, it
furnishes the most plausible apology for Socinianism, and every
other system of opposition to the doctrine of an atonement : and
by its boldness it unbridles all the licentiousness of- Antinomi-
anism. The character and aspect of such a notion of atonement
show that it is not the atonement of the scriptures.
It is a suspicious circumstance in any system of theology,
when it is so promulgated as to excite objections and contro
versies, which were not raised by the ministry of the apostles.
We can clearly ascertain the theological doctrines of the
apostles, partly from their direct assertions, and partly from
their replies to the objections proposed by their adversaries.
If the apostles shunned not to declare the whole counsel of
God, and if this whole counsel was delivered unto us, when
the inspired code of theology was completed, we have no safe
ground to expect the revelation of any new doctrine of
Christianity. When the announcing of our theological doctrines raises
the same objections as those to which the apostles have already
replied, we may safely conclude that such a statement of the
doctrine is apostolical. But if we, by any of our theological
statements, excite objections which the apostles did not excite,
we have good grounds, not only for being very jealous of such
a doctrine, but also for a total and immediate renunciation of
it. The doctrines of the apostles did excite controversies about
predestination to life, the sovereignty of divine influences,
the accountableness of a sinner to the moral law, the reality
of the atonement, &c. ; but there is not the most remote allu
sion to any controversies having been raised concerning the
extent of the atonement. Some of the Jews, indeed, at one
time, had doubts about the universal calling of the Gentiles ;
but those doubts arose from their views of the Mosaic covenant,
and not from considerations relative to the intrinsic aspect and
design of the atonement.

8 ON THE NATUKE AND DESIGN
The apostles declare, in language the most distinct and
unequivocal, that the death of Christ was a ransom for all,
and a propitiation for the sins of the whole world, that he
tasted death for every man, and that God, consequently, was
in him reconciling the world unto himself. Yea, they openly
declared that persons, who denied or renounced the Lord who
had bought them, would, notwithstanding, meet with a damna
tion that slumbered not. Yet this universal aspect of the
atonement is never supposed to have shocked the minds, or
clashed with the doctrines, of the primitive churches. In all
the apostolical writings, there is no hint given that the churches
had any narrow views of the design of the death of Christ ;
and no reply is given to any objection which might imply a
misapprehension of such an unshackled, unqualified, and
unlimited, testimony concerning the extent of the atonement.
That the apostles represented Christ to have died " for the
church," " for his people," &c. does not in the least weaken
this position ; for what is true of the whole of mankind, must
be true of a part ; and such a language expresses the actual
result of the atonement, and not the nature, aspect, and
adaptation, and design of it.
It is, then, evident that the advocates of a limited atone
ment, and the inspired apostles, do not publish their message
in the same style. Do the advocates of a limited atonement
ever cheerfully and fearlessly declare, that " Christ died for
all ? " and that his death is " a propitiation for the sins of the
whole world ? " Do they not hesitate- to use such unmeas
ured phraseology ? Do they not call sinners to repentance,
rather on the ground that perhaps they are elected, than on
the firm and broad basis of a " ransom for all ? "
The apostles, on the contrary, understood their commission
to be general and indiscriminate for " every creature : " so
they received it from Him, who laid the foundation of such
an extensive ministration, by " tasting death for every man."
Accordingly, they went forth on their commission to preach
the gospel to " all the world." They did not square their
message by any human systems of theology, nor measure
their language to the lines of Procrustean creeds. They
employed a dialect that would traverse the length and breadth
of the world. They did not tremble for such an unreserved
exhibition of the ark and the mercy seat. They could not
bring themselves to stint the remedy wliich was prepared
and intended to restore a dying world ; nor would they

OF THE ATONEMENT. 9
cramp the bow, lighted up in the storm that threatened all
mankind. To avoid some of the absurdities of a commercial atone
ment, its advocates say, that it was sufficient for all. This,
then, is conceding the point, that the particularity of the
atonement consists, not in its nature and aspect, but in its
application. The phrase " sufficient for all," should be well
weighed. If the atonement be " sufficient for all," sufficient
for what is it ? It was, no doubt, sufficient to show that the
throne and government of God were quite guiltless in the
intrusion of sin, and that sin is a wrong, and an evil of
tremendous malignity. But is the atonement sufficient to
justify the government in the salvation of every man, provided
such a salvation would take place ? Is the atonement sufficient
to demonstrate to all the offenders of the world the evil of
their revolt, and the inexcusableness of pesisting in it ? Is
the atonement sufficient to show, that if any sinner perished,
he perished not through any deficiency in the provision made
for his salvation ? In a word, is the atonement sufficient to
justify a free, a full, and a sincere offer of cordial acceptance
to every applicant at the throne of mercy ? If the atone
ment be not sufficient for these purposes, in what sense can
it at all be sufficient for men, and for all men ? And if it be
actually sufficient for these purposes, let it be preached as
such; let it be fearlessly exhibited in its true character,
sufficient for every sinner.

CHAPTER II.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE PERSON OF
THE SON OF GOD.
If a peasant offend or injure a peasant, a plebeian umpire
might settle the difference between them. If he offend a
magistrate in the exercise of his office, the plebeian umpire
will not be competent to treat in his behalf : he must have a
daysman of a higher grade. If he offend the king, by trea
son or rebellion, the one and the other of these umpires
would be inadequate to interpose for him : some person high
in rank, or official dignity, would alone be thought suitable,
competent, and admissible to such an undertaking.

10 ITS RELATION TO THE
Should it be proposed to a government that a prisoner,
convicted of a high offence, should be set at liberty, at the
instance and intercession of another, that is, for the sake of
another person, it is natural to suppose that, among all the
members and friends of the government, there would be a
general inquiry — who and what was that person? The
following circumstances would require a very satisfactory
explanation : What is his rank in the state ? What is the
nature of his connexion with the offender? What is his
character in the estimation of the government? What
measure will he substitute instead of the offender's punish
ment ? Why does he interfere ? How does the king regard
such an interference ?
The high rank of such a person in the state is of conse
quence in such a transaction, because such alone would he
competent to treat with the king. With such only could the
king treat, on such a subject, without lowering his dignity.
The interference of such a personage would draw public
attention to the magnitude of the offence. If the personage
were nearly related to the king, and obliged to sustain some
great inconvenience, humiliation, or hardship by his inter
ference, it would show that the king did not dispense his
pardons, except on good, wise, and worthy grounds.
In such a transaction regard must also be had to the kind
of connexion or relationship, in which the intercessor stands
to the offender. There would be no propriety in dispensing
pardon at the instance of a stranger, utterly unconnected,
either by neighborhood, office, or kindred with the offender.
There is, however, a congruity in showing favor, coeteris
paribus, at the instance of a person in some way related to
the peculiar circumstances of the offender, say, the Home
Secretary of State, the Lord Lieutenant of the county, the
Magistrate for the district, the Minister of the parish, the
Colonel of the regiment, &c. The interference of such a
person shows that he is interested in the welfare of the district
where the offence was committed. It draws the attention of
that particular district to the heinousness of the crime. His
respectability is a pledge that just authority and the public
good will not be injured by granting pardon ; and it secures
honor, love, and esteem to the interposing benefactor, as the
means of conveying the pardon ; and through him, reverence
and attachment to the government that granted it.

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 11
He who would interpose in such an affair, must be a person
possessing great private worth, and weight of character, in the
estimation of the government. It would lpwer and sully the
dignity of any government to treat with one, who had been a
sharer in the crime, or who thought slightly of it. In treating
with a person of worth and character, the government would
show that the throne was quite clear of contributing to the
offence, or of conniving at it, — that it did not ^regard the
offence as a trifle, — that it was not reluctant to administer
mercy, when practicable with honor and safety, — that its
pardon was so dispensed as not to afford the slightest encour
agement to the crime, — and that the liberation of the offender
came entirely from the sovereign prerogative of the throne,
though indeed through the intercession or for the sake of
another. In this way the offender could not boast of his case
as deserving pardon ; nor could his compeers in guilt boast of
his release as a triumph over righteousness.
In such a dispensation of pardon, it is not enough that the
character of the government appear honorable, but the interests
of it must also be safe. We may therefore suppose one of
the friends of the government to rise and say, "It is well
known that a law without a penalty is only an advice, a mere
recommendation ; and that, annexing a penalty without exe
cuting it when required, makes government a mere name.
If the punishment in this case be cancelled, what provision
will the offender's friend substitute instead of it, that will
secure the ends of good government ? For though the letter
of the law be not executed, yet the spirit of it ought to be
preserved, that mercy may not clash with public justice."
Another friend might rise and say, — " It should be remem
bered that the illustrious person who interferes in this affair,
is a friend to the government, as well as a friend to the
offenders ; and withal, is no friend to the offence. He is high
in rank and in official dignity, and his character is unblemished.
He has suffered much pain and anguish for the offenders ; and,
in this undertaking, has borne great fatigue and expense, as
well as the hazard of his good name. He now pledges that
his private worth in his own district, his rank in the state, his
nearness to, his sovereign, and his high office, will guarantee
that no injury shall accrue to the government by issuing forth
a pardon. It has been observed that the spirit of the law
might be preserved without adhering to the letter of it: I
beg also to suggest, that the nearer the provision of satisfaction

12 ITS RELATION TO THE
or atonement comes to the letter of the law, without being the
literal infliction of the penalty, the more full and glorious
might such an atonement appear. I am therefore instructed
to say that, on this principle, as the offenders are condemned
for public execution, the illustrious personage who has inter
posed in their behalf, will, on a given day, take their place on
the scaffold, lay his head on the block, and appear again in
court as the medium of conveying pardon to them."
Upon this information, all considerate persons saw that such
an expedient would fully answer the ends of government, viz.,
to check offences and promote the public good : and these ends
would be more secured by the humiliation and sufferings of
such a personage than by the infliction of the penalty on all
the offenders.
There would, however, be a farther enquiry concerning this
personage, viz., whether his undertaking were perfectly vol
untary, and whether, in his humiliation he were altogether
free and unconstrained. If he were not free and voluntary,
such an undertaking would be unjust, unreasonable, unbecom
ing, and unacceptable to the government.
Hence would arise the question, " How did the king, as the
public head of the commonwealth, regard such an undertak
ing ?" If such a spectacle were made without his approbation
and appointment, it would be no expression of the king's
abhorrence of the offence ; it would in nowise strengthen the
claims of righteous authority ; it would be no satisfaction to
the government, as it neither kept the letter nor preserved
the spirit of the law ; and it would secure no honor or esteem
to the intercessor, as his undertaking was selfwilled, neither
appointed nor approved by any competent authority. But
should the king express himself well pleased, in such an
undertaking of such a personage, and declare himself willing
to pardon any offender, who would ask forgiveness for the
sake of the intercessor, such a spectacle of substituted degra
dation would present all the elements of an atonement to
the public justice of the government
Let us now apply the supposed topics of the above enquiry
to the person of the Son of God, the declared mediator between
an offended sovereign and sinful man. ,

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 13
SECTION I.
The personal dignity of Christ.
What saith the scripture concerning his rank in the state,
his gradation in the scale of being, the grandeur of his
person ?
The language of the scriptures concerning the person of
Christ is never reserved, cautious, qualified, or ambiguous : it
is free, open, certain, high-toned, and exulting. It never
formally proves the divinity of Christ, as it never formally
proves the existence of God. It ascribes unhesitatingly to
Christ the same perfections, the same titles and names, the
same works, and the same worship as are ascribed to the
Father. If these particulars be left out of the induction of
proofs for the divinity of the Father, it will be impossible to
prove the Father's deity. If these particulars prove the
divinity of the Father, they must, by fair sequence, prove the
divinity of the Son. And if they do not prove the divinity
of the Son, they do not prove the deity of the Father.
There is nothing in the testimony of the scripture to
encourage the morbid caution and jealousy that would
begrudge the honors of the Son, lest they should infringe on
the honors of the Father. There is no such mean jealousy
implied in any transaction between the Father and the Son,
in any description given of heaven, in the design and tendency
of the gospel dispensation, or in the graces of the Christian
character. When the Lord Jesus Christ was at the lowest
point of his humiliation, the identity of his Father's honor
with his own is most clearly recognised, John xii. 28 ; xiii.
31, 32 ; xvii. 1, &c. In heaven, the same honor and power
and glory are ascribed to the Lamb as to Him that sitteth
upon the throne. In the dispensation of the gospel of the
Mediator, " Glory to God in the highest," is secured by all
its provisions. The faith, and the hope, and the love of
Christians, honor the grace, the mercy, and the whole paternal
character of God, while they triumph in Christ, and boast
and glory in his cross. In the memorials which we have of
the lives and doctrines and feelings of eminent saints who
excelled in the love of God, we find no dread of displeasing
the Father, by giving due honors to the Son ; no fear of
idolatry by calling, like Stephen, on the name of Jesus ; nor
any checking of their religious affections, saying, " hitherto
2

14

ITS RELATION TO THE

shall ye go and no farther." No : they felt as free and uncon
strained as the heaven they breathed. They saw that the
mediatorial constitution was so arranged as to secure " many
crowns " to the Mediator, without unsettling, or dimming, a
single gem in the crown of the Father. They never used
the cold, sophistical, and unsavory language of the modern
opposers of the divinity of Christ. They knew that "the
Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to
the Son : that all men should honor the Son, even as they
honor the Father. And he that honoreth not the Son,
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him." John v
22, 23.
The divinity of the person of the Son of God is indispen
sably necessary to the worth, the sufficiency, and efficacy of
the atonement. The grandeur of his person preserved
unsullied the public honor of God in treating with a daysman
for sinners. It not only vindicated the character of the
high party proposing reconciliation, but it magnified that
character in the whole of the transaction.
He is one high enough, in rank and personal worth, to draw
public attention to this amazing expedient of the divine govern
ment. This was his meaning when he said, " And I, if I be
lifted up, will draw all [men'] to myself ; :; that is, "I will
draw the attention and the gaze of all beings to my person
and work."
The humiliation of a Person so exalted, gave a greater
expression of God's abhorrence of sin, than any other measure
of his administrations. God set him forth, an atonement,
to declare his righteousness — to make a deep and lasting
impression, on all intelligences, of the divine displeasure
against disobedience. If Christ were a mere man, like
Moses, or David, or Jeremiah, or John the Baptist, whose
humiliation was no condescension, and whose obedience and
sufferings were mere duty, it is impossible that his sufferings
and death could have been a public expression, or declaration,
of righteousness in forgiving sin. What would be thought of
a governor summoning public attention to the equity of his
government, by " cutting a dog's neck," or " offering swine's
blood ? " There would be no dignity in such a medium for
expressing either the justice of his law, or the majesty of his
clemency. But in the divine administration, the sufferings
of a person of such dignity and worth as the son of God,
supplied a medium of. sufficient dignitv for expressing the

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 15
righteousness of God, both in his abhorrence of sin, and
in his exercise of clemency.
The dignity of his person is calculated to secure the esteem
due from offenders to him as the Mediator. If pardon be
dispensed in such a manner as is not calculated to secure
honor and esteem, for the person who is the medium of
conveying it, and through him, for the throne which originated
it, the pardon will be prejudicial to the public good. It is,
therefore, wise to grant pardon through some person whose rank
and character are calculated to secure honor and respect. The
Father thought so in the appointment of his Son as Mediator,
and said, " They will reverence my son." Had the son been
a mere man, we would have esteemed him, something as we
esteem the writers of the scriptures, or the ministers of the
gospel, and others who have been the means of conveying to
us the knowledge of the truth. But is this the esteem which
the apostles expressed towards the person of Christ ? Is
such esteem at all adequate to that which the scriptures
demand from us towards Christ? Is such an esteem in
anywise akin to " honoring the Son even as we honor the
Father ? " Even a greater esteem than that which is due to
apostles and ministers, is deserved and warranted by the
disinterestedness of his condescension, by the amiableness of
his mission, and by the magnitude of the blessings which he
has procured: — but, the divinity of his person tends to
secure an esteem that will count all things but loss for his
excellency, that will exult in him with joy unspeakable and
full of glory, that will cast every crown at his feet, that will
love him as " all in all." It is his claim to such esteem that
can alone fully justify the awful and tremendous anathema,
which is denounced against those who do not love him.
Above all, the Godhead of the Son unites in one person
and in one administration the honors of the Mediator with
those of the Governor, and blends the interests of the Saviour
with those of the Lawgiver. He does not exalt the Mediator
by sinking the Governor. He never gives salvation in a
manner calculated to beget low sentiments of his legislative
character. These considerations fully justify the deductions of scrip
ture, that the value and efficacy of the death of Christ as an
atonement, arise from the grandeur and dignity of his per
son. It is the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, that cleanseth
from all sin. It is He, " who being the brightness of his

10 ITS RELATION TO THE
Father's glory and the express image of his person, and
upholding all things by the word of his power, that by him
self purged our sins." It is because " God spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all, that he will also
give unto us all things." section n.
The personal relationship of Christ to mankind.
We have already seen that, there is a propriety in dispens
ing pardon to offenders, at the instance of a person in some
way related to them, either by neighborhood, office, or kindred.
The scriptures represent the Author of the great atonement
for sinners as sustaining a near and intimate relationship to
them. He is related to men, by office, having " power over all
flesh ; " by kindred, being " made of a woman ; " and by
neighborhood, having " tabernacled among them, full of grace
and truth." It became him for whom are all things, and by
whom are all things, to offer reconciliation, and to bring many
sons to glory, by such a personage. " For both he that
expiates, and they who are expiated, are all of one ; for which
cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Forasmuch
then as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he
also himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death, he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil : and deliver them, who through fear of
death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily
he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him
the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved
him to be made like unto his brethren ; that he might be a
merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Heb. ii.
11, 14, 15, 16, 17.
Let this energetic and beautiful passage be applied to any
good man, to any deliverer, to any prophet, to any apostle,
to any martyr ; or let it be read irrespective of the doctrine
of atonement ; and the whole becomes pointless, vague, and
flimsy. The atoning priesthood of the Saviour, on the con
trary, gives it body and consistency, weight and edge.
The expedient of an atonement was introduced into the
administration of God's moral government to " declare " the
righteousness, or the public justice, of God in forgiving

TERS0N OF THE SON OF GOD. 17
offenders. It was therefore necessary that the atonement be
" shown forth," that is, that it be effected, and published, in
the province where the offence was committed. An atone
ment effected solely by the divine nature, or by an angelic
being, could not have been " shown forth," and made visible
and tangible to mankind ; consequently the author of atone
ment took upon him the nature of the offenders, " before
whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth cruci
fied among them." An atonement, thus visibly wrought, in
the nature, and in the province, of the offenders, was calcu
lated to produce salutary impressions on them. It would
humble the offenders to witness, in the moral government of
which they were members, such a decided demonstration of
firm justice. It would gain their confidence, by showing that
the divine government had been devising means for the
honorable exercise of mercy in their district. And the
whole arrangement would endear to them the friendly Medi
ator, " who though he was rich, yet for their sake became
poor, that they through his poverty might be made rich."
The nature of things, and the order of society, also, seem
to show the propriety, that an atonement should be as
much like the infliction of the threatened punishment, as
could, under the direction of infinite wisdom, be consistent
with its nature as an expedient for the suspension of the
literal penalty. Hence, the illustrious Mediator assumed a
nature that could sustain visible sufferings, and endure a
public death, even the accursed death of the cross. By such
an arrangement, the whole government has been honored in
the nature, if not in the persons of the offenders. " If one
died for all, then did the all die."
To pardon an offender for the sake of the relationship
which a friend of ours sustains towards him, and, especially,
to pardon at the instance of that friend, is a fact in common
life every day. A child disobeys his father, and, through the
intercession of his mother in his behalf, is forgiven. We
receive a wrong at a neighbor's hand, but at the interposition
of a mutual friend, we look it over. Such a circumstance
often occurs also in the administration of civil government,
when it is deemed honorable and safe ; as when the life of a
condemned criminal is spared through the petitions of the
respectable inhabitants of his native place, or when a king
shows favor to any one on account of his connexion with an
honorable and worthy family. It was something of this kind
2*

18 ITS RELATION TO THE
that we see in David showing kindness to Mepliibosheth for
the sake of Jonathan his father, 2 Sam. ix. 1 — 8. David as
a king felt that there was no impropriety, danger, or dishonor,
in restoring Mephibosheth to all his inheritance in such a
way as this. By doing it for Jonathan's sake, it showed that
he had a high regard for Jonathan, that he considered nothing
in the house of Saul as forming a claim on his clemency;
and, consequently, no friends of that house could think that
the king was relaxing his government, and that they might
therefore safely rebel against his crown.
It is in this manner that God is, in Christ, reconciling the
world unto himself — but it is for Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake, he is willing to forgive the greatest sin, to accept the
vilest sinner, and to confer the greatest favor. In thus acting
for Christ's sake, the boasting and the worthiness of the
sinner are excluded, and the divine government is safe and
honorable in proclaiming pardon.
SECTION III.
The personal character of Christ; or, what is called, His
active Righteousness.
Mere relationship to the offender is not a sufficient ground
for a safe dispensation of pardon ; the person who intercedes
must have also a worth, and weight of character, in the
estimation of the government.
When Amyntas interceded with the Athenian senate for
the life of his brother iEschylus, he pleaded, by lifting up
the stump of his arm, the honors wliich he had achieved for
the government at the battle of Salamis. The senate, at the
instance of a person of such character and worth, granted
the pardon. It was on this principle that Abraham inter
ceded for the sparing of Sodom and Gomorrah. His plea
was the moral worth of fifty righteous souls : and the efficacy
of the plea is distinctly recognized by the Angel Jehovah.
Paul also interceded with Philemon for Onesimus, by plead
ing his own character in the estimation of Philemon, as
" being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner
of Jesus Christ." This is the principle on which the Lord
Jesus Christ makes intercession for transgressors, by repre
senting, to the moral governor, his own infinite worth as an
honorable ground for sparing them. It is as the just, that
he died for the unjust. It is as the righteous, that he is
now an advocate with the Father.

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 19
Hence we learn the design, and the place, of what is
called the active obedience of Christ, in the plan of the
atonement. The atonement did not consist in the death of
Christ, simply as death, or as the death of a person so
related to the offenders, but it consisted in being such a death
of such a person. The Lord Christ would not have been
such a person in his sufferings and death, had not the perfect
obedience of his life preceded his agonies. The obedience
of his life gave him a mediatorial character in the estimation
of the divine government, so that it is an honor to the moral
law to honor Him.
The personal worthiness of Christ is so great and merito
rious, that were we to consider him in his moral character
alone, irrespectively of his divinity, it would have been no
wonder, but rather, the expectation and the delight of all
intelligences, had the divine government in all its authorities
interposed, in the justice-hall of Calvary, to vindicate and to
honor such a character ; to give him the " life " promised in
the law which he had honored, and to confer upon him the
recompense of the just. But, to the eternal astonishment
of all the worlds of God, there on that spot, he stood, the
just for the unjust ; in their stead ; and voluntarily suffering
death, not as the inflicted penalty of the law — because for a
person of his character the law had no penalty — but, volun
tarily suffering death, as an agreed arrangement, and as a
received " commandment " from his Father. The result is
that, the divine government has been more honored, by the
obedience of such a person, than it has been dishonored by
the disobedience of the offenders. The obedience of Christ
is worthy of honor from the law, because that he himself was
not worthy of its threatened death. He did not die because
the law required it, for the law could not require a just person
to die. He died because he had received a commandment to
die from his Father, in order that, for the sake of the dying
of a person who did not deserve to die, he might pardon those
who had deserved death. In such an arrangement, no subject
will think lightly of the divine government, for mercy is
exercised only for the sake, and in the name, of one who has
done so much to honor the law ; far rather must every one,
in obedience and homage, fall down before the Lamb of
atonement, saying, " Thou art worthy to take the book, for
thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood."

20 ITS RELATION TO THE
SECTION IV.
The personal substitution of Christ.
A mediator interposing for offenders puts himself in their
place, and, as we have seen, proposes to substitute some expe
dient instead of their punishment. Thus did Paul in his
interposition for Onesimus. Philem. v. 17, 18. On the same
principle the Lord Jesus Christ has mediated for sinners.
The sin of man is a public injury to the divine common
wealth ; and for such a public injury the law has provided a
public punishment. Before this public punishment can be
honorably suspended, some public expedient must be substituted
that will answer the same ends. Why ? The very reasons
which required the original penalty to be annexed as a sanction
to the law, require, in case of its suspension, that what is
substituted for it should secure its ends. It is not the letter
of the penalty that is essential to good government, but the
influence of the penalty on the subjects, and its ends in
legislation. What Zaleucus substituted for the infliction of the total
blindness due to his son, was honorable to his government as
a king, and to his character as a father, and was likewise full
of grace to the offender. The principle of substitution is
recognized, owned, and acted upon, by every man in the
world. It is only the application of substitution to " the
offence of the cross" that makes men stumble at it. Every
victim that has ever bled on a sacrificial altar, eveiy trouble
and expense which it has cost a father to relieve and forgive
an offending son, every instance of kindness shown to one for
the sake of another, every instance of gning and taking hostages
among nations, every honorable exercise of a government's
clemency towards offenders at the intercession of worthy
characters, recognizes the principle of substitution.
The persons who deny the substitution of the atonement of
Christ, nevertheless recognize the principle of it, by asserting
that the repentance of the sinner is a sufficient reason for
suspending his punishment ; or, in other words, they assert
that the repentance of the sinner is a satisfaction to the divine
government, as furnishing it witli an honorable ground for his
acquittal ; and as such, to be substituted instead "of his punish
ment. The theology of this assertion is, indeed, unseriptural
and bad ; but its testimony to the necessity, and to the propriety

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 21
of some substitutionary satisfaction, is distinct and irrefragable.
Our opponents then believe in substitution, but not in the
substitution of Christ. They are for substituting, as a safe
ground for pardon, the sufferings of a sinner in repentance :
we are for substituting the sufferings of Christ. They believe
that the tears of repentance speak well enough for pardon :
we believe, that " the blood of sprinkling speaketh better."
What measure, then, does the scripture reveal as the
great expedient, substituted in moral government, instead
of the punishment due to offending mankind? This is its
testimony ; " All have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God; — being justified freely by his grace, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth
to be the propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God : to declare I say at this time his
righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus." " The Son of man came to give
his life a ransom for many." " Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." " Him that
knew no sin, he hath made sin for us, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him." Rom. iii. 23 — 26. John
xx. 28. Gal. iii. 13. 2 Cor. v. 21.
The substitution of Christ was twofold, — a substitution of
his person instead of the offenders ; and a substitution of his
sufferings instead of their punishment. By this substitution
is meant a voluntary engagement to undergo, for the ends of
divine government, degradation, trouble, reproach and suffer
ings, in order that the penalty threatened by the law may not
be executed on the offenders. Such a substitution implies no
transfer of moral character, no commutation of delinquency
and responsibility ; for the nature of things makes such a
transfer and commutation impossible. This substitution of
suffering, also, excludes the idea of a literal infliction, upon
the substitute, of the identical penalty due to the offender.
It is not sufficiently borne in mind that, the substitution of
Christ is a measure introduced by God, as the public organ
of moral government, on public grounds, and for public ends,
and that consequently it did not need the infliction of the
literal punishment, on the Substitute. Had Pythias actually
died for Damon, Pythias would have endured the identical
penalty due to Damon. But, except in the principle of
substitution, this case is not, at all, analogous to the substitu-

22 ITS RELATION TO THE
tion of Christ for sinners. The case of Damon and Pythias
was one of mere private friendship, and not of public principle ;
consequently it is not a case in point for illustrating the atone
ment of Christ. Pythias did not substitute himself for Damon,
from any love to the government of Dionysius, nor from a
wish to express his abhorrence of the offence of Damon. Had
Pythias actually died, Damon would have loved and honored
his friend, but he would never have honored the government.
As the result "of the death of Pythias, he would claim his
release as a matter of justice, and never beg it as a matter of
grace. After all, he would hold the character of the king in
utter contempt ; because the king did not admit of the substi
tution of Pythias from love to Damon, but from a desire of
revenge, and a thirst for blood, contriving that if the offender
himself did not suffer, he would have the sufferings of his
nearest and dearest friend.
Such assuredly, is not the substitution of Christ instead of
sinners. For though the Scriptures represent the death of
Christ to be fully and literally " in the room and instead" of
others, as that of Pythias, instead of Damon, would have been,
yet they never connect it with private feelings of attachment,
out always with the public principle of government. The
substitution of Christ is more like the substitution of the person
and sufferings of Zaleucus, instead of the total blindness of
his son, which at once manifested his high regard for his law
and government, his abhorrence of the offence, his love and
mercy towards the offender ; while it also showed how vain it
was in any subject to expect to offend with impunity. In
this substitution there was no interchange of character, but no
transfer of blame-worthiness ; the innocent was innocent still,
the offender was offender still. Zaleucus was treated as if
he had been the offender, — but the character of the adulterous
son was never the personal character of his father. No one
ever thought of calling him the adulterer ; much less the
greatest adulterer in the world. No : he knew no offence,
though he was treated as if he had been an offender.
In this very case the literal penalty was not executed upon
the substitute. The letter of Zaleucus's law threatened total
blindness, and this blindness is threatened only to " the soul
that sinned ;" yet in the substitution and sufferings of the
father were found a sufficient satisfaction and atonement to
the law without a literal infliction of the penalty. The sub
stituted sufferings of the father preserved the spirit of the

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 23
threatening, and were as much like it as was deemed suitable
without being identical with it. It supplied safe grounds to
the government for dispensing pardon. The substitute made
a sufficient atonement to the law without suffering total
blindness. In like manner, I think, the atonement of Christ
did not consist in bearing the identical punishment threatened
to the sinner. The letter of the law never could have reached
the person of Christ with its penalty ; for he had, personally,
and in his representative character, kept the whole law, and
consequently, was honorably entitled to the life which the law
promised to the obedient. Nor could the letter of the law
have met him as the substitute in the offender's room ; for
such a substitute was beside and above the letter of the law.
Except in the mere article of dying — of separation between
soul and body, there was scarcely anything, in the sufferings
of Christ, identical with the original penalty threatened in the
law. In the sufferings of Christ there was no pang of remorse,
no consciousness of demerit, no moral and eternal death, no
execration of the authority that inflicted the pains. On the
contrary, there was in him a consciousness that he was just,
and that the law did not curse him, and also the assurance
that God approved of him in his sufferings, as obeying his
will, and doing his pleasure.
The hypothesis of a literal infliction of the penalty on the
person of Christ destroys the benevolence and weakens the
authority of the divine government. It supposes that the '
divine government would not admit of any climinution of
misery, or any accession of happiness, in the universe. It
must, on this showing, have every iota and tittle of the
misery incurred, either by the person of the offender himself,
or by his substitute. It supposes that the penalty cannot, ¦
with justice, be executed again on the offender himself, after
it has been once inflicted and exhausted on his substitute.
Such views make the offender secure, presumptuous, and
licentious. The substitutionary atonement of Christ does
not abrogate a single claim of the law upon any sinner, until
that sinner believe in Christ, and " walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit." While, therefore, the
sinner rejects the Lord that bought him, and atoned for him,
he is still liable to " the curse of the law ; " and, if he die
impenitent, this "curse of the law" will be inflicted on him,
notwithstanding the atonement that had been made for his sin.

24 ITS RELATION TO THE

SECTION V.
The personal voluntariness of Christ.
To render a substitution valid, honorable, and efficacious, .
there must be free and perfect voluntariness in the substitute.
The atonement of Christ was to be an index to the whole
operations and bearings of the mediatorial system ; to point
it out as a system adapted to reasonable, free, and voluntary
intelligences. It was, in fact, to be a specimen of the volun
tariness of the whole economy. " Therefore doth my Father
love me, because I lay down my life, that I might have it
again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of my
self. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take
it again. This command have I received of my Father."
John x. 17, 18.
Man was free and voluntary in the offence. God was free
and voluntary in providing an atonement. The Father was
free and voluntary in accepting the satisfaction, and the Spirit
is free in applying salvation to sinners, dividing to' every one
according as he will. The sinner is free in rejecting or
receiving the atonement ; and the divine government is free
and voluntary in forgiving the sinner ; the Christian is free
and voluntary in his course of obedience and holiness; his
admission to heaven is entirely of free grace and uncon
strained good will ; and all the employments and exercises of
heaven are free and voluntary. Free, uninfluenced volunta
riness, then, is stamped on the whole transaction, and is exer
cised by all the parties concerned.
This voluntary principle was conspicuous in the whole life
and character of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was
rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. He was led as a
lamb to the slaughter. His whole undertaking was an act
of free choice, of perfect voluntariness : without constraint,
without reluctance. When he disappeared from among the
Jews, who sought to kill him, it was only because "His
hour" was not yet come. When the right period arrived,
he said, "Father, the hour is come;" I am ready; ready to
go to Calvary, ready to be sacrificed on an accursed altar,
ready to make an atonement for the sin of man.
When this " hour " came upon him, he felt as a man, and
prayed, " Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from
me : nevertheless not my will, but thine be done." Yet, this

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 25
circumstance betrayed no reluctance to his work. Aversion
from sufferings is an affection essential to every living being.
Such an affection is in itself innocent and sinless ; without it,
man would not be the subject of hope or fear, and, conse
quently, not a fit subject of moral government. Had the
blessed Mediator been without such aversion to pain, he
would not have appeared really and truly a man ; nor would
he have appeared so great a sufferer. He loved his Father ;
and in proportion as he loved his Father, he would be averse
to any effects of his displeasure. His love to his Father, his
innocent aversion from suffering, the nice susceptibilities of
his holy frame, put his obedience to the fullest trial ; yet, as
a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his
mouth, but to say, " not my will, but thine be done."
This voluntariness originated in himself. He emptied him
self and made himself of no reputation. No one took his life
from him, but he laid it down of himself. He said, " Lo, I
come to do thy will." He had in himself the absolute right
of self-disposal. No creature in the universe can possess this
right ; for his all, all that he is, and all that he has, is owing
in duty to the law. He, then, who could say of his life, " I
have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again,"
must be above law, above a creature — he must be God.
This absolute right, and this unconstrained voluntariness of
self-disposal, were essential to the lawfulness of his under
taking, and to the acceptance of his work, as Mediator.
Though substitution is often above law, it must never be
against law. An involuntary substitution would be a measure
void of all justice, and void of all grace ; but voluntariness
makes it just and gracious. The law of the land does not
constrain any man to become a surety ; but if any person
voluntarily become a surety for an insolvent, the law is not
unjust in allowing him to " smart for it." The law does not
constrain any man to undertake great trouble and expense,
and to part with a great portion of his estate, to deliver a
thoughtless and profligate friend or relation ; but if he volun
tarily do so, the law is perfectly just in letting him bear such
a loss, though he never personally deserved it. The law will
not force any man to enter into recognizances for the good
behavior of another person ; yet if he voluntarily enter on
such an engagement, and his friend break the peace, no one
thinks the law unjust in making the bail suffer the loss.
3

26 ITS RELATION TO THE
When Judah voluntarily substituted himself instead of
Benjamin, and when Zaleucus substituted his sufferings for
the punishment due to his son ; no one thinks of charging
such transactions with injustice and wrong. It is not right
reason, nor the moral sense, but it is jaundiced prejudice, that
sees any color of injustice in the voluntary substitution of
Jesus Christ for sinful man. It must be something wrong,
something that sees not as God seeth, that can detect injustice
in the very measure which God himself, with all authority,
" sets forth to declare his righteousness." If God declares
the substitution of the atonement of Christ to be a demon
stration of his righteousness — and any set of men declare it
to be an evidence of injustice, we cannot be at a loss whose
declaration to receive as truth.
An involuntary substitution would, indeed, have been unjust,
unreasonable, and inadmissible ; therefore much of the accept-
ableness of the work of Christ is, in connexion with the dig
nity of his person, ascribed to the grace, the love, and the
voluntariness wliich he so freely displayed in the whole under
taking. We are enriched through his poverty, because it was
from mere grace, that he, though he was rich, for our sakes
became poor. Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself
for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling
savor. That Jesus Christ came to the world to save sinners,
was a step cordially approved of by God, and is worthy of all
acceptation among mankind. "Him hath God the Father
sealed" to be a Mediator; and his great atonement he has
appointed to be the only medium of communication between
the offenders and the throne. " Neither is there salvation in
any other ; for there is none other name under heaven, given
among men, whereby we must be saved."
section VI.
The personal sufferings of Christ.
We have now seen, in the substitution of the Lord Jesus
Christ, all the elements essential to the reality and sufficiency
of an atonement to a government: viz. dignity of person,
relationship to the offender, worth of character, voluntary
substitution, and appointment by the authority of the govern
ment. In this enumeration of the essential elements of atone
ment, I have not inserted the article intensity of suffering,
simply because, that to the atonement as an atonement, I did

person of the son OF GOD. 27
not consider it indispensably necessary. The reasons for it
will be found in the following remarks.
The reality of the atonement has, in this discussion, been
tried by the connexion of its great elements with the person
of Christ ; let us now try the question of the extent of the
atonement by the same test. It is self-evident that not one of
these great elements of atonement could pofesibly be more or
less than it is ; from which we argue, that' neither could the
atonement itself be possibly more or less tfian it is.
The atonement of Christ is generally represented, in the
writings of men, and generally believed, to consist in an actual
suffering of the identical penalty due to the offenders for whom
he suffered.
They who take this view of the atonement argue thus,
" Some offenders will eventually endure the penalty of the
law themselves, as some of them already endure it now in
misery. It would be unjust to inflict the penalty on the
offender and on the surety ; therefore the surety did not
endure the penalty for those offenders who shall suffer it
themselves." This hypothesis measures the atonement by the number of
the persons to be saved. This measurement is just as reason
able as measuring a king's prerogative to pardon by the num
ber of culprits whom he has actually reprieved ; or measuring
the power of the sun to give light, by the number of eyes that
actually see it ; or the efficacy of a medicine, by the number
of patients actually cured by it.
Many of the advocates of this view of atonement argue
farther than this, and their argument arises naturally from
their premises. " Jesus Christ," say they, " suffered the iden
tical punishment or penalty due to the elect ; this penalty is
always justly proportioned to the greatness of the offence.
Consequently, had the elect been more or less in number, or
had their individual and aggregate sins been more or less in
amount of number and guilt, their surety would have had to
suffer more or less for them."
This hypothesis measures the atonement not only by the
number of the elect, but by the intensity and degree of the
suffering to be endured for their sin. It adjusts the dimen
sions of the atonement to a nice mathematical point, and
poises its infinite weight of glory even to the small dust of a
balance. I need not say that the hand which stretches such
lines, and holds such scales, must be a bold one. Such a

28 ITS RELATION TO THE
calculation represents the Son of God as giving so much
sufferings for so much value received in the souls given to
him ; and represents the Father as dispensing so many favors
and blessings, for so much value received in obedience and
sufferings. This is the commercial atonement — the commer
cial redemption, with which Supralapsarian theology degrades
the Gospel, and fetters its ministers ; which sums up the worth
of a stupendous moral transaction by arithmetic, and, with its
little span, limits what is infinite.
They, who take this view of the atonement, call it, indeed,
infinite ; but infinite it cannot be, in the sense of immeasura
ble or unlimited. The number of the actually saved is cer
tainly definite ; and, accordingly, the sufferings of the blessed
Redeemer might have been more or less, and, therefore, not
infinite. I have hinted that I do not consider an infinite intensity of
suffering essential to the sufficiency of the atonement. My
hand trembles, lest I should write a single word, or syllable,
that would convey a low idea of the greatness of Christ's
sufferings. The sufferings of Christ were indeed infinite, not
simply in intensity of agony, but, as they were the sufferings
"of a person of infinite dignity, purity, and worth. Probably,
the sufferings of some martyrs may have exceeded his, as far
as the mere infliction of pain is concerned. Even the suffer
ings of the damned spirits are not infinite, except in duration.
In reading the accounts of the sufferings of Christ, we cannot
avoid the supposition that they might have been greater, or
they might have been less, without affecting the reality or the
sufficiency of the atonement There might have been, for
instance, more or fewer thorns in his crown ; the scourges .
might have been more or fewer in number, or administered
with more or less energy, without adding to the sufficiency of
his satisfaction or diminishing from it.
The design of atonement is, to answer the same ends in the
administration of government as the punishment of the of
fender. The end of a government in awarding punishment is,
not simply to give pain to the offender, but, by giving a
demonstration of the government's abhorrence of the crime,
to deter others from committing it. This is precisely the
design of an atonement. As the infliction of pain is not
indispensably necessary to the design of punishment, neither
is it necessary to the design of the atonement.

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 29
The scriptures never ascribe the efficacy of an atonement
to intensity of sufferings. In the Jewish sacrifices, there is
a recognition of a proportion between the costliness of the
sacrifice, and the rank of the offender, as the sin of one priest
required the same atonement as the sins of all the people
In such recognition there is no trace of any proportion between
the magnitude of the offence, and the degree of the victim's
sufferings ; or between the intensity of the sufferings, and the
sufficiency and extent of the atonement so effected. Take
a case. A family, in a given year, having no children, would
present their lamb for a sacrifice ; and it bled and died.
Annually for ten or twenty years, they offered a " lamb for
the family :" but in that time the number of sinners, and the
number of sins, in the family had greatly increased, possibly
in aggravation as well as in number ; yet the lamb of atone
ment was not put to greater torture than in the first year.
Take another case. The tribes of Israel, in a given year,
might be larger in proportion, and might have committed,
nationally, some greater enormities than at any previous time ;
yet, on the great day of atonement for the whole congregation,
the sacrificial victim was not to die a more excruciating death
than on former occasions.
When scripture and analogy are opposed to such a principle
of proportion, we can have no solid grounds for applying it to
the death of Christ, or for measuring the extent of his atone
ment by the intensity of his sufferings. The number of the
saved, and the degrees of the sufferings of Christ, are the only
things, connected with the atonement that we can suppose to
be capable of being greater or less, more or fewer. And
these, we have seen, are not indispensably necessary either to
the reality or to the sufficiency of the atonement. We can
not suppose that the atonement would have been less real and
extensive, had, for instance, the articles of the crown of thorns,
and the scourges, been left out of the list of his sufferings.
Nor can we think that the atonement would have been more
extensive or efficacious, had his body, while hanging in agony,
been pierced with a thousand spears. The sufficiency and the
extensive aspect of the atonement would be the same, even if
not one soul were saved : and the greatness of Christ's merit
is no more to be measured by the number of the saved, than
the demerit of Adam's sin is, by the number of mankind.
All the elements essential to an atonement are utterly
incapable of increase or diminution. Let us think : Could
3*

30 ITS RELATION TO THE
the Son of God have had more or less dignity of person than
he actually had ? Could he have been more or less nearly
related to the offender, that is, more or less incarnate, than he
really was ? Could his moral worth and active obedience to
the law have been more or less perfect than it was ? Could
the voluntariness of his substitution have been increased or
diminished ? Could his mediation have been instituted with
more or less authority and approbation than it was ? These
elements are, even in thought, incapable of being more or less.
They are infinite, unlimited, unmeasurable. They are im
mutable, and are as unaffected by the number of the objects
which they benefit, as the light of the sun is by the multitude
of objects which it unfolds.
Not only all the elements, but all the effects of the atone
ment, with the mere exception of the number of the saved,
are likewise incapable of variableness, increase, or diminution.
Let us think again; could the divine perfections have been
more or less vindicated and glorified than they were ? Could
the evil of sin have been more or less powerfully demonstrated
than it was ? Could God's determination to defend his law
have been more or less proved than it was ? That is, would
a less atonement have done these things sufficiently : or would
a greater atonement have done them efficiently ? I trow not.
The honors conferred on the person of the Redeemer are
among the effects of the atonement. These also, with the
exception of the number of the saved, are incapable of being
more or less than they are. The Son of God could not
have been more or less suitable and able to be an advocate
and a judge than he is. To say, the greater the number there
will be in heaven, the more honor there would be to the
Savior, is true ; but it is true only by giving another meaning
to the word honor. The honor of the Savior is the same and
unalterable, but this sentiment only means that, in the supposed
case, there would be a greater ascription of honor to him, but
it forgets that it is an honor already due, and already rising
from his atonement, even if such a number were not there to
ascribe it. Daily accessions to the church, and to heaven, do
not give honor to the atonement, they only own and ascribe
to it the dignity, and the worth, which they have already
found in it.
The gradations of gracious reward and heavenly glory
among the saints made perfect, are never traced to the
capableness of the atonement being more or less ; but to the

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 31
personal exercise of moral agency in faithful services for God.
It is he that soweth sparingly that shall reap also sparingly ;
and it is he which soweth bountifully that shall reap also
bountifully. It is not because more glory was purchased for
one, and less for the other, that one star shall differ from
another star in glory. Such considerations as these persuade
me, that the atonement would not have been greater or less,
had the agonies of Christ been more or less ; and, therefore,
that the sufficiency and extent of the atonement do not at
all depend upon the degree or intensity of his sufferings.
This view of the atonement does not destroy the propriety
and necessity of the suffermgs of Christ. It might be asked,
if the value and sufficiency of the atonement arise from the
dignity, worth, and voluntariness of the person of Christ, and
not from the degrees of his sufferings, , then, what was the
necessity of his suffering to such a degree as he did suffer ?
and where is the propriety of the scriptures so constantly
referring us to his cross and. sufferings ?W^j ""-"' '.«.v-- oC^'-h
It must be remembered that the atonement is not a measure (
of law, but of prerogative and grace. Had the atonement
been a measure of law, it would have been under the direction
of pure equity ; but as it is a measure of grace, it is, like all
such measures, under the direction of infinite and benevolent
wisdom. This infinite wisdom arranged the time and period
in which the atonement was to be effected ; and, no doubt, the
same wisdom ordered and regulated the degree of sufferings
and humiliation which were to be endured in its execution.
There is no incongruity in supposing that, had infinite wisdom
seen fit, the time of atonement might have been otherwise ;
nor is there any absurdity or impiety in supposing also, that
the degree of humiliation and suffering might have been
otherwise. In accounting for this, we cannot tell all the reasons of the
divine government, for annexing such a penalty to the law,
or for executing such a punishment on offenders. But we are
not afraid to assert, that the humiliation of the Son of God to
assume, on account of sin, the nature of man and the form of
a servant, was, even without personal sufferings, an event of
such unfathomable degradation, as to appear more calculated
to secure those ends of government, than would have been the
eternal degradation of the whole human race under the penalty.
Therefore, when we stand on the shore of the great atone
ment, and pose ourselves with questions, and weary ourselves

32 ITS RELATION TO THE
with guesses, as to why he was wounded for our transgressions,
and why he was bruised for our iniquities, infinite wisdom
only says, " It became mim for whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to
make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffer
ing s."
The perfection of infinite wisdom demands our implicit
confidence, and gives us an assurance that if the sufferings
of the blessed Mediator might, for all the ends of atonement,
have been of less intensity, they would have been so
arranged. We think, however, that right reason and analogy
point out to us a propriety, and a congruity, in an atonement
being as much like the threatened punishment as might be
consistent with the nature of a satisfaction. To answer the
same, ends as a penalty, the atonement must be somewhat
like it.
As an attempt to account for the relation between the
sufferings of Christ, and the atonement, we submit the follow
ing thoughts. All rational intelligences are capable of hope
and fear, of praise and blame, and consequently, of pleasure,
and pain. An aversion to blame and pain is inherent in
every moral agent ; and so is the desire of praise and pleas
ure. It is to these affections that the whole administration of
moral government addresses itself. Without them moral
government cannot exist ; as its promises and threatenings
would be mere nullities. The threatenings of the law cannot
be safely suspended by any expedient or atonement, unless
the atonement be calculated to impress our hopes and fears as
powerfully as the original penalty itself. This, according to
our habits of conception, is most effectually done by the
exhibition of sufferings ; as, by addressing itself forcibly to
our aversion from pain, it is adapted to deter us from offend
ing. As offenders were to be delivered from sufferings,
it was arranged by infinite wisdom, that they should be
delivered by the sufferings of another, in older to impress
them with a sense of the evil of their transgression, of the
benevolence of the divine government, and of their obligation
to the Mediator. Sufferings were, therefore, introduced into
the atonement, because they supplied the greatest number of
motives to deter from sin, afforded the greatest amount of
reasons for returning to allegiance, gave the soundest grounds
of assurance of a cordial reception and pardon, and laid the
most numerous and pressing bonds of obligations on the
offenders.

PERSON OF THE SON OF GOD. 33
One of the ends of the divine government in annexing a
penal sanction to the law, was to deter us from sin, by
addressing our hopes and fears ; and, this was the reason
why it threatened sufferings to the sinner. If the atonement
that justifies the suspension of the threatening, answers this
end of the government more effectually than the original
penalty, then, the atonement is of a greater value to the gov
ernment than the penalty itself. The history of salvation
shows that the atonement is of greater value than the original
penalty, because it contains, in its arrangement, a greater
number of motives to deter from sin, and to attach the
subjects to the government. It is invested with this kind of
value by the introduction of amazing sufferings. I say, this
kind of value ; because I do not consider this value essential
to the atonement, as it works upwards towards the divine
perfections, but I consider it as auxiliary to the atonement,
as it works downwards, towards the feelings of the sinner.
The great sufferings of the Son of God were not intend
ed, nor were they calculated, to affect the character, of a
single attribute in God ; but they are intended, and emi
nently adapted, to affect the disposition and the character of
the sinner. Hence arose the necessity and suitableness of
perfecting the atonement by sufferings. The sufferings of
one so illustrious in rank and worth, of one so full of love to
the offender, of one so much abhorring sin, of one so much
honoring the law — and such sufferings — are more adapted
to deter men from sin, than the tidings, or even the sight, of
the sufferings and the torments of all the fallen beings of the
universe.

34 ITS RELATION TO THE

CHAPTER HI.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE PERFECTIONS
OF GOD.
SECTION I.
The whole character of God concerned in the Atonement.
The divine perfections are those properties, attributes, and
dispositions of the divine nature which form the character of
God, and are made manifest in his works, and in his conduct
towards the universe. We ascertain the properties and
qualities of a king's mind, by the institutions and laws estab
lished and promulgated in his government. Should any event
transpire in the kingdom which might appear incompatible
with this declared and well-known character, every subject
would be concerned to know, how far the king himself was
concerned in that event, and by what measures he could
vindicate and maintain his character notwithstanding such an
event. Let us suppose a case. In the history of the empire it
is recorded that vast many of the inhabitants of one of the
provinces revolted, and that the king immediately condemned
them to perpetual bonds and punishment. Some time after
wards, the inhabitants of another province renounced their
allegiance to his throne ; but, instead of being, like the others,
summarily punished, a flag of truce is sent to their province,
and a message of reconciliation addressed to the rebellious
offenders. When such a measure would become known, it
would involve the character of the king in great mystery, if
not in contradiction. The revolters who had been summarily
punished would say, " The king has changed his niind. There
is no such wrong, after all, in the revolt ; the king has thought
better of it, and we have been harshly and cruelly treated."
The subjects that continued in their loyalty would say, " This
is mysterious. Here is the same law broken as in the former
revolt in the other province, yet the same punishment does
not follow. Perhaps the king sees now that such a law
required too much, and that the infliction of its penalty is too
severe. Peradventure, probably, the penalty shall never
again be executed in any case." The indulged offenders

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 35
would say, " This very message implies that the king himself
sees, that we had some grounds for our rebellion, that it was
unwise to make such a strict law for us, and that the punish
ment is greater than our insurrection deserves. And as this
message of truce and mercy comes altogether unsought, we
may now be sure, that the king has determined never to in
flict such a severe and disproportionate punishment again."
In such circumstances the character of the king would
appear, even to some of his friends, as clouded, if not eclipsed.
It is true, it would become the subjects to consider, that they
might not know all the state of the case, and that they do not
know all the arcana imperii of the administration. And
their confidence in the king should not be weakened, when
they hear that he has appointed a day in which he will fully
and amply vindicate his character and government. More
especially would we expect their confidence in the king to be
strengthened, when it was proclaimed to them from the throne,
that he was about to introduce speedily into his administra
tion a measure that would effectually maintain, vindicate, and
explain his whole character as connected with the events that
had puzzled them. Such a measure would show that the
king was concerned for his character among his subjects, and
that he wished the validity of such a measure to be tried,
more by its bearings on the royal character, than by its influ
ence on the respited offenders.
Such an expedient, we have seen, was introduced by
Zaleucus into the government of the Locrians. And such a
measure has, we think, been introduced by God into the
administration of his moral government ; and this measure is
the atonement of his own Son.
The intrusion of sin into the universe, and the discrepancy
in the divine administration towards fallen angels and fallen
men, were calculated to obscure the character of God. His
justice appeared fickle and capricious ; his forbearance and
clemency seemed unaccountable and unreasonable. Therefore
the atonement was introduced, " to declare his righteous
ness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God — that he might be just, and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus."
Hence the atonement is a measure inseparably connected
with the whole of the divine character, and involves the honor
of every attribute in God. It is a safe ground for the public
exercise, or display, of every divine perfection, and it is an

36 ITS RELATION TO THE
honorable medium for expressing the glory of every attribute.
As the relation of the atonement to the divine perfections has
been, we think, much misunderstood and misrepresented, our
examination of such an aspect of it should be careful, serious,
candid, and scriptural.

SECTION n.
Wrong views of the relation between the Atonement and the Divine
Perfections.
4
I. In the holy scriptures, the atonement is never repre
sented as calling into exercise any divine perfection, which it
does not suppose to be in exercise before.
By exercise I do not mean expression. Probably grace
to the unworthy, and mercy to the miserable, would never
have beeen expressed but for the atonement. Nevertheless,
the atonement supposes that grace and mercy were previously
in exercise, suggesting and providing such a measure for the
honorable deliverance of the unworthy and the miserable. In
the case of Daniel, the mercy of Darius was in exercise, though
it was not expressed. The satisfaction which Zaleucus provided
in the case of his offending son, was not the means of calling
his mercy into exercise, but the medium of publicly expressing
it. The moral governor of the universe was as much disposed
and inclined to grace and mercy, without an atonement as
with it, provided they could be expressed with honor to the
government, and with safety to the public good. Grace and
mercy are, as well as justice and truth, attributes essential to
the nature and character of God. Hence the scriptures
represent the atonement as the means of expressing, and
not as the cause of exciting, the exercise of any divine
perfection. When the atonement is represented by men as
exciting in God an inclination to be merciful, and as producing
a disposition to save, it is, in other words, adding a new per
fection to God, of which the absurdity and the blasphemy are
equal. God gave his Son to be an atonement because he had
loved the world : and redemption is through the blood of his
Son, according to the riches of his grace.
II. The atonement is never represented in the scriptures
as changing or modifying the nature of any divine attri
bute.

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 37
In the theology of popular declamation, and in some of our
hymns and spiritual songs, God is often exhibited as main
taining inexorably every jot of the utmost claims of strict
justice, as unflinching in his anger and severity, as high-toned
and unbending in his wrath and fury against the sinner, and
then, by mercy's exhibition of the atonement, he is calmed,
assuaged, pacified, and ready to forgive. This is the kind of
theology that is always embodied in the dialogues or colloquies
which writers frequently introduce between justice, mercy,
&c. &c, about the salvation of man.
It is true that the inspired writers often speak of the indig
nation, the wrath, the anger, and the fury of Jehovah against
his foes ; and of his being reconciled towards an_qffender, and
of his being propitiated through the atonement. Such a
figurative, and metaphorical language, as employed by these
holy men of God when speaking of him, is bold, elegant, and
suitable. Nevertheless a literal construction of them would
not only offend against every good canon of Biblical interpre
tation, but would lead to every species of absurdity. These
anthropopatheia of the scriptures, these figurative expressions
concerning wrath, indignation, reconciliation, &c, refer to the
aspect of the divine dispensations, and to their effects upon the
offender, and never to the properties, affections, and disposi
tions of the divine nature. When the aspect and effects of the
divine dispensations alter, the change is not in the infinite and
eternal mind, but in the state and relations of the offenders
towards the divine government. The cloudy pillar had an
aspect, towards the Egyptians, very different from that which
it had towards the Israelites. A change in this aspect would
have been produced, not by a change in the pillar, but by a
change in the relations of the two different people.
When a change is produced in the aspect of the divine
administrations, that is, when God is said to be propitiated or
reconciled through the atonement, it is not meant that the
atonement made him propitious, or rendered him favorable and
kind : but what is meant is that the atonement was the ground
on which he declared himself propitious, and the medium
through which he expressed himself gracious. The actual
change is in the state of the sinner. The atonement places
the sinner on a ground, where the divine administration may
have a favorable aspect on him. It should, however, be never
forgotten that until the sinner himself personally avail himself
of the atonement, and plead it in his own behalf ; that until
4

38 ITS RELATION TO THE
his own individual moral relations be changed, God will not
expresB himself propitiated towards him. God was, indeed,
reconcilable and propitious to the three friends of Job, yet he
would not express himself propitious, and declare himself
reconciled, until the three friends had offered their sacrifices.
Then, after a change in them, there was a change in the aspect
of the divine dispensations towards them. God was still
unchanged, and therefore they were not consumed. Their
sacrifices produced no change in him, but they were expressive
of a change in their moral relations towards him. Just so is
the act of a sinner, pleading the atonement of Christ in his
personal behalf, expressive of a change in his state and moral
relations towards God.
III. The word of God never represents the atonement as
restraining, or preventing, the free exercise and expressions
of any divine perfection.
It cannot be concealed that some human systems of theology
represent the atonement as an effectual barrier raised against
the operations of infinite and inexorable justice. Our books,
and our pulpit discourses, have abounded with such statements
as the following : — that the Lord Jesus Christ endured or paid
to infinite justice the utmost farthing of its demands against a
certain number of offenders ; — that he endured the identical
amount of the punishment due for their sins ; — that it is a
grievous wrong to exact the same punishment once of the
surety, and again of the offenders : and that, consequently,
justice can now lay nothing to their charge, can never proceed
against them in judgment, and that they are now within the
enclosures of the atonement, where justice cannot reach them.
Thus, the atonement is frequently represented as the city of
refuge, and infinite justice as the avenger of blood, thirsting
for the death of the sinner.
It is not a way likely to promote reverential piety, to
represent infinite justice as an infinitely dreadful and unlovely
attribute ; nor can it promote practical holiness to represent
our salvation as secured, not only in direct opposition to divine
justice, but, also in manifest superiority and triumph over it
This species of atonement would entirely subvert all moral
government. The language of the scriptural atonement is,
that the blood of Christ redeemed us to God, not from God.
The claims of infinite justice are as honorable, as imabated,
and as unimpaired, with an atonement, as without it. Eternal
righteousness has not resigned a single demand, nor relaxed

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 39
a single bond, nor withdrawn a single threatening. Every
iota and tittle of the law is as much in force and honor after
the atonement as before it ; with it, as without it. Atone
ment has no ground enclosed out of the domains of justice.
No sinner pleading the atonement before the throne of God
shall be accepted, unless he also distinctly acknowledge and
own that the claims of justice on him are right and true.
Under this practical acknowledgment, every good man is to
live as one that must give an account to infinite righteousness.
And, eventually, all the despisers of salvation will feel that
the operations of justice towards them are free and unshackled,
notwithstanding the splendid atonement once offered for their
sins. We have now brought under notice, three representations
of the atonement in connexion with the divine attributes,
which we deem incorrect and unseriptural. The atonement
that is exhibited as exciting, changing, or restraining the
exercise of any perfection in God, is not the atonement of the
scriptures. It ought to be remarked that these three representations of
the atonement originate in the conception that the atonement
is of the nature of a commercial transaction, the payment of
a debt, or the literal endurance of a threatened punishment.
A commercial atonement is, therefore,- the ir^anti ¦\oi$k of
every error connected with unseriptural views of redemption.
We prove this by the following considerations. This is the
only principle that can maintain that God is, by the atone
ment, induced to be merciful, just as a creditor is induced to
release his debtor, only upon the full payment of his debts.
This is the only principle that can aver that the atonement
effects a modification or change in the divine feelings, or dis
positions, towards the sinner, just as a judge would be disposed
to remit a criminal's punishment, after his severity had spent
itself, in the unmitigated lashes inflicted on the criminal's
friend. This is the only principle that can assert that the
atonement restrains and checks the operations of infinite
justice, just as a creditor cannot again imprison a debtor for a
debt once discharged — or, as a tyrant cannot claim a captive
for whom he has received a ransom price. And I must add,
this is the principle, that unnerves our ministerial addresses,
that jaundices our view of Christian doctrines, that cramps
and crushes missionary efforts, that drives its thousands to
apostacy, and lulls its millions into a false and fatal security.

40 ITS RELATION TO THE
Since the atonement does not produce the effects and_ mod
ifications above mentioned, it may be asked, what is the
relation which the atonement does sustain towards the divine
perfections ? The reply is, that the atonement does not affect
or modify the character of any of the perfections of God ;
but it is a medium capable of giving full expression to them
all. It is a public expression, display, and vindication of all
the divine attributes. SECTION m.
The divine Perfections honored by the Atonement.
In the evangelical history of the sufferings of the Son of
God, we often meet with the remark, that in them, or by
them, " God glorified his name." The name of God is the
entire character of all his perfections. It is the purpose of
this section to show how this has been fully honored in the
atonement. In the first, place, — The atonement shows that no divine
perfection was implicated in the intrusion of sin into the
universe. The revolters against the divine government are loath
to ascribe their disaffection entirely to themselves ; and many
have roundly asserted that the origin of evil is in God him
self. Reflections have been cast upon infinite wisdom for con
triving a moral system capable of evil, upon infinite power
for permitting the entrance of sin, upon infinite rectitude for
suffering the continuance of sin, and upon infinite benevolence
for preserving a system in which evil is so prevalent. But
the atonement shows that God was in no wise accessary to
the intrusion of sin, neither by secret decree, by arbitrary
withdrawment of influences, nor by any deficiency in govern
ment. The atonement demonstrates that God has done every
thing, to oppose sin, wliich could be done in a moral govern
ment. The language of God in the atonement is, "What
could I have done more unto my vineyard, that I have not
done in it ? " By the publication of the moral law, by the
sanction of rewards and punishments, by the execution of
judgments, by solemn oracles through prophets, and by sacri
ficial institutions, God has borne a constant and unvarying
testimony against sin. The whole of this testimony is most
amply corroborated by the atonement, for it magnifies the

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 41
law, enforces the legal sanctions, justifies all judicial inflic
tions, confirms divine revelations, and verifies all sacrificial
types and shadows.
The atonement itself is the greatest and the clearest proof
of God's abhorrence of sin, and of his determination to
oppose and to punish it. In the atonement God has " con
demned sin ; " and by condemning sin, he has vindicated
every attribute from the suspicion of being implicated in it.
God could never have been accessary to an evil, which he has
been at such cost and expense to oppose and remove.
It vindicates infinite wisdom by showing that it introduced
into the system nothing calculated to produce evil, but every
thing to prevent it. It vindicates infinite power by showing
that omnipotence never was, and never could be made, the '
rule or the measure of the divine conduct in a moral govern- i
ment. It vindicates infinite rectitude by showing that it had
provided abundant means and inducements to prevent sin,
that it sincerely prohibited every sin, that it is determined to
punish every sin, and that it has expressed its detestation and
condemnation of it in the highest Personage in the universe.
It vindicates infinite benevolence by showing that sin is the
exception, and not the rule, in the universe ; that a compen
sative measure had been introduced into the divine govern
ment which would bring an accession of good to the universe,
and that all the divine perfections are more fully, and more
gloriously, developed, in the appointed remedy, than they
would have been in the prevention of the moral disorder.
In the second place, — The atonement shows that no
divine perfection was unconcerned about the honors of moral
government. The instantaneous punishment of fallen angels had given a
demonstration that the honors of moral government stood
high in the divine estimation ; but the forbearance towards
man was calculated to excite a suspicion whether they were
so now, or not.
A suspension of the penalty or punishment due to sinful
man, was calculated to awaken in holy angels, and in wicked
spirits, a thought that probably, even justice itself, which
had been erst so prompt and vigorous in punishment, had
now become somewhat lax, hesitating, and indifferent, towards
the interests of moral government. There is also, I think, a
general impression on the minds of unrenewed men, that
love, grace, and mercy, are some perfections in God
4*

42 its relation to the
wliich are always kindly disposed towards an unfortunate
criminal, always side with him, always plead for him, are
always concerned for his liberation and safety ; — honorably,
indeed, if means can be found to make it so, but honorably or
not, these perfections are always supposed to feel very ten
derly towards the criminal. Now, it is evident, that if moral
government is to be carried on, both these impressions must
be removed. These impressions would not be removed by
the actual liberation of fallen angels, nor by the eventual
punishment of all the human race. Hence, then, arises the
necessity of some wise expedient, and the expedient is the
atonement of the Son of God. And the atonement removes
these impressions, by its vindications of the divine character.
The atonement defends mercy from the charge of indif
ference to moral government, by showing that mercy would
not express itself, nor deal out a favor, nor deign a smile,
to the offender, until it had given a public expression of its
abhorrence of his sin, and had seen every claim of the gov
ernment honored. It defends justice from the charge of
indifference to the government, by showing that the ends of
justice are as effectually answered by the atonement, as by
the literal infliction of the threatened penalty, and that it has
not abated any one of its claims upon the sinner. The
atonement is introduced, and shown forth, for the very intent
and purpose of declaring infinite justice, that God might be
just, and the justifier of him that believeth. God was just
without an atonement, and would have been gloriously just in
the punishment of our entire race ; but in that case he would
not have been a justifier of believers. The atonement is
shown forth, therefore, that he might be a justifier and the
just, that is, that he might be just in justifying. We see,
then, that in the atonement, mercy and justice unite to magnify
the law, and to make divine moral government honorable.
In the third place, — The atonement shows that no divine
perfection has been injured, or wronged, by the substitution
of a Mediator between the government and the offenders.
The attributes which are supposed to have been apparently
slurred, by the introduction of a compensative scheme into
the divine administration, are truth, justice, and grace.
We have stated that the sufferings of Christ made an
atonement, not by being a Uteral infliction of the identical
penalty threatened, but by being substituted and accepted in
the room of the penalty due to the offender. These pages

perfections of god. 43
assert that Jesus Christ in his death did not endure the
identical punishment which the law had threatened against
the sinner, but sufferings substituted instead of it.
This statement is met by an argument employed in behalf
of the honor of eternal truth. It is said, " Death was
threatened in the penalty ; and eternal and immutable veracity,
therefore, requires that the substitute should suffer the identical
death threatened to the transgressor, just as Pythias would
have suffered for Damon."
This is the strongest argument in favor of the position that
Christ suffered the literal penalty of the law. In this argu
ment, however, it is overlooked or forgotten, that eternal and
immutable veracity requires that the sinner only should die,
and not a substitute. The threatening is, " the soul that
sinneth, it shall die." Therefore, should a substitute even
suffer the identical death, truth is still very far from being
literally fulfilled, and consequently, immutable truth remains
unhonored. If eternal veracity can dispense with the identical
sufferer, may it not also, under the direction of perfect
wisdom, dispense with the identical sufferings ? I think it
may ; and in proof «that it has done so, and in vindication of
the honor of divine verity, I submit the following considera
tions : —
The truth of any proposition or declaration consists more
in the spirit than in the letter of it. Truth in a promise, and
truth in a threatening, are different, especially in measures of
government. Truth in a promise obliges the promiser to
perform his word, or else to be regarded as unfaithful and
false. But truth in a threatening does not, in the administra
tion of discipline or government, actually oblige to literal
execution ; it only makes the punishment to be due and admissi
ble, if the legislator think fit to inflict it. The threatening of
a penalty, does not deprive the lawgiver of his sovereign and
supra-legal power to dispense with it, if he can secure the
ends of it by any other measure. And if the spirit of the
threatening be preserved, the truth of it is not violated by its
not being executed to the letter. If a criminal be sentenced
to lose his life, the spirit of the sentence is, that his life shall
be no longer continued among good subjects, to wrong and
injure them. Should this sentence be commuted to transporta
tion for life, the letter of the sentence is not fulfilled, but
eveiy one will see that the spirit of the law is preserved.

44 its relation to the
This supra-legal prerogative of suspending punishment
God has exercised in many instances, as in the sparing of
Nineveh, and, I believe, in the sparing of our first parents.
The identical penalty of the Eden constitution was not literally
executed either on man, or on Christ. It was not executed
on man, for then there would have been no human race.
The first pair would have been destroyed, and mankind would
never have come into being. It was not executed on Christ.
He did no sin ; he violated no constitution, and yet he died.
Surely no law or constitution under which he was, could legally
visit him with a penalty. If it be said that he suffered it for
others, this is giving up the point ; for immutable verity as
much requires that the penalty should be inflicted on the
literal sinner only, as that it should be inflicted at all.
Nevertheless eternal and immutable truth gathers its fairest
and fullest honors from the atonement of Christ. The atone
ment answers all the ends of government, as effectually as
they would have been answered, by the punishment of the
offenders. Though the letter of the penalty be not executed,
yet the spirit of it is preserved ; and not only preserved, but
it is more transcendently demonstrated, and honored, by the
atonement than by literal inflictions upon all the millions of
the human race.
Infinite Justice has also been deemed dishonored, in the
substitution of a Mediator, by the supposition that it punished
the innocent instead of the guilty.
It seems to me that it is thoughtless and wrong to say that
God has in any-wise punished the substitute. It were better
to say that God allowed sufferings to be inflicted on him.
Indeed I deem it incorrect to say that justice has punished
an innocent being at any time, though thousands of innocent
persons have been involved in the punishment of the wicked.
The character of justice is as much obscured by the suffermgs
of the innocent with the wicked, as by the sufferings of the
innocent for the wicked. The history of the divine govern
ment presents an immovable array of facts, mustered from
the general deluge, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
earthquakes, war, famine, and pestilence, in which the innocent
have suffered with the guilty. Yet, in every case, we cannot
gainsay that " the judge of the whole earth lias done right."
Before, therefore, any persons renounce the doctrine of the
atonement, or that Christ died for transgressors, let them
account for his suffering with transgressors. Or, indeed, let
them find a reason for his suffering at all.

perfections of god. 45
Without entangling the death of Christ with the difficulties
of having been either with sinners, or for sinners, let any
inquirer single out his death, as a simple fact in the divine
administration, and account for it on the principles of justice.
He was innocent, harmless, undefiled, did no sin, and kept the
law in all points : and yet he suffered pain, reproach, and
death. Where is the justice of this ? — Will it be said that he
died to prove the truth of his doctrine ? Then we would ask,
Does the justice of God deprive a holy and innocent being
of life, to prove and confirm the veracity of God? Such
awful sufferings are rather calculated to disprove the truth of
his doctrine, by exhibiting him as a disowned impostor,
" smitten of God and afflicted." If infinite justice can admit
of the death of an innocent being, to prove the veracity of
God in any doctrine, there is nothing to prevent it from
admitting the same measure, to express his hatred of sin, and
his willingness to save. It is sometimes said that Christ died
for an example to men. This does not vindicate, much less
explain, the justice of his death. Christ did not justly deserve
to be made such an example of ; to see the innocent suffer
like the most flagitious sinner, gives no encouragement to one
to be innocent ; and the death of an innocent person can
never teach the guilty not to fear the evil of death. The
difficulties about the justice of the death of Christ are not
removed by saying that he died for our benefit and advan
tage : for, let it be asked, was this a proceeding of justice
towards Christ ? Does justice by such a measure treat Christ,
an innocent person, according to his due ? Does not this
inclose the whole doctrine of imputed worth and righteous
ness, since in it some are benefited for the sake of another ?
Examine the death of Christ as you will ; try it by any test ;
it is utterly inexplicable, except on the principle of its
being a substituted expedient in moral government.
Let it be considered that the Lord Jesus Christ is always,
in the scriptures, signally marked out for sufferings. All the
prophecies of the Jewish church pointed to these sufferings,
all the doctrines and administrations of the gospel refer to
them ; and, I might say, all the counsels of eternity looked
forward to them, and all the everlasting songs of the re
deemed will look backward to them. What, then, can be
the meaning of sufferings, which centre in themselves all
interests, from everlasting to everlasting ? What principle
can explain them ? The divine oracles, simple and dignified,

46 its relation to the
respond, " Whom God had eet forth to be a propitiation,
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness in the
forgiveness of sin."
So say the oracles that speak from heaven, but not so say
some men professing themselves to be wise. These men
charge these very propitiatory sufferings with injustice and
wrong. Strange ! that God should ever think of declaring
his righteousness, by a measure that was in itself un
righteous and wrong ! Surely the judgment of men in this
case, is not according to truth. The scriptures explicitly
assert, that the atonement was a medium for God to declare
his righteousness. But for God, by an unjust expedient, to
declare his righteousness with such a slur upon it, would be
to expose it to contempt and desecration.
The supposition that justice is obscured by the atonement,
proceeds from misapprehensions of the nature of the atone
ment, and from wrong conceptions of the nature of divine
justice. It is rarely considered and defined, what is the
justice to which the atonement relates. By divine justice
is generally meant that perfection in God which gives to every
being his due, and deals with every being according to his
character. This is called distributive justice. Now upon
the showing of either the friends or the foes of atonement, I
ask, was this justice at all declared in the sufferings of Christ ?
Our opponents themselves being judges, Were the sufferings
of Christ due to him ? Did the justice of God treat Christ
according to the deservings of his character ?
Take it for granted, if you please, that the sufferings of
Christ were only a testimony to the truth of his doctrine, or
an example of obedience to the divine will, and that thus, his
sufferings were for the benefit of sinners : and then try to
answer the following questions. Were such an example and
testimony, in justice, due to sinners ? Did sinful men, in
justice, deserve such benefits? Did infinite justice in con
ferring such favors on them, treat them according to their
character ? »
It is impossible to explain either the nature, or the conse
quences, of the death of Christ on the principles of distribu
tive justice ; because that upon this principle neither Christ,
nor the sinner, is treated according to what is due to his
respective character. The justice that was declared and
honored in the atonement, is public justice. As pubhc
justice is rather a principle in the administration of a govern-

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 47
ment, than an attribute of the divine essence, I shall reserve
the full consideration of it to the chapter on the atonement in
its relation to moral government. I will just observe, that
when we say that Christ has satisfied justice, or that justice
was satisfied in the atonement, our meaning is, that the wise
and just ends of government were completely secured by the
atonement, that through it the lawgiver's prerogative to pardon
was exercised with safety to the public good, and that " grace
reigned through righteousness."
Sovereign grace is another perfection which is supposed
to be obscured and clouded by the atonement. It is said, if
the good that comes to the sinner, comes through an atone
ment, then it is not free and gratuitous.
This argument has been fairly met, and answered, a
thousand times, yet quick or dead, it is constantly used, as if
its friends thought that a bad argument was as indestructible
and immortal as a good one. It ought to be enough to remark
now, that this argument is in direct opposition to the express
declaration of scripture.
The writers of the New Testament uniformly and explicitly
represent the mediatorial undertaking of Jesus Christ as the
highest proof, and the most powerful expression, of sovereign
grace and infinite love. Their language is ; — " God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten Son." " Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." " God commend-
eth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners
Christ died for us." "We have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace." Is it not ' strange that God should show forth to public
admiration, and " commend," in the atonement, a perfection
which men declare to be utterly destroyed by it? It is
impossible for us to avoid the conclusion, that the abettors of
this argument, and the writers of the New Testament, differ
" wide as the poles," in their views of the grace of God, and
of the sufferings of Christ. The apostles represent the
atonement of propitiation as " commending " the grace of God,
and as " declaring " the righteousness of God. The abettors
of this argument " declare " the atonement to be utterly sub
versive of all grace and righteousness. The question which
of the parties is right, must be settled by the evidences of
the inspiration of the New Testament. Our opponents will

48 ITS RELATION TO THE
allow us to recommend them to consider, whether their views
are likely to be accurate and sound, when they profess to see
in the atonement tendencies, which are the very reverse of
what Christ and his apostles saw.
The argument which we have been combating is not at all
available, except on the principle of the atonement being a
commercial transaction, a quid pro quo.
If sin be represented as properly, and literally, a debt, and
not a moral offence ; and if the atonement be set forth as a
literal payment of that debt, and not a moral transaction sup
plying to the government honorable grounds for pardoning
a criminal ; then, I think that grace does not appear in the
discharge of the debtor. The creditor received what was
due to him, and release is now justly due to the debtor. The
release, therefore, of such a debtor, is no favor.
Sin is called a debt only in figurative language. No one
will say that our sins are owing or due to God. The real
nature of sin is an abstraction, or withdrawment of what is
due, — a transgression of the law, a moral and a public
offence against God as the Governor of the universe. The
atonement is represented in the scriptures, not as a bribe for
exciting divine love, but as a medium for exercising it; not
as a motive to induce God to be gracious, but as the means
for expressing himself gracious ; not as a commercial pay
ment making release due, but as an honorable ground for
making pardon admissible and safe.
Take the following illustrations of the possibility of favors
being perfectly gratuitous and free, though conferred on valu
able considerations and honorable grounds. When the Athen
ian senate granted pardon to ^Eschylus for the sake of his
brother Amyntas, the pardon was unbribed, and entirely of
favor and grace. When Philemon received Onesimus for
the sake of Paul, his reception back again to favor was
all of grace. When David showed favor to Mephibo-
sheth for the sake of Jonathan, the favor was entirely of
grace. And when God forgives sinners " for Christ's sake,"
it is to the praise ©f the glory of his grace. The loss of
Amyntas's arm at Salamis, the labors of Paul, and the kind
ness of Jonathan, were not causes to produce benevolence,
but grounds for the safe and honorable expression of it.
David wanted nothing as a motive to induce him to spare
Absalom, but he did want something as an expedient, through
which he could spare him, with honor to his throne and gov-

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 49
ernment. Even if a medium had been found, as in the
instances of -tEschylus, Onesimus, and Mephibosheth, still the
expression of David's love would not have been due to
Absalom ; for the medium of expressing it would not at all
destroy the grace and freeness of it.
This argument from the freeness of divine grace is never
used by its friends, except when they oppose the atonement.
It is not that they care for the honors of free and sovereign
grace. They do not consider, that their use of the argument
is as much opposed to the doctrine of repentance, as it is to
the hypothesis of a commercial atonement. None of them
preach pardon without repentance ; and even those of them
who preach universal restoration, make that restoration hon
orable, only after an intervening punishment. If divine
grace, to be free and unconditional," must be supposed to act
without safe grounds, without a just reason, without an hon
orable medium, then, why not do away with punishment
altogether ? Why not renounce the doctrine of repentance,
as well as that of the atonement ? The hardened sinner no
more approves of free pardon through repentance, than the
self-righteous relishes a free pardon through an atonement.
The apostles openly preached both the atonement, and re
pentance, as if never suspecting that they infringed on the
honors of sovereign grace. I apprehend, then, that what I
have here dignified with the name of an " argument" of our
opponents, deserves no better name than that of a sophism.
To plead that a boon cannot be free, and gratuitous, if
granted upon honorable grounds only, goes to destroy and
subvert moral government entirely. For a governor to treat
the injured, and the injurious subject alike, is to destroy the
difference between right and wrong, virtue and vice. Rec-
toral love is as much exercised and honored in punishing the
injurious, as in protecting the injured. In God the attribute
of love does not consist in private affection towards man, but
in good will towards the universe. This love is as much
concerned for the public good as for individual happiness.
In the atonement, God appears to be love, love to sinners,
and love to law and justice.
The love of God is not love expressed by a weak and
unreasonable fondness, nor love exercised by arbitrary power ;
it is rectoral love, expressed, indeed, freely and gratuitously,
but expressed honorably and safely, " even as a father pitieth
his children." Even in the days of Job, it was clearly under-

50 ITS RELATION TO THE
stood, that an atonement did not destroy the freeness of divine
love, or the sovereignty of divine grace : for God was freely
disposed to pardon Job's friends before they offered their
sacrifice, and their pardon, when expressed, was freely granted
and conveyed through their sacrifice. The deliverance of a
sick man from the borders of the grave is ascribed to free
grace expressed on honorable grounds. " He will be gracious
unto him, and will say, Deliver him from going down to the
pit, for I have found a ransom." Hence then our conclusion
is warrantable, that in the atonement infinite love is freely
exercised, and transcendently honored.
In the fourth place, — The atonement shows that there is
no perfection in God opposed to the well-being of the sinner.
This well-being is not due to the sinner ; and of himself, he
will never reclaim it, for every sin is moral suicide. But
neither the loss, nor the irretrievableness of it, is to be
ascribed to God.
The scriptures sometimes describe God as angry daily
with the wicked, and as whetting his sword against him.
This figurative mode of expression is used, to teach us the
certainty of the fact, that to retrieve our well-being in sin
is as hopeless, as if all that is in God's nature were opposed
to us. Taking their position on such inspired testimony,
some theological writers have proceeded so incautiously,
as to give an idea of a kind of clashing among the perfec
tions of God, on the subject of the well-being of a sinner.
They therefore speak of love, and grace, and mercy, as if
favorable to the sinner ; but holiness, justice, and truth, as
sternly opposed to him.
The provision of atonement, as an honorable medium of
salvation to the chief of sinners, is a demonstration that God
was on the side of " good," that his thoughts were thoughts of
peace, and not of evil ; and that in these thoughts there was
no clashing of perfections, no jarring of inclinations and dis
positions. Mercy was never opposed to the exercise of justice
and truth. Justice and truth have never opposed the exercise
of mercy. Whatever divine perfections can be exercised in
a moral government, — only find a suitable and honorable
medium, and they can all be exercised freely and gloriously.
The design of the atonement is to bring sinners to love and
esteem every thing that is in God, and to honor every divine
attribute, that he may honor justice, even as he honors mercy.
The theology that represents mercy as the darling attribute

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 51
of God, and his justice as the sinner's foe, cannot be condu
cive to the formation of a full-orbed piety. Infinite holiness
is opposed to man's sin, without being opposed to his well-
being ; and infinite justice treats him as a criminal, not that
it might hinder his individual happiness so much, as that it
might protect the well-being of the universe.
Theological discourses have frequently represented Mercy,
as if it were the Darling Attribute of God : but God in the
atonement shows that every perfection is darling to him. He
has devised a way to exercise them all in the name, and for
the sake of the dearest object to him, in the universe, his only
begotten Son. The sinner who looks to the atonement, sees
and feels that there is no perfection in God opposed to his
welfare. The author of sin is alone the author of misery.
Even in hell, no sinner will ever feel that his misery has
originated in some divine attribute having been opposed to his
happiness. He will never condemn God, though he may
wickedly blaspheme him. He will never suspect that he
perished because that infinite love had not been sufficiently
expansive, — that infinite wisdom had not contrived a plan
sufficient in extent to meet his case, — that the honors of
infinite justice had not been sufficiently provided for to admit
of his pardon, — that infinite mercy had not been sufficiently
free, — or because that the law had not been sufficiently
magnified. No ; he will feel that he is his own destroyer,
that every attribute in God had provided for his welfare, that
not a single perfection had given one smile of encouragement
to his sin and rebellion, and that no divine attribute had
thrown, or left, in the way, any obstacle to his reconciliation.
" This is the condemnation," — not an angry attribute, or a
frowning perfection, but " that light is come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than fight." The whole gospel
of God says, " Fury is not in me." It is not a few attributes,
but the whole Godhead, it is God, " all in all," that is in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself, without imputing to
them their transgressions.
In the fifth place, — The atonement provides that, in the
final results of its operations in moral government, all the
divine perfections will be fully honored and glorified.
The atonement does not secure that all its designs shall be
infallibly accomplished. Such an arrangement would have
been inconsistent with the nature of moral government, which

52 ITS RELATION TO THE
is a government of free agents, and exercised, not by force,
but by the exhibition of inducements, and reasons.
The measure of atonement, like every other measure in
a moral administration, designed and adapted for the use of
free agents in a state of probation, must be supposed to be
susceptible of failure. The measure in Eden failed to keep
our first parents in innocency. The measure on Sinai failed
to preserve the Israelites from idolatry. And the atonement
may fail to prevent some from neglecting so great a salvation,
and from denying the Lord that bought them.
Nevertheless, the issue, and the upshot of the whole will
exhibit every divine perfection in untarnished lustre and
glory. The atonement is, like its own ministry, " unto God
a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them
that perish." In the perdition of the rejecters of salvation,
eternal veracity will be glorified, by the literal infliction of
the threatened penalty upon the offenders themselves, who
had despised and refused the benefits of the substituted atone
ment of the Son of God. Infinite rectitude also will be
glorified in their condemnation, as distributive justice, by
rewarding every offender according to his character ; and as
public justice, by making their punishment a memento and ex
ample to the universe. In this punishment even the goodness,
grace, mercy, and love of God, will be honorably and glori
ously vindicated, by the impression produced by the atonement
upon all intelligences, and principalities, and powers, in heav
enly places, that such a punishment was abundantly deserved
and merited; and also by the self-condemnations of the
despisers themselves, as men who had voluntarily rejected the
counsel of God, against themselves.
In the salvation of believers also every perfection will be
honored gloriously. At the close of the administration of the
atonement, the Mediator will appear " to be glorified in his
saints, and to be admired in them that believe." He could
not present himself thus publicly to the homage of the universe,
for he would be neither glorified nor admired in the effects of
the atonement on the redeemed, if any attribute of God were
tarnished or dishonored in their salvation. By the salvation
of believers infinite benevolence will be glorified in the acces
sion of happiness to the universe ; wisdom, in the success of
the stupendous expedient ; mercy, in the bliss and number of
the saved ; truth, in the fulfilment of all engagements and
promises ; holiness, in the triumphs over all sin ; justice, in the

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 53
secured ends of law and government ; and love, in the estab
lished harmony of all intelligences in the universe.
SECTION IV.
The extent of the Atonement illustrated by its relation to the
Divine Attributes.
It has been shown that in the atonement as a compensative
measure, substituted instead of the punishment of offenders,
and supplying honorable grounds for offering pardon, the
honors of all the attributes of God, are carefully consulted,
perfectly vindicated, and gloriously displayed. On the con
trary, in an atonement which is commercial in its character,
and limited in its design, the divine perfections seem to clash
in their interests, and to be displayed without harmony.
If the atonement be a transaction of commutative or
commercial justice, that is, if the atonement consist in the
substitute suffering the identical penalty due to a limited
number of offenders, and in suffering it for that number only,
to the exclusion of all the lost, then, such an atonement mars
the character of every attribute in God.
I. A commercial and limited atonement dishonors the
infinite veracity of God. By such an arrangement veracity
appears violated, unfulfilled, and compromised, because it is
not expressed in the literal execution of the threatening. It
threatened only " the soul that sinneth ; " and yet it was a
substitute, who never sinned, that died ; and even a literal
execution upon a substitute would not. have been a mea
sure of strict and immutable verity. Divine verity is also
dishonored in the apparent, if not indeed the manifest, insin
cerity of divine invitations and of the offers of the gospel
to sinners. If the atonement was not designedly offered up
for all, its benefits cannot with sincere purpose be offered to
all. If the gospel offers be true, they are true, not for aught
the sinner or the preacher knows, but they are true according
to the simple and real verity of the case between God and
the sinner. If the general offers of the gospel be false, if
they are not simple, sincere, and unsophisticated verities,
" then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain," for
truth is fallen in the street, its crown is in the dust, and its
pure robes are sullied.
H. An atonement of a commercial and limited character
exhibits infinite mercy as inadequate, restrained, and exclusive.

54 ITS RELATION TO THE
It brings forward a provision that is not sufficient to meet
all the exigency of the case. If Christ sustained only the
sufferings due to a limited number, in proportion to the
aggravation of their respective guilt, then, upon what principle
can the suffering of a penalty due to a part of mankind, be
sufficient for the whole? Sufficient for what it is? Is it
sufficient to save them, though the punishment due to them
was never endured by Christ ? If it be not sufficient for this,
the conclusion cannot be avoided, that it is sufficient for
nothing, as far as they are concerned. In such an atonement
the character of mercy does not appear with the bland, open,
generous, free, and unbounded aspect, which it wears in the
scriptural propitiation for the sins of the whole world.
III. Infinite justice has its glory obscured by a commercial
and limited atonement. Justice is honored by it, neither in
the salvation of the believer, nor in the punishment of the
unbeliever. In the salvation of a sinner, neither Christ nor
the sinner is treated according to what was due to personal
character respectively. The perdition of the unbeliever throws
a cloud around the honors of justice. Justice has provided
" a sorer punishment" for the despisers of the blood of atone
ment ; yet in real verity, on the showing of commercial
redemption, that blood was to them an unappropriable thing;
a thing which they ought not, and must not make their own,
or it had not been shed in enduring the penalty which was
due to them. Yet, on this showing the despisers of the
atonement are punished more sorely, for not appropriating to
themselves, what did not verily belong to them, and what was
never intended to benefit them. Infinite justice punishes them
awfully and eternally for not having committed a sacrilege
upon the sacred and exclusive inheritance and possession of
the church. How different is this calculating and mercenary
hypothesis from that expedient which God shows forth to
declare his righteousness, with a character unrebukable, and
with an honor unsullied.
IV. The hypothesis of a commercial and limited atonement
destroys the glories of free and sovereign grace in dispensing
pardon and salvation. Free grace docs not appear in the
method of dispensing pardon upon this scheme ; for after the
identical punishment due to the offenders has been endured
by the substitute, the deliverance of the offenders becomes a
matter of right, due, and claimable, on the principle of dis
tributive justice. Hence some of the advocates of such an

PERFECTIONS OF GOD. 55
atonement represent pardon as a boon, not to be suppHcated
for, but to be " sued out " as a claim. And hence also the
language which is sometimes used, that " the believer now
stands on higher grounds than God," because it would be
unjust to refuse him salvation.
V. The honors of infinite benevolence are dispararged by
this commercial redemption. Sometimes it is said, that the
atonement of Christ was sufficient for all, had it pleased God
to have designed and intended it for all. This is a mere
evasion, and supplies neither a proof, nor a vindication, of
divine and infinite love. Apply this principle to any other
administration of God. Suppose God to have introduced into
the material universe a principle, say gravitation, of sufficient
force and fitness, to preserve order among all the orbs of space.
Yet, notwithstanding this, in some places of his dominions,
stars hurled against stars, and systems rushed against systems,
spreading ruin every where. If we found it difficult to recon
cile this crash of worlds with infinite benevolence, would it be
enough to say, " the principle of gravitation was sufficient for
all worlds, had. it pleased God to have designed it for them
all ?" Or suppose England provided a sum, or any other
consideration, sufficient to ransom all the slaves in her colonies,
and yet thousands of slaves were still languishing and dying
in the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity, would it be a
vindication of the benevolence of the government to say, " the
ransom was sufficient to redeem all the slaves, had it been
designed for them all ?" No; designing for a few a ransom
sufficient for all, would confer no honor upon benevolence.
VI. The wisdom of God shares in all the dishonor which a
commercial and limited atonement casts on the other perfections
of God. If the atonement consisted in sufferings sufficient
for all, but designed for a limited number, such prodigality in
agonies, sufferings, and blood, would reflect no credit on the
wisdom that planted it. Sometimes, the perdition of the
wicked is advanced as an irrefragable evidence against the
death of Christ being an atonement for all ; because that
in the case of the lost, Christ must have died in vain.
That Christ should die in vain, is supposed to be a reflection
on the wisdom of God. Though I think this argument is
raised from inattention to the nature of all measures of moral
government, yet it comes 'with a very bad grace from the
advocates of a limited atonement. If the atonement was
sufficient for all, sufficient for the saved, and sufficient for the

56 ITS RELATION TO THE
lost, what is become of the sufficiency for the lost ? Even
on their own showing, Christ has died partly in vain. The
hypothesis assumes that out of the lavish expenditure of suf
ferings, and out of the infinite accumulation of merits, only a
small amount is designed by God to be of any service to lum-
self, or of use to any of his creatures. What becomes, then,
of more than was sufficient to save the elect ? It is, on their
own showing, vain. A moral atonement that does not calcu
late the sufferings of Christ arithmetically supposes that though
it may not profit those who receive its- grace in vain, yet it
shall not be in vain as to the great ends of moral government:
and it should be remembered, that the salvation of offenders
is not the chief end of an atonement, but the glory of God's
public character. The atonement does this, even if not one
soul were saved. On the other hand a commercial atonement,
measuring the amount of merits by the quantum of sufferings
endured, or by the mass of blessings conveyed, squanders and
throws away as useless, vast treasures of all-sufficient merit.
It makes that part of the blood of the covenant an unholy
thing, unconsecrated to any holy end, unappropriated to any
good purpose.

CHAPTER IV.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE PURPOSES
OF GOD.
A writer upon the decrees of God is generally regarded as
one "who meddleth with his Maker ;" and his inquiries,
however cautiously conducted, are hushed with the aphorism,
" secret things belong unto the Lord, things revealed belong
to us and to our children for ever." Theaters of this text
suppose that the divine purposes and decrees are among " the
secret things," and not among " the things revealed," and that
therefore, they do not belong " to us and our children."
Is it true that the divine purposes are not among the " things
revealed?" If they are not, an inquiry into them is an
impertinent intrusion upon the arcana of the Godhead. But
if they can be proved to be among the " things revealed," they
" belong to us and to our children," as moral means.

PURPOSES OF GOD. 57
It is indisputably " revealed," that there are such things as
divine purposes and decrees. In numerous instances it has
been revealed what these purposes are. Even if the purposes
themselves are not in the fist of moral means, the revelation
of their existence is undoubtedly so. In the pages of scrip
ture the announcement or revelation of these purposes is
always connected with their influence on practical religion.
That the practical tendency of such a developement of the
divine decrees is beneficial, may be illustrated by the following
case : — A general haranguing his army just before a battle,
gives them a solemn assurance, that it is decreed for them to
have the victory. This announcement, so far from lulling them
to. indolence and inactivity, acts upon them as a moral induce
ment to put forth the most determined and vigorous exertion
of their agency. If a coward abuse this announcement to
slink from effort ; if the enemy abuse it, to charge it with
presumption ; such an abuse would not, in real life, be re
garded as a fair argument against its practical influence.
The actual tendency of the announcement is to produce manly
effort. This instance illustrates the holy tendency of the
scriptural exhibitions of the divine decrees, as a moral induce
ment to persuade men to obedience, and to perseverance in
grace. SECTION I.
The Atonement the Foundation of the Divine Purposes.
The holy scriptures represent the atonement of Christ as
the foundation of all the arrangements, counsels, and purposes
of God. The system of the universe contemplated by the
eternal mind, was a system intellectual and accountable ; a
system susceptible of the intrusion of sin ; a system, never
theless, not to be given up to the ravages of evil, but to be
restored and repaired; and, consequently, a system to be
altogether conveyed over to the hands of a Mediator, who
should, by a compensative administration, establish eternal
order and holiness.
The moral system of the universe could not, after the
intrusion of sin, answer the end of its creation, without being
restored or repaired. This restoration, therefore, forms one
of its characteristics, and seems as essential to it, as its intel
lectual and accountable elements. No way of restoring or
repairing it has been revealed, except that by a Mediator.

58 ITS RELATION TO THE
As its restoration alone secures the end of its creation, and
as this could only be accompfished by a Mediator, mediation
is essential to the system. The whole arrangement forms
one mediatorial constitution. The system of the universe,
then, was not even contemplated, irrespective of a Mediator.
The principles of mediation pervade the whole of it, entering
into its creation and sustenance, government and restoration,
and into its eternal deliverance and glorification.
The entire arrangement of all the affairs of the universe
is to be regarded as one grand mediatorial system, the ground
and foundation of which is the atonement of the Son of. God.
By saying that mediation is essential to the system, I mean
that it is on account of the atonement, as the ground of a
compensative administration, that God carries on the affairs
of his government. The whole of the manifold wisdom of
God, exercised in the universe, is regulated entirely " accord
ing to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus
our Lord." Eph. iii. 9, 10, 11.
To ask what would have become of the moral universe,
| had no atonement been appointed, is just as rational as to ask
1 what would have become of the material universe, had the
principle of gravitation not been appointed. All the pro
ceedings in the moral universe take for granted a mediatorial
constitution, just as those in the physical creation suppose
gravitation. In the scriptures the Lord Jesus Christ is often represented
as " the elect," " the chosen of God," " the only begotten,
the first-born of many brethren." The people of God are
represented, as "chosen in him," and for his sake. The
whole universe is described as under his sway ; for he, as
" the head of all principalities and powers, ascended far
above all heavens, that he might fill all things."
It is one of the most prominent articles in the doctrines of
the apostle Paul, that the atonement of Christ is the founda
tion of all the divine counsels, &c., that the whole system of
the moral universe is one entire mediatorial constitution.
" We know that [the universe'] all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. For, whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly

PURPOSES OF GOD. 59
places in Christ ; according as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before him, in love ; having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the
glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. In m« we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his
grace; wherein he hath abounded towards us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his
will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed
in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of time, he
MIGHT GATHER TOGETHER IN ONE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in
him. Whom he hath set at his own right hand in the heaven
ly places, far above all principality and power, and might
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come ; and hath put all
things [the universe] under his feet, and gave him to be
the Head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fulness of him that filleth all in all," Rom. viii.
28, 29. Eph. i. 3 - 10. 20 - 23.
These beautiful passages exhibit the mediation of Christ as
the centre of all the counsels, and all the works of God ¦ —
the sun around which all the divine purposes, and all the
divine operations, move.
The apostle John likewise represents all the divine purposes
as being administered, in the name, and by the authority, of
Jesus Christ. In the fifth chapter of the Apocalypse, the .'
divine purposes and counsels concerning the universe, are
considered as a book sealed with seven seals, the contents of',
which were to be developed and administered, by one in the j
midst of the throne, who was a Lamb as it had been slain.
The giving of the book to the Lamb, represents the commit
ting of the whole of the divine measures and counsels to the
Son of God. The Lamb who takes the book is in the midst
of the throne, in the very source and centre of all authority
and favor in the universe. In that centre of the universe he
is " a Lamb as it had been slain," a Lamb of atonement, the
centre of the administration of all moral measures, to which
all the plans, and all the decrees, and all the works, and all
the ways of God have constant reference.

60 its relation to the
section ii.
The Atonement an Expression of the Divine Counsels.
The atonement is, itself, one of the counsels of God, and
should be considered as a specimen of all his counsels, an
index to their course, and a sample of their character.
I. The atonement is a public expression of the benevolence
of the divine decrees.
In the atonement of his Son, the eternal and blessed God
unbosoms his purposes, and says, "Fury is not in me;" "I
knew the thoughts which I have thought concerning you,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil." Nothing can be so
revolting to humanity, and so repugnant to a heavenly mind,
as an hypothesis that supposes the great God, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, brooding from eternity over a scheme or
counsel of evil against the creature.
The counsel of God, ordered in all things and sure, is a
counsel of peace, and not of evil. The evil is not in the
counsel ; " For God, willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that in two things by which it is
impossible for God to He, we might have strong consolation."
Where, then, do men find despair? Where do they find
perdition ? Certainly not in the counsel of God ; for in this
there is nothing but " strong consolation."
God has no counsel against the salvation of any sinner.
Let some one point out to us where such a hostile counsel is
revealed. Let some sinner be mentioned who has perished
in consequence of such a counsel. The whole counsel of
God is for good, and for good only. It says, " Let the wicked
forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and
let him turn unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon
him ; and to our God, for he wiU abundantly pardon." Is it
possible that God may have any secret counsel opposed to
this public declaration ? He has no decree that operates
against his promises. He has no purpose that contradicts his
oath. I befieve not. He cannot deny himself.
If nothing else will prove that the decrees of God are not
thoughts of evil, let the condescension of Bethlehem — let
the death of Calvary, prove it : believe it for the very work's
sake. The Son of God, was delivered to death "by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God." And how

PURPOSES OF GOD. 61
did this counsel run ? Take a specimen. " God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting fife."
Does the cross, then, express any thoughts of evil against
the sinner ? No ; but it bears the inscription written with
the blood of atonement, and addressed to men of all lan
guages, " Him that cometh unto me, I will in nowise cast
out." As the atonement itself is a measure of pure benevolence,
it is, as such, a specimen of all the counsels of God. Hear
what the author of the atonement says, " This is the con
demnation," — not that there is a settled degree of reprobation
gone forth, against any number of men, — but, " that Hght is
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
Hght." Hence, it is charged against the Pharisees as a heinous
crime, that they " rejected the counsel of God against them
selves," to their own ruin. This charge aUeges that every
thing in the counsel itself is for the benefit of the sinner, and
nothing against him ; that all the benefits of the counsel are
freely and sincerely offered to the acceptance of the sinner ;
that the sinner voluntarily, but most perversely, rejects these
benefits of the counsel ; and that such a rejection is a crime,
and makes the sinner and the sinner alone, the author of his
own ruin. The purpose, design, and tendency of the atone
ment, is, " not to condemn the world, but that the world
through him might be saved." The supposition that there
are, notwithstanding, some decrees secretly opposed to this
avowed design of the atonement, is unreasonable, improbable,
and impossible.
n. The atonement may be considered, farther, as an
expression of the non-interference of the divine decrees with
the Hberty of moral agents.
The whole work of the atonement, from the incarnation of
Christ to his ascension, was accomplished without interfering
with the free agency of any one being. Its operation in
moral government, and its appUcation to man by the Holy
Spirit, are carried on without infringing at aU on human
liberty. And as is the character of the atonement itself, so
is the character of the counsel concerning it.
No advocate of Hberty can wish for a freer range for the
freedom of the will, than the Jews and the Gentiles had,
when the Son of God was engaged in the work of making an
6

62 ITS relation to the
atonement ; and yet in the whole transaction the counsel of
God stands, and free agency is perfectly unconstrained.
" For of a truth, against the holy child Jesus, whom God had
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel, were gathered together for to do
whatsoever the hand and the counsel of God had determined
before to be done." We may puzzle ourselves, and puzzle
others, by asking with Nicodemus, " How can these things
be ? " But it should be considered, that the demonstration of
such problems is not given to scholars on our form, that our
work is to search theTcnptures '^whelhertfiese things are
so," and to act accordingly. In these scriptures we discover,
that the divine decrees did not interfere with the freedom of
any person concerned in the murdering and crucifying of
Christ. This non-interference with free agency, the atonement
maintains in aU its operation and influence in moral govern
ment. The gospel exhibits the atonement, as an open
medium of reconciliation with God, and as a motive to deter
from sin, and persuade to holy obedience. The benefits of
the atonement are freely offered to the unconstrained accept
ance of every one who hears the gospel. Any acceptance of
it that is not free and unconstrained, is not pleasing to God,
nor available to the benefit of man. In accepting it, and
choosing it, as a motive to holiness, and as a medium of par
don, the beHever is free and unconstrained ; and in rejecting
it as the means of salvation, every sinner acts according to
his own free and uninfluenced choice.
When the Holy Spirit opens the heart to attend to the
claims and influence of the atonement, there is no more
violence offered to the freedom of the wiU, than there was in
Christ showing his wounds to Thomas to make him "not
faithless but befieving." The atonement effects no change
whatever in the laws of Hberty. It does not constrain God
to exercise mercy ; and it does not constrain the sinner to
accept of pardon. As, therefore, this " counsel of God " can
be administered without infringing on free agency, it is a
sample and a proof that all the purposes of God may be so
too. All the works of God are the products of his mind and
counsel, and are, therefore, all of the same nature and tend
ency. The works of God do not contradict his thoughts, nor
do his thoughts contradict his works. His works are always
the open and sincere expression of his thoughts and purposes,

PURPOSES OF GOD. 63
and as the atonement is one of his • chief works, it is an
expression and a specimen of the benevolence of all his
decrees, and of their non-interference with the laws of free
agency. SECTION III.
The Atonement a Vindication of the Divine Purposes-
In the history of moral dispensations, the divine purposes
have been Hable to many charges, as having been accessary
to the intrusion of sin, as throwing an air of insincerity on
divine warnings and invitations, as being arbitrary in deter
mining to communicate gracious influences, and as occasioning
the eternal perdition of unbefievers. As God works all
things in his government according to the counsel of- his own
will, it was necessary, for the ends of government, that the
character of the divine counsels should not only be explained
and iUustrated, but be clearly and publicly vindicated, by the
atonement. First. The atonement of Christ vindicates the divine-
decrees, from having been accessary to the intrusion of sin.
Jesus Christ is not a minister of sin, and his atonement is
not an apology for sin. There is nothing in the measure of
atonement that is designed or calculated to favor sin, or to
extenuate its enormity, but every thing to oppose, to destroy,
and to prevent it. The atonement is a demonstration to the
universe, that there never was, in the eternal mind, a decree
accessary to evil ; for every thing in its provisions is purpos
ed, and designed, and fitted to suppress aU sin. God, indeed,
foresaw that evil would intrude into the universe, and he
made provisions against its entrance ; but his mind and
counsels are quite guiltless of it. To vindicate his decrees
from the suspicion of any share in evil, he has, at an infinite
expense, shown how repugnant sin was to their order and
character, by publicly condemning it in the person of his own
Son. «
Evil is not the product of mind. \ Sin is not the result of
design and arrangement. Suppose I were to use such a
phrase as that, the annihilation of the world would be an act
of omnipotence ; I should be speaking what is metaphysicaHy
absurd ; for I should make Almighty power to act — for
what? to do nothing. It is highly inconsistent to suppose
omnipotence in effort or at work to produce — nothing. And

64 j -' ITS RELATION TO THE
it is as inconsistent, though we may not perceive the incon
gruity so distinctly, to suppose evil to be the product of mind,
and purpose, and decree in God.
,t God does nothing but good. To purpose not to do good is
to purpose to do NO-thing, and a purpose to do NO-thing is
surely no purpose, no decree ; that is, the absence of the
reverse of good is not the product of design, evil is not the
result of arrangement.* Paley has observed that in the
bodily frame of man there is nothing intended or designed to
produce pain. Whatever, therefore, of pain may be in the
human frame, it is not the result of design or purpose. That
which is true of the frame of one man, is true of the frame
of every man in the world ; yes, it is true of the frame of
the entire universe. In the whole vast, multifarious, -and
boundless system, there is not one principle, not one move
ment arranged, designed, and intended to produce evil.
Suppose an objector, viewing an emaciated man " in sore
pain upon his bed," to say, " This pain is not accidental, there
must be some cause for it, there must be something in the
formation of man, contrived, purposed, and secretly intro
duced to give pain, which argues the want of benevolence in
the author of his frame." We would reply, " No, you are
wrong. If you knew weU the constitution of man, you would
know that there is nothing introduced that is calculated to
give pain ; there is no sinew, nor muscle, neither gland nor
duct, that is calculated and designed to produce disease. But
if your knowledge of the frame of man does not convince
you of the benevolence of its author, look at the provision of
medicinal virtue which he has plentifully stored in vegetables
and in minerals, and in the air and the water around us, and
see that aU his designs and purposes are — to produce health,
and to prevent disease."
If the same objector, viewing the shattered moral constitution
of the universe, were to say, " This evil was foreseen, and
might have been prevented ; its existence, therefore, argues
the want of benevolence either in the nature, or in the purposes,
of its author." We would again reply " No, you are wrong.
¦If you knew thoroughly the constitution of the universe, you
would know that there is in it no law, no motive, no power,
no influence, that is calculated or intended to produce evil.
',, ,;-/,-.  . - . - , ¦ ... ;¦;,; ¦. . rr
* See this ably demonstrated in Dr. William's Essay on Equity and Sov
ereignty ; especially in the Prefaoo, and Notes and Illustrations. — Ed. 1809.

PURPOSES OF GOD. 65
But if your knowledge of the arranged constitution of the
universe does not convince you of the benevolence of its
maker, and justify to you the ways of God to man, examine
the splendid compensative provision which he has made, in the
atonement of his own son, a measure of pure benevolence
and unmixed good-
If we are not to judge of an agent's design and purposes
from the adaptation of his means, the fitness of his actions,
and the tendency of his measures, then, there must be an
end to all reasoning, for the agent must be either without
contrivance, or without sincerity. In the measures of a wise
agent, the benevolent tendency of the means is a proof, and
a vindication, of the benevolent nature and bearings of his
purposes. The atonement is a measure of pure benevolence,
" set forth " as a vindication of the pure benevolence of the
purposes and decrees of God, and of their being guiltless of
the origin and ravages of sin.
Secondly. The atonement vindicates the divine purposes
from the suspicion of throwing an air of insincerity on the
invitations of the gospel.
The invitations of the gospel are open, universal, and obli
gatory ; but men constantly abuse them, or neglect them, by
indefinable guesses at the nature and the order of the divine
decrees. Their sophism generaHy runs in this way : God has*
predetermined to whom he will impart gracious influences to
bring them to accept his offers : and since he has not predes
tinated to do this for aU, he cannot sincerely will that all
should comply with his invitations.
This sophism is grounded upon two suppositions, wliich are
unsound and shallow. It supposes that a disposition to obey,
is indispensably necessary to the accountableness of a sinner,
and essential to his power of obeying. As if a governor could
not justly make any laws which some of the subjects had not
the disposition to obey : or, as if no king could make.any laws
against smuggling, but such as smugglers felt disposed to
obey. This view of the case is subversive of all government,
as it insinuates that it would be a sufficient apology for diso
beying the law or command, that the smuggler said, he could
not obey it, for he felt no inclination or disposition to submit
to it, and therefore it is unjust to make him accountable for
it. The above sophism has another glaring error. It supposes
that the rule of the subject's homage is not the published
enactment of the government, but his individual apprehension
6*

66 its relation to the
of what might be the private mind, and secret purposes, of the
king, which, by the bye, is supposed to be at variance with
his published and avowed declaration. This stultifies all
legislation and all accountableness. Whatever purposes and
counsels are unrevealed, they are not among the moral means
to be employed by us ; and as far as they are unpublished,
they are never the rule of human conduct. The decrees
pubUshed to us in the gospel are not the rule of conduct to the
heathen, until they are published to them ; but the moment
they are published, a great and eternal change is made, both
in the measure of their accountableness, and in the rule of
their conduct. We shall not be judged according to what we
deem to be the secret mind of God, but according to what he
has promulgated as his declared win.
In aU the concerns of life and business, men never pose
themselves about the decrees of eternity. They never consult
the eternal decrees to know what trade to pursue,' in what town
to set up, what physician to call in, what medicine to take, &c.
In aU such transactions men reason and calculate on the
general character, aspect, adaptation, bearing, and tendency of
things ; and they regard such arrangements as pretty clearly
denoting to them the mind and the purpose of their Maker
and providential Governor. In all their speculations and
transactions, the farmers never make a supposed unrevealed
decree their rule, because " the bow in the cloud " always
vindicates the purposes of God from any suspicion of hostility
to their " seed time and harvest time." Let us be as wise in
our generation ; and, hi our spiritual transactions, beUeve,
that the atonement of Christ vindicates all the decrees of God
from any aspect opposed to the pubfished declaration, " Him
that cometh I will in no wise cast out."
The purposes or decrees of God are revealed and publish
ed, not in audible sounds, but in the nature, tendency, and
meaning of the things which he expressly commands, or
offers, or prohibits. To suppose any design or purpose oppo
site to these is to suppose the most horrible monstrosity in the
universe, — God contradicting himself.
It is true that in numerous instances the event is very
different from the design and purpose declared. In a moral
government, during an economy of probation, in wliich milHons
of free agents are at work, such a difference and such a failure
are, as we have seen in a former chapter, to be expected.
This assertion may sound startling, but try to evade it as you

PPRPOSES OF GOD. 67
may, you can not avoid the conclusion, that the moral govern- ¦
ment of free agents in a state of trial, must be susceptible of
failures. It is a fact that such failures have taken place ;
and to attempt to wrest, or alter this fact, is to try to change
the universe.
The will of God is pubficly revealed for public ends, and it
is impossible to show what private ends he can have, that are
opposed to his public avowals. The universe is a public
commonwealth. Of this commonwealth God is the public
head, and chief member. In administering its affairs he does
every thing in his official capacity and public character, as
the Governor of it. All the measures proposed and executed
in it are for the pubfic good of the whole commonwealth. In
its government every wrong and every sin is treated, not as
a private offence, but as a public injury, to be pubficly
noticed, whether in punishment or in pardon. As the public
and official organ of this moral commonwealth, God has
announced his purposes, requirements, prohibitions, offers,
and invitations.
These form his public will : pubHc, not in opposition to
secret, but in opposition to private or unofficial. I caU this
public will, as I call the great principle on which divine
moral government is administered, public justice ; as con
sulting the public good of the commonwealth, as weU as the
private interests of individuals.
The atonement of Christ is a pubfic vindication of this
public wiU from any suspicion of insincerity. In the atone
ment all the promises, invitations and offers, are yea and
amen in Christ, to the glory of the divine character and pur
poses. The nature of God, as the God of truth in real works
and words of verity — the accurate adaptation of the provision
to the case of the sinner — the actual experience of every
appUcant at the door of mercy — the perpetuation of gracious
offers and invitations in the world, after so many forfeitures —
the pressing earnestness with which men are invited and
courted to accept them — the aggravated and sorer punish
ment which befalls those who refuse them — and the worthy
name and character of the Mediator, who reveals and confirms
all these by his death ; all these are " things in which it is
impossible for God to He," and wliich impress, upon all his
proposals and overtures, the image and superscription of verily
undissembling sincerity.

68 ITS RELATION TO THE
To suppose that the atonement is only a semblance of be
nevolence and love, put forth to impose on mankind, to mock
the applicant, or to tantafize the mquiring penitent, is nothing
less than " to trample under foot the blood of the everlasting
covenant." In the atonement there is provision purposely
intended for all, and aU are sincerely invited to partake of it
freely. The all-sufficiency of the atonement is the foundation
laid for the universal invitations of the gospel. An aU-
sufficiency, not intended for all who are invited to partake of
it, is such an awful imposture, that I grudge the very ink,
that mentions it in connexion with " the gospel of truth."
If the atonement do not prove the faithfulness and sincerity
of God, where shall we look for proof. Ought we not to
shudder at the very surmise of God's using a mental reserva
tion in the atonement of his own Son ? and in the offers and
invitations and assurances of his grace ? Was the blessed
Saviour himself insincere in his laborious toil, his bloody
sweat, or ignominious death ? No, he was full of grace and
truth. If the character of God for sincerity, and the charac
ter of a theological system for consistency, come in competition,
which must give way ? In a weU-ordered mind there can
not be a moment's hesitation. Let us rather renounce our
theological systems, or confess our ignorance of the whole
of the case, than suspect for a moment any mental reservation,
insincerity, and dissimulation, either in the divine invitations,
or in the divine purposes and counsels. In the atonement
God has given a pubfic testimony of his truth and sincerity;
and " he that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal
that God is true. Then let God be true, though all human
theologians were liars."
Thirdly. The atonement vindicates the divine purposes
from the charge of capricious arbitrariness, and partiality, in
the arrangement to impart sovereign and gracious influences.
The Bible asks the question, " Who maketh thee to differ ? "
On the answer of this question hang all the controversies in
polemical theology. The Bible itself answers this question.
" Unto you it is given, in the behalf of Christ, to believe on
him." " God worketh in you to wiU and to do of his good
pleasure." " God giveth the increase." That the difference
in the spiritual conditions of men, and the change in men's
hearts, is produced by divine influences, is asserted by the
whole scripture, and is recognized in every one's prayers,
though not in every one's creed.

PURPOSES OF GOD. 69
It ought not to escape notice, that it is only in the transac
tion of saving a sinner, that men dare ask God, " Why doest
thou this ? " God has not " seen it good " to give a detailed
account of this matter, or to answer the question, except,
indeed, with a warning voice, " Who art thou, O man, that
repUest against God ? " Nevertheless, he has introduced into
his government, the measure of atonement to .be an inter
pretation of his purposes, and a vindication of his counsels,
against suspicions of unjust speciafity or unreasonable sover
eignty. The exercise of a sovereign speciality in the application of
the atonement is indisputable. No hypothesis that admits
the death of Christ to be an atonement can deny this. There
are in its application three instances of speciality wliich are
signal, broad, and evident There is a speciality in its appli
cation to mankind, to the exclusion of fallen angels. There
is a speciality in its appfication to believers, to the exclusion
of its rejecters. For, the Word of Reconciliation, perfect
and powerful as it is, will "not profit the hearer," unless
it be "mingled with faith" in the hearer. There is a
third speciality, in the application of its benefits more largely
to some believers than others, in proportion to their works
and labors for Christ. I shall not enter now on a considera
tion of these subjects, as it will be more in place when we
come to the chapter on the atonement in its relation to the
work of the Spirit.
Here we have three weU-defined, indisputable, instances of
sovereign speciality in the appfication of the benefits of the
death of Christ : What shall we do with them ? How shall
we evade them ? They are not capricious, for they are the
uniform laws observed in the appfication of the atonement.
Shall we say that they are unjust, and that God has exercised
a prerogative, in dispensing his favors, to which he had no
right ? Try it. Did you ever think that for God to take
mercy on man, was really a wrong to the devils ? Was the
conversion of Saul of Tarsus an evil in itself, and a wrong
to aU the Pharisees ? Is conferring gracious honors bounti
fully, upon those who have sown bountifully, a wrong to those
who have sown sparingly ? Again, I say, here they are,
three prominent, stubborn, immoveable, and imperishable
facts of speciality : what will you do with them ? Betake
yourself to the feet of Jesus Christ, and there learn to say,
" Even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." If

70 ITS RELATION TO THE
there be no evil, injury, or wrong, in the actual, practical,
and tangible exercise of this speciality, there can be no evil,
injury, or wrong, in purposing and determining thus to exer
cise it.
It may, perhaps, be surmised by some, that the detennina-
tion to apply the atonement with this speciafity was partial
and capricious. Let us briefly consider the state of the case
between God. and man. God has a claim to the whole exist
ence and to the entire service of man. Man, by sinning,
revolts from these claims. Though man refuses these claims,
God still maintains and defends them. God, as moral govern
or, is not bound to give to a revolting subject a disposition to
own his claims, or else to withdraw his claims. The punish
ment of a revolter is due to the governor, for the ends of
good government. The punishment due may, indeed, be
suspended, provided the ends -of good government be not
thereby weakened ; that is, provided some measure or expe
dient can be introduced, which will answer the same ends as
the punishment of the criminal. Such a measure we have
asserted the atonement of Christ to be — a measure devised
and instituted by God himself.
Here let us pause and think — Can the moral governor
justly arraign and determine, that this compensative measure
shall not be altogether in vain — that it shall not entirely fail
of the purposes for which it was introduced ? What being
or person will God wrong or injure by such a determination ?
Which of his attributes would be clouded by it ? Would a
greater good be secured, and more certainly secured, without
such a determination ? Would there have been less danger
of the perdition of souls ? Would men have been more sure
of being saved ? Would Christ have been more sure of his
rewards, had such a determination been excluded from the
divine counsels ? These are questions not to be blinked.
You must allow that in saving man, God either acts according
to a plan and determination, or he has planned and deter
mined what is wrong.
I wish to offer one suggestion more, before I dismiss this
momentous subject. I feel perfectly assured that God's
determination to exercise his prerogative to prevent the utter
failure of the atonement, was consistent with his justice,
mercy, and wisdom ; but I wish to suggest, whether the stu
pendous dignity and worth of the atonement, do not supply
honorable grounds for deteiTnining that such a glorious meas-

PURPOSES OF GOD. 71
ure should not entirely fail of its great ends. The various
dispensations of probation are various experiments in moral
government, in which God submits his own plans and ways
to the acceptance and for the use of free agents. If any
object to the word " experiment," I beg to refer them for the
meaning of it to the parable of the barren fig-tree, and to
that, of the husbandman sending his servants, and afterwards
his son, to the vineyard. These dispensations or experiments
are capable of failure. In proof, it is scarcely necessary to
repeat that the Eden experiment failed — and so did also the
Sinai experiment. Such susceptibifity of failure has been
shown to be incidental to a moral government and a state of
trial. As an infallible remedy will fail to cure a person who
refuses to take it, so may the atonement fail to profit a man
that seeks justification by works. But there is in the atone
ment a dignity, a . worth, and a merit, to deserve in the
estimation of God, that it shaU not entirely fail, but have a
glorious accomplishment. Its worth is sufficient to justify a
determination, in the counsels of God, that he will interfere
to dispose many of the revolters to return to their allegiance ;
and also sufficient to exculpate such a determination from the
charge of partiality or capriciousness.
Fourthly. The atonement of Christ is a vindication of
the divine purposes, from the suspicion of having been the
cause, or the occasion of the perdition of the rejecters of the
gospel. Every one will allow, that the advocates of sovereign pre
destination have used very incautious language upon this
subject, partly to exalt the freedom of divine grace, and
partly to impress the unbeliever with the certainty of his
condemnation and fate. Of this incautious language, the
opponents have made a most abundant use, and it is to be
observed, that generally the doctrine of predestination is
attacked, chiefly as it has been represented by the most
incautious writers. Many writers have written against the
divine decrees as represented by Toplady, Hawker, Vaughan
of Leicester, &c, but none against President Edwards, Dr.
Edward Williams, Andrew Fuller, &c. Indeed, I might say
that there is scarcely one author who has written against
predestination to life; all the attacks have been directed
againsi a decree of reprobation, wliich, as a human and un
seriptural doctrine, has been found more easily assailable.

72 ITS RELATION TO THE
The divine purposes have been sometimes represented as
the cause of a sinner's perdition. Such representations may
have been made to demonstrate to the sinner, the infallible
certainty of his condemnation, under the impression that
making his destruction to be a subject of inexorable decree,
he would see the impossibility of escaping it
As it is a general impression that an event to be certain
must be decreed, I crave the indulgence of a few lines, even
at the charge of metaphysical prolixity, to show that an event
may be certain without being decreed. The difference between
truth and falsehood, right and wrong, is certain, without being
decreed ; for no decree can possibly cause it to be otherwise.
Things are not right merely because God does them, but He
does them because they are right, and right irrespective of
any decree to make them so. The whole is greater than its
part ; two straight lines cannot enclose a space : one and two
will not make four : if two mountains are created, there must
be a valley between them. No decree can cause these things
to be otherwise. So, if God produce a creature, that creature
must be inferior to the Creator. This cannot be the result of
a decree, for no decree can alter it ; and none will say, that
God can decree to create a being equal to himself. The
dependence of the creature, then, on the Creator, is an event
certain, and yet not caused by a decree. If such a created
dependent being be separated, whether voluntarily or invol
untarily, from its supporter, the result will be ruin. This
ruin, whether physical or moral, cannot be the result of a
decree, for no decree can cause a creature to be independent
of its creator.
Let us now apply these clear principles. By sin man falls
voluntarily from his dependence on the Creator, consequently
moral ruin is perfectly certain without being ascribed to the
divine decrees. This moral ruin is another word for all the
miseries of sin. The evils of sin are not contrivances of
God, for they would have been the same had we never heard
of the divine decrees. Let us suppose a case. A man, by
lies and falsehoods, brings himself into trammels and diffi
culties exceedingly detrimental and injurious to his personal
interests. He is not to blame divine providence, and the
divine decrees, that such are the natural consequences of
falsehood, for no decree can make them otherwise. Divine
decrees may interfere to prevent the consequences from
taking place, but they never can cause it that such conse-

PURPOSES OF GOD. 73
quences will not arise from lying. And surely such a
sovereign prevention in any given case, is not the cause,
causa causans, why the natural consequences of lying, actually
take place in other instances. The Har himself is alone to
be blamed. This reasoning is appficable to every other sin
as well as to lying. If there be one doctrine in the scripture
more clear than another, it is that the destruction of the well-
being of man is entirely of himself, irrespective of any decree.
After all, it is a fact that both the friends and the opponents
of predestination agree, that nothing worse shall befal any
sinner, than justice. No human being shall be wronged
even in perdition.
These metaphysical principles are fully borne out by tan
gible facts, which take place now in the present adminis
tration of moral government. Within our own observation,
there have been persons on whom the wisest and the best
means of improvement have been used in vain. These
persons fully know their duty and their master's will, yet
habituaUy live in sin. They have been on the bed of sickness,
and nigh unto death ; their remorse was excruciating, they
earnestly prayed for respite, and vowed that on the restoration
of health they would lead very different lives : they have
recovered, and they have been more hardened and reckless
in sin than ever. These things have occurred to them again
and again : and now all say that they seem as if given up of
God to the hardness of their own hearts. This is, alas ! a
very common case. But when such language is used con
cerning such a sinner, is there any impression that such a
giving up is unrighteous ? Does any one think that such a
hardened character is the product of any divine decree ?
No : every candid and holy mind may indeed view such a
character as a case for his pity, but more for blame and
reprehension. This case is not solitary. It is the case of
every sinner that has ever perished. It is the case of every
instance of reprobation, a reprobation not the result of divine
decrees, but the natural result of a character hardened in
wrong, "to love darkness rather than fight, because his deeds
were evil."
As a vindication of this character of the divine purposes,
the atonement is " set forth," for there is no reprobation in
the atonement. The atonement in its design and in its aspect,
in its testimony and in its influence, has no reprobation in it
It is a propitiation for the sins of the whole world ; it is a
7

74 ITS RELATION TO THE
testimony of "love to the world," and consists in a "death
for every man." " The blood that speaketh better things,"
never speaks reprobation. It speaks salvation in every
syllable. It speaks and pleads for pardon in every case,
and on every application. There are indeed some cases,
which are not pleaded by the blood of Christ, but there is
not a single case reprobated by it. The cases not pleaded by
him are those, which sinners refuse to entrust him with ; the
Intercessor himself rejects none. Every drop of the blood
of atonement says, " Reprobation is not in me." An atone
ment exhibited to vindicate absolute reprobation, would con
vulse the universe.

SECTION IV.
The Extent of Atonement explained by the character of the
Divine Purposes.
The advocates of a limited atonement have always appealed
to the divine purposes as the impregnable defences of partic
ular salvation. The real state of the question I deem to be
this — Did the Father will, and did the Son design, that the
atonement should be a medium of salvation to all men, or to
a select chosen number only ?
The question is not to be decided by the event, but by the
nature of a " design "in a moral government Thus were
we to inquire, whether God designed that the moral law pub-
fished on Sinai should preserve all the Jews in his service
and worship ? — no one would answer and decide the question
by the event, without reflecting unfavorably on the sincerity
of the divine character. We may justly say, that a thing is
designed to produce and to secure any end, when it is fitted
and adapted to it, though eventuaUy it may fail of it. The
arrangement with Adam in the garden of Eden was adapted,
and consequently designed, to keep him from falling. The
event indeed was otherwise, but the purpose was sincere and
real. So the atonement of Christ is adapted, and therefore
designed, to save man from sin, though the event in numerous
instances may be otherwise. Some will not come unto him
that they might have fife ; they wiU not have him to rule
over them ; they neglect their great salvation ; they tread
under foot the blood wherewith they were atoned, and they
deny and reject the Lord that bought them.

PURPOSES OF GOD. 75
Commercial views of the atonement of Christ engender
sentiments about the divine decrees, which are unfavorable to
the character of divine veracity. If the atonement consists
in the literal suffering of the real penalty due to a certain
number of offenders, it is evident that the identical penalty
due to the others has not been suffered, and consequently that
there is no provision whatever made, and designed, for their
salvation. This commercial atonement gives the sinner no
alternative. The penalty, on this hypothesis, must be suffered
before he can be saved ; and if Christ has not suffered it for
him, he must suffer it himself ; and if he suffer it himself, he
will not survive it, he will be lost — and lost because the quan
tum of his punishment was not enumerated in the amount
of penalties allotted for atonement. Yet, notwithstanding this,
he is condemned and punished for not availing himself of the
sufferings of Christ as the means of his salvation, whereas,
according to the true verity of the case, these sufferings were
never provided or intended, or designed to be at all available
for him : indeed, it was never decreed that Christ should profit
him. If the divine purposes run thus, the universal aspect
of the atonement is an imposing semblance ; the urgent
general call of the gospel is serious trifling ; and the con
demnation for unbelief — for not befieving what was really
not true, — for rejecting what he verily was never welcome
to, — such a condemnation is an enormity, for which all the
languages of the globe have no epithet.
The friends of a particular and limited atonement argue
that the Father's election, and the Son's redemption, are of
the same extent, or relate to the same individual persons, to
all such, and to none else : so that all the chosen people are
redeemed, and all the redeemed are the chosen to salvation.
They also plead that there is not, in the scriptures, the least
intimation that Christ's redemption either exceeds, or falls
short, of the Father's election, in one single instance or indi
vidual person.
The fallacy of this argument is in the word " redemption."
This word has various meanings. Redemption means, either
the ransom price, or the price of redemption — or it means,
the act of paying down that price; — or else, by metonymy, it
means the effect of such a payment, meaning the state produced
by such a ransoming. This effect, in the case of a sinner is,
a state of forgiveness, acceptance with God, and admission to
heaven. In the above argument the effect of paying the

76 ITS RELATION TO THE
ransom price is confounded with the act of paying it. In the
argument, "redemption" means, not the act of paying the
ransom, but the effect, or the final result of paying the price.
This final result of the atonement will not derange any of the
plans of God, as to his determination to exhibit speciality in
the application of the atonement. Our question is, was the
act of paying the ransom price by Christ designed to be
available to all, so " that the world through him might be
saved," or was it only designed for a certain chosen number ?
We say fearlessly, that the final results of the atonement will
only be realized by those who receive Christ, and believe in
him ; but the act of making that atonement, and the offer of
the benefits of that atonement, are designed, and purposed, to
be a medium of salvation to all men, without excluding one
individual. If the word "redemption" be taken in the sense
of "actual salvation," then Christ's redemption neither ex
ceeds, nor falls short of, the Father's election. If " redemp
tion" be taken in the sense of paying down the ransom price,
or a valuable and honorable consideration, as a medium for
delivering sinners, then Christ's redemption and the Father's
election are not commensurate and of equal extent, taking
"the Father's election" as meaning the will of God revealed
in the final results of the atonement. . It is supposed, even
by our Saviour himself, that the result will not be commen
surate with the gracious design of God, and with the large
aspect of the atonement. God loved the world, and gave
his Son, that the world through him might be saved
— but it is only whosoever believeth in him, it is he only that
will answer the design, and share in the result of the atone
ment. The atonement is a measure of government, not of
private love and friendship, but of a pubfic commonwealth.
In such a public measure, the pubfic will of the Father, as
moral governor, and the pubfic design and intent of Christ,
as mediator, are commensurate. God willeth all men to be
saved, therefore Christ gave himself a ransom for all.
From the divine purposes, the advocates of a limited atone
ment argue, that since Christ foreknew the results of the
atonement, and since he foreknew who would believe in him,
why should he die and lavish his blood for those who, he
knew, would not believe in him.
This argument is founded on three things, which are wrong,
and inconsistent with moral government. It is supposed, first,
that foreknowledge is the rule of Christ's conduct and actions ;

PURPOSES OF GOD. 77
secondly, that to save believers was the chief end of his suf
ferings ; and, thirdly, that his death consisted in suffering the
identical punishment due to sinners ; for it supposes, that he
would not knowingly suffer the punishment of those, who, he
knew, should suffer the punishment themselves. If the
question be repeated, Why did he suffer for those, whom he
knew to be sure to prove unbelievers ? the reply is, he
suffered to vindicate the character of God in offering pardon
to them — and he suffered, to show how inexcusable they
would be in their own destruction, by which the Gospel
would be a sweet savour even in them that perish.
But why should this influence of foreknowledge be confined
to the atonement of Christ only ? The Lord Jesus Christ
knew that his own would receive him not, yet he came to
them. He knew that the Jews would reject the overtures of
his ministry, yet he said, and he said it with tears of regret,
that he would oft have gathered them. He knew that many
would neglect his great salvation, yet he gave himself a
propitiation for the sins of the whole world. I might remark,
in passing, that he would not have foreknown that any would
disbelieve in him, without foreknowing that they would have
the offer, the warrant, and the opportunity to believe in him ;
and also that the only firm ground of such an offer and war
rant was his own death for them.
Another argument from the character of the divine decrees
to maintain particular atonement is, that a general atonement
throws an air of uncertainty around the plans and the purposes
of God, and of disappointment around the travails of the soul
of Christ
It must be remembered that we are concerned in the
divine decrees, only as they are administered within the
circle of moral government : and that beyond that fine they
are "secret things," unrevealed, and belong to God only.
Within this boundary, it should not be evaded nor blinked,
that the divine plans are susceptible of failures. When God
by Isaiah remonstrates with the Jewish church, and asks,
" What could I have done more ?" it is implied that all the
measures which had been used, had failed of their ends. It
is implied in the sentiments of Jesus Christ himself, when he
supposes his Father to say, " They will reverence my Son,"
though after all he was slain and murdered. It is therefore
a morbid squeamishness that makes us afraid to avow what
are daily matters of fact. This failure has taken place in
7*

78 its relation to the
creation — it was made " very good," but now is groaning
and travailing together in pain. It takes place in providence,
for in it, God has determined the bounds of men's habitation,
that they might seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after
him ; but they are all gone astray, every one in his own way.
It takes place in the atonement ; Christ died for all, that they
which five should not henceforth live to themselves, but unto
him who died for them — but many live to themselves, deny
the Lord that bought them, and renounce his reign over
them. It is sometimes vauntingly asked, " Where does the scrip
ture speak of Christ's death and the ends of it, in terms of
uncertainty ; or represent him as coming short of his aim and
intention in dying for sinners ?" In Heb. iv. 1, the apostle
warns some who might seem to come short of the rest remain
ing for the people of God. God has no rest to offer to any
sinner but through the death of Christ. To fall short of it is
a possible case, and it is evident that no one can fall short
of a thing that was never provided and intended for him.
This rest could not have been provided but through the death
of Christ. It is a supposable case that an uncharitable
Christian may " destroy him for whom Christ died," and
cause a " weak brother to perish, for whom Christ died ;" —
that men may deny the Lord that bought them, and bring
destruction upon themselves, notwithstanding his death for
them. I may here be interrogated, " How do you reconcile the
Hableness to failure in the divine measures, with the cer
tainty that God's counsel shall stand, and that he will do his
pleasure ?"
I state at once most frankly and distinctly, that I do not
know how to reconcile them. I believe it is not my duty to
show how to reconcile them. It is enough for me that they
are not only reconcilable, but actually reconciled. I, there
fore, have nothing to reconcile. It is a fact, in experience,
that God has reconciled them, and worked them out in
harmony. A chemist is not expected to show how two viru
lent poisons, such as chlorine and sodium, could be made to
produce a wholesome article for the use of mankind. To such
a demand, his reply would be, God has done it in common salt.
Philosophers did not require Newton to demonstrate how
two antagonist forces, the centripetal and the centrifugal,
could exist in the same body at the same time. He knew

PURPOSES OF GOD. 79
that as a philosopher his work was to demonstrate the fact,
not the mode ; for God himself had reconciled these different
forces, and by them, had produced a system of order and
beatify. The theologian ought not to be expected to show
how God's firmness in government, and man's abuse of free-
agency, can be reconciled. All the facts of the Bible prove
that God has reconciled them, and that he still works both
principles so harmoniously as to make the opposition and
wrath of man to praise him.
Even if such an argument were not vafid, a belief in par
ticular atonement does not at all remove the difficulty. A
limited atonement may seem to tally with the certainty of the
actual and final results of the death of Christ, but it clashes
most gratingly against such indisputable verities as, the uni
versal aspect of the atonement, the sincere invitations of the
gospel, and the sorer punishment of unbelievers. This diffi
culty cannot be avoided by escaping to any other creed. It
presses on the Heathen and the Mahometan, upon the Jew
and the Christian. Philosophers, metaphysicians, and theo
logians, have endeavored with Herculean labors, to push this
subject up to fight and distinctness ; but after all, like the
stone of Sisyphus, it rolls back to its own awful mystery and
dread profundity. There never was a creed on the face of
the earth, and there exists not a creed, that accounts for the
difficulty. Yes, there is one, but it is a creed so severely
simple, so unsophisticated with metaphysical reasonings, and
so unamalgamating with theological systems, that few deign
to take it up; it is the creed of Jesus Christ, "Even so,
Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight," — the creed that
"judges nothing before the time," — the creed that sings,
" God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain."

80 its relation to all

CHAPTER V.
on the atonement in its relation to all the works
OF GOD.
By " all the works of God," I understand, aU the produc
tions of God, called the " works of his hands," and which the
Psalmist calls " all the places of his dominions," and which
the New Testament calls " heavenly places," that is, the
whole universe, with all its intelligences and orders, ranks
and dignities.
The New Testament reveals very clearly that the great
atonement of the Son of God is related to other worlds in
the divine empire, as well as to our world. It is, therefore,
necessary to a full and enlarged consideration of the extent
of the atonement, to examine and survey it in this aspect and
relation. I feel happy to be able to introduce my sentiments upon
the aspect of the atonement on the universe, in the following
passage, of great beauty and sublimity, from Lord Bacon.
"I believe that God is so holy, pure, and jealous, that it is
impossible for him to be pleased in any creature, though the
work of his own hands : so that neither angels, man, nor
world, would stand, or can stand, one moment in his eye,
without [his] beholding the same in the face of a medi
ator. And, therefore, [I believe] that before him, with
whom all things are present, the Lamb of God was slain
before all worlds ; but that out of his eternal and infinite
goodness and love, purposing to become a Creator, and to
communicate to his creatures, he ordained in his eternal
counsel, that one person of the Godhead should be united to
one nature, and to one particular of his creatures, so that in
the person of the Mediator, the true ladder may be fixed,
whereby God might descend to his creatures, and his crea
tures might ascend to God ; so that God by the reconcilement
of the Mediator, turning his countenance towards his creatures,
(though not in equal light and degree) made way unto the
dispensation of his most holy and sacred wiU ; whereby some
of his creatures might stand and keep their state ; others
might possibly fall and be restored, and others might fall and

THE WORKS OF GOD. 81
not be restored to their estate, but yet remain in being,
though under wrath and corruption : all with respect
to the Mediator, which is the great mystery and per
fect centre of all God's ways with his creatures, and
to which all his other works and wonders do but
serve and refer." * section i.
The Constitution of the Universe Mediatorial.
The whole universe is represented in the word of God, as
a beautiful and glorious system, adjusted around the media
tion of Jesus Christ, in which he should be felt as the central
orb, to attract aU its portions into union and harmony, and to
maintain all its dependencies in beauty and order.
God, by his gospel, has made known to us " the mystery
of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath
purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of
times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in
him," Eph. i. 9, 10. To apply this language to the reconcili
ation of Jews and Gentiles only, is to render the passage
turgid and inane. As if designedly to guard against such an
interpretation of his meaning, the apostle, in this letter to the
Colossians, written at the same time as that to the Ephesians,
distinctly enumerates the intelligences of the universe as
intended by "the all' things gathered together in Christ."
" By him (the Mediator) were all things created that are in
heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,' whether
they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers ; all
things were created by him and for him; and he is before all
tlfings, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of
the body, the church, the beginning, the first-born from the
dead, that in all things he might have pre-eminence. For it
pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell, and
having made peace (or atonement) through the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile (or to harmonize) all things unto
himself, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven."
Col. i. 16 — 20.
It is impossible, I think, to read these passages without a
vivid impression of the wide and expanded views, which the
• * Bacon's Works, vol. iv. p. 413.

82 its relation to all
apostle had of the atonement, as sustaining a high and inti
mate relation to all the length and the breadth, the height and
the depth, of the universe of God.
It is this relation of the atonement to the universe that
gives fife and glory to the prophet Malachi's enraptured view
of " the Sun of Righteousness." The more I consider this
vision of the last seer of Israel, the more I am entranced
with his splendid emblem of the high dignity, and of the dif
fusive influence, of the Lord from heaven. This symbol,
though the most noble and brilliant which the creation could
supply, can but very dimly image forth the grandeur and
beauty of " the Sun of Righteousness." By the light of
astronomy the sun is viewed, not merely as a luminary sus
pended in the heavens, but as the centre of a system of
worlds, and the source of light and heat, of motion and har
mony to them aU. By the fight of revealed theology, also,
we are taught to view the great atoning Mediator, not only
as a " light to lighten the Gentiles," but as the centre of an
immense moral system, composed of aU existences, constitu
tions, and dispensations, shedding his beams to bless dependent
worlds, and bathing the whole in the effulgence of his loveli
ness and glory.
This imagery of Malachi teaches us that God contemplated
a beautiful and immense system of good and benevolent dis
pensations, called here a system of Righteousness : that in
the midst of this system of Righteousness as the central orb,
he placed the Lord Jesus Christ ; and that the revolutions of
this system have a most benign and " healing " aspect on the
interests of our world.
A further enlargement on this topic will not be deemed
necessary, especially since, in the first section of the chapter
on the purposes of God, I have explained in what manner I
regard the constitution of the universe as partaking of a me
diatorial arrangement. Consecutiveness of plan, seemed to
me to require a distinct, though a brief, notice of this subject
here. Only one more illustration wiU be introduced to explain
the connexion that exists between the atonement and the
universe. The apostle Paul speaks of the universe as a
commonwealth, or family, receiving its designation, constitu
tion, and happiness from the Lord Jesus Christ, who is felt
and owned every where as the head of power and of influ
ence. " Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is

the works of god. 83
named." This public commonwealth or family, consists of
" an innumerable company of angels, the general assembly
and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven ;
God the Judge of all ; the spirits of just men made perfect ;
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant" — all in intimate
connexion with " the blood that speaketh better things than
the blood of Abel." Gal. iii. 15. Heb. xii. 22 — 24.
SECTION II.
The Atonement a subject of interest and benefit to the Intelli
gences of the Universe.
The scriptures represent the intelligences of the universe
as having been informed of the atonement, and as having
been witnesses and spectators of the whole amazing transac
tion. They also take a high interest in its administration, and
are greatly benefited by its provisions.
The blessed God regards the expedient of the atonement
as so fit a medium for giving a full display of the divine
glories, that he reveals it to be the ground for creating the
universe. He " created all things by Jesus Christ, to the
intent, that now unto the principalities and powers in heav
enly places might be known, by [means of] the church, the
manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eph. iii.
9 — 11.
The whole immense progress of the Mediator's career,
from the throne to the manger, and from the manger to the
cross, was " seen of angels." They were spectators of his
pubfic entrance into heaven, after finishing his atoning work :
and they were witnesses of his splendid triumph over spirit
ual wickedness in high places, when " having spoiled princi
palities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumph
ing over them" in his cross and atonement.
These intelligences are now daily made acquainted, with
all the instances of conversion from sin to holiness, among the
sinners of our world. And they are informed of the pro
gressive improvement which believers make in Christian
character, and of the maturity of the Christian graces which
has ripened them for "Abraham's bosom." The apostle
Peter says, that angels generally (not the angels,) meaning
all heavenly intelligences, take a high interest, complacency,
and delight in these subjects. He enumerates the salvation

84 ITS RELATION TO ALL
of man, the inquiries of the prophets, the sovereign grace of
God, the work of the Spirit, the sufferings and glory of
Christ, and the preaching of the gospel, as the " things which
angels desire to look into." The original phrase is expressive
of the intense energy, and keen reHsh, with which they
inquire into the doctrine of the atonement, and its relations.
" Likewise there is joy in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner that repenteth."
As intelligent, holy, and benevolent beings, the atonement
in all its designs and influences must be a source of pleasure
to them. As intelligent beings they take an interest in the
atonement, from the circumstance that it is a measure in
which the Father of wisdom and mind is " well pleased," and
over which he "joys with singing." It is a subject, in
grandeur and immensity, suited to the keen penetration, and
to the large comprehension, of their glorious minds. The
atonement, as the ground and medium of an immense acces
sion of good to the universe, cannot fail to interest and delight
their minds, as amiable and benevolent beings. Neither of
these aspects of the atonement, however, would be desirable
to their minds, were it void of a holy character. Because
they are holy themselves, they rejoice in the atonement on
account of the demonstration which it gives of the evil of
sin ; on account of its public expression of the beauty of
divine holiness ; on account of its vicarious virtue to expiate
and sanctify guilty and sinful men ; and on account of its
practical tendency to deter accountable beings from sin, and
to melt the hard heart to repentance. This diffuses "joy in
their presence," because that, by repentance through the
atonement, the sinner is coming back into order and harmony
with the universe ; that his repentance is a rational act, and
due to the divine government ; that by this process he is
introduced into the circle of happiness and fellowship with
God ; and that, eventually, he is to join them for ever as an
associate in glory, and sharer in their joy.
If there be such "joy" among these intelligences now in
their inquiries into this stupendous measure ; if they are so
delighted and entranced with its present unfoldings, devel-
opements, and evolutions, how will they be ravished with
the glory of its splendid consummation ! The apostle John
therefore represents them, as in that auspicious period,
thrilling the vast universe with their rapturous song. " And
I beheld, and heard the voice of many angels round about

THE WORKS OF GOD. 85
the throne, and the beasts and the elders ; 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 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. And the four beasts said, Amen." Rev.
v. 11 — 14.
The information which is communicated to the intelligen
ces of other worlds, concerning the mediatorial transactions,
in the church, and for the church, is intended to affect them
selves, and to have a practical influence upon them as subjects
of the divine government. Their great minds are capable
of enlargement by exercise, of advancement in knowledge,
and of growth in their love and admiration of the character
of God. Their study of the atonement is calculated to
strengthen their confidence in the righteousness and benevo
lence of the divine government, and to give them a clear
insight into the heinous enormity of revolt and transgression.
When they see the tremendous evil of sin, set forth in the
sufferings of the Mediator, they perceive the justice of the
eternal destruction, for sin, of their former compeers in glory,
and feel high gratitude to sovereign grace for their .own
preservation in bliss. In their contemplation of what the
mediatorial President has done for the universe, they feel
themselves united more nearly and dearly to the system of
which He 'is the centre and the glory ; and. they feel prompt,
and unshrinking, to undertake any service, in his work, after
his illustrious example. Probably by the information which
they receive from the atonement, they become more aware
and sensible of the value and worth of their own dignity and
glory. Gabriel never knew the worth of his harp and
crown, till he saw at what immense cost, the lost harp and
crown of a sinner were ransomed among the scenes of
Gethsemane and Calvary.
The intelligences of other worlds are positively benefited
by sharing in the blessings of the atonement " He that
descended, is the same also that ascended up far above all
heavens, that he might fill all things." In this passage the
blessed Redeemer may be considered either as taking his
8

86 ITS RELATION TO ALL
place, as the central Sun, in the midst of a vast system of
heavenly places, to every part of which he diffused light and
heat ; or as, in his ascending progression, passing, on his way
to his throne, worlds upon worlds, and systems upon systems,
strown amid " all heavens," he is scattering his blessings all
around, and sanctifying and baptizing every world with " the
blood of sprinkling." With what can he " fill all things in
all heavens " but with the blessings of his mediatorial grace ?
It is to this the apostle refers when he speaks of " spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ." This proves that
the inhabitants of " heavenly places," the intelligences who
occupy all the celestial orbs of the universe, actually have
" spiritual blessings," and that these " spiritual blessings " are
enjoyed " in " and through Christ.
It is not to be supposed that these intelligences are bene
fited in the atonement, as it is a ransom for redemption from
sin, for they never needed a deliverance : but they are
benefited by it, as it is the medium of all divine communi
cations to them. God has no medium, no way of blessing
any being, in any world, but the mediation of Christ ; and
the whole circle of his mediation is around his atonement as
the centre.
The benefits which they have derived through the provis
ion of atonement are such as are fitted to their nature, rank,
and character. They have had a greater nearness to their
Maker who has made an approach to them in a created
nature. They have a more enlarged acquaintance with the
character of God in the various evolutions, in the full and
free exercise, and in the beautiful and glorious harmony, of
all the divine perfections. The application of their energies,
and the employment of their ministry have been chiefly
directed to the execution of the messages of mercy and
grace. As social and benevolent beings, they must regard it
as a benefit, to be having accessions to their number, of
ransomed and holy companions, who will partake with them
in the honors of the " heavenly places," and who will unite
with them in the services and praises of God and of the
Lamb for ever and ever.

THE WORKS OF GOD. 87
SECTION III.
Christ the President of the Universe on the ground of his Atonement.
The scriptures speak of Jesus Christ as being the president
of all the ranks and grades of being in the universe. " God
has set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far
above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in
that which is to come ; and hath put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
which is the fulness of him that filleth all in all."
We have such an High Priest who is set on the right hand
of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, " a minister of
the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord
pitched, and not man." Heb. viii. 2. Dr. John Owen has
labored much to show that " the sanctuary and the true tab
ernacle " here, mean the human nature of the Son of God :
but the whole context, and the train of argument, make it
evident that the apostle is speaking of the place into which
Jesus has entered, that is, " into the heavenly places," or
heaven itself." In the " heavenly places," Christ sits, the
public minister, the " antistes sacrorum,"* — the official
organ, " qui publicis officiis prceest"^ — the president over
all the employments, offices, and services of all the heavenly
intelligences. It is not, I conceive, the philosophy of Newton only, that
teaches us the doctrine of plurality of worlds ; the illustrious
President of the universe himself has said, " In my Father's
house are many mansions." The " Father's house" is the vast
temple of the universe, and the "many mansions," are the
innumerable stars, and suns, and systems which compose its
apartments. These stars are not mansions of untenanted
glory, nor provinces of luxuriant wastes in the divine empire.
They are " heavenly places," in which are thrones and prin
cipalities, and powers, and dominions, to which the manifested
wisdom of God is made known by the church. This scripturaf
enumeration of ranks and dignities, is not a series of high-
sounding and pompous titles without meaning and without
verity. It is a list of real offices, of actual employments and
of pubfic services.
* Ernesti, and Dr. Pye Smith. f Professor Moses Stuart.

88 ITS RELATION TO ALL
In our speck of world we see every speck of matter teeming
with fife, activity, and employment. The microscope has its
Hades of living existences, as well aS the telescope. It is
therefore unnatural, unreasonable, and unseriptural to regard
"all heavens" as solitudes of majesty, or mere deserts of
beauty. On the supposition that all these gradations and
orders of intelligences are in active employments, and in useful
service, it enlarges our conceptions of the official dignity and
glory of Jesus Christ, to see him " wear the crown as Lord
of all," the " head of all principality and power," in all things
having the pre-eminence, as President over all.
The state of the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven is, indeed,
one of transcendent glory and power, but it is also a state of
office, of mediatorial care and authority, and of plenipotentiary
administration over the entire universe.
He directs and regulates all their services and employments
by his mediatorial authority. It is he who gives to every one
his work, and allots to every one his sphere of employment.
" In his name" every knee bows, of things in heaven and
things in earth. He has a name " above" every name in
heavenly authority and influence. It is by him that all things
consist, whether they be principalities, or powers, or thrones,
or dominions. What keeps all these provinces, with their
innumerable intelligences, in order, at their proper work,
without clashing, and without anarchy ? It is mediatorial
power ; it is the influence of the atonement. It is " by him, I
say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven ! "
All these services are rendered acceptable to God by the
merits of the Mediator. Christ is as a Lamb slain in the midst
of the throne ; and all the services that come to the throne
have a reference to the Lamb of atonement that is in the
midst of it. The Mediator by his intercession presents the
services of all the subjects of the empire publicly to his
heavenly Father. In his official character, Christ is the
Receiver General of all the revenues of God's immense em
pire, and, as the mediatorial President, he presents them to
God. He entered heaven, not only to receive glory, but to
do temple-work. It is his work, as the public officer of the
moral commonwealth, to present to God all the revenue of
service and glory received from all the provinces, and gathered
together under his mediatorial inspection. In this office and
work, he is the representative of the universe, but more espe-

THE WORKS OF GOD. 89
cially of the church, transacting publicly all its affairs with
God. Finally, as the official President, it is his temple-work to
recompense all these services by his sovereign grace. He
has ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things,
and bring all worlds into the light and the "joy of the Lord."
In the day when the mediatorial administration of things shall
come to its splendid close, all intelligences, angels, and men,
shall be marshalled from their heavenly places, and gathered
before him, as the great President ; they shall receive their
crowns from the hand that was nailed to the cross ; and in
love and homage, they will cast their diadems at his feet, and
ascribe all their magnificent rewards to his sovereign bounty
and love, and crown him lord of all.
This mediatorial presidency of Christ proves and explains
the connexion of his atonement with all the works of God.
His atonement is the ground of his government over the
universe. The mediatorial glory of Christ is an official glory
that followed his sufferings. His crown is linked to his cross.
He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ;
wherefore God highly exalted him to this Universal Presi
dency. Christ is not head over all things irrespectively of
his atonement any more than he can be Head of the church
irrespectively of it. The Son of God has no mediatorial
power in heaven or earth, but that which arises from his
atonement, and is connected with it.
The atonement, accomplished in this world, extends its
relations and influences to other worlds, as is evident by the
conveyance of the blessings of other worlds to ours. Our
world, by sin, had attempted to snap the connexion between
it and the centre and source of all blessing, but mediatorial
influences have preserved it. Now God blesses our world
with the spiritual blessings of the heavenly places, and he
blesses us and them, only " in Christ." The atonement has
thus become the ground and medium of the ministry of angels
in our world. As revolters we had everything to dread from
the employment of their agency, as ministers of high and
unbending loyalty to the offended king. In the mediation of
Christ they and we are become the subjects of the same
presidency; they are the friends of man, and ministering
spirits to the saints. They defend us from our spiritual ad
versaries, and execute the " charge" given to them concerning
us through fife. They rejoice in our accession to the church
8*

90 ITS RELATION TO ALL
of Christ, and assembly of the first-born ; and they will, in
due time, convey our ransomed and sanctified spirits safe home
to glory. The actual admission of men into the " heavenly
places," shows that the atonement is connected with "all
heavens." It shows that the keys, which open the door to
them, are in benevolent hands. Many myriads of sinners
have already passed thither from the land of great tribulation
— but they all arrived safely, only " through the blood of the
Lamb." Heaven would not have been open and accessible to
sinners, had not Christ himself publicly entered it in his offi
cial character, and solemnly set it apart, to be the- home of
believers, by the influences of his own atonement. " By his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us;" and all the heavenly
things themselves were purified, consecrated, and set apart,
by his better sacrifice, so as to be accessible and approachable,
and heritable by sinners of our world.
SECTION IV.
The Extent of the Atonement illustrated by its Relation to the
Universe.
If the atonement of Christ be limited in its design, and
aspect, particular in its blessings and influences, and commer
cial in its principles, paying quid pro quo, it seems to me
impossible to account for the relation, which the scriptures
declare to exist, between the atonement and all the works of
God. A particular atonement supposes that Jesus Christ
suffered the punishment due to the elect, and to them only ;
and that the blessings of the atonement shall be shared by
them, and by them only. On this hypothesis, the good which
angels have received is left entirely unaccounted for, except,
perhaps, it be thought a mere sovereign largess : and the good
which the wicked enjoy in this world is accounted for, partly
as " uncovenanted mercies" scattered among them, and partly
as a bonus granted to them for the sake of the church. If
God can give some mercies in any uncovenanted way, why
not give every mercy ? " Uncovenanted," means, irrespective
of the promises connected with the atonement. Had the
first-born of Adam any of these uncovenanted mercies ? Must
not Cain have known that all the good wliich he enjoyed was
connected with the promise of the Seed of the woman ? If
God could honorably give any mercy without the covenanted

THE WORKS OF GOD. 91
atonement, he might give every mercy. The conclusion is
unassailable, that if God could give any, and every mercy,
irrespective of atonement, the death of Christ was unnecessary.
When it is said, that the wicked receive blessings for the sake
of the church, the phraseology does not mean that the church
is the meritorious cause of those blessings, but it is meant that
these blessings are conferred upon others, for the purpose of
benefiting the church. The question, " how the ungodly come
by these blessings ?" is left untouched by such a phrase :
nor can they be accounted for except on the principle of the
atonement It is impossible that the blessings of the atonement can
reach where its relations do not extend ; and in whatever
place, and in whatever world, therefore, we find the blessings
of the atonement, our conclusion is sound, that the designs
and the influences of the death of Christ extended thither.
We discover the blessings of atonement more or less liber
ally scattered everywhere in our world — yea, we find these
blessings among principalities and provinces in " heavenly
places." The supposition that these blessings reached the
heavenly places by accident, or at random, without any design
or intent, is unreasonable, and unseriptural. Wherever, in
the physical universe, we detect the influences of gravitation,
we never suspect that those influences came there by some
arbitrariness unaccountable, or by some endowment unintend
ed. We never suspect this, simply, because we have no
preconceived physical system to render the suspicion neces
sary. In discussing the atonement, then, we are not afraid
of embracing a favorite maxim of the advocates of limited
redemption, that the design-death of Christ and its benefits
are of the same extent. We find these benefits of the death
of the Son of God in " all places of his dominions," and we
cannot be wrong in believing, that they were intended to be so.
I. A limited atonement for a certain chosen number of
men, leaves the benevolent ministry of angels, in our rebel
lious world, unaccounted for.
It may account for the angels being ministering spirits sent
forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation ; but
the whole history of God's works shows, that the ministry of
angels has had a benevolent influence upon many who have
not proved heirs of salvation. The argument of our Saviour
about little children supposes that all of them have a share in

92 ITS RELATION TO ALL
the good services of angels. No one will say, either that the
holy angels would give their services to such children, or that
such children could become interested in such high advantages,
irrespectively of the mediation and atonement of Christ.
This ministry of angels has not been confined to mankind
in their childhood ; it has followed them when grown up, and
even when living in sin. As instances of this benevolent
ministry towards mankind as sinners, I might mention the
case of Hagar and her son, the case of Balaam, the case
of the angel who led the contumacious Israelites through the
wilderness ; and, not to make a larger enumeration, the case
of the angel who descended, to the pool of Bethesda,* to
trouble the waters for the healing of the bodily disorders of
men. The ministry of angels for the benefit of man is in every
case an effect of the mediation and atonement of Christ,
because angels and principalities are made subject to his
authority. They go at his bidding in every employment.
If Christ had purchased their ministry for a certain number
only, how have these intelligences of distant worlds taken
such interests in all the children of our world ? Is this an
uncovenanted employment? and do even angels perform
works of supererogation ? Will these holy beings squander
upon others a ministry which was so dearly purchased only
for some ?
II. An atonement limited in its aspect and design, is
opposed to the report which the intelligences of other worlds
have given to us of their views of its bearings and influence.
This is the report from other worlds. " And the angel said
unto them, Fear not ; for behold I bring you good tidings of
great joy which shall be to all people : for unto you is born
this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord." " And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God
in the highest, on earth peace, good-will towards men."
When Peter remarked that angels desire to look into the
administrations of the atonement, it should be remembered that
these intelligences had been inquiring into this subject for
above four thousand years. Now let it be considered, that

* The critical disputes about the text of this narrative, do not at all affect
the probability of the benevolent aspect of the ministry of angels towards
sinners generally.

THE WORKS OF GOD. 93
these high and noble existences are possessed of powers re
markable for comprehension and accuracy ; that they applied
those powers to a given subject for so many ages ; that they
studied this subject in all the information and light of knowl
edge in heaven : that their application to this subject did not
consist in intellectual speculation merely, but also in actual
services employed, from time to time, for furthering the
great arrangements of this subject ; and that on their visit to
the shepherds, they were commissioned to give a correct
announcement of this provision of mercy.
These intelligences seem to consider this scheme of mercy
as embracing the " earth," " men," and " all people." The
tidings of the angel are not real " good " to all people, unless
Christ the Lord be a Saviour unto all people. The good
tidings that Christ the Lord was a Saviour unto all people,
could not be " a great joy " unto them, unless he were so,
truly and sincerely, the expression of God's " good- will to
wards men."
If these well-informed spirits after four thousand years'
application of their great minds to this subject, and actual
employment in some of its plans, had understood the atone
ment to be a measure limited to a certain number, they would
not have announced it in such universal terms, and with such
an unlimited aspect. When the angel said, that the advent
of the Saviour was a great joy which should be to all people,
he understood it to " be " so in the purpose of God, and the
design of the atonement.
This view of the angel's sentiments on the extent of the
provision of mercy, is not at all destroyed by the testimony
given to Mary, that she should call her son " Jesus, because
he should save his people from their sins." It is utterly
incapable of proof that the angel meant by " his people, " the
objects of sovereign speciality and election. " His people " in
this passage mean, the people of the Jews, who were, partic
ularly even at this time, the people of his fold : to them he
came — but his own [people ] received him not. This sense
of the phrase is fully justified by Luke i. 68, 77; vii. 16.
Supposing, however, that the angel intended by " his people "
the objects of gracious speciality, this passage would not
decide against the universal aspect of the atonement ; as in
that case it would refer to the actual results only of the
atonement, and not at all to its general design and tendency.

94 ITS RELATION TO ALL
HI. Limited views of the atonement are not compatible
with the nature of the joy, which angels have in the conver
sion of sinners.
As the conversion of sinners is a pleasure and a joy to
them, the inference is fair, that the unconverted state of
sinners, is a matter that is displeasing and grievous to them,
as much as any thing can be displeasing, and grievous, to
glorious and happy minds. The argument which the apostle
Paul employs with the Corinthians in behalf of purity and
propriety in worship, is the supposition that an improper spirit
and behavior is displeasing to the angels who commune with
their assemblies. The sinner who grieves the Holy Spirit,
may be well supposed to grieve holy angels. If however
these great and holy intelligences see, or know, that the
atonement of Christ was only designed for a certain number,
which, as they become converted, actually supply to Christ
the identical travail of his soul, on what principle can the
unconverted state of the others be a grief to them ? Their
grief cannot arise from the exclusion of these unconverted
from the proposals and offers of the atonement — much less
from any impious apprehensions that these offers to sinners
were not sincere. It must be left to the advocates of limited
atonement to account for this supposed grief of angels, upon
any other principle than that of their regarding the sinner as
acting a perverse, undutiful, and wicked part, in rejecting
the clear and open overtures of the atonement. These angels
cannot regard the rejection of the atonement, and of the gospel
offers, wrong and wicked in the sinner, if the atonement was
never designed for him, and if the offers made to him were
not really meant and intended for his adoption.
IV. An atonement limited to a certain number, is incon
sistent with the argument, wliich is founded on the " desire of
angels to look into these things," in order to press upon sin
ners the indispensable duty of their becoming interested in
the salvation of Christ, and the heinous guilt of neglecting it.
Hear Dr. Dwight's statement* " Were the gospel as
untrue as infidels assert, they would be no gainers. If it
should be true, what will become of them. What must be
the feelings of an infidel on a dying bed, if he is then in
possession of sober thought, and solemnly remembers his con
tempt for the Saviour, and his rejection of the offers of fife\?
* Dwight's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 440.

THE WORKS OF GOD. 95
With what emotions must he enter eternity ? " This argu
ment is sound and sober : and it agrees well with Dr. Dwight's
view of the death of Christ.
On the principles of a limited and partial atonement, how
ever, this argument cannot be pressed, on any sinner who may
be supposed to be out of the pale of salvation. It would be
utterly unworthy of the gospel to recommend to such an ex
cluded sinner, the examination of the atonement, as a mere
man of taste ; and to tell him that the study of this cardinal
measure of the divine government would be a good intel
lectual exercise for him, and would materially improve the
benevolence of his character. Yet the advocates of exclusive
salvation cannot consistently recommend such a sinner, to
inquire into the claims of the atonement of Christ in any other
way. V. A limited atonement is inconsistent with the exhorta
tions and encouragements, which the scriptures give to sinners
universally, to direct their attention and pursuit to the happi
ness and glory of the heavenly places.
Sinners of all sorts are directed and recommended to lay
up for themselves treasures in heaven, to seek, and to set their
affections upon, the things that are above, where Christ sitteth
at the right hand of the Father. Now all the blessings and
the good things in heaven are purified, consecrated, and set
apart by the " better sacrifice of Christ." If they are, there
fore, purified and selected for a certain number, how can the
minister of the gospel, honestly and manfully, invite all men
to seek that which was never intended for them ? There is
not a blessing, nor immunity to be had in heavenly places,*
* I cannot deny myself the pleasure of introducing here a passage from
" Bishop Porteus' Sermons ; " its pertinency and eloquence will apologize
for its length.
" It is, I believe, generally taken for granted, that it was for the human
race alone that Christ suffered and died j and we are then asked, with an
ah- of triumph, whether it is conceivable, or, in any degree credible, that
the eternal Son of God should submit to so much indignity, and so much
misery for the fallen, the wicked, the wretched inhabitants of this small
globe of earth, which is as a grain of sand to a mountain ; a mere speck in
the universe, when compared with that immensity of worlds and system of
worlds, which the sagacity of a great modern astronomer has discovered in
the boundless regions of space.
" But on what ground is it concluded that the benefits of Christ's death
extend no further than to ourselves V As well might we suppose that the
sun was placed in the firmament merely to illuminate and warm this earth
that we inhabit. To the vulgar and illiterate this actually appears to be
the case. But philosophy teaches us better things: it enlarges our con
tracted views of the divine beneficence, and brings us acquainted with

96 ITS RELATION TO
that is not hallowed and purified by the blood of atonement.
It is, therefore, impossible to direct sinners to seek any heav
enly favor, which is not under the influence of the atonement.
The argument to induce sinners to seek the things above, is,
that Jesus Christ is there : but this argument would be of no
force, if the sinner could not avail himself of Christ's inter
cession.

other planets, and other worlds, which share with us the cheering influence,
and the vivifying warmth of that glorious luminary. Is it not, then, a fair
analogy to conclude that the great spiritual light of the world, the fountain
o^life and health, and joy to the soul, does not scatter his blessings over
the creation with a more sparing hand ? And that the Sun of Righteous
ness rises with healing in its wings to other orders of beings besides our
selves ? Nor does this conclusion rest on analogy alone. It is evident,
from scripture itself, that we are by no means the only creatures in the
universe, interested in the sacrifice of our Eedeemer. Ephesians, i. 10.
Col. i. 16—20.
" From intimations such as these, it is highly probable, that in the great
work of redemption, as well as of creation, there is a vast stupendous
plan of wisdom, of which we cannot at present so much as conceive the
whole compass and extent ; and if we could assist and improve the mental,
as we can the corporal sight ; if we could magnify and bring nearer to us,
by the help of instruments, the great component parts of the spiritual, as
we do the vast bodies of the material world, there can- be no doubt, that
the resemblance and analogy would hold between them in this, as it does
in many other well-known instances ; and that a scene of wonders would
burst in upon ns from the one, at least equal, if not superior, to those
which the united powers of astronomy and optics disclose to us in the
other. " If this train of reasoning be just, (and who is there that wiU undertake
to say, much more to prove, that it is not so ?) if the redemption wrought
by Christ extends to other worlds, perhaps many others besides our own;
if its virtues penetrate into heaven itself: if it gather together "all
things " in Christ, who will then say that the dignity of the Agent was
disproportioned to the magnitude of the work? And that it was not a
scene sufficiently splendid for the Son of God himself to appear upon, and
to display the riches of his love, not only to the race of man, but to many
other orders of intelligent beings ? Upon the whole, it is certainly unpar
donable in such a creature as man, to judge the system of our redemption,
from that veiy small part of it which he now sees, to reason, as if we were
the only persons concerned in it ; and on that ground to raise cavils and
objections." Bishop Porteus' Sermons, vol. ii. ser. 3.

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 97

CHAPTER VI.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO DIVINE MORAL
GOVERNMENT. i
SECTION I.
The Elements of Moral Government.
Divine moral government is that control which the blessed
God exercises over the minds of accountable beings, by rea
soning with them ; that is, by exhibiting motives and induce
ments addressed to their hopes and fears.
God governs every thing according to its nature. He man
ages the sea, and regulates the planets, by physical force, and
the various tribes of animals, by the laws of instinct. Every
one knows that the waves of the sea, the revolutions of the
planets, and the migrations of birds, are not to be regulated
by reasoning with them. But man can be governed and
controlled by reasoning with him ; and his conduct can be
regulated by exhibiting to him sufficient motives and induce
ment. We keep our oxen to the plough by physical force,
but we keep the ploughman at his work by moral government,
that is, by giving him sufficient motives and inducements to
be so. He is not chained, nor bound, nor yoked, but acts,
freely, even while he is bound by obligations.
Physical force can never become an element of moral gov
ernment. In proportion as force enters it, it ceases to be a
moral government. The more freedom there is in a govern
ment, the more purely moral it is. Such a freedom is not
the freedom of licentiousness and anarchy, for these always
encroach on the freedom and liberty of some of the other
subjects. It is by reasoning, and presenting motives, that we govern
our own minds, and influence the minds of other men : and
it is by the same means that God governs us, and wliich he
calls "the cords of a man." If minds become so debased
and obstinate as to refuse or to dislike such a control in a
community, then coercion will be employed to subdue them.
The slaves at the galleys are governed by coercion, and
criminals are drawn to the place of execution by force ; but
this, in a just and wise government, only befalls those who
9

98 ITS RELATION TO
have voluntarily rejected the moral control of reason and
justice. Man is a reasonable being, and, as such, is a member of
the great moral commonwealth of the universe. That com
monwealth supplies him with a law as the rule of his conduct
towards the whole universe. This law surrounds him with
rich and copious exhibitions of reasons, motives, and allure
ments, to lead him to the formation of a good character, and
to the choice of a wise course of conduct. It forces him to
nothing, but leaves him perfectly free. In this government
man, as a reasonable being, is free from every thing except
from the moral obligation to do good, and from accountableness
to his Ruler if he do wrong.
Law must indispensably have the sanctions of rewards and
penalties. Without these a law would be a mere advice, a
recommendation only, and of no authority. The penalties of
the moral law are sufferings and pains. In this inquiry, it is
no work of ours to account for the reasons why sufferings
were annexed as penalties to the moral law, any more than it
is to discover why injury and destruction are, in the physical
laws, the penalties for falling down a precipice, &c. We can
only say, that such is the moral constitution of which we are
members ; aid such, do providence, conscience, and the scrip
tures, declare it to be.
By doing wrong, or sinning, man becomes liable to this
penalty. Nothing but sin will bring us into contact with
sufferings, as the penalty of the law. No perfection of God,
no decree of God, no measure or work of God, no malice of
enemies — in short, nothing in the whole universe will bring
us within the reach of the punishments of the law, but sin.
The sufferings of a sinner, of one who transgresses the
law, are right and good for the ends of the government of
which we are members. The penalty is inflicted, not for the
mere sake, of putting the delinquent to pain, nor of gratifying
the private revenge of a ruler, but to secure and to promote
the public ends of good government. These ends are to pre
vent others from transgressing ; by giving, to all the subjects,
a decided and clear demonstration of the dignity of the law,
and a tangible proof of the evil of crime.
If a member, then, break the rule of the great moral con
stitution, it is right that he should suffer, that the evil of his
suffering might restrain the evil of transgressing. As far as
sufferings answer these public ends, they are right and useful;

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 99
but when they fall short of these ends, or when, in severity
of infliction, they go beyond these ends, then, they are only
natural evils added to moral ones, without removing them.
It is due to the character of the governor, as the jiublic
organ of a commonwealth, and due to the welfare of the gov
ernment, that the penalty should be executed on the offender.
It is right and good that the man who injures you should feel
an inconvenience, a pain, a suffering for it, — not to gratify
your spleen and revenge, but to prevent others from again
daring to injure you. You approve of the penalty when it is
executed on others for injuring you ; but if you disapprove
of it, when inflicted upon yourself for injuring others, it is
because you are selfish, and feel no concern for the public
good. Sinners have transgressed the law, they have wronged God,
they have spoiled his works, and have injured his liege sub
jects, and therefore, for the public good, they deserve to suffer

SECTION II.
The Penalties of Moral Government administered on the
Principle of Public Justice.
Obedience is the first thing which man, as a member of
government, owes to God. If man gives not obedience to the
law, then punishment is due from him, for the ends of good
government. In the classical writers of Greece and Rome,
the "supplicium" or punishment, is always represented as
being given, or paid, by the offender, and as what was due,
from him to the government, and not as what was due from
the government to the transgressor. This language expresses
the reality of the case of an offender in moral government.
The promotion of the public good, by his obedience, is first
due from him : if he do not promote it in this way, then it is
due from him to promote it, by sustaining the penalty of the
law. The question now occurs, " Upon what principle shall this
penalty be administered ? " Private individuals will answer
this according to their own feelings and interests. Some will
say, " Let power be employed to inflict a severe chastisement
and intense sufferings for the crime." Others will say, " Let
mercy be exercised to administer the penalty gently and spar
ingly." Neither of these principles, alone, will administer

100 ITS RELATION TO
the penalty safely and honorably for the ends of government.
All honest subjects will say, " Let justice administer it, what
ever be the consequences." All may assent to this, but the
difficulty of administering the penalty with safety is not
removed. Another question occurs, " Upon what modification or
principle of justice would you execute the penalty?" Jus
tice takes many modifications. There is commutative justice,
which gives to another an equivalent for value received.
Divine moral government does not administer the penalty
upon this principle ; because it is perfectly inconsistent with
an administration on moral principles, to deal out a mathe
matical measurement of punishment for an arithmetical
amount of injury and wrong. For though the punishment
of the sinner will be no greater than deserved, yet all his
sufferings and pains will never be an equivalent, in commer
cial or commutative justice, for the honor and the homage of
which God has b.een wronged. Commercial or commutative
justice cannot therefore be exercised here, for the government
is a moral one. No moral quality or action can, in this gov
ernment, be recompensed with a commercial payment. It
were absurd to suppose, for instance, a father, a husband, or a
master, governing his family, on the commercial principle of
paying so much, in money or goods, as equivalent for so much
love and obedience received.
The execution of the penalty, also, on the principle of dis
tributive justice, is inconsistent with the present achifinistTation
of moral government, as it is a state of probation and trial.
Such an execution would render our present state not a state
of trial. If every swearer, or sabbath-breaker were immedi
ately dealt with, according to his character, men would no
longer be in a state of probation, to try whether they would
swear and keep the sabbath or not. If men would be always
seeing the immediate and summary consequences of sin, they
would not be any longer in a state of being proved as to what
was in their heart, whether they would keep His command
ments or no. They would be walking by sight, and not by
faith. The exercise of what is called vindictive justice in the
administration of the law, ill accords with the present con
nexion between God and man. There is so much goodness
and mercy, so much clemency and bounty, in ou* present
circumstances, as to assure us that God has thoughts of

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 101
peace and not of evil concerning us. Even the evils and the
inflictions of the present state are not vindictive, but are
evidently under the control and direction of a benevolent
principle. If the divine justice be regarded as commutative, or dis
tributive, or vindictive, we must suppose that the execution
of the penalty is an affair of indispensable necessity, and that
it must inevitably be inflicted. Besides, in such a necessary
execution there is also implied a necessary and inflexible
adherence to the strict letter and form of the law, so that the
Public Ruler cannot inflict less punishment than was threat
ened, nor confer more favor than was promised, without vio
lating the constitution.
Then, we must recur to our former question — " Upon what
principle shall this penalty of the law be administered ? " I
answer, upon the principle of public justice.
Public justice is that justice which a government exer
cises, to preserve the public good, and defend the public
honor of the whole community. In human governments, the
chief magistrate has a power of suspending penalties, and of
dispensing favors, provided he does not exercise such a pre
rogative to the detriment of the pubfic good. Public justice
is related to civil good, as distributive justice is related to
personal good. If the penalty be executed, public justice
provides that it shall be executed only for the public ends of
government, and not for private revenge. If the punishment
be suspended, public justice provides that the suspension or
remission shall not be detrimental to the public good ; it pro
vides that the ends of government shall be as fully secured
by the suspension as by the execution. On the principle of
distributive justice, Junius Brutus delivered his two offending
sons to the lictors, and said, " Execute the law upon them."
On the principle of public justice, Zaleucus spared his offend
ing son from blindness, by consenting to suffer the loss of an
eye himself. The ends of good government were as effectu
ally secured by the public justice of Zaleucus, as by the dis
tributive justice of Brutus. The tendency in either admin
istration to produce salutary impressions on the subjects, is
decidedly in favor of that of public justice.*
# The author may be allowed here to say that he has been, for some
years,, directing his studies to a work, which he intends at some future
opportunity to bringto the press, " On Public Justice, as a Principle in the
Administrations of Divine Moral Government." ¦'
9*

102

ITS RELATION TO

SECTION HI.

The suspension of the Penalty, on honorable grounds, consistent
with Public Justice.
If the chief magistrate, in suspending a punishment, or
conferring a pardon, act beside the letter of the law, he cannot
be said to be unjust, while his measures subserve the general
design of the law, and answer to the spirit of the constitution.
Suppose one of a gang of robbers to turn king's evidence.
Distributive justice would require that the penalty of death
be inflicted upon him as "particeps criminis," and the letter
of the law would demand hi3 execution. In such a case the
chief magistrate thinks that he will promote the ends of
justice, and secure the public good, better by suspending the
merited punishment, than by inflicting it ; and, therefore, so
far, no honest subject in the kingdom will think him guilty of
injustice. In civil governments, we are, every day, presented with
instances of the suspension of punishment, when it can be
done without injury to the public good. A thief is condemned
to suffer the punishment of death, but this punishment is sus
pended, and transportation for life is substituted instead of it.
In either case the end of government is answered, namely,
that he should no longer wrong honest subjects.
The providential government which God exercises over
the affairs of this world, shows that threatenings can be hon
orably suspended, when the ends of good government can be ¦
secured by it. The case of Nineveh is in point. The end
of divine government, in the threatenings denounced by
Jonah, was the reformation of the people. This end was
secured without an infliction of the penalty, consequently,
no one but Jonah has ever thought the suspension or remis
sion of the punishment wrong. That it is a possible case that
a punishment may be suspended, when the ends of government
can be otherwise secured, is evident from the whole history of
the forbearance and long-suffering of God. The threatened
inflictions are long delayed; many serious warnings are
given of the approach of judgments : when judgments come,
they are not inflicted so severely as was threatened ; and
their execution takes place gradually, as if God were reluc
tant to inflict them, and as if he were waiting every moment
for a signal to withhold his hand. This induction proves

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 103
that to secure the ends of government, is much greater in
the estimation of God, than to execute a literal threatening ;
and this demonstrates that his denunciations can be honorably-
withdrawn, when their pubfic ends are secured.
It has pleased God to give us a specimen of his moral
government over the universe, in the theocracy which he
exercised over the Israelites. In the annals of the theocracy,
suspensions and remissions of threatened punishments are
facts of very frequent occurrence. Indeed, the whole of this
divine polity was a system of suspensions, founded upon the
substitution of sacrifices, as public expedients and honorable
grounds for the non-infliction of threatenings and penalties.
Since God in this peculiar polity has clearly shown that he
can, on honorable grounds, suspend a threatened judgment,
without being deemed unjust, he has thus exhibited to us the
operation of a principle, which is capable of indefinite appli
cation to the whole sway of his moral government, and which
has actually left well-defined and indelible traces of its opera
tion, in the administration of divine providence.
Even if the arguments from analogy failed us, in proving
the justice of suspending a threatening, there is one fact, that
in the history of sinners is boldly prominent, and is present
ing itself at every turn : it is the fact that the original penalty
threatened to our first parents has been actually suspended.
Had it been literally executed, there would have been no
human race now'existing. The penalty threatened to Adam
was, " In the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die."
Adam did eat of the forbidden tree ; he was spared, he did
not die, his penalty was suspended, his punishment was
remitted. Was such a suspension just ? On what principle
can it be justified ? We reply that it was suspended on the
principle of public justice, which made honorable provisions,
that the spirit of the divine constitution should be preserved
without adhering to the letter of it.
SECTION IV.
The Death of Christ an honorable ground for remitting Punishment.
I. The atonement of Christ is a distinct, and public recog
nition of the truth, and justice of the sinner's liableness to
the punishment threatened in the law.
The apostle Paul, in Col. ii. 14, represents the influence of
the death of Christ as paying a debt or cancelling a bond.

104 ITS RELATION TO
The chirograph, or bond, means the power of the law to con
demn a sinner ; that is, our obligation and liableness to suffer
the penalty threatened by the law for sins. The sinner owes
to the public government the suffering of the punishment
It is this due, this obligation, this liableness, that is repre
sented by the chirograph.
The first part of an honorable payment of a debt, whether
commercial or civil, is freely owning the justice of the claim,
and acknowledging the reality of the obligation. The whole
of the undertaking of Christ proceeds upon this recognition,
that what the law requires is holy, just, and good. By blot
ting out the handwriting and cancelling the bond, he did not
mean to imply that its claims were false, or that its demands
were unjust. On the contrary, he nailed the chirograph to
the cross, as having been once a true and valid indictment.
The death of Christ, or the atonement by his death, sup
poses the charge against the sinner to be true, and his liable
ness to the punishment to be just and right. He came to
seek and to save that which is " lost," — to callj not the
righteous, but " sinners" " children of wrath," " condemned
already." If the atonement did not regard sinners, as ante
cedently bound over by sin to suffer the penalty of the law,
Christ would not have died to redeem them from under the
condemnation of the law. This pubfic testimony to the
dueness of the punishment, honors the divine government in
maintaining and enforcing its claims on the sinner, and marks
sin as an inexcusable wrong, and of unextenuated guilt.
II. The provision of an atonement shows the great concern
of the moral Governor for the ends of justice which are to
be secured in his administrations.
God is rich in mercy, plenteous in redemption, and ready
to forgive ; nevertheless he is concerned for the honor of his
justice. He loves right, and he hates wrong. He loves
order in his government, and is concerned to prevent disorder.
His hatred of disorder and wrong, is commensurate with his
love of himself, and with his concern for the public good of
the universe. In defending his own rights, the whole of his
public character and revealed glory is concerned. He needs
no motive to feel compassion and mercy towards sinners,
nevertheless a safe medium is necessary for the honorable
expression of that mercy towards them.
Sin is a public injury both to God, and to the universe. It
is not in the nature of mercy, nor does it become its charac-

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 105
ter, to forgive such a public wrong without an expression of
its abhorrence to the crime. Such a mercy would be weak
indulgence, a fond and a blind passion. Every one sees that
a family, governed on such a principle, would soon become
the pest of a commonwealth ; and so would a company of
servants, or an army of soldiers. Even family discipline
requires that when you forgive a chifd, there ought always
to be some expression of displeasure at the offence.
The most powerful expression of mercy's abhorrence of
sin, and of its concern for the ends of public justice, has been
given in the substitution of the Son of God. A father, for
instance, will not be afraid of relaxing the bonds^f good
discipline in forgiving a child, when a mother in tears and
anguish, is the expression of an abhorrence of the child's
offence. God has consulted the ends of public justice in the
exercise of his mercy, and has therefore set forth the death
of his Son as the honorable ground on which he is just in
justifying him that believes. God spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all, as a clear demonstration of
his great concern for his justice, and as a public expression at
what a dear rate he forgives the sin which his righteous soul
abominates. Such a provision for securing the ends of justice, honors
the divine government, because it shows that the reins of
just authority are not at all relaxed. All the subjects will
feel, from the whole of such an arrrangement, that the moral
Governor thinks very highly of justice. No friend of the
Mediator can slight the law and the government, and no one,
who slights and disregards the law, will ever be deemed a
friend of the Mediator.
III. In the atonement the suffering of death by Jesus
Christ was substituted, by the blessed God, instead of the
suffering of the punishment that was due to the sinner.
Jesus Christ suffered for us, the just for the unjust. He
was made a curse for us — and a sin offering./or us. When
it is said that Christ suffered for us, it is not meant that he
suffered the sufferings due to us in law, but that his sufferings
were endured as substituted instead of our sufferings. An
atonement goes on the supposition that the identical suffer
ings threatened against man are suspended, and that other
sufferings are substituted instead of them.
This exchange, or commutation of sufferings, in the expedi
ent for redemption, was intimated in the first promise made to

106 ITS RELATION TO
Adam. Man by transgression had become liable to the literal
sufferings which were threatened in the penalty annexed to
the law. From these sufferings he was to be delivered by the
seed Of the woman. This deliverance was to be effected, not
by power, but by a price of substituted sufferings, designated
the " bruising of the heel" a very different kind of suffering
from that which was threatened to Adam.
This view of the vicarious and substitutionary character of
the sufferings of Christ will give some definiteness and force
to the phrase, " Christ has paid our debts." Though this
phrase is not scriptural, it is not to be treated contemptuously,
as it is aenstantly used, with much sweetness and unction, by
many Christians, and has been sanctified by long usage in
our sermons, and in our spiritual songs.
" What are the debts which Jesus Christ has paid for us ? "
Some answer the question by saying that Jesus Christ obeyed
the law for us ; gave, in our stead, and in our name, that
obedience which we owed to the law, so that the law cannot
now. demand perfect obedience of us, because this was given
to it in our stead by Jesus Christ.
To understand the theology of such a phrase, let it be duly
considered — Did Jesus Christ pay our debts in this sense ?
Did he obey the law that we might not obey it ? Did he do
what the law required, that we might be discharged from our
duty ? Did he love God and love his neighbor, in our stead,
so that we are delivered from the obligation to do so ? I am
sure, I wrong my reader by supposing for a moment that he
does not perceive, at once, that in this sense, Christ has paid
no debts for us. Paying for us the duty which we owed to
the law, would be redeeming us from God, and not to God,
and would be an axe at the root of all moral government.
No class of rebels would ever be restored to their allegiance,
by any high officer so obeying the law in their stead, as to
discharge them from all fealty and homage.
It is, therefore, evident, that by Jesus Christ's paying our
debts, must be meant, not the debt of duty, but the debt of
penalty. The handwriting, or chirograph, which he can
celled, was not the bond of obligation to duty and service,
but the bond of liableness to punishment and sufferings.
It will be inquired, " How did Jesus Christ pay our debt of
penalty ? " This question is frequently answered, by saying,
that Jesus Christ suffered the identical punishment to which
we were exposed in law. This Sentiment is embodied in a

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT, 107
phrase not at all uncommon, that " Jesus Christ suffered the
hell of his people."
I shall refer a fuller discussion of the commutation of
sufferings to the chapter on the atonement in its connexion
with sin. I shall, now, only remark farther, that the atone
ment of Christ cancelled the_obligation to punishment, not by
paying the idem in the duty, norTiyliuffering the idem in the
penalty, but by substituting his own sufferings instead of the
sufferings due to the sinner.
IV. The sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ answer the
same ends as the punishment of the sinner.
We have already remarked that an offender is .publicly
punished by a wise government, not for the sake of putting
him personally to pain and torture, but for the sake of deter
ring others from committing crimes and offences. It was
upon this principle that an English judge once remarked to a
criminal before him, " You are condemned to be transported,
not because you have stolen these goods, but that goods may
not be stolen."
The ends of government, in the punishment of offenders
are — to show the goodness and benevolence of the law — to .
demonstrate the impartial justice of the governor — to exhibit >
the evil consequences of breaking the law, — and to imprejs
offenders with the hopelessness of escaping the punishment
due to crime.
You may be doubting the benevolence of a law that pun
ishes an offender. But suppose your house robbed, or your
child murdered, you would account that law really benevolent,
which would kindly throw around you the shield of her sym
pathy, and would rid the country of such robbers and mur
derers. It is true that the murderers themselves would not
regard such a law as good and benevolent, but every honest
man would admire and welcome it. Sinners generally judge
of the laws of God, as criminals judge of the laws of their
country. Public punishments tend to show that design of
the law is good, and that it watches kindly over the interests
of the poorest subject.
By public punishment the magistrate shows that his justice
is impartial and fair. He is above private motives; his
concern is for the public good. The insulted rights of the
lowest subject shall be vindicated by him : and the rank, or
power, of an illustrious offender shall not thwart the measures

108 ITS RELATION TO
of righteousness.- The effect will be, that all will stand in
awe of the majesty of unsullied justice.
The spectators of a public punishment are likely to be
impressed with the evil of the crime. They perceive thaf
they who know the interest of the nation best, regard the
deed of the culprit as injurious and wrong to every honest
subject. They feel that if every one did as the culprit did,
there would be no living in any community. They will know
that by the conduct of the culprit some families have suffered
severely, and that, if he had been spared, many more would
have suffered. They would see that such a mode of life,
however easy and pleasant for the moment, is sure, eventu
ally, to end in sorrow, infamy, and ruin ; and that such an
ignominious end of such a character, will be approved and
praised by all honest men every where.
The other end of government, in executing punishment, is
to convince all offenders, of the hopelessness of escaping the
law. The criminal may long hide himself, but eventually he
will be apprehended, and caught in the firm grasp of the law.
Neither his obscurity nor his rank, neither his entreaties nor
his bribes, can shelter him from the execration of the law and
the constitution. The impressions of this, every spectator,
ajjd every hearer, of the execution, will carry with him to his
home, and to his retirement.
If a man transgress a law, he must, in a just and firm
government be punished. Why ? Lest others have a bad
opinion of the law, and transgress it too. But suppose that
this end of the law can be secured without punishing the
transgressor ; suppose that a measure shall be devised by
the governor, which shall save the criminal, and yet keep
men from having a bad opinion of the law. Whv, in such a
case, all would approve of it both on the score of justice, and
on the score of benevolence. For public justice only requires
that men should be kept from having such a bad opinion of
the law, as to break it. If this can be done without inflicting
what, in distributive justice, is due to the criminal, public
justice is satisfied, because its ends are fully answered.*
In the moral government of God, the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ does this. It secures all the ends of the law, as

* Mr. Abbott, in his masterly work entitled " The Corner Stone,"
has, m chap, v., put the reasons of punishment in a verv strong light, bor
rowed from the case of Dr. Dodd. '

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 109
if the sinner himself had been punished. This view of the
atonement is, I think, what Paul meant when he said, that
" Christ was the end of the law for righteousness ; " that is,
'that the very end, which would have been secured by the
punishment of the sinner himself, has been amply and fully
secured by the death of Christ. It is on this account that
the death of Christ is represented in scripture as an atone
ment, a satisfaction, or an equivalent, for suspending the
literal execution of the penalty on the transgressor.
There are two sorts of equivalents, one belonging to com
mercial transactions, and the other to moral and civil affairs.
A commercial equivalent is an exchange of one kind of
property for another, as between a buyer and seller, and
which particularly defines the kind and the quantity to be
thus exchanged. A moral or civil equivalent does not regard
kind or quantity, but secures the same ends, and produces the
same effects, as the other moral or civil measure instead of
which it is substituted would have produced. Why in the
social circle do you accept of an expression of sorrow for a
fault, instead of inflicting the pain of your displeasure ? It
is because you think such sorrow will answer the same ends
as the infliction of your displeasure. Why was the death of
Zimri and Cozbi, by the zeal of Phineas, accepted by God
as an atonement, instead of inflicting the threatened death on
all the Israelites who had joined Baalpeor ? It was because
it answered the same ends for preventing idolatry, as if all
the idolaters had died. Why were the sufferings of our Lord
on the cross substituted, instead of inflicting the curse of the
law on man T It was because that, in the estimation of the
moral Governor of the universe, these sufferings of his Son
would answer the same " end of the law," as would have
been secured by the destruction of the transgressors them
selves. The death of Christ secures this end. It magnifies the
law, and makes it honorable in the sight of the universe, as
holy, just, and good, both in its commands and in its threat
enings. It is a demonstration of God's justice, as it shows
that he would not exercise even his mercy, without an
expedient to honor his justice, though at the cost of the
sufferings of his illustrious Son. It is a testimony to the evil
of sin — that it is regarded by God as an evil, that it has
actually inflicted evils on many, and is likely to inflict more ;
that it tends to misery, infamy, and death. It demonstrates
10

110 ITS RELATION TO
the impossibility of escaping the law ; for if God spared not
his own Son as the substitute, " how can we escape, if we
neglect so great salvation ? " Thus the death of Christ tends
to deter men from breaking the law, and answers the ends of
punishment. The sufferings of Christ not only secure the same ends of
government as the death of the sinner, but they answer them
more fully and abundantly. They better express the benev
olence of the character of God ; they better show the evil of
sin ; they supply better motives for holiness ; and they bring
a greater accession of happiness to the universe, for they not
only prevent miseries that might have come, but they suspend
those wliich were really due. The sufferings of a Personage
of such grandeur and worth, are calculated to make, on the
universe, deeper impressions of the rectitude of God's gov
ernment, and of God's displeasure against sin, than a literal
infliction of the penalty on sinful and degraded*' creatures.'*
Yea, they answer other and higher ends than the prevention ¦-'
of sin. The sufferings of millions of sinners could never
haYe been made a ground and medium for exercising mercy ;
could never bring any sinner that was under the penalty into
repentance ; and never could save other sinners : but the
sufferings of Christ can do these things, and do -them glorious
ly. Thus did the blood of Christ speak better things than
the blood of Abel.
There are two stupendous facts, in the administration of
moral government, which prove that the death of Christ
answers all these ends. The first is, that though God
declares sin to be an infinite wrong to him, yet he never asks
any sinner to make an atonement for his own sin. The
reason of this is, that He, himself has found a ransom, and
has set forth his own Son as the propitiation for this. The
second is, that God will not treat any man as a sinner, if he
will believe that the death of his Son was a propitiation for
sin. The reason is, that in Christ he is reconciling the world
unto himself without imputing their transgressions unto them.
V. The death of Christ provides that pardon shall be
dispensed to the offenders in such a manner, as shall fully
sustain the interests of moral government.
Pardon is proclaimed through an atonement which, by its
very provision, supposes that the honor and authority of the
law, are not weakened. If God had had no regard for the
honor of his law and government, he would not have pro-

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. Ill
vided an' equivalent. He was just, independently of the
atonement, but he provided an atonement that he might be
just in. justifying sinful men.
The sinner is forgiven on his repentance, which reflects a
disgrace and reproach upon sin. God, indeed, has always
the disposition and the power to forgive, independently of the
state and , feelings of the sinner, but the sinner's discharge
from his liableness to the penalty of the law is not passed, as
a judicial act, until he repents of his transgression. As God
has given an expression of his abhorrence of sin in proclaim
ing pardon, so has he ordained, for the ends of government,
that the sinner also should give an expression of his abhor
rence of it. This the sinner does by his repentance. When
one comes forth from the ranks of the revolters, and returns
to his allegiance, it is as far as his influence and example go,
a reflection both on the revolt, and on the revolters. A
repenting sinner blames both himself and others for rebellion
against God, and thus promotes the interest of the divine
government Forgiveness is offered freely and sincerely to all the offend
ers, which preserves the divine government from the charge
either of capricious partiality, or of arbitrary severity. God
calls upon all men every where to repent, and this is an
intimation to all men every where that there is for them for
giveness with God. He exhibits his pardons as in every way
suitable and adequate to the case of the greatest offender, for
he is plenteous in mercy and able to save to the uttermost.
He publicly promises free pardon to every penitent sinner,
and sincerely offers it to every sinner, with a solemn declara
tion, that " him that cometh he will in no wise cast out."
Hence no offender can despise the government for partiality,
or blame it for undeserved severity.
The pardon of the gospel comes from sovereign grace and
unmerited favor, and this excludes all boasting, claim, and
presumption. Notwithstanding the reconcilableness of God,
and notwithstanding the atonement of Christ, yet no sinner
can claim pardon. Some persons, indeed, have represented
pardon as due from God to the elect ; and have said, that it
would be unjust in God not to pardon them. There is noth
ing in the holy scriptures, there is nothing in the nature of
grace itself, to support such a bold and impious sentiment.
Try it yourself. Did you ever feel in prayer that you could
claim the blessings which you asked ? Does a happy soul

112 ITS RELATION TO
feel so on his entrance to heaven ? Does Gabriel feel that he
has a claim even to his own crown ? No : it is all of sover
eign grace. The offender accepts the pardon by believing it,
that is, by faith. The whole of this arrangement excludes
presumption and self gratulation. The reprieve is not the
prisoner's own, until he accept it ; he accepts it merely by
believing it. Would any prisoner think that he deserved the
reprieve because he believed it ? Would he demand his
reprieve as a claimant, or would he beg it as a suppliant?
Would he on account of the reprieve presume on the king's
favor and continue to five in rebellion ? No, the king has
freely, of his own prerogative forgiven him, but it is in a way,
" that he might be feared " and served.
The dispensation of pardon still perpetuates and continues
man in a state of probation, and this checks all inclinations
to licentiousness. God pardons, not that he might be trifled
with, but that he might be feared and . served. Man when
pardoned is not taken out of a state of probation and trial.
He is still accountable to law, he is still liable to break that
law, he is taught to pray daily for pardon, he is chastened and
afflicted for his sin, and he will have to appear at the reckoning
of the judgment day. By such an arrangement the honors of
the divine government are safe.
The exhibition of pardon has in itself a tendency to affect
the heart, and to restore a rebel to his allegiance. There is
forgiveness with God, not that he might be dreaded, but that
he might be esteemed, revered, and served. There is no
tendency in the dispensation of wrath to make the sinner
relent and return ; it hardens more and more. Sinners who
have been beaten with many stripes become harder and
harder. Satan, Cain, and Judas, are now harder, than when
the storm began to fall on them. It is mercy that conquers
the heart, and wins the rebel from his revolt. It is mercy
that restores man to his allegiance, that God may be served.
Wherever this mercy is prominent in the ministry of the
gospel, thither do guilty criminals flock, as doves to their
windows. After all, it is not mercy to rebellion, but mercy
to rebels ; therefore, there is nothing in forgiveness to connive
at revolt, though it smile on the sinner.

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 113

SECTION V.
A limited Atonement inconsistent with the principles of Moral
Government.
By a limited atonement, I understand, an atonement that
consists in suffering the limited amount of punishment due in
law to a certain number of offenders, the benefits of which
are limited to that number and to that number only. Such an
atonement is at variance with the declared principles of divine
moral government. It is at variance with the accountable
ness of sinners to the law, in their present state of proba
tion ; and it is inconsistent with tho principles of justice on
which the divine government is administered.
A limited atonement is established on the principle, that
the penalty threatened by the law must, of indispensable
necessity, be executed, executed literally and fully, or other
wise the justice of the divine government would be weakened
and dishonored. It supposes further, that if the punishment
of the law be not executed on the offender, it must be execut
ed on the substitute. Then it proceeds to argue thus, — some
offenders are through grace delivered from the punishment,
therefore their punishment must have been inflicted on their
substitute. And again, — some sinners will themselves for
ever suffer the punishment of the law in hell, but it would be
unjust to inflict the punishment again upon them, if Christ,
as a substitute, endured it for them ; and therefore the
punishment of these sinners was never sustained by Jesus
Christ in his atonement.
Sometimes the necessity of the sufferings of Christ as an
atonement, is made to arise from the inexorableness of vindic
tive justice ; and then, vindictive justice is represented as
impossible to be satisfied and appeased, except by the awful
intensity of the sufferings of the Mediator. Nothing less
would propitiate it. Our ear and our hearts have been
pained a thousand times, by representations of the blessed
God as if revelling in the agonies of the cross, and in the
blood of his own Son. When " it pleased the Lord to bruise
him," it was not for the undivine gratification of inflicting
pangs and tortures of intense pain ; but " it pleased the Lord"
to deliver him up a sacrifice for our offences, to substitute his
sufferings instead of ours, an expedient for honoring the law
and saving man. God still held his Son in undiminished
10*

114 ITS RELATION TO
love, and had infinite pleasure in his vicarious undertaking,
and had, in all the mysterious sufferings of the cross, sincere
good-will towards the salvation of man. If we suppose the
compensative scheme of atonement to consist, not in a substi
tution of person only, but also in a substitution of sufferings,
the atonement cannot be represented as a satisfaction to
vindictive justice, but it will appear to be what it really is,
an atonement to satisfy the ends of pubfic justice, in promot
ing the purposes of mercy.
Upon the principle of distributive justice, it is impossible
to account for the atonement of Christ, and for the salvation
of man. Some divines constantly affirm, that divine justice
required the death of Jesus Christ as a substitute, and that
the death of Christ thus satisfied divine justice.
Is this, indeed, true ? To ascertain this, think, What is
justice ? Justice is giving to every one his due, or treating
every one according to his character. Now, let us ponder it ;
" Was this justice satisfied in the death of Christ ? " Justice
is satisfied when it gives to every one his due, or treats every
one according to his character. But, were the suffermgs of
an ignominious death really due to Christ ? Did he deserve
the treatment which he received ? Is the salvation which
sinners receive through his death really due to them ? In
short, is either Christ, or the sinner, treated in this transaction
according to character ?
I conceive that any man looking at this stupendous scheme,
not through the colored medium of a theological system, will
see that Christ received sufferings which he never deserved,
and that the sinner receives blessings which were never due
to his character. Divine justice treats neither party according
to character : for " the Just " who " did this," and deserved to
" live," dies ; and " the soul that sinned," and deserved to
die, lives ; both cases being contrary to the principle of dis
tributive justice.
The remark is probably ready, that, " this is a peculiar
exercise of justice, as ' the just ' is substituted for ' the unjust,'
that the unjust might be saved for his sake." Very well.
Such a measure will be deemed and admired by all as an
expedient of transcendent benevolence and clemency : but
the original question still presses on us ; " How is justice
satisfied in it, when neither party has what is due to his char
acter ? " In this critical difficulty, reason and revelation meet
us with the assurance, that though this expedient of substitu-

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 115
tion is not distributive justice, either to Christ or to the sinner,
yet it is a measure of entire justice towards the interests of
the community under divine moral government, because the
ends of justice are as fully secured by the substitution, as if
the offender himself had suffered. It is therefore evident
that the justice which admitted of substitution is not what is
called distributive justice. It is public justice.
The exercise of public justice is suitable to the relations
existing between God and man, because it is free, benevolent,
and honorable. Public justice is voluntary and optional.
The standing order of the divine government is not that God
must he just in executing punishment, but that he might be
just in showing clemency. It makes the infliction of the
penalty not indispensable, but admissible, and it makes the
suspension of the penalty admissible too, only when the ends
of its infliction can be otherwise honorably secured.
It is benevolent. It shows that God is on the side of good ;
that he has good-will to each subject, and to all his empire.
" Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious ; and
therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon
you ; for the Lord is a God of judgment." Public justice is
honorable. By its exercise God humbles himself without
being dishonored ; and man is condemned without being in
jured, and he is saved without reproach. God himself regards
its exercise for a pleasure, a joy, and a glory. It is as a just
God and a Saviour, that he rests in his love, and joys over
the universe with singing.
The hypothesis of a limited atonement is founded upon
commercial views of the justice of God. It supposes that
justice was administered to Christ, the substitute, upon com
mutative principles. The hypothesis stands thus : A certain
number of souls was given to Christ to be saved — a certain
amount of punishment was due to them for so many sins —
Christ suffered that amount for them, and for them only ;
therefore, the benefits resulting from that suffering is limited
to them, and to them only.
The supposition of God acting on the principle of com
mutative or commercial justice, taking and receiving a quid
pro quo, completely perverts and destroys the moral dignity
of the atonement, and also all its influence as a medium of
saving man with honor to the divine government. It makes
God to exact punctually from Christ the identical punishment
threatened to the sinner, as none other could have been due,

116 its relation to
to be inflicted. It makes God to proportion the sufferings of
his Son to the number of sins imputed to him, as it would
have been unjust to have inflicted more or less than the pro
portion really due. It represents the Father of mercies as
doling out favors, in proportion to the number and degree of
his Son's sufferings, giving neither more nor less to any man
than the purchased quantum. It represents the elect as
claiming salvation as what is justly due to them from God,
for value which he has received from their substitute, because
it would be unjust to exact the same debt twice. It represents
the salvation of some men as utterly impossible, because their
debt has never been paid. It exhibits the great and blessed
God as mercenary in his gifts, unwilling to yield a single boon
but for value received in the sufferings of his Son — sufferings
which are represented as inducing (not to say bribing') Him
to be propitious and merciful. All these limitations of the
atonement are to be traced to commercial views of divine
justice ; and surely such troubled and unwholesome streams
should make us seriously doubt the purity of their source.
I will now introduce a few citations from two of our most
masterly divines, partly to supply specimens of what I mean
by commercial views of the divine administrations ; partly
to show that such commercial views naturally produce the
doctrine of limited atonement; and partly to indicate how
much those commercial views have colored a great portion of
systematic theology. The number of citations of this charac
ter, either from these two authors themselves, or from other
theological writers, might be indefinitely increased — but these
are sufficient.
The first author is Dr. Thomas Goodwtn, a great master
in the Israel of his day, whose works are marked by deep
research, independent thinking, and evangelical suavity. The
extracts will be from his " Discourse of Christ the Me
diator," found in the third volume of his works in folio. Ed.
1692. In b. i. chap. 5, Dr. Goodwin introduces the sinner
as proposing to God for his pardon, " rivers of oil, the first
born of his body, &c." but all being too low, the Doctor
remarks, " There is no proportion. God would never have
turned away so fair a chapman, if his justice could afford so
cheap a commutation." In b. i. chap. 7, he says of Christ,
" He must pay God in the same coyn we should, and there
fore, must make his soul an offering for sin — and if he be
made sin, he must be made a curse ; and which is more than

DIVINE MORAL GOVERNMENT. 117
all this, God himself must be the Executioner, and his own
Son the person who suffers, as no creature could strike stroke
hard enough to make it satisfactory." In b. i. chap. 8, he
says, " As his Father recommended the business to him
[Christ] so also he gave special recommendation of the per
sons for whom he would have all this done — viz. those who
were given to Christ." Then he observes — "a strange gift
it was, which he must yet pay for, and must cost more than
they were vjorth ; and yet he takes them as a gift and favor
from his Father." " So as Mediator (and though a Mediator)
he saves not a man, but whom his Father gave him, nor
puts a name in more than was in his fathers bill. You
may observe how careful he was in his account, and how
punctual in it. John xvii. 12. He is exact in his account
as appears, in that he gives a reason for him that was lost,
that he was a son of perdition, and so excuseth it." In b. i.
chap. 9, he represents Isa. xlix. as " the draught of the cove
nant, or deed of gift betwixt Christ and his Father for us " —
and then says, " His Father offers (as it were) low at first,
and mentioneth but Israel only as his portion. Then as he
[Christ] is thinking them too small an inheritance, too small
a purchase for such a price," — " God therefore answers him
again, and enlargeth and stretcheth his covenant further with
him." In the next chapter he says, that " Christ laid down a
price worth all the grace and glory we shall have."
The next author is Dr. John Owen, the Lebanon of
English theology. The great extent of his learning, his ac
curate sagacity in searching the workings of the heart, and
the prominence which he has given to the person of Christ,
have recommended his works to such acceptance and circula
tion, as to give their own hue and character to much of the
theology of his country. But the principle of a commercial
atonement, of paying quid pro quo, is interwoven with his
whole system of divinity, as— Phidias^- name in the" shield.
Take a specimen or two, from his " Death of Death," &c*
" God spared not his own Son, but gave him up to death for
us all — that he made him, to be sin for us — that he put all
the sins of all the elect into that cup wliich he was to drink of;
that the wrath and flood which they feared did fall upon
Jesus Christ " — " so all the wrath that should have fallen

* Owen's " Death of Death," b. iii. chap. 9., or Works, vol. v. p. 384,
385. See also p. 339, 340.

118 ITS RELATION TO THE
upon them, fell on Christ, &c." — " He charged upon him, and
imputed to him all the sins of all the elect, and proceeded
against him accordingly. He stood as our surety, really
charged with the whole debt, and was to pay the utmost farth
ing." " The Lord Christ (if I may so say) was sued by his
Father's justice unto an execution, in answer whereunto he
underwent all that was due to sin, &c." — " Christ underwent
not only that wrath (taking it passively) which the elect were
[actually] under, but that also which they should have under
gone, had he not borne it for them."
I have quoted enough. An atonement of such a commer
cial character as this, appears a measure of niggard calculation,
and dribbling mercenariness. It will be a glorious day for
the doctrines of the gospel, and for practical godliness, when
commercial views of the death of Christ shall be entirely
rejected, both by Christian divines and Christian churches.
Thanks be to God ! these views are fast disappearing ; as is
evident from the fact, that they are scarcely ever mentioned
in the creeds of young ministers at their ordination.

CHAPTER VII.

ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE PROVIDENCE
OF GOD.
SECTION I.
All Providence Centring in the Atonement.
I have already examined the atonement in its relation to
all works of God, considered as the productions of his wis
dom, power, and goodness, and as the abodes of intelligent
beings, and theatres of divine dispensations. In that chapter,
no immediate regard was had to the administrations of provi
dence in this world. In order, therefore, to a due examina
tion of the atonement in all its bearings and influence, we
shall now proceed to consider it, in its relation to the provi
dence which God exercises over our world.
Providence is that wise oversight and holy care, which
the Blessed God exercises over all beings, so as to preserve,
direct, and order all their agencies, for the good of his whole

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 119
empire, and for the display of his own glory. It is the divine
disposal and administration of all the works, and of all the
events, of time. Time is always shifting its scenes, and, in
every change is producing fresh characters, and successive
works. Every moment of time is thronged with agents, and
crowded with events. All things, and all beings are at work,
and are at work for God, under his cognizance, management,
and control. All are working out some amazing plan, of
which the operations of every individual is an underplot, and
of which, the progress and the upshot shall be according to
the wisdom of God, and the good pleasure of his will.
The foundation of providence is the existence of God. If
there be no God, there can be no providence. Providence
without the oversight of infinite intelligence is a fortuitous
concourse of events, a series of plots without a meaning.
Heathen historians, both ancient and modern, would be
puzzled to answer the questions — What can be the meaning
of their histories? For what purposes have all these events
come to pass ? What is to be the final upshot of all the
movements and changes in dynasties and empires ? History
without a providence is an idle tale, a cipher without an
integer, a number of unconnected links, but no chain. Divine
providence, on the contrary, gives unity, worth, energy, and
weight to all the events of history, by connecting each and
all of them with the infinite superintending mind of God.
As heathen philosophers rob history of its importance and
glory, by separating it from the providence of God ; so, many
Christian divines rob providence of much of its beauty and
worth, by severing it from the mediation and atonement of
Christ. _ It has long been the fashion in theology to consider the
divine government, as consisting of three kingdoms or prov
inces, called the kingdom of nature, the kingdom of provi
dence, and the kingdom of grace. The same fashion has
represented the kingdom of grace alone, as connected with
the atonement of Jesus Christ; supposing the kingdom of
nature, and the kingdom of providence, to sustain no rela
tionship to his mediation. I believe such distributions of
the divine empire to be human, unseriptural, and, therefore,
untenable; The advancement of natural philosophy has ban
ished from the science of chemistry, the old orthodox princi
ples of " the four elements," and it is now full time that
the progress of scriptural theology should have abolished the

120 ITS RELATION TO THE
human arrangements of the three divine kingdoms. If, how
ever, these arrangements only mean that nature, providence,
and grace are imperia in imperio — wheels within a wheel,
— works and events of various diameters thrown around one
centre, and that centre, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
such distribution and such language would be admissible.
It is making either of these provinces independent of the
central throne, that makes such a division madmissible and
blamable. To separate nature and providence from the mediation of
Christ, is to put asunder what God has united. What is
nature but the original constitution of all things ? What is
the original constitution of all things, but the state in which
they were created by Christ, and for Christ ? And this is
mediation. What is providence ? Is it not Christ, upholding
all things, and governing all things? Is it not all things
consisting and holding together in Christ ? Providence, then,
alienated from the mediatorial administration of Christ, is not
the providence of the scripture. And nature separated from
the work of Christ is not the " course of nature," mentioned,
in the scripture, as a theatre for the scenes of redemption,
and as an apparatus of means for the good of them that love
God. Nature, providence, and grace, then, are three immense
wheels in one machinery, — the cogs, and revolutions of each,
catching and influencing those of the others, and all put in
motion by the influence of the great atonement. God does
not perform one thing as the God of nature, another thing j
as the God of providence, and a third as the God of grace.
Such language is just as proper as that he does one thing as
the God of vegetation, another as the God of geology, and
a third as the God of astronomy ; or one thing as the God of
the earth, another as the God of the moon, and another thing
as the God of the sun. He is of one mind, and his system
is one. Any one of his dispensations, like a stone thrown
into a lake, produces, according to its weight and importance,
circles which tell on other portions of his works, and in other
places of his dominion.
The atonement of Christ is an event to which all providence
refers. " The hour " of atonement was the hour for which
all hours were made. It was the hour to which all preceding
providences looked forward, and to which all subsequent
providences look backward. It was in the fulness of time,

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 121
at a crisis which providence had matured, that Christ offered
the atonement of his death. In this atonement, as the centre
of power and influence, Christ stands, amid the numerous
revolutions of providence, the same yesterday, to-day, and
for ever. SECTION II.
The mediatorial Administration of Providence founded on the
Atonement.
I. The sacred scriptures regard the atonement of Christ
as the ground and reason for committing the administrations
of providence into his hands.
Let us hear what Jesus Christ himself says : " All power
is given to me in heaven and earth." Matt, xxviii. 19. In
this passage Christ regards himself as the President of the
entire universe. He declares his power to be universal. He
has authority over heaven, to employ all its intelligences in
his service, and to dispose of all its happiness and honors
according to his sovereign will and pleasure. His authority
extends over all the earth, over all beings and things, over all
times, works, and events, — and especially over the probation
and the destinies of man. This language does more than
merely assert the universal domination of the Redeemer, it
gives also an intimation of the harmonious administration of
this immense power. The power exercised in heaven is not
opposed to the interests of the earth ; and the authority em
ployed on earth is subservient to the great interests of heaven.
It is by the influence of the atonement that the will of God
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The whole language of the New Testament is an echo of
this regal proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Mediator is " King of kings, and Lord of lords." He is
" Lord of all." " He has power over all flesh." He has
" the keys of Hades and the grave," and is " Lord both of
the dead and the living." He is the " head of all principality
and power," "the Lord of glory." "Every judgment is
committed unto him." Indeed, " all things are delivered unto
him of the Father, who has constituted him the heir of all
things, who has put all things under his feet," and who has
issued a public edict from his throne, " that in the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things
in earth, and things under the earth."
11

122 ITS RELATION TO THE
Another class of passages distinctly asserts that the person
of the Mediator is invested with this authority and dominion
on account, and in consequence, of his atonement. Take
Phil. ii. 8 — 10, as a nucleus for the others. " Being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name — that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." To
possess this universal empire was one design of his sacrifice.
" For, for this end Christ died that he might- be Lord both of
the dead and the living." It was after that he offered one
sacrifice for sins, that he for ever sat down at the right hand
of God. The apostle Peter represents Christ as " gone into
heaven, and on the right hand of God ; angels, authorities,
and powers, being made subject unto him." 1 Peter iii. 22.
He entered heaven in his priestly office, and in his atoning
character, as the high priest entered the holy of holies ; and
on this official entrance into heaven, he took public possession
of all power and authority.
It was not now that the grant of universal dominion was
made to him ; nor was it now that he commenced his media
torial government ; but it was now that he was publicly
inaugurated into the administration of divine providence.
Though in virtue of the original and eternal grant of the
Father, Christ had been in the actual possession of all power,
yet it was not till after his ascension in his atoning office, that
he assumed the public exercise of his mediatorial authority
over providence. Probably, the new aspect which the
administration of providence assumed about this time towards
the Gentiles, was designed to be a proof of this, as it seemed
reserved to honor the coronation, and to adorn the triumphs,
of the Mediator. And the copious effusion of gracious
influences at this time seemed to give a new character to the
dispensations of providence, as royal largesses scattered
among the people, to grace the auspicious entrance of Christ
upon the public exercise of his mediatorial power, as the
official Organ of moral government.
II. Without an atonement there would have been no
providence exercised among mankind. If there be no rela
tionship between the atonement of Christ and the providence
of God, it is impossible to account for the continuation of
mankind on the face of the earth.

providence of god. 123
Suppose for a moment that the arrangements of the con
stitution with Adam in Eden had been carried out into literal
execution. In the day that our first parents would eat of the
forbidden fruit, " dying they were to die." They did eat.
And had this constitution been executed to the letter, they
would immediately have died and perished ; and, consequently,
would have had no posterity. If the threatening had been
executed literally, there would have been no human race.
They, however, sinned, and became liable to the literal
infliction of the threatened punishment, but the infliction of
the literal penalty was suspended, and they lived. How did
this come to pass ? It was by the introduction of a new
dispensation, a dispensation that was sparing, restorative, and
saving. The ground of this new dispensation was the Seed
of the woman's bruising the Serpent's head, and obtaining,
by his sufferings and conflicts, a mastery over the world, and
over all evils.
From the moment that the threatened penalty was sus
pended by the introduction of another constitution, Adam and
Eve lived under a new dispensation, and under this new
dispensation Cain and Abel were born ; yea, under this new
dispensation the whole posterity of Adam has been introduced
into the world. This has been long and strenuously disputed,
but on no solid and scriptural grounds. I would just ask, if
the penal sanctions of Eden had been literally inflicted on
our first parents, how was it possible for them to have a race
of offsprings ? If the human race is born under the Eden
constitution, or as it is called, the covenant of works, where
is the Eden test of probation ? on whom has its literal
threatenings ever been executed ? who has ever died in the
day that he first sinned ?
The case of mankind, I conceive, stands thus. In the
wise and harmonious exercise of divine prerogative and
public justice, the original penalty or curse threatened against
Adam was suspended. I do not consider the sentence pro
nounced on our first parents after the fall, to be the same
with the curse that was threatened to them before their fall.
The sentence is daily executed, but the original curse or
penalty threatened was suspended. It was suspended, on the
ground of the atonement of Christ as an equivalent, that is,
as an expedient that was substituted instead of it, and that
would answer the same public ends as it. By such a sub
stitution another dispensation was introduced, and by the

124 its relation to the
introduction of another dispensation, our first parents and
their posterity were allowed to live.
The human race, then, owes its very existence, with all the
blessings and advantages of that existence, to the mediation
and the atonement of Jesus Christ. For without a regard to
the atonement, it is impossible to view the suspension of a
punishment wliich had been solemnly threatened, to be either
honorable or safe to the divine government. If God can,
with honor to his government, remit any punishment irre
spective of the atonement, he might remit all — which would
make the atonement of Christ altogether vain.
III. If the dispensations of providence be separated from
the influence of the atonement, no principle remains to
account for the harmonious administration of judgment and
mercy in the government of the world.
Take away the atonement of Christ, and the state and the
circumstances and the prospects of man, present a labyrinth
for which we have no clue. If man be what he was first
made, and what he ought to be, in the service and in the
favor of his Maker and Owner, how will you account for his
misery and degradation ? If man be abhorred, and spurned,
and cursed of his maker and lawgiver, how will you account
for his mercies, for his probation, for the call on him to
repentance, and for the numerous answers which God has
given to bis prayers ?
Man is evidently under a mixed administration. He him
self is regarded in the mixed character of a condemned
sinner, and a probationary candidate. God governs him in
the mixed character of a gracious Benefactor and just Judge.
Scripture and observation prove that these tilings are really
so. The difficulty is to find some ground or medium in
which prerogative and law, or mercy and judgment, shall
harmonize. Such a medium is the atonement of the death
of Christ.
This medium is not necessary to the existence of mercy
and justice in God, nor, perhaps, to a separate exercise of
them. God has these attributes and perfections irrespectively
of the mediatorial constitution, and they harmonize in his
nature with perfect loveliness, for in bun can be no clashing
attributes or contradictory principles. A medium is necessa
ry only to harmonize their exercise, in a mixed administration
of moral government.

providence of god. , 125
The atonement of the death of Christ is a suitable medium
for this. It supposes man to be a sinner, and yet a candidate
in probation. It supposes God to be a sovereign Benefactor,
and yet a righteous Governor. It exhibits God in the ful
ness of his character, a righteous legislator who published a
good law ; a gracious Lord who exercises his sovereign
prerogative in infinite wisdom ; and a just governor, who, in
dispensing pardon and favor, consults the dignity and the
honor of his government. The very provision of an atoning
expedient supposes all this. The atonement does not exhibit
one attribute glorious and lovely at the expense of the other,
but it shows forth each and all in unsullied purity, in well-
adjusted harmony, and in greater lustre and splendor than
any measure in the universe. It enables God honorably to
condescend to show favors without sinking his character or
his government.
The same atonement in its aspect upon the sinner, con
templates him in his mixed character, under condemnation,
and yet in probation. The provision of an atonement tells
the sinner that the moral legislator thought the quarrel
between him and the offender of such an importance, as to
call in the interposition of a third party, and that third party
a person of great dignity and worth. It tells him that the
very friend, who interposed for him, regards the law which
the sinner violated as holy, just, and good. By exhibiting
the sufferings of this illustrious Interposer, as substituted
instead of the punishment due to the offender, the atonement
brings a greater amount of motive, to deter sinners from
transgression, than the tempter can bring to allure to it.
God is so well pleased with the atonement of his Son, that
he reckons any of his perfections honored and glorified, by
being exercised for the sake of it, and on account of it. He
is willing to confer any boon and any favor, however great,
upon any offender, however unworthy, if he will ask it in the
name and for the sake of his dear Son.
In this mixed administration of the divine government,
man's transgression will account for his miseries, God's
goodness will account for his mercies, and the atonement of
Christ will account for the honorable exhibition of favor to
him as a condemned offender.
11*

126 ITS relation to the

SECTION III.
The administration of Providence subservient to the ends of the
Atonement.
If all the movements in- the physical universe are put in
subserviency to gravitation, it is valid to argue that gravita
tion is connected with all the arrangements of matter. By a
similar train of reasoning we can prove a connexion between
the atonement of Christ and all the arrangements of provi
dence. The fact of such a connexion is established both by
the testimony of the scriptures, and by the whole aspect of
the dispensations of providence.
I. The whole design and aspect of the atonement, is " good
will to men ; " and to this, the whole administration of provi
dence is subservient.
The entire character and history of providence are summed
up in one inspired sentence : " all things work together for
good." " All things " in the universe are at " work." All
things are at work " together," in order and harmony. The
product of the harmonious cooperation of all things is "good."
This aggregate of good produced in the universe forms the
portion and inheritance of " them who love God." The
workings together of good agents produce an immense accu
mulation of good ; and even the workings of bad agents are
overruled for good. Indeed all the evils in the universe arise
from agents not working their proper work ; but even this is
made subservient to the production of good upon the whole.
It is a fact which should form the doctrinal creed of every
man, that in the whole machinery of providence, there is not
a single wheel made and intended to produce evil. Every
wheel, and every revolution of every wheel, is intended,
placed, and fitted to produce good, and to produce nothing
but good. It is true, indeed, that the results of providential
revolutions may and will be for evil to some ; nevertheless,
the reason of this is not hi the movements of providence,
but in the character and attitude of sinners themselves. The
workings of any piece of machinery may be good and pro
ductive of good, but if a drunken or a heedless man throw
himself within its cogs, the fault of the result cannot be as
cribed to the working of the machinery. Picture to yourself
a thief at his wicked work, sculking in darkness, and grasping
his booty. Will he remain long on the scene of wrong to

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 127
enjoy his prey ? No. See how all the stars of heaven move
in their courses — see, how the great globe itself rolls in rapid
and mighty movement — see, how the sun travels in the
greatness of his strength. All these stupendous movements
are positively good, and produce good : but they are for evil
to the spoiler ; simply because he is a spoiler, and at a wrong
work ; they are for good to every honest man, who is at his
proper work. Every friend of sin is like a besotted man
entangled in the meshes of a good machinery, whose revolu
tions will eventually crush and destroy him. He is out of his '
place. The author of the machinery never intended him to
be there, and therefore the blame of the evil consequences is
not to be ascribed to him. An evil doer is like a thief and a
robber, whose pursuits are not in harmony with the " course
of nature," and therefore the course of nature, and the revo
lutions of providence are against him.
History and experience testify that in the present mixed
administrations of providence, mercy and judgment, like
ingredients in a medicine, or like a thunderstorm in the at
mosphere, operate for the public good, and altogether wear
an aspect of benevolence and kindness towards man. Judg
ments are never sent without warnings, which are like the
voice of mercy crying before the trumpet of judgment.
Judgments keep up a constant memorial of the rectitude of
the governor, and a testimony to his concern for the public
welfare, in showing that he is as much determined to defend
good laws, as he was disposed to make them. These judicial
interpositions restrain men from great evils, and really prove
blessings to many families, and to many neighborhoods, by
removing a root of bitterness, and an evil example from
among them. Even the severest infliction of judgments leave
more criminals behind than they sweep away, that the others
may have a season for repentance. Judgments come very
gradually, and when they do come, God never stirs up all his
wrath, and he never afflicts with the " greatness of his power."
If even the judgments executed in the administrations of
providence have such an aspect of benevolence and " good
will to man," what must be the character of the mercies
which providence with open hand lavishes on the children of
men ? In the dispensations of providence, mercy and truth
have met together, righteousness and peace have embraced
each other.

128 ITS RELATION TO THE
It is the atonement of Jesus Christ that gives to divine
providence this character and aspect. The atoning Mediator
is, in priority of arrangement, the first in the series of the
blessings of infinite providence, the first bubbling in the well-
spring of the stream of favors, the first stone in the building
of mercy. It pleased the Father to make him the magazine
of all fulness of blessings, and it is out of his fulness that we
all have received. It is because God spared not his own Son,
but delivered him for us all, that he will with him freely give
us all things. All blessings and mercies are dispensed in his
name, by his authority, and on his account. It is only so far
as our mercies are employed in harmony with the mediato
rial work of Christ, that they prove real blessings unto us ;
they are otherwise traps and snares to our ruin. All good
things, and sure mercies, are contained in the New Testament
of Christ. No blessing has ever come to man, but what is
contained in the Testament, and the Testament with all its
blessings and mercies, is sealed with the blood of the atone
ment.* The Lord Jesus Christ is constituted the sovereign
of providence. In this character he sits on the right hand of
God, and dispenses his favors. Blessings are dispensed by
him, not by his divine authority, but by his mediatorial power ;
and his mediatorial power is, alpha and omega, founded in the
atonement of his death.
II. The subserviency of providence to the designs of the
atonement, becomes more evident when we consider that
providential dispensations are administered with a special
reference to the interests of the church of Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ is himself " the heir of all things,"
and all his people are " joint-heirs with him." God has placed
* In unison with these sentiments, are the views of the heavenly Fl* vel.
" Christ is the channel of grace and mercy ; through him are all the decur-
sus et recursns gratiarum, all the streams of mercy that flow from God to us,
and all the returns of praise from us to God.
" The purchase of all these mercies which providence conveys to us, is by
his own blood ; for not only spiritual and eternal mercies, but even all our
temporal ones, are the acquisition of his blood. Look, as sin forfeited all,
so Christ restored all those mercies again to us by his death. Sin had so
shut up the womb of mercy, that, had not Christ made an atonement by his
death, it could never have brought forth one mercy to all eternity for us. It
is with Him that God freely gives ns all things."' " So that whatever good
we receive from the hand of Providence, we must put it on the- score of
Christ's blood ; and when we receive it we must say, it is the price of blood ;
it is a mercy rising out of the death of Christ; it 'cost him dear, though it
came to me freely." " These sweet mercies, that are born of Providence
every day, are the fruits of the travail of his soul." Flavel on Providence.
Works, vol. iv. p. 450. Ed. 1820.

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 129
the Mediator in the throne of dominion at his own right hand
in the heavenly places, and has put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church.
Therefore, the apostle says elsewhere, " All things are yours,
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or
death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and
ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's."
Our blessed Saviour, in his intercessory prayer in the
garden, refers to this bearing of his mediatorial government
generally, on the interests of the church especially. " Thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eter
nal life, to as many as thou hast given him." This passage,
while it shows that the mediatorial dominion of Christ is of
wider diameter than his church, proves that the exercise of
all his mediatorial authority and sway, is subservient to the
interests of his people. The entire history of divine provi
dence is an evidence of this special subserviency. The early
history of the Jewish church shows, how much the civil poli
tics and the external condition of the nations of the earth
were subservient to its protection and establishment. When
the church has been in circumstances difficult, painful, and
critical, providence in an unthought-of manner interposed to
supply suitable means and proper instruments of deliverance
— as in Egypt and Babylon, at the introduction of Christian
ity, and at the Reformation. The. plots, and designs, and
machinations of men and of nations, laid down with malicious
craftiness, and nerved with wealth and power, have been, by
a mediatorial Providence, suddenly frustrated and destroyed.
The dispositions of councils and states have been, as rivers of
water in the hand of providence, directed, or moderated, chas
tened, or overruled for the furtherance of the church of Christ.
Some instances of particular providences, in the lives and
labors of individual members of the church, supply the most
decisive and interesting specimens of the manner, in which
the administration of the world is subordinate to the benefit of
the church.
III. One marked design of the atonement of Christ is to
magnify the law, and make it honorable. To this high design
all the dispensations of providence are subservient. This is
the end aimed at in the inflictions of judgments on individual
men and on communities, in the institution of sacrificial rites
which have prevailed among all nations, in the miraculous
revelations of the divine mind and will to prophets and other

130 ITS RELATION TO THE
messengers, in the prompt and suitable answers that have been
given to prayer, in the promulgation and ministrations of the
gospel in the world, in the holy lives of renewed men, in the
eternal punishment of incorrigible rebels, and in the glorious
rewards of the heavenly state.
These considerations warrant the conclusion, that all things
are made "for" Christ as Mediator, and "given "to his
administration to subserve the ends of his government, and
secure the purposes of his atonement.
SECTION IV.
The administration of the Atonement analogous to the administration
of Providence.
Palet observes, in his Natural Theology, that in all our
widest and farthest researches into the productions of Crea-
\ tion, " we never get amongst such original, or totally different,
modes of existence, as to indicate, that we are come into the
province of a different Creator, or under the direction of a
different will." Well had it been for the Christian church
had such a thought suggested itself to our theological inquirers
and polemical writers. It would have saved much contro
versy, heresy, persecution, and bloodshed.
The analogy between providence and moral government
Butler has established in a position unassailed and unassail
able. Many of the controversies which have agitated and
unsettled the Christian church, have been conducted on the
supposition, that in the works of redemption we come, so to
speak, to the productions of a different God, other than the
Lord of Providence and the Maker of the world. Human
systems of theology seem to take this datum for their basis —
but holy writ, sound reason, and daily experience show that
mankind are members of one immense system, pervaded by
the same mind, regulated by the same will, and administered
on the same general principles.
My present design is only to illustrate the analogy between
the administration of the atonement and the dispensation of
providence. I. The providence of God has a universal aspect. His
tender mercies are over all his works. He niaketh his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and the unjust. Such is the God of Providence, and
such also is the God of redemption. He has loved the world.

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 131
He gave his Son to be a propitiation for the sins of the
whole world. He willeth not that any should perish, but
come to the knowledge of the truth, and he commands all men
every where to repent. Here are words of equal dimensions.
If you will apply some cramping and abridging process to
the phrases about redemption, try the' same experiment on
providence, and the result will show that you serve a system,
and not receive the truth. On the universal aspect of provi
dence you have no system to serve, but on redemption you
have to cut and square these unmeasured expressions to ready-
made creeds. Think not in your hearts that the God, who
openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living
thing, is different from the God who spared not his own Son,
but delivered him up for us all. Say not that the God who
has provided so bountifully for our bodily and temporal wants,
has been niggard and scanty in his supply for the soul that is
to live for ever.
II. The measures of providence are liable to failure. A
medicine may fail, notwithstanding the virtue which provi
dence has given it. The crop of the husbandman may fail,
notwithstanding the provision that seed time and harvest time
shall continue. The morbid fear of acknowledging such a
liableness to failure in the measure of providence, is unac
countable when God declares his own government of the
Jews under the theocracy, to have failed of its ends. " In
vain have I smitten them, they have refused to receive
correction," Jer. ii. 30. The word of God distinctly and
expressly recognizes the same liableness to failure in the great
measure of atonement. Are you sure that it is not attach
ment to system, rather than attachment to the truth, that makes
you hesitate to avow this ? The scriptures openly state that
the atonement may become of none effect in some cases, as in
Gal. v. 2, 5. The apostle Paul was afraid of the Galatians, lest
he had bestowed upon them labor in vain, i. e. lest the ministry
of the atonement should fail of its ends. The same apostle
pleads with the Corinthians in earnest intreaty, that they
would not receive the grace of God in vain, which he must
have supposed to be a possible case. The prophet Isaiah
introduces the Messiah, the Lord Mediator himself, saying,
" I have labored in vain, and spent my strength for nought."
In perfect harmony with this prediction are the very words
of the Redeemer himself. " How oft would I have gathered
thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,

132 ITS RELATION TO THE
and ye would not!" As I have here only to notice the
analogy between the atonement and providence, no candid
reader will suppose that this language implies an utter fail
ure — it merely implies susceptibility of failure. The failure
in either case does not dishonor God, the blame of it is en
tirely with the sinner — and the possibility of the case is quite
consistent with the laws of trial in a free and moral govern
ment. The character of any measures of divine providence is to
' be tried by the fitness and adaptation, and design, of such meas
ures, and not at all by their final results. It is in this manner
we always judge of an evil measure in the world. We judge
of a dagger, a sword, a cannon, by its fitness and design.
We judge of deceit, cunning, extortion and oppression, by
their tendency and aim. Thus should we judge of providence.
No wise man judges of a medicine by the death of a patient,
of wealth by a miser, of learning by pedantry, or of liberty
by anarchy. The deluge was a fit measure to clear the earth
of evil doers, but you will not judge so by the final result.
The final result does not prove that the selection of the family
of Abraham would preserve a people from idolatry and sin —
nevertheless the measure itself was adapted and intended to
do this. The miracles of Egypt and the wilderness were
fitted and designed to bring the Israelites to obey God, and to
trust him — but the result was otherwise. You do not judge
of the ministry of Christ among the Jews, by its final result,
but by its tendency and design. Why then will you judge of the
atonement only by its final results ? Why not judge of it by
its adaptation and fitness and design ? If the final result of
any measure turn out to be the same with the ultimate end,
for which it was instituted and adapted, then the final result is
a good criterion by which to test the design and tendency of
a measure. In illustration, we may say that, our present state
of trial and probation is adapted, calculated, and designed
to work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight
of glory — but the final results, in countless instances, will
prove otherwise. Will you say then, that this state was fitted
and intended to prove thus disastrous ? You are not to judge
of probation by what it may he, or shall he in given instances,
but by what it is now, by what it is fitted and intended to effect.
Nor are you to judge of the atonement by what it may and
shall be in some instances, " the savour of death unto death,"
but by what it is now, — and what it is calculated and

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 133
designed to be, " the savour of life unto life " to all who will
accept it.
III. The principle on which general providence becomes
available to particular cases, and thus becomes particular
providence, is by personal application only. So when a
farmer takes into cultivation a piece of land from the com
mon, on which no corn has ever grown before, he applies, to
his own individual case, the broad offer and promise of general
providence, that wherever there shall be a seed time there
shall be a harvest time. This general providence becomes
as suitable and as effectual to him, as if it were made and
intended for him personally, and for him only. He never
thinks of consulting the secret decrees of heaven, to know
whether such a plot of ground was eternally predestined to
bear a crop. The general promise is quite enough for him.
Thus he acts in the thousand affairs of life, — say, in taking
medicine, he never waits to unravel the private manuscripts
of heaven for information : he merely ascertains the general
fitness, adaptation and tendency of the remedy, and applies
it to his individual case. Why will not men act thus about
the atonement? General atonement and particular redemp
tion are no more inconsistent than a general and particular
providence. No argument can be brought against a general
atonement, which will not fall, with the same weight and
edge, upon a general providence. There are no difficulties
connected with particular redemption, which do not adhere
as closely to particular providence. It would be regarded as
the drivelling of silliness to argue, that if there be a particu
lar providence, there cannot be a general one. Of the same
estimate is the reasoning, that if there be a particular redemp
tion, the atonement can not he universal. As general provi
dence becomes particular, only by personal application, so does
general atonement become particular redemption. "Whoso
ever will, let him come, and take of the water of life freely ;"
" and him that cometh I will in no wise cast out." The sup
posed farmer never suspected that he was not personally
intended in the general promise of Providence. If his crop
has not answered his expectations, he sees and feels that the
failure was owing to the nature of the soil, and not to a defi
ciency in the promise ; for it was never promised, that if he
ploughed the rock, or sowed the sea-shore, that he should
have a harvest. And why should any sinner suspect that he
is not. personally interested in the atonement, and that the
12

134 ITS RELATION TO THE
general atonement is not available to his particular and per
sonal case ? There is not in the scriptures, even the most
remote allusion to any class of sinners, for whom Christ did
not die. In the whole history of salvation and of man, there
is not on record a single instance of a personal application of
the general atonement failing of success. No personal appli
cant at the door of the atonement has ever perished. Christ
has never said to any suppliant, — "I never meant you indi
vidually." If any sinner who knows of the atonement per
ishes, even in his destruction he sees, that his perdition is
not through any deficiency in the atonement, for the atone
ment had never promised or provided, if he sowed to the
flesh that from the flesh he should reap everlasting life. If
you heard some of the family of the supposed farmer quib
bling about the divine decrees, and saying that they were
never designed to be farmers, and that they did not think
providence would ever bless them in such an undertaking,
you would conclude that at heart they had no liking for the
work. It is, I believe, universally true, that no sinner quib
bles about the secret designs of the atonement, but when he
has no liking to the personal application of it, to condemn
himself and to justify the divine government. When Paul's
fellow-passengers laid hold on the " boards and broken pieces
of the ship," they had no time to quibble about secret decrees,
they made the provisions of general providence available to
their particular cases, and they all succeeded. Let every
sinner go, and do likewise.
IV. The Providence of God treats men as moral and free
agents. Providence will do for a man nothing that he can
do for himself. Providence will give seed to the sower, but
it will not sow it nor reap the crop for him. Providence will
fill the sails of the vessel with gales, but it will not steer at
the helm. Providence makes no arrangement to encourage
the idleness or inactivity of man, but all its provisions require
and demand the full exercise of his agency. God promised
to feed the Israelites in the wilderness with manna, but they
themselves were to gather and prepare it for food. Provi
dence gives us our " daily bread," but not in baked loaves fall
ing from the sky. Providence supplies us with raiment, but
not in garments ready made, descending upon us without any
agenc)r of our own. Providence has made bread to be the
staff of life, but here it meets us as free agents, for if we do
not exercise our own agency to partake of it, it will avail us

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 135
nothing. The administration of the atonement meets man in
the same manner, as a free agent. It does nothing for him
that he can do himself. It presents to his eyes, " Him whom
he has pierced," but he himself must repent and weep. It
shows to him " a new and a living way to the Father," but
he himself must walk it. It supplies him with " a sovereign
and sufficient remedy," but he himself must "receive" it.
If he refuse the balm of Gilead, it will not heal him. If he
neglect this great salvation, it will not save him. If he will
not have this man to rule over him, he will not be delivered
from the kingdom of darkness. As providence deals with
free agents, so does the atonement. Take these statements
about the atonement simply and candidly as they are pre
sented to you, and you will admit, you must admit, that they
are the real facts of the case. Will you venture to wrest
them because they run not parallel with the lines of your
theological system? These arrangements about the atone
ment are no more dishonorable to the character of God, than
are the similar measures about the providence of God.
Whatever may be the failures of providence during the econ
omy of probation, we know that the upshot of the whole
will be to the everlasting glory of God, and that all his per
fections and purposes will appear guiltless of those failures.
So will the administration of the atonement of Christ be unto
God a sweet savour, even in them that perish. Though his
death prove of none effect to those who were bent on being
justified by the law, and to them who would not obey him,
yet the illustrious Redeemer shall not fail of the travail of
his soul. 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 for the glory of God, for the
honor of the law, for the condemnation of sin, for the free
overtures of the gospel, for the gracious acceptance of sin
ners, for the inexcusableness of wilful rejecters, and for the
righteousness of their sorer punishment. Of all this travail
he shall see. And while he is glorified in his saints and
admired in them that believe, he will be justified and adored
in the punishment of the refusers of his salvation, for the
language of all intelligences will be, " Amen, just and true
are thy ways, thou King of saints."
These remarks show that the moral Governor who, directs
the administration of the atonement, is not a Ruler different
from him who regulates the dispensations of providence. In

136 ITS RELATION TO THE
proceeding from one to another, we make no transition into
the works and principles of a different God. We have
already considered that the whole system of the universe was
of a mediatorial character, and that, had it not been for the
substituted sufferings of the Seed of the woman, there would
have been no providence exercised towards the human race,
for they would never have come into being. The dispensa
tions of providence, therefore, must take their character from
the medium through which they are administered ; and this
medium is the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Provi
dence began with the atonement — it continued to be admin
istered through the atonement — and it will for ever close
with the closing dispensation of the atonement. The* close of
one is the close of the other. A season will come when there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, when the merits of the
atonement will be no longer available to our world, when the
time of probation for receiving the benefits of the atonement
will close, and then will providence close for ever. Then,
" Let him that is holy be holy still, and him that is filthy be
filthy still."
From the whole of this train of observations, the inference
is inevitable that God exercises no providence in this world,
with which the atonement has not a close and constant rela
tion, and that they are both administered upon the same prin
ciples of moral government. SECTION v.
A limited Atonement inconsistent with the administration of
Providence.
I. An atonement designed for a limited number only, is
inconsistent with the general claim which Jesus Christ makes
to govern and regulate the duties, the affections, the homage,
and the destinies of every man on the face of the earth.
The Lord Jesus Christ claims the heathen for his inherit
ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.
This passage is sometimes interpreted as meaning that the
inheritance, which Christ claims, consists only of his elect
people among the heathen. If so, the rest of the heathen,
who remain unconverted, are not rebels against Christ.
Against what can they be said to have rebelled ? Is it
against his claims to them ? No ; according to this limited
hypothesis ; for he does not claim them personally, but only

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 137
the elect who lived among them. In such a case their non-
submission to his rule and government is no sin to be laid to
their charge, for the mediatorial king is supposed to lay no
claim to them. Can it be a crime in any of the heathen not
to submit to a claim which has never been made on them ?
When the mediatorial judge will say, " Slay those enemies
that would not have me to rule over them," might they
not silently murmur or retort, " would not ? Was it ever
offered to us to have thee to rule over us ? Didst thou
ever lay claims to our homage and obedience ? " Suppose
that these foes themselves dared not mutter such a retort,
would not thoughts and hints of this kind suggest themselves
to holy intelligences, who actually knew the truth and verity
of the case ? I should like to hear an abettor of limited
atonement remonstrate and reason with a class of rebels who
said, " We will not have this man to rule over us." His theo
logical system would require him to say, " You will not have
him ? Stop ; — are you sure you could have had him ? Did
he ever ask you to have him ? Since you have rejected him
it is a proof that he never sincerely intended you to receive
him, or else he would have made you to receive him before
now." After such an address let him try to impress on the
minds of these very men, their accountableness to this medi
atorial Ruler, the inexcusableness of their destruction, the
guilt of their rejection of Christ, and the justice of their
sentence according to the truth of the case.
If Christ does not claim the homage and the service of
every man, every man is not bound to take him for a King,
and to yield obedience to him. No advocate of a limited
atonement has ever seen a man to whom he could not say,
on scriptural- grounds, that he was bound to receive Christ as
his Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ has made laws for every
man on the globe, laws that bind every man to repent, and to
believe the gospel, and to accept salvation for his sake. If
every man on the earth has not yet heard of these laws, the
fault is in those who were commissioned to publish them, and
not in Him who enacted them. These laws were meant and
intended for " the world," and they were to be preached to
" every creature." There is no limitation in the commission,
or in the aspect and design of the laws. With what grace or
on what principles, could the Lord Jesus Christ enact laws to
make the homage of the world to him binding upon them, if
he laid no claims to that homage ? We would think it unac-
12*

138 ITS RELATION TO THE
countable for a king to send edicts and messages to a province,
where in reality, he had no power and authority. Christ lays
to the services of the sinner no claim which is not founded
on the blood of redemption. The sinner would never have
had his existence had it not been for the mediatorial interpo
sition of "the Seed of the Woman;" to that Mediator,
therefore, he owes every thing ; and it is on the ground of
that mediation that Christ claims every thing that he is, and
every thing that he has.
The authority, which Christ has by his mediation over
every man, is analogous to the authority which God by his
providence has over every man. God's providential power
over every man is founded in every man's relation to God.
It is founded upon the immutable fact that God is the Creator
and the Supporter of every individual. God had not author
ity over Jonathan, because that he was the Creator of David,
but because that he was the Creator of Jonathan himself.
He had. not power over Judas because that he was a bene
factor to Peter, but because he was a benefactor to Judas
himself. Of the same character is the mediatorial power of
Christ over sinners. He had not power over Saul of Tarsus
because he died for Stephen, but because he died for Saul.
He had not authority to " gather " the inhabitants of Jerusa
lem, under his mediatorial wings, because he died for his
disciples, but because he made atonement for these very
citizens. His intercession for his murderers was not founded
on his death for his friends, but on his death for these
identical murderers. These must be self-evident verities.
On this subject, there is an argument of this kind fre
quently used : If Christ has authority over all, by an atone
ment for all, how comes it to pass that all are not saved ? I
can only say, that there is no difficulty in this question which
does not bear as hard upon the providence of God, as upon
the atonement of Christ. The long-suffering of God is as
much, in tendency and design, " for salvation," as is the
atonement. Let us form the query, by substituting the one
word for the other, 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 ? How will you parry it ?
The fact is that both providential authority and mediatorial
authority are exercised over free agents who are in a state of
probation, and therefore liable to be rejected and renounced.
The rejection of providential government does not invalidate

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 139
the claims of God which are founded upon his relations to
man as his Maker and Owner ; nor does the rejection of the
mediatorial sway of Christ, founded on his relations to the
sinner as his Mediator and Saviour, destroy his claims to
homage and love. You do not limit " the goodness of God "
to the boundaries of the mere number that it actually " leads
to repentance," you know it is infinitely larger than that.
You do not think that it is a dishonor to the " long-suffering
of God " that it is not really successful " for salvation " to
every sinner to whom it is exhibited. These things you
yourself hold as indisputable, and you do well. Then, why
judgest thou thy brother, and why settest thou at nought thy
brother, because that, on your own principles, he thinks the
atonement of Christ, like " the goodness of God," may be of
wider extent than the number of sinners that actually repent ;
or " the long-suffering of God," that it is not less glorious,
because it does not actually save those who neglect and
reject its benefits ?
I am aware that the proposition, that the universal power
of Christ is founded on his universal atonement, is combated
by the statement that, on this showing, Christ has died for
the beasts of the field, and for devils, over whom he certainly
has authority. As brutes and devils are not under moral
government ruled by hopes and fears, much less in a state of
trial and probation, the quibble appears so irrelevant and
sophistical as not to deserve a serious reply.
II. A limited atonement is inconsistent with the bountiful
favors and mercies which Providence confers on all men
universally. If God has conferred any favors on offenders independently
of the atonement of the Mediator, it is difficult, if not impos-/
sible to say, why He could not confer all favors without it:
If so, there was no necessity for the atonement. This sen
timent leads straight-forwardly to Socinianism. We have
already considered all providential favors as being founded in
the mediatorial atonement, and administered on account of it.
To evade this doctrine it is asserted that the ungodly obtain
their mercies and favors, only for the sake of the elect, or
through the church. Then, whenever an ungodly man aske
a blessing on his food, he should ask it " for the elect's sake,"
not for Christ's sake — and he should return thanks to God
in the Church's name, but not in the name of Christ. The
Papists would be glad of such a doctrine, because it would

140 ITS RELATION TO THE
place at their disposal, the entire worthiness and merits of the
church ; though it would be difficult to persuade any Christ-
ian church to believe, that it has all this worthiness in it.
An atonement limited by the commercial principle of
paying so much suffering for so many blessings, would be, in
respect to Divine Providence, a measure of sheer absurdity.
According to this commercial scheme, Christ has suffered as
much punishment as the sins of each of the elect deserved,
and has purchased for them blessings in proportion to the
worth of the sufferings which he endured for them, and these
blessings he demands for them by his intercession. Then
the reason why some Christians are so poor is, that the Lord
Jesus Christ did not actually purchase more blessings for
them. This also accounts for the low amount of their Christ- '
ian graces and religious comforts : as, if Christ demands all
that he has purchased for them, the amount communicated is
small only because the amount purchased is small. Here is
no encouragement to grow in grace, unless we believe that
more grace is purchased for us, than we actually possess.
Every Christian and every minister, on this scheme, enjoys
quite as much usefulness and success as has been purchased
for him, and no more. No other doctrine could provide so
soft a cushion for those who are at ease in Zion.
Let us follow this commercial principle a little farther.
The greater sinner an elect person is, the greater sufferings
did Jesus Christ endure for him. The more Christ suffered,
the more blessings did he deserve. Christ will by his inter
cession demand that every elect person shall have his due
share in the purchased blessing. The result is, that the greater
the sinner is, the greater is the amount of merit in his behalf,
and the greater will be his share in the benefits of the atone
ment : and the more a man sins, the more will God confer
blessings on him through his Son. More has been suffered,
and consequently more has been merited for the sinner of
sixty years, than for the sinner of six years, consequently the
sinner of sixty will be entitled to more blessings than the
sinner of six years. The meaning of such an arrangement
is that the less a man sinned, the less has Jesus Christ merit
ed and purchased for him : and the fewer his sins, the fewer
will be the blessings purchased for his inheritance. Such an
atonement, exhibiting such a bonus on aggravated transgres
sion, is a disgrace to theology as an ethical science : scriptural
theology therefore renounces it as utterly inconsistent with the

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 141
whole of the manner, in which God has conferred, and has
promised to confer, the mercies of his providence.
III. The limitation of the atonement to a certain number
is at variance with the broad principles, on which Christ
carries on his intercession in heaven.
I consider the intercession of Christ to consist in the four
following articles. It consists in his public and official appear
ance before God as the mediatorial representative of man,
and the President of the universe ; in his administration of
all the providence of God, publicly and officially, on the
ground of his atonement ; — in his publicly and officially
presenting to God all the services, and all the prayers,
entrusted to him for presentation ; — and in an official and
public expression of his will, and desire, that these services
and prayers may be graciously received and accepted.
In the first two articles the intercession of Christ is un
bounded and interminable — of the same length and breadth,
and height and depth, as the divine empire. In the last two
articles the intercession of Christ is limited only by the lim
ited services, and . prayers, which are entrusted to him by
others for presentation. He cannot possibly express a will
or desire, that services and prayers be received, which are
never offered. It would be ridiculous to argue that the power
of presentation, in a Receiver- General of the revenue, is
limited by the amount which he actually presents — that the
liberty of a representative in the senate to present petitions
is limited by the number actually presented — and that the
ability of an advocate to plead is limited by the number of
clients who actually employ him. Yet this is the kind of argu
ment that has been employed to limit the intercession of Christ.
And after throwing a boundary around the intercession of
Christ, the abettors of a limited atonement have thought
themselves as invulnerable as if they were in a magic
circle. There is no limitation given to the intercession of Christ,
except the limitation which men give to it by their limited
services and limited prayers. The intercession of Christ is
capable of the same extent as his atonement. This very
commensurateness is the ground of the apostle John's argu
ment ; " If ant man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the
whole world." The propitiation for the sins of the whole world

142 ITS RELATION to the
is the ground of intercession for any man that sins, and any
man that sins is said to " have " this advocate, as one to whom
he can have access.
The Lord Jesus Christ has taught his people to make
intercession, on large principles, for " all men." They have
no grounds for intercession but those on which Christ himself
intercedes. He would not encourage them to make interces
sion of wider dimensions than his own. Their intercession
for all men could be of no avail, if the blood of Christ the
advocate did not second their plea : and it cannot plead for
all men, if it was not shed for all men.
The various specimens which Jesus Christ has given of
his intercession, declare it to be open, broad, and unlimited,
in its character and aspect. In the xvii. chapter of John he
makes intercession distinctly for his ministers and for his
church. When Christ says, " I pray for them, I pray not
for the world," it is evident that by "them" he means his
apostles, for he mentions one of "them" as being Judas, who
was a son of perdition. He prays not for ministers only, but
for " all who shall believe through their word." What is the
design which Christ has in view in praying for ministers and
believers? Hear his own language. He prays and inter
cedes — "that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me." He prays that the world may believe. Believe what?
Believe the Gospel — and that whosoever "believes" shall
be saved. The intercession of Christ, then, is a benefit and
an advantage which is accessible to the world, and in which
the world is interested. Much stress is sometimes laid upon
the words of Christ, " Father I will that they who follow me
shall be with me." No one doubts the full force of this lan
guage without implying that it expresses either a fiat, or an
imperious demand. Christ in Gethsemane had no will differ
ent from the " will" with which he wept over Jerusalem, and
said, How oft "would I" have gathered thee. There can
be no incongruity between his intercession in the garden, and
his intercession on the cross ? On the cross, he prayed for
all his enemies — " Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do : " and we believe that in heaven his interces
sion is of the same character.
It seems to be known, to all heavenly intelligences, that
all the favors that come to this sinful world, come under the
direction, and at the intercession of Jesus Christ. One part
of his intercession is his official and public administration of

whole system of divine truth. 143
providence, on the ground of his atonement. If he can, as
commercial redemption implies, only demand the blessings
which he has purchased for a certain number, then it is im
possible, or at any rate, it is unintelligible, how he can
officially, as public organ of government in Heaven, distribute
the bounties of providence universally to all men ; even
when, according to the combated doctrine, it is well known
to principalities and powers in heavenly places, that he pur
chased these favors only for a few.

CHAPTER VIII.
on the atonement IN ITS relation to the whole
system of divine truth.
section i.
Every Divine Truth related to the Atonement.
The entire collection of doctrines and facts, found in the
sacred scriptures, is called a system of divine truth, not be
cause their contents are given in a systematical arrangement
of classes, and orders, and kinds, but because they present a
complete and a harmonious body of information, upon all the
subjects of faith and practice. We find in the scripture the
truths of theology, as, in nature, we find the truths of botany,
mineralogy, or zoology, wisely strewn in copious and lovely
variety. Yet, in both cases, these vast diversities form one
complete whole system. Thus the analogy from nature —
the reference of scripture to " first principles," and to " the
proportion of faith," — the abuse of truth when taken out of
its connexion, — the beauty of truth in its own practical bear
ing and position, — and the consistency of one truth with the
entire mass of all truths, warrant us in regarding the scrips
ture as presenting to us a system of divine truth.
Of this entire system of divine truth, the Lord Jesus Christ
is the central orb, in whom is gathered all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. He is the very Sun of the system,
full of grace and truth ; — the Sun which first garnished the
dark horizon of Eden with a day-spring from on high. The
scriptures of the Old and New Testament present us with

144 ITS RELATION TO THE
the whole " truth, as it is in Jesus," that " in all things he
might have the pre-eminence," and be, as to the whole
arrangement, "all in all." The Christian student* there
fore, will, as well from cordial inclination, as from public
profession, be disposed to consider and to view every truth,
according to its bearing and relation to the person and the
work of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life,
the faithful and the true witness. Christ himself says, " To
this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness to the truth." " The truth" is the
pure verity and the simple reality of the case, as the state of
things exist between God and man. Upon this case every
truth bears, and with every such truth the atonement of
Christ- is connected: — the whole of its undertaking bears
witness to it.
I. All the truths contained in the prophecies of the scrip
tures are related to the atonement of Christ.
It was prophesied that this world should, in a given time,
be favored with the appearance of an extraordinary person
age. He was marked out as " the Seed of the woman, the
Shiloh, the Prophet, the Wonderful, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Lord our Righteousness, the Desire
of all nations, the Messenger of the covenant." The atoning
Mediator claimed to himself the honor of being this very per
sonage, to whom all the prophets bore witness.
Prophecy had revealed that this personage was to make
his appearance in the character of the Deliverer of man. As
the Seed of the woman, he was to bruise the head of the
serpent that had enslaved and ruined man. He was to be
for a sanctuary, and to come, "bringing salvation. The
#Dk. Kyland invited the Rev. Axerew Fuller to address to him a
series of monthly letters, which, when finished, would form a complete- body
of divinity. After this arrangement, Fuller only lived to write nine. In
the third letter he makes these remarks, " I do not know how it may prove
on trial, but I wish to begin with the centre of Christianity, — the doctrine
of the cross, and to work round it ; or, with what may be'called the heart
of Christianity, and to trace it through its principal veins or relations, both
in doctrine and practice. If Christianity tad not been comprehended in
this doctrine, the apostle, who shunned not to declare the whole counsel of
God, could not have determined to know nothing else in his ministry. The
whole of the Christian system appears to be presupposed in/ it ; included in
it, or to arise from it : it] therefore, I write am- thing, it will be on this prin
ciple." — Fuller's Works, vol. iv., p. 340. Ed'. 1S2L
Had this able divine lived to work out such a scheme of truly Christian
divinity, the tone of British theology would, probablv, have been much im
proved, and theological science much advanced.

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 145
Lord Christ was born a Saviour, and he came to seek and to
save that which was lost. God sent his Son to' the world,
not to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. He is the Personage whom the prophets
meant, for there is no salvation in any other, nor any other
name among men' given by which we must be saved. He
was made under the law, that he might redeem them who
were under the law.
The deliverance, which it was prophesied that this person
age was to effect, was a deliverance from sin. It was proph
esied that he should make an end of sin, that is, to open
a way for the just God to deal with a sinner as if he had not
sinned ; sin being, as it were, blotted out of the account. He
was to effect this deliverance as a priest on his throne, and as
a priest after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord Christ
took upon him the name Jesus, because he would deliver his
people from their sins. He appeared as the Lamb of God,
to take away the sin of the world. He has redeemed us
from the curse of the law. The Jews misunderstood this
class of prophecies, and interpreted them as signifying only
deliverance from civil thraldom, and from political evils.
Whereas, he himself declares that he came to call sinners ;
and his gospel assures that there is now no condemnation to
them who are in Christ Jesus.
It was predicted that this Personage should effect this deliv
erance from sin, not by power, but by his own substitutionary
and vicarious sufferings. He was to be a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief. He was to bear our griefs, and
to carry our sorrows ; to be wounded for our transgressions,
and bruised for our iniquities. He was to make his soul an
offering for sin, and to be numbered among transgressors.
He was to be cut off, but not for himself. The meaning of
these and the like passages is, that this illustrious Person was
to endure the sufferings with which the Father put him to
grief, in the stead of our suffering the punishment which was
due to us for our sins. This class of passages is referred to
in the New Testament as being accomplished in the death
and the atonement of Jesus Christ. He gave his life a vica
rious ransom for many. He was made a sin offering for us.
He died the Just for the unjust. He was made a curse, that
the curse of the law might not be inflicted on men.
Hence it was prophesied that this deliverance from sin
should be on account, and for the sake, of his sufferings. We
13

146 ITS RELATION TO THE
were to have peace, through his suffering our chastisement ;
and by bis stripes we were to be healed. To us guilty sin
ners, who had no worthiness, he was to be the Lord .our
righteousness. It was on account of his intercession that
gifts were to be given to men, even to the rebellious. _ The
mediation of Christ fills up these prophecies. It is for
Christ's sake that God forgives sin ; it is by faith in the
name of Christ that pardon is received by the sinner. It is
the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin; and
every saved man is found not in his own righteousness, but
in the righteousness of Jesus Christ only.
All the prophecies of the Scripture form a complete, con
nected, and harmonious system of truths,* in the centre of
wliich is the Lamb, as if it had been slain from the founda
tion of the world. The doctrine, or the testimony concerning
the mediation of Christ is the very spirit and fife of prophecy,
without which prophecy would be a body without a soul. The
atonement of Christ is the central point, from which alone the
eye of faith can command a view of the whole panorama of
prophecy. All unfulfilled prophecy, as well as the already
accompfished predictions, have their sum and substance in the
character and the work of Jesus Christ. To deny the atone
ment, is to take away the life-blood of prophecy. The Biblical
critics who reject the atonement, like the Jews who rejected
* " Since the prophecies, though delivered by various persons, were
dictated to all by one and the same omniscient spirit, the different books
and the scattered passages of prophecy, are not to be considered as the
works or the sayings of different men, treating a variety of subjects, or
delivering various and contradictory opinions upon the same subject ; but
as parts of an entire work of a single author — of an author who, having
a perfect comprehension of the subject which he treats, and at all times
equally enjoying the perfection of his intellect, cannot but be always in
harmony with himself. We find in the writings of a man of any depth of
understanding, such relation and connexion of the parts of any entire work
— such order and continuity of the thoughts — such consequence and con
catenation of arguments — in a word, such unity of the whole, which, at
the same time that it gives perspicuity to every part, when its relation to
the whole is known, will render it difficult, and' in many cases impossible,
to discover the sense of any single period, taken at a venture from the first
place where the book may chance to open without any general apprehension
of the subject, or of the scope of the particular argument to which the sen
tence may belong. How much more perfect, is it reasonable to believe, must
be the harmony and concert of parts — how much closer the union of the
thoughts — how much more orderly the arrangement — how much less un
broken the consequence of argument in a work wliich has for its real author
that omniscient mind to whicli the universe is ever present, in one unvaried
undivided thought." Bishop Horsley on 2 Peter, i. 20, 21. Sermons, vol.
it. p. 22. Ed. 1816.

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 147
the Messiahship of Christ, make the whole apparatus of their
learning, to bear against the prophecies wliich predict a suffer
ing Saviour and a Vicarious sufferer. This fact shows that
the doctrine of the atonement is the heart of Christianity. A
Socinian divine puts the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah to critical
torture, with the same unmercifulness and spleen as a Jewish
Rabbi would put it They both agree, like Herod and Pilate,
to do away with the claims of Christ, to sap the foundation
of Christianity, to throw away the blood of atonement as an
unholy thing.
The New Testament regards the whole system of prophecy
as having its scope and meaning, its spirit and truth, its life
and glory, in the person and the atonement of Jesus Christ.
" The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." To him
gave all the prophets witness. Paul witnessed, both to small
and great, saying no other things than those, which the proph
ets and Moses did say should come, that Christ should suffer,
and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead,
and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles.
The apostle Peter describes salvation as being according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the spirit, and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,
and then says, " of wliich salvation the prophets have inquired
and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you ; searching what, or what manner of
time, the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the
glory that should follow."
Here, then, we meet with a complete system of prophecies
delivered by various men, and in divers ages, and yet pointing
to One remarkable Personage of the highest majesty and ex
cellency. These prophecies treat of Iris person, his name, his
character, his work, his life, his death, and his glory ; each of
them consistent with the others, and one casting fight on all
the rest. They all meet together and have their full accom
plishment in One Person, and in no one else, — but in him
most fully and clearly. Though they were delivered in
various generations, they have but one object in view; and
other events are hinted at only as they are connected with
that object, and that object is the work of Christ. He is the
true Seed of the woman, the true Prophet, the true Redeemer,
the true Immanuel, the true Sun of Righteousness.

148 ITS RELATION TO THE
II. All the truths contained in the ceremonial institutions
and saciificial types, are connected with the atonement of
Christ. It is confessedly true that many of the early Christian
fathers, as well as many of the modern interpreters of types
and shadows, have discovered similitudes, drawn parallels,
pursued analogies, and pressed out truths which were never
designed by such symbols. But such extravagant deductions
of undisciplined imaginations supply no fair and valid argu
ments against a scriptural, sober, and judicious, application of
the typical character of the Jewish institutions and ceremo
nies.* The sacred scriptures indisputably assert that there
is a designed coincidence, and an intended connexion, between
the religious institutions of the Jews and the essential doc
trines of Christianity. Indeed, I might argue, that of so much
importance, in the system of divine truth, is the symbolical
character of the Israelitish ceremonies, that the Holy Spirit
has given one entire book — the epistle to the Hebrews. — not
only to give a distinct recognition of that principle, as designed
by God to prefigure the realities of the gospel, — but also to
mark out and explain the relation and agreement between that
principle, and the events and the doctrines of the mediation of
Clirist. Hence the Jewish institutions are called, "a shadow
of good things to come, but the body [the substance] is of
Christ." Col. ii. 16, 17. The gifts and sacrifices of the priest
" serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as
Moses was admonished of God, when he was about to make
the tabernacle. Heb. viii. 5. This tabernacle and the vessels
of the ministry, are called " the patterns of things in the
heavens," and " the figures of the true." Heb. ix. "23. 24.
The entire constitution of the Levitical law is described as
"having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very
image of the things." Heb. x. 1.
The body, the substance, the filling up, the meaning and
truth of all these ceremonial institutions, " is of Clirist." and
of him only. Extraordinary and illustrious characters were
types of his person. Holy offices were shadows of his work
and undertaking. The Jewish polity was an outline of his
kingdom. The distinguished privileges of the theocracy
* Among the best works on this subject, are JIathek's "Figures and
Types of the Old Testament," 4to. Edition, London, 1705; and Dr. D. G.
Wait's " Course of Sermons before the University of Cambridge, in 1S25."
London, 1826, Svo.

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 149
were figures of his glorious rewards, the vicarious and expia
tory sacrifices were representations of his glorious atonement.
Various classes of types were employed to shadow forth the
great truths of our salvation. Some types shadowed that
man was a sinner ; — others, that he. had forfeited his life ;
others, that another life was substituted and accepted instead
of it ; — and others shadowed that this substitution should
take place in the Messiah, who according to Isaiah would
'¦ make his soul an offering for sin," and be " led as a Lamb
to the slaughter." Exod. xx. 7. Lev. vi. 3, 4. xvii. 11.
xxiv. 1G. Deut. xxii. 26.
The Jewish institutions taught the Israelites no truth
which the gospel has not attached to the atonement of Christ,
and revealed it, " the truth as it is in Jesus." The very
truths that were obscure in the ceremonial types are now
made clear and defined by the gospel. And the truths which
appeared defective and imperfect in the Jewish ritual, now,
in the light of the Christian atonement, stand out in promi
nent relief, and with a fulness of meaning which they never
had before.
The sacred scriptures regard all symbolical truths as
meeting in the atonement of Clirist. This is evident from
the facts, that sacrificial names and appellations are given to
Christ ; that Jewish sacrifices are represented as shadows of
the satisfaction of Christ ; that the value which was but nom
inal in them, is described as intrinsic in the sacrifice of
Christ ; that the efficacy which was but ceremonial in them,
is declared to be real and actual in the atonement of Christ ;
that the sacrifice of Christ is pointed out as the last that
should be offered for sin ; and from the fact that animal vic
tims ceased to be sacrificed, after the Great Propitiation had
been publicly offered by Christ. He himself was the truth
of them all. He was the true sacrifice, the true priest, the
true altar, the true temple, and the true Saviour.
III. All the doctrinal truths of divine revelation are con
nected with the atonement
All doctrinal truth is the mind of God, the expression of
his thoughts ; and all his thoughts have a reference to the
atonement. The person of Christ is the centre of every
truth, and the mediation of Christ is the ch-cumference of
every truth. In him all truths live, move, and have their
being. The atonement magnifies and honors every truth
implied in the reality of the exercise of a moral government
13*

150 ITS RELATION TO THE
in the world. It supposes and distinctly recognizes the verity
and the reality of the sinfulness and ruin of mankind. It is
itself a proof and a specimen of the truth of the introduction,
into the divine government, of a compensative scheme for the
purpose of restoring sinful man. It exhibits the honest sin
cerity of the divine invitation addressed to sinners, in the
clear light of the " demonstration of the Spirit." It supplies
the most splendid evidence of the truth and certainty of the
promises of the gospel, and gives the most solemn assurances
of the reality of spiritual blessings.
Thus there is no class of truths which may not be either
proved or explained by the principles of the atonement.
And there is no class of truths which does not lose weight
and efficacy by being severed from the person of Christ.
Every truth separated from Christ, like a branch lopped from
the living tree, loses its freshness and beauty, and languishes
and dies. The providence of God has given us melancholy
instances, of the corruption and unwholesomeness, to which
any truth tends when apart from Christ See the high and
noble truths of the Old Testament — truths which elevated
the minds of Abraham and Moses, which ravished the heart
of David, and which tuned Isaiah's harp to the high pitch of
even gospel times — look at them, in every age of the Jews,
from the time of Malachi to the present day — look at them
in the Cabbalistic inanities of the ancient Rabbis, in the turgid
puerilities of modern Judaism, and you will perceive how
much they have lost of sanctity, dignity, and energy ; and
how void, and powerless, and lifeless they have become.
" How is the fine gold become dim ! " How will you account
for this painful circumstance in the history of divine truth ?
One awful fact explains the whole. The Jews have alienated
these glorious truths from their vital connexion with the
sacrificial atonement of Messiah " the Christ of God."
Look again at the great and mighty truths of the N8w
Testament. See them in their healthiness, vigor, and beauty,
in the ministrations of the apostles, in the religious affections
of the primitive churches, in the masculine energies of the
Reformation, and in the glow and power of modern Revivals.
Then look at them in the ice-bound realms of Socinian theol
ogy > — and how wan, and cold, and dead, and putrid are
they ! If they glow, — it is not with the charming glow of a
healthy life-blood, but with the clammy warmth of controver
sial heat. If they move, it is not with the vigorous stirrings

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 151
of an internal vitality, but with the galvanic convulsions of a
fitful elocution. If they preserve their form and fashion, it
is because a cold and indurating philosophy has embalmed
them. They are the same truths, but they have been sepa
rated and banished from Christ, whose person is the Sun of
Revelation, and whose atonement is the Heaven of Truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ is represented in the scriptures as
the Magazine and Repository of all truth, in whom are all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. There is not a truth
pertaining to God and man, to eternity and time, but is con
nected with him. To the enquiry of the church and of the
world, " What is truth ? " the Mediator replies, "lam the
truth." The truth is in Jesus as it is in no one else. In
no one else is the truth perfect, complete, and full. In no
other is it clear, unadulterated. In no one else is every truth :
every truth in its due proportions; every truth in all its power
and bearings ; every truth, in full harmony with every other
truth. In Christ is, the truth, the truth completely, and the
truth exclusively. The truth as it is in Jesus is sincere
without falsehood, genuine without counterfeit, steady without
perfidy, real without fiction, exact without error. In him it
is right without any wrong, honest without fraud, perfect
without mutilation.
It is this connection of every truth with the mediation of
Christ, that makes real Christianity to be not afraid of the
progress of any class of truths. Sometimes in the infancy of
any given Science, plausible theories are advanced as having
a tone of contradiction to Scriptural verities, but the discipline
of a mature philosophy never fails to show that the contra
diction is not real. Truth in man, is partial, sectarian, and
jealous ; but Truth in the Christian system is full, universal
and free ; and no more fears the developments of any truths,
than the mighty ocean dreads the digging up of new wells, or
the Sun the new discoveries of Optics.
_ IV. The atonement is inseparably connected with all prac
tical truth.
The atonement is the centre of duties, as well as of doc
trines. This is clearly proved and illustrated in the Apostolic
epistles. The New Testament writers, after laying down the
" doctrine of the cross," erect a peerless structure of holy
duties, and practical truths. They exhibit the atonement as
establishing every duty required in the moral law ; and they
preach the moral law as establishing every duty required- in

152 ITS RELATION TO THE
the Gospel. The atonement " destroys " no moral command.
It " makes void " no moral duty. The gospel of the atone
ment brings a new class of duties to bear on the sinner, as,
believing in Christ, repenting for sin, &c. These are duties
which the moral law, as such, never could ask of any man.
But now, since the provision of the divine government has
annexed these requirements to the atonement, which has
answered all the ends of the law, the law unites with the
gospel in making them obligatory upon every sinner who
hears them.
Some declared foes, and some false friends, of the atone
ment have represented it as destroying all practical truth and
duty. The atonement on the contrary distinctly recognizes
all the practical truths of the moral law as still binding
on all — shows the reasonableness of the demands of those
practical truths, — and enforces them with an accumulated
amount of arguments and motives.
The gospel connects every practical truth with the atone
ment of Jesus Christ. Observe how the apostles teach the
most plain and common duties of life ; such as the duties of
husbands and wives, the duties of parents and children,' the
duties of masters, and servants, of kings and subjects, &c.
To enforce these duties, they do not go for arguments to the
law of nature, to the claims of relationship, or to political
economy ; nor do they confine themselves to the moral law.
No, they go at once to the mediation of Christ ; husbands are
to love their wives because Christ loved his church; and
servants are to obey their masters, that they may adorn the
doctrine of God their Saviour in all things.
They teach that these practical truths are to be performed
by the assistance of the grace of Christ ; that the practice of
such truths is to be the effect of faith in Christ ; that these
duties are to be done in the name of Christ ; that they are
acceptable to God only through the merits of Christ; and
that they will be rewarded by Jesus Christ himself. In
duties, as well as in doctrines, the apostles knew nothing but
Christ and him crucified. It was the cross of Christ that
gave the name and the designation to their system — it was
" the preaching of the cross." The opponents of practical
truth they called, " the enemies of the cross of Christ ; " and
the renunciation of holy duties, they regarded as making
" the cross of Christ of none effect."

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 153
If these hints will be regarded as sufficiently defined to
pencil out the lines of connexion between the eHtire circle of
truth, — whether in predictions and types, or in doctrines
and duties, — and the great atonement of Christ, — their end
will be answered. SECTION II.
A limited Atonement inconsistent with the whole System of
Divine Truth.
I. An atonement limited to a certain number of sinners is
inconsistent with the truths revealed in the prophecies of
the Old Testament. Scriptural prophecy supplies us with
the best specimens of the theological principles of the church
of God under the patriarchal and Jewish dispensations. It
should be borne in mind, that the prophets promulgated their
principles and sentiments, " as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost ; " and that, consequently, their doctrine was " the
mind of the Spirit." These holy men of God seem some
times not to have understood at once the fulness, the extent,
and the majesty of the stupendous doctrines which they
announced. They therefore investigated, " inquired, and
searched diligently what the Spirit of Christ, which was in
them did signify or mean, when it testified about the suffer
ings of Christ and the glory that should follow." Such a
" diligent search," conducted under such auspices, would be
likely to terminate in a correct knowledge of the truth of
the case. These doctrines of prophecy, Jesus Christ himself
opened and expounded, as teaching that he ought to suffer,
and enter into his glory. These are the very doctrines
which the apostles preached with the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven ; and it is into these doctrines that the angels
desire to look. These doctrines, therefore, deserve to be
regarded by us, in this inquiry, as legitimate sources of
information on the theological creeds of the Jewish prophets.
The true doctrines of the prophets teach us that the
benefits of the death of Christ were of universal extent. It
was prophesied that in the Seed of Abraham, that is, in
Christ, all the nations of the earth should be blessed, Gen.
xx. 18. Gal. iii. 16. The meaning of this is, that Jesus
Christ in his work and offices would be, a blessing, unto all
the nations of mankind. In harmony with this are the very
numerous prophecies which relate to the call of the Gentiles.

154 ITS RELATION, TO THE
Isaiah predicted that God gave his Son to be a salvation
unto the end. of the earth, Isa. xfix. 6. Joel prophesied that
the influences of the spirit should be " poured upon all flesh,"
Joel ii. 28, 29. The aspect of the whole of the fifty-third
chapter of Isaiah, — an epitome of the divinity of the
prophets, — is unlimited and universal.
The word " all " has often been most uncandidly and
dishonorably tortured and wrested, to mean a generality of
kinds and degrees, and not a universality of the mass of the
human race. Prophecy, however, supplies us with one text
at least, that has bid stubborn defiance to all theological
tortures. It is Isa. liii. 6, "all we like sheep have gone
astray ; we have turned every one to his own way, and
the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Some of
the advocates of particular atonement have challenged then-
opponents to present one single text in which the word "all"
means indisputably every individual of the human race.
Here it is. The word " all " in the last part of the sentence
means the " all " mentioned in the first part ; and both mean
the " every one," in the middle portion of the verse. If you
apply to the word " all " in the first sentence, the torturous
criticisms which are generally employed on the word "all"
in the last sentence, you offend equally against sound inter
pretation, theological fairness and logical deduction.
Let us now see how these doctrinal prophecies were
understood by the apostles who preached with the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven. Peter, after "mquiring"
into the testimony of Moses and " all the prophets from
Samuel, and 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 you, in turning away every one of
you from his iniquities,' " Acts iii. 25, 26. A preacher who
did not view the mediation of Christ in all its amplitude and
extent, would have used a language much more cautious and
measured. He again says, " of a truth I perceive that God
is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth
him, and workcth righteousness, is accepted with him. The
word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ, (Be is Lord of all) — to him gave
all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever

whole system of divine truth. 155
believeth in him, shall receive remission of sins," Acts x.
34, 35, <36, 43. Paul preached to Jews and Gentiles every
where " that they should repent and turn to God, and do
works meet for repentance ; " yet he says, that he had learnt
this universal call from the doctrines of the prophets. " Hav
ing therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day,
witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things
than those which the prophets and Moses did say should
come," Acts xxvi. 20, 22.
Many more passages of this kind might be cited, but
these are sufficient to show that, in the judgment of the
apostles, the doctrines of the prophets taught a universality
of design in the Mediatorial undertaking of the Messiah.
It was a leading object of the apostles' ministry to prove,
against the sectarian limitations of the Jewish expositors of
their day, that the blessings announced in prophecy had a
designed relation to all the nations of the earth. The
prophecies that predict the final results which the atonement
shall infallibly produce, do not weaken the others which
describe its universal aspect. The same prophet that asserts
that " the Son of God shall see his seed, and that the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hands," takes up the lan
guage of blame, and remonstrates with the disobedient, " Who
hath believed our report ? and to whom is the Lord revealed ? "
The Spirit of prophecy plainly foretells that the mediation
of Christ will not produce the same effects on all, that is, that
it will not have its intended effects upon all to whom it shall
be exhibited. It is foretold that Christ and his atonement
will be " despised and rejected of men " — be a " stone of
stumbling and a rock of offence," and " the stone which the
builders refused."
These disastrous effects are not the consequences of a
limitation in the design of the atonement, but they result,
from a deliberate, and an obstinate, non-compliance with the
great purposes of the atonement. The men who reject
Christ, dislike the atonement. They stumble and are offend
ed at the principles involved in it — the principles of the
goodness of the law, the wickedness of sin, and salvation by
grace, — and, therefore, they reject it and perish.
Hear the apostle Peter's exposition of this prophecy. " A
stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they
were appointed," 1 Pet. ii. 4 — 8. God exhibits his Son as

156 ITS relation to the
the foundation of salvation to men. In this character he is
" disallowed of men," — they will not submit to it, but are
" disobedient " to the arrangement. As they will not comply
and obey, they " stumble," and fall, and perish, and that,
according to the " appointed " order of the provision. Are
we from this to infer that they were appointed to disobey and
stumble ? What ? — that they were appointed to " disallow"
Christ, and yet be blamed and punished for it ? The passage
teaches no such thing. It is an " appointment " of the con
stitution of providence that whosoever will not eat food will
die. Will any one argue from this, that there are human
beings "appointed" not to eat food? Such an inference
would unsettle every wheel in providence. — It is an " ap
pointment " of the dispensation of the atonement that who
soever will not receive this remedy, will die and perish.
Is it therefore sane and logical to argue that there are human
beings " appointed " not to take the remedy ? Not so did
Peter understand it. He says that, " in preaching peace by
Jesus Christ, God is no respecter of persons." And again
he says, " God hath showed me that I should not call any
man common or unclean," that is, God has taught me that,
in my ministry, I should not deem any one man, an outcast
decretively excluded from the benefits of the atonement of the
Gospel. From such premises the inference is fair, that an
atonement limited to a certain number, is at variance with
the truths in the prophetical doctrines concerning the extent
of the Messiah's mediation.
2. A limited atonement is inconsistent with the truths
embodied in the typical representations which shadowed forth
the character and extent of the redemption of Christ The
divine ordinance of sacrifice, revealed to Adam and Eve,
was as open and accessible to Cain, and as available for him,
as it was in the case of Abel. God himself appealed to
Cain's personal knowledge of such an arrangement. " ~1£ thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted ? " Gen. iv. 7. Doing
well, here means, doing like Abel, that is, offering a sacrifice
for his sins, in obedience to the divine arrangement In act
ing thus, he would do well and be accepted. Here was no
sovereign limitation, no decretive exclusion.
God acted upon the same general principle towards the
antediluvians in the provision of an Ark for their safety.
The aspect of this expedient was of a universal character.
All were invited to come to the ark ; and the rejecters are

whole system of divine truth. 157
blamed for not seeking safety in it. The apostle in his epistle
to the Hebrews says, that Noah's ministry concerning the ark
" condemned the world." It is impossible to show how any
could be condemned for not being saved in the ark, if the ark
was never verily intended for them, and if they were never
sincerely invited and pressed to come into it.
The sacrifice which Noah, after the flood, offered to God,
presents a distinct and a bold outline of many of the great
principles of the true Atonement ; especially, of its universal
extent. The sacrifice of Noah was offered to propitiate the
favor of God towards the interests of a ruined world.
Through God's satisfaction in this sacrifice, he confers the
grant of the whole world upon Noah, and promises blessings
to all the unnumbered nations and generations that should
occupy the entire world. The world since then has awfully
abounded in sins and evils, but still God is distributing the
treasures of his goodness with a bountiful hand. All this is
to be traced to his infinite pleasure expressed through the
" sweet savor " of Noah's sacrifice. It was through this sac
rifice that the great promise was given to mankind, that there
should be seed-time and harvest, summer and winter to the
end of the world. Men may, indeed, neglect both " seed-time
and harvest," but they cannot ascribe their conduct to any
excluding or limiting decree. The apostle Paul seems to
refer to this very sacrifice as an adumbration of the atone
ment of Jesus Christ, " who gave himself for us, an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor," Eph. v. 2.
It is through this true sacrifice that every blessing comes to
our world. It is in Christ that God reconciles the world to
himself without dealing with it according to its sins. It is on
account of the mediatorial atonement that God gives to his
Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the earth for his possession.
Take another prefiguration of the unlimited extent of the
atonement of Christ in the provision of the Brazen Serpent.
The sacred scriptures inform us of the designed extent, and
of the actual result, of this expedient of mercy. " And the
Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it
upon a pole ; and it shall come to pass that every one that is
bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made
a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to
pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld
the serpent of brass he lived." Num. xxi. 8, 9. The design
. 14

158 ITS relation to the
of this expedient was not limited to those who " looked," but
it extended to all who were " bitten." If any bitten did not
" look," they could not ascribe their death to an exclusiveness
in the provision, but to their own conduct. The Lord Jesus
Christ considered this provision as an apt illustration of the
extent of his own atonement. " As Moses lifted up the ser
pent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up, that vihosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have eternal life." John iii. 14, 15. This universality he
explains and confirms, by asserting in the 17th verse, " that
the world through him might be saved."
This universality is further shadowed forth in the sacrifices
appointed by the Jewish law, especially by the lamb of the
daily offering, and by the sacrifice offered up at the yearly
feast of expiation. Num. xxviii. 3, 4. Lev. xvi. 7 — 34.
It is in reference to the lamb of the daily burnt offering that
our Lord is more particularly called a Lamb. It is in this
character that John the Baptist describes Christ as "the
Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," plainly
implying that there was the same relation between the atone
ment of Clirist and all the inhabitants of the world, as there
was between the lamb of the burnt offering and the whole of
the Jewish nation. It is in reference to this that the apostle
John in his Apocalyptic visions describes the atonement of
Christ as " a Lamb in the midst of the throne of God," that
is, connected with all the measures appointed by the throne,
and with all the services received by the throne.
On the great day of the annual expiation the atonement of
the scape-goat was offered unto the Lord. This atonement
had a universal influence upon all the interests of all the
Jewish tribes. The provision runs thus : " And Aaron shall
lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and con
fess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and
all their transgressions in all their sin — and the goat shall
bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited."
And again, " The Priest shall make an atonement for the
priests, and for all the people of the congregation : and this
shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atone
ment for the children of Israel for all then- sins once a year."
These sacrifices of the Jews were related to them all, were
designedly offered up for all, and were truly available to all.
The atonement effected by them was unlimited in design and
aspect. This ceremonial atonement did not consist in the

whole system of divine truth. 159
sacrificial victim suffering the identical punishment due to the
offender, but in substitutionary sufferings ; for the blasphemer
was to be stoned to death, but the sacrifice for him was not to
die by stoning. Lev. xxvi. 16. v. 4 — 6. Nor did the
Jewish atonement consist in inflicting upon the victim, a cer
tain amount of torture and pain, in proportion to the number
and enormity of the sins to be expiated. The instructions
which Moses gave concerning these sacrifices are distinct,
minute, and even punctilious ; but there is not a jot nor a
tittle in them all to warrant an opinion held by some that
Christ would have had to suffer more, had there been more
to be saved ; and less, had the number of. the elect been less.
Universal as was the bearing of these sacrifices, yet they
were susceptible of failure. They might fail of their design,
not through a deficiency of extensiveness in them, but through
the voluntary neglect or misimprovement of those for whom
they were offered. The atonement offered on the great day
of annual expiation was intended to take away " all the
iniquities of the children of Israel." Lev. xvi. 22. This, the
atonement would effectually accomplish to all those who,
according to the arrangements of that atonement, " afflicted
their souls, and did no manner of work on that day." If it
was offered designedly for all the tribes, will it not infallibly
secure all its ends to all the tribes ? No ; " For whatsoever
soul it be that shall not be afflicted [in contrition] in that
same day, he shall be cut off from among his people," and
that notwithstanding the atonement offered for him, Lev.
xxiii. 27. The Jews, when they saw these persons " cut
off," because they neglected the provisions of the atonement,
never thought of arguing that the atonement was never
designed for them. It seems to me, then, that all the leading
principles of the Old Testament types and shadows, are
opposed to the doctrine that limits the atonement of Christ to
a certain amount of sin, or to a certain number of sinners.
3. The opinion that the atonement was designed for a few
only, is opposed to the entire system of doctrinal truths re
vealed in the scriptures. A full discussion of this proposi
tion would require a volume, rather than a page or two ;
my limits therefore will only allow me to supply a few hints
of proof and elucidation. Were this opinion consistent with
scriptural doctrine, it would be possible to express it in scrip
tural language. At least the spirit and the animus of the
opinion would be found in scriptural statements, if not the

160 ITS RELATION TO THE
letter and the form of it. Let any one find the " holy text "
that will justify such language as the following : " Christ died
for the elect, and the elect only." " He gave himself a ran
som for the sheep only." " Whom he predestinated, them he
also purchased, and whom he purchased, them he also called."
No ; there is no rule in Biblical language that will account
for such a dialect as this. Let any one find a statement in
the scriptures that Christ did not die for every man. Let
some class of sinners be pointed out to us which the scriptures
declare to be unatoned, and unredeemed, or unransomed.
Let any abettor of a limited atonement search and try to em
body his opinion in some express declaration of scriptures,
"  sudet multum,frustraque labor et,
Ausus idem."
As this opinion cannot be expressed in scriptural language,
as it cannot be pronounced in " words which the Holy Ghost
teacheth," so likewise it cannot be made to run parallel and to
tally with scriptural doctrines. To give an enumeration of
the doctrines opposed by this opinion, would be to furnish a
catalogue of all the truths of revelation. All the doctrinal
truths of the scriptures may be divided into two classes, viz.
truths contained in the principles of divine moral government,
and truths revealed in the promises of the gospel : and a lim
ited atonement strikes against them all. Let a few examples
suffice. By disputing the reality of the Moral Governor's
wish that all men should be saved, come to the knowledge of
his truth, and comply with his laws ; — by denying that all
men are bound, on the principles of individual accountableness,
to accept of Jesus Christ as their Saviour, — by pleading
that the elect, whose debts are supposed to have been paid,
must be saved, as the moral law can never reach them again ;
and by asserting that a vast number of souls shall be sorely
punished for not doing what they had no power to do, and
for not accepting what was verily never intended for them —
this opinion militates against every truth in the principles of
moral government. It clashes equally with all the truths
revealed in the gospel. The gospel declares that by the
"true" grace of God, Clirist tasted death for every man;
but by the false grace of this pretended theology, Christ
tasted death only for some. The scriptural gospel addresses a
message to every creature to believe in Christ, to every man
every where to repent, but the invitation addressed by this

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 161
" other gospel," is cramped, partial, and select. It sometimes,
indeed, feigns to take up the. terms of a general call into its
dialect, but its general call is founded not upon the truth of
the fact that Christ is a propitiation for all, but, upon a per-
adventure that perhaps there may be some among the hearers
whom God may call. It impeaches the gospel of insincerity,
and gives a character of uncertainty to all its offers. It ex
hibits the grace of God as ostentatiously giving a free and
generous invitation to all men, to come and share in the feast
of its provisions, while according to the real truth of the
case, it sincerely intends that only a few should partake.
Many a trembling sinner, living under the public ministra
tions of this theology, has thought that, perhaps, he was meant
in the gracious invitation, — that possibly he might venture to
hope that Christ would receive him. Now, in the scriptural
doctrine, Christ says " Whosoever will, let him come," and
" him that cometh I will in nowise cast out ; " but the business
of the abettors of this other doctrine is, to declare that this
cheering assurance is not to be received in the latitude and
extent expressed.
The opinion of a limited atonement is unnecessary either
to the support, or to the elucidation, of any scriptural doc
trine. Many, I conceive, have taken up this opinion from an
apprehension, that it is essentially necessary to the support of
such doctrines as the sovereignty of divine grace, the lim
ited intercession of Christ, and the certainty that the Son of
God shall not lose his reward. But this opinion is utterly
unnecessary to the maintenance of these doctrines. The
doctrine of gracious sovereignty is clearly asserted in the
scriptures and daily acted upon in the affairs of providence,
and the government of the world, and therefore needs not the
hypothesis of limited atonement. Take, for instance, the
doctrine of predestination to life. This doctrine derives no
support from the opinion that Christ died only for the elect.
No one example can be given, of the holy scriptures express
ing any thing like the sentiment that God predestinated or
elected a select number in order that Jesus Christ might die
for them, and for them alone. Yet the doctrine of sovereign
election is not at all weakened by the absence of such an as
sertion. It is true that Christ died that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, and [in order] to purify unto himself a
peculiar people. This expresses only one end, and one result
of the atonement. Even this text does not so much as hint
14*

162 ITS RELATION TO THE
that Christ redeemed any because they were a peculiar people.
It should also be remembered that the apostle gives this very
text as an illustration of the grace that bringeth salvation
unto all men. Tit. ii. 11 ¦ — 14.
, As an instance how easily things are taken for granted, I
; might mention that thousands have taken the opinion of a
\ limited atonement to be one of the doctrines of Calvinism.
but Calvinism it is not. At least it is not the Calvinism of
Calvin's Institutes, nor, I believe, of Calvin's Expositions.
I have consulted the Institutes for the very purpose of ascer
taining this point, and I could not find one passage, that
asserted any such doctrine as that Christ died for the elect
only, or that he did not die for the reprobates. We might
now then reverse the advice of Horsley and say, " Let
those who boast in the name of Calvin know what Cdvinism
is." Again, by the same process of easy assumption, it has
been received as a settled point that the doctrine of the
universality of the death of Christ is rank Pelagianism.
Bishop Davenant, on the contrary, has shown in his Dis
sertation* on the Extent of the Death of Christ, that so far
from this being a doctrine peculiar to Pelagius, it was in fact,
the doctrine of the Fathers before the rise of Pelagianism,
and the doctrine of even Augustine himself, the masterly
champion of predestination against Pelagius. Well, then,
without enumerating the writers of the New Testament, and
a goodly company of other names renowned in theology,
here we discover that Augustine and Calvin, the ablest
and the most strenuous advocates of divine sovereignty,
thought the doctrine of predestination safe and invulnerable,
without the abutment of particular atonement
A limited atonement is as unnecessary to the doctrine of
sovereign influences, as it is to the doctrine of predestination.
The scriptures never ascribe the sovereignty of divine influ
ences to a predestinated limitation in the provisions of the
atonement. It is never assigned as a reason for the commu
nication of divine influences to any person, that that person
was one of the number for whom Christ died. The absence
* The Dissrrtatio de Morte Christi has lately been ably translated into
English, by the Rev. Josiah Allport, and appended to his translation
of " Bishop Davenant' s Exposition of the Epistle to the Colossians."
" Davenant on the Death of Christ," deserves a diligent perusal from every
student of the doctrine of Atonement. It abounds in sound ciitioism and
powerful reasoning.

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 163
of divine influences, from nations and individuals, is never
accounted for on the ground that Christ had not died for
them. Our friends themselves believe that there are in
stances of the withdrawment of gracious influences from
churches and people. How will they account for this?
Will they say that divine influences stopped at the boundary
which limited, the atonement ? that they stopped because the
merits of the death of Christ stopped? that the current of
divine influence could proceed no longer, as hitherto the
channel of the atonement went, and no further ? Will they
say that the influences of the spirit were withdrawn from the
churches of Asia Minor, because there were no more people
there for whom Christ died? No. The scriptures never
teach that divine communications are confined or withdrawn,
because the atonement is limited or bounded. And it is tri
umphantly proved, by the history of the Christian church,
that the most powerful defenders of the doctrine of divine
influences have been principally found among those divines
who were the most pertinacious advocates of universal atone
ment. Again. The limitatinn of the intercession of Christ is not
to be ascribed to a limitation in his atonement. The scrip
tures nowhere say so. It is never hinted that the persons,
for whom Christ does not intercede, are persons for whom he
did not die ; or that the persons for whom he intercedes are
alone the persons for whom he died. The aspect of his inter
cession is as wide as the aspect of his atonement. He makes
intercession for all believers, that through them the world
might know that God sent him ; and for the world to knovi
Jesus Christ whom God hath sent, is life everlasting. The
ability of Christ to intercede for all is limited, in the same
manner as God's ability to answer the prayers of all is lim
ited. The atonement limits neither of them. They are
limited on other principles. God has never undertaken to
answer prayers and requests wliich are never addressed to
him, and Christ has never undertaken to plead causes wliich
have never been committed to him. Nothing can be more
unlimited than this declaration : " If any man sin, we have
an advocate — who is the propitiation for the sins of the
whole world."
Neither is this opinion necessary to prove the certainty
that Christ shall not lose his reward. A limited atonement
can never prove it. The proofs of this must be sought from

164 ITS relation to the
other sources, such as the grace, the counsel, and the faithful
ness of God. There are many circumstances in this hy
pothesis which render it too weak to support the glorious
doctrine raised on it. 1. It supposes that the reward of
Christ consists principally, if not entirely, in a numerical
salvation of souls ; whereas there are other elements in his re
ward, e. g., the glory of the divine perfections, the vindication
of the eternal law, his infinite joy in all this, &c. &c. 2. It
takes for granted that the atonement has no ends answered
in the destruction of those who reject it, whereas it is a sweet
savor unto God even in them that perish. 3. It supposes
that Christ is sure of his reward only on commercial princi
ples ; that as he has paid so much suffering for so many
souls, God must in commutative justice recompense him in
return " quid pro quo," which entirely destroys the morality
of the atonement. Clirist is never said to be sure of some,
because he had purchased some. The saints in heaven sing
the song of truth, when they say, " Thou hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood ; " but this does not imply, nor is there
any other text that implies the opposite, namely that those
who are not in heaven, are not there, because Christ had not
redeemed them with his blood.
This train of reasoning convinces my mind, that the hy
pothesis of particular atonement, is a matter foreign to the
system of divine doctrines, as revealed in the scriptures.
4. It remains for me to show, that a limited atonement is
inconsistent with the system of practical truth as revealed
in the scriptures. The scriptures sum up all practical truth
in loving God with all the heart, and loving our neighbors
as ourselves. No theological system has ever yet said, in
express words, that it is not the duty of all men to love God
with all the heart. But let any one take his position, within
the magic circle of this limited hypothesis, and let him try to
inculcate the duty of love to God on all the excluded repro
bates. What argument will he use ? What motives can he
exhibit ? He may amuse them with the metaphysical prolu
sion that men should love God on account of what He is ;
but he will never teach them the New Testament language,
" We love Him because He first loved us." Or, from his
position, let him try also to preach, that men ought to love
their neighbors • as themselves, and to do unto others as they
would that others should do unto them. In the whole his
tory of theologians, no one has ever yet been found, who would

WHOLE SYSTEM OF DIVINE TRUTH. 165
have admired particular redemption, had he believed himself
to be one of the reprobates arbitrarily excluded from atone
ment. There are, however, many duties required of all men
towards Christ, wliich could only arise from the fact, that
Jesus Christ had died for them. I will present a few as sam
ples. " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved." This is addressed to every man who hears the
gospel. One man will not be saved by believing that Christ
died for another, but for himself. Peter did not call on the
sinners of Jerusalem to believe, on the ground that, for
ought they knew, Christ had died for them : but he assures
them, that if they believe, there is in Christ a salvation prp-
vided for them. " God now commandeth all men, every
where, to repent" Does the scripture any where show that
God requires a repentance that has no connexion with the
atonement of his Son ? There. is no motive for any sinner to
repent, unless there be an atonement for him. Yet God com
mands every man, every where, to repent. The repentance of
any man will not be available, except through an atonement
made for that man ; therefore, a call from God to every
man, must be founded on an atonement for every man, in
propria persona.
Peter teaches Simon Magus, " Pray God, if perhaps the
thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." Prayer, we
know, goes to the throne of grace, — but God has no throne
of grace, except the atonement of his Son. What had Simon
Magus to do with the throne of grace and prayer, if Clirist
did not die for him ? Would he not have been a thief and a
robber, to go and draw on provisions which had never been
intended for him ? Yet the doctrine of the apostle teaches
him to pray for pardon — though, it is a fact that God can
grant no pardon, and hear no prayer, but through the death
of his Son.
Paul inculcates the duty of love to Christ at the peril of
being Anathema Maranatha, in case of neglecting it. My
duty to love God arises, not from the fact that he made my
neighbor, but from the fact that He made me. And my duty
to love Christ arises, not from the fact that he died for my
neighbor, but from the fact that he died for me. Now, the
apostle uses the terms of a general message — "if any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ." If any man, and every
man, is to love Christ at all, he is to love Him as his Media-

166 ITS RELATION TO, ETC.
tor, Redeemer, and Saviour; for the gospel would never
pronounce any sinner accurst for not loving Christ as his
Redeemer, if the fact were, that Christ never had redeemed
that sinner.
The same apostle, in 1 Tim. ii. 1 — 6, teaches that suppli
cations, prayers, and intercessions should be made for all men.
Why ? Because God wills that all men should be saved ;
and, because Christ gave himself a ransom for all. We
cannot pray for devils, because we have no testimony that
Christ died for them. But we can pray for all men, because
we have a clear testimony that Christ tasted death for every
man. These latter class of practical truths are duties — they are
duties incumbent upon every man who hears of them ; yet
they never would have been duties obligatory upon any man,
had it not been for the mediation of Christ. The theory of
a limited atonement clashes with all these duties ; indeed, it
destroys the obligation to observe them, except merely on
those who are supposed to be within the enclosures of par
ticular redemption. If all the hearers of the gospel are not
under obligations to discharge these New Testament duties,
then, they do not sin against Christ by neglecting them : for
they, according to this hypothesis, actually owe no such duties
to Him. It is hardly necessary to add another fine to say,
that such an opinion is subversive of all practical truth.

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 167
CHAPTER IX.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO SIN.
SECTION I.
The Atonement a demonstration of the Evil of Sin.
It was a cardinal article in the creed of the apostles, that
Jesus Christ " died for sin." They exhibit the Lord Jesus
Christ as being a sin offering — as bearing our sins in his
body on the tree — as condemning sin, and taking away the
sin of the world. Indeed, according to their doctrine, Christ
bears no office, wears no title, and sustains no relation, but
what presupposes sin.
The atonement of the Son of God is the greatest proof
that can be given of the existence of moral evil in our world.
As the institution of a hospital in a neighborhood, is a proof
of the prevalence of disease and sickness there, so the pro
vision of salvation denotes the existence of a moral disorder.
And as the demanding, or the receiving of a satisfaction by
any man supposes a wrong committed or sustained, so the
astounding fact that Jesus Christ offered himself up to God,
as a " propitiation," is a public and clear proof of the exist
ence of moral evil and wrong.
One of the designs of the institution of typical sacrifices
was to bear universal, and an uninterrupted testimony, to the
actual existence of moral wrong in the world. They brought
sin into remembrance every year, and their vicarious provis
ions supplied the first clue to that scheme of substitution, by
which the evils of sin should be taken away by the Lamb of
God. The visible inflictions of awful judgments on guilty
heads were, " far between ; " and in the interval, the rebels
might think that their crimes had ceased to be wrong, or that
God had become tired of the contest. Therefore sacrificial
victims were instituted by God, and their crimson tide flowed
through all the hamlets of the human race, a stream of evi
dence that sin existed. The blood of the atonement takes up
this testimony and demonstrates, that if One died for all,
then were all dead in trespasses and in sins.
God sets forth, also, the atonement of his Son as a demon
stration of the tremendous evil, and horrible wickedness, ma-

168 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
lignity, and turpitude, of sin. Perhaps there is no greater
proof of the stunning influence of sin, on an intellectual
being, than the dreadful fact, that there are millions of intel
ligences who have no conception how sin can be injurious, or
offensive, to a Governor of such glory and benignity as God
is represented to be. If God is not susceptible of physical
injury, they cannot understand how he is capable of moral
injury. This is, as if they could understand that a king
might be injured by corporal ill-usage, but do not know how
a king can be injured in hi3 feelings, character, and honor.
God always speaks of sin as what he abominates ; and he
shows to condemn sin was one purpose of giving his Son to
the death of the cross. The withholding of his just rights
from a Being of infinite excellence ; the refusal of the esteem,
homage and obedience which he deserves and demands ; and
the contemptuous insults offered to him in the Atheism, idol
atry, blasphemy, and perjury of mankind, must be wrongs and
injuries of infinite magnitude, and of unutterable malignity.
I. When a good and wise ruler is offended, he will not
precipitately make the offenders feel the immediate effects of
a hasty wrath. The benignity of his nature will make him
ready to forgive ; but it would suit neither his character nor
his honor, to forgive in such a manner, as to leave an impres
sion that the offence was petty and trivial. To avoid this he
would call in a third party — of a rank and dignity corres
ponding with those of the offended. If, for the purpose of
mediating between the parties, this umpire undergoes great
trouble, and cost, and pain, the arrangement will be the more
¦ calculated to make on the offenders, vivid impressions of the
heinousness of the offence, in the estimation of the offended.
We discover, in every day life, that an offender feels that his
offence is not lightly regarded, when a third party is called to
interpose — and that this feeling will be enhanced -in propor
tion to the dignity of the interposer, and to the trouble which
he takes in the affair.
God has adopted this method to impress us duly with a
sense of the evil of sin. He has called in the mediation of
a third party — that party is a person of great dignity and
worth, yet his mediation costs him unparalleled sorrows,
degradations, and sufferings, which he voluntarily and cheer
fully endures for the sake of the offenders. It is farther re
vealed that even this Daysman is selected to mediate, on the
ground of his well-known abhorrence of the offence. " Thou

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 169
hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God,
even thy God hath anointed thee," Heb. i. 9. Every thing,
therefore, in the provision of One to mediate this affair tends
to give enlarged views of the greatness of the wrong.
H. The atonement shows the evil of sin, by manifesting
the amiable character of the moral Governor, against whom
men have revolted. Sometimes the tyrannical character and
the oppressive laws of a king justify an opposition to his
government. These excuses cannot be advanced to vindicate
the rebellion of the world against God. God is love.
Even the law which he gave was the law of love and liberty.
His forbearance and long-suffering towards the offenders who
insult him, show him to be a being of infinite benignity and
supreme excellence. The provision of an expedient, to offer
even deliverance and pardon to them with honor to his char
acter, is " a far more exceeding " evidence of the transcendent
amiableness, and goodness, and worthiness, of Him, against
whom man has rebelled. This is calculated to awaken every
offender to exclaim, "Herein is love ! — not that we loved
God, but that he loved us, and gave his Son to be a propi
tiation for our sins. What could have maddened us to rebel
against a God of such boundless love and clemency ! ! "
Sin was made to appear more exceeding sinful, by the
contrast, wliich the dignity of the Mediator suggested, be
tween the baseness of the offence and the majesty of the
Great and Blessed God. The mediating Daysman was none
other than, " God manifested in the flesh." The offence must
be heinous to require a mediator of such grandeur. Then,
how desolating and ruinous must a state of things be, that
requires such a Mediator to become a Man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief! In such a mediation the offenders
can see nothing to extenuate their blame-worthiness — but
every thing to enhance it. The great sufferings of the Me
diator were intended to be an expression of the awful effects
of sin, and of its being so abhorrent to God, that he pro
claimed it " condemned," by the death of his own Son. The
whole arrangements of the atonement exhibit the sinning
against such infinite excellence as a crime unutterably vile,
and the rebellion that challenges omnipotent abhorrence as
infinitely contemptible and eternally ruinous.
III. The life and character of the atoning Mediator de
monstrated the loveliness, the justice, and the goodness of
the law, which offenders had violated and trampled. It was
15

170 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
an honor to the moral law to have been obeyed by such a
Personage. In proportion as his obedience magnified the
law and made it honorable, it condemned the transgression
and the transgressors of it. The life of Jesus Christ teaches
us that the law is adapted to our circumstances and faculties,
that it is possible to observe and keep it, and that it deserves
the affection and obedience of all men. The Mediator was
" higher than the heavens," in supreme dominion, omnipotent
power, and exalted station, yet he regarded this law as worthy
of all the respect and honor with which he could invest it by
his obedience. If any might think themselves above it, he
more. Yet he yielded to it an obedience, which the whole
divine government contemplates with ineffable approbation
and complacency. The life and the character of the Medi
ator, clearly showed to mankind that this law was not un
reasonable in its demands. It required no impossibilities.
Jesus Christ could not obey it, but with the same faculties
that we possess ; and we are not destitute of a single power
or faculty with which' Christ obeyed the law. His were
mental powers and intellectual faculties in which he grew
and made advances ; and in every state of his progress as a
child, a youth, and a man, he honored and kept the law.
It was an honor to the law to be exhibited as sufficiently
good, and free, and broad, to be the rule even for the media
torial life of the Son of God. As God and Man he was a
Personage new to the universe. The life of such a person
age, in a course of transactions between God and man, would
be unexampled and eminently extraordinary. The law which
he recommended to the esteem of mankind, he himself took
for the rule of his own life. He was made of a woman, and
made under the law, the very law on which men had tram
pled. He showed by his obedience to it, what kind of life
the law required from man. He obeyed to the highest per
fection all its perfect commands. In the entire course of his
life, he kept his eye fixed on this rule. In him was found
no sin ; he was completely perfect ; yet He was not more
perfect than this law required him to be ! O how amiable
and lovely must that law be, that was a sufficient pattern, for
the transcendent loveliness of the mediatorial character of
the Son of God ! When the highest being in the universe
took upon him the form of a servant, and entered upon a
course of obedience, and suffering, and glory, he observed
this law, both in all his stupendous transactions with the

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 171
divine government, and in all his merciful dispensations
towards rebellious man. In all his undertaking he establish
ed the law. By his obedience he gave a demonstration to
the universe, that he did not wish to save sinners, by break
ing through the laws and principles of moral government, but
by honoring and establishing them, as the immutable and
indestructible elements of the divine empire.
IV. An impression of the evil of sin is calculated to be
made by the atonement, by its showing at what infinite
expense God has been to oppose its progress. The magni
tude and strength of an embankment are solid proofs of the
power of the tide which they are intended to check : and the
length and breadth, and the height and depth of the atonement,
bespeak the wide extent- of the evil against which it was
raised. Sin is evil alone, unmixed with any good. It is
every way evil. Examine it on every side, and the more it
is explored, the more evil it appears. God has provided
various means to oppose and prevent its progress, but the
atonement of his Son is the greatest and the noblest of them
all : and the history of Christianity shows that nothing is so
calculated to check and destroy sin as a full and faithful ex
hibition of the cross of Christ.
Had it not been for the atonement, the ravages of sin
would have gone on, in an interminable progression of wide
spread and cumulative evils. Sin would have become the
pilot of wrecks without a shore to strand on, — the angel of
death among undying spirits, — the real Upas of the uni
verse. Through the atonement, millions of the tossed and
shattered barks of Eden, can now throw an anchor to a
ground of strong consolation ; the Spirit of peace takes the
place of the devouring usurper, and breathes life, and health,
and joy over all the plain ; and the tree of life stretches
forth its branches, bearing leaves for the healing of the
nations. The human mind finds it almost impossible to follow out
the endless workings of ^an evil principle, or to take in a
Universe of horror. There is one fact that may assist our
conception of this terrible subject. It is the incursions and
the ravages of sin notwithstanding the provision of an atone
ment. Sin, after all, awfully prevails. Few trangressors
come to hate sin, and love the government. Of those who
do come, none come of their own accord ; they are all drawn
by the exercise of gracious influences. Some of the offenders

172 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
presume that God is so exclusively merciful, that he will never
execute the penalty which he has threatened. Others fancy
that the atonement has made a kind of commercial payment
and satisfaction for their sins, and that now they are no longer
responsible for them. They are warned, and exhorted, invit
ed and urged to forsake sin ; nevertheless they sin with a
high hand, laugh at every remonstrance, ruin their own souls,
desolate the creation, and assail every perfection in the God
head. Against all this God has reasoned with mankind, by the
public sufferings of his own Son. He asks them, " If these
things be done in the green tree, what will be done in the
dry ? " " How shall you escape if you neglect so great Sal
vation ? " For such provisions and remonstrances to be de
spised, and despised by such a creature as man, seems to merit
the most marked infliction of his displeasure. Had it been
possible for another God to invade and injure his government,
it would have been an aggression to be expected from a peer
in infinity ; but to be openly insulted by a worm of the earth
— to have " the rod and the staff " of his own tender mercies
converted into spears to assault himself — to have the dread
ful denunciations of his law, and the gracious invitations of
his gospel, treated as sounding brass, or tinkling cymbal, must
be the acme of wrong. It is the higher of the highest tow-
erings of wickedness, around which the thickest and the
heaviest clouds of vengeance would gather, and " rain down
snares and fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest."
SECTION II.
The Atonement an expedient instituted instead of the punishment
of Sin.
In the chapter on the atonement in its relation to the
divine moral government, I promised to take up the subject
of this section. We have already seen that threatenings are
indispensably necessary to the administration of moral gov
ernment — that distributive justice requires the literal execu
tion of these threatenmgs, but that public justice can suspend
their execution, if some expedient can be found that will as
fully answer the ends of government. We have also seen
that the scriptures represent the atonement of Clirist to be
such an expedient substituted instead of the infliction of the
threatened penalty. I will now proceed to illustrate this.

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 173
I. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered as if he had been a
sinner. The sufferings of Christ were perfectly novel to the uni
verse — a new phenomenon in the moral constitution. These
sufferings posed and amazed all angelic Intelligences. The
annals of moral government supplied no precedent of suffer
ing, but in connexion with sin. Angels had witnessed suffer
ings before, but never unconnected with sin. The sufferings
of the Holy One of God were, therefore, to them, a problem
which they could not solve, and into which they desired
further to look.
Jesus Christ suffered as one condemned of men. He was
numbered among the transgressors. He suffered from man
as if he had been an offender and a criminal. He was charg
ed with crimes of a high and offensive enormity. He was
publicly arraigned as a blasphemer of God, a subverter of
religion, a seducer of the people, a rebel against Csesar, a
vile impostor, a notorious malefactor. His merciless persecu
tors said to Pilate, " If he were not a malefactor, we would
not have delivered him up unto thee," John xviii. 36. In
this character, and under this ignominy, he died by the hand
of legal authority, the death of a condemned criminal.
The most amazing circumstance connected with bis death
was, that he suffered as one disowned, reprobated, and " for
saken of God." He was despised and rejected of men. At
the same time, " it pleased the Lord to bruise him." God
" made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." He deliver
ed him up for us all, to be treated as a sin-offering — as a sin-
expiator — a lustration for the world. He became a curse for
us ; exposed to reviling and scorn, and malediction ; devoted
and accursed, anathematized to reproach and shame, as one
infamous and execrable, deserted and rejected of God. 0 !
how great is the mystery of revealed godliness.
Sufferings are incident to sinners only. How then did the
holy Son of God come into contact with suffering ? — Did he
ever sin ? No — he was holy, undefiled and separate from
sinners. On what principle, then, can the sufferings of Christ
be in harmony with God's eternal justice in moral govern
ment, and with his ineffable love to his own beloved Son ?
There is but one principle revealed that will reconcile them,
and that is the principle of substitution — the substitution of
vicarious sufferings. In this arrangement the sufferings of
"the Just," are substituted instead of the sufferings due to
15*

174 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
" the unjust ; " — " the Just " is treated as if he had been
" the unjust ; " — the Son of God suffered as if he had been
a transgressor. Clirist did not suffer as a transgressor, but as
if he were a transgressor. Cain suffers, not as if he were
a transgressor, but as a transgressor. Christ suffered not as
a transgressor, but as if he were one. He was wounded for
our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. He is often
said to have suffered for sin, that is, as if he had been a sinner.
The doctrine of the New Testament concerning the vica-
riousness of the sufferings of Christ is summed up in 2 Cor.
v. 21. " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
through him." The advocates of a limited substitution of
Christ for the persons of the elect, often represent Christ as
bearing, not the effects of sin, but actually the very guilt of
sin. This arises from a misunderstanding, and a consequent
misapplication, of the term guilt. The term guilt has various
meanings. It sometimes means, consciousness of having done
wrong. It means, also, desert of punishment, arising from
a consciousness of crime. Sometimes the term guilt is used
for liableness to punishment, independent of consciousness of
crime. The Schoolmen had three different designations for these
various applications of the term guilt. The consciousness of
having done wrong, they called reatus culpa. The deserving
of punishment they called, dignitas pama, or meritum ponce.
The liableness to punishment, or sufferings, independently of
having done wrong, they called reatus poena. The person
in any of these circumstances, they called reus. When
Joseph's brethren thought themselves verily guilty about
their brother, they considered themselves, as rei culpa, con
scious of crime, and meriti pama, deserving of punishment.
The children who suffered in the destruction of Sodom, and
in the gainsaying of Korah, were rei pamce, liable to the
punishment, though no one could regard them as either rei
culpa, conscious of crime, or meriti poena, deserving of pun
ishment. This was precisely the case of the scape-goat. He
was neither reus culpje, nor meritus poena?, but he was treated
as " reatus poena?."
This I conceive to be the meaning of the above text. In
the language of the Schools, I would read it thus : " He hath
made him to be reatum poena; for us, who knew no reatum

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 175
culpa?, that we might be non rei poena? through him." Or,
in plain English, let it be paraphrased thus : " He made him
to be liable to punishment for us, who was not conscious of
having done wrong, that we might be not liable to punishment
through him."
The principles of commercial redemption, and of personal
commutation between Christ and the elect, would require the
text to be translated thus: "He hath made him to be 'mer-
itum poena? ' for us, who was not ' reus culpse,' that we might
be 'non meriti pcense' through him." Indeed, Dr. Crisp,
Chaunct, and the author of " Gethsemane," have argued,
as if the words were to be translated thus : " He hath made
him to be reatum culpas for us, who was not reatus culpse,
that we might be non rei culpse through him; that is, He
made him. to be guilty of our crimes, who was not guilty of
crime, that we might be made not guilty of crime through
him." The translations of these ultra-Calvinists, take for granted,
utter and perfect impossibilities. It is no dishonor to God to
say that He cannot unmake a transpired event, that He can
not annihilate a fact, that He cannot transfer moral identity.
It is utterly impossible to unmake the facts that we are " rei
culpa? " and " meriti poenae," guilty of wrong, and deserving
of punishment. It is, however, possible to make us not " rei
poena?," liable to punishment, by a measure which will, in
public justice, answer the same ends as our punishment. On
the other hand, it is perfectly impossible to make the Lamb
that was without blemish, to be reatus culpa?, or meritus
poena?, guilty of wrong, or deserving of punishment ; when
it is a transpired fact, that he was " without sin." Yet his
sufferings are altogether inexplicable, except on the principle
that he was by a divine institution treated as if he were, like
the innocent scape-goat, " reus pcense," liable to punishment
for us. This arrangement could never unmake the fact, that
we were guilty of wrong, and deserving of punishment. Nor
can our being treated as "non reati poena?," not liable to pun
ishment, for Christ's sake, unmake the fact, that "he knew no
sin." Had he been a sinful man, or even of a peccable con
stitution, there would have been nothing mysterious in his
sufferings. But being an innocent member of the divine
government, no principle in the moral administration, but

176 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
the principle of substitution* will account for his enduring
such sufferings.
Unless the sufferings of Christ were vicarious and expia
tory, we cannot account for the demeanor of the blessed
Redeemer under them. If there be nothing peculiar in the
nature and design of Christ's sufferings, there is something
unaccountably peculiar in his spirit and temper under them.
Before "the hour" of atonement, his character was estab
lished for an undaunted firmness, a firmness that never shrunk
from danger and suffering. But now, when "His hour is
come," he shrinks, with unutterable distress and anguish, from
the cup of sufferings. Many men of tender frames, and many,
too, of the more timid sex, have " endured the cross," not only
with unflinching fortitude, but also with triumphant bravery.
These were sinners, and many of them destitute of religious
supports ; yet they met their agonies with well-sustained calm
ness. Here, however, is One suffering, as some say, to give
us an example how to bear pain, and also to confirm the doc
trines which he asserted to be true. He is strong in his per
sonal innocence, strong in the love of his Father, and strong
in the hope set before him, yet he shrinks from the cup of
sorrows, and his bitter cries and tears testify the tremendous
tempest that agitated his holy mind, and the inward horror
and dismay that racked his heart and soul. The delicate sen
sitiveness of his holy frame, the pure innocence of his mind,
and the high dignity of his person, must have made contact
with such sufferings for sin to be infinitely painful to him.
Still, the only principle that can account for his anguish is,
* To meet the common objection, that it is impossible that one should
suffer for another, I quote the following passage, from " Trf^ian's Great
Propitiation," a work every leaf of which is worth the weight of the book
in gold.
" God's ways are above our understandings. Shall we say, that is impos
sible which he said he hath done, because we cannot understand it ?
" It is notoriously possible. God's forbidding men to punish one for an
other, argueth the thing possible. He would not forbid impossible things.
The heathens knew it very possible, we may see, by then- offering up the
fruit of their body for the sin of then- soul.
" It is so highly possible that it hath been, and is common amongst men.
How common is' the translation of punishment from one to another : as in
hostages, and men undertaking to bring out the offender, liable to the mulct
of the offender ; -which takes it for granted as a common thing.
" The Pupists, -\vho scoff at justification by Christ's righteousness and sat
isfaction as absurd and impossible, — grant it eminently possible, by their
proclaiming a justification by tho merit and sufferings of saints. St. Fran
cis' wounds, and Beoket's blood, yea, the Virgin's milk, will justify men —
and yet some of them make little or nothing of "Christ's death." — pp. 72-74.

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 177
that He was set forth as a lustration, as a propitiation for the
sins of the world, as a scape-goat led to a wilderness of
reproach and suffering. God spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all. He died, numbered among
transgressors. II. Jesus Christ endured his sufferings instead of the suf
ferings due to the sinner.
In the atonement there is not a substitution of persons only,
but also a substitution of sufferings. The Lord Jesus made
atonement, not by enduring the identical sufferings due to us
in the curse of the law, but by sustaining other sufferings
which had been laid on him hy a separate " commandment
received from the Father." I mean to say, that the penal
sufferings due to man were suspended by this measure, and
that another class of sufferings was substituted instead of them.
Jesus Christ did not suffer the infliction of the idem in the
penalty threatened, but the tantundem, the equivalent to that
infliction, what would answer the same ends as the literal
infliction. I submit the following reasons as proof that our
penalty was not inflicted upon Christ : —
1. The sufferings of Christ were, both in nature and kind,
different from the sufferings due to sinners. The sufferings
due to a sinner consist of a painful consciousness of having
done wrong — a sense of having offended God — bitter self-
reproach for having broken the law of love — and the stormy
horrors of a guilty and condemning conscience. In all the
various and dreadful forms of Christ's sufferings, there was
nothing like this. His conscience never had a sting. He
never felt the hell of self-remorse. He was encompassed
with sufferings, as an island in an ocean of anguish, but the
waves which dashed and foamed around him, found nothing
in him to crumble and destroy.
2. The quantity and the degree of the sufferings of Christ
were different from the sufferings due to the sinner. The
Scriptures never speculate on the intensity of the sufferings
of the Adorable Jesus — they merely reveal his sufferings as
being a sufficient atonement for sin. The sufferings of Christ
were, no doubt, of indescribable intensity, but they had not
the same elements of intensity with the torments of perished
sinners. The sufferings of lost souls are intense, from a keen
perception of the unreasonableness and unjustifiableness of
their offence, and from the utter and eternal hopelessness of
any relief, extenuation, or diminution of their pain. And

178 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
these awful sufferings extend to a multitude which no man
can number, and, accordingly,' would form a dreadful amount
of misery. The sufferings of Christ were, after all, the suf
ferings of one human nature, of one of the seed of Abraham.
And amid these sufferings, "the glory that should follow"
sparkled through the dark tempest of Calvary, and " the joy
that was set before him" garnished the margin of his sepul
chre. His sufferings were not a punishment. His conscious
ness of personal rectitude, and his confidence in his Father,
never forsook him. In the darkest hour of his anguish, his
assurance of God's approbation and acceptance was in the
highest exercise; "Father," he said, "unto thy hands I com
mend my spirit." Such elements as these are never found in
the curses executed on sinners ; nothing can unsting the worm
that dieth not, or calm the surges of the lake that burneth for
ever and ever.
3. If Christ endured the identical sufferings due to the
sinner, His sufferings would not be a satisfaction or an atone
ment for sin, but a literal execution of the penalty of the
law. If a man give a tooth for a tooth, or an eye for an eye. he
gives literally the penalty which the law demanded. If* such
a payment be called an atonement, it is called so improperly,
and in a lower sense. If he give something instead of an eye,
say money, or land, or any thing else, of equal consideration
in the estimation of the injured person, or the injured govern
ment, he would make an atonement, a satisfaction. An atone
ment is a measure or an expedient that is a satisfaction for
the suspension of the threatened penalty. A suspension, or a
non-execution, of the literal threatening is always implied in
an atonement. If Christ then endured the real suffering due
to the sinner, his sufferings are not of the nature of an atone
ment, but are a literal infliction of the penalty threatened by
the law.
A passage in the Epistle to the Galatians is frequently
quoted, to prove that the literal curse of the law was inflicted
on the person of Christ, I mil transcribe the whole passage,
that it may be under the reader's eye. " For as many as are
of the works of the law are under the curse : for it is written,
Cursed is every one that continueth not in all the things which
are written in the book of the law to do them. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, bein<* made a curse

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 179
for us ; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on
atree." Gal. iii. 10, 13.
This language of the apostle has been supposed to settle
the question, that Christ endured the idem, the identical pun
ishment due to the sinner. Before you come to the same con
clusion, steep these three thoughts in your mind.
a. How were sinners accursed? By being denounced as
transgressors of the law. They are accursed, for not con
tinuing in all the things which are written in the law to
do them. No one will say that Christ was accursed in this
sense. b. How was Christ accursed ? By being hanged on a tree.
He was made a curse by being exposed to reproach and shame
on a cross. The reason why Christ is called a curse is — not,
for cursed is every one that continueth not in the law, but —
for cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. No one will
say that the curse threatened on the sinner was hanging on a
tree. c. Did the moral law ever curse Christ? Let not this
question be thought too startling. The meaning is, Did the
law ever denounce Christ a transgressor? He kept the whole
law, in every point. He magnified the law and made it hon
orable. It is therefore impossible that Christ could have been
accursed by the law.
To be made a curse, or to suffer a curse, is to be made and
exhibited an expression of displeasure and scorn. The sin
ner suffers the curse of the law, when he is made to be an
expression of its opposition and malediction against transgres
sion. The Blessed Son of God condescended to be made such
an expression, when he was " set forth " to declare the right
eousness of God against sin. This he became not by being
denounced as an offender, but by being delivered up to public
scorn, malediction, and ignominy. This passage, then, so far
from proving that Christ suffered the idem in the penalty,
proves the contrary. And when Christ is said to have suf
fered " the chastisement of our peace," I believe the mean
ing to be, that the sufferings of Clirist were substituted
instead of inflicting the chastisement due to us ; and that
they are called by this name, because they answered the
same ends, as if our chastisement had been literally inflicted
upon us.
4. Every sinner is liable to the penalty of the law until he
believe in Christ.

180 ITS relation to sin.
If Christ endured the literal punishment, the identical curse,
due to any man, or to all men, such men are no longer liable
to it. Upon no principle of Justice, or of Truth, are they
liable to a punishment which has been literally inflicted on
another in their stead. If this punishment was literally in
flicted on Christ, it can never be executed again, and it never
can be threatened again. Look, for a moment, on the bear
ings of such an hypothesis as this. On the supposition that
Christ died for all men, all men are perfectly free — the curse
of the law can never be inflicted on them, and on their substi
tute. Then it is a cunningly devised fable, that there is "wrath
to come."
On the supposition that Christ died only for the elect, then,
they are free from punishment ever since the hour in which
Christ sustained their penalty, — they were never born the
children of wrath even as others, for it had been exhausted
on the cross, — they were never converted by the terrors of
the Lord, for these terrors could not have been true concern
ing them. Yea, they have never passed from death unto
life, for they never were under death, as Christ had long ago
died the death that was supposed to have been due unto
them. This very hypothesis is the ground-work of the
Babel structure of " eternal justification." If the elect were
justified from eternity, will any supralapsarian Calvinists be
pleased to tell us, at what period were the elect in a state of
condemnation, and if they were never in a state of condem
nation, from what could they be justified ?
5. Even Believers in the atonement are not exempt from
sufferings in this world.
If the Lord Jesus endured all the identical suffermgs due
to his people, how come they to suffer such tribulations and
inflictions here ? Though these sufferings may be regarded
as the chastisements of a Father, they are intended to
embitter sin ; and they can embitter sin only by expressing
how repugnant and displeasing it is to a holy God and
Father. If the displeasure of God due to the sins of his
people was vicariously suffered by Jesus Christ, it is difficult
to account how other expressions of his displeasure have
been reserved for the elect themselves. The agonies of
self-condemnation and remorse, the anguish of repentance,
and the distress of contrition are, certainly, elements of the
curse of the law. Did Christ suffer, that the elect might
not suffer these things ? Thousands of people dear to God

its relation to sin. 181
have, in their own persons, sustained the waves and the
billows of these painful emotions, which demonstrates that
they had not been vicariously sustained before.
6. If Christ paid the identical penalty due in law, then, by
the atonement there has been no remission, no forgiveness.
This hypothesis supposes that God has remitted nothing.
He has forgiven nothing, for every jot and tittle of the pun
ishment due from us has been exacted of our Substitute, and
has been fully and perfectly discharged by him. Then, what
has God remitted? On this system, he does not forego a
single particle of suffering threatened in the penalty, but
inflicts every iota of it ; he remits only when the utmos'u
farthing is paid. If a man be sentenced to the stocks, and
another suffer the stocks for him, it would be absurd to say
that the sentence was remitted.
This absurdity proceeds from viewing the remission of sin,
as the forgiveness of a commercial debt. Such commercial
views of redemption are justified, by some, from scriptural
declarations, such as the parable of the two debtors, the
prayer " forgive us our debts," &c. On this it is enough to
say, first, that these are only commercial figures employed to
express a moral transaction, and as such cannot give the
whole view of the case ; secondly, that in the cases supposed
the " debt " actually forgiven, is the liableness to punishment
for neglect of duty, and not the duty itself.
When we say " Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors," — we do not mean that we release all men from
all obligation to love us, but merely from liableness to our
displeasure for having wronged us. So when we say to God,
"forgive us our debts," we do not mean to pray, that he
would release us from the obligation to obey him, but from
our liableness to punishment for having disobeyed him.
Then, when God is said to forgive sin, sin is considered a
debt, not in the sense of obligation to duty, but in the sense
of liableness to punishment. On the supposition that God
has actually inflicted this identical punishment on the substi
tute, it can never be said to have been remitted. To say
that through the death of Christ the punishment is remitted
as to us, is worse than saying nothing ; for it seems to imply
that it is a matter of indifference with God, who sustains
the sufferings, provided he has them duly inflicted. Of all
absurdities, this is the most revolting.
16

182 its relation to sin.
Sin, when it is said to be forgiven, is considered as an
indictment against us, as a bond binding us to punishment.
We have seen, in a former chapter, that sin, in the sense of
a transgression of the law, can never be properly called a
" debt." This, from the nature of the case, would, be sheer
absurdity. No one will say that we owe sin to God. It
were the same as to say that the transgression of his law is
what is due from us to him. Sin then as an indictment
against men, renders all men liable, to punishment, to the
curse of the law, to the displeasure of God. Think, then, of
the dreadful amount of misery due to the elect for sin. Is
all this misery really to be inflicted ? It matters not to the
argument, whether the aggregate fall on one hundred, or
on one, — is the amount really to be inflicted ? I think the
answer of the Gospel is this. " The infliction of this penalty
is suspended as to all, during a state of probation, for the
sake of the sufferings of Jesus Christ. To those who accept
the atonement of Christ as a sufficient demonstration of the
evil of sin, this penalty is entirely remitted and forgiven ;
but on those who reject the sufferings of Christ in the char
acter of an atonement for sin, the suspended penalty shall be
inflicted, because they believed not in the only begotten Son
of God."
7. If Christ suffered the identical penalty threatened, the
remission of the penalty is not an exercise of grace and
mercy in God, but an act of mere equity.
If a commercial creditor is paid the exact sum due to him
from a debtor, the debtor's release is not a matter of grace,
but of justice. If the volunteer death of a friend, instead of
a condemned malefactor, be allowed to take place, the deliv
erance of the malefactor is not a matter of favor and grace,
but of debt and justice. And if Jesus Christ paid our
identical penalty, no one will ascribe bis redemption from
punishment to mere favor and grace, when every jot of the
punishment has already been fully exacted and literally paid.
The pardon of this hypothesis is a pardon given after
every demand has been exacted to the utmost. Is this the
pardon of plenteous mercy, the forgiveness according to the
exceeding riches of grace ? The mercy and grace of the
Redeemer, indeed, may appear glorious in this pardon, but
the mercy and grace of the Father and moral governor are
totally eclipsed. The advocates of this system say that His
grace and mercy appear in providing and accepting a ran-

its relation to sin. 183
som. Even this is only like the mercy of Dionysius the
tyrant in the affair of Damon and Pythias, which allowed a
substitution of person, but not a substitution of sufferings, a
mercy which no one could admire, because it was a mercy
that remitted nothing.
Besides, this view of the case supposes that the atonement
is some kind of inducement to God to be gracious and mer
ciful. The language of many theological writers of the
high school, seems to imply, that the atonement was a kind of
reimbursement to God for his lost honor, and even a premium
for the exercise of his merey. If the atonement were the
motive for merey, then, what motive, first of all, suggested
the atonement itself? If God has been refunded for pardon
ing, and paid for mercy, the praise of the glory of his grace
is hushed in eternal silence.
These seven arguments are the grounds of my persuasion,
that Christ did not suffer the identical penalty due to sinners,
and that the sufferings, which he endured in making atone
ment, were substituted instead of. inflicting on him the literal
threatening. I allow that the death of Christ may be
alluded to in the New Testament as the act of one generous
friend dying instead of another. This, however, is but one
class of images employed to represent the unparalleled wonders
of this great subject, and could never be intended to mark
out the entire outlines of this infinite transaction.*
III. Sinners are treated by the blessed God, on account of
the sufferings of Christ, as if they themselves had suffered.
If a person sentenced to imprisonment be admitted to pay a
fine, the result is to him as if he had suffered the imprisonment.
If a colony of slaves are ransomed by a munificent friend, they
are treated as if they had been at the cost themselves. If a
band of rebels are spared for the sake of the worthiness of the
king's son, they are treated as if that worthiness were their
own. On the same principle, if a sinner be pardoned at the
intercession of an Advocate with God, the result to the sinner is
as if he had interceded himself. The Son of God was treated
as if he were unworthy and unjust, on our account, and we
are treated as if we were worthy and just on his account.
* On this subject, see " Four Discourses on the Atonement," by Dr.
Beman, of America. This little work is a rich nursery, of what Lord
Bacon calls, "The Seeds of Things." It abounds in living theological
principles, each of which, if duly cultivated and reared, would unfold great
and ample truths, illustrative of this great doctrine.

184 ITS RELATION to sin.
This moral transfer of the benefits of Christ's mediatorial
worthiness, takes place according to a settled arrangement in
God's moral government. An inquiry into the modus of this
arrangement is idle and unprofitable. This arrangement is
observed and acted upon every day in the providence of com
mon life. I will suppose a case. An utter stranger of mean
exterior knocks at your door, and wishes a share in the hos
pitalities of your house. You know nothing of him, you are
surprised at his request, and dismiss him, perhaps, unceremo
niously. He knocks again, makes use of the name of your
son, or brother, or some intimate friend — declares that he
calls at his request, proves that he is on intimate terms with
him, and that he had received assurances from him that if he
knocked at your door, and made use of his name, you would
show him every kindness and hospitality. Your conduct
towards the stranger is now very different. In him there is
no difference, except that he has made use of another's name.
But why should you act differently towards him on that ac
count ? The reason is that you promptly and spontaneously
obey a certain arrangement of providence, and you impute to
the stranger a portion of the character, or worthiness and
respectability, of the person whose name he has used; that
is, you treat him better on account of that name. In such a
case you never think that there is an actual transfer and com
mutation of personal worthiness ; nor do you stay to inquire
how you come to treat the stranger better for making use of
your friend's name. Let the first application of the stranger
in his own name and character stand for a sinner's approach
to God on the ground of his own righteousness. God says,
" Depart, I know you not." He knocks a second time, and
makes use of the worthy name of the Son of God, and begs
to be admitted into God's favor for the sake of Jesus Christ.
He is then cordially "accepted in the Beloved." He is
found in Clirist, and is well received on account of Christ.
We perceive no incongruity, but due propriety, in such a
transaction in common providence ; and we would see no
absurdity, but wise benevolence, in such an arrangement in
the mediation of Christ, if we were apt to " discern spiritual
things." On our part this communion of benefits with Christ, takes
place by faith, trust, or confidence, in him ; or, to use the
figure above, by using his name. If a sick man be restored
to health through his faith and confidence in the science and

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 185
skill of his physician, he enjoys the blessings of health, as if
he had had that science and skill himself. If a passenger
cross in safety a tempestuous sea, through his firm confidence
in the knowledge and ability of his pilot, the result is to him,
as if he had been at the helm himself. In the same manner,
if a sinful man is delivered from his sin, through a firm belief
and persuasion that the sufferings of Christ are an awful ex
pression of the evil of sin, and supply an honorable ground
for vindicating God's righteousness in pardoning him, the
result is to that sinner, as if he had suffered to vindicate that
righteousness himself.
The doctrine of the scriptures concerning substitution ap
pears entirely free from the objections, which are brought
against the exhibitions of it in some theological systems.
When we consider that Jesus Christ suffered as if he had
been a sinner, that, nevertheless, his sufferings did not par
take of the elements of the literal curse of the law, and that
in consequence of them sinners are treated as if they had
suffered themselves, the doctrine of substitution appears in
bold prominence, and appears to consist in a substitution of
sufferings as well as in a substitution of persons.
SECTION III.
The Atonement the appointed medium of Salvation from Sin.
1. The scriptures represent the atonement of Clirist as
supplying an honorable ground for offering and for dispensing
pardon to sinners.
I have defined an atonement to be, any provision, or expe
dient, that, for the purposes of good government, answers the
same ends as the punishment of the sinner. An atone
ment is provided, in order that, the ends of government being
answered, the governor may be left at liberty to pardon
offenders in what way, or on what terms, he pleases. An
atonement only provides that the governor might he just in
pardoning, or that he might pardon, and his justice be unsul
lied ; but not at all that he must pardon or be unjust. A
pardon through an atonement is one honorably admitted by
justice, but, most assuredly, not one imperiously demanded,
as if it were the remission of a commercial debt.
It is in this sense that Jesus Christ is said to have given
his life a ransom for all, 1 Tim. ii. 6. The death of Christ is
the ransom price (the Xvtqov) of our deliverance. The ran~
16*

186 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
som price is a sum of money, or any other equivalent consid
eration that influences the holder of a captive to set him at
liberty. It is in reference to this sense that we are said to be
justified through the " redemption " that is in Christ Jesus —
that is through the ransom price, the valuable consideration
of his death, which exhibits God just in justifying. The
language is, of course, analogical, and must be so understood
and explained. The meaning is this ; that as the ransom
price is the ground of the liberation of a captive, so is the
atonement of Clirist the ground and reason for delivering a
sinner from liableness to punishment, and from the thraldom
of sinful habits and passions.
2. The atonement of Christ is not only the ground on ac
count of wliich pardon is proclaimed and offered, but it is the
medium through which pardon is dispensed and conferred.
Christ is represented as " the way " to the Father. Re
demption is described as being " through Christ." God
meets the sinner for reconciliation " in Christ ; " and the of
fender draws near to God " in the name of Christ" The
atonement is not the salvation itself, but the medium of sal
vation ; as the ransom price is not the redemption of the
captive, but the medium of his redemption. Therefore, the
atonement, as such, does not secure the salvation of any, but
is the medium of salvation to all. Just so is providence — it
infallibly secures health to none, but is the medium of health
to all.
The atonement was not designed to deliver, at once and
summarily, offenders, simply as offenders. It never intended
to acquit them of their offence irrespectively of their own dis
position towards the government In the atonement, God
consulted, not alone the sinner's good, but, pre-eminently, his
own glory: but an indiscriminate pardon dispensed without
any regard to the disposition of the sinner, would be incon
sistent with the wisdom of the divine government, and with
the public justice which, in this provision, sought the good of
the whole commonwealth. To deliver captives, who despise
their deliverer and their deliverance, cannot be wise ; and to
ransom criminals, only to make them lawless, cannot be good.
The atonement is a medium of redemption, and must be
employed as such before redemption will ever be effected.
God employs it as the medium of declaring his righteousness,
and expressing his mercy in forgiving sin ; and the sinner
must employ it as the medium of his access to God. The

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 187
atonement will avail the sinner nothing for his salvation,
unless it be used by him. It is a " remedy," but it must be
taken ; it is a " way," but it must be walked in ; it is a " sat
isfaction for sin," but it must be pleaded at the throne of
God ; it is " the blood of the Lamb," but it must be sprinkled,
before it will avail for our safety from destruction. Until
this be done, " there is no salvation ; " but the wrath of God
abideth on every sinner. The atonement is the amnesty of
a government to an army of rebels ; it may be as compre
hensive as the whole army, but it will actually benefit only
those who accept of it.
The New Testament never represents the atonement as the
procuring cause of salvation, but the medium of dispensing
it. Eternal love is the sole procuring cause of salvation
through the atonement. Such a statement is supposed by
some to derogate from the dignity of the atonement. Ac
cordingly Mr. M'Lean* argues thus : " To represent Christ's
death merely as a medium through which spiritual blessings
are conveyed, and not the meritorious procuring cause of
them, is to ascribe no more to it than to the preaching of the
gospel, which is also a medium through which salvation is
conveyed." On the objection of this able and distinguished divine, I
submit the following notes.
I. Here it is supposed that a meritorious and a procuring
cause are the same. For an illustration of the difference
between these two causes, take the case of Amyntas pleading
for the relief of his brother .iEschylus. The Athenians had
condemned .iEschylus to death ; but his brother pleads for
his pardon on account of the arm which he had lost in fight
ing the battles, and defending the honor, of his country. In
this instance the procuring cause of release was Amyntas'
love and good-will towards his brother, the meritorious cause
was the loss of Amyntas' arm at the battle of Salamis. It
would not be correct to say that the loss of Amyntas' arm
procured his brother's release ; for the loss of the arm, as
such, procured nothing for him ; but when viewed, as sus
tained in the cause of the government, and now made to bear
on the case of -^Eschylus, it became the meritorious cause of
his release. * M'Lean's Works, vol. iv. p. 226.

188 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
II. If the atonement be the procuring cause of salvation,
what is the procuring cause of the atonement itself? The
procuring cause of the atonement must be the procuring cause
of every other blessing. There can be no impropriety in
saying that sovereign grace is the procuring cause of salva
tion, and the atonement the procuring medium of it.
III. What Mr. M'Lean says about the death of Christ
being a medium, and the gospel being a medium, is only a
play upon words. For instance. In the case of jEschylus,
Amyntas was the medium through which the Athenian gov
ernment granted the pardon ; the document authoritatively
expressing the pardon was the medium by which the govern
ment conveyed it. Thus the love of God is the procuring
cause of salvation, the atonement is the meritorious cause ;
or, if you like, the medium for procuring it, and the gospel
is the medium of conveying it. Even in commercial ex
changes, money is not the procuring cause of merchandize ;
it is only a procuring medium, and so is the atonement in
moral government.
3. The death of Clirist forms a ground of encouragement
to the sinner to hope and to plead for remission of sins.
As a sinner, even on the ground of the atonement, he can
claim nothing. Christ did not die to make God just, nor did
he die to constrain him to exercise justice, but that he might
he just in justifying the ungodly. It does not become the
sinner to demand pardon as a claimant, but to crave it as a
penitent suppliant. There is no instance in scripture of the
sobs of penitence assuming the tone of demand.
" Sue out your right," is a phrase very common in religious
parlance, and has been frequently used by "the olde Dyvines."
If this phrase means, that a sinner should demand his salva
tion as a right due to him, it is an egregious error ; it shocks
every Christian grace, and horrifies all common sense. But
if " to sue out " means to plead with all the earnestness of a
humble suppliant, and with the firm resolution " if I perish I
perish," then the phrase is good, and may be used, and used
safely ; but only when the tears of penitence glisten in the
sinner's eye.
To sustain earnest entreaties and importunate pleadings
at the throne of grace for pardon, the atonement affords a
broad, firm, and free ground. To a sinner praying for free
mercy for the salve of the atonement we can say, " Ask what
thou wilt, thou canst not be too bold."

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 189
4. The death of Christ furnishes the believer in it with a
safe foundation for peace of conscience, for confidence towards
God, and for every other blessing.
Hence, the death of the Son of God is represented as
sealing a testament, ratifying a compact, and confirming a
charter. This charter says, " There is no condemnation to
them who are in Christ Jesus ! " With this in the hand of
faith, the Christian exclaims, " If God be for us, who can be
against us ? " " Who shall lay any thing to the charge of
God's elect?" "Who is he that condemneth?" "Who
shall separate us from the love of God ? " This gives him
" the full assurance of hope." The conscience, wliich none
but the God who had been offended could hush, finds joy and
peace in believing. The trembling sinner has his mind stayed
upon a reconciled God, and says, " I am persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
He shows forth the Lord's death in all his duties, in all his
conflicts, in all his fears, and in all his privileges and enjoy
ments. He shows it to God as the ground of his hope ; he
shows it to the accuser of the brethren as the ground of his
justification ; he shows it to the world as the medium of all
his blessings, and he shows it to his own heart as the greatest
motive to holiness and joy. section iv.
Particular Atonement inconsistent with the substitutionary sufferings
of Christ.
The hypothesis that Jesus Christ endured the identical
punishment due to the sinner, is one of the substrata of the
doctrine of particular or personal atonement. It has been,
I think, proved that this substratum is not of the formation of
apostolical times, but the recent alluvium of modern syste
matic theology. Such a sandy deposit cannot, therefore, be
a safe foundation for such a weighty doctrine.
I. The sufferings of Christ regard all the sins of mankind.
No passage of Scripture can be adduced which limits the
atonement to the sins of the elect. Whenever the death of
Christ is mentioned in connexion with sin, it is always with
sin universally and as a whole. The Lord laid on him the

190

its relation to sin.

iniquity of us all. He is the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world. John, indeed, seems expressly
to guard against every shadow of a supposition that Christ
made atonement only for the sins of the elect. " He is
the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but,
also " for the sins of the whole world." When Paul says
that God condemned sin in the flesh, he does not suppose
that he condemned only the sins of the elect. He condemned
every sin. By the death of Christ he branded the entire
revolt of mankind with infamy and condemnation. " The
blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin." This passage does
not mean that it cleanseth all who are actually cleansed, but
that it is the means to all of cleansing from all sin. Blood is
not in the class of agents, or means, of cleansing in the sense
of washing or cleaning the person, as by the application of
water. The " cleansing " therefore ascribed to the blood of
Christ, is the cleansing of expiation, a canceling of liableness
to punishment. The passage, therefore, means, " the blood
of Christ expiates from all sin." It will be immediately
objected, " then why are not all men saved ? " You perceive
that this very objection goes on the principle, that Christ
could not expiate from all sin, unless he endured the identical
penalty due to all sin ; and that if this penalty had been
endured by him, it could not again be justly inflicted on the
sinner. It supposes that if Christ expiated all sins of all
sinners, then must all sinners go free, as if expiation for sin
were a commercial transaction. The objection " why are all
men not saved ? " is not removed by reading " the blood of
Christ cleanseth, instead of expiates from all sin." The
scape-goat expiated all the sins of all the tribes, nevertheless
many who would not repent and afflict their souls, were " cut
off." Expiation is not the deliverance, it is only a medium
of deliverance, and must be used for deliverance. Therefore
" all men are not saved," merely because all men will not use
it for their salvation.
n. To expiate the crimes of a certain number of offenders,
by sustaining the identical punishment due to them, is imprac
ticable and absurd in a moral government.
Such an expiation is not an atonement: it is a literal
infliction of the law, as far as the penalty is concerned. It
is true that where the punishment can be numerically por
tioned out, the penalties of a certam number of persons might
be borne. If seven men be sentenced to receive thirty-nine

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 191
lashes each, a friend of strpng frame might sustain the whole
amount for them. If seven men were sentenced to the
stocks for a day each, one might be found, who would for
seven days bear this for them. But this would not be an
atonement. It would be a literal infliction of the law — only
on another person. The deliverance of the seven men would
not be of grace and favor ,- but of justice — for the literal
penalty due to them had been ^literally sustained by their
friend. The scriptures nowhere give us any such views of expia
tion and atonement. Did the lamb of the daily offering
expiate sin, by bearing the numerical amount of punishment
for the day ? Is the displeasure of God against sin a thing
capable of being numbered and counted out? Is sin itself
capable of being calculated in weight and number? The
wrong which Ham did to Noah could not be numbered by
items, nor was Noah's displeasure doled out by weight. Such
a thing could not be made a matter of commercial measure
ment. There is a theological phrase in very frequent use, but I
think very few understand it. It is, that " the sufferings of
a mere man cannot give satisfaction to the law." I suppose
it is meant, that he cannot give satisfaction to the law and sur
vive his sufferings. The law says, " Do this — or dying thou
shaft die." If the man " do this," the law is satisfied. So, if
the disobedient dies, the law is satisfied, for it has received
what it required of the disobedient. -The law is perfectly
satisfied as to its penal sanctions, in the case of every sinner
in the place of torments.
A thousand times has the necessity of the Mediator's being
God, been founded on this proposition, that " no man could
endure the curse of the law." This phrase, and others of the
kind, always conveyed to my mind the idea, that the curse of
the law was something like a dark cloud loaded with a stormy
tempest, which if made to pelt on any one, would require
infinite physical and muscular strength to sustain it. Then,
Christ was able to bear this storm, which would have destroyed
the human race, merely because he was God. I appeal to all
my readers, whether they have not had such thoughts about
the death of Christ? My reader will find that he did not
come by these thoughts from reading the scriptures : they can
be traced to some excellent divine, to some popular preacher,
or to some sweet singer of our Israel. All such imaginations

192 ITS RELATION TO SIN.
proceed on the opinion, that Christ suffered or sustained every
drop of the identical shower, that was to have fallen on the
elect. This argument can never be valid for the divinity of
Christ, for were there no greater reason for Christ's being
God, than that he might be able to bear under the storm, God,
no doubt, could have imparted to an angel sufficient strength
to sustain any infliction.
HI. It is inconsistent with substitutionary atonement as
moral means, to be peculiarly designed for particular per
sons. In the arrangements of providence, every one will
allow that God designs the light of the sun as means to
enable all men to do the duties of the day ; and the man
would not be deemed sane, who, at sunset, would argue, that
God had not that design towards those who had turned out to
be idle loungers and slothful servants, and that he had really
and truly only designed it for those who had done their work.
In like manner, will men consent that God had designed the
brazen serpent to cure all who were bitten in the wilderness ;
nor will any one reason, that it was specifically designed and
purposed only for those who were actually healed. Men will
not argue so perversely in such instances, because they have
no theological system to maintain. Yet, because sinners perish
by rejecting the atonement, men will persist in arguing, that
it was actually designed for those alone who accept it
IV. The bearing of this principle of substitutionary suffer
ings on the principal controversies connected with the atone
ment, shows how opposed it is to particular redemption. If
an ultra Calvinist can gain the point, that Christ suffered the
identical punishment threatened in the law, he has entrenched
the doctrine of particular redemption within lines that are im
pregnable. For he will argue thus — thousands will suffer
this punishment in their own persons, which could never again
be justly inflicted, if the substitute had once borne it for them.
They themselves bear it, — ergo, He did not bear it. If the
Arminian concede that Jesus Christ endured the identical
curse of the law due to the sinner, he must, with it, give up
the general call of the gospel, and the obligation of the sinner
to accept salvation. If the wrath due for sin, to all mankind,
has been endured by Jesus Christ, there is nothing in revealed
theology that will vindicate the justice of inflicting it again.
• On this hypothesis it is undeniable, that if the wrath of God
shall actually be inflicted on the culprit, no one else could ever
have previously borne that wrath for him : for all on the left

ITS RELATION TO SIN. 193
hand of the Judge in the last day, will endure a wrath that
was never inflicted on another instead of them. We can sup
pose that an Arminian brother had been calling on some of
those very persons on the left hand to believe that Christ had
already suffered the curse of the law for them — and now,
when sentenced according to truth, they cannot fail to per
ceive, either that that doctrine was not true, or that the second
infliction is unjust.
An atonement consisting of substitutionary sufferings, will
be opposed both by the ultra Calvinist and by the Socinian.
The Socinian will oppose it, because it silences all his objec
tions against redemption through the merits 'of Christ. If he
be not allowed for his weapons — the wrath of the God of
love, — the transfer of moral character, — the infliction of
legal punishment on the innocent, his gauntlet can grasp no
other. The doctrine of a substitutionary atonement, not only
blunts, but breaks and shivers these favorite and long-used
lances of Socinianism. The ultra Calvinist will oppose this
doctrine, because he thinks it- will spring a mine under par
ticular redemption. Though this principle will completely
subvert the opinion of particular redemption, I most confi
dently believe that it will not in the least affect the doctrine
of personal election. Particular redemption and sovereign
election are supposed to be alter et idem, because they regard
the same persons ; but the difference between them, as mea
sures in a moral government, is infinite. The doctrine of
particular redemption, like the doctrine of " divine right " of
despotism, is a figment ; but sovereign election is like " par
ticular providence," a fact in the divine government, which
no controversy can shake. Sovereign election is the exer
cise of the Governor's prerogative, but particular redemption
divides the empire of God into a system of " castes."

17

194 ITS RELATION TO THE

CHAPTER X.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE SALVATION
OF THE HUMAN RACE.
SECTION I.
The Atonement rendering the Salvation of all Men possible.
If my reader has ever asked himself seriously, " Can a sinner
like me be saved?" or, "Is it likely that /shall be saved?"
the matter of this section cannot fail to interest him. To such
a reader I would answer, in the words of Him who came to
save^ — "The world through him might be saved." I
hope my reader has considered what were the circumstances
which rendered his salvation difficult and improbable. A sin
ner will never value the salvation of the gospel, till he per
ceives, and feels, and confesses, the circumstances which made
his salvation apparently impracticable and unattainable.
There are two great and awful obstacles in the way of saving
any offender against the divine government. ¦ These are, the
wicked enmity of his own heart against God, and, the Honor
of the divine law. These two obstacles will never be removed
by man, for enmity will never change itself into allegiance,
and repentance will never of itself restore and sustain the
honor of the law. What, then, shall we do to be saved? The
marvellous light of the gospel breaks in upon our bondage, and
shows that these obstacles can be removed, and that " the
world might be saved."
I. The obstacles to salvation on God's part have actually
been removed by the atonement of Christ.
The obstacle in God's way was, neither the want of a dis
position to save men, nor the literal claims of the penal sanc
tions of the law. The obstacle to salvation on his part was
that which prevented Darius from saving Daniel, the want of
an honorable medium for the expression of mercy, in a man
ner consistent with the honors of the law. Darius, after a
long inquiry, could not find such an expedient, — but our God
looked into his own fold, and found there the Lamb of burnt-
offering, his own Son, whom he sent forth as a propitiation for
the sins of the whole world, that He might be a " Just God
and a Saviour."

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 195
God did not remove this obstacle by an arbitrary exercise
of omnipotent power, but by an apparatus of means, and this
splendid apparatus of means is the atonement of his own Son.
The atonement has removed the obstacles on God's part, be
cause it has honored the law of God. This substituted expe
dient has the same effects on the community, as if the threat
ened penalty itself had been literally inflicted on all the
transgressors ; and all the perfections of God, which are, in
other words, the' principles of his government, are honored in
being exercised and expressed through the medium and for
the sake of such an atonement.
If the moral Ruler himself had not provided such an expe
dient as the atonement, no sinner would ever have been saved.
Man could never have invented such a measure ; and had he
invented it, he could never have supplied the costly and mag
nificent furniture of it, the sacrifice without spot or blemish,
the satisfaction that the authority of the law should not be
relaxed by saving criminals. If this point can be gained,
the entire hinderance on God's part is fully removed, and it
is now the message of the gospel to set forth, that this point
has been gained, and that sinners can be honorably saved.
Since God has introduced such a measure as this into his
government, all obstacles on his part are removed fully and
effectually, and that, whether any transgressor be saved or not.
The salvation, or the perdition, of the sinner, makes no differ
ence whatever in the fact of the clear removal of the obsta
cles out of the way. If any are saved, it is because the
obstacles to their salvation have been taken out of the way.
If any perish, it is not because these hinderances have been
unremoved, but because the men themselves loved darkness
rather than light.
God declares and proclaims himself able, willing, ready,
and delighted to save. In this work he has a Sabbath in his
love, and joys over sinners with singing. Zeph. iii. 17. He
confirms by an Oath, that he has no pleasure in the death of
a sinner, and that no one perishes because it is His pleasure.
He asks men a reason for their perishing so perversely, and
enquires, "Why will ye die?" He declares with all open
ness and sincerity, that " He willeth all men to be saved."
He proclaims himself to all sinners as a God " in Christ
reconciling the world to himself." He is awfully displeased
and angry with those who will not receive the provisions of
his gospel feast, and who neglect so great salvation. These

196 ITS RELATION TO THE
things fully prove that now there is nothing, on God's part, to
prevent any sinner from being saved.
II. Sovereign grace has provided means to remove the
obstacles to salvation on man's part.
We have seen that one hinderance, the hinderance on God's
part, has been perfectly taken away by the atonement that
honored the law. There is another hinderance to the salva
tion of man, that is, an enmity of heart against the divine
government, an unwillingness to be holy and good, an indis
position to be saved from sin.
Man wants a disposition to be saved. This disposition, like
any other disposition, is to be acquired by the use of means,
and God in his gospel has provided all necessary means for
producing and fostering such a disposition. These means are,
the atonement of Christ, the ministry of his word, as a sys
tem of inducements, and the influences of the Holy Spirit.
The atonement of Christ lias been the means of effectually
removing the obstacles on God's part, and it is also the ap
pointed means of removing the obstacles on the sinner's part.
The atonement of Christ crucified will soften and melt the
hard transgressor ; that is, it is calculated to do so, as he looks
to him whom he has pierced. Such a view is calculated to
break his heart into contrition and repentance, into a willing
ness and a disposition to be delivered from the sin which the
atonement condemns. It will not necessarily and infallibly do
this, but it is a means intended and adapted to do so. The
atonement is only a means to an end ; and as means, to be
effectual, it must be used and applied. You find five minutes'
serious thoughts of the cross of Christ to produce in you holy
thoughts, and favorable dispositions. Suppose these thoughts
to continue an hour, a day, &c, until they become habitual,
these dispositions would become more strong and established.
This would be removing the obstacle on your part to your
own salvation ; and the hints which I have suggested, show
that the atonement is calculated to do this. As the atonement
is in the list of moral means, it secures nothing purely of
itself. It is the balm of Gilead, but it will cure none without
being applied and used. " The world through him might be
saved." It is never the language of scripture, that since Christ
died for his people God must save them, or be unjust No ;
notwithstanding the atonement, grace is free in saving man.
" I am come," says Christ, " that ye might have life." He

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 197
says, even to those who " will not come to him," ye might
have life.
The Ministry of the gospel, as a system of motives and in
ducements, is fitted to produce a cordial acquiescence in the
great designs of the death of Christ. This gospel is for every
creature. Its inducements are to be fully exhibited to all
men. Faith comes by hearing it ; and faith receives its testi
mony, and closes with its offers. The gospel, as the means,
is the hammer to break the rock, the net to catch the souls of
men, the cords to draw sinners to God. The constant using
of this ministry, and the continued keeping of the soul's eye
on the exhibitions of the gospel, are calculated to bring man
to cry, "What shall I do to be saved?" and to give him a
disposition, a wish, to be free from sin.
The influences of the Holy Spirit form an indispensable
link in the chain of these means. Without this, all the other
links are of no effect. If this be snapped, the whole chain
of salvation is broken. This link is as inseparable from the
agency of man in believing, repenting, and obeying, as it is
from the agency of God in working in him to will and to do.
The influences of the Spirit are represented as being accessi
ble to any and to all who ask for them ; and men are even
blamed for "not having the spirit." It is impossible to answer
the question, " What shall I do to be saved ? " without inti
mating that, in his salvation, the sinner must do something,
must exercise his own agency. Let those who doubt this try
an answer. The sinner's salvation is represented as if it en
tirely depended on that doing, and yet the efficiency and suc
cess of that doing is never ascribed to his own agency. Do
not startle at a mere phrase. Suppose I had said that " a
man must use his own agency in his own salvation ; " why
should this alarm you ? You surely do not believe that it is
God himself that believes the gospel, that repents for sin, and
that sorrows after a godly sort, when you believe and repent.
In these things man is an agent, yet all that he does, does not
procure or deserve his salvation. No. It is God that effects
this. Let me try to make this plain to you. The success of
the farmer is ascribed entirely to the blessing of God on his
labors, yet it is felt and acknowledged as if it depended
entirely on his own efforts. He toils and labors, fences and
watches with much diligence and anxiety, yet he cannot point
to one action, to which he can ascribe — the giving of life to
the grain of corn. After all, the good man sings his " harvest
17*

198 ITS RELATION TO THE
home," — "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy
name give glory."
In the provisions of the gospel, then, we find an apparatus
of means to remove out of the way of salvation, the obstacles
on man's part. The very appointment of the means for such
a purpose, shows that your salvation is a contemplated case,
and that all men, the world, through Christ might be saved.
III. The right and successful use of these means is not
beyond the reach of man.
I wish it to be observed that I do not say that the removal
of the obstacles is not beyond the reach of man, but that the
using of the means to remove them is not beyond his reach.
No man can make atonement for the sin of his soul ; and the
human heart will never spontaneously change itself, and so
remove the obstacles to salvation. But to use the means
which God has appointed for removing them, is practicable
to every hearer of the gospel. To quicken the seed in the
earth is a work which the farmer cannot do, but to use the
means of God's appointment for quickening it, is within the
reach of every one. And God will not quicken the seed
without the agency of man. To remove the hinderances to
salvation, is indeed above man's mere agency, but then in the
use of means, the spirit is promised, with all the fullness of
the blessing of the gospel of Clirist, according to the working
of hi3 mighty power.
God would never have established a train of means that
would be inadequate to secure the desired end. The use of
the atonement, the use of the gospel, the use of the supply
of the Spirit, are surely sufficient to save the soul. There
has never been known an instance of their failure. It has
never been known that any man made a faithful and serious
trial of these means, and found his salvation an impracticable
thing. Has my reader tried, and found it so ? Give us your
evidence. Have you tried to believe the testimony of the
gospel, and found it impossible to believe it ? Have you
tried to love Christ, but found it a thing impracticable ?
God would never command such use of means as would
really be impracticable. No man can be justly bound by
any law, human or divine, any farther than his faculties and
capacities reach. This is as self-evident as that there is a
difference between right and wrong, liberty and oppression.
If the use of the .appointed means were impracticable, the

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 199
sinner would be excusable, and his negligence could not be
condemned. Study the Lord Jesus Christ's fine and clear exposition of
natural ability and moral impotency, in John v. 39 — 44 ;
" Ye will not come to me that ye might have life. I have
come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not ; if another
shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." Here we
may learn the following lessons : that the Jews had sufficient
power to receive a Messiah or Deliverer of their own liking
— that had they only exercised these very powers aright,
they would have received Jesus Christ ; — and that the only
reason why they did not use these powers to receive Christ
was, that .they di'd not like him. " Ye will not come unto me."
In salvation, God deals with man as in the arrangements
of common life, he deals with him as a reasonable creature,
as an intelligent being, capable of understanding his own
happiness. In medicine he only says to men, " you might he
well." In science he only says, " you might be wise ; " and
in the seasons, " you might reap a harvest." And in the
atonement he employs the same language, " the world might
be saved."
IV. The gospel imperatively calls upon all men to use
these means duly and effectually.
God, in the gospel, calls upon all men to avail themselves
of the provision of atonement, to believe the ministry of
reconciliation, and to "ask" for the supply of the spirit.
God solemnly warns men, and assures them that it is at their
peril that they neglect or abuse these means of salvation.
The call of the gospel is universal ; it excludes none : it
indiscriminately invites every one. The commission of the
heralds is, " As many as ye find, bid unto the marriage." A
minister of the gospel, with his commission in his hands, can
never tell any sinners, that some of them cannot be saved, or
that it is impossible to save them. No ; this is the message
to be proclaimed, " He is able to save to the uttermost, even
the chief of sinners."
Hear the noble language of this vocation. " Look unto
me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth. " Preach the
gospel to every creature." " Whosoever will, let him come
and take of the water of life freely." " Him that cometh I
will in no wise cast out." " Now God commandeth all men,
every where, to repent." With these free and large invita
tions, can the hearers of the gospel doubt whether they might

200 its relation to the
¦ be saved ? Can they think the gospel of truth a pious fraud ?
Will they blaspheme God by supposing him insincere ? Per
ish such a thought in every heart ; and let it be anathema in
every theological creed.
The gospel invites all to Christ, because he tasted death
for every man. A general call is founded on a general
atonement. Such a noble message would not be founded on
the ignorance of the messenger. His commission does not
run — " Come, because, for aught I know, some of you may
be elected to the feast, and therefore I invite you all." No ;
but, " come, for all things are ready, and yet there is room."
Thus has he a more sure word, a more distinct testimony,
worthy of all acceptation.
The tone of legislative authority is employed by the gospel
when it summons all men to use the appointed means of
saving their souls. It says, " Hear, and your souls shall
live." The call of the gospel is a command to the sinner to
comply with the provisions and designs of the atonement of
Christ. It comes from the throne of God, invested with all
the authority of that throne. All the authority of the divine
government says, " Repent and believe the gospel ; " and,
therefore faith in the gospel is regarded as an act of homage
to the throne of God ; and unbelievers are condemned as
those who " obeyed not the gospel."
V. Sinners of every description, of every class, and of
every grade of depravity, have been saved ; and, therefore,
it is not the greatness of any man's sin that makes his salva
tion impracticable.
It is a grievous and lamentable fact that, notwithstanding
the ample provisions of the atonement, many sinners are still
perishing. Here is a matter for the serious and very painful
inquiry, why and how do these sinners perish, while others
have been actually and effectually saved ? What obstacles
remained in the way to prevent their salvation ? We have
seen that there were but two great obstacles in the way of
saving transgressors — the honor of the government on the
side of God ; and unwillingness to be holy, on the side of
man. Were there more obstacles in the way of those who
perish, than in the case of those who are saved ? Was the
atonement insufficient to reach the case of those who perish ?
Were they excluded from availing themselves of the benefits
of the atonement? Were their sins too great to be pardoned?
The gospel of the truth of the case answers all these ques-

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 201
tions with a decided negative. If the sins of those who
perish were too enormous to be forgiven, then the atonement
did not reach their case. If they are decretively excluded
from all lot in the matter, then an obstacle on God's part still
continues unremoved. Far is this from the God of mercy,
and truth. He solemnly proclaims and announces, that every
obstacle on the part of his law is removed, entirely and for
ever, by the substitutionary propitiation of his Son ; and that
consequently, he sincerely invites, and earnestly beseeches
the offenders to lay aside their enmity, and be reconciled to
him by the blood of the cross.
Let any of my readers suppose themselves standing by the
margin of the fiery gulf of woe, and asking the miserable
spirits of wicked men, " Why were you lost, were you sinners
too great to be saved ? " The voices of a thousand awakened
consciences would break on your ears — " No ; sinners as
great as we were, have been saved from this pla'ce of tor
ment — we perished for no other reason than the neglect of
so great salvation — we would not be gathered."
It is plainly declared in the Word of truth that the great
ness of a man's sins is no obstacle to his salvation. It was
to a seed of evil doers that God said, " Come now, let us
reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as white as wool." In full har
mony with this declaration is the language of the New
Testament. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all
sin ; he is able to save to the uttermost ; he came to save
sinners, even the chief. Around this glorious testimony, is a
cloud of witnesses formed of such characters as Adam, and
David, and Manasseh ; a Saul of Tarsus, a woman of Sama
ria, a converted thief; the sinners of Jerusalem once clotted
with the blood of a murdered Saviour, and the sinners of
Corinth once plunged in a sink of unutterable filth and cor
ruption. The salvation that was enough for them is enough
for my reader — enough for the greatest sinner. This healing
water of the sanctuary will send its mighty tide to' fill all the
sinuous creeks of retiring despair, and to cover the highest
Alps of guilt and sin. Since the mediatorial remedy has
already been successful in the worst cases, "beginning in
Jerusalem," the salvation of no sinner is impossible.
VI. The word of God ascribes the perdition of those who
are lost, entirely, and totally to themselves.

202 ITS RELATION TO THE
On every one who perishes under the gospel, God sets a
brandmark, which the consuming fires will never efface.
" He heard the sound of the trumpet, he took not warning,
his blood be upon him." It is this character that will make
his face gather blackness in the day of judgment, and clothe
him with eternal shame in hell. Hear how God speaks of
these self-destroyers. " O Israel, thou hast destroyed thy
self; " — " this is the condemnation, that men loved darkness
rather than light." " They rejected the counsel of God against
themselves," " ye will not come unto me that ye might have
life." " How oft would I have gathered you, but ye would
not." The destruction of sinners is never ascribed to an arbitrary
perfection of God, never to a secret decree, never to an ex
clusive edict, but totally and thoroughly to their own love of
sin. It is one of the bitterest ingredients in the cup of those
who are lost, that they cannot ascribe an iota of their torments
to any but to themselves. It would even gratify their invet
erate enmity against God, if they could trace a tittle of their
sufferings to an arbitrary or capricious purpose in the mind of
God. If the salvation of those who are lost was not once a
possible case, there was no difference between their case and
that of the fallen angels ; and it is difficult to show how they
can be justly blamed for perishing, when their escaping was,
in very deed and from very appointment, actually impossible.
The evidences which I have thus enumerated prove to my
own mind, that the provisions of the atonement contemplate the
salvation of all men as truly possible. The gospel is an author
itative warrant to induce every sinner to believe that his salva
tion is a possible case. This gospel is a document signed by
God for this purpose, and may be pleaded with God by every
suppliant for mercy. It encourages every sinner to apply for
mercy at the throne of grace. The sinner's warrant for
acceptance is not that he is one of the elect, — that he has
some previous fitness, — that he feels love to the divine gov
ernment : his only warrant is, that the gospel of the God that
cannot lie, assures him that, " him that cometh He will in no
wise cast out." It assures him individually " that God sent
his Son to the world not to condemn the world, but that the
world through him might be saved." It gives him
this assurance as one of " the world." If words have any
meaning, the meaning of the gospel is, that the salvation of
every one of " the world " is a practicable case. While a

salvation of the human race. 203
man is in " the world " he " might be saved." When he is out
of " the world," his case is settled irrecoverably.
section II.
The Duty of every one who hears the Gospel to believe that
Christ died for him. J-"* ¦ ¦
I wish to argue this subject with men as accountable sin
ners, and not as curious disputants. I wish myself to forget,
and I wish my reader to forget, that the matter of this section,
has ever been a controversial one. I take it as a shame to
polemical divines and to Christian churches, that the great
measure provided to settle the grand controversy between
God and man, should be turned into an instrument of strife
and contention among men themselves, and even among
Christians. In the wording of the title of this section, my meaning is
that it is the duty of every sinner who hears the gospel, to
adopt and employ the words of the apostle Paul concerning
Christ, " Who loved me and gave himself for me." These
words are frequently quoted as embodying the frame of mind
commonly called " assurance." The word " assurance," as
used in theological discussion, or religious conversation, means
what is really the " full assurance of hope," though it is often
misnamed " the full assurance of faith." The " assurance of
hope " is the Christian's confidence and persuasion as to his
personal state towards God, and his final salvation from sin.
The " assurance of faith " is the penitent sinner's confidence
in the designation, sufficiency, and applicableness, of the
atonement of Christ to his own case and condition.
When a man takes a medicine it is in the " assurance of
faith," that it is adapted to his disorder ; and in the " assur
ance of hope " that it will cure him.
The " assurance of faith " is the frame of mind with
which a sinner is taught to approach the throne of atonement
in Heb. x. 19, 20. " Having therefore, brethren, boldness to
enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and
living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh ; and having an high priest over
the house of God ; let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water." In this passage, does the apostle, ¦ — does the Holy

204 ITS RELATION TO THE
Spirit, — expect a penitent to approach the throne in the " full
assurance " that he is actually accepted, and that he shall and
must be finally saved ? No ; he is to approach with a full
assurance and confidence that even he may he accepted and
saved, and " that he who cometh shall in no wise be cast out,"
Suppose a messenger had been commissioned .to go, through
all the camp of Israel, to announce the provision of the
brazen serpent as a medium, for healing all those who had
been bitten by the fiery serpents. Suppose any one in the
camp — suppose each and all to say, " Do you really mean
for me individually? " Would not the messenger cheerfully
and honestly say, " Yes, I mean you, and whosoever is bitten."
From such a testimony every one bitten might look up to the
brazen serpent in the full assurance of faith, that there was
healing in it for him ; and each might say of it, " Which
regards me, and was lifted up for me."
It is to this assurance that every faithful herald of grace
wishes to bring every sinner who hears him, even to the
belief and assurance that Jesus Christ " loved him, and gave
himself for him." Is the prominency which I give to this
subject startling ? Then I can only take up my lamentation,
that it has not been, before, made more prominent in the min
istrations of truth, that now its whole outline and features
might have been more familiar to every hearer of the gospel.
It is high time that it should take its due place in the minis-
•try of the gospel. In this discussion, are you jealous for the
credit of some human system of theology ? What ? — would
you rather that sinners perished, than that they be saved to
the detriment of a theological system ? It is to be lamented
that in- the Christian church, as well as in the Jewish, the
" traditions of men " have the attachment and homage which
are due only to " the commandments of God." Let Christians
and divines consent rather to sustain the crash of all the the
ological systems in the world, than reject or -unsettle one
stone in the temple of divine truth.*
* By a " theological system " I do not mean a lucid arrangement of doc
trinal truths, that they might be exhibited in their order, relations, propor
tions, and bearing. But I mean that settlement, in the mind, of a certain
class of truths, wliich leads a man to reject a discovered truth, merely be
cause he does not know where, in his system, he can put it. Just as if a
botanist discovering a little flower among Alpine crags, would throw it
away, or tread it under foot, merely because it disturbed the Lionsean, or
some other arrangement.

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 205
I will now state the evidences which prove that it is the
bounden duty of every man who hears the gospel, to believe
that Jesus Clirist died for him, and made atonement for his sins.
I. The testimony of the holy scriptures plainly shows that
the death of Jesus Christ concerns every man in the world.
For the fullest and clearest evidence of this proposition, I
refer the reader to the following passages : John iii. 14 — 17 ;
iv. 42, i. 29, iv. 51 ; 2 Cor. v. 10, 19 ; 1 John ii. 2, iv. 14;
Matt, xviii. 11 ; 1 Tim. iv. 10, ii. 4, 5, 6; 2 Cor. v. 14, 15 ;
Tit. ii. 11 ; Heb. ii. 9. 10.
There is not, in the scriptures, a hint that can suggest the
apprehension to any sinner that Christ did not die for him.
There is not the remotest allusion to any class of sinners for
whom Christ did not die ; though there are many references
to classes for whom he died in vain. There is no text of
scripture that expresses the sentiment that Christ did not die
for every man.
The class of passages which assert that Christ died for
"his sheep," and that he gave himself for " his church," do not at
all exclude others. Such passages only point out, as has been
hinted before, the actual result of his death, and not its design,
and aspect, and adaptation. Suppose an antislavery society
had ransomed all the slaves of our colonies, and designed to
remove them to another country. 'Some slaves, nevertheless,
proved so fond of their slavery and so attached to their op
pressor, that they would not take the benefit of the ransom.
If the Society, or the historian of the Society, speaking of
the slaves actually emancipated, should say, " We redeemed
you with a high ransom," or, " a great ransom was laid down
for them," no reader would' infer that the ransom had not
embraced the rest, who had loved slavery more than freedom.
The passages wliich I have marked above give a clear,
simple, and unsophisticated testimony, concerning the appli-
cableness of the death of Christ. Good sense and right rea
son require no warrant for believing a testimony but its truth.
This is truth, that Christ tasted death for every man, there
fore every man can say, and ought to believe, that Clirist died
for him. He can use the language of Paul, " who loved me,
and gave himself for me."
n. The gospel comes to every sinner as an authoritative
message to invite him, to require, and demand of him, to ac
cept and partake of the benefits of the death of Christ.
18

206 ITS RELATION TO THE
Let the reader refer to the following passages : — Matt. xi.
28, 29, xxii. 2 — 4 ; John viii. 37 ; Isa. Iv. 1 — 7 ; Rev. xxii.
16, 17 ; John vi. 29, xii. 35, 36 ; Acts xvii. 30 ; 2 Cor. v. 20
to vi. 2.
The parable of the marriage supper supposes the commis
sion of the gospel to be, " As many as ye shall find, bid unto
the marriage." If Christian ministers, in their missionary
search to " seek and to save that which is lost," find out every
individual of the human race, they will act an unfaithful and
a dishonest part, if they do not bid every one of them into the
feast of provisions in the atonement of Christ The gospel
leaves out none ; even rejecters and despisers are invited.
The belief or unbelief of a sinner cannot alter the fact of
Christ's dying for him. A sinner cannot make it true by
believing it, if it were not true before. Nor can he make
that which was previously true, to be untrue, by his disbe
lieving it. The fact is unalterable, and cannot be annulled.
That Christ died for many, is true, whether believed or not ;
and that Christ tasted death for every man is as true as the
Bible, whether believed or not. The sinner's belief of this
testimony is an act of homage and obedience due from him
to the declared will of God ; it is a compliance with the in
vitations of the gospel. His disbelief of this message is
" making God a liar," and is therefore condemned as wrong
and inexcusable.
In the message of the gospel, God offers pardon, peace,
and acceptance to all, " reconciling the world to himself" in
Christ. God does not offer what he cannot honorably grant.
As moral governor he cannot honorably grant pardon and
reconciliation to any sinner, without an atonement for his
sin ; that is, he cannot offer acceptance to any sinner for
whom Christ did not die. Unless atonement were made for
a given individual, all the believing in the world would not
save him ; and, therefore, to offer him salvation on his believ
ing, would be horrible trifling. An offer of pardon to one
who has never been atoned for, is an effect without a cause,
a measure without a reason.
Christ is offered to the sinner as " the author of salvation,"
that is, as one that has made atonement for the sins of that
sinner. An exhibition or an offer of Christ to the sinner,
in any other character, is not the gospel. The gospel reveals
and offers Christ to the sinner to redeem him, to cleanse him,
and to save him. Christ cannot do these things for any sin-

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 207
ner, without having died for that sinner. The Saviour of
man will -not die again ; therefore, since the gospel offers him
as a Saviour to every man, he has already died for every
sinner — for all to whom the gospel can make an offer of him.
Yes : this only is the ground of the broad and ample invita
tions of the gospel. The universal offer to every sinner is not
founded on God's foreknowledge that some will not comply,
nor on the minister's ignorance as to the persons of the elect ;
but it is founded on the actual and understood offering up of the
atonement. The invitations of the gospel are founded on the
actual provisions made in the feast ; and these are the same,
whether those who are bidden hear, or whether they forbear.
in. Every sinner is now in the actual possession of mer
cies and blessings, which would never have come to him, but
for the sake of the death of Christ for him.
The Lord Jesus Christ is " the Heir of all things," the
" Head over all things ; " for " the Father hath committed all
things to the Son." Christ is the Heir and Owner of every
man's health and life, talents and property, mercies and influ
ence. He is the heir and owner of these things, not merely
as God, but as Mediator — as the author of atonement.
Let me reason this point with my reader. How came you
to be possessed of these mercies and favors ? You know that
God has no way of showing any favor to a sinner, except
through Jesus Christ. If he could show any favor, he could
show every favor, irrespective of Christ ; and then the atone
ment must appear a measure unnecessary and unreasonable. .
You have all the mercies of this life, you have the means of
grace, you have the strivings of the Holy Spirit. Did these
come to you by natural descent from Adam ? Came they
by your own merits ? Or, came they from mere arbitrary
will of the divine Ruler ? If you exclude the atonement,
you cannot account for them.
Consider the three following facts : — every sinner is under
the just curse of the divine government — the providence
which extends any blessing to such a sinner, is the disposal
of things by the atoning Mediator ; and he is crowned with
this authority, not because he is God, but because he tasted
death for every man.
The mercies which you have are to you the effects of his
death for you. Had he not, on the fall of Adam, interfered
on the ground of his atonement, we have shown that neither
you, nor any other single child of Adam, would ever have

208 ITS RELATION TO THE
come into being. Had this gracious interference not been
for you, you would never have existed. Your existence,
therefore, and all its mercies, come through him, and for his
sake. It is for his sake that your life has been spared so
long — it is he that has hitherto interceded for you, and said
" spare it this year also." When you are ilL or any of your
children, or friends ill, for whose sake do you pray for health
to be restored and established ? It is for Christ's sake ; there
fore your health and life are connected with the merits of his
death. The language of every mercy you have, is, " I come
for Christ's sake, and by neglecting or abusing me, you wrong
Christ." Now these things prove that Jesus Christ "loved you, and
gave himself for you ; for if he died for these lesser favors,
for temporal benefits, for your body — you cannot doubt that
he died for your soul, and. for its eternal welfare.
IV. Every hearer of the gospel owes duties towards
Christ, which could only arise from the fact of his having
died for him.
I will enumerate a few of them. " Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shaft be saved." " Repent and be
converted every one of you." "Pray God, if perhaps the
thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." " If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema."
" Come unto me all ye that labor, and are heavy laden."
Indeed, there is scarcely a page of the New Testament,
which does not record some such duties as I have mentioned.
These are not duties which God, as moral governor, binds
on man as a moral agent, with the sanctions of the moral
law merely ; but they are duties which " the Just God and
Saviour " binds on him, as a respited criminal, with all the
sanctions of the gospel message, and of the moral law. The
moral law could never alone, either require, or enforce, such
duties upon any sinner. They are duties which never could
be required, but under a redeeming and restorative dispensa
tion founded in the atonement of the Son of God.
The moral law marks out only the duties of moral agents ;
but the duties wliich I have enumerated are the duties of a
sinner, a character wliich the moral law, as such, could never
contemplate as the subject of duties, but as the subject of
penalties only. The duties of a sinner, then, are duties
which the gospel binds on him. .

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 209
It is a grievous insult to the gospel of the blessed God,
that divines should make it a question, " Whether every sin
ner who hears the gospel ought to believe it ? " These very
divines think every man who reads their books ought to
believe them ; but if God sends a letter of message and testi
mony to " every creature under heaven," they begin to dis
pute, whether every one who reads it, or hears of it, ought to
believe it. Ought to believe it ? Why, is the gospel
true ? If the gospel be true, it ought to be believed. It will
perhaps be objected that the dispute about the obligation of
sinners to discharge these gospel duties, is not founded on
any uncertainty in the gospel, but upon the inability of sin
ners themselves. But even this is indefensible. Men can
believe one another. They can believe ancient and foreign
historians. They can believe the testimonies of their favorite
controversial divines, — why cannot they believe the testi
mony of God ? The only reason is, they do not like it.
Such a reason can never prove that a sinner ought not to
believe the gospel, unless it can be proved that no man ought
to believe a truth that he does not like. The truth of the
case is, that no man can disbelieve the gospel, but with the
very same powers with which he could believe it, if he liked it.
Under the phrase, believing the gospel, I wish to compre
hend every act of homage, obedience, and devotedness, to
Christ as Mediator and Saviour. As every sinner is ac
countable to Christ, Christ must have claims on every sinner,
for which he will reckon with him. The claims which Christ
has on sinners, are claims for their obedience to his call,
compliance with his invitations, and cordial reception of a
" saying worthy of all acceptation, that he came to the world
to save sinners ; " and all these are claims founded on his
great atonement.
There are very few pastors who do not find in their con
gregations an awful number living and, alas ! dying, under an
apprehension of thi3 kind, — that religious duties are not
binding on them, since they are not actually members of
churches, or decided Christians. This is the reason why such
multitudes neglect the Lord's supper, family and private devo
tions, conscientious attendance on the means of grace on the
days of the week, &c. They think that they may do these
things if they please, or let them alone if they please ; but
they have no conviction that they ought to " take the yoke,"
and be bound to them. Hence they think that many worldly
18*

210 its relation to the
and sinful compliances are perfectly allowable in their case,
which would be inexcusable in the case of religious men.
Now this pestilential sentiment is one of the first-born of the
theology that I am combating. A sinner very naturally
thinks that, if Christ has done nothing for him as a Saviour,
he can owe him no duties under that character. To the sin
ner it is precisely the same as if the gospel had left him
without a Saviour, and therefore he must be free from gospel
duties. Afterward, if he be persuaded that Jesus Christ
died for him, he thinks that religious duties are binding on
him, and he begins to attend to them. The supporters of
this theology avow the correctness of these impressions in
their sermons, and sanction it in the sacredness of religious
conversation. The argument generally employed by them
is, that religious duties ought not to be done irreligiously.
This is true, but it supplies no reason for abstinence from
religious duties. Our Saviour reproved the Jews for the
manner in which they read the Old Testament, but he never
exhorted them not to read it at all. Paul reproved the
Corinthians for the manner in which they celebrated the sup
per of the Lord, but he never hints that they ought not to
celebrate the supper. It was the doctrine of Paul that every
man living ought to live to Christ. " He died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him who died for them."*
V.- Christ himself will condemn in judgment every rejecter
of the gospel, because he did not believe that he died for him.
This is the doctrine of the following passages. " He that
believeth on him is not condemned ; but he that believeth not
is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God." " He that believeth
not shall be damned." " The Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel of Christ ; who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his power." John iii. 18. Mark xvi. 16. 2 Thes. i. 7—11.
The whole of the xxvth chapter of Matthew proves that
men will be judged by Christ in the last day, and judged,
according to their conduct towards him. Christ wrill not con
demn sinners for not believing that he died for them, if the
*Vid."chap. viii. p. 286.

salvation of the human race. 211
real truth be that he never had died for them. In the lan
guage of the judge there will be nothing like the sentiment
— "I adjudge thee to hell because I never died for thee."
Christ, in the course of his ministry, " upbraided the cities
because they repented not." They who refused to come to
the marriage feast were blamed, and condemned, and de
stroyed. To these very rejecters it had been said, " all things
are now ready," which they must have understood as " ready
for you." They never doubted whether the master meant
them or not. Eventually they perished, not because no pro
vision had been made for them in the supper, but because
they deliberately refused to partake of it. Matt. xxii. 2 — 10.
Luke iv. 16— 24.
" Bring these mine enemies which would not that I should
rule over them, and slay them before me." Luke xix. 27.
Did Christ really and verily propose to reign over them ?
Did he indeed offer himself before " they would not have
him ? " Might they have had him over them as their saving
king ? Here they are charged with a serious crime. Their
crime is an opposition to his authority, a rejection of his
mediatorial power ; that is, an unwillingness to be governed
and controlled on the principles of the atonement. They
would not be saved' by an atonement, therefore they are
destroyed. The Word, which is the formula to be used in the last
judgment, declares that a " sorer punishment shall befall the
rejecters of the atonement, than those to whom it has not
been published and offered. Their sorer punishment is
founded on their crimes, because they have trodden under
foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith they were sanctified, expiated, or atoned, an un
holy thing. These men were bound to receive the Son of
God as their atoning sacrifice ; and for not receiving him in
this character, they are punished. All the rules of eternal
Truth and Justice forbid that they should be punished for not
receiving Christ as the Lamb of atonement for them, if the
actual fact, and the real case be, that he never had made an
atonement for them. Judas will not be condemned in that
day, because he did not believe that Christ died for Peter —
nor will any sinner be condemned because he did not believe
that Christ had died for others ; but because he did not be
lieve that Christ ' loved him, and gave himself for him.' "

212 its relation to the
VI. The greatest pains of a sinner in hell will arise from
the consciousness that he rejected a Saviour who had died
for him.
" This is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light." It is not
that no light had been provided for them, or that no atone
ment had been made for them. This passage lays the blame
at the sinner's door, and it is there that it ought to be. The
sinner's conscience, in the day of final decision, will blame
him in nothing, but in that for which Christ condemns him.
The Son of God will not blame the sinner for what it was
impossible to avoid, he will not blame him for not being an
angel, he will not blame him for not making an atonement
for his sin ; but he will blame him for sinning willfully, for
loving darkness, for neglecting so great salvation, for not be
lieving the testimony of his gospel.
The day of judgment will declare the truth of the case be
tween the sinner and Christ. The divine purposes, as to the
extent of the atonement, will be then unravelled ; the grand
problem will be solved. Follow the condemned rejecter of
the gospel to the everlasting fire. Amid all his waitings and
lamentations, no such sentiments as these escape his awakened
conscience — " Well, it turns out, after all the offers and in
vitations of the gospel, that I was never atoned for ; Christ,
it is now clear, never died for me. Ji" I had befieved'him to
be my Saviour, I should have believed what, as is now
proved, was not true. Yet, I am here in torments, because I
did not believe what the upshot proves to be a positive un
truth." Oh, no, no ! The language of the sinner will be,
" I destroyed myself. I have no cloak for my sin. I
would have none of his ways. I loved darkness rather than
light ; here I find my condemnation — not in God — not in
the atonement — but in myself ; it is here the worm that
dieth not, finds all its venom."
Vn. The exhibition of Christ to every sinner as having
died for him, is the most powerful motive to personal and uni
versal holiness.
1 . It will make God appear more amiable in his estimation.
Without this exhibition he has narrow, contracted, and sus
picious thoughts of God ; as if he were capricious, arbitrary,
and partial. But the God who " loved the world," must be
an amiable and lovely Being. The Lord, who will have all
men to be saved, is no respecter of persons. The high and

SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE. 213
lofty One who swears, " As I live, I will not the death of a
sinner," must be worthy of all love.
2. It will sweeten common mercies to him. At present,
he thinks his mercies have no connexion with the death of
Christ, and consequently he feels no gratitude to Christ for
them. He regards them as some "uncovenanted" largesses,
thrown about him unaccountably. The gospel teaches him to
see "the image and superscription" of "Christ crucified"
around every mercy ; and then every mercy has new charms
for him — it is more dear and precious, more sweet and lovely
in his estimation. He will now become concerned to turn
every mercy to the best account, to do the most good with it,
and to count it of worth, only as it is of use for the cause of
Christ, both in his own heart and in the world.
3. It will greatly embitter sin to him. Now he has only
the slavish motive of punishment to induce him to avoid sin,
and he never sees sin in connexion with Jesus Christ. The
gospel unmasks sin, and exhibits it to the sinner as the mur
derer of his best Friend, as a grievous wrong and insult to a
Redeemer, who gave his life a ranson for him.. In such con
nexion with the cross of Christ, sin will appear " exceeding
sinful," and the sinner, looking to him whom he pierced, will
weep and " mourn as one mourneth for an only son."
4. It will convince him how entirely salvation is of sov
ereign grace. It shows that God requires no motive to induce
him to have mercy on man, but that he only wanted an honor
able medium for exercising it with safety to his government.
He was as merciful without an atonement as with it, but with- j
out it he could not show himself merciful to offenders. The
atonement does not provide that now God must save, or be /
unjust ; for salvation is all of free, unconstrained grace.
5. It will persuade him how groundless and unreasonable
is despair. To the trembling and the fainting the gospel
says, "One died for all — whosoever will, let him come — him
that cometh I will in no wise cast out." No melancholy per
son has ever doubted whether a remedy has been provided, or
whether it were sufficient. His doubts have been about his
own interest in the remedy, which he thinks to be peculiar,
and limited to some class. The gospel authorizes him to say,
" Who loved me, and gave himself for me."
6. It will demonstrate the folly and guilt of presumption.
Many have the full assurance of presumption, but not that of
faith or hope. The mere belief that a remedy will cure, will

214 its relation to the
never effect the cure, unless the remedy be taken. The sin
ner will feel that a salvation neglected will save no man.
7. It will demonstrate the full certainty of the salvation of
every one who believes in Christ. " He that believeth shall
be saved." Here is no uncertainty. It is the language of
every perfection in God — of every decree in the divine pur
poses — of every drop of the blood of atonement — of every
promise in the Bible — of every syllable in the intercession
of Christ — and of every fact in the history of redemption ;
all reverberate, " He that believeth shall be saved."

CHAPTER XI.

ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE WORK OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The Holy Spirit has been exercising a distinct and individual
agency in every dispensation of moral government, and the
whole exercise of this agency is what I mean by the work
of the Holy Spirit As the Father, so the Holy Spirit, exer
cises no agency but in connexion with the great atonement of
the Son. The Father has given all things mediatorially to
the Son, and of these the Holy Spirit takes, in the exercise
of his agency. section i.
The personal Agency of the Holy Spirit in connexion with the
Atonement.
1. The Holy Spirit has made the doctrine of atonement the
cardinal and principal subject of divine revelation.
The primary revelation, immediately after the fall, announc
ing that " the Seed of the. woman should bruise the serpent's
head," contained the great elements, and the living germs, of
this great doctrine, and foretold a gracious deliverance from
evil, to be effected through mediatorial interposition and suf
ferings. All the future and progressive influences of the
Spirit only unfolded, and more fully developed, the power and
beauty of this first truth. The whole scriptures are the his
tory of the development of this doctrine, that, "in all things

work of the holy spirit. 215
the atonement might have the pre-eminence." The atone
ment is the sum of every message from God to man, and the
spirit of every promise, the mark of every prediction, the
substance of every ceremony, the burden of every psalm and
spiritual song.
In every age, good men became great, in proportion to their
growth in the knowledge of the doctrine of salvation by a
Mediator. I might mention Abel and Noah, Job and Abra
ham, men who knew that their Redeemer lived, and who
became great as they had clear views of salvation by ransom,
and thus " saw the day of Christ." Moses was great, as
God's messenger to the Israelites, to expound to them the
way of acceptance with God through a sacrificial Victim.
Among the constellation of the prophets, Isaiah shines, a star
of the first magnitude, pointing directly to Bethlehem, more
than any others of his age. I am often ravished with the
vision of Malachi, who, with an eagle's gaze, beheld a beauti
ful and glorious system of righteousness and good-will, in the
midst of which he saw the Mediator, as the centre of harmony
to the whole — the Sun of the glorious system.
Clearer views of the atonement made John greater than all
the prophets that preceded him. They had seen victims that
brought sin to remembrance every year, and they had pre
dicted a Victim to come ; but he pointed to " the Lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world." The apostles
themselves grew in their knowledge of this doctrine, after the
effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Before this
day Peter scarcely understood it, especially not when he said
to Christ, " Far be this from thee, Lord." But after receiv
ing the Holy Ghost, he preached this doctrine clearly and
powerfully, and, taking his stand on the broad basis of the
atonement, he directed all to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
for salvation. It is in the knowledge of this doctrine that the
apostle Paul appears transcendently great. So great was his
admiration of this stupendous doctrine, in its length, and
breadth, and height, and depth, that he counted all things but
loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of it, and
made the cross of Christ his only boast and glory.
All these good men attained to this greatness through the
influences of the Spirit, whose work has always been to glorify
the person and the atonement of Jesus Christ. All his work
is connected with the atonement. All that the holy men of
God have spoken concerning it, are ascribed to his inspiration.

216 its relation to the
The gospel of the atonement is peculiarly the ministration of
the Spirit. Ministerial gifts, for expounding and exhibiting
the atonement, are at the disposal of the Holy Spirit ; and the
rejection of the atonement is branded as speaking and acting
against the Holy Ghost. These, and such considerations, show
of what importance the atonement is held among the doctrines
of divine revelation. 1 Pet. i. 10 — 12.
II. In the arrangements of this great scheme, the work
was assigned to the Holy Spirit of forming the character of
the Mediator, that he might be a fit person to make atone
ment. It is not meant here to refer to the divine character of the
Mediator, but to the character of his mediatorial person, as
God and man, or the Word made flesh. Suppose the question
to be asked in heaven, " Who will be suitable to make this
atonement ? " The reply would be, " Not one of the rebels,
for that would savor of rebellion — the person must be perfect
in the sight of God, and yet a friend to sinners." None but
the "just" could be admitted to die for the unjust. An
intercessor or advocate for sinners, must have a relative wor
thiness of his own to plead ; and such has " Jesus Christ, the
righteous." The formation of this worthiness of mediatorial
character in the person of Christ, is ascribed to the Holy
Spirit. Isa. xi. 1 — 5, lxi. 1 — 3.
When the Holy Spirit is said to have been given to Christ,
I understand that the peculiar attributes ascribable to the
Third Person in the Blessed Trinity were made to assemble
and appear in the character of the Son. In the scriptural
revelation of the mediatorial economy, there is a perceivable
individuality of character ascribable to the Father, which is
not to the Son ; and to the Holy Spirit, which is not to either.
When Christ appears in majesty and glory, authority and
goodness, he is "the express image of the person" of the
Father. When he appears in knowledge and wisdom, truth
and holiness, grace and kindness, he is the " express image of
the person" of the Comforter.
The formation of the character of this mediatorial person
age is the greatest work of the Holy Spirit. It is greater
than forming the character of holy men. It is a work unique
in the universe. As there is no person like Christ, embody
ing in Himself all the gradations of existence in the universe,
so there is no character like his, embracing the graces of all
intelligences. To form this character, therefore, is a work of

work of the holy spirit. 217
more grandeur and glory, than the sanctification of a sinner.
It will give greater glory to the Holy Spirit than any and all
of his other works. All intelligences will know with admira
tion, that it was "through the Eternal Spirit that Christ offered
himself without spot to God."
III. The doctrine of the atonement is the great means
which the Holy Spirit employs in his administrations in the
world. It is by his agency that the benefits of the atonement are
applied to the salvation of sinners. This application by the
Holy Spirit is as necessary to salvation, as the atonement of
the Son, and the love of the Father. Without the sovereign
good- will of the Father, salvation would not have been con
templated : without the atonement of the Son, salvation would
not have been honorable to the divine government : and with
out the influences of the Spirit, it will never be actually
effected. " It is convenient for you," the Lord says, " that I
go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come
unto you. When he is come, he will convince the world of
sin, of righteousness, and judgment. He shall glorify me, for
he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." John
xvi. 7 — 14.
If Christ had not " gone away " to suffering and death, to
Gethsemane and Calvary, the influences of the Comforter
had not come unto us ; nor would he have been supplied with
solid and honorable grounds for comforting us. The atone
ment of " Christ crucified," is the great doctrine employed by
the Spirit to prove the glory of Christ, and to win the revolt
ers of our world to allegiance and obedience. " He shall
receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." " He will go
to Bethlehem and Calvary, and take of mine — he will take
the history of my undertaking, and explain the principles of
my atonement ; and will convince the world, and lead you
unto all truth." This doctrine is " the sword of the Spirit,"
which he delights to wield. This will open the heart, when
the lightnings of Sinai, and the flaming sword of the cheru
bim, shall have failed. This is the doctrine which the Holy
Spirit delights to honor, as has been proved in the experience
of thousands of God's witnesses, in the history of churches,
and congregations, and in the narratives of missionary labors.
Ii Christ be lifted up, and his atonement openly exhibited,
sinners will be drawn and captivated : but on every church,
and on every religious institution, that will not honor the
19

218 its relation to the
atonement, the Holy Spirit fixes the stigma of " Ichabod,"
the glory is departed.
IV To secure and honor the designs of the atonement is
the great end and aim of the administrations of the Spirit.
The great aim of the Holy Spirit in all his operations, is
to bring sinners to use the atonement as a medium of access
to God, and to plead it as a ground of pardon. " He shall
glorify me," that is, " my atonement shall be magnified and
made honorable in the sight of the world, by his agency."
All the work of the Holy Spirit tends to bring men to think
highly of Christ, and of his atonement. He will never take
of the things of Christ, to give men low and degrading
thoughts of them. If any have low thoughts of Christ, and
his atonement, let them not be ascribed to the Holy Spirit,
whose work it is to glorify Christ ; " for every spirit that
confesseth not, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh," that is,
is become incarnate, " is not of God."
Under the gospel dispensation the Holy Spirit argues the
cause, and pleads the claims of Jesus Christ, to all the honors
which he has received in heaven, and to all the obedience he
demands on earth. Of these things he will convince the
world. There has been a controversy between God and the
world. The world was placed under moral government, and
against this government the world has rebelled ; nevertheless
God continues to enforce his claims, and still men oppose and
refuse them. This controversy is of long standing, and is
still pending; and the Holy Spirit is the agent sent to the
world by the Father and the Son to argue the case, and to
decide the controversy. When this advocate, this Arguer,
will come, he will make the world see, what it never saw
before ; he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment.
In whatever way the Spirit comes, whether by the word,
or by miracles, or by gracious influences on the heart, his aim
is to promote the ends of the atonement, in the condemnation
of sin, and the salvation of sinners. The word gives clear
views of the evil of sin, and brands unbelief as the blackest
rebellion against Christ. It reveals the glories of Christ, and
claims the highest honors as due to lfim. It unmasks the
malignity of Satan, and threatens eternal destruction to all
his allies. Miracles have never favored sin, but have
demonstrated and aggravated its daring hardihood. They
were wrought in the name of Christ, and confirmed his testi-

work of the holy spirit. 219
mony against the world. They have exhibited him who had
the power of death, as conquered, and have showed all things
as subservient to the gospel. His gracious influences
always destroy sin, honor the righteousness of the Saviour,
and vindicate the eternal condemnation of all who rebel
against God.
Whatever be the topic on which the blessed advocate
argues, whatever be the manner of his operations. He never
loses sight of the atonement of the Son of God. In whatever
light we contemplate his character, whether as Arguer or
Sanctifier, Guide or Comforter, Earnest or Seal, the atone
ment is connected with the whole of his offices and ministra
tion. In ail things he is " the Spirit of Christ." He does
not build but where the atonement has prepared the founda
tion ; he does not cleanse, but in the laver of the atonement ;
he does not plead, but where the atonement furnishes an argu
ment ; nor does he guide, but where the atonement has opened
a way. section ii.
The Influences of the Spirit rendered accessible to all by the
Atonement.
I. The influences of the Spirit are exhibited, in the scrip
tures, as exactly adapted to meet the case of sinners.
When we see, in the whole government of God, that, " one
thing is set over against another," we judge rightly when we
conclude that one is designed for the other.
The scripture describes the state of man as requiring
these influences of the Spirit. " The natural man discerneth
not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned." " The carnal
mind is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be." " No man can come unto me
except the Father draw him." These passages do not mean
that the powers of man are insufficient for the designs of pro
bation, and for the discharge of duties — but that the fact
will turn out, that they never will be exercised in discharging
duties without divine influences. They teach that man's
opposition to God, and indisposition to what is good, are so
inveterate and perverse, that nothing will conquer them, but
the influences of the Spirit. Man is darkness, and darkness

220 its relation to the
can, by no process, produce light ; he is dead, and the dead
cannot quicken himself; the state of his mind is enmity
against God, and enmity can never work itself into love. A
foreign influence is necessary to produce a change.
Divine influences are exhibited as fitted to meet such a
case of perverse inefficiency. " I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh ;
and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk
in my statutes," Ezek. xxxvi. 27. If any person were to
exhibit to you bread when you are hungry, medicine when
you are ill, pardon when you are condemned, liberty when
you are in bondage, you would reasonably conclude from
their fitness to you, that you may obtain them, that they are
all accessible to you.
II. The scriptures declare that God, for Christ's sake, is
disposed and ready to distribute most bountifully every bless
ing that a sinner needs for his salvation.
One evangelist speaks of the readiness of God to give us
" good things ; " and another says, " If ye being evil, know
how to give good things to your children, how much more
will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that
ask him." Man needs this Holy Spirit, and God expresses
himself ready to supply his need. The rich and copious
abundance of the influences provided, show with what pleas
ure he will grant them. You need a supply that is infinite
and uninterrupted — and here it is. God said to Abraham,
" Walk before me and be perfect." Well might he have
said, " Who is sufficient for these things ? " God said, " I am
God all-sufficient." Faith bowed its assent and said,
" That is enough." So for you, it has pleased the Father,
that in Christ all fullness should dwell — in a cistern low
enough for you to reach, and capacious enough to satisfy all
your wants.
Here, then, is an all-sufficient treasury, an undecaying
plenitude of influences. Here is a spring unexhausted and
inexhaustible, an undrained fountain, whose fullness is never
diminished by the largest communications. " My God will
supply all your need by Christ Jesus," was the language of
Paul, who had drawn largely upon this resource.
The copiousness of the provision of divine influences, is a
proof that they are accessible, otherwise the full and public
exhibition of them would be a vain parade. See in nature
and providence, the light that you have is more than you can

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 221
appropriate, the time given to you is more than you can
employ, and the health you have is much more than you
improve. Why is this ? It is to give you a hint of the
bounty and liberality of God in diffusing all his blessings.
Will he who is thus profuse in providence, be slack and nig
gardly in gracious influences ? " Is the Spirit of the Lord
straitened ? " No, answers the apostle, " ye are straitened in
yourselves." The incapacity for more, and the reluctance for
more, is in you. Oh, what influences you have neglected, or
abused, or thrown away ! Where is the man who has im
proved all the suggestions of the Spirit ? No hearer of the
gospel can ever persuade himself that he perishes because
divine influences are not accessible to him.
III. God has established a system of means to enable sin
ners to participate in the influences of the Spirit.
If we wish for the divine blessing or the divine influences
for the growth of a plant, or for ' the support of our life, we
know well that there are certain means established for secur
ing them, and that it would be sheer madness to expect the
influences without the use of such means. The establishment
of such means proves that the necessary influences are acces
sible and attainable if we really wish for them.
Gracious influences are also communicated in a stated course,
not arbitrarily or capriciously, either as to time, manner, or
degree. I would not say that God has bound and limited
himself to this stated course ; what I mean is, that he will
never fail this arrangement. The Holy Spirit has been
pleased to pledge his blessings to certain rules, and this
neither diminishes the grace nor destroys the freedom of
them, any more than in natural influences. The blessings
which descend on the labors of a farmer or a physician do
not lose their grace" and freedom because they are conveyed
in a stated course. The establishment of an aqueduct proves
that a supply of water is intended, and that of a pump that
water is to be had; so the establishment of "means of grace,"
i. e. means containing grace, proves that grace is obtainable.
These means must be used. No man will become religious
as a stone gets warm in sunshine, or wet in a shower of rain.
He must be an Agent as well as a subject. He must use the
appointed means. The connecting link between divine influ
ences and human agency is hid in the hand of God, but he has
revealed enough to show us that, according to his arrangement
of the universe, He cannot convert a man unless that man
19*

222 its relation to the
exercise his own agency. When " cannot " is ascribed to
God, of course, it is meant that such a thing cannot come to
pass without changing the course of nature. For instance,
as we find the world, he cannot make a man live, unless he
breathe, — or see, unless he open his eyes. In the like manner
He cannot effect faith, unless the sinner himself believes, — or*
repentance, unless the sinner himself repents. If this be
disputed, the disputer must show that in the production of
faith and of repentance it is God himself that believes and
repents, and not the sinner. In all the arrangements of
gracious influences, the agency of man only reaches the
means. It is the divine influence that effects the entire pro
duct in the mind, and there meets the Divine influence. Isa.
lxiv. 5.
IV. Men are commanded to live under the influence of the
Spirit. " This then I say, ' Walk ye in the Spirit' " It is utterly
unreasonable to command a man to walk in sunshine at
midnight ; therefore the commands of a just God that men
should walk in the Spirit, suppose that the influences of the
Spirit are accessible to them. " While ye have light, believe
in the light, that ye may be the children of light" Here the
light is declared to be accessible, even to those who were
walking in darkness. The command, " Walk ye in the Spir
it " is urged with all seriousness and authority. A command,
thus given, and thus pressed, supposes that the influences of
the Spirit shall go forth, as necessary to the persons thus
concerned. Indeed, divine influences are used as a reason to
urge upon men, the great duty of using their agency in holy
exertions. " Work out your salvation with fear and trem
bling, for God worketh in you to will and to do of his good
pleasure." The argument is, work, for God works ; use your
agency, for God is using his ; labor in your salvation while
divine influences may be obtained. Work out that wliich
God works in you.
V. Men are blamed for not possessing the influences of the
Spirit. Jude mentions some characters with deserved reprehension
and blame, as " not having the Spirit." My reader may have
thought himself, ere now, blamable for many things, but
never yet thought himself blamable for "not having the
Spirit." This is, evidently, charged upon these characters as
a blame, a crime, a reproach. Yet they were not blame-

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 223
worthy if the influences of the Spirit were not accessible to
them, but arbitrarily suspended, or capriciously withdrawn.
The sluggishness and the inactivity of man is always charged
upon himself ; and if these influences were not accessible to
him, to be without them would be bis misfortune rather than
his crime, and he would be an object of pity rather than of
blame. God, both for his own glory, and for the other ends
of probation, has not left the matter so, as that man may say,
" I did not obey, it is true ; but it is not my fault, for the
influences necessary to obedience were not to be obtained, or
they were arbitrarily withdrawn and held back : and there
fore, I could not help it."
VI. The most ample encouragements are given to prayer
for obtaining divine influences.
It would be the height of unreasonableness and mockery
to teach men to pray for an incommunicable, and an ungrant-
able thing. If man is taught by God to ask for a thing, it is
an assurance, that that thing is of great concernment to him,
and is certainly obtainable by him.
Prayer for the influences of the Spirit is encouraged from
the nature of God, Luke xi. 13. God will give the Holy
Spirit to them that ask him, as readily and promptly as
parents give bread to their children. There are, indeed,
fathers who have not a father's love, but this unnaturalness
belongs not to our heavenly Father. He pities us as a father
pitieth his children : and pity in him is pity in eternal and
inexhaustible plenitude. He is invariably " plenteous in
mercy." Suppose a child had to undertake a business, or a
trade, at the request of his father, he would say, " I know my
father — if I attend to my business, all needful supplies will
be forthcoming — I shall not fail or break, for he has prom
ised to supply me in every time of need." We know that a
father, if he were able, would not fail such a son. Thus
should every man argue, and feel persuaded, that in prayer
and the use of means, the " supply of the Spirit " shall not
be lacking.
God has given many exceeding great and precious prom
ises, that he will supply all our need. " The Spirit " is the
foremost promise of the New Testament, and it is thus made
prominent because if this be fulfilled, all the others will fol
low. All these are " yea and amen in Christ to the glory of
God," because the " God that cannot lie," has confirmed them
by an oath, that we might have strong consolation. All

224 ITS RELATION TO THE
such solemn declarations would be vain pompousness, if these
strong consolations were not truly accessible to us.
VII. The scriptures represent the influences of the Spirit
as much accessible to every sinner, as is the atonement of the
Son.* We have seen that the atonement makes the salvation of
all men possible, and that it is the duty of every man to
believe that the death of Christ is available for his soul in
propria persona. The same train of argument might be
successfully used, as to the relation of man to the influences
of the Spirit, for an accessible remedy supposes the cure
accessible, and an accessible city of refuge supposed the
safety accessible.
The atonement of Christ is the medium and the honorable
ground for dispensing and communicating the influences of
the Spirit. Gracious influences, like all sovereign favors,
come to the sinner through the blood of Jesus Christ. The
Lord Jesus himself dispenses these influences by an authority
founded on his atonement. " If I depart, I will send him
to you." He fulfilled this promise most signally on the day
of Pentecost. He then snowed that he had received gifts
for men, and he issued them forth in such wide-spread lar
gesses, and so soon after his departure, that the world might
see the connexion between them and his death and ascension.
SECTION III.
The Sovereignty exercised in Divine Influences founded on the
worth of the Atonement.
I. It is an awful fact that unless God will exercise his
gracious influences on the hearts of men, not one of the hu
man race will ever partake of the benefits of the atonement,
and consequently no flesh would be saved.
Men slight and neglect the atonement, not because they
have no power or ability to avail themselves of it, but simply
because they have no inclination or disposition to niake any
use of it. They cannot choose death without possessing, and
exercising, the very powers that would enable them to choose
life. It is a most grievous error to suppose that unless divine
grace dispose these powers aright, man is not accountable
# On the whole subject of Divine influences in their connexion with the
ways of God and the obligations of man, see the Author's volume " On the
Union of the Holy Spirit and the Church in the Conversion of the World."

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 225
and blamable for exercising them wrong. Divine influen
ces are not in the list of the elements of human accountable
ness. The justice of God has supplied man with grounds
sufficiently firm and broad to hold him accountable without
divine grace. Man ought to do his duty, to love God, believe
in Christ, obey his word, whether he have grace or not. If
" not having the grace of God " is a good plea for not doing
one's duty — the less a man has of the grace of God, the less
he is obliged to obey God ; that is, the more wicked a man is,
the less and less is it his duty to be good ; the less thankful a
child might be to his parents for distinguished favors, the less
is it his duty to thank them. Besides, the very man that
tries to palm this plea as an excuse with God, will never
allow it to avail with himself from his fellow-man. Suppose
his child or apprentice to say to him as an excuse for neglect
ing his commands, " If I had the grace to obey you, I would ;
but as I suspect that God has not given me grace to obey
you, I hope you will excuse me." Suppose again, a man
who refuses to pay him a sum of money that is due, to say,
" If I had grace to be honest and upright I would be so, but
as God has not given me grace to do so, have me excused."
This very man who puts off the claims of God with such a
flimsy plea, would spurn all such excuses, and would treat
him according to his ability to do right, and would actually
make his want of disposition to be honest, an aggravation of
his offence. The whole scriptures declare that God will
judge mankind on the same principles.
All mankind are, of themselves, so opposed to the designs
of the mediation of Christ, and so inclined and disposed to
persevere in sin, that until they are affected by divine influ
ences in their own personal case, not one of all the human
race will ever be saved. Yet their rejection of salvation, or
in other words, their refusing to be saved, is solemnly pro
nounced by God to be a conduct criminal, blamable, and
condemnable. That without divine influences mankind would let the
atonement sustain a total and eternal failure, may be proved
from the nature of the case — from facts in the past history of
man — from the doctrine of the scripture concerning divine
influences — and from the impossibility of accounting for the
conversion of a sinner on any other principle.
It is in the physical and moral constitution of the nature
of man, that what he is unwilling to do, he never will do.

226 ITS RELATION TO THE
Hence the Scriptures speak of that which a man is unwilling
to do as a thing impossible to come to pass. When Christ
charges the Jews with this unwillingness, he represents their
coming to him as impossible. " Ye will not come to me that
ye might have life," for " how can ye believe which receive
honor one from another ; " " no man can come unto me unless
my Father draw him." When we say that a kind father
never can murder his own child, or never will murder it, our
meaning is, that such an event will never come to pass. We do
not mean that the thing is physically impossible in itself. So
when we say that no sinner will, of himself, come to Christ,
we do not mean that he has not the mental power to come,
but that such an event will never transpire — for the enmity
of the human heart against God never will change itself to
friendship. If, therefore, the change take place, it must be
by an influence foreign to man's original faculties.
This statement of the case of man is corroborated by an
unbroken chain of facts in the history of mankind. The ages
and generations gone by, do not furnish one instance of a
man who has ascribed his conversion from sin to his own
agency and goodness of heart. AU such persons recorded in
the scriptures plainly declare, that it is God that made them
to differ ; and the theme of their song in heaven is, " not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory."
The cases are innumerable in which the best means have been
tried and exhibited in vain, though they were means adapted
and intended, and adequate to succeed with men. Witness
the ministry of Noah, of Moses in the wilderness, of Isaiah,
and of the Saviour himself. These means, though they were
verily means of grace, did not profit them to whom they
were exhibited ; not because the word was not " able to
save," but because it was not credited ; " it was not mixed
with faith in them who heard it." Heb. iv. 2. But to them
who believed, to them who partook of the grace of the means,
to them, through the divine influence in the means, power
was given to become the sons of God. The success, therefore,
which was productive of such inflnite good, cannot be ascribed
to the exercise of the human will in believing, but to the
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, in the means of
grace. The holy scriptures invariably ascribe the success of means
and instruments to divine influences. Their language is, " It
is God that worketh in you to will and to do." " We are

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 227
His workmanship in Christ," " You hath He quickened," &c.
All the instances of conversion mentioned in the scriptures
are ascribed to God, e. g. those of Zaccheus, Paul, Lydia, &c.
The Bible also teaches us that prayer to God for the exercise
of divine influence is one means of obtaining success. If
man change himself, it is to man the prayer ought to be made,
and not to God. To address a prayer to God for the con
version of any man, is an acknowledgment that such a con
version is to be effected by his grace and Spirit
On any other principle than the gracious communication
of divine influences, it is impossible to account for the con
version of man. The theory of " common grace " will not
account for it, for it leaves the question behind it, " How
comes one man more than another to make a right use of
this ' common grace.' " The self-determining power of the
will will not account for it, for the will of man cannot alter
the character of the means of grace. To think that conver
sion is an accident that happened by chance, is an insult to a
wise God that worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will, and is the efficient cause of every good thing in the uni
verse. God alone changes the heart.
II. God has an independent right to supply divine influ
ences in what degree, and on whomsoever, he pleases, accord
ing to the counsel of his own will, and the arrangements of
his own wisdom.
In all the disputes against the exercise of this sovereignty
in the arrangements for man's salvation, the condition and
character of mankind as condemned criminals worthy of
death, are always forgotten. At the bottom of every reason
ing against the sovereign dispensation of divine favor, there
always lurks a supposition that man has some claim upon his
Maker ; and on such data time will never see an end to the
dispute. Upon the supposition that every man i3 unworthy of any
favor from God, the question in dispute is very simple. It is
this — " Has God a right to show a kindness to any person
that does not deserve it ? " Probably there is not a man on
the earth that will deny that God has such a right ; most
assuredly there is not a man that would consent to abide by
such a denial, that God should show him no more favor than
he deserved. Captious cavillers, who forget their condemned
character, will still dispute, "Is it just that such a right
should be exercised ? " This objection supposes such a right

228 ITS RELATION TO THE
to belong to God, but doubts its justice when exercised.
This objection is the shell of a theological monstrosity unpar
alleled in hideousness. It supposes that God will exercise
his right in a wrong manner. It is worse, for it supposes
that God's right to confer benefits on the undeserving is A
right to do wrong. The disputant supposes that it is
wrong in God to confer favors upon any of his creatures be
yond their due, and in the whole argument forgets, that he
himself is a condemned, and undeserving character.
Take an illustration of this. Suppose Newgate, or any
other prison, to be thronged with criminals under sentence
of death, and regarded by all honest men as justly condemned.
It is known in the Constitution of the realm, that the king
has the prerogative of reprieving and pardoning any criminal
he pleases. The actual exercise of this prerogative to pardon
has no injurious aspect upon the condition of the condemned
criminals. Rather, the existence and the exercise of such a
prerogative is pure and entire good. It is not a prerogative
to inflict tortures on them, but its very design and aspect is to
confer good. Suppose such a prerogative not to exist — the
exclusion of it would not improve the condition or better the
prospect, of any one criminal. You therefore get no accession
of good by excluding the king's prerogative. But allow it to be
introduced, — and you immediately secure a splendid amount
of good. Suppose the king, in the exercise of his preroga
tive, to pardon any number out of them, and you gain so
much good. Will the gaining of so much good be really a
wrong to the rest. Try to answer these questions. " How
does this good ytrong them ? Does it make their case worse ?
Does any thing befall them, after all, worse than what was
justly due to them ? Would they have been better off, had
there been no prerogative exercised ? "
Your conscience will not answer these questions in the
affirmative, but your heart says, " I should not like the king
to pardon other offenders and pass by me." Yes, that is the
real truth, that is an accurate statement of the case. All
your opposition to the exercise of divine sovereignty proceeds
from what is implied in the little word " me." And yet, why
not you ? Have you not deserved to die ? Have you any
claims upon this prerogative ? Is God not to exercise his pre
rogative, because you do not like others to have more
benefits than you? Examine yourself, and jTou will dis
cover that it is only when you do not consider yourself

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 229
as a criminal justly condemned, that you quarrel with the
exercise of God's sovereign prerogative.
God is perfectly independent of the whole universe, and
all-sufficient for his own happiness and glory. It is the glory
of his nature and of his character, that all the good in the
universe is the product of his own good pleasure, and that he
works and produces good freely, without constraint, and with
out necessity. His grace is free, unbiassed and uninfluenced.
He can give or withhold his favors without any impeachment
of his character. He can confer his benefits, when, how, and
on whom he pleases. God always claims to himself the free
exercise of his sovereign right, to have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. He could neither see, nor foresee, any
good in man that should induce or deserve this exercise of
sovereignty, for God hath chosen men unto obedience, and
not for obedience ; and that they might be holy, and not be
cause they were so. If he exercised this prerogative in con
sequence of any previous good in man, his grace would be
turned into distributive justice, salvation would be of works,
and boasting would not be excluded. If God exercise no
sovereign prerogative, but only acts according to previous
conditions in man, then the glory of his grace would depend
on the capricious will of man, and he would be doing and
working nothing for the reason that it was the good pleasure
of his will. The scriptures assure us that this sovereignty is
exercised not according to works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to God's own counsel and good-will.
III. The atonement is an honorable ground for the exer
cise of sovereignty in the special communications of divine
influences, to them who believe. '•'¦:• -<>;¦¦ ¦. . .
The whole mediatorial work of Jesus Christ is so worthy
and so meritorious that it deserves that measures should
be taken to ensure it from entire failure. It is not to be
expected, in the admmistration of moral government, that
God should give us an account of his sovereign measures, or
cfto supply us with direct reasons for the discriminating speci
ality that is visible in the communication of divine influences.
It is enough for us, that is, it is enough for all the ends of
our accountableness, to be assured, that God is under no more
obligations to provide divine influences for us, than he was to
provide an atonement for us. But having made the pro
vision, and settled the arrangement, it is announced that as
the benefits of the atonement are available to all applicants,
20

230 ITS RELATION TO THE
so " the supply of the Spirit " is accessible to all who " ask "
it Nevertheless God has condescended to " set forth " the in
finite dignity and transcendent worthiness of the atonement,
as supplying an honorable ground, and a just vindication, for
the exercise of speciality in divine influences. The atone
ment is a measure of such ineffable worth, that it inherently
deserves that its ends should be accomplished ; and that it
should not be, like other measures and expedients in divine
government, liable to entire failure. To this splendid expe
dient God has, through the church, called the attention of
principalities and powers in heavenly places ; and all these
Intelligences watch the movements of this measure, and dili
gently observe its bearings on the interests of the universe.
If, then, a measure of such grandeur and dignity entirely fail,
the universe may, in amazement, ask the Creator, " What
wilt thou do to thy great name ? "
The entire failure of the Eden dispensation would have
clouded the divine character, had it not been rescued by the
introduction of a compensative atonement The entire fail
ure of the Sinai experiment would have reflected dishonor
on the divine glory, but it was redeemed by the establishment
of a " better Hope." But if the atonement itself entirely
fail, what shall then, vindicate the honor of the wisdom, and
power, and grace of God ? How awfully disastrous will be
the upshot of moral government ! It would shatter every
world in the empire of God, and stun all intelligences " in all
the places of his dominion."
The disastrous upshot would not have been effectually pre
vented by leaving the atonement entirely to the liberty of
free agents ; for in such hands the failure would be entire and
total. The arrangement of its success, therefore, is entrusted
to the sovereignty of divine grace, and not to the sovereignty
of human capriciousness. This arrangement makes the mea
sure of success certain to him that believes. " It is of faith,
that it might be of grace, that the promise may be sure to
all the seed."
All who believe the doctrine of divine influences take it
for granted, that the atonement is capable of entire failure,
for they assert that the blood of Christ will save none unless
the Spirit convey its efficacy. This is the very thing we are
now pleading for. Nothing can prevent this entire failure
but the determination of God to supply saving influences, to

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 231
jnake some men differ from others, and to give unto them, for
the sake ofChrist, to believe in him. And God's great de
fence against the charge of arbitrariness or capriciousness in
this sovereign speciafity, is, that the atonement of Christ de
served that it should not entirely fail. If any sinner be
disposed to complain of God in thus conveying the benefits
of the atonement in any. special case, conscience must flash
the conviction in the breast of that sinner, that God has only
used for its designed purpose that veiy atonement, which the
sinner had been invited and commanded to use for that pur
pose, but which he voluntarily rejected, and spurned as the
off-scouring of all things.
IV. The exercise of divine sovereignty in the special
communications of divine influences is an honor to the
atonement. The Christian church has been deluged with boisterous
discourses and turbid volumes to prove that the speciality of
divine sovereignty is a disgrace to the atonement. Against
this most formidable flood I would unfurl a banner lifted up
by the hand of the Redeemer himself. " In that hour, Jesus
rejoiced in Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that thou hast bid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes ; even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."
Luke x. 21, 22.
The Lord Jesus Christ views the difference in the spiritual
conditions of men as the special product of the sovereign
agency of God ; and considers the exercise of divine sove
reignty as a perfectly satisfactory account of the matter. He
further regards this sovereign speciality as a positive " good "
to the universe, and as entitling God to " thanks " and praise.
It is true that this account of the matter shocks the hearts,
and disturbs the theological systems, of many good Christians,
but it does so, only so far as their hearts and theological sen
timents differ from the heart and the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
This view of the case perfectly satisfied Christ ; why, then,
does it not please you ? — " Let the mind that was in Christ
be also in you."
There are four considerations that ought to induce us to
rest satisfied in the sentiments wliich satisfied Christ.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ perfectly understood this subject.
" No man knoweth the Father but the Son." He thoroughly
knew the mind and the plans of his Father. The senti-

232 ITS RELATION TO THE
ments which* he expresses in the above passage are not his
guesses and conjectures — but he completely knew the whole
truth of the case. If the argumentum ad verecundiam, be
valid any where, it must be here.
2. The Lord Jesus Christ was perfectly benevolent. As a
benevolent being he would not be satisfied with any measure
that was wrong, unjust, and injurious, in any of its bearings.
If the speciality of divine influences were such a measure in
reality, he would not have approved of it. He viewed the
exercise of divine influences as a source of happiness to the
world. "It seemed good in thy sight." God knows what
is really " good," and Christ knew what was " good " in the
"sight of God." The exercise of gracious influence is "good"
in the sight of God ; why is it an evil in your sight ? You
are not a better judge than he is of what is truly benevolent.
3. The Lord Jesus Christ was altogether holy. As a holy
being he could not be pleased with what was unholy in itself,
or had an unholy tendency. He could not be pleased with
any thing that would cause sin, or that would supply an apol
ogy for sin. There are systems of theology that suppose that
this is precisely the case with this doctrine of gracious spe
ciality. Many argue that it produces heedlessness and licen
tiousness, and that it is an excuse for living in sin. It should,
however, be remembered, that this is the "sovereignty" of
theological systems — not the sovereignty of God as revealed
in the scriptures. In that, Christ, who knew his Father's
sovereignty, saw no aspect or tendency of the kind — and we
must allow that what had, or what had not, a holy tendency,
was distinctly known to him.
4. The Lord Jesus Christ was deeply interested in the sub
ject. It was by the exercise of this gracious influence that
he was to see of the travail of his soul. He never thought
that his harvest would have been larger and more splendid,
if it had been left to the self-determining sovereignty of the
human will. He regarded it as more sure in the hands of
his Father. Divine sovereignty settles every jewel in the
mediatorial diadem. This arrangement made Christ happy.
Why does it not make you happy ? One of the parties,
Christ or you, must be wrong ! Bethink ye — You often
read* of his toils and labors, of his sorrows and tears, you
never hear of his rejoicing but this once, and then it was in
his views of divine sovereignty ! This glorious subject made
him " rejoice in spirit" It unfolded " the joy that was set

WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 233
before him." For the exercise of sovereignty, he " thanked "
his Father, the Lord of heaven and earth. He considered
these special displays of sovereignty as exhibiting God worthy
of all gratitude, praise and glory.* That God should exercise
his sovereignty to secure the designs of the atonement against
utter failure, the Lord Jesus Christ considered as an honor
conferred on his mediatorial undertaking. The clear and
ample manifestations which the exercise of divine influence
gives of the entire character of God, — the immense and
magnificent accession of happiness which it brings to the
universe, — the full consistency of its operations with the
honors of infinite justice, surround the cross with a halo
that is ineffable and " full of glory."

CHAPTER Xn.
ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH.
SECTION I.
The designs of the Atonement to be infallibly secured in certain
instances.
The designs of the atonement in reference to mankind have
already been secured in numerous instances ; and we are in
formed by the scriptures that there shall be such instances of
its success, in every age of the world. The persons, in whom
the success of the atonement is instanced, form what is called
the church of Christ. These instances are not matters of
chance, — they are the result of definite purpose, and of an
adjusted plan settled in eternity. God will direct that the
workings of the great principles of the atonement shall infal
libly issue in the personal salvation of a multitude which no
man can number, so that " the faith of God shall not become
of none effect"
He is a theologian of no mean temerity who will meet this
statement with a negative. It would be, in fact, to say that the
designs of the atonement come to pass at random. Hitherto
the doctrine of this statement has been combated, only by a
liberal use of the ample and furbished arguments about the
free agency of man ; but in the heat of conflict, and the din
20*

234 ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH.
[of battle, it has been forgotten that God is a free agent as
j well as man. Besides, in the smoke and dust of polemics,
; these arguments have been brandished as if man would
, always use his free agenty well, if he were left to it ; and
God could never use his free agency, without infringing on
¦ the rights of man. A theological system founded upon the
hypothesis, that if God will ever exercise his free agency, he
is sure to exercise it wrong ; or, if he does what he wills
with his own, he is sure to injure some persons, should indeed
make its defenders examine more minutely its foundations,
and take heed to the towers thereof.
The " certain instances " in which the designs of the atone
ment shall be secured, mean special cases of definite persons.
It is meant that personal predestination shall certainly issue
in personal salvation. If the reader would rather have the
statement, that they who were personally foreknown shall be
personally called and glorified, I can have no objection to it ;
for " whom God did foreknow, them he also predestinated,
and whom he predestinated them he also called." To cut off
the -link of predestination, will not make the links of fore
knowledge and calling fit better into each other, and thus
make the chain look fairer or stronger. Suppose the chain
ran "whom he foreknew them he also called," how is it im
proved ? What did God foreknow about the called ? He
foreknew that they were enemies to him by wicked works,
that this state of enmity would by no means change itself
into love ; that they would not make themselves to differ ;
that they would never obey his call, unless his Spirit would
take away the heart of stone, and he foreknew that he would
give them that Spirit. " Yes," it is rejoined, " but he fore
knew it conditionally'." This is one of the jargons of sys
tematic theology. A definition of " conditional foreknowl
edge," is a great desideratum in moral and theological science.
Does it mean that God foreknows the meeting between the
agent and the condition, but does not see any further, — does
not foreknow what the result of the meeting will be ? If God
does not see the result, it cannot be called fore-KNOWLEDGE.
The principles of mental philosophy, as well as the revelations
of theology, know no more of conditional _/bre-knowledge,
i than they know of conditional past knowledge. A man who,
: in order to maintain a fond metaphysical conceit, would assert
that a certain event in the Roman empire was but condition
ally known to historians, must calculate largely on the tender

ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH. 235
mercies of mankind, not to be treated as a dreamer. If there
be any prophecies wliich have come to pass, and which God
only foreknew conditionally, the question is decided.
God foreknew with perfect certainty the special instances
in which the designs of the atonement should be secured in
the personal salvation of particular individuals. I use the
phrase, personal or particular salvation, rather than that of
particular redemption, for this reason : The phrase, particular
redemption, as often used in theological discussion, covers a
fallacy which is seldom detected in the heat of argument. If
by particular redemption is meant that the ransom price was
given only for some particular persons ; — if it means that only
some particular persons were atoned for, then it is wrong, and
directly opposed to the scriptures. If the phrase particular
redemption means, that only some particular persons shall, in
the event, prove to be actually delivered from sin to heaven,
then it is true, just in the same way as particular providence
is true. A particular providence is the operation of the pro
visions of a general providence, graciously directed to bear
upon the interest of special particular persons ; and particular
salvation is the working of a general atonement, made to bear
upon the interests of particular persons, with designed spe
ciality. The advocates of general atonement never mean, by
such a phrase, a general actual deliverance of all men from
sin and misery in the event ; they simply mean by the word
"redemption," the ransom price, the atonement that was
offered up for all, that whosoever believeth, might be saved.
The phrase " particular salvation," then, seems to steer clear
of the supposed fallacy.
I. The absolute or perfect certainty of the particular sal
vation of special persons, is not at all inconsistent with the
provisions of a general atonement, intended as the means of
salvation to all.
In the whole of this book it has been " the writer's end,"
to prove the universal extent of the atonement of Christ.
The atonement has been exhibited as capable of utter failure.
It is now intended to show that it shall not utterly fail, but
that it shall infallibly prosper in the actual salvation of special
and particular persons. We will therefore proceed with
calmness and candor, to examine the harmony between the
particular salvation of certain persons, and the unlimited
extent of an atonement for all.

236 ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH.
1. There is the same relation between the atonement and
all, as there is between providence and all. Providence is
the means of supplying all men with physical and moral
furniture, necessary for the ends of their being here. It
furnishes all men with capacities, means, and opportunities,
for action and improvement. All men are sufficiently sup
plied with abilities, means, and opportunities, for advancement
in wealth, learning, liberty, and civilization. This is the
general provision, but the history of six thousand years, tells
us, that the advancement of men has not been as general as
the provision. The designs of the general provision are fully
secured only in special cases, and in all such cases it comes to
pass by " the blessing of God." In the provision there is
nothing to exclude any man from wealth, learning, &c. Nev
ertheless, wealth and learning are only enjoyed in special
instances. Take learning as an example. The provision for
improvement is general and open to all. The sun, and the
moon, and the stars, have always presented the appearances
which they did to Newton and his scholars, yet the cases
are special and few in which men, like them, tabernacle
among the heavens, and take stars and systems for their
books. Newton acted freely in availing himself of the
general provision, and every man who is not a Newton acts
freely in disregarding it. It is assuredly, to the glory of God
to suppose, that He intended to produce a Newton, and that
the endowments of his mind were designed to be conferred on
him. You cannot find an adequate cause, in an intelligent
universe, for such a product, but, " the blessing of God,"
according to his will and purpose. Yet Newton was as free
and laborious as if there were no purpose of the kind.
Why may it not be so with mankind and the provision of
the atonement ? There is no decree to exclude any from the
benefits of the atonement. They who accept the atonement
are conscious that they act freely under the blessing of God,
wliich is only another name for divine influences. The atone
ment is a remedy in moral government, like any other remedy
in providence. Medicinal virtues are given to plants, and
minerals, as a general provision for diseases among men, but
the application of them is special and particular. As to
providence, no one will ai'gue that the provision was made
because particular persons were to be healed. Unfettered
common sense teaches us that particular persons were healed,
because of the special application of the general provision

ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH. 237
to individual persons. After the same manner, the atonement
was not made for all, because God intended to save some ; but
some particular persons are saved because the Holy Spirit
" takes of" the general atonement, and graciously applies it
to particular cases.
2. The same relation exists between atonement and all, as
between the word of God and all. By the word of God, I
mean all that God has revealed to man as a system of motives.
These motives, in all their extent and influence, belong to all
accountable beings. Some have these motives exhibited more
abundantly and more clearly than others. Some, under their
influence, become better fathers or children than others, or
better masters and servants. Wherever these motives are
successful, it is by the blessing of God, and wherever they
fail, it is by the voluntary negligence of man. The provision
of motives is general, but the instances of successful result
are special and particular. The general provision of motives
was not made because these particular instances of success
were to be realized, but these particular instances come to
pass because God specially blessed the general provision. It
were highly incongruous'to argue that the general provisions
of the British constitution were made, only for the particular
instances in which they were observed, but were never in
tended for those who disregarded them.
Again I would ask, Why may it not be thus with the
atonement ? Providence is the medium of furnishing all
accountable beings with abilities and means ; divine revelation
is the medium of influencing all by motives ; and the atone
ment is the medium of saving all by faith. Man is free in
using providence, he is free in yielding to motives, he is free
in pleading the atonement. There is a speciality in the prov
idential furniture, there is a speciafity in the operation of
motives, and there is the same speciality in the application of
the atonement. It is therefore undeniable, that the special
application of the benefits of a universal atonement, is in per
fect agreement with the whole constitution of the moral system
that we occupy ; and that if our creeds clash with this, they
must clash with the universe.
Let us try to illustrate this case of speciality. Suppose we
say, — and " O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak
yet but this once " — suppose we say that, on the foresight of
this world's being peopled by sinful generations, there would
have been no atonement but for God's intention to save. He

238 ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH.
foresaw that after all his provision, men would be so wicked
that they would not accept of this atonement, and that, there
fore, he determined to exercise his influence to secure some,
whom he gave to his Son as persons, in whom the designs of
his death should be infallibly magnified and made honorable.
Jesus Christ knew these, definitely and personally, and had a
direct reference to them in his sufferings and death. If a
special reference to them, in the divine government, does not
involve a denial of a general providence, I cannot see how a
special reference to them, in the death of Christ, can imply a
denial of a general atonement.
Should some objector say — " since it was foreseen that
some would not accept of it, why was an atonement made for
them?" I might say, that the objector cannot claim an
answer. He replies against God. He must suppose another
system of the universe. He might as well ask, why God
took the Israelites out of Egypt, when only two of them
entered Canaan ? — or ask, why God made free and account
able creatures ? Jesus Christ has taught his disciples to say,
" Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight."
Nevertheless, in discussing this subject, we might be within
the bounds of legitimate inquiry, if we were to suppose that
it is impossible, on the present principles of moral govern
ment, to make an atonement for the sins of the elect, without
affecting the sins of the others. On the present principle it
is impossible to administer, even providence itself, for the
benefit of some without affecting others. What would you
think of a medicine that would only cure the predestinated ?
What would you think of a land that would yield a harvest
only to those who were decreed to sow it ? What would you
think of the sun shining only on the good and the elect?
Just such a thing would be an atonement that would only
benefit the select few who had been decreed for it.
But to illustrate this, I will take the favorite notion of a
limited atonement. I will suppose an army of a thousand
soldiers to rebel against their rightful sovereign. And I will
suppose that the king is determined to save five hundred of
them, and that to effect this honorably, the king's son consents
to suffer ignominy and death for the sin of these five hun
dred. Now, I mean, that this cannot be done without affect
ing the other five hundred. An atonement is an equivalent
for a threatened punishment : and the design of an atonement
is, as we have frequently shown, to suspend the execution of

ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH. 239
the penalty, and yet secure the ends of that execution. These
ends could not be secured, in the five hundred to be saved,
without affecting the five hundred left. Let us consider what
are the ends of punishment that are to be secured by an
atonement? They are to show the evil of rebellion, to
express the king's determination to maintain his law, and
to show that even when he pardons, it is on honorable
grounds. The king cannot condemn the rebellion of the five
hundred to be saved, without, by the same measure, condemn
ing the rebellion of the rest. Yea, he intends, even upon this
showing, to express to the rest his determination to maintain
his law.
This favorite comparison would be valid, if the five hun
dred left were in the same state as fallen angels. The atone
ment of Christ even affects devils, so far as to express the
wickedness of their rebellion, the determination of Jehovah
to honor his government, and to show that he will exercise
mercy only on grounds honorable to his law. The devils feel
this — they believe it and tremble. If the five hundred left
are intended to represent the " rest " of mankind, the analogy
fails. Let us suppose that after the king's son died, for the
five hundred to be saved, the government issued a proclama
tion, declaring that the other five hundred perished because
they refused the benefits of the son's death. " Refused the
benefits of his death ? " an astonished empire would exclaim,
" when it is known that he only died for the favored five
hundred ! " " Perished solely for refusing the benefits ? "
might the hardened rebels mutter, " when it was a previous
fixed arrangement, that his death should not be available
for us ? "
This comparison, then, does not give a correct representa
tion of the circumstances of mankind in connexion with the
atonement. ' The relation of the atonement to all mankind, to
the saved and to the lost, I conceive to be somewhat of this
kind. It was foreseen that this world would be inhabited by
a sinful race . of accountable beings. They were to be in a
state of probation. The accepting of the atonement of the
Seed of the woman was to be the test of their probation, as
the tree of knowledge was that of Adam's. They had every
necessary power, and means, and motives, to accept it ; but
they loved darkness rather than fight, and they voluntarily
rejected it. God, therefore, determined by means of his
truth, to influence them graciously to accept it for their sal-

240 ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH.
vation. Nevertheless — " they had power over their own
wills." 1 Cor. vii. 37 — and God had arranged that " he
that taketh warning shall save his own soul."
I am much inclined to think that the exercise of Divine
Influence in applying the benefits of the atonement to some
more than others, is a measure above the atonement, but
exercised through the atonement. Thus the atonement
itself is a measure above moral government, and yet is
exercised through moral government. So miracles are meas
ures above providence, yet exercised through providence. In
like manner divine sovereignty is above the atonement, yet
exercised through it. In such language I only embody, in
other words, the doctrine of Paul concerning the sovereignty
of God. " When it is said that all things are put under
him (Christ) it is manifest that he is excepted who did
put all things under him." In the atonement, God did not
sink his supremacy, or part with his sovereignty. The atone
ment laid him under no obligation, under no constraint, to
exercise his influence. He had a sovereign right, without
the atonement, and with it, to have mercy on whom he will
have mercy ; but he has been pleased to exercise this right
through the atonement. He is supposed actually to exercise
his gracious agency in saving, only after men have exercised
their agency in rejecting his claims, and after they become
liable to what is justly due to them for their sin, and to evils
which they themselves have voluntarily chosen. So that after
all, the rejecters receive nothing but what is just, nothing
but what they choose themselves ; and even in the instances
in which he exercises his agency, it is exercised in arranged
combination with the agency of the believer himself.
Will any say, " Cui bono, such a statement — what do you
gain by it ? " Gain ! I gain every thing ; I gain the account
ableness and blamableness of men for not being saved ; I gain
the unsullied honors of the divine perfections and government
in the condemnation of such perverse rejecters ; I gain the
eternal and imperishable glory of free and sovereign grace,
that condescended to save any of such a race of evil-doers :
I gain every thing that can make theology valuable, and
religion practical.
II. The sacred scriptures give us the most clear, ample,
and cogent evidence, that the designs of the atonement shall
be infallibly secured in instances without number.

its relation to the church. 241
Scriptural testimonies of this class are so abundantly and
so constantly exhibited in Calvinistic Bodies of Theology,
and in other works and treatises bearing on the doctrine of
predestination unto life, and so accessible to the inquirer, that
a formal induction of them here is deemed unnecessary. The
sacred scriptures distinctly assert that the designs of the
atonement shall be infallibly secured — that Christ shall
see of the travail of his soul — that the word of reconciliation
shall not return to him void — that as many as the Father
gave him shall come unto him, and that none shall be able
to pluck them out of his hand. They lift up for us the veil
of futurity, and assure us, that in the last day there shall be,
and will be, many on the right hand of the Judge ; and they
represent heaven as infallibly to be peopled with a multitude
which no man can number, all of whom shall have washed
their robes in the blood of the Lamb. The revelations of
the scriptures consider this as a sure case. Another class of
scriptures designate and mark out the characters in whom all
the purposes of the death of Christ shall be fully accomplished.
They are called his " sheep," his " friends," his " church,"
and, "the people whom the Father gave unto him." The
scriptures do not mark these as the only characters for whom
the Son of God died, but as the only characters in whom the
great designs of his death are fully answered. Another class
of passages represent the production and formation of these
characters as the result of a divine and eternal purpose and
plan. They are called out of the world from amid others,
according to God's purpose and place. Christ gives the honor
of sitting at his right hand in his kingdom, only to those for
whom it has been prepared by the Father. Hence, in the
last day he will say to these very persons, — " Come, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the
world." They are predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ, and chosen in him that they should be holy. The
scriptures hold up the sovereign right of God to produce
such characters, according to such purpose, in all the sun
beams of truth. He has a right to have mercy on whom he
will have mercy. -— Even so, for so it seems good in his sight.
No theological writer has ever, manfully and openly, attack
ed the sovereign right of God to confer any favours on any
sinners he pleases ; that is, no one has fairly attacked the
doctrine of sovereign election. The crusade against this
doctrine has been perfectly Quixotic. Some have mistaken
21

242 its relation to the church.
the proud towers of fate for it. Others have mistaken the
dungeons of reprobation for it. In the mean time the
doctrine itself stands as a fair and glorious temple, whose
foundations are laid deep in the eternal purpose and grace of
God, whose pinnacles sparkle in the light of uncreated glory,
and over whose portals is the inscription of truth, " Him that
comeih I will in no wise cast out."

SECTION II.
The influence of the Atonement on the interests of the Church.
The atonement of the Son of God for sin, is the ground
for calling a church out of the midst of mankind. This is
one reason why Jesus Christ, in his mediatorial character, is
called the " foundation " of the church. The first stones of
the church of God were built on the promise of the " Seed of
the woman," and on this every succeeding stone has been
placed. This is the ground of the general call of the gospel ;
and what a sure foundation it is for a minister to stand upon,
to beseech all men to be reconciled to God! On this the
prophets and apostles, and all wise master-builders" have
placed the living materials of the " church of the Lord."
The ministry of the atonement is the great instrument for
collecting the church. Unto Christ the gathering of the
people is to be. Something else may gather a sect of phi
losophers, or bands of philanthropists ; but it is this alone that
will gather a church. "And I, if I be lifted up, will draw
all (men) to myself." It is emphatically called the word and
ministry of reconciliation. This is the trumpet of jubilee that
announces the acceptable year of the Lord, and calls back to
their home and their inheritance, the captives, and those that
are ready to perish.
This doctrine has always been in the church. When
Adam, and Eve, and Abel, formed the first members of the
church, the doctrine of the atonement was a cardinal article
of its creed. In the church, there never was known a way
of acceptance with God but through an atonement. What
ever the church lost in seasons of afflictions and defeats, it
has never entirely lost the doctrine of the atonement. Its
outlines, from behind the dim transparency of ceremonial
shadows, never entirely faded away from the vision of the
Jewish church; and in the Christian church the ordinance of
the Lord's supper has been a plain and imperishable emblem

ITS RELATION TO THE CHURCH. 243
of the atonement, to show forth the Lord's death till he
come. Though the emblem has been criminally shrouded
from the people in the dark foldings of superstition, or, at
another time, shamefully exhibited to the populace in a man
tle of State trappings — yet the doctrine itself has never
quitted the Christian temple. Ecclesiastical History proves
that in the precise proportion that any church becomes erro
neous on the doctrine of the atonement, that church, whether
in Rome or in England, among Episcopalians or Dissenters,
becomes corrupt. It is also capable of proof, on which no
entrance can be made now, that a church that denies the
atonement of Christ is not a church of his.
The provisions of the atonement have a special reference
to the well-being, the purity, the perpetuity, and the glory of
the church. The general provisions of the atonement give
the Mediator power over all flesh, that, according to this
special reference, he might give eternal life to as many as the
Father hath given him ; and constitute him " Head over all
things," with speciality of application, " to the church."
To the church, all the provisions of the atonement, like all
the arrangements of nature and providence, work together
for good.
All the services of the church have a direct reference to
the atonement. No service in the Christian temple is accept
able to God, but that which is offered through the hands of
the " minister of the sanctuary." The prayers of the church
take Calvary in their way to heaven. In singing with grace
in the heart, the harp must be tuned for the " Song of the
Lamb " at the foot of the cross. It disowns all preaching
but the preaching of the cross. The church is baptized
into the death of Christ as an atonement for sin ; and in the
Lord's supper it sits to the feast of the atonement.
The atpnement will be the theme of the church for ever
and ever. In heaven not a note will be sounded but in har
mony with " the blood that speaketh better things." The
burden of the song will be " unto him that hath loved us,
and washed us from our sins in his own blood." The harp
of Saul of Tarsus will send forth a sound which the harp of"
Gabriel does not reach ; and a throng of ransomed sinners
will for ever swell the strain, "washed us from our sins," and
the sounds of the harpers harping will thrill eternity into
melody and praise.

244 its relation to the

CHAPTER XHI.
the atonement IN its relation to the various
DISPENSATIONS OF REVEALED RELIGION.
SECTION I.
The progressiveness of Divine Dispensations.
It has pleased God that the revelation of his mind concerning
the salvation of sinners should pass through various and pro
gressive degrees, or stages, of advancement, which, in theo
logical nomenclature, are called different dispensations. It is
to such a delivery of revelation in various and successive
parts and parcels, that Paul alludes in the commencement of
his epistle to the Hebrews. " God who in sundry parts, and
in various manners, spake of old to the fathers by the pro
phets, hath now in these last days of the Jewish dispensation
and beginning of the gospel age, spoken to us by his Son,"
Heb. i. 1*
As a gradual progressiveness is visible in the works which
are acknowledged to be of God, such successive dispensations
in divine revelation can be no valid objection either to its
reality, or to its certainty. Even if divine revelation had
been given instantaneously, and not in successive portions
and degrees, it would, nevertheless, have been various and
progressive in its character and influence, according to the
respective capacities, and personal circumstances, of each
individual to whom it was proposed. This would be a dull
world, if every man in it were of the same gradation of in
tellect, and if successive generations derived no information
or improvement from their predecessors. Rational beings,
however large their capacities, can know nothing of God any
farther than God manifests himself; and He manifests him
self in his works and in his word, which are all multiplied
instances and evolutions of his power, wisdom, and goodness.
The full light of an instantaneous revelation would, probably,
be inconsistent with the frame, of the human faculties, and
incompatible with a state of discipline and probation. If
#M'Lean on the Epistle to the Hebrews, works, vol. v. in loc.

dispensations of revealed religion. 245
such a revelation would not overwhelm and oppress the
faculties with the splendor of its blaze, it would probably
render them inactive, so that there would be no more praise-
worthiness in accepting a testimony from God, than there is
in receiving light from the sun. And such a condition of
things could not be a state of probation.
Rational beings are so constituted and so circumstanced,
under the discipline of moral government, as to be capable
of progressively tending and advancing towards moral great
ness and strength of character. The light of prophecy re
veals that the whole mass of human population is capable of
this progression, and that, by the diffusion of religion, liberty,
and the arts, the people of the globe will, as a body, advance
to such moral worth, and manliness of character, as to be
ashamed of oppression and slavery, falsehood and wrong,
envy and war.
As for the church of Christ, the entire testimony of the
scriptures is unequivocal and certain, that it shall thus pro
gressively advance to the full proportions of manly growth
and masculine vigor ; when it shall display and exercise, not
the puny and tender limbs of an infant, but the nerves, and
bones, and muscles, of full grown men ; and when its sanctu
ary shall be, not so much the nursery of babes, as the home
of a gigantic generation. All the various dispensations of
religion, and all the different talents and offices in the church
are only an apparatus of divine government, "for perfecting
the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all
come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ." This progressiveness of
the church does not terminate in the church. It affects other
intelligences in the universe ; for through the church, the
manifold, and the perpetually unfolding, wisdom of God is
made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places,
who desire to look into these things ; and as they look, they
advance in the knowledge of the works and ways of God.
While the progressive dispensations of revelation were
suited to the circumstances of the faculties of man, and in
harmony with other works and ways of God, we must think
that such an arrangement was intended to do honor to the
Person and to the atonement of Jesus Christ. " For this
man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inas-
21*

246 ITS relation to the
much as he who hath builded the house hath more honor
than that house." * SECTION II.
The influence of the Atonement retrospective as well as prospective.
I. The doctrine of the atonement has been prominent and
foremost among the articles of religion under every dispensa
tion. There never has been a dispensation of mercy towards
mankind, since the expulsion from Eden, without a marked
reference to sacrifice and atonement. Though every succeed
ing dispensation has improved on the preceding, yet every
one of them has had the same leading elements and princi
ples. In every dispensation we find a universality of aspect,
a Sabbath of holy retirement, an atonement for wrong, an
imputation of sin and worthiness, the church membership of
children, seals of outward ordinances, liableness to failure, and
frustration only through unbelief. The principle of atone
ment has always been in the foreground of every dispensation,
as might be witnessed in Abel, in Noah, in Abraham, in Job,
in Moses and the prophets. In the Christian dispensation
the atonement is all in all ; and even in the celestial dispensa
tion at the close of probation, the Lamb of atonement will
always be in the midst of the throne.
II. The holy scriptures are the code and the chronicle of
these dispensations. Some, indeed, boldly assert that they
have read the scriptures repeatedly, and have never been able
to find the atonement there. Whatever may have been the
success of these Zoilan inquirers, the apostles, ahd Jesus
* " If we had notice of a certain stranger being about to come into a
countiy, and should observe that a great preparation was made for him,
great things were done, many alterations made in the state of the whole
country, many hands employed, persons of great note engaged in making
the preparation ; and all the affairs and concerns of the country ordered so
as to be subservient to the design of entertaining that person ; it would be
natural for us to think, surely, this is some extraordinary person, and it is
some very great business that he is coming upon. How great a person,
then, must He be, for whose coming the great God of heaven and earth,
and Governor of all tilings, spent foue thousand years in prepariiig the
way ! Soon after the world was created, and from age to age, he has been
doing great things, bringing mighty events to pass, accomplishing wonders
without number, often overturning the world m order to it. He has been
causing every thing in the state of mankind, and all revolutions and changes
in the habitable world, from generation to generation, to be subservient to
this great design. Surely this must be some great and extraordinary Per
son, and a great work, indeed, it must needs be, about which he is
coming." — President Edwards' " History of Redemption," Works, vol. v.
p. 132.

DISPENSATIONS OF REVEALED RELIGION. 247
Christ himself, assert that they found the doctrine of the
atonement in the Old Testament, and that "Jesus Christ died
for our sins, according to the scriptures." As to the New
Testament, the Jews and the Greeks found this doctrine in
the addresses of the apostles, and made it a ground of seri
ous objection against their ministrations. Had the apostles
preached in the style of modern Socinians, and determined to
purge their creeds and discourses of this doctrine, the Greek
would not have been offended, nor would the Jew have
stumbled. The Judaizing teachers had early introduced,
among the Galatians, a doctrine without the Christian atone
ment, but the apostle distinctly and broadly avers, that such"
a doctrine is entirely another gospel, and brands it as
"accursed," though it were delivered by an angel from
heaven. III. The reason why the doctrine of the atonement is
found under every dispensation, is, because the influence of
the atonement reached and affected every dispensation. The
atonement was available in every age of the world. The
scriptures are decided and clear with regard to the retrospec-
tiveness of the death of Christ. He is represented as a Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Peter says, that men
are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, who verily was
fore-ORDAiNED before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times. Paul also says, that there
was a convenant confirmed of God in Christ with Abraham,
four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the law
by Moses ; and that believers, like Abraham, were saved
by that covenant, and not by the Mosaic Institutions. The
atonement of Christ is represented, as buying off the punish
ment, which was due for the sins committed under previous
dispensations, and as vindicating the justice of God in for
giving them. The death of Christ was for the redemption of
the transgressions that were under the first covenant. God
set him forth as a propitiation to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of
God. Rev. iii. 8 ; 1 Peter i. 19, 20 ; Heb. ix. 15 ; Rev. iii. 25.
IV. The arrangenfent that the atonement should have a
retrospective influence, is consistent with the whole of God's
moral government. We find that, unlike physical causes,
moral causes operate long before they come into actual ex
istence themselves. Thus did the deluge affect the interests
of many before it came to pass ; the possession of the land of

248 its relation to the
Canaan operated on the Israelites long before they inherited
it ; the advent of the Messiah had the same retrospective
influence ; and the moral provision of a day of judgment
sends back an influence that reaches to the dawn of time.
Thus may the atonement of Christ, from " the hour " in the
garden, send back a worthiness that was always available for
sinful man. Hence the hundred and forty-four thousand from
among the tribes of Israel, as well as the countless millions
from among all nations and generations of men, are repre
sented as praising the Lamb that died.
V. The retrospectiveness of the atonement supplies us
with a principle, that accounts for many things, otherwise in
explicable, in the progress of the divine dispensations. It
accounts for the extraordinary appearance of Clirist, in the
early ages of the world, as the angel Jehovah. It explains
the names and the titles wliich Christ has assumed as the Head
of all economies, such as First-born, Heir of all things, Alpha
and Omega, &c. It is the only thing that gives a substantial
meaning to the Jewish types and ceremonial institutions. It ac
counts for the subserviency of each and all previous economies,
to the dispensation of the fullness of times. It gives oneness
to the Church through every changing dispensation. It makes
the Old Testament promises valid under the new dispensation,
for if these had not been confirmed and ratified by the death
of Christ, they would not have been yea and amen, either
before or since the advent of Clirist. It is this principle that
gives unity to the song of heaven, for had the saints of the
Old Testament been received to heaven irrespectively of the
atonement of Christ, the elements of their happiness, and the
themes of their song, would have been different from those of
the New Testament saints. So, then, it is " the glory that
excelleth," that throws the refulgence of its light to make any
dispensation truly glorious.
VI. The retrospective influence of the death of Christ
on all former dispensations, furnishes an answer to what has
been often regarded as an mianswerable argument for the
limitation and restriction of the atonement. It has been
vaunted with a high tone of triumph, ttiat it is blasphemous
to say that Christ died for those persons who were in hell
some hundreds of years previous to his death ; and this has
been regarded as an irrefragable proof that Christ did not die
for all.
This argument has force only on the hypothesis that Christ

dispensations of revealed religion. 249
suffered the identical penalty due to sinners. The argument
is, that it would be monstrous for Christ to suffer the punish
ment of persons, who were actually suffering it themselves
at the hour of Christ's crucifixion. If the Arminian s allow
the data of this hypothesis, their theory of a universal atone
ment is at once crushed ; for it is impossible to show how
justice can inflict a punishment on the substitute, while it is
at the same time, and has been for ages, literally being exe
cuted upon the criminals themselves.
This difficulty is obviated by the doctrine that the sufferings
of Christ were substituted, instead of the literal penalty due
to sin, as a ground or reason, for not inflicting on the sinner
the sufferings due to him. It did not necessarily and una
voidably do this, as a quid pro quo, but it was available for
this by being pleaded as such by the sinner for his remission.
As a moral cause the death of Christ had an influence long
hefore it actually took place, just as the promise of payment
realizes an influence long before the payment be actually
made. Take the case of antediluvian sinners for an instance.
Was their salvation ever a possible case? Was it their
own fault that they perished ? Were they in as hopeless
a state as that of the fallen angels ? For what purpose did
the Spirit of God strive with them ? It was, no doubt, for
their salvation. But has God any salvation for any sinner
irrespective of the atonement of Christ? Was their salvation
possible if the atonement, in promise, did not reach their
case ? These very men were called to believe promises,
which were to be established by the influence of a future
atonement . If these promises were not established as true
and sure, in their offers, by the atonement, the event proved
that it was no crime to doubt and neglect them. God, there
fore, had a public atonement to vindicate the measures of his
government towards these lost sinners, on the same principle
that he will have a public day of judgment to vindicate his
administrations towards all others who have perished. If we
plead that an atonement can be of no use for them that
perish, we might as well argue that a day of judgment can be
of no use for those who are already in punishment ; for in
both cases we forget the character of the divine government.
Under every dispensation, the atonement was a sweet savor
unto God, both in them that are saved, and in them that
perish ; to the one a savor of life unto life, to the other the

250 ITS relation to the
savor of death unto death. Every unprejudiced mind will
see that it was as necessary for Christ to die, in order to
justify the condemnation of sinners, as it was to justify the
admission of saints to heaven under every dispensation.
SECTION III.
The universal extent of the Atonement not inconsistent with the
limited promulgation of the Gospel.
The advocates of a limited atonement have argued, that if
God had given his Son an atonement for all, he would have
given and sent a revelation of that fact universally to all.
This objection is founded on wrong principles. It supposes
that God cannot justly perform any one good, unless he also
do every other conceivable good in connexion with it. It
supposes that the atonement cannot be of any benefit to any
persons unless they are informed of it; whereas we know that
thousands are benefited by providence, who did not know that
it is the providence of God ; and we have seen, in the pro
gress of this inquiry, that mankind owe even their existence
to the mediation of Christ, though they do not know it It
supposes that the atonement was offered on the principle of
commercial justice, so that God is bound in equity to dispense
all the good, for which he had value received in the death of
his Son. It supposes that all the good which the atonement
was capable of securing, shall be infallibly attained, though it
is a contemplated fact that very many will neglect this
salvation, receive its grace in vain, and come short of the
heavenly rest. It supposes that, notwithstanding man's abuse
and neglect, and loss of moral means, God is bound to con
tinue to him these means ; whereas it is an inseparable char
acteristic of moral government, that the use of means is left
to the free choice of accountable beings. It supposes, also,
that God must inform every individual of all the good that
he is doing in the universe.
The question has been frequently asked, " Did Christ die
for those who have never heard of his atonement ? " For a
solution, I would suggest the following hints :
1. We have already seen that God may and can do good,
e. g. in providence, to a creature, without letting that creature
know the medium of doing it.
2. God has provided ample means to make the provision
of this medium known to all who are concerned.

dispensations of revealed religion. 251
3. As it is the duty of every nation to come out of its bar
barism, ignorance, and political bondage, so are all the nations
of the earth under obligations to come forth, from the moral
darkness in which they have involved themselves.
4. All people, who possess the knowledge of the death of
Christ, are under the most awful responsibility to communi
cate it to those who need it.
5. The revelation which God has given of his salvation is
unrestricted, and of a universal aspect ; and the limited pro
mulgation of the gospel is not owing to the scantiness of the
provision, but to the negligence of the people who possess it,
and hold it back in unrighteousness.
6. All will be dealt with according to the light that they
have. And wherever there is a heathen Cornelius, he will
be accepted before God for the sake of a Saviour of whom he
has not heard.
7. Faith is necessary to salvation only to those who have
the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing —* and hearing can only
be where the gospel is. Infants are saved for Christ's sake,
though they do not know the medium of their salvation ; and
so might a virtuous heathen, wherever such can be found.
8. Missionary institutions take for granted that Clirist has
died for heathens who have never heard of his death. If
Christ has not died for them, what message can these institu
tions send to them ? When a missionary arrives among a
heathen nation, he tells them, " Jesus Christ died for you."
Suppose he go to China, instead of to India, would that cir
cumstance imply that Christ had died for the Chinese, but not
for the people of India ? Does the fact that he delivers the
message to the heathen of the nineteenth century imply that
Christ had not died for the heathen of the eighteenth, or the
fifteenth, &c. ? Christ has died for them, whether he goes
there or not — for a fact in the nineteenth century cannot
alter what transpired in the first.
There is one topic more to wliich I would advert. It is
that the extent of the atonement is not to be measured by the
actual success of any dispensation, but by the design and
aspect of all dispensations. Each and all of these dispensa
tions had a universal aspect of good-will towards the interests
of all mankind. Their limitation was not owing to any sove
reign restriction from God. But, say the objectors, if Christ
was intended for the salvation of all men, how comes it to pass
that so few are saved ?

252 its relation to the
1. This implies that God must save all whom he can save.
But power is not the rule of his administration. He can
create more worlds — for no one would say that He has cre
ated all the worlds that he could. And it would be the high
est blasphemy to think that no more good is done in the uni
verse, because God can do no more. If power were his rule,
his government would not be moral.
2. The salvation of sinners is not the last end of the atone
ment, but the glory of god. His last end in endowing
minerals and vegetables with healing virtues, is not the cure
of disorders, but his own glory. And in a free and moral
government the provisions redound to his glory, whether men
use them or reject them.
3. All that is in the gospel is adapted, designed, and in
tended to be the means of saving all men, and all men are
invited and pressed sincerely to use them.
4. The gospel system invariably ascribes its inefficacy to
save all men to their own unbelief, and their voluntary rejec
tion of its provisions.
5. Nevertheless, through the exercise of sovereign grace,
the number of the saved will not be few, but will far exceed
the number of the lost.
6. To limit the efficacy of the atonement to save, to the
actual instances of its success, is incongruous. You do not
measure the power to create by the actual number of worlds
created. You do not measure the virtue of a medicine by the
number of persons which it cures. You do not limit the
power of Christ to work miracles to the mere number actually
wrought. You know *hat he was prevented from working
some miracles by the unbelief of the people. By parity of
reasoning, the efficacy of the atonement is not to be measured
by the number of the saved.

ETERNAL STATE OF THE UNIVERSE. 253

CHAPTER XIV.
THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE ETERNAL STATE
OF THE UNIVERSE.
The entire universe of God is under the government of
Jesus Christ. In the present administration of it, there is a
mixture of good and evil, but he intends to remove out of his
moral government every offence and " every thing that de-
fileth." This administration of it is to come to a close : and
then the state of probation will end, accountable beings will
be reckoned with, sentence will be passed on each class of
agents, and their respective states will be fixed. By these
measures, a separation will be made between the good and
the wicked. Rewards and punishments will be awarded to
each respectively. Both will be awarded for eternity, and
both will be awarded by a mediatorial authority founded on
the atonement. The glorification of the saints, the rewarding
of angels, the condemnation of the wicked, and the eternal
condition of all beings, are connected with the mediation and
the atonement of Christ

SECTION I.
The influence of the Atonement on the Happiness of Heaven.
All the blessedness, and all the glory, of all heavenly
beings are connected with the atonement of Jesus Christ.
The spirits of just men made perfect owe every thing to it.
The whole of their happiness is represented as consisting —
in being with Christ where he is — in having a clear and full
sight of all his glory — in being as to their souls and bodies
perfectly like him — in having without interruption the most
intimate intercourse with him, — and in having an ample and
an eternal share in his glory, dominion, and blessedness, being
glorified together as joint heirs.
The happiness of angels will take a character, or a modi
fication, from their long inquiries and services in connexion
with the great atonement of their Lord. Their interests
were embraced in the mediatorial system, by which measure
their present happiness was increased, and their eternal hap-
22

254 ITS RELATION TO THE
piness secured. Their eternal adorations are connected with
the atonement. In heaven they will be always praising him,
singing, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." They
cheerfully join the ransomed of the Lord in celebrating his
praises ; and though one of the sweetest lines of our song is
not in theirs, yet they will always desire to look into these
glorious themes, and never will they forget the scenes of the
manger and the cross.
The scriptures teach us to regard the eternal glory and
blessedness of God as connected with the mediatorial atone
ment The Father will rejoice in. the redounding of all
things to the praise of the glory of his grace, according to
the eternal purpose which he had purposed in Christ Jesus.
The Son will be pleased and satisfied in seeing of the
travail of his soul. The joy of the Holy Spirit will be
connected with glorifying Christ, by introducing to heaven
millions of souls, sanctified, and formed after his likeness.
For this, all the works of God were made, and all the word
of God spoken. Through this all the divine perfections were
displayed and honored, and all the divine purposes accom
plished and glorified. The mediatorial administration of the
divine government shall come to a close, but the influence of
the atonement on the interests of the divine empire shall
never end.
There are two elements in the state of the blessed that are
inconsistent with a restricted atonement on the principles of
commercial redemption, viz. its freeness, and its gradations.
Commercial redemption supposes that Christ suffered so
much punishment for so many sins of the elect, and conse
quently by so much suffering, purchased so much blessedness
for them, and for them only. The blessedness of heaven is,
first, free, — all of pure, unmerited, and unpurchased grace.
It was not due to the elect ; nor did the atonement constrain
the Father to confer it from justice to Christ. It is meant
that public justice was honored in awarding blessedness to
the saints for the sake of Christ — but justice was not the
ground and cause of the award — it was sovereign, free grace
exercised through the medium of the atonement. If, how
ever, Christ paid so much suffering for so much blessedness,
that blessedness is due in justice, either to Christ, or, ac
cording to his will, to the persons for whom he paid the
amount, whose song ought to be to the praise of the glory of
his justice, and not of his grace.

ETERNAL STATE OF THE UNIVERSE. 255
The blessedness of heaven, secondly, has gradations, as
one star differeth from another star in glory. Now on the
principles of commercial redemption, how will you account for
the gradations of saiuts in glory? This commercial hypoth
esis supposes that Christ sustained, or paid, greater sufferings
for a great- sinner, and less for a sinner of a lower grade.
Here, then, we have two difficulties : — First, the more Christ
suffered for any one, the more he deserved for him, and
consequently that sinner must have a greater share in the
blessedness. Secondly, The reason why any one may be
least in the kingdom of God is, that Christ suffered least for
him ; and Christ suffered least for him, because he had the
least sins to suffer for ! How mercenary, pitiful, and absurd !
On the contrary, the scriptures represent the atonement as
the medium, and not as the measure of the rewards. Though
the reward is not for our works, it is according to them. As
the atonement contemplates God as a free agent, so it con
templates man as a free agent. Consequently, though all
rewards come from free grace through the atonement, yet the
measurement is, " he that soweth sparingly shall reap spar
ingly, and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bounti
fully." Such an arrangement accounts for the gradations in
glory, on principles honorable to the government, for it sup
poses every saint perfectly and fully happy in his gradation
according to his several ability. Glorified saints will never
have the apprehension that their glory is of such a grade, and
of no other, simply because Christ has deserved and purchased
no more for them.
The eternity of a happy universe will be perpetually and
progressively unfolding the glories of the great atonement,
for amid all the splendor, blessedness, and joy, of the heavenly
worlds, " the lamb will be the light thereof."
SECTION II.
The aspect of the Atonement on the Perdition of the Lost.
On the day that shall terminate the probation of all ac
countable beings, they will all be judged by the Mediator, and
the eternal separation between the good and the bad shall be
effected by mediatorial authority. It is not in his authority
as God, the Maker of all things, that Christ will judge, but
in his authority as Mediator ; and he has no authority as
Mediator, but what is founded on his atonement.

256 ITS RELATION TU I-ttU
I. The eternal condemnation of fallen angels will be
connected with this mediatorial authority founded on the
atonement. The scriptures clearly assert, and constantly suppose, that
a race of fallen spirits and wicked intelligences do exist, that
they exert an agency and influence in this world, and that
their agency is exerted entirely for evil. These fallen and
wicked spirits have attempted to ruin the whole human race.
They have tried to convert this world into a theatre of the
most malignant evils. When the Son of God came as a
second Adam to oppose the progress of evil, they grievously
afflicted him, and made every effort to conquer him. They
have been, since, employing all their agents and instruments
for crushing and destroying the church of Christ. With in
veterate and undiminished malignity, they have constantly
aimed at clouding the honors of the divine perfections, and at
frustrating all the divine purposes, and especially, purposes
of mercy and favor.
As the eternal happiness of angels will take a character
and modification from their services in the cause of the
atonement, so will the eternal punishment of fallen spirits
take a character from their machinations and opposition
against the atonement. Though they have not rejected the
atonement, they have opposed it from enmity against the re
deeming measures of the Seed of the woman ; and the bruis
ing, and crushing, of their agency and influence, will be by
mediatorial power and authority.
U. The condemnation of the heathen, who have perished
without hearing of the atonement, will be an act of Christ as
the Mediator.
It is through the provisions of the atonement that the
heathen have had their being. Had it not been for the prompt
interposition of Christ in Eden as Mediator to " save the
world," neither the heathen, nor any other nations, would
ever have come to existence. They have, therefore, become
members of moral government, and mental endowments and
means of accountableness have been conferred upon them,
on account of the introduction of a compensative dispensa
tion. Consequently, all the favors of providence, and fruitful
seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness, come to
them, though they do not know it, through the mediation of
Christ. They will, therefore, be dealt with according to what
they have through the atonement, and not according to what

ETERNAL STATE OF THE UNIVERSE. 257
they have not. As they have not received the ministry of
the atonement, they will not be condemned for rejecting that,
but for abusing or neglecting what they had actually received.
It is sometimes objected that it were unreasonable to judge
the heathen on the principles of the mediation of Christ,
since these principles were never known to them. This ob
jection would suppose it unreasonable to judge them on any
other principles. On what principles can they be judged ?
If they be judged on the principles of God's providential gov
ernment over them, it will be objected that they never knew
that the government, under which they were, was the provi
dence of God. If they be judged on the principles of God's
right to them as their Maker and Owner, it will be objected
that they did not know that God was their Maker. " He
will judge them," say some, " as the God of nature ; " but
they do not know that he is the God of nature. The objec
tion then, must suppose that they are excusable, that they
will not be judged, and that they are not accountable to God.
Against all this, examine the word of God. There you will
find that the heathen are already condemned, upon princi
ples which are not known to them. The word of God now
condemns their manners and actions, and we cannot doubt
that this "judgment is according to the truth " of the case.
Though the word of God judges them on these principles, it
judges them according to what they have, and not according
to what they have not. What the word of God condemns
now, it will condemn in the day of judgment, and its con
demnation will be pronounced by the Mediator. The judge
of the whole earth will do right, and to him they stand or
fall. m. There cannot be a doubt that the condemnation of
the rejecters of the gospel will be connected with the atone
ment. That sinners will perish notwithstanding an atonement for
them, is one of the most flagitious and tremendous facts in the
history of evil. This fact is so awfully melancholy, and, on
some theological principles, so unaccountable, that many have
disputed the reality of it, and have indeed denied that, those
who perish had any relation to the atonement, as their perdi
tion would be a great dishonor to it. This strange and
awful fact, then, deserves an examination.
1. It is an indisputable fact that sinners perish notwith
standing an atonement made for their sin.
22*

258 ITS RELATION TO THE
a. The scriptures declare plainly that Christ died for all,
and yet they announce as plainly that all will not be saved.
No one will dispute the melancholy fact that all will not be
saved, but they dispute whether Christ has died for all. Paul,
in 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, assumes the death of Christ for all as a
conceded, or, indeed, as an undisputed point. It is therefore
beyond a doubt, that though Christ died for all, yet all will
not be saved.
b. It was foreseen and contemplated that the atonement of
Christ would not have the same effects on all. It was known
that Christ should be for the rising and falling of many in
Israel, that he should be a stone of stumblinri and a rock of
offence to the world ; but to the saved, the power and wisdom
of God ; and that the atonement would be ,/, ?ome the savor
of life unto life, and to others the savor of «.u,-;th unto death.
By saying that such effects were foreseen ftn(t contemplated,
it is not meant that such consequences wer.-. intended and
contrived, but that they were known and rec&uaized as possi
ble and probable. We do wrong when we Opiiy such conse
quences, merely because they run athwart our theological
views. These results did not thwart the theology of the in
spired writers, and they ought not to thwart ours.
c. The holy scriptures avowedly suppose that there are
some cases in which the death of Christ will be of no effect.
In Gal. v. 2, 3, 4, Paul distinctly mentions two cases which
would make the atonement of Christ unavailable and unprof
itable. To any man who trusted for salvation either in out
ward ceremonies, or in works of law, the atonement of Christ
would be of no effect ; it would be to him as if Christ had
never died. Here is no intimation that Christ had not died
for such a man, but a distinct avowal that Christ had died for
him in vain. Final impenitence is another case, which the
atonement of Clirist does not reach, and, speaking with rever
ence, could not reach. No purposes of moral government
could be secured by an atonement for final impenitence, and
such an atonement would be as Unreasonable and unjust as
an act of pardon to persevering and persisting rebels.
d. The death of Clirist for souls that perish is used as an
argument against our being the occasions of their perdition.
"Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died."
" And through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish, for
whom Christ died? " Rom. xiv. 15. 1 Cor. viii. 11, 12. If
there be meaning in " words which the Holy Ghost teacheth,"

ETERNAL STATE OF THE UNIVERSE. 259
these passages teach us that souls for whom Christ died might,
by our wrong conduct, be destroyed and perish, and that their
perdition by such means, is a grievous wrong, and a public
injury against Christ. If it was ever the doctrine of Paul
that souls for whom Christ died could never perish, these
very solemn warnings and injunctions are worse than serious
trifling. He speaks of "destruction," and "perishing," as
results that would take place, in given cases, notwithstanding
the death of Christ, and as consequences which the atone
ment did not, and would not prevent.
e. It is solemnly announced that all the rejecters of the
atonement shall perish, notwithstanding its worth and suf
ficiency, Heb. ii. 2. " How shall we escape (neglecting
or) if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. x. 26, 27.
" If we sin willfully after that we receive the knowledge of
the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin," or the
sacrifice for sin is no more available for us. Fallen angels
cannot be charged with neglecting a salvation, that was never
intended for them. This great salvation, then, has some
relation towards the men who perish, which it never had
towards fallen angels. Men perish, not by being left without
a salvation, but by neglecting the salvation provided for them
in the atonement. The apostle supposes that these persons,
for whom an atonement was made, may reach a case in
which this atonement will be no longer available to them, —
they are gone beyond its reach. But were they ever within
its reach ? Did the atonement continue for any time availa
ble for those who have ere now perished? The apostle
takes this as a granted truth, and founds upon it, as on a
sure foundation, a powerful and awful argument for cultivat
ing a state of mind corresponding with the designs of the
death of Christ. It is here clearly assumed that there is
nothing in the provision of the great atonement to prevent
the perdition of those who neglect it.
f. The fact that an atonement has been made for those
who perish, is employed as an argument for the infliction of
sorer punishment upon those who reject it, than upon those
who have not lived under its ministry, Heb. x. 29. The
blood wherewith these sinners have been sanctified, that is,
atoned or expiated, is the blood of Christ. Yet, notwith
standing this expiation, they receive a sorer punishment for
despising and rejecting it. If this blood never had expiated
such sinners, to them it was an unexpiating and an unappro-

260 MORAL GRANDEUR OF THE
priated blood. If they were not atoned for by it, it is impos
sible to say how they can justly deserve a sorer punishment,
for regarding it as a blood which had done nothing for them.
On these scriptural premises it is impossible to doubt that
many whom the Lord has bought wrill reject his redemption,
and bring swift destruction upon themselves.
2. Though the perdition of the rejecters of the gospel be a
grievous and a distressing fact, it reflects no dishonor on the
atonement itself.
a. Such results are constantly taking place in all the other
provisions of God's moral government, without any dishonor
on his arrangement. In providence, there are many things
which appear to be " in vain " and " of none effect," as to a
great number of mankind ; — yet such failures are never
regarded as a dishonor to providence. LI. g. providence
designs health, liberty, knowledge, to all mankind, yet they
are " of none effect " to many. After all, the diseases, the
ignorance, and the barbarousness of nations, which exist, are
not to be laid to the blame and dishonor of providence, for
providence has made every moral arrangement to prevent
them. We have already seen, in some of the previous pages,
that in various constitutions and dispensations of God, there
have been similar failures, as in those of Eden and Sinai.
Even the economy of heaven itself failed as to some of the
angels, who failed to keep their first estate. It is not, there
fore, unexampled or unaccountable, that the dispensation of
the gospel should be liable to failure ; and in such failure
there is no dishonor, which would not, in that case, belong to
the whole of the divine government.
b. The word of God never ascribes the perdition of sinners
to any deficiency in the provisions of the atonement. None
of the hearers of the gospel perish because the atonement
was not sufficient for them, — or not intended for them.
Freely, and sincerely, and pressingly, they have been be
sought to " receive the atonement." The grand provisions of
the atonement have been clearly and distinctly exhibited to
them as " the things which belonged to their peace," —
but they would not receive them.
c. The perdition of those who reject the atonement is their
own personal, voluntary, and chosen act. They sin "willfully."
They voluntarily and perseveringly " reject the counsel of
God against themselves." They are not influenced, con
strained, or tempted, by any divine attribute, by any secret

doctrine of the atonement. 261
decree, or by any doubtful and uncertain gospel. It is no
disgrace to a Remedy that it does not cure those who persist
in rejecting it. It is no dishonor to a Refuge that it does not
defend those who refuse to enter it. And it is no dishonor to
the atonement to be " of none effect," to those who reject its
pardon, and seek to be justified by the works of the law.
d. The atonement will appear honorable and glorious, even
in the destruction of those who reject it. The apostles' min
istry was to God a sweet savor of Christ, even in them that
perish ; and so is the atonement itself. Its great and distin
guished ends will have been answered, in the glory and the
harmony of the divine perfections, in the eternal condemna
tion of sin, in the honor and safety of the divine government,
in the " many crowns " of the Mediator, and in the salvation
of countless millions of the human race. All holy and blessed
intelligences will own, and approve, the jVistice of the condem
nation of all the despisers of the way of salvation ; and their
punishment will be for ever, to the universe, an awful monu
ment, and example, of the evil of sinning against God. In
the fixing of the eternal state of the universe, all holy intelli
gences are represented as singing "Amen, alleluia, wor
thy is the Lamb."

CHAPTER XV.
ON THE MORAL GRANDEUR OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE
ATONEMENT.
No one can rise from reading the New Testament without
the conviction that the death of Jesus of Nazareth is the most
prominent subject of it. The language, of one of the apos
tles, expresses the sentiments of all of them, " God forbid
that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ." In the New Testament the ministry of the apostles
is designated with marked emphasis, and bold peculiarity,
" the preaching of the cross," that is, the report and promul
gation of the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion. They
openly published the crucifixion of Christ as the most remark
able fact in the history of God's government.
The crucifixion of Christ was of such offensive peculi
arity, that the enemies of the gospel had singled it out, as

262 MORAL GRANDEUR OF THE
being most notoriously prominent in infamy. It was the death
of a criminal, of an odious traitor, or a detestable impostor.
It was the death of a slave. It was the death, of all others,
held by the Jews as alone cursed — cursed by the execrations
of a contemptuous rabble, and cursed by the frowns and mal
edictions of heaven. The Jew and the Gentile, alike, viewed
such a death with ineffable scorn, and with a contempt that
thrilled the whole frame into rage. Nevertheless, the apos
tles themselves placed this most offensive subject first and
foremost in the topics of their ministry. They unflinchingly
and calmly preached "Christ and Him crucified;" not Christ
and Him glorified, but Christ and Him crucified. They did
not take their standing on sunny spots in the history of their
master, but they planted their banner in "the reproach of
Christ," and invited to it the gaze and the scrutiny of the
world. The accents of derision and taunt, which jarred
against their high and noble cause, were echoed back upon
the world, in tones of increased volume and power, till the
ends of the earth caught the joyful sound.
Let us accompany the apostle Paul, when about to soar
into the bright effulgence of this glorious subject, and when
about to train the vision of the young offspring of his ministry
to sustain the splendors of the " marvellous light." What an
array of means he presents to them, as necessary to the pro
cess of training them, for this high contemplation ! He first
bows his knees unto the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that
he would grant them, according to the riches of his glory,
to be strengthened with might, by his Spirit, in the inner
man, that Christ might dwell in them by faith, that they
might be rooted and grounded in love. And what is all this
preparatory training and mustering of energies for ? — " That
they might be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the
breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the
love of Christ wliich passeth knowledge." Oh ! for an angel's
wing and an angel's vision, to survey this vast and stupendous
theme, whose breadth takes in every intelligence and every
interest : whose length reaches from everlasting to everlast
ing ; whose depth fathoms the lowest state of depravity and
misery ; and whose height throws floods of glory on the throne
and the crown of Jehovah !
Then, there must be something of infinite worth, dignity,
and grandeur, in the love and the death of Jesus Christ above

doctrine of the atonement. 263
that of all others. If the Lord Jesus were only a saint, a
divine messenger, or a holy martyr, what is there in his love
or his death above any other ? Imagine, for a moment, all
this apparatus of means and training instituted to contemplate
the death of Moses or Isaiah, or John the Baptist, and into
what sesquipedalia verba will these elevated words of truth
and soberness dwindle ! Why should it be a stumbling block
to the Jews, or an offence to the Greeks, that Christ died, any
more than the fact that John the Baptist died, or that Socrates
died ? Did the apostles preach that Christ died a martyr to
his message ? And did not John the Baptist and Socrates die
so ? The entire structure of the New Testament is founded
on the fact, that the apostles solemnly announced the death of
Christ to be, a stupendous expedient of infinite wisdom for
saving smners, with honor to the divine government: they
proclaimed the crucifixion of Christ to be a lustration, a pro
pitiation, for the sins of the world. They went forth, " deter
mining to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him
crucified." Hear their frank and manly confession : — " The
Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom ; but
we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling
block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God,
and Christ the wisdom of God." 1 Cor. i. 22 — 24.
A ministry that rejected the atonement would never have
used the language of the apostles. Never were a band of
men so enraptured with their subject, as these preachers of
the cross were : and never was there a subject so calculated
to enchant the mind, or ravish the affections of the heart, as
the Death of Christ.
1. The atonement gives us the most enlarged views of the
person of the Son of God. The scriptures avow that " great
is the mystery of Godliness, God manifest in the flesh." The
person of Jesus Christ is unique in the universe — unparal
leled in all the forms and tribes of being. All forms and
grades of existence meet in Him. In him the Godhead lives
in union with rational life. His character is not that of his
nature. His character is moral and official ; yet his nature
as God, and as man, is pure, unmixed, and individual. His
character and person once passed through a process of ac
countableness, trial, and discipline, and now sustain the official
employments of Mediator, Intercessor, and Saviour. Yet he
is God over all, blessed for ever. He well deserves the name

264 MORAL GRANDEUR of the
" Wonderful." His person was constituted for his work and
office ; and, but for the atonement, such a personage would
not have been presented to the notice, the admiration, and
homage, of the universe. Divest this personage of his atoning
office, and he is " wonderful " no longer.
2. The atonement has fixed an eternal stigma on sin. The
destruction of fallen angels, the expulsion of our first parents
from Eden, the devastations of the flood, &c, were but hints
of God's aversion to sin. The notice wliich God took of sin,
in the death of his Son, is the most marked and the most
signal. For the offended to call in the mediation of a third
party — that third party to be a person of high worth and
dignity — and that exalted person to transact the affair of
the reconciliation publicly before a whole community — is a
demonstration that the offence is regarded as of high crimi
nality and demerit. This is, indeed, the secret of men's
opposition to the atonement — it makes too much of what
they call human frailties and foibles, but what God calls crime
and treason. Every thing in the atonement is against sin; —
there is nothing in it to extenuate sin. They who see most
evil in sin, see most worth and grandeur in the atonement :
and they who most love and admire the atonement, most hate
and abhor sin.
3. The atonement is the most splendid and magnificent
vindication of the honor of divine government. All the
judgments with which God has visited this world are vindi
cations of his government ; they have shown on what side
God is ; they have proved that sin cannot be traced to him;
they have signified that God will at all hazards defend his
law ; but the atonement of his Son is the most amazing of all
his measures. The annals of his empire present nothing like
it. It is so magnificent that angels look to it with admiration.
When the Mediator finished this vindication, the physical
universe did it homage : it mantled itself in sackcloth, and
bowed, amid signs and wonders, to the greater miracle of
moral government, an atonement for sin.
4. The atonement brings a greater revenue of glory to God
than any other measure. This dispensation eclipses the
renown of all the others. In other measures we see but por
tions of the ways of God. Here we behold all the perfections
of God, in transcendent lustre, and beautiful hai'mony. There
is a greater display of public justice in the death of the cross,
than in all judicial inflictions. There is more goodness in the

doctrine of the atonement. 265
salvation of one fallen sinner, than in the confirmation of
thousands of holy angels. " The equity of the divine govern
ment shines with brighter honors in the scheme of sovereign
grace than in the dispensation of Paradise. Besides, here,
and here alone, is a standing for mercy ; here alone she
unfurls her ensigns of peace, and sways her sceptre, at once
to vindicate the throne, and save the sinner. The attributes,
whose honor seemed to require the destruction of sinners, are
glorified in his salvation ; yea, more glorified in his salvation,
than they would have been in his perdition.
5. The atonement brings an immense accession of good to
the universe. What a universe of death would this have
been, if all the evils due to sinners actually took place ! But
God has thoughts of peace, and not of evil towards us. For
" if God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things." He gave his Son as the magazine and repository of
all fullness of blessings. Here are all kinds of good that man
is capable of, or can possibly need, — good to the highest
degree, — "far above all that we are able to ask or think," —
good distributed with the freest bounty and copiousness for
wants in all conditions — good for eternity for an immortal
spirit. All this good comes through the atonement of Jesus
Christ. The cross received the thunder from the threatening
cloud, and gave sunshine to the universe.
6. The atonement excites interest in the remotest parts of
the universe. Angels desire to look into it. Philosophers
have studied and admired gravitation, and have almost adored
the principle, that keeps in harmony innumerable myriads of
worlds, in the remotest regions of space to which imagination
can pu3h. But what is this, compared with the principle and
arrangement, that makes known unto principalities and pow
ers in heavenly places the manifold wisdom of God, and
preserves the order and happiness of countless intelligences ?
This as infinitely transcends the other, as influence over mind
surpasses, in dignity and grandeur, influence over matter.
7. The atonement takes for the accomplishment of its
designs a vast circuit of dispensations. Its goings-forth have
been from eternity. The world was created a theatre for its
scenes. The machinery of Providence was constructed to
introduce its operations. The Mosaic law was the school
master of its first principles, and the Jewish temple, with all
its furniture, was but a scaffold for its building of mercy.
23

266 moral grandeur, &c.
Four thousand years were employed to summon attention to
its designs. After time has perished, the results of the atone
ment, like the circles produced in a peaceful lake, will be
widening, and perpetually widening, through the length and
breadth of a shoreless eternity.
8. The atonement supplies a stupendous system of motives
to bear on the interests of the universe. The epistles of the
New Testament bring these motives to bear upon our duties
towards God, towards Christ, towards the world, and towards
each other in our relative capacities. There are no motives
like these to tell on the heart, and to produce repentance
towards God. The atonement " speaks better things " than
any other measure for the interests of holiness and truth. A
ministry, without the motives of the atonement, is a ministry
in which the " blood of sprinkling " is hushed and mute. A
world in which were hushed, the music of the groves, the
cadences of murmuring streams, and the dulcet sounds of
love and friendship, were but a faint emblem of the sepul
chral dullness of such a ministry. It is when the atonement
" speaketh better things " that the gospel is the power of God
unto salvation.
9. The atonement is the medium of the most glorious
change in the character and the prospects of sinners. " Be
hold what manner of love is this that we should be called the
sons of God." In this medium the sinner can meet " the
consuming fire " without being destroyed. It is a refuge
accessible, designed, and sufficient, for every sinner. To
what honor will God exalt believers, when even this glorious
Mediator will come to be glorified in his saints ! Think
what they were when he came to seek and to find them —
and think what he has made of them by his blood and Spirit
— and you will approve of their having no song in heaven
but " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us."

4,. THE END.

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second edition.
Apostolical and Primitive Church;
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From the Professors in Auburn Theol. Seminary.
The work of the Rev. Lyman Coleman, on ' The Apostolical and
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on the progress of subsequent changes ; and although in our inferences
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the training of theological students, of ministers, and of people in the
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Prof. Biblical Criticism.
Baxter Dickinson,
Prof. Sacred Rhetoric and Pastoral Theology.
From the Professors in Yale College.
The undersigned consider the Rev. L. Coleman's work on the Apos
tolical and Primitive Church, as being, in general, correct in sentiment,
judicious in the exposition of the Scriptures, and both copious and fair
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it possesses great value ; and. we think, it might be used advantageously
as a text-book in lectures to theological students.
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Leonard Bacon.
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Yours, respectfully, John Harris.
3

Second Tltousand.
MY PROGRESS IN ERROR,
AND RECOVERY TO TRUTH.
Or, a Tour through Universalism, TJnitarianism, and Skepticism.
Extract of a Letter from Professor Stuart, Andover.
Gentlemen : — I have received a copy of ' My Progress in Error,'
and read it with attention and much interest. I take the liberty to say,
that, in my judgment, the author of that book has written a plain and
unvarnished account of the operations not only of his own mind, but of
many others. The author has gone through the whole, without personal
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he has been compelled to say by a regard to truth. In fact, I regard the
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with, and violently attacked. But, in my humble opinion, the reason of
this will be, that the author has drawn a true likeness of so many ; and
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Who likes to be seen in a forbidding picture ? The book will be read,
notwithstanding newspaper criticism j and,ifIdo not miscalculate great
ly, it will aid much in opening the eyes of the public, as to the workings
and evasions of a skeptical spirit. Bid the author of it God speed.
Your friend and servant, M. Stuart.

CHURCH DISCIPLINE;
The Scripture Doctrine of Church Order and Government.
By Rev. Warham Walker, Homer, N. Y.
One volume. 18mo. Cloth.
\Cr* A timely and very useful work.
From the Professors in Hamilton Literary and Theol. Institution.
We have carefully perused the most important parts of the manuscript,
and the result has been highly gratifying. The work is characterized
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general spirit of the teachings of Christ and his apostles. Such a work
as this, we think, is greatly needed ; it is well adapted to promote correct
views and uniformity of practice in relation to the subject of which it
treats. We cordially recommend it to the careful perusal of the mem
bers of our churches. J. S. Maginnis,
T. J. CONANT,
Hamilton, Nov. 6, 1843. A. C. Kendrick.

ANTIOCH;
Or, Increase of Moral Power in the Church of Christ.
By Rev. P. Church. With an Introductory
Essay, by Rev. Baron Stow.
Here is a volume which will make a greater stir than any didactic
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consecutive thought, and treats of subjects which are of the deepest
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Mr. Stow, adds much to the value and attractions of the volume. — Chr.
Reflector. 4

LIFE OF
GODFREY WILLIAM VON LIEBNITZ.
ON THE BASIS OF THE GERMAN WORK OF DR. (*. Jt. GUHRATTER.
BY JOHN M. MACKIE.
This work will be sought for and eagerly read by the scientific and
curious. — N. IT. Observer.
Exceedingly interesting and instructive. — Prov. Transcript.
The peculiar relation which Liebnitz sustained during his life to Locke
and Newton, may partly account for the fact that a biography of this great
man has been so long wanting in the English language. . . . We
commend this bpok, not only to scholars and men of science, but to all
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food man. It merits the special notice of all who are interested in the
usiness of education, and deserves a place by the side of Brewster's
Life of Newton, in all the libraries of our schools, academies, and litera
ry institutions. — Christian Watchman.
It ought to be read, not only by the man of science, but also by the
general scholar, whatever may be his particular profession.
N. Y. Baptist Advocate.
There is perhaps no case on record of a single man who has so gone
the rounds of human knowledge as did Liebnitz : he was not a recluse,
like Spinoza and Kant, but went from capital to capital, and associated
with kings and premiers. All branches of thought were interesting to
him, and he seems in pursuing all to have been actuated not by ambi
tion, but by a sincere desire to promote the knowledge and welfare of
mankind. — Christian World.

GERMAN PHILOLOGISTS.
CLASSICAL STUDIES: Essays on Ancient Literature and Art.
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ton, Professor Harvard University.
From the New England Puritan.
This volume is no common-place production. It is truly refreshing,
when we are obliged, from week to week, to look through the mass of
books which increases upon our table, many of which are extremely
attenuated in thought and jejune in style, to find something which carries
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antiquity. The gentlemen who have produced this volume deserve the
cordial thanks of the literary world.
From the Providence Journal.
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Hitjhrj'0 K0U0.

THE POUR GOSPELS, WITH NOTES.
Chiefly Explanatory ; intended principally for Sabbath School Teachers
and Bible Classes, and as an Aid to Family Instruction.
By Henry J. Ripley, Newton Theol. Ins.

Seventh Edition.

\ry This work should be m the hands of every student of the Bible, especially
every Sabbath school and Bible class teacher. It is prepared with special
reference to this class of persons, and contains a mass of just the hind of
information wanted. J
The undersigned, having examined Professor Ripley's Notes on the
Gospels, can recommend them with confidenpe to all who need such
helps in the study of the sacred Scriptures. Those passages which all
can understand are left ' without note or comment,' and the principal la
bor is devoted to the explanation of such parts as need to be explained
and rescued from the perversions of errofists, both the ignorant and the
learned. The practical suggestions at the close of each chapter, are not
the least valuable portion of the work. Most cordially, for the sake of
truth and righteousness, do we wish for these Notes a wide circulation.
Baron Stow, R. H. Neale, R. Turnbull,
Daniel Sharp, J. W. Parker. N. Colver.
Wm. Hague, R. W. Cushman,

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, WITH NOTES.
Chiefly Explanatory. Designed for Teachers in Sabbath Schools
and Bible Classes, and as an Aid to Family Instruction.
By Prof. Henry J. Ripley-
The external appearance of this book, — the binding and the printed
page, — ' it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold.' On examining the
contents, we are favorably impressed, first, by the wonderful perspicuity,
simplicity, and comprehensiveness of the author's style ; secondly, by
the completeness and systematic arrangement of the work, in all its parts,
the ' remarks ' on each paragraph being carefully separated from the ex
position ; thirdly, by the correct theology, solid instruction, and consistent
explanations of difficult passages. The work cannot fail to be received
with favor. These Notes are much more full than the Notes on the Gos
pels, by the same author. Abeautiful map accompanies them. — Reflector.

SCRIPTURE NATURAL HISTORY.
Containing a descriptive account of Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishea, Insects,
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6

SABBATH SCHOOL CLASS BOOK.
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LINCOLN'S SCRIPTURE QUESTIONS.
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HAGUE'S GUIDE TO CONVERSATION
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Vol. I. Matthew, — Vol. II. John.
By Rev. William Hagt/e.
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cite a spirit of inquiry among the classes themselves. To this end, such
questions are asked as are adapted to lead the mind to think, and only
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answer, by the aid of his own reflecting powers. The questions are
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?

THE KAREN APOSTLE;
Or, Memoir of Ko Thah-Byu, the first Karen convert, with notices
concerning his Nation. With maps and plates. By the
Rev. Francis Mason, Missionary. American.
edition. Edited by Prof. H. J. Ripley,
of Newton Theol. Institution.
Second Thousand.
VCr" This is a work of thrilling interest, containing the history of a
remarkable man, and giving, also, much information respecting the
Karen Mission, heretofore unknown in this country. It mast be sought
for, and read with avidity by those interested in this most interesting
mission. It gives an account, which must be attractive- from its novelty,
of a people that have been but little known and visited by missionaries,
till within a few years. The baptism of Ko Thah-Byu. in 1838, was the
beginning of the mission, and at the end of these twelve years, twelve
hundred and seventy Karens are officially reported as members of the
churches, in good standing. The mission has been carried on preemi
nently by the Karens themselves, and there is no doubt, from much
touching evidence contained in this volume, that they are a people pecu
liarly susceptible to religious impressions. The account of Mr, Mason
must be interesting to every one.

MEMOIR OF ANN H. JUDSON,
Late Missionary to Burmahjin eluding a History of the American Baptist
Mission in the Burman Empire. By Rev. James D. Knowles.
A New Edition. With a Continuation of the History
down to the present year.
We are particularly gratified to perceive a new edition of the Memoirs
of Mrs. Judson. She was an honor to our country — -one of the most
noble-spirited of her sex. It cannot, therefore, be surprising., that so
many editions, and so many thousand copies of her life and adventures
have been sold. The name — the long career of suffering — the self-
sacrificing spirit of the retired country -girl, have spread over the whole
world ; and the heroism of her apostleship and almost martyrdom, stands
out a living and heavenly beacon-fire, amid the dark midnight of ages,
and human history and exploits. She was the first woman who resolved
to become a missionary to heathen countries. — American Traveller.
This is one of the most interesting pieces of female biography which
has ever come under our notice. No quotation, which our limits allow,
would do justice to the facts, and we must, therefore, refer our readers to
the volume itself. It ought to be immediately added to every family
library. — London Miscellany.

Price Reduced.
MALCOM'S TRAVELS IN SOUTH-EASTERN ASIA.
Embracing Hindostan, Malaya, Siam, and China ; with notices of nu
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By Howard Malcom. D. D.
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ampled sale of the work. Nearly four thousand copies were sold within
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passes any similar work ever attempted in this country.

MEMOIR OF
GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN,
Late Missionary to Burmah, containing much intelligence relative to
the Burman Mission. By Rev. Alonzo King. A New Edition.
With an Introductory Essay, by a distinguished Clergymau.
Embellished with a Likeness : a beautiful Vignette,
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his death ; and a drawing of his Tomb,
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No one can read the Memoir of Boardman, without feeling that the
religion of Christ is suited to purify the affections, exalt the purposes, and
give energy to the character, Mr. Boardman was a man of rare excel
lence, and his biographer, by a just exhibition of that excellence, has
rendered an important service, not only to the cause of Christian missions,
but to the interests of personal godliness. Baron Stow.

LIFE OF PHILIP MELANCTHON.
COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF THE REFORMATION.
BY F. A. COX, D. D., LL. D.
This is a neat edition of a work, which has obtained in England a
Eermanent reputation. The acquaintance, which many in this country
ave formed with its author, will induce them to read the book with in
creased interest. It is well written, in a style, which, though flowing
and ornate, is not turgid. It shows all the learning which is appropriate
to the subject, without an offensive display. The facts concerning Me-
lancthon are detailed with clearness, and a lucid view is presented of the
principal personages and events of the age. From no other book, within
the same compass, could a better knowledge of the rise and progress of
the Reformation be obtained. For this reason, as well as for the attrac
tions which belong to the character of Melancthon, the book is valuable.
— Christian Review.

WINCHELL'S WATTS.
An Arrangement of the Psalms and Hymns of Watts, with a Supplement.

WATTS AND EIPPON.
The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts, arranged by Dr. Rippon, with
Dr. Rippon's Selections, in one volume, new edition, cor
rected and improved by Rev. C. G. Sommers, N. Y.

JAMES'S CHUECH-MEMBEE'S GUIDE.
With an Introductory Essay, by Rev. H. Winslow.

ONESIMUS

OR, THE APOSTOLIC DIRECTIONTO CHRISTIAN MASTERS
IN REFERENCE TO THEIR SLAVES.
An eminent statesman of the South writes : — ' It is just and philosoph
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tianity, as well as by correct geneml information on slavery. It is the
pious friend of both master and slave ; aud this is wise beyond almost
all Northern treatises-1 9

DR. HARRIS'S WORKS.

Probably no writer of modern times has so much engaged the public mind as
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MISCELLANIES;
CONSISTING PRINCIPALLY OF SERMONS AND ESSAYS.
By J. Harris, D I) With an Introductory Essay
and Notes, by Joseph Belcher, D. D.
THE GREAT COMMISSION;
The Christian Church constituted, and charged to convey the Gospel to
the World. With an Introductory Essay, by the
Rev. Wm. R. Williams, D. D
Fourth Thousand.
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Or, Characteristics of our Lord's Ministry. With an Introductory
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Ninth Thousand.
MAMMON ;
Or, Covetousness the Sin of the Christian Church. A Prize Essay.
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UNION ;
Or, the Divided Church made One. Second Thousand.
ZEBULON ;
A Prize Essay on the Condition and Claims of Sailors.
THE ACTIVE CHRISTIAN ;
A Selection from the Writings of J. Harris, D. D.
VITAL CHRISTIANITY:
ESSAYS AND DISCOURSES ON THE RELIGIONS OF MAN
AND THE RELIGION OF GOD.
By Alexander Viwet, D. D., Professor of Theology in Lausanne,
Switzerland.
TRANSLATED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,
By Rev. Robert Turnbull, Boston.

CAMPBELL AND FENELON ON ELOQUENCE.

Edited by Prof. H. X Ripley.
10

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Gilt Edges and beautifully ornamented Covers.
DAILY MANNA,
For Christian Pilgrims. By Rev. Baron Stow.
THE YOUNG COMMUNICANT.
An Aid to the Right Understanding and Spiritual Improvement of the
Lord's Supper.
THE BIBLE AND THE CLOSET.
Edited by Rev. J. O. Choules.
THE MARRIAGE RING;
Or How to make Home Happy. By J. A. James.
LYRrC GEMS.
A Collection of Sacred Poetry. Edited by Rev. S. F. Smith.
THE CYPRESS WREATH.
A Book of Consolation for those who Mourn. Edited by Rev. Rnfus
W. Griswold.
/ THE CASKE OF JEWELS.
For Young Christians. By J. Edwards and J. A. James.
THE MOURNER'S CHAPLET.
An Offering of Sympathy for Bereaved Friends. Selected from Ameri
can Poets. Edited by John Keese.
THE ACTIVE CHRISTIAN.
From the Writings of John Harris, D. D.
THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
Its Affections and Pleasures. Edited by H. A. Graves.
THE FAMILY ALTAR.
Or the Duty, Benefits, and Mode of Conducting Family Worship.
THE THEATRE.
In its Influence upon Literature, Morals, and Religion.
By Rev. R. Tt/rnbull.
THE SAINT'S EVERLASTING REST.
By the Rev. Richard Baxter.
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST.
In Threo Books. By Thomas A Kempis. With an Introductory Essay,
by Thomas Chalmers, of Glasgow. A new edition.
Edited by Rev. Howard Malcom.
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