THE .
ATONEMENT .
AND .
INTERCESSION OF CHRIST .

THE ATONEMENT AND
INTERCESSION OF CHRIST
BY THE LATE PRINCIPAL
DAVID CHARLES DAVIES, M.A.
TREVECCA

EDITED BY

D. E. JENKINS, PORTMADOC
AUTHOR OF "BEDD GELERT I ITS FACTSj FAIRIES, AND FOLK-LORE "
AND EDITOR OF " CYPRES IEUENCTID CYMBU" ETC. ETC.

EDINBURGH
T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET
1901

PRINTED BY
MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED
FOR
T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH
LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED
NEW" YORK! CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

TO
Mes. D. C. DAVIES
AND THE
FRAGRANT MEMORY OF THE AUTHOR

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The late Principal T. C. Edwards, Bala, in a memorial
sermon on the text " And He gave " (Eph. iv. 11),
said that " the late Principal David Charles Davies
was an undoubted gift of God to Wales, and that
he was convinced of that after considering the
following facts concerning him: — (1) The isolation
that marked his ministry and character. He was
not only isolated from the world, but, it might be
said, in a sense, from the Church. He was not
a product of his age, nor was he fashioned by it.
He stood apart from it, by the strength of his own
individuality. (2) Though not of his age, he was
for his age. He brought an unusually keen and
analytic mind to bear on the rationalism and materi
alism that are nowadays rampant. The fact that
a man of his intellectual brilliancy and sincerity
had lived the life of a humble disciple should make
the most reckless hesitate before rejecting Christ.
(3) He was called away when most required by his
people. Thus did God prove that He, by special

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acts of His own as Sovereign Head, raised pillars
to His Church, and removed them at will, for His
own great purpose."
Yet this most brilliant and beloved of men is
hardly known outside his native land ; while the
name of Dr. Edwards has penetrated to the ends
of the earth. Both devoted their energies to the
enlightening and uplifting of Wales ; but while
one spent the best part of his life at the head of a
great college, the other spent his as the minister
of a little known Welsh church. Though that
church was in the very heart of London, he seems
to have escaped English publicity, and the keen
eyes of assiduous English editors, owing to his
application to his limited circle, or to the isolation
into which our tongue thrusts most Welshmen, or
to his own deep-rooted modesty and love of quiet—
which, we need not decide. All three, probably.
He read, wrote, and studied incessantly for about
forty -four years, but left most of his writings
scattered through the pages of Welsh periodicals, of
every description, with never as much as a thought
of collecting them. He did actually publish two
small books, one on The Church, in 1862, which
was originally an address on Church Polity., at an
ordination service ; and the other on The Inspira
tion of the Bible, delivered as lectures to the students
of Bala College, about 1871.

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David Charles Davies was born at Aberystwyth,
in May 1826, and was the eldest son of Eobert
Davies, a responsible man of business, who hailed
from Merionethshire. His mother was the daughter
of the Rev. David Charles, Carmarthen, — brother of
the Rev. Thomas Charles, B.A., Bala, Founder of
the Bible Society,— who had married the daughter
of a Christian Jewish banker, from Haverfordwest.
Having inherited the best qualities of both father
and mother, Mrs. Davies proved an exemplary
mother. The father was one of two who were
instrumental in establishing Sabbath Schools at
Aberystwyth, and was an active and a pious man.
The house in which our author was born has become
historical, as the house in which the leaders of the
Calvinistic Methodists drew up their Church's
Confession of Faith, in 1823. There, too, were
entertained the itinerant preachers of the Calvinistic
Methodists— there were no pastors then ; all were
itinerants, and the young lad grew up in the
atmosphere of sacred influences and pulpit life.
He received his early education at the feet of a
widely known schoolmaster, John Evans, " the
old Mathematician," as he is sometimes called.
He kept an academy, whose fame is enshrined
in the memory of many scholars to this day, and
in the records which old pupils, like the late Mr.
Henry Richards, M.P., the late Dr. Lewis Edwards,

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Dr. J. Cynddylan Jones, and the late Principal
Davies, have left, and are leaving, behind them.
His love of mathematics and his teaching capacities
are now in the third generation, valuable heir
loom to Welsh education. He left an impression
of thoroughness on all who took him in his own
serious vein ; and Mr. Davies carried with him to
his grave his love for his old master, and something
little short of an enthusiasm for his old master's
favourite science.
When Bala College was first opened, in 1837,
to supply higher education of a general character,
more especially to candidates for the ministry,
Mr. Evans sent his twelve-year-old pupil to form
one of its first batch of students. The lad made
his home with Principal Lewis Edwards, and a
mutual admiration soon manifested itself. Associ
ating with students, all his seniors— some by many
years— soon gave Mr. Davies' vivid mind a ripeness,
which is surprisingly evident in his letters to his
mother, especially on occasions of domestic sorrow.
As a student, though not unsociable, he was quiet,
reserved, and very fond of solitude. He liked to
withdraw to the byways and the shores of Bala
Lake, to think. A fellow-student found him one
day gazing intently into the waters of Llyn Tegid,
lost in thought. " Fishing?" inquired the intruder.
" Yes," was the answer, with a look of surprise,

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" fishing for ideas." The reply was as apt as the
question was playful ; for play he never could,
nor knew he aught of sport.
Leaving Bala in 1841, he was sent to Hanley,
Staffordshire, to a Mr. Fletcher, Congregational
minister, who prepared private pupils for the ex
aminations of the London University. From the
tuition he there received, he derived but little bene
fit ; but his own conscientious application enabled
him to accomplish his purpose. He was fortunate
enough to meet with a class of boys in a Sabbath
School at Hanley, which greatly benefited him
mentally and spiritually. It was there, too, he
first tried to preach. A number of Welshmen,
exiles of necessity, were engaged in the various
industries of Hanley, and he ventured to give them
the gospel in their native tongue. Thence he
passed into the University College, London, and
immediately set to work upon his academic studies.
Among his fellow-students he met R. H. Hutton,
Todhunter, and Walter Bagehot. Every year he
carried away some of the prizes, now in mathematics,
now in physics, sometimes in both. In his fourth
year, he took a prize in Hebrew. Dr. Lewis Edwards
followed his career with keen interest, and, young
though he was, solicited from him articles for
Y Traethodydd ("The Essayist")— a quarterly
which Dr. Edwardg^hen edited. Mr. Davies

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graduated as a London Bachelor of Arts in
1847. From London he went to New College, Edin
burgh. But hard study had brought his naturally
frail frame into indifferent health, and he reluctantly
left Scotland. Not, however, before he had fallen
in love with his surroundings and especially with
Professor Fraser, whom he seems to have impressed
as a young man of great promise. That was between
November 1847 and January of the following
year. In 1849 he was second on the M.A. mathe
matical list of the London University.
In the interval between his departure from Edin
burgh and his success in London, he had offered
himself as a candidate for the ministry to his home
church at Aberystwyth, and had been accepted.
While completing his degree course in London, he
preached a good deal in the outlying stations
of the London Welsh churches. He then returned
home, and made a preaching tour through parts
of the counties of Cardigan, Pembroke, and Radnor ;
and this revived his health, and gave the country
an opportunity of knowing the scholarly young
descendant of the famous Dd. Charles. He acted
as substitute for his old friend and fellow-student,
the Rev. Owen Thomas (afterwards Dr.), at Newtown
English Church for a short time, and then under
took a few months' duty at the Welsh church, at the

THE PREFACE xiii

same place. The little church at Builth, called
Alpha (as being one of the first of our churches),
secured his services as pastor in 1851. He had
to preach both Welsh and English to a small
flock which greatly loved him. As pastor he was
very successful, and as preacher he was in constant
demand far outside his immediate surroundings.
Several efforts to remove him to larger spheres
were unsuccessful, but a call to Windsor Street,
Liverpool, proved irresistible. He began his work
there in 1853. He was destined soon to become
a power in Liverpool ; but Builth church called
him back in 1856. It was during his second pastor
ate at Builth that he married Miss Jane Cooper,
the third daughter of the late Mr. Ebenezer Cooper,
Llangollen. Mrs. Davies is still with us, and her
graceful social qualities, as well as her real goodness
of hand and heart, are known in all the churches.
When the Rev. Owen Thomas removed to London,
Mr. Davies succeeded him at Newtown ; but his
stay was short. After twelve months, the London
Welsh must needs draw him after his friend ; and
without any formality, of the nature of a reception
or induction, he began his long pastorate at the
church of Jewin Crescent, the congregation of which
now worships in Fann Street, not far from the
old site. From May 1859 until 1882-with the
exception of short intervals at Bangor (1876-82)

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owing to ill-health— he laboured hard for the mental
and spiritual needs of the London Welsh churches,
preaching once every Sunday in his own pulpit. It
is said that he preached in but one of the London
English pulpits, and that was Dr. Thain David
son's. The London English churches little know
how much they have missed. Principal Edwards
used to say that he would be quite willing for
strangers to judge Welsh preaching by Principal
Davies', and he never missed the chance of urging
his students to hear him as often as possible.
Mr. Davies was supremely happy among his own
flock, and wished for nothing better than health
and his pulpit. He subscribed to the large London
libraries, kept himself abreast of all thought—
philosophic, scientific, and theological— and made
everything serve the Truth. He had no more
taste for fiction as an earnest reader, than he had
for play when a boy ; but he kept himself informed
of the contents of current " problem novels," and
even lectured on Robert Elsmere. He gathered
around him some of the most thoughtful young
people of the Welsh churches, and conducted classes
for them, frequently lecturing before their societies.
Butler's Analogy served as a text-book for several
sessions, and many of the Epistles were studied
systematically. But, as was typical of the Welsh
then, doctrinal studies were the only pursuits con-

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sidered worthy of serious application. Bible
reading, of course— but doctrinal studies. When
Dr. Lewis Edwards' Doctrine of the Atonement
appeared in 1860, it was taken up at once ; and
the articles contained in the present volume are,
like most of his published articles, the result of his
labours in his preparations for the young people's
classes. He had only been in London a couple of years
when a crisis came over Trevecca College, and
Dr. Charles— our author's second cousin— resigned
the principalship in 1862. At the Midsummer
Quarterly Association (or Synod) of South Wales,
1863, it was unanimously agreed to send Mr. Davies
an offer of the Principal's Chair ; but he replied
courteously declining the honour. The following
year, the request was renewed, and a deputation
was sent to London to press the matter. He again
declined, and Professor W. Howell was appointed
to the post. The North Wales Association tried to
secure him for Bala, as Dr. Lewis Edwards' colleague,
in 1873, when ill-health laid Dr. John Parry aside ;
but the importunity of his church prevailed.
His visits to preaching meetings, and the gather
ings of the Association, in Wales— always regular—
became now more frequent. He delivered five
ordination charges at the Associations, one address
on Church Polity, and examined the students of

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both Bala and Trevecca Colleges more than once.
But his untiring labours at last made a change
necessary, and from 1876 to 1882 he divided his
time between his Bangor home and the London
vineyard. But even this compromise did not satisfy
nature's dictates, and he decided to resign finally
in 1882. His flock lavished on him honours
and respects, and the great wrench, which the man
date of Providence made imperative, was keenly
felt on both sides.
But he did not withdraw to Bangor to take his ease,
well as he deserved it. Pastorless churches called for
his help, week-days and Sundays, and he devoted
and divided his time to serve their highest welfare.
He conducted church fellowship meetings, and three
Bible classes on the First Epistle General of -John-
one at Twrgwyn Welsh Church, and one at Princes
Road English Church, and the third with his old
class in London, by correspondence. His notes on
the Epistle were contributed to Y Llusern ("The
Lamp "), the first series of which became defunct
soon after his articles ceased to appear. These have
since been collected into book form, and edited bj-
the Rev. D. Charles Evans, F.G.S.
When Dr. Lewis Edwards' health failed in 1886,
Mr. Davies and Dr. John Hughes, Carnarvon,
were asked to give lectures at the Bala Colleo-e. Mr.
Davies chose Butler's Analogy for his text-book, and

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gave the students a memorable course ; but he only
lectured for one session. In 1888, Principal Howells,
Trevecca, died ; and the College Committee unani
mously decided to offer him the post which he had
twice before declined. This time he accepted it,
and the enthusiasm with which his acceptance
was hailed was a grand beginning to what proved
to be the golden sunset of his life. He took a keen
personal interest in his students, gave them of the
best of his brilliant mind, and was particularly kind
to and watchful over the less privileged of his young
men. They, in return, gave him their unbounded
confidence, worked hard for his classes ; and before
two years of such mutual affection and preparation
had done their work, the Trevecca supplies made
the churches feel what a great loss it was to the
Connexion that he had not presided over the College
for twenty-four years, instead of being exiled in the
great Metropolis. His keen and buoyant mind
roused the students into enthusiasm over, otherwise,
dry subjects ; and his fervent, enlightened, yet
childlike simple faith in the power of the gospel and
the love of their Master, by deepening their con
victions, doubled the earnestness, and polished the
characters of the young men, until some of them
saw all gatherings empty where he was not. They
treasured his every word, as if each syllable were the
very gold dust of life. The sadness of the faces of
b

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two of his students, who had been compelled to return
home owing to illness, which soon proved fatal, we
shall never forget. It seemed as if life to them, after
being at Trevecca a short time, had risen a hundred
fold in the market of their estimation, and they
wanted to live. He had shown them the Master's
grand life, and they eagerly desired to show it to
others. Oh ! the depth of this pathos ; for it was
the touch of inspiration which made their hearts
burn. But Trevecca was doomed to lose this apostle
of ''passion for the ministry" in 1891, after three
short years of divine work. His friend, Dr Owen
Thomas had passed away early in August ; and he
peacefully died in Bangor, September 26th, from the
effects of a cold and its complications— three days
before he was expected at Bala, to take part in the
reopening of the College, now as a purely theological
institution, under Principal T. C. Edwards' presi
dency. We laid him in his last resting-place, at
the Aberystwyth Cemetery, on the afternoon of
Wednesday, 30th. In the evening a memorial
service was held at the Tabernacle, when Principal
Edwards preached a sermon, remarkable for its
power and insight into the character and qualities
of the beloved Principal Davies, a suimnarv of which
we have quoted at the outset of this article.
Wales loves to think of her revered son as a thinker.

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He spent his life as a preacher, and loved preaching
above everything ; but his oratory was by no means
characteristically Welsh, as that is generally under
stood. Yet we cannot imagine his oratory as any
thing but that of a Welshman ; nowhere could he
have developed his style, unique though it was, except
in a Welsh pulpit. Every movement of hand, eye,
or lip co-operated with his words and his beautifully
clear sentences, to remind one that he was pre
eminently a thinker. As such he was keen, vigorous,
and, even when most profound, perfectly clear. His
mind had been greatly exercised with the negative
phases of truth, and he kept a close watch on all
prominent thinkers who had a tendency to leave
the accepted lines of Christian truth, and on those
who avowedly rejected them, or attacked them.
This gave his style an argumentative turn, and he
was always combating, with his whole soul, some of
the subtler forms of error. He had a passion for
argument, though he hated controversy. His
lectures on Christianity— not collected— teem with
arguments against the views of Huxley and Herbert
Spencer ; but no one can imagine him taking up
the cudgels, like Prebendary Wace or Mr. Gladstone,
and entering on a bitter open controversy. Give
him the statements of his opponents, let him give a
summary of their arguments— and he could always
be trusted to do it fairly— and his mind was happy.

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The only thing necessary then was good listening,
and he would soon be found at his best. He took
one along, to the quiet sound of a great machine con
stantly, and almost effortlessly, crushing rocks,
until the last controverted statement was passed
between the powers of his clear reason and faith.
He would fasten the minds of his hearers, or readers,
on the truths combated, while he split them into
parts by means of a fine analytic process ; and held
them up, part after part, to the light which he
poured down on them. When he felt fairly sure
that the audience had seen the various features of
the -parts, he would show how impossible it was to
make out of them the whole, for which the authors
wished them to stand. A word of interruption—
a rare experience— would bring him to an immediate
standstill, unless he was perfectly sure of the good
will of the objector. He had no sympathy with
any spirit of antagonism outside the world of ideas.
"In the pulpit," says the Rev. Evan Phillips,
Newcastle Emlyn, in his charming, poetic, and,
indeed, untranslatable Preface to the Welsh Edition
of these articles, " as he stands up to preach, he is
the picture of humility and reverence, while his
face silently whispers of the secret recesses of his
mind. As he proceeds he opens out, becomes more
free, more alert, and his eyes begin to glow. His
whole face hurries to take part in the struggles

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of the eyes ; indeed, his face runs into his eyes,
which are like two lamps lighting the magnificent
chariot of his ministry. Hitherto, he has proceeded
rather quietly ; but, wait ! He is going to apply
his ' but,' and that with considerable force. We
have no recollection of anyone giving ' but ' such
fairplay as he gives it. It acts like a brake on the
whole train of his arguments, and everything is
at once brought to a standstill. Under the influence
of ' but,' the covering is lifted from off the obstacle
in the way, which appears in its towering height
and ruggedness before us. He now casts a keen
glance around him to inquire how the view affects
his audience. What, we begin to ask, will he do
next ? He will either take us by the hand and
lead us effortlessly to the peak of the rugged rock,
until our spirits burst into a flame of triumph ;
or he will perhaps let us struggle as best we can
with our difficulties, allowing us to assume that
he has no desire to throw contempt on our mental
abilities by helping us over them. He would
sometimes show the difficulty in a light which
made us tremble lest some weak brother fall a victim
into the hands of the enemy.
" The brilliant light of his mind would sometimes
shine in an entirely new idea, until we were blinded
to everything else, and were made to feel as if we
were revelling in the midst of the holiest light,

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happy in the midst of unlimited darkness. He
would present an occasional idea, which our minds,
at home, amid their own surroundings and con
ditions, could not possibly accept. But he would
take us, by our own consent, on the rapid, noiseless
wings of his spirit, and would place us down com
pactly in the midst of the brilliant surroundings
of his own mind. There we would be, with our
personality almost lost, feasting dreamily on the
charms of the glorious scenery, and every thought
of criticising scattered to the winds.
" Let no one gather from these remarks that we
wish to charge him with the sin of deviating from
the truth. He spoke words of truth and sober
ness ; he knew that he spoke the truth, and every
one believed him."
In speaking of his personal character, Mr. Phillips,
who knew him intimately for many years, and
was Principal Davies' favourite companion in special
services, refers to his great simplicity of character.
" Fellowship with him left an impression on our
mind that he stood almost alone as regards purity
of heart, purity of spirit, and polish of mind. He
was pure. We felt a kind of desire bubbling from
our hearts, after being in his company, which may
be expressed in the words, Would that all the sons
of Levi were purified as he is ! This purity formed
a kind of background to his words, and acted like

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a powerful reflector throwing out more powerfully
and farther the light of the truth ; so that the scope
of his influence was far wider and brighter than is
usual. " He was not sombre and long-faced, however,
full of heavy sighs, too righteous to criticise a little,
or too pious to laugh. Oh, no ! he could thoroughly
enjoy humour, and many a time have we seen his
bulwark falling to pieces before a flood of humour.
But he had no need of a law without to keep
him within proper limits ; because the law was in
his heart, so that he was in no danger of over
stepping in that direction. . . . The root of his
simplicity was in the deep humility of his spirit.
It was a mind conscious of the presence of God
which caused him to clothe himself, not only out
wardly, but also inwardly, with meekness."
His quiet bearing, coupled with his unassuming
scholarship and learning, gave him the highest
place in the minds of all Welshmen of whatever
denomination— a proof that we can sometimes
step out of our blighting sectarianism. When
Principal Edwards was leaving Aberystwyth for
Bala, in 1891, his Greek Testament class presented
him with a photograph of the class, nicely framed.
At the presentation gathering, in the ladies' library,
he asked our opinion about getting one Theological
College for the denomination, North and South

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Wales alike. We all enthusiastically ventured
our opinions. When the opinion was expressed
that South Wales would soon fall in with the project
— for the Principal himself thought North Wales
ripe— he said, "I wish it could be brought about,
I would willingly serve under Principal Davies."
It is difficult to decide to whose credit most of that
remark should go. We humbly think that neither
North nor South Wales would ever dream of asking
one to serve the other, much as the Master em
phasises the greatness of the servant, for both
were the simplest and the greatest of men ; and
both would willingly serve the other.
When the following articles were written, Principal
Davies was only a young man, newly settled in
London. He wrote them month by month for
a little penny periodical caUed Yr Arweinydd ("The
Leader " or " Guide "), issued from the Aberystwyth
press, and devoted to the interests of the Cardigan
shire churches. His Bible class, as already men
tioned, was studying Dr. Lewis Edwards' Doctrine
of the Atonement, and he made that the occasion
of his study of this great doctrine. He fearlessly
differs from recognised authorities, but character
istically refrains from parading the fact. A letter
of his to his mother is quoted by his biographer,
the late Professor E. Wynne Parry, M.A., B.D .
Bala, in which he refers to this. " I should imagine

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that the circulation of the Arweinydd is increasing.
It is well that I write from London, and not from
Cardiganshire, since I express, in almost every
article, views so entirely different from those of
good old theologians, such as Dr. Owen, only that
I do not mention the fact." This explains why he
is so careful to express his admiration for Dr. Owen,
while differing from him, in Chapter XVIII., where
he has, at last, been forced to mention him, because
of the quotation. Welsh readers are very sensitive
to any objections raised against the opinions of
recognised authority, and are, perhaps, in such
cases, prone to compare the relative reputations
of men personally, instead of taking their views on
their merits. Our author knew his readers, and
wisely acted on his knowledge. Dr. Colenso, of
course, was on a different footing. As far as his
name was known at all, he was theologically dis
credited, and was objected to without creating
the suspicion of resentment. The articles appeared
in Yr Arweinydd from October 1862 until November
1864, and with the December number it— like the
first series of Y Llusem— died. Several years later,
the Rev. Llewelyn Edwards, M.A., now of Clapham
Junction, London, started a second series ; but
it only lived a few years. As far as we know, this
is the first production of the author offered to the
public in English, except some of his lectures on

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Christianity, printed in pamphlet form. The
present editor is responsible for the translation,
which has been done with every care to render the
author's thoughts rather than his words, though
it may lean to being somewhat literal. Where doc
trines of such importance as the two here treated
are concerned, correctness of thought is of greater
importance than style.

Note.— The Scripture quotations are taken from
the Revised Version. We believe the author held
that version in great esteem, and it more frequently
coincides with the Welsh version than does the
Authorised. The word " propitiation," so frequently
used for Christ Himself, is used for Atonement
nearly throughout the text. The quotations in the
footnotes are supplied for the first time, and some
times merely to enable the reader to trace easily
the phraseology, when phrases are used out of their
context. Our best thanks are tendered to Prof. W.
B. Stevenson, M.A., B.D., Bala, for his valuable
suggestions before going to press. — D. E. J.

CONTENTS

PAGE
The Preface . . vii
Contents . ... xxvii
Chapters : — I. "Foe the Whole "Would" . 3
II. The Advocate . . 13
III. "The Propitiation " . . 21
IV.-VIII. "Propitiation For" ... 29
IX. The Atonement and the Mediatorial
Office ..... 75
X.-XXII. The Atonement and the Priestly
Office ..... 85
XXIII. -XXV. The Atonement and the Inter
cession ..... 191
Appendix ...... 215
Index ....... 225
Index of Texts ... . 235

"FOR THE WHOLE WORLD"

"And if any man sin, we have an
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
THE RIGHTEOUS ; AND He IS THE PROPITIATION
FOR OUR SINS ; AND NOT FOR OUES ONLY, BUT
ALSO FOE THE WHOLE WORLD."

THE ATONEMENT AND INTERCESSION
OF CHRIST

FOR THE WHOLE WORLD"
"Not for ours only, but also for the whole world." — 1 John
ii. 2 (E.V.).
The subject of the present chapter is the
Calvinistic view of the extent of the Atonement ;
its answer to the question, Who are those for
whom the Atonement of Christ is designed?
There is reason to believe that many people
favour the Calvinistic doctrine, and that many
reject it, without clearly understanding what is
really the point in dispute. The common idea is,
that what determines whether a man's opinions
are Arminian or Calvinistic, is his answer to
the question, For whom did Christ die ? The
3

THE ATONEMENT

Bible contains not one but several answers :
" for the sheep," " for many," " for the whole world,"
" for all," " for every man," " for the ungodly," " for
sinners." Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of
the Bible must believe each and everyone of these
statements. He has no right to emphasise one
of them, and to omit the remainder, as if they were
not all of equal authority, or equally divine. The
most zealous Calvinist can hold the truth of
everyone of them as found in the Bible, without
either changing or distorting them ; and, at the
same time, without sacrificing one atom of his
Calvinism. Since he believes in the divinity of
the Person of our Saviour, he must also believe
in the infinite worth of His sacrifice ; and,
therefore, in its sufficiency " for the world," " for
all," " for every man." Since it was the Man in
whom God dwelleth who bowed His head upon
the cross, he can believe that— in the words of
a Welsh hymn— "It is finished,
Turned the scales of righteousness,''
and not that it merely balanced the scales. No
man, except a Unitarian, who denies the divinity
of Christ's Person, can deny that He died for every
man, in the sense now explained. The denial of

FOR THE WHOLE WORLD"

His divinity, which leads Unitarians to deny that
He died for all, leads them to deny also that He
died vicariously for anyone.
A Calvinist may preach, and, without the slightest
hesitation, tell a gathering of sinful men that Christ
died for everyone of them, from the youngest to
the oldest, from the most pious to the most ungodly.
A Sabbath-school teacher can tell each one in his
class, " Christ has died for you, and for you," because
each one is included in the words " all " and '' the
whole world." No one who knows what Arminian-
ism and Calvanism mean, would consider him an
Arminian because he did so. The divinity of
the Person of Jesus, the sufficiency of His
merit to cover sins countless as the sand by the
seashore, the fitness of the plan of salvation to
the spiritual needs of every sinner, the gospel's
tender invitations and the authoritative command
ments to all to whom it is preached, together with
the heavy punishments threatened for sinners
who reject it, are necessarily contained in, or are
inevitable conclusions from the divine testimony,
that Christ died for every man. The above word
" all " is the same as we find in the expressions, " all
have sinned," " as through one trespass the judgment
came unto all men to condemnation." There is
an important difference between Calvinists and
Arminians regarding the extent of the Atonement ;

THE ATONEMENT

but that difference is not brought out by the ques
tion, " For whom did Christ die ? "
If a zealous Calvinist were asked, Did Christ
die for all ? he would, perhaps, reply, No, without
reflecting that his reply would be in flat contra
diction to a verse which most emphatically says,
" He died for all " ; and without considering, too,
that the question is just this other, Is the passage
" He died for all " genuine ? If the question were
put to him in the latter form, he would never dare
reply, No.
We will assist the Calvinist out of his difficulty
by telling him that he ought to have answered
to the former question : Yes, Christ died for all,
but this fact does not touch my Calvinistic views.
The question which brings out the difference of
opinion on the subject is, Did the Atonement secure
eternal life for anyone ? If the answer be, Yes ;
ask further, For whom? The Calvinists believe
that the Atonement did secure eternal life for some ;
and that these are all who believe in Jesus Christ,
together with all others who shall be saved through
Him— children who die in infancy, for example.
But as Calvinists and Arminians may agree concern
ing the salvation of children, through the merits of
the great Atonement, the case of the httle ones may
be omitted from the discussion. We repeat, then,
that Calvinists believe that Christ secured eternal

FOR THE WHOLE WORLD"

life for all who have once accepted Him ; the word
" life " implying a complete return to God, and
the word " eternal " implying an abiding in union
with Christ from the first moment of belief until
death, in death, and beyond death for ever.
It must be admitted that Calvinists are very
fond of calling these believers " the elect." They
thus call them so as to acknowledge that all the
praise of the complete change wrought in their
hearts is due to the grace of God alone ; and do
so because election suggests that the change has been
wrought within them, not by accident, nor by
necessity of nature, nor on the impulse of a moment,
nor from any original superiority in them over
others, but from God's gracious purposes towards
them. Calvinists, when they say that Christ died
for the elect alone, mean that His Atonement has
secured eternal life for all who believe in Him, and
for all who are saved through Him without believing
—infants, for example— and for them alone.
The meaning of the question, " For whom did
Christ die ? " in the Christian Instructor,1 is, For
whom did Christ, through His death, secure eternal
life ? The meaning of the answer, " For His elect
people, given to Him by the Father," is, For all
who are joined to Him. The Arminians believe
1 "A Catechism on the Principles of the Christian Religion."
By Thomas Charles, B.A., Bala.— D. E. J.

THE ATONEMENT

that the Atonement has secured eternal life; but
it is eternal life m heaven for all who die in Christ.
They do not believe that life eternal on earth, from
the moment a sinner first believes until he dies,
is secured for him by the Atonement, as they believe
it possible for a sinner to lose that life by ceasing
to believe. But Calvinists maintain that unin
terrupted faith is secured by the Atonement for
him who once believes, and life eternal while on
earth in connection with that continuing faith.
So the question in dispute takes the following
form: — Does the Atonement secure everlasting
life for the believer from the monient he dies, or
from the moment he first believes in Christ ? To
the Arminian, the correct view is the former ; to
the Calvinist, the latter.
Taking the word " heaven " to contain the idea
of security, as well as the ideas of holiness and
bliss, according to the Arminian view, the first
moment of the believer's heaven is the moment
he draws his last breath on earth. According to
the Calvinistic view, the first moment of his heaven
is the moment he first believes in Jesus Christ.
So far, then, is the view that Christ died for none
but the elect from hindering the Calvinists from
inviting sinners to Christ, that this is the doctrine
from which they derive most power in so doing.
They feel much confidence when giving the invita-

FOR THE WHOLE WORLD"

tion, and that on the same ground as their brethren,
the Arminians, namely, that Christ died for all, or
that the Atonement is sufficient for all. But their
feeling becomes far more intense when they leave
their brethren, and maintain that Christ died for
the elect alone ; in other words, that His Atone
ment has secured, in a manner which only God
can secure, everlasting life for the believer from
the moment he first believes ; for the simple reason
that the moment he believes, he enters into a per
sonal union with Christ Himself.
If it is again asked, Did God purpose the salvation
of all ? The Calvinist's reply is, No, only of those
that are united to Jesus.
It is not our purpose to advance reasons in favour
of one view, or against the other. We have merely
aimed at stating wherein the opinions differ. We
advise readers of the Bible, however, to search
for themselves, until they have formed an opinion,
based on its expressions, as to which of the two
is the view of the Spirit of God on the subject.

THE ADVOCATE

II
THE ADVOCATE
The word " advocate " means " one called to the side
of another." In a legal sense it was used to denote
one called to plead in a court of law. In its original
meaning, as well as in current usage, it exactly
agrees with the English word " pleader." There is
nothing in the word itself to show whether the
advocate is called to plead for or against a person.
There is such a thing as pleading against a sinner.
His accusers, according to the Bible, are : (1) The
Law, which is called " Moses." " There is one that
accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye have set
your hope " (John v. 45). (2) The Conscience.
" Their conscience bearing witness therewith, and
their thoughts one with another accusing or else
excusing them," (Rom. ii. 15). (3) Satan. "For the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuseth
them before our God day and night " (Rev. xii. 10).
Jesus Christ testified, when on earth, that he would
not be an accuser. " Think not that I will accuse you
to the Father " (John v. 45). It must be, therefore,
that Christ as Advocate was called to plead for,

i4 THE ATONEMENT

and not against, the sinner. But by whom was
He called to plead ? By the sinner himself or by
someone else ? " No man taketh the honour unto
himself, but when he is called of God, even as was
Aaron. So Christ also glorified not himself to be
made a high priest, but he that spoke unto him,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee." x
It was He who honoured Him ; and to appear
before God on the sinner's behalf forms, part of
His priestly function. He was not sent to heaven
by sinners to plead for them ; but as God sent
Him into the world to die for them, so also did
God call Him to His own side to intercede for
them in heaven. The special blessing to which
the apostle here refers, and for which Jesus
pleads on the sinner's behalf, is forgiveness.
" If any man sin " implies the need of forgive
ness ; to name " the Father " suggests a person
whose nature is to forgive ; 1 John i. 9 speaks
of the character of the Father, and says that " he
is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins."
The fact that He has been called to heaven by
His Father to plead before Him the cause of the
sinner, excludes the supposition that the necessity
for Christ's intercession is due to any lack of willing
ness in God to forgive sins. It was the Father's
perfect righteousness which made intercession
1 Heb. v. 4, 5.

THE ADVOCATE 15

necessary. It was His infinite graciousness which
called the Son to be an Advocate. The Advocate,
too, is righteous— as righteous as the Father, before
whom He intercedes. In 1 John i. 9 the Father
is righteous to forgive ; in the verse under con
sideration the Son is righteous to intercede. Every
righteousness— the essential righteousness of His
Person, as One of the eternal Three— the righteous
ness which was in Him as Man, a holy principle,
as well as the righteousness found in the merits
of His Atonement— is in the Person of the Advocate,
and in the plea of His intercession, the fulness
of righteousness.
Who in the court above makes it compulsory
for Christ to plead, so that a believing sinner may
obtain forgiveness ? Not conscience, for that is
within the sinner's own breast. Not Satan, for
he has been cast out from heaven. It must then
be the Law, or " Moses " (to use our Lord's term),
" that accuseth you." Christ, therefore, pleads
for forgiveness for the sinner against the accusa
tions of Moses ; and all the concern that the Law
has in him is a matter of justice. But the Advocate
is as righteous as the Law itself.
"While Moses doth accuse me,
I give to Christ my plea,
He's righteous, I unrighteous,
And He has died for me."
(Trans, from Morgan Rees.)

1 6 THE ATONEMENT
The expression " with the Father," in this verse
(1 John ii. 1), has not the same meaning as it has
in John xvi. 32, " the Father is with me." In the
latter instance there is an implied contrast with
a state of solitary effort. It is as if Jesus said, My
Father thinks with Me, feels together with Me,
speaks together with Me, works together with Me,
and yet the Father is greater than I. It is not
the " with " meant when we say that Jesus is an
" Advocate with the Father." This is the same
" with " as we find in John i. 1, " The word was
with God " ; and again in 1 John i. 2, " The eternal
life, which was with the Father." What was true of
the Word in the beginning, is true now of the
Advocate. Now the Advocate is, and the Advocate is
with God, and the Advocate is God. It is He who is
now with God. The Advocate is with the Father in
the position of the Word increate. He who became
flesh, and became sin, stands in the same place
with reference to the Father, and in the glory in
which stood the divine Person of the Son, by whom
all things were made, from eternity. This position
and glory are of the number of the mysteries of
the Lord ; yet one thing made clear to us is, that
to them Jesus went, and that in the midst of the
Son's uncreated glory He seeks forgiveness for
the sinner.
The other passages in the New Testament, in

THE ADVOCATE 17

which the word here translated " Advocate " is used,
are the following :— " He shall give you another
Comforter " (John xiv. 16). " The Comforter, even
the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in
my name " (ibid. 26). " If I go not away,, the
Comforter will not come unto you " (John xvi. 7).
The word " Comforter " in these passages is exactly
the same word as the " Advocate " of our verse ;
and it is clear from Christ's own explanation that
the Holy Spirit is meant. But our Saviour, by
the very act of calling the Spirit " another Com
forter," gives Himself also the name Comforter.
John heard Him do so, and he here calls Him by
that name, which is rendered " Advocate."
According to the explanation above given of
the word " Advocate," the Holy Spirit too is one
who is called to plead on behalf of, and to defend,
the sinner. The difference between the word of
the Son and that of the Spirit in this matter is,
that the former pleads on behalf of, and the other
within, the sinner. Of the sinner's three accusers
the Law accuses him in the court above ; conscience
is against him within his own bosom ; and the
devil is against him, working around and within
him. Over against the three accusers are two
Advocates : One above, pleading on his behalf
against the accusations of the Law ; the other within
him, pleading against a guilty conscience and against

1 8 THE ATONEMENT
Satan's temptations and accusations. As Christ
in heaven takes of His own, and declares it to His
righteous Father, against the accusations of the
Law ; the Spirit, as an Advocate within the heart,
takes of Christ's, and, as the Spirit of Truth, over
comes the falsehood which is in sin, with the truth
which is in the Atonement. By His divine power
to plead, He silences the troubled mind, and merits
for Himself the name Comforter. So, when a
burning conscience makes its demands, the Spirit,
as the Advocate within pleads before it the merits
of the Atonement. Or when the Law seeks satis
faction, the Son as the Advocate above pleads before
it the satisfaction given in the Atonement ; with
the result that the Atonement given once for all
brings comfort to the sinner's heart.

"THE PROPITIATION"

Ill
"THE PROPITIATION"
The word generally used for Propitiation in sermons
and theological literature is "Atonement." This,
however, is not the word used in the New Testament
itself, but " propitiation," as may be seen in the
following passages : — 1 John ii. 2 ; iv. 10 ; and
Rom. iii. 25. In the Authorised Version the word
" atonement " is only once used, namely, in Rom. v.
11, which the Welsh Testament renders " cymmod "
(" reconciliation").1 It is clear that the apostle
did not there mean atonement in the sense of pro
pitiation, but in the sense of reconciliation, between
sinners personally and God, through the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Much disadvantage arises from the practice of
using the word in one sense in the New Testament,
and in another sense in theological and sermon
literature. Unitarians maintain that the word
atonement has not, in the Bible, the meaning usually
given it by their opponents, and they are quite
1 Thus anticipating, as in many other cases, the R.V. — D. E. J.
21

THE ATONEMENT

correct. But it is not fair, to infer from this that
there is not another word in the New Testament
which expresses the thought in the minds of their
opponents when they speak of atonement. Such a
word does exist, and that word is propitiation.
Welshmen do not meet this obstacle, for, in our
sermons and writings, we use the word " lawn "
(" propitiation ") in the same sense as it is used in
the Welsh translation of the New Testament.
The word translated " propitiation " comes from
the same root as the word usually translated "mercy."
We find an instance in Matt. xvi. 22 (R.V. margin),
" God have mercy on thee, Lord " ; and in Heb.
viii. 12, " For I will be merciful to their iniquities."
From the same root, too, comes the expression in
the publican's prayer, "God, be merciful to me a
sinner "(Luke xviii. 13); and that of the Epistle to
the Hebrews (ii. 17), " to make propitiation for the
sins of the people." The expressions in italics repre
sent one Greek word, and that word is the same in
each case. The object of the verb in the first of the
two passages is " the sinner," and in the second " the
sins of the people." The word had been previously
used in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testa
ment, in Lev. iv. 35, " The priest shall make atone
ment for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned " ;
and again, inDan. ix. 24, " To make reconciliation
for iniquity " ; other passages could be added.

" THE PROPITIATION" 23
Jesus Christ was quite familiar with the Old
Testament, and a new light is thrown upon the
parable of the Pharisee and the Publican when
we remember that He put into the mouth of the
latter the very word which had been previously
used to express making a propitiation for sin. Not
only does He put this word into the mouth of the
publican, but He also makes the publican pray for
propitiation within the Temple— the very place
where the Jewish priest symbolically made atone
ment for the sins of the people. If it be a matter
of surprise that he went to his own house, not only
after receiving mercy, but also " justified " by receiv
ing it, it would have been a matter of much greater
surprise if he had gone to his house without receiving
mercy, when we remember that it was in the Temple
the House of God, the House of the Mercy-seat,
the House of Sacrifice, that he prayed for it.
Little did those who heard the parable think
at the time that the God, and the Priest, and the
Mercy-seat, and the Sacrifice, which were in the
old Temple, had now met in one small chamber,
so to speak, and stood before them as a Person.
Little did they think that the publican who cried
" God be merciful " in the Temple, was a type of
the sinner who cried out after Him, " Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy upon me." A keen
listener might have said, after hearing the parable,

24 THE ATONEMENT
" Behold a temple, a sinner, and God ; but where
is the priest and the lamb ? " His reply would have
been " My son, I will provide myself with a priest
and a lamb." " But where are they ? " " Behold
me, my son."
As the word translated " propitiation " comes
from a root which contains in it the idea of mercy ;
so also Heb. ii. 17, "That he may be merciful
... to make propitiation for the sins of the people,"
proves that the Atonement is the fruit of the Son's
mercy, to whom the Father also said, " Thy throne,
0 God, is for ever and ever." Its object is the
miserable ; and misery within God's dominion
is not a matter of accident, but a necessity arising
from the righteousness which punishes sin accord
ing to its desert. Misery, therefore, is, on the one
hand, a meet object for mercy's consideration ; and,
on the other hand, it is that to which the ministry
of righteousness is directed. Atonement is the
provision of infinite mercy to remove a righteous
punishment from the person of the sinner, in accord
ance with every principle in God's nature, and
every law in His dominion. Besides, a provision
which is adapted to remove does not express the
whole truth, the atonement is a provision contain
ing a law within its very heart, which guarantees
that all its purposes will be attained in the case of
every frail soul which has based its hopes upon it.

THE PROPITIATION" 25

If the Atonement (propitiation) is described
according to its purpose, it is that which reconciles
God and man. The verses which contain the
word in the New Testament describe it according
to its nature. It is used three times : Rom. iii. 25,
" Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through
faith, by his blood " ; 1 John ii. 2, " He is the
propitiation for our sins " ; and 1 John iv. 10, " God
sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
There is, however, a slight difference between the
word in the first passage and that in the other
two. In Rom. iii. the word has an adjectival force
—"propitiatory"; and one may naturally ask,
What substantive ought we to take as connected
with it ? Exactly the same word is used in Heb.
ix. 5, where it is translated " mercy-seat." It was
so translated because the mercy-seat, " the Cherubim
of Glory," was what was overshadowed ; and
because it was on it the blood was sprinkled by the
high priest ; seeing it was the seat of God, it deserved
the name propitiatory seat.
From this use of the word in Heb. ix. 5, some
have thought that the word " seat " ought to be
understood as a substantive in Rom. iii. 25.
According to this view, the meaning is, " Whom
God set forth to be a propitiatory seat," or a mercy-
seat. But another explanation seems to us more
natural. " By his blood " presupposes a sacrifice,

26 THE ATONEMENT
and assumes the propitiation to be a sacrifice ;
therefore, the most natural interpretation is, " Whom
God set forth to be a propitiatory sacrifice, through
faith, by his blood." In the other two passages
referred to, the word is a substantive— propitiation,
or that which reconciles.
" He is the propitiation," in 1 John ii. 2, implies
that the Person of our Lord is a propitiation.
" Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through
faith, by his blood " (Rom. iii. 25), implies not
only that the Person is a propitiation, but also
that the Person as a sacrifice is the propitiation.
" Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins " (1 John iv. 10), shows that the Person
is a propitiation from love, and by the appointment
of God.
It is important, in order to pacify the sinner's
conscience, that the propitiation should uphold
the demands of righteousness ; and in order to
win his affections, it is important that the pro
pitiation should be a manifestation of God's love to
wards him. In the first two passages mentioned, pro
pitiation is set forth in its relation to righteousness,
" He is . . . righteous to forgive " (1 John i. 9).
In 1 John ii. 1 the Advocate is "Jesus Christ the
righteous ; and he (himself) is the propitiation."
" Whom God set forth to be a propitiation ... to

" THE PROPITIATION" 27
show his righteousness," says Rom. iii. 25. But
propitiation in its relation to God's infinite love to
the world is what we have set forth in 1 John iv. 10.
Over 1 John ii. 1, 2 the conscience becomes
pacified by the propitiation made manifest ; over
1 John iv. 10 the heart grows warm in love, and
the meeting of God's righteousness and God's love
in the sacrifice of the cross casts its shadow on the
believer's soul, at the peaceful meeting there, too,
of conscience and love.
Our Saviour may be viewed in three aspects :
(1) He was Man. The name by which He was
known as Man to His contemporaries was Jesus.
(2) He was God. The name by which He was
known as God was the Son. " But of the Son he
saith, 'Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever.'"1
(3) He was consecrated a Messiah— called by God
to discharge mediatorial functions between God
and man ; and His name as Messiah, in the New
Testament, is Christ. The three verses where He
is called the " propitiation " express these three views
of Him. Further, He is called both Jesus Christ
and Christ Jesus. When He is called by the former
name, the emphasis is on the fact that Jesus is
meant-Jesus of Nazareth. When called by the
latter, on the fact that He was the Christ, whom
God anointed. We are told in 1 John ii. 1,2," Jesus
1 Heb. i. 8.

28 THE ATONEMENT
Christ the righteous ; and he (himself) is the
propitiation." Yes, Jesus, " the young child," " the
boy Jesus," He who slept, prayed, wept, was crucified
one of three, and was put in the middle, as if He
were the worst of the three— H e is the propitiation
for our sins.
In 1 John iv. 10 we are told that " his Son "
—the Son of God— was the " propitiation." Yes,
the Son, who was in the beginning with God, and
Himself God. No other than the Son is the pro
pitiation. In Rom. iii. 25 we have, " In Christ
Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation " ;
and there the emphasis is on the fact that Christ,
the Anointed One, was the propitiation. As the
multitudes wondered at His teaching, after He
had delivered the Sermon on the Mount, because
He taught them as one having authority, so in
finitely greater multitudes will wonder at His
propitiation, after His crying out, " It is finished,"
because He, and He the Christ, died as one having
authority to die— a,n authority which He received
as a commandment from His Father. Now abide
these three : Jesus, the Son, and the Christ—
these three are one Person, one propitiation.

"PROPITIATION FOR"

IV
" PROPITIATION FOR "
When readers of the Bible hear of learned men
writmg against one another on the question of
the original meaning of different words used in
the Bible, it is quite possible that some may be
terrified lest the great doctrines of the gospel be im
perilled in the disputes. " Ye shall hear of war, and
rumours of wars," on the battlefields of books
and periodicals, when bishop shall rise against
bishop, and doctor against doctor, with no fiercer
weapons than pen and ink. " See that ye be not
troubled " : for these things must needs come to
pass. There is every reason why we should not
be panic-stricken. The truth concerning Christ
is as safe as Christ Himself was, when Herod sent
men to kill the children in the neighbourhood of
Bethlehem, and when God took precaution for
the safety of His life, by commanding the flight
into Egypt. The God who has prevented the Bible
itself from being banished from the world by its
enemies, has also made it impossible for saving
31

t.2 THE ATONEMENT
truth, as found in the Bible, to be jeopardised by
the malice or the genius of its critics.
The plan which God's Spirit has adopted in order
to secure this is to state the great truths of the
Bible in various forms, and to reveal them in
different connections. Consequently, a thought
ful reader's faith in the doctrines of the gospel
does not depend on the meaning of any one word
in the original tongue. If it did, the Bible would
not be a book of saving truth suited to all people
everywhere, but a book for learned sinners only.
The greatest doctrines— of the Trinity, the Divinity
and the Atonement of the Son, of the work of the
Holy Spirit, of the relative order of Justification
and Sanctification, etc.— are all stated in so many
different ways, and set forth on so many different
occasions, that in order to refute them, it would
be necessary not merely to prove the inaccuracy
of the translations of some one or two verses, but
to sacrifice the entire Bible. There are matters
in the Bible which none but scholars can discuss :
this cannot be denied. But it is equally true, that
they are trivial matters ; so trivial that no sinner's
eternal life in any way depends on how they are
settled. It is a matter of importance to the world
that God became flesh, and that the story of His
birth, as contained in Luke ii., is true ; and it is
because of its importance that the incarnation is

"PROPITIATION FOR" 33
set forth " in divers portions and in divers manners."
It is not of much concern to the sinful world what
meaning should be given to the word a-wo^pajyq,
in Luke ii. 2 ; nor does any point in the doctrine
of the incarnation depend upon its correct inter
pretation. We may argue about the meaning of
mo-Ti/cfj<}, in John xii. 3,— translated "liquid" in
Welsh,— until the trump of the archangel is heard,
without affecting, in the slightest degree, a single
article of the faith of " the dead in Christ." But, as
God Himself is omnipresent throughout His whole
creation, so are all the great saving truths omni
present throughout the Bible. The only way to
obliterate them is, not to obliterate one verse, but
to obliterate the whole Bible. A man knowing
only his own native tongue has therefore just to
search the Scripture thoroughly and thought
fully, to compare verse with verse, particularly
noting the words on the margin, and to interpret
them in the light of common sense, and he will
see the chief outlines of the plan of salvation, and
will understand the most important connections
which exist between the several doctrines of Scrip
ture. The great doctrine that is constantly discussed by
many doubting minds is that of the Atonement ; and
one point in the discussion is the original meaning
of the word rendered " for." Now, in the first place,
3

34 THE ATONEMENT
the great truth of the Atonement does not depend
upon the meaning given to this word. If it does
depend on any one word more than another, it is
evident that the word is " propitiation," and not
the word "' for." If every verse containing the
word " for " were set aside, we have a sufficient
number of verses left to prove the doctrine of the
Atonement : " The church of God, which he
purchased with his own blood (Acts xx. 28);
" Whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through
faith, by his blood (Rom. iii. 25); "Who his
own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree"
(1 Peter ii. 24), and several others. But as the
word " for " is found in the second verse of
1 John ii., we will endeavour to explain it, as we
understand its usage in the New Testament.
The common sense of the most superficial reader
will lead him to suspect a difference— though he
may, perhaps, be unable to explain it, or to express
himself in words— between the meaning of the
word " for " in the statement (1) that Christ died
for sinners, and in the statement (2) that He is
the propitiation for sins. When the first expression
is used, it means either that Christ died on his behalf,
in order to save him, or that He died in his stead.
It would be improper to say that Christ died on
behalf of, for the sake of, sin ; and that because
of the holiness of His nature. It would be utter

"PROPITIATION FOR" 35
nonsense to say that He died instead of sin. It
is evident that the word " for," when used to set
forth the relation between the Atonement and
sin, has some meaning different from that which
it has when used to express the relation between
the Atonement and the sinner. The difference
is determined by the difference between sin and
a sinner. Sin is an evil principle, while the sinner
is an evil person. But there is a connection between
them ; sin cannot possibly exist except in connection
with a person, that is, except as a quality belonging
to his spirit. On the other hand, persons may
exist without this principle in their spirit, as is
exemplified by the holiness of the inhabitants of
heaven. Accordingly, though a connection does
exist between the two, it is not an essential or neces
sary one. Sin implies a person, but a person need
not imply sin. Whatever the relation, there is
a difference between a principle and a person—
between quality and substance. And such is the
difference between the relation of the Atonement
and sin, and the relation of the Atonement and a
sinner. Let us for the present turn our attention to the
first relationship only. According to the Bible,
sin is that which a holy God abhors, and that which
a righteous God condemns. The fact that punish
ment follows sin in the government, and by the

36 THE ATONEMENT
administration, of an infinitely righteous God,
proves that it deserves punishment— that there
is an evil-desert in its very nature. Man is an
object of God's love, not because of sin, but in spite
of it. He is an object of God's mercy, not because
he is a sinner, but because he is miserable. He
is an object of God's condemnation, and that for
no other reason than that he is a sinner. And
the only reason that can exist for that condemna
tion is that evil-desert is the very essence of sin.
It is impossible to separate sin from its deserts.
As evil merit, or desert, is of the very essence of
sin, merit, great merit, of an entirely opposite char
acter, ought to be of the essence of the Atonement
which is able to wipe it awajr. And it is greater,
as much greater as He is greater than " the whole
world." Note also, in the two verses from 1 John where
the word "propitiation" is used, that it is not pro
pitiation for sinners, with a reference to^uretiship,
but propitiation for sin, with a reference to its
deserts. And just as there is a difference between
sin and a sinner, and there nevertheless exists some
connection between them ; so is there a difference
between merit and surety, and, at the same time,
there exists a connection between them. As " he
(himself) is the propitiation," the merit of the Atone
ment is not determined by the number of persons

"PROPITIATION FOR" 37
saved. There will be a great multitude, which
no man can number, standing before the throne ;
but God is not included in the expression " no man."
They are both countable and counted by Him.
And, for the matter of that, He is not limited to
the number of the sinners of " the whole world."
But we have nothing to do, practically, with any
connection which may exist between the Atone
ment and sinners outside " the whole world " ;
the Bible is therefore silent on the subject. It is
the Person of Christ and sin that are here contrasted,
and not the Person of Christ and the sinner.
The magnitude of the evil-deserts of sin arises,
not from the greatness of the men who sin, but
from the magnitude of the sin committed by them,
and the greatness of the God against whom they
have sinned ; while the greatness of the merit
of the Atonement is based on the divine greatness
of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Jesus
and sin are contrasted, that implies a contrast
between His merits and the deserts of sin. The
connection between the person of the sinner and
the punishment merited may be done away, because
the evil-desert is of the essence of sin, but not essential
to the person of the sinner. But it is impossible
to sever the connection between the Person of Jesus
Christ and His infinite merit ; because His merit
is essential, not to what He did, but to what He is

38 THE ATONEMENT
as a Person, and by partaking of what He did.
The divine greatness, which merits from eternity
the worship, the confidence, the love, and obedience
of every sinner, is in the Person of Jesus as the
propitiation, meriting for every sinner who possesses
such blessings as are wrapt up in the words, " I will
be a God unto thee." The infinitude of the Atone
ment is that of God Himself.

V
" PROPITIATION FOR "
The New Testament contains many verses in which
Jesus is said to have died for men. But the word
" for " has not the same meaning in each of these
different verses. It has two considerably different
meanings. One is equivalent to " on behalf of,"
or " in favour of," as contrasted with against. As
we find in Rom. viii. 31, " If God is for us, who
is against us" ; and again, 2 Cor. xiii. 8, " For we
can do nothing against the truth, but for the
truth." Its other meaning is instead of. In the few
New Testament verses, to which we shall refer,
instead of is translated for. It is evident that
the Calvinistic view of the Suretiship of the Lord
Jesus implies more than that He died for men—
on their behalf —in the above first sense. It implies
that He died for men, in their stead, in the sense
last given. Some writers, however, deny the latter
altogether. The late Dr. Colenso, then Bishop
of Natal, wrote a commentary on The Epistle to
39

40 THE ATONEMENT
the Romans ; and in his remarks on the sixth verse
of chap. v. he says : " Once for all let it be stated
distinctly, there is not a single passage in the whole
of the New Testament which supports the dogma
of modern theology, that our Lord died for our
sins. It is often said that He died for us, He died
for our sins ; but the Greek preposition, here
rendered ' for,' never in a single instance means
in our stead, but on our belvalf." 1
Is not such a remark, by a learned bishop, enough
to excite doubt as to the correctness of the accepted
view of the Atonement ? Let no one, however,
doubt rashly ; because, to our surprise at the bishop's
ignorance, or want of accuracy, the word is used
in the Bible in the very sense which he denies.
It was so used by the Lord Jesus Himself, in Matt.
xx. 28, "Even as the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many," or " instead of many."
If stress is laid on the word " for," this is the great
text of the New Testament which proves that the
Atonement was " a life instead of." Indeed, the
apostles, in all their remarks on the Atonement,
had only to exhibit to the world what precious
treasures of thought were contained in this word

1 The learned bishop continues, ' ' As in this passage, the dis
tinction is well shown in the following passage from Xenophon's
Anabasis, viii. 9, 10." — D. E. J.

PROPITIATION FOR" 41

of Christ. The original idea was His; and His
words brought into existence a whole world of
ideas, which He gave to the sons of men. The
apostles were diggers, working under the super
intendence of the Spirit, and bringing to light
treasures hidden within them, in order to enrich
the poor, and provide them with eternal consola
tion. And, without doubting or denying that
the Atonement is on behalf of, or for the sake of,
men, we may believe, on the basis of this verse
of our Saviour, that it is also instead of men. The
latter includes the former, but the former does
not include the latter. Nevertheless, the weaker
word— the former— is often used in the New Testa
ment with reference to the death of Christ.
Can any reason be assigned for this ? Yes, there
can. It is not right for men to die instead of one
another. It is a transgression of British law for
any innocent man, by any dissimulation whatever,
to go to prison, or to remain in prison, instead of
the real culprit. But there was something peculiar
in the Atonement— we shall mention it later on—
which made it consistent with righteousness for
Jesus to die instead of the ungodly. But it has
often happened that one man has suffered and
died in his efforts on behalf of another, or as the
result of his efforts on his behalf. Paul was a
prisoner in Rome, not instead of the Gentiles,

42 THE ATONEMENT
but on their behalf ; that is, as the result of his
efforts to free them from the yoke of Judaism
(Eph. iii. 1).
In John xiii. 37, Peter is reported to have said to
Jesus, " I will lay down my life for thee." He did
not mean that he was prepared to die in His stead,
but to die in his effort to defend Him. According
to Rom. xvi. 4 (R.V.), Prisca and Aquila " laid
down their own necks " for Paul's life— not instead
of his life, but in efforts on his life's behalf. There
fore, in order to show, by comparison, the superiority
of Christ's work over the work of everyone else,
it was desirable to use a word common to the two,
though that word be weaker than another word
which might be used for the work of Christ.
For example:— (1) Take John x. 11, "The good
shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep." No
shepherd has ever died instead of his sheep, while
many a shepherd has risked his life, and even lost
his life in the effort to save his strayed sheep. This
is the highest proof of love which a shepherd can
show towards his flock. Consequently, this is the
word used to express Christ's goodness as a shepherd.
Be it remembered, however, that though this is
the highest truth which earth can show, it is only
a jDart of the truth about Him, who gave His " life
a ransom for many." (2s) Take John xv. 13, " Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down

"PROPITIATION FOR" 43
his life for his friends." In this, as well as in the
previous verse, the emphasis of thought and voice
is to be on the word " life." No man in this world
gives his hfe instead of his friends ; but examples
may be given— and this is the highest proof of
love we have on earth— of men voluntarily suffering
and dying in their efforts on behalf of their friends.
All that this verse shows is that His death, as a
proof of love, is the highest which earth can show
at all. While other verses point out that His love
was above all earthly proofs, because He laid
down His life for His enemies, and died in their
stead. The reader can himself apply the above remarks
to such verses as 1 John iii. 16, " Hereby know
we love, because he laid down his life for us : and
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren " ;
and Rom. v. 6, 7, " For while we were yet weak,
in due season, Christ died for the ungodly. For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die : for
peradventure for the good man someone would
even dare to die." The same excuse may be made
for using the word " for " (=" for the sake of "),
in the above verses, as the apostle makes for using
the word " servants " in Rom. vi. 18, 19, " I speak
after the manner of men, because of the infirmity
of your flesh."
What difference of doctrine is contained in these

44 THE ATONEMENT
two forms of speech— that Christ died for the sake
of men, and that He died instead of men ?
1. To die instead of men implies that death was
an essential part of the work which He accom
plished in order to save them. To die for the sake
of does not imply this. When it is said that Paul
was a prisoner for, or for the sake of, the Gentiles,
it is not thought that his imprisonment was a part
of his work on their behalf, but that it was the
result of that work : which was preaching Christ
to them, and defending them in his letters against
the efforts of the Judaistic teachers to bring them
into bondage. It may be said that John Williams,
missionary to the South Sea islands, died for the
heathen ; but the distinction is at once evident
between his work of preaching Christ, and the
death which he suffered while discharging that
duty. The exertion of the shepherd to save his
sheep was one thing, the death which overtook him
in consequence of that exertion was another thing.
The writers who deny that Christ died instead of
men, reduce the death of Christ from being a definite
part of his work, to being an accidental consequence
of His work. But the Bible gives us to understand
that the giving of His life, that dying,— whether
the divine forsaking of Him for three hours is
meant,1 or the separation of soul and body at the
1 See Mark xv. 33, 34.— D. E. J.

"PROPITIATION FOR" 45
end of the three hours, or both, — is an essential
part of the great work of our " Propitiation." The
plan of our salvation does not consist of Christ's
merely manifesting to the world the moral char
acter of God in His sermons and His example,
even though that led Him to the cross, but of
saving sinners by dying in their stead ; it consists
of giving them life, by giving His own life in their
stead. He came to the world for the purpose of
dying, and He died in order to impart life, His own
life, to a multitude of lost sinners. He received
a commandment from His Father to lay down
His life for many ; and He humbled Himself, be
coming obedient to the divine command, "even
death, yea, the death of the cross." l The glory
of His death was the " pouring out of His soul unto
death," 2 and that with a willing heart.
2. To die instead of implies that He secured, by
His death, salvation at least for some. St. Paul's
imprisonment for the Gentiles did not, in any manner
whatsoever, secure them any good thing on the
score of its righteousness. The death of the shepherd,
in his effort to save the sheep, does not guarantee
that the sheep will be saved. Sufferings or death,
as consequences of doing a certain duty, are no
guarantee that the work will accomplish its purpose.
Writers who deny that Christ died instead of men,
1 Phil. ii. 8. 2 Isa. liii. 12.

46 THE ATONEMENT
deny any security to the sinner whatsoever. The
late Dr. Colenso denied security even in heaven
itself ; and in so doing was consistent with himself.
The divinity of the Person of the Saviour forbids
our finding an idea like that of " equal value "
in the word " ransom." Such an expression as
'' ransom instead of " contains, of necessity, security
on the ground of righteousness, for the people
for whom the ransom was paid.
Arminians believe in security, based on the
Atonement, after reaching heaven ; Calvinists
maintain that the Atonement is as effectual in
securing life to all who are united to Christ, to
all who have once been united to Him, as it is
to make life secure to all the inhabitants of heaven
itself. Money payment, in a business transaction,
secures possession, on the mere score of justice,
to the one who pays, of all he pays for. Similarly,
the Person of Christ, as the propitiation, guarantees,
on the ground of justice to Him, " that whosoever
believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal
life." Mere justice to Him becomes pure and infinite
grace to him who is saved through Him. Just
as there was so close a connection between divinity
and humanity in Christ's Person, that it is said,
" the word became flesh ; so also is there a connec
tion so close between righteousness and grace in
the gospel scheme, that it might be said, " righteous-

"PROPITIATION FOR" 47
ness became grace " to the saved. And no greater
security is possible than the security of righteous
ness in a government administered by a king,
in whose nature righteousness is an essential
part.

VI
"PROPITIATION FOR"
The only verses in the New Testament where the
expression " instead of " is used in connection with
the Atonement of Christ are Matt. xx. 28, " To
give his life a ransom for" ( = "instead of") "many";
(also Mark x. 45) ; and Heb. xii. 2, " Who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross,"
etc. The former quotation alone connects instead
of with the persons of sinners ; consequently, on
that the weight of the proof of Christ's Suretiship
is placed, so far as the word " for," in the sense of
instead of, has to do with the subject. It is evident
that the meaning of the question, " For whom did
Christ die ? " in the Christian Instructor (chap. vii.
Q. 130) is, " Instead of whom did Christ die ? "
This is proved by the next question and answer.
Q. 131, "In what sense did Christ die for them?"
A. " As their surety, paying for them, and dying
in their stead."
As perfect security, on the ground of righteousness,

"PROPITIATION FOR" 49
to all men in Christ, is a necessary part of the result
of Christ's work in giving His life a ransom for
many, it seems to us that the inevitable conclu
sion is that which we have elsewhere mentioned,
namely, that union with Christ and life eternal
are so connected by the Atonement that the
righteous will not, be he Creator or creature, and
the unrighteous cannot, be he man or demon,
undo it.
In meditating over this, and other verses in the
Bible, every thoughtful man must ask himself, On
what principle should I seek to explain them ?
He will at once mark two important facts : (1) that
every word has its primary meaning— a meaning
peculiar to itself ; and (2) that there is hardly a
word in the Bible, or in ordinary conversation,
which is not frequently used in many senses other
than what is primary. It by no means follows,
however, that one is at liberty to give any meaning
he please to every word in every place. Common
sense will say in what way each word is used. The
true method is to give to every word its own dis
tinctive meaning, unless something in the nature
of the case, or in the context, compels us to give
some other meaning. Only if we see that such
an exceptional meaning is required, do we correctly
give it the secondary meaning and not the primary
one. 4

50 THE ATONEMENT
The Bible contains two kinds of truth : (1) his
torical truths relating to persons and things on
earth ; and (2) the truths of pure revelation, of
whose existence we could never have known but
for God's revelation of them through His Spirit.
This distinction in the subjects of revelation does
not in the slightest degree affect the fact that both
are given us in the Scriptures by the inspiration
of God. It is not correct, therefore, to speak of
the Scriptures as containing the word of God.
They are the word of God, and they contain a
revelation. By comparing these two classes of truths, we
at once see that the historical facts of the Bible
are nearer to our comprehension than the other
parts, because we possess some knowledge of this
world, its affairs, its circumstances, and its in
habitants, by means of the light of nature. We can,
therefore, trust ourselves to reason as to what
meaning should be given, from the very nature of
the case, to a word in the historical parts of the Biblf ,
and that with a certain sense of certainty which we
cannot feel when trying to explain truths of pure
revelation. We could never have had the slightest
conception of such truths as the Trinity, the Sonship
of the Second Person, the Person and Mediatorship
of Christ, the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit,
Justification by Faith, etc., were it not for revelation.

"PROPITIATION FOR" 51
There is, too, a necessary connection between what
the words expressing these truths contain, and the
limits of their meaning, just as there is a connection
between the knowledge of the boundaries of a country
and the knowledge of how many inhabitants it
contains. The natural rule, then, for explaining the words
of revelation is to take every word in its primary
sense, unless the God who has revealed the truth
itself happens to have shown in the context that
He wishes that word, in that place, to be taken
in a wider, or more limited, sense than its primary
meaning. If only God can reveal, He alone can
set limits to the meaning of the words which He
has revealed for that purpose. Just as the will
has no right to make laws for itself, but only to
search out what laws have been set by the Great
Head, and to administer those ; so is every reader
precluded from giving the meaning he pleases to
a single word of the Bible. He should understand
it in its ordinary, primary meaning, unless God,
who has written it, has distinctly excluded this,
and that by some expressions therewith connected.
Let us apply these remarks to three matters of
dispute in theology, where their point and import
ance may be more clearly seen.
1. The dispute concerning the divinity of the
Person of Christ. Those who believe in His divinity

52 THE ATONEMENT
maintain that He is called God in the Bible ; and
this is not denied by the Unitarians. But Uni
tarians reply that it is easily proved that the word
" god " has not the same meaning everywhere in the
Bible, and that it is used in several places for others
besides the MostHigh; accordingly, the fact that Jesus
is called God does not prove that He is so in the proper
and highest sense of the word. It is doubtless true
that the word " god " is used in a secondary sense
for others than the Most High. What reply, then,
can be given to this objection of the Unitarians?
Where the word is used in a secondary sense, the
Holy Spirit has been careful to show, through some
preceding or following words, that it was in a
secondary sense that He meant the word to be
used. Where there may be danger of mistaking
the meaning, He has been careful to set some
word close at hand as a lamp to ward the reader
from the danger. Creatures are called " gods "
in Ps. lxxxii. 1, 6 : " He judgeth among the
gods " (ver. 1) ; "I said, Ye are gods " (ver. 6).
But it is also stated in the same Psalm, in order
to safeguard the reader against the possibility of
mistake, that the " gods are " sons of the most
High," and that they " shall die like men." In
Ex. vii. 1, Moses is called " a god," but the same
verse says that he was made a god, proving that
there was One— He who made him so— above him,

PROPITIATION FOR" 53
and that he was not, therefore, god in the primary
sense of the word.
Now there are a number of verses, in which
Christ is called " God " without even a hint, preceding
or following, that the word is to be taken in its
secondary meaning. In the absence of such a
hint, it follows that He must have been the Most
High God. Of Moses it is said, " See, I have made
thee a god to Pharaoh " ; but of the Son, " and
the Word was God . . . and the Word became
flesh." These observations will serve to show the
point and importance of the above method of
explaining the words of Scripture ; and will supply
materials for answering Qq. 3 and 4 in The Christian
Instructor, chap. i. (inserted in the Appendix to
this volume).
2. The dispute concerning the depravity of human
nature. On one side it is contended that the primary
meaning of the word " all " is every person, and not
some of all nations ; and that the words " all have
sinned," " both Jews and Greeks, that they are all
under sin," prove that every man, young and old,
is a sinner. Those who deny the general depravity
of mankind, reply that they can easily show that
the word " all " has not the same meaning in every
passage where it is used in the Bible. Nothing
is easier than to point this out. Dr. Owen points
out that the word " world " is used in the Bible

54 THE ATONEMENT
in fifteen different senses other than its primary
one. It may also be proved, without difficulty,
that the meaning of the word " all " varies just
as that of the word "world" does. Is this, then,
sufficient to prove that by " all have sinned " is
meant " some of all nations " are sinners ? By no
means. According to the principle laid down above, we are
bound to believe that " all " means " every person,"
wherever the word is used in the Bible, unless it
can be proved that some necessity in the historical
parts, and some expression by God Himself in the
parts which contain a revelation of gospel truths,
compel us to understand it in a sense other than its
primary one. Such constraint has limited the
sense of the word in many places ; but in the words
of Rom. iii., where the depravity of mankind is
spoken of, God has supplied no expression in the
context, which shows that He wishes the meaning
of the word to be limited. In the absence of
proof compelling the reader to accept the secondary
meaning, one is bound to accept the word in its
primary meaning. By seeking to understand
the Bible, taking God at His word, and allow
ing oneself to be led whithersoever His word
leads, we turn even criticism itself into an act
of worship.
3. The dispute concerning the objects of Christ's

PROPITIATION FOR" 55
Suretiship. " Even as the Son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give
his hfe a ransom for many." The primary meaning
of the word " many " is not " a few," nor " all." As
it is said that the word " all " has different meanings
in the Bible, and that that is sufficient ground for
limiting its proper meaning in the statement " all
have sinned," so it is said that the word " many "
has not the same meaning everywhere in the Bible,
and that that is sufficient ground for saying that
by " many " in the above verse is meant " all."
Indeed, there is quite as much reason for saying
that by " all " is meant " some " at all times, as for
saying that by " many " is meant " all " at all times.
It is true that the word " many " in the verse, " For
if by the trespass of the one the many died," x implies
" all." But it should be remembered also that it
was the Spirit of God Himself who made that inter
pretation legitimate, by the verses of the context.
If Jesus Christ had hinted, either before or after
uttering the verse above quoted, that by " many "
He meant '' all," we could not have avoided giving
the word that interpretation. But He did not ;
and because He did not, we are bound to give it,
neither the meaning of " few," nor that of " all." It is
said that Christ died for all ; but it is not said, nor
does it necessarily follow from the words used,
1 Rom. v. 15.

56 THE ATONEMENT
that He died for all alike, because among the all
are a certain many instead of whom He gave His
life. If it is stated that He died for all, it is not
stated that He died instead of all, but instead of
many. In 1 Tim. ii. 6 the same word " ransom " is used
as in Matt. xx. 28 ; and there it says that He " gave
himself a ransom for all." But though the apostle
uses the same word " all," he does not use the same
word " instead of " as we find in Matt. xx. 28. " In
stead of many," says Christ : and Paul does not
say " instead of all " ; and divine minuteness is
visible in this case to say " instead of many " m
one verse, and to avoid saying " instead of all "
in another. The verse shows that there is some
special relation between the ransom and a certain
many— a relation implied in the word " instead
of." Other verses show that there is some special
relation between a certain many and Christ— a
relation implied in the phrase " in Christ." The
Spirit of God has revealed, in the Bible, one stand
point from which the two may be viewed, namely,
forgiveness. The view which we get of the first
from the standpoint of forgiveness is this, " For
this is my blood of the covenant, which is shed
for many unto remission of sins " (Matt. xxvi. 28).
The view of the second from the same standpoint
is, " To him bear all the prophets witness, that

"PROPITIATION FOR" ' 57
through his name everyone that believeth on him
shall receive remission of sins " (Acts x. 43).
"His infinitely precious blood
The atoning ransom has supplied ;
His power is in His sacrifice,
And Heaven itself is satisfied."
(The late Rev. Robert Owen, London, trans.)

VII
" PROPITIATION FOR "
Although the divine Persons have the same attri
butes because they are one God, they have different
functions because they are a Trinity. Since every
Person is revealed in His work, all we can know
of the difference between their Persons is, from
the nature of the case, that which we can gather
from the difference between the functions which
they discharge. And in the case of revelation
pure and simple, it is possible for us to make a
mistake regarding what is essential. If asked what
we mean when we use the word Persons regarding
the eternal Three, our language would necessarily
be in terms of their functions. For example, we
can say that there is such an eternal distinction
in the Godhead as to make it possible for the One to
ask the Second to give the Third.1 The peculiarity
of the function of the Father, in the plan of salva
tion, is distinguished by the word toicards ; that
of the Son, by instead of ; that of the Spirit, by in,
1 John xiv. 16.
6S

" PROPITIATION FOR" 59
As we have pointed out already, the word " for "
has two meanings : (1) " on behalf of," as con
trasted with " against ; " (2) " instead of." In the
former sense, the word " for " does not exhibit that
which is peculiar to the work of the Son. It is
used in that sense of the work of the other divine
Persons also. " If God is for us, who is against
us" (Rom. viii. 31). If this verse refers to the God
head, it shows that the Godhead is " for " men,
in the sense of being " on their behalf." If it be
averred that the word " God " refers to the Father,
in the light of the verse following, " He that spared
not his own Son," etc., it shows that the Father
takes the part of the sinner in the provisions of
the gospel. In vers. 26, 27 of the same chapter
the Spirit is said to be making " intercession for
the saints." The meaning is not that the Spirit
makes intercession instead of the saints, so that
they need not pray for themselves, but that He
intercedes on their behalf, by helping their in
firmity, in view of their not knowing how to pray
as they ought. He takes the part of the saints
by giving them strength to pray. In ver. 34
the same language is used of the Son's work, in
heaven, interceding for sinners.
Thus we have verses in Rom. viii. which prove
that the Father, Son, and Spirit are active on
behalf of sinners, according to the plan of salvation,

60 THE ATONEMENT
in a manner described in the word " for." As the
divine Persons have the same attributes, because
they are one God, it is natural to conclude that
the word " for," in the sense of on behalf of, because
it is used of the functions of the Three together,
denotes something common to them as they are
One, rather than as they are Three. Although
the Father, Son, and Spirit, are active on behalf
of sinners, of the Son alone is it said that He is
in their stead. Being instead of, therefore, is a
characteristic peculiar to the work of the Son.
The Spirit does not make intercession for the sinner,
so as to exempt the sinner himself from praying
also ; but the Son gave His life in his stead, so that
the man in Christ need not die.
It is true that the New Testament contains only
one verse in which the Son is said to have given
His life in our stead (Matt. xx. 28 ; Mark x. 45) ;
but that verse shows that He has given Himself,
and His own Person, instead of sinners. Since
His Person is in the propitiation, as well as in all
His mediatorial acts, any peculiarity which may
be in His Atonement, or in His acts, leads the mind
to see this same peculiarity in His Person. If it
were asked, therefore, why the Son, and not the
Father, or the Spirit, became flesh, to give His
life instead of the sinner ? our reply would be, and
that with no small sense of humility in the presence

PROPITIATION FOR" 61
of so weighty a subject, that the Son possessed a
characteristic, as an eternally divine Person, which
made it possible for Him alone to be instead of.
That characteristic, which essentially belonged
to the divine Person, becomes, through His work,
from a grace pure and worthy of the worker, life
to the sinner. If asked again, Is it likely the Son
would have become flesh, in order to reveal to man
the moral character of God, if man had not fallen ?
We could reply, The special feature of the Son's
work is the revealing of the Father, by giving Him
self instead of man ; and the supposition of man's
retaining his original state of holiness precludes
the necessity of the Son doing anything in his stead.
On this supposition— it is only a supposition— the
divine Person to become flesh would have been
the Holy Spirit, whose special work would have
been to keep the heart pure so as to retain its vision
of God, and to reveal God by constant activity
within the soul. It would be unnecessary for
anyone to give himself in man's stead, but it
would not be unnecessary for a divine Being to
work within him in order to preserve him from
the degeneration to which every creature as such
is liable.
The Son's characteristic as a Person is apparent
in all His mediatorial acts. His intercession in
heaven implies the perpetuating before the throne

62 THE ATONEMENT

of God of the virtue of His propitiation instead
of the sinner. As He is a Priest instead of the
sinner before God, so is He a King instead of the
Father over men. In His prayer on the cross,
" Father forgive them " (Luke xxiii. 34), and in
His teaching on the Mount, " Your heavenly Father
will also forgive you " (Matt. vi. 14, 15), Jesus points
out that it is the Father's work to forgive. Never
theless, He says in Matt. ix. 6, " That the Son of man
hath power on earth to forgive sins." He received
authority from His Father to forgive sins in His
stead. The seal of the throne of heaven is on
every forgiveness extended by Jesus of Nazareth
to sinners ; because, " all authority hath been
given unto " Him " in heaven and on earth," to
forgive, to govern, to judge on the last day, and
to teach the people in His Father's stead.
The relation between Christ and those in whose
stead He acts is expressed by help of the word in.
The word has an application to God Himself. Be
cause God is in Christ in some manner which we
cannot comprehend, by reason of the greatness
of the glory, the Mediator administers the govern
ment of the world instead of God, and imparts
to it divine knowledge. Similarly, because some
sinners, chosen " in him before the foundation of
the world," are in Christ, and because these believe
in Him through the ministry of the gospel, He

"PROPITIATION FOR" 63
fulfilled His office as Priest by giving Himself a
ransom in their stead. It may be that some reader
'finds it difficult to understand in combination
the two statements— (1) that the Lord Jesus gave
His life instead of men chosen in Him by the free
and gracious will of God ; and (2) that He gave
His life instead of those who shall believe on Him
from the free choice of their own will. A difficulty
exists ; but to attempt to grasp the ideas together
is the same as if a man, in a fit of madness, tried
to get a view of a valley from two totally different
standpoints at the same time, when the standpoints
were two hilltops at the extreme ends of the valley.
Being awakened out of his madness, it may occur
to him that God alone is omnipresent, and that
only God, by His infinite glance, can view an object
from every possible standpoint at once. Let anyone
try to see the Surety of Christ from the standpoint
of eternity, and from some moment of time, at
one and the same instant, and he will find, to his
surprise, perhaps, that he cannot; yet when he
remembers that he is man and not God, he may
not be so surprised.
Let him, first, take the standpoint of eternity,—
beyond the limits of time and place, beyond the
conditional and accidental, beyond angels and
the place called heaven, there he will see the Son
giving His life instead of men chosen " in him before

64 THE ATONEMENT
the foundation of the world " ; x and he will see the
Lamb, according to Peter, "foreknown indeed be
fore the foundation of the world " ; 2 and, according
to John, " slain from the foundation of the world." 3
As a truth present in the mind of the great eternal
" I AM," those who shall be saved ever were, are now,
and ever shall be, chosen in Christ, and Christ
ever was, " before the foundation of the world,"
a Surety slain in their stead. And when we consider
the saved as men chosen in Christ "before the
foundation of the world," we ought, at the same
time, to consider Christ as a Lamb slain "before
the foundation of the world." The common error
is to view one truth from the standpoint of eternity,
and the remaining truths from the standpoint
of time, both at the same instant.
When we try to see the whole plan of salvation
from the standpoint of eternity, we ought, at the
same time, to view all the providential circumstances
of the world from the same place. It will then
be seen that all times, as well as the boundaries
of the abiding places of all the inhabitants of the
world, have been marked out and fixed before
hand, so that they cannot be changed. Let the
observer descend nearer earth ; let his mind take
a position within the limits of time and space, and
he will see that the Son appeared in the fulness
1 Eph. i. 4. - 1 Pet. i. 20. s Rev. xiii. 8.

"PROPITIATION FOR" 65
of a particular time, once at the end of a certain
world ; that He died on a place called Golgotha ;
that all alike are by nature the children of wrath ;
that all alike are invited to Christ ; that some are
accepting the invitation by the free choice of their
own wills, and that their life is secured in their
acceptance of Christ. He will also see that men
appoint hours for their work, use their common
sense, and act according to the freedom of their
wills, when changing their abodes. A man may
change his standpoints if he choose, while an animal
cannot ; but it is God alone who can. look from
both points of view at once. Let man take his
standpoint in eternity to worship God—" the only
wise," -the "only Potentate," -the "only holy"
One,— the only "I am,"— " the only begotten Son,"
and the Spirit of the " living God." Let him take
the standpoint of time in which he finds himself
to feel his personal responsibility, to listen to the
voice of God speaking to him, to make a hearty
choice of the Saviour, and to be made secure for
ever.

VIII
" PROPITIATION FOR "
" The strictest views of the virtue and efficacy of
the Atonement in its relation to those who are
saved through it, are not inconsistent with the most
comprehensive belief in its sufficiency for the whole
world." x
The Bible cannot deny itself because God cannot
deny Himself. Two different truths are expressed
in the two following verses : " That by the grace
of God he should taste death for every man," 2 and,
" To give his life a ransom for many," 3 but they do
not contradict one another. Even if we should
fail to explain how they are consistent with one
another/ that would not be a sufficient reason for
denying either, nor for changing the proper meaning
of even one word in the one for the sake of maintain
ing the truth of the other. That both are divine
statements is sufficient reason for believing as
strongly, and proclaiming as clearly, the truth of
1 Dr. Lewis Edwards' Doctrine of the Atonement (p. 246).
2 Heb. ii. 9. s Matt. xx. 28.
C8

"PROPITIATION FOR" 67
one as that of the other. It may be pointed out,
however, that the difficulty a finite mind has in
predicating together the universal and the particular
limitation is not a difficulty peculiar to the gospel
plan, or scheme, but one which is met with in the
whole range of God's government of His rational
creatures. By making this satisfactorily clear the
Doctrine of the Atonement is freed from the onus
of the charge of making a difficulty which did not
previously exist, because it traces the difficulty back
to a relation which exists between the free will
of God and the free will of His rational creatures,
and proves that the difficulty exists wherever that
relation exists. Since the Atonement stands alone,
however, without any other truth, as far as we
know, resembling it, a legitimate and necessary
question presents itself for reply. How is it possible
to point out any difficulty in this doctrine which
exists also in any other doctrine ? What line of
thought in the Atonement runs parallel with any
other line of thought in God's dominion ? In
reply to these questions, observe (1) that the
God who gave His Son as a propitiation is both
Author and Giver of every good gift of every
kind and of every degree— towards, to, within,
and through man, whether past, present, or
future ; and (2) that every good thing— in the
widest sense of the word every— made, or that

68 THE ATONEMENT
shall be made, has been purposed and made by
Him from eternity.
Again : it is His work alone that declares His
purpose to us ; consequently, every difficulty which
we find in His purposes confronts us, in an equal
degree, in His works. But which are the difficulties
we cannot know, until He has ceased working.
It is the same God, therefore, who distributes the
smaller as well as the greater blessings— blessings
which He from eternity had purposed to impart.
Whatever difficulty, then, may be found in recon
ciling the universal and particular in the doctrine
of the Atonement, the same difficulty exists when
we consider the work of God in imparting the
smallest mercies to men. Let us take the sun,
for example, which is, doubtless, a blessing given
by God, and to which, moreover, the Lord Jesus
is compared as " the sun of righteousness." x From
one point of view, the sun is a sun to all— to every
man— to the whole world, because it has enough
light for all, yes, and for other worlds besides ;
and the light which it pours forth is adapted for
the eyes of men. Lastly, and most important
of all, the sole hindrance to everyone's enjoying
its light is the blindness or weakness of a man's
own eyes. In the light of these considerations,
the majority of men would probably have no
1 Mai. iv. 2.

" PROPITIATION FOR" 69
strong objection to saying that the sun is a sun
for all. And since it is a sun for all, it is the
duty of everyone to use every means available to
see, and to see other objects in the light of its
beams. But there is another point of view which may
legitimately be taken. According to that the sun
is only a sun for some, for many— not for all, nor
for a few. It is from the standpoint of eternity
that the relation of the sun to some may be seen.
It pleased God, by an act of His absolute sovereignty,
" according to the good pleasure of his will," to
choose unconditionally, " before the foundation of
the world," a definite number of the seed of Adam
—"a great multitude . . . out of every nation, and
of all tribes and peoples and tongues," to have eyes
adapted to see the sun. He created the sun, and
placed it in the firmament according to an eternal
purpose, in order that it may impart its light to
those to whom He had purposed giving eyes to
see it. Because our idea of the perfection of God
precludes all possibility of His being disappointed
in anything, we are bound to believe that He never
created the sun for those who cannot use it, but
only for those who can use it, namely, those whom
He has from eternity elected to use it. According
to the holy purpose of God, there is an indivisible
bond of certainty uniting the light of the sun with

70 THE ATONEMENT
a myriad eyes. Because of this indivisible bond it
is a sun to some.
According to the first point of view, seeing the
sun is conditioned by the possession and the use
of the eyes; according to the second, it is uncon
ditioned, because their possession and use are ensured
by God— eternally in purpose, and in time actually—
to some for whose sakes the sun was created. Both
views alike tell man that he ought to thank God
for the sun ; but in the first case, he may feel the
duty which lies on him to use every available means
to see the sun ; and in the second case, he may
thank God, and Him alone, for the very means
of sight, and for every desire to use them, and for
being able to see when using them. But how the
free will of God blesses man with the desire of using
the proper means of sight, without doing violence
to the will of man, is as great a difficulty in the
matter of seeing the sun as it is in the matter of
believing in Christ. The sun is for all as well as
for some, and it is for some as well as for all. We
may believe both, even though we always fail to
reconcile them.
"This mystery is great : but I speak in regard
of Christ and of the church." J Christ died for
all— for every man— to this extent, that the only
thing which hinders every man from possessing
1 Eph. v. 32.

"PROPITIATION FOR" 71
the blessings of the Atonement is the unbelief of
his own heart. Every hearer is responsible for
refusing to believe ; and we are told that all shall
be judged who believe not the truth.1 He died,
also, for those who were given Him of the Father,
to this extent, that He will not be disappointed
in the purpose of His death, inasmuch as He has
made sure that they will come to Him, and that
they will be for ever made safe in Him. According
to the first view, every man is in duty bound to
accept Christ, and is guilty of sin by refusing to
believe. According to the second, everyone who
has received Him is in duty bound to thank God
alone for the inclination to receive Him, and for
salvation through receiving Him. According to
view number one, life is conditioned by believing ;
according to view number two, we are above the
conditioned, in an eternal security, in a sphere
wherein if or if only is not intelligible. From
the standpoint of time, Jesus told a certain man,
" If thou canst ! All things are possible to him
that believeth." 2 But had He addressed him
from the standpoint of eternity, His language would
have been, " Thou wilt believe, and all things
will be possible to thee." The truth of the Welsh
hymn is not a thing peculiar to the plan of salvation,
but applicable generally to every blessing bestowed
1 See 2 Thess. ii. 12. 2 Mark ix. 23.

72 THE ATONEMENT
by God— to the blessings of health, of the senses,
and of daily bread ; indeed, to the smallest blessings
ever bestowed— when viewed from the standpoint
of eternity —
"No flaw has this, 'tis like a bridal ring,
No out nor if leaves loose- wrought anything."1
Or, in the words of another hymn—
"A choice — in naught conditioned
By deeds of mortal man —
Sprang from His will's good pleasure,
And formed His gracious plan :
It knows no first beginning,
'Tis changeless as divine ;
Its base and superstructure
Are all of God's design."2
If and if but are not proper expressions to
use in connection with the blessings of earth and
time, from the standpoint of eternity, because all
who enjoy them are sure of them. But it is
only what God has accomplished that tells us
what He has guaranteed from eternity should be
done. The expression, in the last verse, of " Saw ye my
Saviour ? " can be altered according to whichever
1 Rendered from the fourth verse of a hymn on "The strength
of God's Covenant," by Edward Jones, Maes y Plwm. — D. E. J.
2 Rendered from the second verse of a hymn on "God's Love
in Predestination," by the late Rev. Michael Roberts, Pwllheli.
— D. E. J.

"PROPITIATION FOR" 73
of the two views is taken. In the light of time,
we sing— "I will forgive them,
I will forgive them,
If they repent and believe :
Let them turn unto Me,
And depend alone on Thee,
And salvation they freely shall have."
We cannot condemn the verse, because we dare
not condemn Jesus Christ for saying, " If thou
canst ! " etc. ; or St. Paul for writing, " But toward
thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his good
ness." 1 If will be an important word in all languages
of time to the end of the world ; not with men only,
but with God also, whenever He condescends to
speak in a language intelligible to us. While He
adopts our way of speaking, we will sing the above
verse, without in any way rejecting the " if " it con
tains ; but should any mortal aspire to speak in the
language of Him who inhabiteth eternity, the
verse must take the form—
"I will forgive them,
I will forgive them,
They will repent and believe :
They will turn unto Me,
And depend alone on Thee,
And salvation they freely shall have."
1 Rom. xi. 22.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE
MEDIATORIAL OFFICE

IX
the atonement and the MEDIATORIAL OFFICE
The relation between the Atonement and the offices
of our Lord Jesus Christ is based upon a deeper
and more mysterious relation— the relation between
Person and office. Since the idea contained in
the word " relation " presupposes tioo truths in
some way mutually connected, a comprehension
of the nature of the relation existing between them
would presuppose a capacity to see the two at once.
The two truths which claim our attention in the
following remarks are (1) the truth regarding
a Person, and (2) the truth regarding an office.
The two exist in the government of God, and are
in close relation to one another. They exist in
every form of temporal government, and in every
dispensation under which the Church has ever
existed in this world. They meet in their greatest
splendour in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom every
dignity that belongs to a Person, and every honour
that can belong to an office, are found in the closest
possible connection with one another. That con-
77

78 THE ATONEMENT
nection is so real, that the closest connection which
has ever existed on earth between man and the
highest office hardly merits in comparison more
than the name of a shadow of reality.
Though it may be possible to dispute whether
Melchizedek or Aaron was the greater priest,
whether Paul or John was the greater apostle, it
is beyond all dispute that Jesus Christ, being an
"Apostle and High Priest," perfectly realised the
meaning of these two words, so that nothing was
lacking which could be desired by either man
or God.
It may be best, perhaps, to consider first the
relation between person and office among men,
in examples close at hand, in the world of types
and shadows. There are two classes of people,
in church and state, who do not agree with us in
their views of this relation ; it would be more correct,
perhaps, to say that they deny the relation alto
gether. The one class praises the merits of the
person, and looks upon the office as nothing more
than a name. The other half worships every official
dignity, and considers personal excellence a matter
of little account. Class one, by denying the signi
ficance of office, denies the possibility or propriety
of intrusting to anyone a given duty which does
not originally and inherently belong to him person-
all)' ; or, at least, denies the propriety of giving

ATONEMENT AND MEDIATORIAL OFFICE 79
him the necessary authority to discharge the duty
intrusted to him.
By this view, personal excellence may be exalted
at the expense of the highest qualities which belong
to a reasonable being, since one of those qualities is
a special capacity to receive a trust, and to discharge
the duties of that trust, especially when the work
to be done is both important and difficult. That
capacity is constituted by the person being a greater
man than other men — a greater man, and not
more than man, as people occasionally expect an
officer to be. The feeling which condemns office
in every form is frequently connected with the
mistaken notion that it is merely a position of
authority ; whereas it is mainly a position of trust,
and a position of authority only in so far as that
is indispensable to discharge the duty intrusted.
The second class mentioned reverences office
to the point of half worshipping it, quite forgetful
of the personal excellence necessary to the filling
of it honourably. Want of mental balance and
immoral conduct in the office-holder are mere
trifles in the eyes of such men. Although they
reverence office, what they reverence most in it
is the least important thing connected with it —
the outward pomp which may be attached to it.
Far separated as these two classes of people are,
the same mistaken notions lie at the root of their

80 THE ATONEMENT
views. They suppose that authority is the chief
characteristic of office, and they do not understand
that it is a trust received from others forthedischarge
of a duty. Both views are one-sided. The entire
truth lies in the combination of what is positive
in each — in the combination of personal good
qualities and the reception of a trust, in virtue
of possessing such good qualities for the duty to
be performed, together with as much power and
authority as are necessary thereto. These are
present to some extent in every good holder of
office. But in Christ the}" are infiniteh' so. What
church members respect in an office-bearer is not
merely his being a good man, but the combination
of goodness and wisdom in the man, together with
an important position of trust committed to him
by others.
Let us now turn our eyes upward. God is above
office— above accepting a trust from the hands
of another. He is not above work, nor above
activity, nor above comparing His way of working
with man's ordinary way of working— by the use
of his arm and his fingers. But He is above office.
It is customary to speak of the work of the Father
and the work of the Spirit ; why is it not customary
to speak of the offices of the Father and the offices
of the Spirit, as we speak of the offices of the Son ?
One reason is that the Father and the Spirit as

ATONEMENT AND MEDIATORIAL OFFICE 81
divine Persons, though not above active work,
are above accepting a trust or appointment from
anyone else. God was never intrusted Avith the
duty of government, for there was no one above
Him who could appoint Him to such a position.
Let us look down again. The unreasoning beast
is beneath office, but it is not beneath work. It
may be hard-working, but it is not great enough
to be intrusted by anyone with the accomplishment
of a duty. Man stands between God and the un
reasoning beast. Like God, he is not above work ;
like the beast, he is not beneath work. Unlike
God and the beast, he can be appointed to office
by God and men ; he can be placed in a position
of trust, with which a certain amount of honour
and responsibility may be connected.
The natural inference from this is that it was
needful for the Son to become flesh, in order to
make it possible for Him to receive a trust, and be
appointed to office. In the purpose and plan of
God He was anointed from everlasting in the eternal
covenant, just as He was a Lamb " slain from the
foundation of the world." But He had to become
flesh in order to become sufficiently humble to be
appointed to an office, though that office implies
the most glorious duty which was ever intrusted
to anyone ; yea, more glorious, we humbly believe,
than that which God Himself had accomplished
6

82 THE ATONEMENT
in a manner above all discharge of offices. There
must be humanity in the Person, in order to enable
Him to receive a trust ; and there must be Deity
in the Person, in order to enable Him to discharge
the trust. The greatness of the work intrusted to
Jesus Christ gave dignity to humanity in the lowest
stage of His humiliation ; more dignity, indeed,
than it received in the highest exaltation of any
other. Humanity was more exalted in the Person
of Jesus on the cross than in the person of Solomon
on his throne. On the other hand, so far as trust
and appointment are connected with His work,
there was divine humiliation even in His highest
exaltation ; because He humbled Himself that He
might be exalted to accomplish a work more difficult
than He could have accomplished without hum
bling Himself. The whole Person is in each office.
It is not the divinity of Christ, but Christ in His
whole Person, who is King. It is not the humanity
of Christ, but Christ in His whole Person, who is
Priest. As the whole Person was, and is, in the
work of propitiation, the whole Person was, and is,
in each one of the offices. All His personal ex
cellences qualify Him for the offices. Every honour
which belongs to the offices is a crown of glory,
encircling the head of the Person appointed to them.
If we were asked, Should we reverence the offices
for the sake of the Person, or the Person for the

ATONEMENT AND MEDIATORIAL OFFICE 83
sake of the offices ? we would reply, Neither ;
but the Person in His offices, in inseparable con
nection with His offices— who has received a trust
and discharges the duties of the offices, without
resting until all is accomplished. As " he (himself)
is the propitiation," so is He the Prophet, the Priest,
and the King : and more, because " he (himself)
is the propitiation," He, in the same degree, is the
Prophet, the Priest, and the King.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE
PRIESTLY OFFICE

85

X
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
" He (himself) is the propitiation." — 1 John ii. 2.
"God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we
might live through him." — 1 John iv. 9.
"But that he . . . sent his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins." — 1 John iv. 10.
"The Father hath sent the Son to be the Saviour of the
world." — 1 John iv. 14.
An important preliminary question must here
be referred to. What proof is there that the Lord's
giving of Himself as the propitiation was an official
act— a part of His work in the office of Priest ?
The answer is found in the statement : " No man
taketh the honour unto himself, but when he is
called of God, even as was Aaron. So Christ also
glorified not himself to be made a high priest,
but he that spake unto him, Thou art my Son,
this day have I begotten thee " (Heb. v. 4, 5).
Read these words, not as a mere quotation from
the Bible, but in their connection with the pre
ceding and following verses of the Bible, and the
conclusion is irresistible, that the work of pro-
87

THE ATONEMENT

pitiation is, not the ground of the priestly office
of our Lord Jesus Christ, but the work of that office ;
and not an incidental part of the propitiation, but
a work essential to it.
The words quoted from Hebrews indicate that
both honour and glory belong to the office. The
meaning is not that honour and glory are obtained
by a satisfactory discharge of the work of the office,
but that appointment to such an office is in itself
a mark of honour and glory. The reason is, that
the work of the priestly office of Christ is of so much
importance and difficulty that His appointment
to accomplish it is a proof of the most absolute
confidence in Him— a confidence as great as the work
itself is important and difficult. The fact that God
intrusted the glory of His throne, the glory of
His attributes, and the lives of an innumerable
host of perishing souls, to the charge of Jesus
of Nazareth, was in itself a crown on His head
even when in " the lower parts of the earth."
The only crown ever seen on His head while here
below was one of thorns. Little did those who
placed it on His head think that God had crowned
Him with glory before they had crowned Him
with thorns — by intrusting Him with a work to
accomplish, compared with which creating worlds
and angels was a mere nothing.
The words from Hebrews show also that it was

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 89
His call " of God " that placed Him in the office.
However necessary the sinner's acceptance of Jesus,
and his confidence in Him, may be, in order that
he may enjoy the blessings of the Atonement, neither
his acceptance nor his confidence were necessary
to the placing of Jesus in office, and making Him
the Christ. All that is required for that is, that
God should call Him. It is natural to ask, however,
Why is not the sinner's choice of Christ as necessary
to His appointment to the priestly office as is God's
choice of Him, since He mediates as a Priest between
the two, and is, consequently, related to both ?
The answer is evident. The fact of the sinner being
in the grip of the law, and under condemnation,
and suffering even here part of his punishment,
in the absence of the Holy Spirit from his heart,
makes all mediating between him and God a matter
of pure grace towards him. And it is out of all
reason that the choice of one who receives a favour
should have any authority to determine in what
way the favour shall be imparted to him. A culprit
is not allowed to choose the jailer of the prison in
which he is confined, nor by whom, nor in what
manner, he shall be released ; or should he choose,
his choice is of no value. The God who has power
and authority to punish the sinner alone has the
power and the authority to appoint a mediator to
release him from the grip of chastisement. The

90 THE ATONEMENT
fact that salvation is of grace, of necessity lays on
the shoulders of God alone the work of appointing
One to the mediatorial offices. The plan of salvation
cannot deprive the sinner of anything, for he has
already lost everything through sin ; but it can,
and will, deprive God of His glory, unless He has
Himself made provision to prevent it ; and the
provision He has made is the mediatorship of His
Son. The words from Hebrews trace the appointment of
Him who was made Priest, to the fact that He was
the Son. "He that spake unto him, Thou art mySon,"
glorified Him by making Him Priest. By consulting
the second Psalm, from which the words are taken,
it will be seen that they are there used in a reference
to the kingly office (Ps. ii. 6-8). If asked to define
the difference between the second Person and the
first, or the third, in the Eternal Essence, we cannot,
and dare not, try to explain ; all that has been re
vealed to us is that there is a difference which
justifies the use of the word Persons for the Three.
But to the question, Why the second Person was
appointed to the mediatorial office, as Priest and as
King, and not the first or the third, the Bible
supplies the answer. It is because He is Son. This
is the basis of our remark in Chapter VII. " If it
were asked, Why the Son, and not the Father, or
the Spirit, became flesh, in order to give Himself

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 91
instead of the sinner, our reply would be that the
Son had some peculiar characteristic, as an eternally
divine Person, which made it impossible for anyone
but Himself to be instead of." The words, " Thou
art my Son," referring to Christ's priesthood in
Hebrews, and to His kingly office in the Psalm,
prove, as clearly as words can prove, that the Son
has some essential characteristic, as an eternally
divine Person, which fitted Him to be appointed,
through His incarnation, to offices wherein He was
to be intrusted with a work to be accomplished
instead of others. Similarly, the other Persons
possessed some peculiar characteristic which unfitted
them, even if they had become flesh, to receive such
a trust, if, indeed, that peculiar characteristic did
not make it impossible for them to become incarnate
at all. We can, therefore, trace one of the truths
of the mediatorship of Christ to the mystery of the
Trinity, and we will there rest in devout worship.
The verses quoted at the head of the chapter
from the First Epistle of John declare that the Son
is sent "' to be the propitiation," and the Saviour,
'' that we might live through him." God's sending
is one of the essential elements of the work of the
propitiation as an official work. We cannot here
dwell on the contents of this truth, but on its im
portance only. However important it may be to
have correct ideas of the greatness of the Person

92 THE ATONEMENT
of Jesus Christ, and of the infinitude of the pro
pitiation as the voluntary sacrifice of an infinite
Person, some importance too must be attached to
the truth that that Person performs an official act
when yielding Himself as the propitiation. No
death was ever a part of an official act except the
death of Christ. By dying everyone else goes out
of office. If killing the beast of sacrifice was part
of the official work of the Jewish priests, their own
death was no part of it. Among all the deaths
which have ever occurred on earth, or ever will
occur, the death of Jesus stands gloriously unique
as an official death. Because Aaron's death was not
an official duty, he was divested of his official robes
on Mount Hor, before he died.1 But let it be
remembered, that the official garments were as
symbolic as Aaron himself. Because Christ's death
was an official act, He ascended into heaven itself
in the true priestly garments, and in them He
now appears before God on our behalf. That His
work is official does not make it formal by any
means, because His heart is in the -work of His
office. And the fact that it was His Father who
appointed Him to it, proves that the Father's heart
is in the same work as that of His Son. " But,"
says some reader, " it is on the Person of Christ the
sinner has to lean in order to have life." True,
1 See Num. xx. 22-29.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 93
but the Person had to be in office, and suffer death
as the work of His office, in order that the sinner
might have life by leaning on Him. It is evident
that John learned the importance of the official
sending from the words of Jesus Himself. If John
xvii., for example, is read, it will be seen that Jesus
uses the word " send " no less than six times in
reference to Himself.1 In the third verse He shows
that eternal life itself depends, not merely on the
knowledge of God, but on the knowledge of Jesus
Himself as an official Person. Whatever made
it necessary for Christ to hold office in order to save
sinners, the fact that the Saviour has office in the
divine government, and that saving sinners is an
official work of His, is a strong incitement to sinners
to trust the Saviour, and a proof that the same
loving heart beats in the breast of the Father, who
appointed Him to office, as was in the Son's breast
when He accepted and discharged its duties.
1 Vers. 3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25.

XI
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"He . . . sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." —
1 John iv. 10.
The sending which confers office on the Son is the
same as that which intrusts work to the one sent.
The Holy Spirit also was sent by the Father,—
" The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send," etc.
(John xiv. 26)— and by the Son,—" Whom I will
send unto you from the Father " (John xv. 26) ;
" If I go I will send him unto you " (John xvi. 7).
Yet this sending does not confer office on the Spirit.
The title of the sixth chapter of The Christian In
structor is, " Of the Offices of Christ " ; but the head
ing of chapters eight and nine is " Of the Work of the
Holy Ghost "and not " Of the Offices." Both alike were
sent, but office is thereby conferred on the Son only.
The difference between the two sendings is ex
plained by Jesus Himself, in John xx. 21, 22. The
sending of the Son is indicated in the words, " As
the Father hath sent me, even so send I you " ; and
the sending of the Spirit in the words, " He . . .
94

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 95
saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
Since Jesus sent His apostles after the manner
of His own sending by His Father, the apostolic
office is to be looked upon as a type, or figure, of
the offices of the great apostle. St. Paul distinctly
states that the essence of his office lay in the fact
that work had been intrusted to him : " I have a
stewardship intrusted to me " (1 Cor. ix. 17) ;
" Even as we have been approved of God to be
intrusted with the gospel " (1 Thess. ii. 4). When
mentioning his authority, he also declares that it
was an " authority which the Lord gave " him " for
building . . . up, and not for casting . . down." x
Trust was the essence of the apostolic office, and
the authority which the apostle received was in
order to accomplish the work intrusted to him.
One intrusted with a duty is responsible for the
accomplishing of his work to the one who has
appointed him. In order to have responsibility,
a person must have a created nature : God as such
cannot be responsible to anyone. The only divine
Person who became flesh is the Son. In His in
carnation He humbled Himself, and so became
capable of receiving a trust.
At the same time, there can be no objection to
saying that the Son discharged His mediatorial
offices, as Prophet, Priest, and King, before His
1 2 Cor. x. 8.

THE ATONEMENT

incarnation, in the same sense as He was " the
Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation
of the world " ; because the incarnation of the
Son was a fact in the mind of the Godhead from
eternity. All offices possible to the Godhead belong
to the Person of the Son, because, of the divine
Persons, He alone became flesh. The sending of
the Son into the world implies a divine commission
to receive in trust the work of securing the salva
tion of sinners and the glory of God, which are
inseparably one. On the one hand, accordingly,
the Son was sent in order to discharge an office
in the salvation of sinners. On the other hand,
the sending of the Spirit does not confer office on
Him, but forms part of the work which the Son
does in the offices to which He was appointed. The
official work of the Son is to send the Spirit. " If
I go, I will send him unto you."
Such questions as the following may be asked
concerning the sending of the Son.
What necessity was there, in the plan of salva
tion, that the Son should be sent to be the pro
pitiation ? We cannot suppose that the sending
was an unnecessary act, no more than we can sup
pose that the propitiation itself was unnecessary. If
it were necessary for the Son to be sent to be the
propitiation, whence arose the necessity ? The
divinity of the Person of the Saviour made the

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 97
propitiation, in itself of infinite merit, and there
fore sufficient for the sins of the whole world. If
the propitiation was infinite in merit, because of
the greatness of the Person, the sending could add
nothing to its value. If it could add nothing to
the value of the propitiation, what necessity was
there for it ? Man can do as he likes with his own,
without being authorised to it by being made an
official, and without being commanded by another.
The Son's life was His own ; He had power and a
perfect right to lay it down ; and He not only had
power to lay it down, but He laid it down of His
own free will. If He gave His life for sinners volun
tarily and from pure love, what necessity was there
for the Father to give Him commandment to lay
it down? and what importance was there in His
statement that He had received this commandment
from His Father ? (John x. 18). Why could He not
give His own life for others of His own free will,
without doing so officially ? Paul was in Rome a
prisoner of Jesus Christ for the Gentiles ; and if
he was officially an apostle, he was not officially a
prisoner. Why could not Jesus Christ die for the
ungodly, as Paul was a prisoner for the Gentiles,
from love, without the sending of His Father ?
Voluntarily, and not officially, Prisca and Aquila
had " laid down their own necks " for Paul's life
(Rom. xvi. 3, 4). Why could not the Son have
7

98 THE ATONEMENT
laid down His life for the life of the same Paul, in
the same way— voluntarily and not officially ? The
shepherd gives his life for the sheep, and man lays
down his life for his friends, from love for them,
without being sent or having received authority.
Why could not the Son do His work in the same way,
since the Son's life was His own, which is more than
can be said, in the same sense, of the shepherd or
the philanthropist ? This is the only official death
in the government of God ; why does it occupy
this unique position ? Why was not Jesus stripped
of His priestly garments before He died, as Aaron
was divested of his on Mount Hor ? Why had the
propitiation to be an official work ? What con
nection is there between the sending of Jesus to be
the propitiation and the security of sinners ?
We will endeavour to answer these questions in
the pages which follow.

XII
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
" He . . . sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. " —
1 John iv. 10.
" What necessity was there in the plan of salvation,
that the Son should be sent to be the propitiation ? "
etc. (See previous chapter.)
Whatever necessity there was for the sending,
and whatever importance it possesses, it must be
remembered that it cannot give value to the pro
pitiation, or add to its value, because the precious-
ness of the propitiation is of and in itself. It may
add value and greatness, by a kind of imputation,
to all that is connected therewith ; but propitiation
cannot receive value from anything or anyone
outside of itself. It does not receive its value from
the eternal purposes concerning it, nor from the
value or number of the souls which shall be saved
through it ; and it cannot, because the value which
is in the propitiation itself is infinite. It is great
as God is great. God is great in Himself, and
not like man, comparatively great only. Essential
09

THE ATONEMENT

greatness makes God unique— "the only wise," the
" only . . . holy " One, the " only Potentate " ; and
His uniqueness x is His glory. The same is true
of the propitiation. One class of writers reduce
the greatness of the propitiation to that of com
parative greatness only— a greatness of the same
type as the self-sacrifice of men for one another,
but of a higher order. But, says the Word, the
Son is " the only begotten " as well as " the first
born." His Person is similarly the first of sacri
fices and the only propitiation also. The great
Sacrifice can address men, referring to sacrifices,
in the words which God addressed to Israel, refer
ring to idols, "To whom then will ye liken me
that I should be equal to him ? " 2
What, then, made necessary His being sent to be
the propitiation ?
1. The relation between God and the sinner.
2. The relation between God and the law.
1. The relation between God and the sinner is
such that it was against God man sinned. The
relation of God and the law is such that He is the
Absolute Sovereign, who protects the rights of the
law, and who alone possesses the power and the
authority to punish transgressors, or to set them
1 Dr. George Adam Smith uses the word "Onliness" on p. 369
of his second volume on The Book of Isaiah, and its meaning there
is exactly what tho Welsh expresses here. — D. E. J.
2 Isa. xl. 25.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 101
free. The two relations meet in a lower degree in
civil government. When a man wrongs an indi
vidual he transgresses against the whole community
to which the wronged man belongs. Many criminals
in this country are therefore prosecuted at the
expense of the Crown, which represents the com
munity. The subjects of the Crown are represented
by twelve jurymen, together with the judge on
the bench, and they together are responsible to
the whole kingdom for the equity of their judgment
and sentence. But this is only a faint type of the
combination of the two relations in God, because
sin is a transgression against God, which is direct,
immediate, and not through anyone else. God is
a sovereign ruler in virtue of His nature, and not
One who has received sovereignty as a trust from
the hands of anjrone else.
In our remarks in this chapter we will confine
ourselves to explaining the sending of the Son to
be the propitiation in the light of the relation
between God and the sinner, leaving the other
relation mentioned for the next chapter.
Among men two individuals may be mutual
enemies ; a certain third man may love them.
From love towards them he may purpose, determine,
and strenuously endeavour to reconcile them to
one another. His efforts may cost him consider
able sacrifice for their sakes ; and he may attain

THE ATONEMENT

his purpose and reconcile them without having
received authority to do so from either of the two
parties. Why is this not a correct picture of the
method of reconciling God and sinners ?
In the first place, though the sinner is hostile
to God, God is not hostile to the sinner ; they are
not mutual enemies. God's wrath is not an ex
pression of hostility towards man, but of the right
eousness and the holiness of His nature, in their
relation to sin. Though The Epistle to the Romans
contains several references to " the wrath of God,"
men alone are called " enemies." While Rom. v. 8
says that " God commendeth his love," and it is
granted in verse 9 that He has "wrath," of men
alone is it said, " while we were enemies " (ver. 10).
Though man's sin is enmity against God, God's
wrath is not enmity against man, but a holy dis
pleasure with his sin. The work of the propitiation,
therefore, is not to engender love in God towards
sinners, because that was ever in Him, but to save
them from wrath. Since the Mediator's love
towards sinners was of so pure a nature and in
God Himself (one of the parties) so strong in degree
(the degree was infinite), there is no difficulty, so
far as the thing itself is concerned, to prevent the
whole mediatorial work from being done accordhig
to the divine mission.
Further, the idea of propitiation had to take root

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 103
in God, or somewhere outside of Him. The only thing
which has ever had its being outside of the nature
and purposes of God is sin. An essential element
of sin in its very germ was that it came into the divine
government from outside God— apart from God—
and immediately grew into a feeling against Him.
It was, therefore, impossible for the Atonement
to be a good thing at all, much less the greatest
good, if it did not come from the mind of God—
having been rooted in the goodness of His
nature. Had what we call Atonement any root outside of
God, it would be in the same category as sin itself,
and it would not have been a virtuous act of self-
sacrifice, but a sinful act of suicide. There was,
therefore, a necessity, in the very nature of things,
that the propitiation should include not only the
perfect voluntariness of Jesus as a Mediator, as one
of its characteristics, but also some act of God, as
the only source of all goodness, in order to make
it what it is— an invaluable blessing. That act of
God's is called, in the verse quoted under the head
ing of this chapter, a sending. The verse says
further that the sending is the fruit of love. " Here
in is love . . . that he . . . sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins." Therefore, for the Person
of the Son to be the propitiation without His
being sent would be impossible, for that would be

104 THE ATONEMENT
a virtual denial of the love of God towards sinners,
and would imply the false supposition that the
propitiation was necessary in order to engender
love in the heart of God, as well as in the heart
of sinners.
According to this view, the necessity which re
quired God to send His Son to be the propitiation
was not a necessity demanded by His righteousness,
but the necessity which there is in the nature of
love to go out towards its object. Grace is God's
supreme prerogative, with no obligations, as far
as its nature goes ; if it were otherwise it would
not be grace. But activity is also a part of its nature.
This precludes the supposition that God only agrees
with the Mediator, and only expresses His satis
faction with the work after it has been finished.
It also proves to us that the divine activity is present
in the first movement of the work of salvation. That
activity implies that the God against whom sin
had been committed was, in His infinite love,
thinking of saving men, was designing the plan
of salvation, and putting the seal of His authority
on all the work of the Son. " Herein is love."
The Father said to the Son, " Go," and He came
into the world. After He came, He said unto
Him, "Do this," and He did it, though "this"
implied nothing less than dying for the ungodly.
When the Son had done this, He said unto Him,

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 105
" Come," and He went, and sat on His right
hand. "God of love, strong Tower, and Father,
Made a Daysman of His Son ;
Chose Him as our Mediator,
In whom men with God are one."
(The late Rev. Robert Owen, London, trans. )

xm
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"He . . . sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." —
1 John iv. 10.
" What necessity was there, in the plan of salva
tion, that the Son should be sent to be the propi
tiation?" (p. 96).
2. The relation between God and the law. God
is law-giver, law-administrator, and supreme Ruler
over His reasoning and unreasoning creatures.
When we speak of the relation between Him and
His rational creatures, the word law denotes the
moral law. Sin is a transgression of the moral law,
and thus commits the sinner for punishment to the
hands of a righteous God, as protector of the law
and of moral government. This fact supphes two
reasons for the two characteristics which belong
to the mediatorship of Jesus Christ.
(1) It implies that the Mediator had to receive
the authority of the divine government in order
to do the work which had to be done to release the

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 107
sinner from the penalty of the law which he has
transgressed. The punishing of the transgressor is the work
of God, as supreme Lord ; and the transgressor
is in the immediate hands of a righteous God. No
one, therefore, can go between the Ruler and the
transgressor, to mediate, unless he receive authority
from the Ruler to do so. There must be crown
authority given for doing any work which has a
direct and close connection with the honour of the
throne. What work bears a closer relation to the
glory of the throne of heaven than the opening of
prison doors for rebels, there confined, and then
letting them escape from a righteous penalty ?
Since the work is the opening of a prison, and " to
proclaim liberty to the captives," the great Worker
felt that it was needful for the Lord to send Him
to do this (Isa. lxi. 1-3). Without such an autho
rity, any mediation between the supreme Sovereign
and the transgressor would, in itself, be disrespectful
to the divine government. So Peter, in his sermon
on the day of Pentecost, brings the name of God
in again and again, in order to declare that all the
work of the Lord Jesus is stamped with the authority
of the Supreme Court.
(2) It implies that the Mediator had to become
under the law Himself, in order to attain His pur
pose. We are taught in theBible that the Son of God,

108 THE ATONEMENT
by coming under the law, humbled Himself to obey.1
And He not only obeyed after humbling Himself ;
His becoming humble was in itself an act of obedience.
He not only obeyed when He gave up His life ; His
death was in itself an act of obedience. His obedience
was as essential to the propitiation as His personal
greatness. Without an obedience as great of its
kind as the Person of the Agent, the Person could
not be the propitiation. Obedience was essential
to the propitiation because of the moral law ; and
a commandment was necessary, from the nature
of things, to make obedience possible. It was as
impossible to obey without a commandment as it
was to have the propitiation without obedience,
and the commandment is implied in the sending.
Although Jesus Christ does not use the word
" propitiation " even once in His disco urses and
conversations, one of the ideas essential to the pro
pitiation is contained in one expression which He was
fond of using, " The Father which sent me." 2 We
have the same idea in the words " My Father's
commandments " 3 and " the work which thou
hast given me to do." i Every man's death is an
act of obedience ; that is, when men die in the
ordinary course of nature, it is in obedience to the
command of God. "None dieth to himself";
'Eph. ii. 8. 2 John v. 37.
3 John xv. 10. 4 John xvii. 4.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 109
but it was necessary that an infinite Person should
die, so that the obedience might be an act of humilia
tion ; and the combination of three things — a
divine Person, the death of the cross, and perfect
obedience— makes a meritorious humiliation. These
three are one propitiation. By taking the sending
as involving a commandment, the three New
Testament verses in which the word " propitiation "
is used, are seen to stand specially related to one
another. 1 John ii. 2, " He is the propitiation," refers to the
Person only : to the merits of a Person wiping
away the deserts of sin. Rom. iii. 25, " Whom
God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith,
by his blood," refers to the Person in His sufferings
and death, as one whom God showed openly as such.
1 John iv. 10, " He . . . sent his Son to be the
propitiation," refers to the Person in His obedience,
as wiping away the evil deserts of disobedience,
and becoming the source of a new life of obedience
in those who have been disobedient, " that we might
live through him." By connecting the three verses,
the essentials of the propitiation are seen to be made
up of a Person, of sufferings, and of obedience. The
three are equally clear in the passage in Matt. xx.
28, already referred to, and spoken by the Son
of God Himself. Christ came "to minister" by
obeying, and "to give his life," that is, Him-

THE ATONEMENT

self, " a ransom for many," by suffering and
dying. The sending, therefore, implies (1) divine authority
(which was necessary to the attaining of the purpose
of the propitiation— the releasing of transgressors
from their merited penalty), and (2) a divine com
mandment (which was demanded by the nature of
the propitiation, as containing the obedience of a
divine Person). The sending was necessary inas
much as propitiation to God would be impossible
without it, i.e. without its second implication ; and
it was necessary inasmuch as setting sinners free
would be impossible without it, i.e. without its first
implication. The nature and the purpose of pro
pitiation are so intertwined, so to speak, in the send
ing, that as surely as there is a propitiation, sinners
will be saved by it. The two ideas involved in
the sending constitute what is meant bj7 an office.
Among men, everyone receives office by obedience
to the will of others ; and office itself implies work
intrusted in virtue of the authority of those who
have chosen the official. But the Mediator is
different from everybody else in this also— that He
not only obeyed by accepting office, but that obedi
ence was part of His office.
These two aspects of the sending reconcile two
verses which seem to contradict one another. In
Phil. ii. 7, 8, the work of the Lord Jesus is described

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE m
as that of obedience in a state of humiliation. In
Heb. v. 4, 5, the priesthood is described as being
in itself an honour, and Christ, it is said, was
" glorified "—not after finishing His work—" to be
made a high priest," by Him "that spake unto him,
Thou art my Son." How can the same work be
a humiliation and an act of obedience, and at the
same time an honour and a glory ? If the nature
of the propitiation be considered, it was a humilia
tion for a divine Person to obey a commandment ;
if the purpose of the propitiation is considered,
to receive such a trust as that of reconciling God
and sinners was both honour and glory for any
one clothed with human nature. The character
istic which is peculiar to Christ Himself is
peculiar to the sending of Him to the world. As
the Person includes in personal union infinity and
finitude, so does His mission include the union of
a commandment, to obey which was humiliation,
and of an authority to receive which was both
honour and glory.
The questions on the sending asked in Chapter
XL may be summed up in the following two :
(1) what connection was there between the sending
and the nature of the propitiation ? and (2) what
connection was there between the sending and the
purpose of the propitiation ? It has been shown that
there is a necessary connection in both cases : in

THE ATONEMENT

the first case because obedience is essential to the
propitiation; in the second, because setting trans
gressors free from the condemnation of the law was
one of its purposes. Let one or the other of these
results be applied to the previous questions, and the
proper answers will at once become apparent. For
example, " If it (the sending) could add nothing to
the value of the propitiation, what necessity was
there for it ? " (see p. 97). Only remember that the
propitiation includes obedience as well as a Person,
and it will be seen that sending the Person was as
necessary to His becoming the propitiation as a
commandment is necessary to obedience ; and since
the sending is essential to the propitiation, it can
add nothing to it.
Again : " Why could not Jesus Christ die for the
ungodly, as Paul was prisoner for the Gentiles,
from love, without the sending of His Father?"
St. Paul's imprisonment was not a voluntary act
to release the Gentiles from the hands of a moral
law, which laid hold of their persons, while that
was one of the purposes of the death of the Mediator.
And though St. Paul was not imprisoned in virtue
of a commission, he preached to the Gentiles a way
of escape in obedience to Him who said unto him,
" Depart : for I will send thee forth far hence unto
the Gentiles." The other questions may be answered
in a similar way.

XIV
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
" He . . . sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." —
1 John iv. 10.
The fact that the sending was God's own act
ensured His satisfaction with the propitiatory work
of the Son. It is difficult to show the connection
which exists between the sending and the satis
faction, without borrowing an illustration ; and it
is difficult to use an illustration without concealing
the actual truth from the mind. When the reader
has marked well the figure in the following illustra
tion, let him try to mark the thought which lights
its eyes. If it be " a ladder set up on the earth,"
let not the angel tarry on the lowest round, but
let him climb from step to step until he reaches
heaven, and let him remain there.
Suppose one man owes another man a sum of
money which he has borrowed from him. Suppose
that he has no money to make repayment, but that
he has property— a house or land— which is worth
as much as the sum he owes, or, indeed, worth

114 THE ATONEMENT
more than he owes. The creditor could ask for
the hard cash, decidedly refusing value in its stead.
It would not be necessary for the debtor to ask
the creditor whether he would accept money ; but
it would be imperatively necessary for him to ask
whether he would accept its equivalent in its stead.
We can imagine circumstances which would compel
the creditor to choose money rather than property
of far greater value, and to press for the former
and refuse the latter. He would be under no
obligation to accept value instead of the money ;
and the greater value of the offered property
would not make it certain that the creditor would
accept it instead of the money owing.
Note that there is every uncertainty concerning
the willingness of the creditor in the illustration,
made evident from the import of the words " instead
of " ; and this fact is the soul of the illustration.
Let us ascend to God.
What He originally demands is men's compliance
with the spirit and commandments of His law ;
in view of their disobedience, what He originally
punishes is " the soul that sinneth." 1 It is quite
unnecessary to ask whether He would be satisfied
with the perfect obedience of man, and whether
the righteousness of His nature would be satisfied
with the infliction of the merited punishment on
1 Ezek. xviii. 4.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 115
the disobedient. But here is a Person infinitely
greater than the persons of those who stand con
demned, and He has given obedience which is
infinitely greater, owing to the greatness of His
Person, than the obedience which they owe. He
offers Himself in His obedience in their stead. The
question is not, Was God pleased with His Son as
His only begotten ? because He always was so, and
will ever be so, of necessity. Nor, Was God pleased
with the spotless life of His Son when on earth ?
He could not be otherwise, without being unholy
Himself. But the question is, Will He accept,
with satisfaction, the Person of His Son as the pro
pitiation instead of the persons who were in the
power of His law. To say the propitiation possesses
infinite value is no answer to the question ; because
He can demand " the soul that sinneth," and refuse
more than its value in its stead— He can, so far as
reasons, which arise from the nature of things,
are concerned. If there are any obligations of
another kind they are incurred by the mercifulness
of His own nature.
Christ's Suretiship gives rise to a question
which was never asked before with reference to
God: "Will He be willing?" The answer is,
God has sent His Son to be the propitiation, and
the sending has made God's satisfaction with the
propitiation so sure that He could not be dissatisfied

n6 THE ATONEMENT

without denying Himself. It was the great Creditor
Himself who sent His Son to be instead of ; there
fore, God's satisfaction after the completion of the
Son's work has been secured before it was ever
begun, in the fact of His being sent to accomplish
it. As surely, therefore, as Christ has died for the
ungodly, so surely was the Father satisfied with
His sacrifice, and will the ungodly be saved by faith
in Him.
1. It was on the basis of the relation between the
sending and the satisfaction that sinners were
received into heaven before the propitiation was
offered. A sinner under the old dispensation might
have conversed thus with himself : " Will I be saved ?
Is there not some reason why I should hesitate
about the validity of salvation ? I am exhorted
to trust in someone who is to come, who will be
a Prophet like unto Moses, a Priest like unto Mel-
chizedek and Aaron, and a King like unto David.
I am promised some country better than Canaan
in virtue of what He will do. Though He has not
yet appeared, I am asked to trust Him as if He
had come. I will believe that He will come, on
the evidence of the word of my God. But what
assurance have I that His work will give satisfaction1?
Though He should come, if His work be unsatis
factory, I feel somewhat uncertain whether I shall
remain in the better country after I have reached

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 117
there." God replies, " Fear not ! Not only do I
know that He will come, but what is more, I Myself
will send Him. He is ' My chosen, in whom my soul
delighteth.' x It is because I am well pleased in My
Son that I send Him ; and by My sending Him
I assure thee that I will have perfect satisfaction
in His work as Servant. It is I, the Lord, who
will anoint and send Him ; therefore I was pleased,
am pleased, and ever shall be pleased in Him."
Since God's satisfaction was assured by the fact
of the sending, there was no doubt about the salva
tion of believers before Christ came, no more than
there is now after His death and resurrection. The
important matter for the apostles, therefore, was
to proclaim the fact of His resurrection, as an actual
proof of God's satisfaction with His work. The
counterpart of the resurrection in the mouth of
the apostles, was the mission, or sending, in the
mouth of the prophets, and in the mouth of Christ
Himself, before His death, proving that God would
be satisfied with His work. Satisfaction is a feeling ;
sending and resurrection are acts which showed,
and, by showing, proved God's perfect satisfaction
with the mediatorial work of His Son. He was
sent into the world, and was taken up from the
world ; in both acts God still says, from the heavens
which were opened, " This is my beloved Son, in
1 Isa. xlii. 1.

118 THE ATONEMENT
whom I am well pleased." x In this He speaks of the
work which He accomplished in the world, in the
interval between the sending and the resurrection.
2. It was on the relation between His sending
and God's satisfaction that the mind of the Lord
Jesus was fixed when accomplishing His work.
His favourite expression was, " The Father that
sent me," and from that we see it was the fondest
subject of His meditation. Twice the Father said
of the Son, " In whom I am well pleased " ; many
times did the Son say of the Father, " He that
sent me." The extent of the satisfaction is to be
measured by the greatness of the glory to which
He was exalted after He had finished His work.
That glory was the glory which He had as Son
with the Father before the world was. It was
" now," after finishing His work, that Jesus asked
for its possession. On what does Jesus base His
expectation of such glory as a result of His work ?
"0 Father, glorify thou me"— Me, 'whom thou
didst send, even Jesus Christ." " Glorify thou me,
0 Father, now," " for I have accomplished the work
—the work which thou hast given me to do" (John
xvii. 4, 5). On Hfs mission Christ based His prayer
to be glorified ; and as surely as He was sent He
was glorified too.
3. On the relation between the sending and the
1 Matt. iii. 17.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 119
satisfaction rests the assurance of the salvation of
all believers. God so loved that He gave His Son ;
and He gave His Son " that whosoever believeth on
him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The satisfaction of God in the Son as the propitiation,
is a satisfaction in everyone united with Him for
His sake. Therefore, the mission which secures
the first, of necessity secures the second also. Conse
quently, to say that the propitiation makes the
salvation of all possible, is to speak amiss. The
truth is, we should imagine, that the loss of all
outside of Christ is certain, and that the salvation
of all in Christ is certain. And the foundations of
that certainty are the words, from the lips of the
Son of God Himself, "Verily, verily, I say unto you."

XV
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"If any man sin we have an Advocate . . . and he is the
propitiation." — 1 John ii. 1, 2.
We must distinguish between the intercession of
Jesus Christ in heaven and His prayers here on
earth. They must not be separated, they cannot
be separated, because of the perfect unity of His
Person, and because a close, necessary, and in
separable connection exists between all His work
on earth and all His work in heaven, which makes
one whole of all that He does. But though the
parts of His work cannot be separated, they can,
and ought to be, distinguished. Much may be
learnt of His intercession in heaven from the prayers
which He uttered on earth, especially from His
prayer in John xvii. ; and quite as much may be
learnt by noting the difference between them as
by marking their similarity. The greatest difference
between them— the most important difference,
and the one which is at the root of every other
difference — is that His prayers here were those of
120

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 121
one in a state of humiliation; and that His inter
cession there is the intercession of one in a state of
exaltation. The late Dr. Trench, Archbishop of Dublin, in
his book on The Synonyms of the New Testament,1
points out that a different word is used in the New
Testament to express Christ's asking in prayer
while here on earth, from that which is used of
men's asking in prayer. The following are
examples of the word " ask " when used of men
praying :-
" Ask, and it shall be given you " (Matt. vii. 7).
" Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer " (Matt. xxi.
22). " If ye shall ask anything in my name " (John
xiv. 13, 14).
" Let him ask of God " (Jas. i. 5).
" Let Him ask in faith " (Jas. i. 6).
' Whatsoever we ask we receive of him " (1 John
iii. 22).
The word used in these verses is the same as
that which is used of the lame man " at the door
of the temple which is called Beautiful '' asking
alms (Acts iii. 2).
Jesus Christ used another word, different in
meaning, when He spoke of Himself asking, in
the following passages : —
1 Pp. 140-143 of the 1865 edition.— D. E. J.

THE ATONEMENT

" I will pray the Father " (John xiv. 16).
" I pray for them : I pray not for the world "
(John xvii. 9).
" I pray not that thou shouldest take them "
(John xvii. 15).
" Neither for these only do I pray " (John
xvii. 20).
This word denotes the request x of one person
made to another with whom he is co-equal.
So far we are helped by the late Archbishop
Trench. But although two different words are used in
the two groups of passages above for Christ's requests
of God and men's asking of God (and the difference
in meaning runs through the New Testament,
without any difficulty of application, except in one
verse ; 2 and even the exception, as Trench points
out, " constitutes no true exception," although
" the verse is difficult ") much difficulty arises, seem
ingly at least, in another case of which Trench takes
no notice ; that is, in the use of the two words when
men are spoken of as asking one another. The diffi
culty lies in the fact that the two words are used on
one and the same occasion. The only way of explain
ing them consistently with the distinction made by
1 The R.V. gives the marginal rendering of "make request"
iu each of the above passages. — D. E. J.
2 1 John v. 16.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 123
Trench, is to suppose that men " ask " in both senses
on these occasions. If this view be correct, the lame
man had been laid at the door of the temple, accord
ing to Acts iii. 2, to " ask " alms humbly, and to
appeal to the compassion " of them that entered
into the temple." But, according to Acts iii. 3, he
requested 1 alms of Peter and John, in the manner
expressed by the word used in the second group
of passages above quoted ; just as many a beggar
makes his appeal at first in a low and humble tone,
but afterwards raises his voice, and before he finishes
boldly requests as if he had a claim to what he
asks. If our explanation is correct, it shows that
nineteen hundred years have by no means lessened
the evils of begging nor changed the habits of
beggars. There is another instance quite as striking as
this. According to Matt, xxvii. 58, Mark xv. 43,
and Luke xxiii. 52, Joseph of Arimathaea " asked "
Pilate " for the body of Jesus," in the manner ex
pressed by the first word ; though he was " a rich
man," and " a councillor of honourable estate,"— a
member of the Jewish Senate,— he "asked" the
governor, as one superior to himself, in a humble
manner and voice. But according to John xix.
38 he requested the same thing, in the sense of the
1 The R.V. rendering, "asked to receive," expresses the bold
importunity of the beggar. — D. E. J.

124 THE ATONEMENT
second word.1 Is it not possible for both to be
true ? He might ask Pilate as one superior to
himself, recognising that Pilate represented the
Roman authority over the Jewish nation ; and he
might make the request as of an equal, claiming
for himself that he was a member of the Jewish
Senate, and that the authority of the Sanhedrim
in the religious affairs of the nation was as great
as the authority of the governor in political or
civil matters. The Jews considered it contrary to
the requirements of their religion to leave dead
bodies on the cross over the Sabbath ; consequently
the breaking of the legs of the two thieves and
the removing of the body of Jesus from the cross
were acts with a religious import. Joseph of
Arimathsea, therefore, asked, as one making a
request of his equal, with boldness and authority.
Let us now return and compare the two words
as they distinguish our prayer to God from Christ's
prayers to God. The distinction points to there
being an element in the prayers of man which was
not in the prayers of Jesus Christ, even in the lowest
state which He ever reached. If man were as
hory as an angel he would only be a holj' creature ;
and because he would be a holy creature only he
1 The author does not seem to have noticed, or he thought it
unnecessary to point out, that Mark says "he boldly went in," an
idea included in the word used by John. It seems to strengthen
his remarks. — D. E. J.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 125
could never do more than his duty. If he could
never do more than his duty, he could never deserve,
even by perfect obedience, the least blessing at the
hands of God. Being unworthy because he is a
creature, he would feel his unworthiness, because he
would be holy. His feeling of unworthiness would
make him humbly seek the blessings of which he
stood in need ; and that same feeling of unworthiness
before God, would itself make all his prayers acts of
worship to God.
But Jesus was an infinite Person even in the
lowest state of His humiliation, having neither the
evil merits of the sinner nor the unworthiness of
the creature in His nature. It was, therefore,
impossible for Him to entertain a feeling of un
worthiness before His Father, without denying
Himself. So that although He gave thanks and
prayed, the feeling of unworthiness, which is essential
to worship, was never in His prayers. Although
He humbled Himself as far as it was possible for an
infinite Person to descend, there was a yet lower
state to which He could not descend — the state
of being unworthy of that for which He prayed to
His Father. This argument is confirmed (1) by
the fact that the word used to denote His " asking "
implies His co-equality with His Father, and is a
word which is not used of men's " asking " God ;
and (2) by the fact that He is nowhere said to worship

126 THE ATONEMENT

God, while it is frequently said that He is worshipped
by others. If this argument contains a fallacy, it
lies in the assertion that a feeling of unworthiness
is essential to worship.
Further : the difference between Christ's requests
on earth and His requests in heaven is parallel to
the difference which exists between the depth of
the humiliation and the height of the exaltation
of an infinite Person. The state of His humiliation
is described by Himself in the words, " The Father
is greater than I " (John xiv. 28). In His exalta
tion He was glorified as Mediator, as God-man,
with the glory which He had " before the world
was." In his humiliation the Mediator was lower
than the Father ; in His exaltation the Mediator
was co-equal with the Father, crowned by Him,
and made to sit down on the highest throne of
heaven, Lord of all. When here, He stood serving
in a state of inferiority ; there, He sits down, " on
an equality with" the Most High.
1. Because of this difference, He asked here in
prayer for blessings for which He did not ask after
entering there. He asked, in His great prayer in
John xvii. 1, " Glorify thy Son," and in verse 5 He
asked, " 0 Father, glorify thou me with thine own
self." In His humiliation, He had emptied Him
self of that glory ; and it was fitting that He should
then ask for it. But when He came to enjoy it

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 127
in such a degree that there was no more to be desired
nor possible, even to Jesus Himself, He no longer
asks for it. Even His exaltation is an answer to
the prayers of His humiliation. How much more
then will the supplications of His exalted state be
answered ? It was in His state of humiliation that
He prayed, " Father, glorify thy name," and " there
came ... a voice out of heaven saying, I have
both glorified it, and will glorify it again" (John
xii. 28). If this prayer was fully answered in His
exaltation, much more, being exalted, will His
intercession, for the glorifying of those who are in
Him, and for whose sakes He humbled Himself,
prove effectual.
2. Because of this difference He now asks for the
blessings which He here sought for His people, with
greater dignity and power than He ever asked for
them before. The state of humiliation in which
the Person of the Saviour was while here, imparted
the quality of humility to all His deeds and prayers
on earth. Similarly His exaltation has imparted
the quality of glory even to His work of making
intercession for us in heaven. His intercession now
bears a crown. The difference between the depth
of His humiliation and the height of His exaltation
has stamped a corresponding difference between
His prayer, " Father, forgive them," when suffering
the cross under the crown of thorns, and His prayer,

128 THE ATONEMENT
" Father, forgive them," when on the throne, under
the crown whose pearls are composed of the most
magnificent glory of the Godhead.
' ' Remember thy pure words of grace,
Remember Calvary ;
Remember all Thy dying groans,
0 Lord ! remember me.
Thou wondrous Advocate with God !
I yield myself to Thee ;
While Thou art sitting on Thy throne,
0 Lord ! remember me." R. BtTRNHAM.

XVI
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
The intercession of Jesus Christ in heaven must
be distinguished from the intercession of the Holy
Spirit. The word " Advocate," used in the above
verse as a name for Christ, is used as a name for
the Holy Spirit in John xiv. 16, 26, xv. 26, xvi. 7,
but is rendered in those passages " Comforter."
In Rom. viii. 26, 27, it is said that " the Spirit Himself
maketh intercession for us," and, " for the saints " ;
and in viii. 34, " Christ Jesus who died . . . maketh
intercession for us." These examples prove that
there are some points in common between the
intercession of the Son and that of the Spirit. But,
in the light of other Bible passages, it is clear that
the intercessions themselves differ, and that the
difference is due to the difference there is between
the intercessors.
The difference between the intercession of Christ
9

130 THE ATONEMENT
and the intercession of the Spirit rests on (1)
The difference between the relation of the Son and
humanity in the Person of Christ, and the relation
of the Spirit and humanity in the person of the
Christian. The nature of the relation of the Son and humanity
is such that Jesus Chi'ist is One Person, and not
two Persons joined together. What is meant by
saying that Jesus Christ is One Person is, that
He is so incomplex a being that He possesses all
the attributes of God and all the attributes of man,
in all that He is. When the expression " Person
of Christ " is used, the word Person is a treasury
containing within it the truth of all those verses
from the " In the beginning," of The Book of Genesis,
to the " Amen " of The Revelation of St. John,
in which divine attributes and works, and human
weaknesses and sufferings, are attributed to Him.
An example of the same fact may be found in the
person of any ordinary man. Though man is
made up of two parts of so different a nature as
body and soul, he is but one person. That is acknow
ledged when the most spiritual acts of the soul
and the most carnal acts of the body are attributed
to him. By giving him the name person we imply
that he does things himself— things which distin
guish him from other individuals and then doings
— and that he possesses such a unity as makes the

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 131
doings of every part of him peculiarly his, in all
that he is.
The unity of the Divine Essence implies the same
truth. The various attributes in that Essence are
active ; there is but one God, nevertheless. He
inflicts penalties, not of grace, but for righteousness'
sake. Yet, it is God who inflicts the penalties, and
He is as gracious as He is righteous. It is He
Himself, not one of His attributes. He forgives,
not because of righteousness, but of grace. Yet it
is God who forgives— He who is as righteous as
He is gracious. It is He Himself, and not one
of His attributes. As the singleness of the Eternal
Essence accords with the meaning of the words,
" There is one God," x so the difference between
the names and the doings of any one of the three
proves that a corresponding difference exists in
that Essence, which justifies the expression that
there are three divine Persons. It would be as
correct to say that God is Gods, because He has in
His nature attributes so different from one another
as righteousness and grace, or that man is two
men, because he is made up of two parts so different
as soul and body, as to say that Jesus is two Persons,
because of the infinite difference between His
divinity and His humanity. Though the Son is
!The Welsh of 1 Tim. ii. 5 is, "There is hut one God."—
D. E. J.

132 THE ATONEMENT
said to be " the express image of His Person," 1 that
is, of the Father, the Bible nowhere calls Christ
Himself a Person. . Although the expression con
tains a great biblical truth, indeed the greatest
truth within the Bible, the expression itself is not
biblical.2 What, then, is the biblical expression ? What
is the word taught us by the Holy Spirit, which
sets forth the great truth of the Person of Christ ?
The word is " He." He is God, Man— He, not
They. When speaking of Himself, He said, " It is I," not
" It is We." When the celestial hosts address Him,
they say, " Worthy art thou to take the book and
to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain."3
When the Spirit spoke of Him, He used " He " or
1 Heb. i. 3. The expression is rendered "the very image of His
substance" in the R.V. — D. E. J.
2 The reader may be puzzled by this assertion in the face of
2 Cor. ii. 10, where the A.V. and R.V. give the phrase, "in the
Person of Christ." The matter will become clear enough to him,
however, when we explain that the author wrote for Welsh readers,
and that the above phrase is rendered ' ' in the sight of Christ " in
the Welsh Testament. The A.V. gives the Welsh rendering in
the margin, and the R.V. suggests, in the margin, the reading, "in
the presence of Christ. " The Welsh rendering is the one adopted
by Calvin ; and the author, presumably, accepted it without
hesitation. It was nothing to the point, therefore, to trouble his
readers with a reference to it. The word rendered ' ' person " is
rendered "face" in Matt. vi. 6, 7, xvii. 2, 6 (R.V.), etc. ; and
"before" in 2 Cor. viii. 24 (A.V.).— D. E. J.
8 Rev. v. 9.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 133
" He who." The word " He," or the word " Person,"
shows that He, in all that He is, acts in the deeds
of every part, whether it be His body, His soul, or
His divinity. The Lord Jesus Christ is one Person.
The Holy Spirit and the Christian are two persons
united. The union is a close one ; yet it is only
a union, and not a unity. It is so close that some
verses attribute to the Holy Spirit the acts and
feelings of the Christian. The usage is due to the
fact that those acts and feelings spring from the
work of the Holy Spirit on his heart, and are the
joint products of the Holy Spirit and his heart.
The following passages are examples of the usage : —
" The Spirit himself maketh intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered " (Rom.
viii. 26). It is the Holy Spirit himself that groans,
but in the groan which comes from the Christian's
heart. " God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, crying, Abba, Father " (Gal. iv. 6). It is
the Spirit that cries ; but He would never cry,
" Abba, Father," but from the depth of " our hearts,"
and not from them only, but through them also.
The Spirit must have the heart of a creature from
which to raise the cry, " Abba, Father," to the ears
of God.
" The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep
things of God" (1 Cor. ii. 10). As an infinite God

134 THE ATONEMENT

the Spirit does not search, because the deepest things
are, of necessity, eternally known to the Omniscient
—but in the work of the Omniscient Spirit on the
holy men to whom God revealed the doctrines of
the gospel, spiritual researches were connected
with the enlightening of their minds. " But unto us
God revealed them through the Spirit : for the
Spjirit searcheth ... we received . . . the Spirit
which is of God " (1 Cor. ii. 10-12).
But though the acts and feelings of a Christian
under the Spirit's influence are attributed to the
Spirit Himself, all the attributes of the Spirit are
never, on the other hand, attributed to any Christian.
All the attributes of God were attributes of Jesus
of Nazareth, because He was in Himself one Person ;
but all the attributes of the Holy Spirit are not
attributes of a Christian, because these are two
persons, though, indeed, very closely connected.
What reason is there for laying emphasis on the
word " all " in the above sentence ? God possesses
communicable and incommunicable attributes. It
is a mistake to think that the line between them is
the same as, or that it runs parallel with, the line
which distinguishes the natural and moral attributes
of God. God imparts power and knowledge to man
as well as holiness and goodness ; and although He
does not impart omnipotence and omniscience,
neither does He impart infinite holiness and good-

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 135
ness. These attributes are communicable in essence,
but incommunicable in degree. But God has one
attribute which is incommunicable in essence,
namely, His independence of everyone and everything
outside of Himself. God could have made a creature
of a kind that would have no need to depend on
any other creature ; but it was impossible for Him
to make a creature so self-contained, that He would
not need to depend on Him as His Creator for every
moment of His continued existence.
Let us now consider the humanity of the Son,
and of the spiritual man, in their relation to this
attribute of absoluteness or independence. It is
impossible for the Holy Spirit to impart His own
divine independence (absoluteness) to anyone,
although He can, and does, impart His own
spiritual nature to many. Every Christian will
ever be dependent on the Spirit, while the Spirit
is not dependent on anything or anybody. But,
although God was never able to impart His own
independence (absolute nature) to any person, He
was able, by the Word becoming flesh, to impart
to humanity, in the unity of the Person of the Son,
the independence which was to the Son a glory with
the Father before the world was. The God-man
is independent as the Godhead is independent.
Dependence on others is a necessity in man ; but it
was a humiliation for the Son to become dependent,

136 THE ATONEMENT
although He was man. It was of the essence of
the infinite humiliation of the Son that He not
only became man, but that as God-man he became
dependent on others— on Mary, on the women,
on the disciples, and on His Father— for the neces
saries and the comforts of life, being, as He was,
independent by nature. Jesus of Nazareth, then,
possesses at this moment divine independence,
because He is but one personality. No Christian
has that independence, or shall have it, even though
the Spirit of God fill his heart with His glory, because
the Holy Spirit and the spirit of the Christian will
ever be two personalities.
This truth marks out the line which distinguishes
the sacrifice of the Son from the sacrifice of the
Christian. Jesus Chi'ist is the sacrifice, " he is the
propitiation," He is the gift. His divinity is not the
altar, because the divinity is in the sacrifice itself.
The comparison which makes the humanity of
Christ the sacrifice and His divinity the altar,
divides Him into two Persons. The Christian has
also to present his body, " a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God" ; x he is to give himself to God.
But the above comparison, which is inappropriate
in reference to the sacrifice of Christ, is appropriate
as applied to the sacrifice of the Christian. We may
take the Christian as the sacrifice, and the Holy
1 Rom. xii. 1.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 137
Spirit as the altar which consecrates the gift, because
the Christian and the Spirit are two. No one need
hesitate as to the answer he ought to give, if asked,
" Whether is greater, the gift or the altar that
sanctifieth the gift ? " x We have biblical grounds
for taking the Holy Spirit to be the altar, in the
words, " That the offering up of the Gentiles might
be made acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy
Ghost" (Rom. xv. 16). In what way does the Holy
Spirit sanctify, if not as " the altar . . . sanctifieth
the gift " ?
This truth supplies the reason why the angels
worship the Son, " Let all the angels of God worship
Him " (Heb. i. 6) ; but only render service to the
Christian, " Are they not ministering spirits, sent
forth to do service," etc. Since the Spirit and the
Christian are two persons, no angel can worship a
Christian, without being guilty of idolatry, even
though he be perfect, and though the Spirit abides
in him.2 But when the Son lies as a babe in the
arms of His mother in Bethlehem, the unity of His
Person made it incumbent on the angels to fall
down and worship Him.
This difference brings to light the line which dis
tinguishes the intercession of the Son from that of
' Matt, xxiii. 19.
2 Though not directly bearing on the point, the reader's mind
will, doubtless, run to Rev. xxii. 8. — D. E. J.

138 THE ATONEMENT
the Spirit. The Spirit, as God, " maketh intercession
for us," by engendering within our spirits holy desires.
But the Advocate is neither the divinity nor the
humanity of the Son, but He Himself, the God-
man, in the glorious simplicity of His Person— He
Himself, in all that He is, with all His heart, and all
His strength, in the highest state of His exaltation.
The effects of the union between the Spirit and
humanity will be visible for ever in the grand
spectacle of an innumerable host from here below,
bowing before the throne. But the unity of the
Son and humanity will be seen in One infinitely
greater than the whole multitude, sitting upon the
throne. His appearance now before God for us is
not the appearance of His body or of His hunianity,
but the appearance of His divine Person; and the
appearance of one so great and wonderful as He is,
for us, is a power in itself. To the same extent as
" he is the propitiation," He is " an Advocate " too.

XVII
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
The difference between the intercession of Chi'ist
and the intercession of the Spirit rests on (2) The
characteristic which distinguishes all the works of
the Son from all the works of the Spirit.
The general characteristic of the work of the
Son is revealed by Himself in the words, " for many "
( = "instead of many"), Matt. xx. 28. These words
were spoken with special reference to the work of the
propitiation. As a building has the three dimensions
of length, breadth, and height, which are joined
together by the corner - stone — the stone which
bears the weight of the building and regulates
its parts— so are the three offices of Jesus Christ,
those of Prophet, Priest, and King, made one whole
by the propitiation, which regulates their dimensions,
and is the basis of their administration. If " in the
place of" is, therefore, the characteristic of the pro
pitiation, instead of is the characteristic of the

MO THE ATONEMENT
work of all the mediatorial offices which are based
thereon. The general characteristic of the whole
work of the Spirit has been made clear by Christ
in the words, " and shall be in you " (John xiv. 17).
Jesus speaks, in this verse, of the Spirit as Comforter
or Advocate, and we at once gather from it that
the Spirit "maketh intercession for us,"1 that is,
on our behalf, when He " maketh intercession "
within us. It was the Son, as Prophet, who revealed
to us that " instead of " was the characteristic of
His own work, and " in " or " within " the character
istic of the work of the Spirit. And the Spirit
" hath set his seal to this, that the " Son " is true," 2
by prompting the minds of Matthew and John to
record both truths in their account of His hfe.
The Son, as Mediator, stands and acts instead of ;
but instead of whom ? " Instead of many,' says
Matt. xx. 28 ; instead of sinners. John v. 22, 23
says, " He hath given all judgment unto the Son, that
all may honour the Son, even as they honour the
Father " ; and in Rev. v. 6 we have, " I saw in the
midst of the throne ... a Lamb standing." Both
quotations imply that He is instead of God also.
He takes the place of the Law-giver and of the
prisoner too; He is instead of a perfect, infinite Being,
and instead of defiled, guilty, finite persons as well.
He represents the farthest extremes, filling up the
1 Rom. viii. 26. 2 John iii. 33.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 141
infinite space between them with his own merits.
As Advocate He appears for us, not only in the sense
of being on our behalf, but also in the sense of being
in our stead ; because, if instead of anyone, mstead
of whom but ourselves ?
It is interesting to ask, Could man discover one
revealed truth by reasoning from another revealed
truth ? We know, from the present condition
of the heathen, how we would stand in the matter
of religious knowledge had we no revelation at all.
We also know, by self-examination and by compar
ing our own knowledge and that of the heathen,
how indebted we are to the Spirit of God for
revealing the gospel to us in its entirety.
But suppose that the Spirit had revealed to us,
through His Word, half the number of truths which
He has revealed, could we discover, by the light of
reason, the other half. Or, suppose that He had
revealed three-fourths of what has been revealed,
could we, on the basis of that proposition, correctly
reason out the remaining fourth ? We answer,
No. Divine revelation begins where reason ends.
The fact that that fourth has been revealed is in
itself a proof thatwe could not reason it out correctly.
Miracles were wrought, not to take the place of the
common laws of nature, but where these were in
adequate. Revelation was a miracle wrought on the
spirits of the apostles by the Spirit of God, just as

142 THE ATONEMENT
healing diseases was a miracle wrought by the Son of
God on the bodies of men ; only the former is of a
higher order by as much as spirit is superior to body.
It would be waste of miracles to work them, if the
same purpose could be attained by the ordinary
laws of nature. It would, likewise, be waste of
revelation to have recourse to it, if man, by the
power of his reason, could discover divine truths.
Suppose, now, that our Bibles declared to us these
three truths, as they do—
1. That Jesus Christ is both God and man.
2. That, as Mediator, He is instead of God and
instead of man.
3. That He has been in a state of humiliation,
and that afterwards He ascended into a state of
exaltation. Here we have three-fourths of the revelation on
this matter. The conclusion which we should be
likely to draw from these three truths would be,
that He acted instead of man only in His humiliation,
and instead of God only in His exaltation, and that
the line which separates His humiliation from His
exaltation, separates, at the same time, His work
instead of man from His work instead of God. But
when this conclusion is brought " to the teaching
and to the testimony," 1 we at once see that it is
wrong. Jesus, we find, acted instead of His Father
1 Isa. viii. 20 (R.V. margin).

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 143
as well as instead of sinners while in His state of
humiliation, and instead of sinners as well as instead
of God in His state of exaltation. Although a line
separates His humiliation from His exaltation, His
acts instead of God and man are interwoven in the
two states. The miracles wrought by Him, when
here below, were, doubtless, divine acts, which God
wrought through Him ; but it is also true that
Matthew (viii. 17) quotes from the prophecy of
Isaiah (liii. 4) the words, " Himself took our infirmi
ties, and bare our diseases," and applies them to His
miracles. Was not every miracle on the bodies of
men, in the light of this verse, of a propitiatory
character ? and was not this the great character
istic which distinguished the miracles of Christ
from those of everyone else ? He stood instead of
the sick, and took their weaknesses and diseases,
and made them His own ; and He stood instead of
God, at the same time, and secured health for the
sick, by imputing their sickness to Another. Besides,
He says, in Matt. ix. 6, that He has " power on earth
to forgive sins." He forgave them, and proved by
His miracle that He had forgiven them instead of
His Father, and that " on earth," in His state of
humiliation ; and in heaven, " in the midst of the
throne," He intercedes instead of sinners.
Although He had power on earth to forgive sins,
which He sometimes used, He yet emptied Himself

144 THE ATONEMENT
of the glory of using it, when in the lowest depths
of His humiliation, by praying, " Father, forgive
them : for they know not what they do," instead
of saying, " Thy sins are forgiven thee." But, in
spite of this example of an appeal to His Father,
the fact remains that He, while in " the form of a
servant " and '' under the law," forgave sins instead
of God.
Analogous to His work of forgiving in His state
of humiliation is His work of interceding instead
of sinners in His state of exaltation. He is now
instead of God " in the midst of the throne," where
the foot of man or of angel never trod, " dwelling
in the light unapproachable ; whom no man hath
seen, nor can see." x He is there the propitiation.
Though the emphasis in the sentence, "he is the
propitiation," is to be on the word " he " — He
Himself —and not on the word " is " ; yet the expres
sion implies the necessity of His being now, in
heaven, the propitiation. As the propitiation,
He is " instead of many " sinners ; and the marvel
is, that He is instead of the Godhead at the same
time. He died once ; but He will be the propitia
tion for ever. Since He is the propitiation in heaven,
He must be an advocate there too; because the inter
cession is the voice of the propitiation. The voice
of the propitiation is in power; the voice of the
1 1 Tim. vi. 16.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 145
propitiation is in beauty ; l the voice of the pro
pitiation divides the flames of fire.
He intercedes instead of sinners, but in a place
which not one of them will ever reach in the un
created glory where God eternally dwells. The
infinite space between God and the sinner is not
one jot lessened, but the Person of the Son fills the
place of both, and the space between.
"The Lamb, our Peace, took through the veil
The blood that did for sin atone ;
The Friend and Brother of the frail
Now intercedes upon His throne."
(The late Rev. Robert Owen, London, trans.)
1 The word "beauty" is meant to express the combined ideas
of "majesty" and "gracefulness." — D. E. J.

10

XVIII
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
" We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
Dr. John Owen, in his work on The Person of Christ
(p. 261),1 makes the following remarks on the
intercession of Christ : —
" Upon supposition of the obedience of Chi'ist
in this life, and the atonement made by his
blood for sin, with his exaltation thereon, there
is nothing in any essential property of the
nature of God— nothing in the eternal, unchange
able law of obedience— to hinder but that God
might work all these things in us unto his
own honour and glory, in the eternal salvation
of the Church and the destruction of all its
enemies, without a continuance of the administra
tion of the offices of Christ in heaven, and all
tha,t sacred solemnity of worship wherewith it is
accompanied." 1 Goold's edition of the Works of John Owen, D.D., vol. i.-
D. E. J. 146

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 147
The administration of Christ's offices in heaven
includes His intercession there. Dr. Owen, in the
above passage, admits the necessity of the obedience,
the death, and the exaltation of Christ to heaven,
but he was of the opinion that the intercession there
was not necessary to the salvation of sinners. His
ground for believing the intercession unnecessary
was, that the death of the Cross and the power of
the Spirit of God are sufficiently effectual of them
selves to accomplish all that is necessary. He did
not try to prove from Scripture that there was no
need of Christ's intercession. In the sentence im
mediately following the above passage, he says that
this is so " certain and evident," that there is no
need to prove it.1 Why, then, according to his
view, does He intercede, if there is no absolute
necessity for it ? His reply is, (1) God would have
it so, for the manifestation of His own glory . . .
(a) unto the saints who departed this life under the
Old Testament, . . . (b) unto the holy angels them
selves. ... (2) This state of things is continued
for the glory of Christ Himself. . . . (3) God
hath respect herein unto those who depart in the
faith ... as the apostles and primitive Christians
1 The passage runs, "These things being certain and evident, we
may inquire thereon, whence it is that God hath ordered the
continuation of all these things in heaven above, seeing these ends
might have been accomplished without them, by immediate acts
of divine power" (vol. i. pp. 261, 262).— D. E. J.

1 48 THE ATONEMENT

. . . and (4) unto the faith of the Church militant
on the earth, (a) for the encouragement of their
faith, ...(b) that our faith may be guided and
directed in all our accesses unto God in His holy
worship." x
In his opinion, therefore, the intercession is only
wisdom's scheme to impress God's glory on the
minds of His moral creatures ; it was not demanded
by any necessitj^. He felt that his views of the
efficacy of Christ's death excluded there being any
necessity for the intercession. These views were
based on his opinion that Christ's death was the
propitiation, and not Christ Himself, in and by His
death. These two expressions may, perhaps, appear to
some so very similar in meaning that it might be
thought hypercritical to draw a distinction between
them. It should be remembered, at the same time,
that on the difference between them depends the
answer given to the question, Is the intercession
of Chi'ist in heaven necessary, or is it not ? Is not
the important matter for us the fact that, " If any
man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father,'
and not the question, was He essentially necessary to
us as an Advocate ? It will probably be seen that
1 We have quoted Dr. Owen's own words (vol. i. pp. 262-270) in
preference to rendering the brief summary of the author, so that
the reader may have every assurance of the author's fairness —

his eminent characteristic. — D. E. J.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 149

the fact and the necessity are too closely connected
with each other for us to be able to separate them.
The Bible is the sole foundation and standard
of our faith concerning the truths of the gospel.
The true followers of Dr. Owen are those who search
out and inquire what says the Spirit of God, and
who believe that, all of that, and nothing but that,
as he himself sought to do.1 We shall profess
jealousy for the divine inspiration of the Bible in
vain against men like Dr. Colenso and others, unless
we are prepared to believe every subject and branch
of doctrine revealed therein, on the basis of its own
testimony. Though Ave feel the most genuine
regard for Dr. Owen as a man, a Christian, and a
Puritan, and cherish the highest opinion of his
powers as a theologian, and believe that the theo
logical system which he defends is, in its main out
lines, the one which the Spirit of God reveals in
His word, it appears to us, nevertheless, that the
words of the Bible lead us irresistibly to the con
clusion, that the intercession of the Lord Jesus
Christ in heaven is as necessary to the salvation of
sinners as His death on the cross.
The question, however, is not, Is the intercession
of Christ necessary to the salvation of men? but,
1 Dr. Owen quotes Ps. cxi. 2, " The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein," at the outset
of his inquiry re the intercession. — D. E. J.

150 THE ATONEMENT
Is that necessity founded on the ordinance of
God, or on the impossibility, in the nature of
things, of men being saved without it? The
idea of " necessity," in the Bible, has two shades of
meaning. It is the context of the expression that
explains which of the two meanings it has in the
several passages where it occurs.
1 . "It was necessary therefore that the copies
of the things in the heavens should be cleansed
with these ; but the heavenly things themselves
with better sacrifices than these " (Heb. ix. 23).
What necessity was this ? It was the necessity
of " The law having a shadow of the good things
to come," says Heb. x. 1. What law was that?
" The law of a carnal commandment," is the reply
of Heb. vii. 16 ; a law founded, not on the nature
of God, but on His commandment. It was, there
fore, necessary to cleanse— necessary, because God
had commanded.
2. " Ye must be born anew " (John iii. 7).
What necessity was this ? According to John
iii. 3, it was a conditional necessity, " Except . . .
he cannot."
The word " must " used in ver. 7, of the work of
the Spirit, is the same as we also find used in ver. 14,
of the work of the Son. " Even so must the Son of
man be lifted up." Is it not natural to conclude that
the meaning of this verse containing " must" si mi-

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 151
larly is," Except He be lifted up, He cannot save who
soever believeth on Him " ? The fact that the Son
used the same word "must," in the same conversation,
of His own work in giving His life instead of sinners,
and of the work of the Spirit in bringing about
then change of heart, and the fact that He ex
plained "must," in the last connection, as being a
paraphrase of " Except ... he cannot," prove,
we should think, that the necessity for the pro
pitiation was such, that salvation would be impos
sible without it. And after He had been lifted
up on the cross, it is said, in Acts iii. 21, that " the
heaven must receive " Him ; and, when " the
heaven" had received Him, that "he must reign,
till he hath put all his enemies under his feet," in
1 Cor. xv. 25.
3. In one connection the same word rendered
" ought " and " must " is used in both of the mean
ings above mentioned. Yet the difference between
them is evident. The woman of Samaria said, in
John iv. 20, " Ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship." What ought or
necessity is this ? " Jesus saith unto her . . . the
hour cometh, when neither ... in Jerusalem,
shall ye worship the Father " (iv. 21). Jesus did
not deny that men ought to worship in Jerusalem ;
but He testified that, at some future hour, it would
not be necessary. He therefore showed that the

152 THE ATONEMENT
necessity was founded on a divine commandment.
But, in iv. 24, He spoke of another necessity, " God
is a Spirit : and they that worship him must worship
in spirit and truth." This "must" is founded,
not on a commandment, from the lips of God, but
on the spiritual nature of God. The necessity
founded on a divine commandment may cease to
exist, through being done away with by Him who
gave the commandment. But the necessity which
is founded on the spiritual nature of God cannot
cease to exist, because its very essence is spirit.
The contrast here between " in Jerusalem " and
" in spirit and truth," together with the contrast
between the " ought " and " must," x shows that
God had placed the must of commandment as an
earthly type of the eternal must, which has its
origin in His own nature. Here we have one
:" must " the type of another " must."
Let us now apply the light got from the above
reflections to the verse first referred to. " It was
necessary 2 therefore that the copies of the things
in the heavens should be cleansed with these ;
but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices than these" (Heb. ix. 23). Although
1 The original word is the same in both cases, and so is the
Welsh rendering of it. — D. E. J.
2 The reader may be interested to know that the same word in
Welsh renders this phrase as renders the English "ought" and
"must." The discussion may thus be better understood. — D. E.J.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 153

necessity is only once mentioned in this verse, it
is clearly intended twice. The whole of the first
part of the verse is to be taken as a foreshadowing
of the latter part. The " copies '' show forth " the
heavenly things " ; and " these " show forth the
" better sacrifices " : and, according to analogy, the
necessity mentioned in the former part is typical
of the necessity understood in the latter part.
According to the principle taught by the Son of
God, in His conversation with the woman of Samaria,
the necessity which the ceremonial law foreshadows
is a necessity such as involves the impossibility of
things being otherwise. Consequently, Christ's ap
pearance before God for us is founded on a necessity
which implies that neither could we be saved, nor
" the heavenly things " be cleansed, by any other
means. We will now take two verses from the Bible which
contain neither the word rendered " ought " and
" must," in John iii. 3, 7, 14, iv. 20, nor the one
rendered " it was necessary," in Heb. ix. 23, but
which prove the same truth.
1. " Wherefore also he is able to save to the
uttermost them that draw near unto God through
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them " (Heb. vii. 25).
Though the emphasis, in this verse, is on " save to
the uttermost " and not on the word " able," yet

154 THE ATONEMENT
the verse shows not only that His " saving to the
uttermost " depends on His intercession, but that
His being " able " to save completely a depends on
it also. His ability to save is not connected, in
these words, with His obedience and death here
below,— though that is taken for granted when He
is said to be making intercession,— but on His inter
cession, which is something additional to His obedi
ence and death. Nor is Hi s ability to save connected
here with the fact of His being in a state of exalta
tion, but with His active official life, as Priest, in
that state. Therefore, even though Jesus did obey,
die, and was exalted to heaven, He would have
been unable, according to this verse, " to save to the
uttermost them that draw near unto God through
him," if He did not ever live " to make inter
cession for them." The inability of God is not weak
ness in any sense, but the outcome of an immov
able might, of the pure and infinite righteous
ness of His nature. We are bound to believe
that the inability to save completely without
Christ's intercession arises from the fact that it
is impossible in itself, just as " it is impossible
for God to lie," 2 and as He " cannot deny
himself." 3
1 See the R.V. marginal rendering, which is exactly that of the
Welsh.— D. E. J.
2 Heb. vi. 18. 3 2 Tim. ii. 13.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 155
2. " For if, while we were yet enemies, we were
reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by
his life " (Rom. v. 10).
By " his life " is here meant, His life after His
resurrection, which implies the life which He " ever
liveth to make intercession." The sinner's salvation
implies his being " saved from the wrath of God," 1
as well as his being " reconciled to God." From the
nature of things, saving from wrath is an essential
part of the work of saving sinners. The above
verse shows that "his life" of making intercession
is equally essential to the plan of salvation. Should
anyone maintain that the death of Christ had accom
plished all, so that His succeeding, active, official
life is unnecessary, our contention would be, If that
is true, then the sinner's salvation is completed
when he is reconciled to God, even though he should,
after being reconciled, be under His wrath. What
value would anyone attach to such a salvation ?
It would be unworthy of the name. The great
ness of the need for the intercession of Christ, in
addition to His death, in the plan of salvation,
is measured by the value of that part of man's
salvation which consists in his being " saved
from the wrath of God " as something additional
to his being reconciled to God. But however
1 Rom. v. 9.

156 THE ATONEMENT

great the necessity was, the Son of God amply
satisfied it. ' ' Jesus is worthy to receive
Honour and power divine ;
And blessings more than we can give,
Be, Lord, for ever Thine.
Let all that dwell above the sky,
And air and earth and seas,
Conspire to lift their glories high,
And speak Thine endless praise."

XIX
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE

"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the pre
1 John ii. 1, 2.
"For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall
we be saved by his life." — Rom. v. 10.
If the testimony of Scripture proves that the inter
cession of the Lord Jesus is necessary for the salva
tion of the sinner, the questions which next call
for a reply are, What causes this necessity ? Whence
has it arisen ? What is its nature ? The doctrine
of the intercession of Christ combines two truths :
the one is the fact that He does intercede, and the
other is His reason for interceding. The former
is the superstructure, and the latter the foundation.
The point to make clear is, how the quality of neces
sity belongs to both. The remarks of this chapter
will be limited to pointing out the nature of the
necessity attaching to the second, in order that
whether there is or is not any necessity for the inter
cession itself, readers may clearly see that " the firm
157

158 THE ATONEMENT
foundation of " the intercession " standeth," of
necessity, " having this seal," x " he is the propitia
tion," and that the superstructure of the mediatorial
offices cannot be shaken, because it has been founded
upon this rock. The basis of the intercession is
not that propitiation was made at some time, and
that merit has belonged to it at some time, but that
Jesus, at the very time " he maketh intercession,"
is the propitiation. We have an Advocate, because
He is the propitiation.
The verse from the Epistle to the Romans, quoted
above, shows and proves this. The verse preceding
it (Rom. v. 9) explains that by being " reconciled
to God," the apostle meant being justified before
God, and that by " we shall be saved " he meant
" saved from the wrath of God." The sinner's
salvation from the wrath of God, in the end, means
his continuing in a state of peace with God, or in
a state of justification, to which he has been brought
by faith. This is not all the connection which exists
between the two acts, but it is all that is of import
ance to the truth which we are now endeavouring
to explain. The apostle's argument in these woi'ds
contains, at least, the following : — If reconciliation
came where it did not previously exist, much more,
having once been brought about, will it continue.
Since salvation from wrath implies the continuance
1 2 Tim. ii. 19.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 159
of the reconciliation, so life through Him who saves
the sinner from wrath implies the continuance of
some element, which was in the death by which
he was reconciled.
The believer's salvation from wrath does not
contain every element that was in his reconciliation
to God, because reconciliation when an enemy
includes his removal from a state of guilt to that
of justification. This removal is the special feature
of the sinner's reconciliation to God, so that it may
be said of the sinner, He was reconciled once ; and
he might say of himself, My reconciliation is com
pleted. Connected with this special characteristic,
we have another which continues, and continues to
eternity, namely, Being at peace with Him. It may
be said of the believer, with reference to this, He
abides in His peace for ever. Although it may be
impossible to compare a moment of time with all
eternity, they are linked together by the two
truths which are united in the Christian. He was
reconciled, to God in a moment, and He remains
at peace with Him eternally. The reconciliation
continues, unimpaired by the course of time, or
by the believer's own shortcomings, according to
the apostle's argument in the saving from wrath,
with the same force as when the sinner first
believed. Running parallel with this salvation, and touch-

160 THE ATONEMENT

ing it at every point, we have the plan of salvation
through Christ. So, the life of the Son in heaven
does not contain all the characteristics which belong
to His death. The death of Jesus Christ stands forth
as a unique event, not only in the history of the world,
but also in His own history. There never was such
a day either before or after ; because it was on that
day the Son of God " descended into the lower parts
of the earth."1 He only descended once; and
after reaching the lower depths, He cried, " It is
finished." 2 But, inseparably connected with this
particular characteristic which distinguished His
death, in that it was an act accomplished once and
for all, and an act which was finished, we have
another of an abiding character, and this element
remains in His intercession with the same force as
when it saved the thief from wrath. In Him the
two expressions, " once '' and " for ever,' are united
beyond the possibility of separation. Though it
would not be correct to say of Jesus Chi'ist what St.
Paul said of himself, namely, " I die daily," 3 or to say
what may be asserted of the lost, namely, that they
are for < ver dying, it may be said, with mixed feelings
of humility and thanksgiving, that the righteous
ness in His " dying groans," that the merits of "the
death of Christ my God," that the ransom paid, the
precious sacrifice given on the cross, still continue
' Eph. iv. 9. 2Johnxix. 30. ' 1 Cor. xv. 31.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 161
to cleanse from sin, and wash the hearts of men,
with the same power and efficacy as when the
glorious Sufferer " bowed his head, and gave up
his spirit." 1 Though the earth no longer quakes,
and the rocks have ceased to rend, and the veil
can rend no more, since it " rent in twain from
the top to the bottom," 2 the death, which caused
all this, is immortalised by the intercession in
the hearts and lives of an innumerable multitude
of sinners. Whatever fails, whatever ceases,
whatever vanishes, whatever is done away, " now
abideth " Jesus Christ the righteous " as " the
propitiation." These characteristics are united in the works of
God. His dealings with men are varied and full
of change. He has done many things once and
for ever, and has finished them. Nevertheless, the
principles of His administration continue the same,
above all change, without a suspicion of the " shadow
that is cast by turning " to be anywhere perceived
on them. He raises and casts down again, brings
to naught and creates, kills and calls to life, and
yet realises the meaning of His name, " I AM that I
AM," 3 in "all that He does. So also is the Son in His
work. He descended and ascended, began and
completed, created " new heavens and a new earth,"
until " the former things " were " not . . . re-
1 John xix. 30. 2 Matt, xxvii. 51. 3 Ex. iii. 14.
II

1 62 THE ATONEMENT
membered ; " x and yet, from the midst of the
darkness of the cross, and from the midst of the
brightness of heaven— the brightness which is the
substance of the " flame of fire " 2 which Moses saw
on Mount Horeb— the propitiation, in answer to
the sinner's question, replies that His name is, " I
AM THAT I AM."
The continuance of the merits of the propitiation
is necessary. This wiU be seen if we consider that
He Himself is the propitiation. The Most High
did not continue to dwell in Solomon's temple,
magnificent though it was ; He went there as a
pilgrim sojourns for a night on his way to a temple
infinitely more magnificent—" the temple of the
body " 3 of Christ. In " the fulness of the time " 4
He reached it, and dwelt there, and will abide there
for ever, as in His own home. How fair, and peace
ful, and happy is the abiding place of the Most
High ! When " the fulness of the Godhead " dwelt
in Him " bodily," 5 it was made definitely certain that
the merits of the sacrifice which He should offer
would be both infinite and eternal. The continu
ance of the merits of the propitiation is necessary
also in order that the eternal salvation of sinners
may continue. In creation, it is necessary that
the power which called it into being should
1 Isa. Ixv. 17. 2 Ex. iii. 2. s T0im jj 2]
4 Gal. iv. 4. » Col. ii. 9.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 163
remain in God, in order to uphold what has
been made. The power which upholds is the
continuation of the power which created at the
beginning. The same thing is true with regard to salvation.
It is necessary that the merits, whereby the sinner
was first justified, should remain in Christ, in order
to keep him in the position to which he was brought
by being justified. The merit, which began the
work, must continue, in order to ensure the com
pletion of the work. Would not a covenant with
God, which ceased after a short time, be utterly
worthless to a sinner ? How is it possible, more
over, for anyone to be reconciled with God now,
nineteen hundred years after the Saviour's death,
unless there be in the propitiation some element
which time cannot exhaust ? What, again, can
that element be, unless it is the infinite merit of His
Person ? Want of permanence in His work would
be in itself a proof that He never had any real merit.
Continuance, even among men, is what proves the
truth of a principle, the reality of confidence, and
the genuineness of love in our relations with one
another. It is when a man retains the reverence
and love of his neighbours that he proves that he
deserves it— that he shows that he is really worthy,
and not a man of mere veneer. " For if they had
been of us, they would have continued with us :

1 64 THE ATONEMENT
but they went out, that they might be made mani
fest how that they all are not of us."1 Similarly,
if the Son was once given for us, He remains for
us ; if He ever had merit, He still has merit, and
will for ever have.
The above remarks do not prove that the ad
ministering of Christ's offices in heaven is necessary
to the sinner's salvation ; nor do they show how
His ability to save completely depends on the fact
that " he ever liveth to make intercession." All
we have endeavoured to make clear through them
is, that the oasis of the administration of the media
torial offices, and of the intercession as part of the
work of one of them, has the characteristic of per
manence, that such permanence is necessary, and
that the necessity arises from the nature and the
purpose of the propitiation. This, however, may
be admitted, and the necessity for the intercession
of Christ be, at the same time, denied ; it may be
maintained that the infinite and eternal merits of
the sacrifice make the intercession unnecessary.
Perhaps no one, who believes at all in the merits of
the propitiation, denies its permanence and continu
ance. So that the object of these remarks was not
to convince the reader of the truth of the doctrine,

1 1 John ii. 19. The words "they went out," are supplied by
the translators. The Welsh gives in italics "this happened," i.e.
their ceasing to continue. — D. E. J.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 165
but to show its greatness and its importance. The
other question, What makes the intercession of the
Lord Jesus Christ in heaven necessary in the plan
of salvation? is left to be answered in the next
chapter.

XX
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
Before trying to answer the question with which
the last chapter was closed, we have a few more
remarks to make on the merits which are the basis
of the intercession.
Scripture attributes desert or merit not to Chi'ist
only, but to men also. In the book of The Revela
tion of St. John, where it is said, " Worthy is the
Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power,
and riches," etc. (Rev. v. 12), it says of men also,
" for they are worthy " (Rev. iii. 4). By reading
the whole of the verse from which the second
quotation is made, it will be seen that it is not the
worthiness of the imputed righteousness of the
Son of God which is meant, but that of the actual
righteousness of certain members in the Church
of Sardis. " But thou hast a few names in Sardis
which did not defile then garments : and they
shall walk with me in white; for they are
166

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 167
worthy." x In harmony with these verses of
which the one quoted is an example, there is
another class in which God is represented as
rewarding men for their good works, done in
accordance with His righteousness. Take the
following verses as examples : —
" For God is not unrighteous to forget your work
and the love which ye shewed toward his name "
(Heb. vi. 10) ; " It is a righteous thing with God
to recompense . . . you that are afflicted rest
with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from
heaven " (2 Thess. i. 6, 7) ; " For great is your
reward in heaven " (Matt. v. 12) ; " And thy Father
which seeth in secret shall recompense thee " (Matt.
vi. 4).
Observe that all these quotations and similar
verses refer to a conscientious actual and practical
holiness in saintly men, and not to natural virtues
possessed by many ungodly men. These verses,
taken in their natural meaning, clearly testify
that godly men have merits, and that God rewards
them for their good works done by them according
to His righteousness. But how can such a testi
mony be consistent with the following quotation?—
" Doth he thank the servant because he did the
things that were commanded ? Even so ye also,
when ye shall have done all the things that are
1 See also 2 Thess. i. 5.— D. E. J.

1 68 THE ATONEMENT
commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants ;
we have done that which it was our duty to do"
(Luke xvii. 9, 10). Or how does it agree with the
aim and argument of the Epistle to the Romans,
in which it is clearly and forcibly proved that every
spiritual blessing imported to man, be he a lost
sinner or a saved believer, is imparted solely on
the ground of the meritorious obedience of the Son
of God ? How does such a testimony agree, also,
with the passages quoted under the heading of this
chapter, in which the intercession is connected
with the Person of the Lord Jesus as the propitia
tion, and not in the slightest degree with any merit
which may be in those for whom the intercession is
made. Since God spake them, they must be consistent,
whether we understand how, or whether we do
not. If we believe in the divine origin of the Bible,
we are bound to believe the testimony of both, how
ever much they may appear to contradict each other.
We must believe, even if we should never be able
to reconcile them ; and believe them as they are in
the Bible, without attempting to distort as much
as one syllable from their natural meaning in order
to reconcile them. The words of God are too
precious to have their true meaning sacrificed for
the sake of some theological system which men
may form. The Bible has not suffered the most

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 169
cruel persecution at the hands of its enemies, but
at the hands of its professed defenders and its true
friends. It is ready to be examined and cross-
examined by the keenest and broadest intellects
ever created, in the presence of jurymen who are
honest and eager to know the truth. But examina
tion accompanied by twistings and distortings, by
those who seek only to prove their own pet doctrines,
it condemns, in the name of Him who gave it. Yes,
men have distorted it most unsparingly. The
Lord deliver us from making a martyr of the Bible
in the interests of any system of theology, and give
us courage to sacrifice our systems, though they
be as dear to us as Isaac was to Abraham, rather
than that we should pervert or distort " one jot
or one tittle . . . from the law " x and the gospel !
This is the spirit which we desire to cherish, and
the rule which we endeavour to follow in these
chapters. It is quite possible to reconcile the two classes
of verses referred to, without doing injustice to a
single word in them. One can believe that Christ
has merits, and that the Christian has merits, and
that in such a way as not to cloud the absolute and
pure grace of salvation, and firmly believe, at the
same time, that the first alone entirely and of
necessity is the basis of the intercession. By per-
1 Matt. v. 18.

170 THE ATONEMENT
ceiving this, we shall see also the nature of the in
comparable merit of the great propitiation.
By righteousness is meant that attribute in the
nature of God in virtue of which there is a difference
in His attitude, as divine Ruler, towards moral good
and evil. The belief that this is the essential char
acteristic of God's righteousness is based on the
fact that there is an essential difference between
holiness and sin. Denial of its being necessary for
God to punish sin is founded on one of three sup
positions. Either (1) that there is no difference of
nature between moral good and evil, or (2) that
God does not feel towards good and evil according
to the difference between them, or (3) that if He
does feel so, there is no necessity demanding that
He should act towards them according to that
difference. Admit only that there is a difference of
nature between good and evil, it is at once clear that
goodness deserves commendation, because it is good
ness, and that evil deserves reproof, because it is evil.
It would be unrighteous of the Most High if He did
not act differently towards two principles which
are in themselves so different from one another.
" But," says the reader, " is not every creature's
goodness, be he an angel in heaven, or a Christian
on earth, the work of God within him, and a work
which God accomplished by his own pure and
sovereign grace ? " Quite true. But no goodness

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 171
is less virtuous, because grace planted it in the soul.
Holiness is no less commendable, because God im
parted it, and because He imparted it by grace.
Whatever obligation a Christian may have to thank
God for putting within him a holy nature, it does not
do away with the fact that righteousness demands
that God should commend the moral goodness
which His grace has imparted to the heart, and
that He should act towards it in a manner different
from the way in which He would have acted towards
evil. The reader further adds, " The creature is in
debted to God for every goodness within him : if
he were a perfect creature, he could neither be,
nor do, anything beyond what God has a right to
demand from him." True, again. But a creditor
here below feels and acts differently towards one who
pays his debts from the way he feels and acts towards
one who refuses to pay them. The creditor is under
no obligation to as much as thank the former, since
he does nothing but discharge his duty ; but the
fulfilling of a duty deserves commendation, and
deserves a different treatment of the one who ful
filled it from that which might be dealt to the one
who neglected its fulfilment.
Every morsel of goodness in a Christian, and every
good deed done by him, is due to God ; he, never
theless, deserves commendation. It would be con-

172 THE ATONEMENT
trary to every idea we have of righteousness if God
did not display a different attitude to the fulfilment
of a duty from that which He displays to the neglect
of it. Truthfulness, honesty, and faithfulness de
serve respect, though we owe them to one another.
Self-denial deserves praise, though it is every man's
duty to deny himself. The " work " of the Hebrew
Christians, " and the love which '' they " shewed
toward his name," deserved to be remembered and
praised of God, though they owed it all, and did
nothing more than God asked of them. Why ?
Though the grace of God is the source of it all, and
all of. it is due to God, it deserves praise, since its
nature is holiness.
Although holiness deserves praise because of what
it is in itself, it has no propitiatory merit. The
reason is that holiness, even though it be perfection,
is but the discharging of what the creature owes his
God. Since it is a debt, (1) No one deserves praise
excspt the person who possesses it. It may be said
of the angels that " they are worthy," because they
are perfect ; but every whit of their perfection is
owing to God, their worthiness brings God's praise
to no one, except themselves. Then' righteousness
is a bright, shining robe to themselves, but it cannot
be of any use to anyone else. Since it is a debt, (2)
It is not deserving of so much praise that it is capable
of procuring the forgiveness of the smallest sin ever

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 173

committed by its possessor. Holiness in a Christian
merits praise for the Christian himself ; but it cannot
cover a single sin ever committed by that Christian.
Consequently, the merit which is essential to the
atonement is a vicarious merit ; which implies a
merit for others, and a merit instead of sin.
What is necessary in vicarious merit is that the
obedience which has merit should be an obedience
which the One who gave it did not owe. In seeking
for an obedience which was not owing, we must
ascend from earth to heaven, and, having reached
there, at once confess that such obedience cannot
possibly be found, unless God Himself plan out some
means by which a divine Person can obey. That
will be an obedience without obligation when given,
and it was given in " the death of the cross." There
fore, " if any man sin," not only any one of the
ungodly sinners, in whom there is no good thing,
but also of the most pious believers, he must have
an Advocate with a plea. But what plea can be
effectual ? Will " they are worthy " suffice ? No,
because they owe every whit of their most perfect
obedience. But " I am worthy " will suffice. His was
not an obedience due in any sense ; it was an
infinite and a perfect obedience, and one which,
therefore, possessed sufficient merit not only to
earn for Him who gave it an exaltation to the highest
throne of heaven, but also to deserve the eternal

174 THE ATONEMENT

blotting out of the evil deserts of the sin of the whole
world, and of every world.
"When God destroys creation,
Melts earth with fervent heat,
My song of Jesus' merit
I'll then and e'er repeat."
(Morgan Rhys, trans.)

XXI
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
How can it be shown and proved that necessity
requires the intercession of the Lord Jesus in heaven
to save sinners ? How can a belief in that necessity
not be, in effect, a clen;al of the perfection and
sufficiency of the work which He accomplished on
the earth ? x How can the sufficiency of the pro
pitiation and the necessity for the intercession be
consistent ?
The necessity for Christ's intercession is explained
by its being necessary for the sovereign grace of the
Mediator to be continually active in imparting the
blessings of the propitiation to sinners. It is neces
sary for His merits to continue in His Person, in
order that He m&y be the propitiation. It is equally
necessary for His grace to continue in His nature
in order that He may impart the blessings which
He has merited. The intercession is the expression
1 See John xvii. 4.
176

176 THE ATONEMENT
of that graciousness. Man's obligations to God
are such as to make it impossible for him, by the
most perfect deeds which he is capable of accom
plishing, ever to make God indebted to him. The
utmost an angel, who has never sinned, can do
is to pay " the last farthing " which he himself
owes. The law might address the angel, when
receiving back the cup, in the words of the Welsh
rendering of the well-known sentence, " My cup is
quite full." Only one cup was ever presented to
anyone, concerning which the law could address
the Person from whom it received it back, " My
cup runneth over," x as the English Versions
have it.
Since righteousness demands the entire man,
sinners must be saved by grace, or be for ever lost.
Grace, in its very nature, is a free and sovereign
gift, otherwise it would not be grace. Man's obliga
tions to God as a creature, and his relation to God
as a sinner, make it necessary for God's free grace
to save him, or he will never be saved at all. Grace's
freedom is the freedom of the divine will, in which
grace dwells. Man's glory as a creature consists
partly of the freedom which essentially belongs
to his will. When Moses said unto the Lord, " Shew
me, I pray thee, thy glory," the first reply he got
was a declaration of the freedom of His will to " be
1 Ps. xxiii. 5.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 177
— :  : — ^~.  : 
gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew
mercy on whom I will shew mere}'." 1 The incarna
tion of the eternal Word, and His self-sacrifice for
the ungodly, were the fruit of that gracious
ness. " If the Word has become flesh and has given His
life a ransom for many, and if the ransom has
given satisfaction to the mind of God Himself, what
need is there for anything more? What need is
there for the intercession in order to save anyone ?
How is it that all who believe are not now, of
necessity, saved, in virtue of His infinite merit,
without any necessity for the intercession of the
Mediator ? "
Our reply is, that there is nothing of the nature
of an automatic mechanism in the propitiation, no
more than there is anything of the nature of a
machine in God's government. There are words
which mortal men can use with every propriety,
which have no meaning whatever when put in the
lips of God. The word chance is one. This is a
biblical word, and expresses our ignorance of the
cause of many things which occur. To us, therefore,
what is spoken of as happening by chance appears
as if it were altogether without a cause. But God's
omniscience excludes the possibility of anything
happening by chance for Him. The same is true of
1 Ex. xxxiii. 19.

178 THE ATONEMENT
the word machine. This word implies that what
is so named works according to the laws of nature,
so as to save, to some extent, the personal labour
and superintendence of men. The machine, once
started by human hands, works of itself, within
certain limits ; just as the hands of a timepiece,
completed and wound up, move of themselves, and
tell the time. But, just as God's omniscience ex
cludes the possibility of chance in His knowledge
of things, so does the omnipresent activity of His
will exclude the possibility of anything mechanical
in His case. Man may set things to go of themselves,
but he is able to do this only because God is ever
working with unbroken regularity and order. The
regularity of His method of working is called, by
men, law, and it is thus styled by Himself in His
Word. A man may slumber and sleep, but his
watch, when wound, continues to tick, because,
" He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor
sleep." :
The portion of creation which appears most
mechanical to us is that of " the heavens " and " the
great lights " 2 The reason is that the laws of the
solar system are few in number, easy to understand
and explain, and have been more fully discovered than
the laws of other portions of God's universe. The
Bible has not one word to say about the nature of
' Ps. cxxi. 4. 2 Ps. cxxxvi. 5, 7.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 179
these laws. God did not send His Son into the world
to lecture on astronomy, because man, by the eye
of his reason and the light of nature, can read the
laws which His finger has written on the firmament.
But God Himself " no one hath seen ... at any
time ; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom
of the Father, he hath declared him." x When the
Son said (Matt. v. 45) that the Father " maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and the good," He proclaimed
that the solar system is not a mechanism, but that
every motion within it is the effect of the divine will,
and that the constancy of its laws is nothing but
the regular, orderly, and lasting activity of His
power. God, in the beginning said, " Let there be "
a sun " in the firmament of the heaven " ; and God
placed it " in the firmament of the heaven to give
light upon the earth, and ... to rule the day . . .
and God saw that it was good." 2 It is still as good
as it was when first created. When man fell, and
the ground was cursed, God did not say, Cursed is
the sun for thy sake. It has sufficient light for
a world, and even worlds, of men, and it is thoroughly
adapted to the needs of the earth. But the per
fection of the sun as the work of God, and the suffi
ciency of its light and heat, make it by no means
unnecessary for God to be ever saying, " I will that
thou shouldest rise." It does not rise automatically,
1 John i. 18. 2 Gen. i. 14-18.

180 THE ATONEMENT
like a machine, but in obedience to the working
of the divine will which first called it into being.
This is the parable of the sun.
Parallel with the line of thought just raised, but
in a heaven infinitely higher, runs the truth of
salvation. God, in an eternal covenant, said, Let
My Son be a Saviour. In " the fulness of the time "
came the greatest " light to rule the day " into the
world, and God placed Him in the firmament of
the best heaven He possessed, and " God saw that "
He " was good." Here is incomparable perfection,
than which man can seek for no one better to supply
his wants ; and what is more it " fully satisfies the
mind of God Himself." x But it does not save sinners
of itself, like a machine, although it is perfect and
infinite, no more than the sun rises of itself. The
grace, from which the propitiation had its being
must continue to say, " I will," in order that it may
answer its purpose. Although the sinner's salva
tion through Christ is quite consistent with the right
eousness of God, and although it is an act of righteous
ness towards the Lord Jesus Chi'ist Himself, since
1 The author very aptly quotes the sentence thus rendered, from
a Welsh hymn by the Rev. R. Owen, London. The verse may be
fully rendered thus —
"May my poor soul no merit seek
But Christ's, the meek and lowly ;
His sacrifice full pleasure gives
To God who lives in glory." — D. E. J.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 181
He is " Jesus Christ the righteous," both in
principle and right, yet it can never be other
than an act of sovereign grace, of the free will
of God towards the sinner himself, because at his
best he is only a creature who owes God perfect
obedience. There is one point of difference between the
parable and its interpretation. It is the will of God
that makes the sun to rise. The sun itself is but
a thing, with no will of any kind. It is the will of
God that applies the salvation which comes through
the propitiation. But the propitiation is a Person,
who Himself possesses a will. The working of the
sovereign grace of God towards sinners is implied
in the doctrine of election. The working of the
sovereign grace of the Mediator, after He had ac
complished His work on the earth, is implied in the
doctrine of the intercession. Henceforth, the grace
and wisdom of God dwell bodily in Christ as " the
fulness of the Godhead " x The eternal purposes
lie in the will and heart of the Mediator as purposes
to be worked out after the counsel of His own will.
So, He said, in John xvi. 26, 27, " I say not unto
you, that I will pray the Father for you ; for the
Father himself loveth you." He intercedes, because
His Father loves, and does not pray in order to
engender love in Him towards sinners. The eternal
1 Col. ii. 9.

1 82 THE ATONEMENT
election is now contained and expressed in the inter
cession of the Mediator. The " I will " of predestina
tion, which was in God's mind from eternity, is
voiced by the Mediator, who, in His Person, is the
Word of God. His appearance for us is in itself a
voice crying, " I will." In the glory, which He had
with the Father before the world was, He said, in
the unity of the Godhead, " I will," with His eyes
cast on sinners. After becoming flesh and being
made sin, He was glorified as a Mediator with that
glory ; and in Him is still repeated the ancient word
of eternity. As Mediator, the language of the inter
cession is, " Father. . . I will," 1 There are two
wishes in salvation. The Father wishes to give :
the sinner wishes to receive. Jesus, as Advocate,
stands in place of both at the same time. The '* I
will " of the two parties comes from His lips at the
same time. He expresses God's will to give, and the
will of the sinner to receive with the same breath,
because He is a Mediator. He says God's " I will,"
feeling within Himself the infinite grace which has
existed from eternity in the Godhead. He utters
the sinner's " I will," touched with his feelings in
all the depths of His need. It is, therefore, not said
that He appears for Himself ; because that would
mean that He was seeking righteousness for Him
self. But it is said that He appears for us ; - because
1 John xvii. 24. 2 Heb. ix. 24.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 183
He declares His gracious will to confer on sinners
those infinite blessings which He earned by giving
His life, which He also continues to receive that He
may impart them to such as need them.1
1 See Ps. lxviii. 18, and Eph. iv. 8.

XXII
THE ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
The intercession of Christ is the link between the
essential preciousness of the propitiation and its
application, in the justification of the sinner's con
dition, and in the sanctification of his heart. The
link is necessary, since there is as much need for
the Mediator's grace to apply the plan of salvation
to those who accept it, as there was for it to design
and execute the plan itself. The intercession meets
the need to perfection, because it is characterised
by the operation of the free, gracious, and sovereign
will of the Mediator, as He asks the Father to con
fer on sinners what He Himself, as the propitiation,
has merited on their behalf. The intercession, there
fore, is an intermediary between the propitiation, as
it is in itself, in worth and greatness, and sinners
who stand in need of forgiveness and cleansing by-
it ; between its essential fitness for men and its
actual application to them.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 185
The intermediary, however, does not widen the
distance between the propitiation and the sinner,
because the Advocate is the propitiation. When
the apostle says, "He is the propitiation for our
sins," he describes the propitiation as it is in itself—
an infinite merit ; but when he says, " If any man
sin, we have an Advocate," he describes the pro
pitiation as it is to sinners personally through the
intercession. If " we have an Advocate " were the
whole truth, the sinner might believe in divine
willingness, but adequacy- of merit would be wanting.
Were "he is the propitiation " the whole truth,
he might believe in the sufficiency of merit, but the
willingness to apply it would be wanting.
The relation which exists between the Advocate
and the propitiation in the Person of Christ resem
bles, in one sense, the relation between the Father
and the Son in the Eternal Essence. The Son is a
Mediator between God and men ; but His mediator-
ship does not place them wider apart, but brings
them close together, inasmuch as the Mediator
Himself is God. The words of a man's mouth are
mediums of communication between one who speaks
and one spoken to. The medium does not separate
them more widely apart, since the person speaking
and the words spoken are identical. If the person
is not identical with his words, they form a breach.
" In the beginning was the Word " ; and as Medi-

1 86 THE ATONEMENT
ator He is the Word : " And the Word was with
God," and yet " the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God . . . And the Word
became flesh." x Likewise " the blood of sprink
ling . . . speaketh." 2 The Word of the propitiation is
the intercession. As a word or medium the Advo
cate is with 3 the propitiation. The Lord Jesus
must be graciously willing when he imparts to
us the blessings of salvation ; and the generous
willingness of the Advocate, and the meritorious
greatness of the propitiation coexist in the same
Person, " Jesus Christ the righteous."
To proclaim to sinners the propitiation without
the intercession would be like telling the famishing
that abundance of food had been stored to relieve
their want, but that the door of the place where
the food was stored was locked, and that the key
had been lost. The words of the Welsh hymn—
"Here may the weak and needy find
Enough for evermore."4
would be true of that store, but the " weak and
needy " could hardly be expected to si ?i<7 the words.
The very abundance would but mock the hungry.
1 John i. 1, 2, 14. a Heb. xii. 24.
3 See with in John i. 1. — D. E. J.
4 From a verse of a wonderful hymn by Williams, Pant y Celyn.
See p. 36 of Sweet Singers of Wales, by the Rev. H. Elvet Lewis,
for the circumstances under which it was composed. — D. E. J.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 187

Corn was gathered together in Egypt like the sand-
heaps on the seashore, too abundant to be measured,
and it was given to the care and superintendence
of Joseph. The abundance would never, have
saved anyone from dying of hunger, were it not
that the same Joseph had been pleased to
throw open every store where corn might be sold.
Through his good pleasure, the abundance filled
the hungry. Salvation has " enough for evermore " ;
but the abundant merit in the propitiation would
never satisfy the sinner's need without the abounding
willingness of the Advocate. Both meet in the
Lord Jesus Christ to the highest degree possible.
" I am that I am " is a name as appropriate to
Christ the propitiation as to God Himself, because
He is above the jealousies which separate nations
from one another— above the changes of time,
place, and circumstances— above the difference
between heaven and earth— above the difference
between time and eternity— deeper than the lowest
depths, and higher than the loftiest heights which
any creature ever reached. God did not consider
it enough to announce Himself as the " I am " to
Moses. What more was necessary ? " Thus shalt
thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent
me unto you." x If " I am " sets forth the propitiation,
the I am sending sets forth the Advocate. The
1 Ex. iii. 14.

1 88 THE ATONEMENT
Holy Spirit, the great guide of pilgrims through
the dry and dreary desert to a better country, can
say, pointing with his finger to " the Lamb that
was slain," who is still a Lamb, " in the midst of the
throne," as Moses said, " I am hath sent me unto
you." The Lord Jesus had, as a divine Person, when
on earth, infinite power and virtue to give eyes
to all the blind, ears to all the deaf, feet to all the
lame, bread to all the hungry, to cast out devils from
all who were possessed, and to wipe away all grave
yards from off the face of the whole earth by breath
ing life into all the dead. Yet that infinite fulness
never healed a single man, except when virtue went
out of Him by the working of His own free and
gracious will. Generally, when healing, He would
ex23ress His will by means of a word to the sick,
by prayer to God, by a ray and a loud voice, and in
other ways. We cannot use too strong language
to describe the virtue in Him, " for in him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." * It would
be absolutely impossible for anyone to get virtue
out of Him by force ; nor could the virtue go out
of Him of itself, by any kind of necessity existing
within Himself, as the unreasoning beast acts by
force of instinct, which is a law within it, taking the
place of a will in its constitution, or as light comes
1 Col. ii. 9.

ATONEMENT AND THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 1S9
from the sun. There was only one way by which
His virtue could reach the needy, and that was by
His willingness— the willingness which manifested
itself in the words, "I will," spoken to the leper,1
and in the sentence, " the Son also quickeneth whom
he will," 2 spoken to the Jews. Just as " I will "
was a way to health for the sick here below, so is
" Father ... I will," in heaven, the path of the
blessings of the propitiation for sinners.
"Abundant power, abundant grace —
All fulness — dwell in Him;
Their worth no saint in heaven can tell,
Nor know the seraphim."
" More precious things than India's wealth
In Him all men may find ;
He purchased more than earth for me,
When on the cross He pined."3
"God's boundless grace in Christ was richly stored,
Ere seas, by fixed decrees, obeyed His word."4
As the propitiation there is abundance in Him ;
but it is impossible for that abundance to flow out
of Him by the power of law, or external force, nor by
the force of instinct from within. As an Advocate,
every fulness flows out of Him, because the very
1 Matt. viii. 2, 3. 2 John v. 21.
3 These two verses, rendered from different hymns, are by
Williams of Pant y Celyn.— D. E. J.
4 This couplet is from Peter Jones' (Pedr Fardd's) hymn on
Predestination. — D. E. J.

190 THE ATONEMENT
essence of the intercession is His willingness to impart.
" He is able to save completely . . . seeing he ever
liveth " to declare His will as an Advocate on behalf
of " them that draw near unto God through him."
Whatever, therefore, the Father does in justifying,
whatever the Spirit does in sanctifying, all is done
in virtue of the propitiation. It is the intercession,
however, as the expression of the Mediator's gracious
will, as the " Let there be " of the propitiation, that
connects Christ's infinite merit with all that is done
on, in, and through sinners, to accomplish their
salvation.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE
INTERCESSION

191

XXIII
THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 Johx ii. 1, 2.
The Doctrine of the Intercession is contained in
the answers which may be given to the two questions
—What is the intercession of and in itself, as regards
its nature, and to what ends does it minister ?
The first question is answered in the Epistle to
the Hebrews, with more details and clearness than
in any other part of Scripture. The answer there
given shows that it forms part of the priestly office
of the Lord Jesus, being ministered in heaven in
virtue of the other part of the same office which
He accomplished on earth. This is proved by
the following quotations :—" But he, because he
abideth for ever, hath his priesthood unchangeable.
Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost
them that draw near unto God through him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them " (Heb.
vii. 24, 25) ; " For Christ entered not into a holy
place made with hands, like in pattern to the true ;
i3

194 THE ATONEMENT
but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face
of God for us " (Heb. ix. 24).
It was impossible to explain the nature of the
intercession of the Lord Jesus without referring
to the ends to which the intercession was designed
to contribute. Such references are made in the
expressions " for us " and " save to the uttermost "
in the above passages. These quotations are not
such clear and detailed testimonies to the aims and
purposes of the intercession as we find in the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in John xiv.-
xvii. But, on the other hand, Jesus does not, in
the references of those chapters, reveal the nature
of the intercession. When He says, " I will pray
the Father," He does not inform us that it was as
Priest He would pray, nor that He would pray in
virtue of His sacrifice.
With the light which they had then, the apostles
could not have the slightest notion of the full mean
ing of such simple words as, " I will pray the Father "
and " if I go . . . away " ; but all is explained to us
in the Epistle to the Hebrews. But, though Jesus
does not explain the nature of His intercession, He
gives minute information regarding the blessings
for which He would pray His father. According
to Christ's revelation, the blessings of the intercession
may be divided into three classes. They contained
blessings (1) to the apostles. ( 2) to believers, and (3)

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 195
to the world. More than all, there was one great
general blessing, which contains them all in itself—
the gift of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, the gift of
" the Holy Spirit to them that ask him," according
to Luke xi. 13, is the gift of " good things to them
that ask him," according to Matt. vii. 11.
More generally, when the Bible, in other passages,
refers to the blessings of the intercession, blessings
to believers are meant. The words of the Son of
God bring before us blessings for which He prayed
His Father as gifts to the apostles, over which we
would do well to ponder. These blessings are in
cluded in the gift of the Holy Spirit Himself, who
is called in John xiv. 17, " the Spirit of truth,"
whose work was to teach them all things, and bring
to their remembrance all things, all that Christ said
unto them (John xiv. 26), to bear witness of Him
(John xv. 26), to guide them into all the truth
(John xvi. 13), to glorify Him, by taking of His and
declaring unto them (John xvi. 14). The eleven
were both the disciples and the apostles of Christ.
The above blessings were promised them in their
double capacities. As blessings to the disciples, they
are as applicable to the disciples of Christ to the
end of time as to them ; and they have been im
parted to all believers as they were imparted to the
eleven. As blessings to the apostles, they have a
special application to them, different from their

196 THE ATONEMENT
application to others. The same blessings are, there
fore, common, to all believers, and have, at the same
time, a special relation to the apostles. It is evident
that the reason why it is possible for the same words
to set forth two purposes so different from each
other is that the Holy Spirit imparts the different
blessings, and that, though different, those blessings
possess one characteristic in common, namely, a
revelation of the Lord Jesus to the mind and heart.
We will first limit our remarks on these blessings
to their aspect as blessings to the apostles.
It is evident that one special effect of the work
of the Holy Spirit in teaching, in bringing to remem
brance, in bearing witness, in guiding, and in glorify^-
mg the Lord Jesus in the eyes of the apostles, was
the production of the New Testament as divine
literature. If the New Testament is the work of
holy men writing under the instruction and guid
ance of the Holy Spirit, and if the Spirit was given
to them for that purpose, in answer to the prayer
of the Lord Jesus to His Father, the irresistible
conclusion is that the New Testament is the fruit of
Christ's intercession. But what say we of the Old
Testament ? Since the Atonement was an ever-
present fact to the mind of God, thousands were
saved by its virtue, before the propitiation was
actually given, just as the sun sends forth its beams
before it comes to view itself. Similarly, since the

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 197
intercession was present to God's mind from eternity,
by analogy, the Holy Spirit was given, in virtue
of the intercession, to holy men, to move and adapt
them to the writing of the Old Testament, before
the Advocate, as such, began His work. God's
love towards Christians is such that, " before they
call," x He answers. How much more did He give
evidence of His love towards His only begotten
Son, by giving the patriarchs and the prophets
the Holy Spirit as an answer, and an answer before
the Son called in prayer for the Spirit ? We, there
fore, look upon the Bible not only as the work of
the Holy Spirit, but also, because it is so, as the fruit
of the intercession of the Son ; and not as a mere
chance result, but as one of the objects of His inter
cession. The Bible, then, as a revelation of the Person of
Christ (and this is its distinction and glory), is a bless
ing given to men as a result of the intercession of the
Lord Jesus in heaven, in virtue of the propitiation.
Since the Bible is a Book for all men everywhere,
we have one blessing, at least, which is the fruit
of the infinite merit of the propitiation, through
an effectual intercession, of which we would hesitate
to say that the all men everywhere, to whom it is
adapted, are only some. To esteem the Bible as the
fruit of the intercession of Christ is to magnify the
1 Isa. Ixv. 24.

THE ATONEMENT

Bible and to speak of a heart in heaven full of
tenderness towards the world. We are led to see
the Lord Jesus Christ exalted by the right hand
of God, and sitting, in consequence, on His right
hand and there making intercession for us : pray
ing and saying, " Father ... I will."
But how much is the world better of that ? This
much— the prayer has placed a Bible in the house,
in the hands, and in the heart of the poorest inhab
itant of our land. Whomsoever we thank for that,
let us not forget to thank the Advocate ; the idea
originated in His mind, and it was by His propitia
tion and intercession that the idea of writing a Book,
whose words would be hfe eternal to sinful men,
was worked out. This again reveals the truth that,
connected with salvation itself are the means of
salvation. So it was foreordained. The salvation
of sinners was not the only purpose of predestination,
but their salvation by faith and the engendering
of faith by " the word of the cross." ' Salvation in all
its bearings is therein contained. The means and
the work are similar, and are the results of the same
intercession. If convincing the world, and perfect
ing the saints is the result of the intercession, these
things are done by means of the Word of God. More
over, the Word Himself is the fruit of the same
intercession ; and every inspiration to preach the
1 1 Cor. i. 18.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 199
Word, which ever resulted in the conversion of one
man, was a result effected by " Father ... I will,"
spoken by our Saviour in heaven. Let us, there
fore, at all times, connect in our thoughts and
feelings the Bible and the intercession of Christ.
Because, by this connection, the Bible itself, as a
Book, proves to us that the propitiation has given
satisfaction, and that Christ has gone to His Father
as the result of the satisfaction which the Father
received in Him.

XXI V
THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
The second class of blessings, which we are told
are imparted as the effectual result of Christ's
intercession, is that of those imparted to believers.
These may be divided, again, into two classes :
(1) those conferred by the Father, and (2) those
conferred by the Holy Spirit.
The great blessing which the Father confers on
believers is that of forgiveness. Although a sinner
is justified but once, yet, when he has been justified,
he is in need of daily forgiveness. The need arises
from the nature of sin itself, which is the trans
gression of God's law, and therefore deserving of
punishment, which is unfailingly administered,
unless it be cancelled by forgiveness. St. Paul
and St. John teach that this forgiveness is given to
believers by the Father in answer to the intercession
of the Lord Jesus.
In Rom. viii. 34 St. Paul says, " Who is he that
200

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 201
shall condemn ? . . . Christ Jesus . . . maketh
intercession for us." The connection clearly shows
that what the apostle meant was that Christ
" maketh intercession for us " in view of the con
demnation which sin had deserved for men ; and
to intercede against condemnation is to intercede
for forgiveness.
In Heb. ix. 24 * we find, " For Christ entered . . .
into heaven itself, now to appear before the face
of God for us." The connection of this verse with
the twenty-second verse, where it is said, " apart
from shedding of blood there is no remission,"
proves that the writer meant that He appeared
to seek forgiveness.
In the light of the line of thought which runs
through the Epistle, it may naturally be inferred
that by " he is able to save to the uttermost," or
" save completely," in Heb. vii. 25 the writer refers
especially to the abundant forgiveness which is
in the power of Christ, by His intercession, to give
" them that draw near unto God through Him."
John, too, speaks of Chi'ist as an Advocate with
the Father, " if any man sin " ; and 1 John i. 9 men
tions forgiveness as the blessing which God has to
1 It is evident from the way the author connects the quotations
from Hebrews with those from Romans, that he accepted the
traditional view of its authorship. The problem was not then
in the air ; and even in later years he distrusted conclusions drawn
from style and from internal evidence alone. — D. E. J.

THE ATONEMENT

give to those who confess their sins. In 1 John ii.
1 " Jesus Christ the righteous " is " an Advocate " ;
in 1 John i. 9 the Father is " righteous to forgive."
This connection proves that the particular blessing
which John had in mind, when he called Christ
an Advocate, was forgiveness.
There is, therefore, nothing in the act of justifi
cation itself which ensures the sinner against a
relapse into the guilty condition from which he is
lifted, more than there is in a man's release from the
power of law, on one charge, to ensure him from
falling again into the hands of the law on another
charge. The secret of perseverance in grace is
the intercession. Were He to cease making inter
cession, those who have been once justified would
straightway fall again into the hands of the law.
They attain their new condition by the plea of the
propitiation ; and by the continuance of the same
propitiatory plea on their behalf do they continue
in that condition. He created " ah things by the
word of his power " ; and " by the word of his
power " does He uphold all things.1 He asked that
the believer might be justified ; but He must always
pray and not faint, in order that the believer
may receive forgiveness for his daily shortcomings.
It is St. Paul and St. John who inform us that
the great blessing of forgiveness, imparted by the
1 Heb. i. 3.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 203
Father to believers, is given by Him as the fruit
of the Son's intercession. It is the Son Himself who
informs us that the blessings which the Holy Spirit
imparts to the soul are given by Him as the fruit
of the same intercession. In John xvii. He prays
that they might receive the blessings of union and
holiness, but does not mention, by name, the Spirit,
by whom these things are to be produced. In
John xiv. -xvi. He promised the apostles that
He would pray, after He had left the world, that
His Father might send the Holy Spirit Himself.
The sending of the Spirit implies all the work which
that Person accomplishes, whether it be on the
apostles, or through them, on believers in general.
On the basis of Christ's own works, we must
believe that all the work done by the Holy Spirit
on the hearts of believers is the immediate fruit
of Christ's intercession, in heaven, on their behalf.
This implies that God is under no obligation to
put His Spirit into a single heart, nor to continue
giving Him after doing so once. The Christian
can never have a claim on the indwelling of the
Spirit, by " length of possession," after the manner
in which British law enables men to claim
possession of property. The inclination to love
God, after loving Him for fifty years, is as much
the work of God's free and sovereign grace on the
heart, as was the first inclination of the moment

204 THE ATONEMENT
we first found Him. The intercession is the ex
pression of that grace in the Mediator. If it were
asked why and how the believer endeavours to
live a godly life, to deny himself in order to please
God, to curb his unruly passions, and to forgive
his enemies instead of revenging himself on them, or
how he strives to do good to others— to his Sabbath-
school class, say, by preparing for it, by praying
that his efforts may be blessed, by visiting his
scholars when sick, or when beginning to backslide—
the Holy Spirit has, in the Bible, rent the veil,
and shows to each one of us that at that self-same
moment, now, at this moment, a prayer is earnestly
made by the Lord Jesus unto God for him, until
we can almost hear Him saying in His own words,
" Father ... I will," and see the Spirit Himself
in the believer's heart, quicker than thought,
working in him, both to will and to work, for His
good pleasure.1 It is well that Jesus Chi'ist does
continue to pray, for Satan continues to exert
every effort to entice even believers.
Each of the three— Christ, St. Paul, and St.
John— has his own word to set forth this work
of Christ. The word Jesus Himself uses is the word
" pray " : "I will pray the Father," (John xiv. 16) ;
" I pray for them " (John xvii. 9) ; "I pray not
1 For the phraseology of this passage, see John xvii. 24, Acts
xii. 5, and Phil. ii. 13.— D. E. J.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 205

that thou shouldest take them from the world, but
that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one "
(John xvii. 15) ; " Neither for these only do I pray "
(John xvii. 20). This word is not used of Christ's
intercession by anyone, except by Christ Himself.
The word which John uses is " Advocate." Jesus
Christ, by calling the Holy Spirit "another Com
forter " (because, as already mentioned, " Advo
cate," in 1 John ii. 1, and "Comforter," in John
xiv., xv., xvi., are rendered from the same original
word), suggests that He had been Himself a Com
forter or Advocate unto the disciples while He
was with them in the world. But John alone
uses the word to denote the present work of Jesus,
in heaven, on behalf of His people—" We have an
Advocate." The word which St. Paul uses is the one rendered
" maketh intercession," in Rom. viii. 34 ; and this
is the same word as that rendered " to make inter
cession " in Heb. vii. 25, and " to appear . . .
for " in Heb. ix. 24.
The word " pray," used by Christ, denotes the
request of one to an equal.1 The word " Advocate,"
used by John, denotes a person called to plead or
support.2 The word " make intercession," used by
1 See Chapter XV.— D. E. J.
2 One can hardly resist referring the reader to Dr. Westcott's
extended note on this word, in his commentary on The Gospel of
St. John, end of Chapter XIV.— D. E. J.

206 THE ATONEMENT
St. Paul, is a word which implies a personal contact
with the One to whom the intercession is made,
and along with the contact, a personal intercourse.
The expression " to appear . . . for " denotes
the power which the presence of the Lord Jesus
has in heaven. If we put these truths together,
we see the Lord Jesus in heaven an Advocate
acknowledged as such— more, appointed as such,
by the Divine Government, " with the Father," as
His co-equal, appearing as the propitiation, and
making known His will to all who believe. Yes,
He makes known His will so that '' every one that
believeth " may be justified and receive forgiveness
of the Father, may be regenerated and sanctified
by the Holy Spirit, bringing His intercession for
him, while here below, to a close with the words,
" Father, that which thou has given me, I will that,
where I am, they also may be with me " ; and on
the wings of this prayer, as in a chariot of fire,
He ascends into heaven.

XXV
THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION
"We have an Advocate . . . and he is the propitiation." —
1 John ii. 1, 2.
The third class of blessings, which are the fruit of
the intercession of the Lord Jesus, is that of those
imparted to the world. These have been revealed
to us by the Son of God Himself.
1. " If I go, I will send him unto you " (John
xvi. 7) "And he, when he is come, will convict
the world," etc. (John xvi. 8).
He uses three different expressions to show the
cause of, or the reason for, the sending of the Holy
Spirit as a " Comforter " and as " the Spirit of
truth " : "I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter " (John xiv. 16) ; " The
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name "
(John xiv. 26) ; " The Comforter . . . whom I
will send unto you from the Father " (John xv. 26).
In these verses, two acts are attributed to the
Father ; or, more correctly, one act of His is con
sidered under two aspects— Giving, is used to show
207

208 THE ATONEMENT
that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit works in
men, as the fruit of the graciousness of God's nature ;
and sending, to show that He has a legitimate
authority, as well as a divine power, to do whatever
work He pleases in the hearts of men.
There are also two expressions used in them
to set forth the share which the Son has in the
coming of the Holy Spirit : Praying the Father,
as' an expression of the will of the Mediator after
He has accomplished His work ; and sending from
the Father, to show not only that whatever
authority the Father has as guardian of His own
law, but also whatever authoiity the Son has, as
the result of His work in magnifying the law with
His obedience, has been entrusted to the Holy-
Spirit to work in sinners both to will and to do.
The connection which exists between the above
verses indicates that the Son sends the Spirit, while
the Father gives the Spirit in answer to the request
of the Son. Since the work of the Holy Spirit
in convicting the world is the result of His being
sent by the Son, it is also the effect of the Father's
giving, as the result of the Son's intercession.
2. " Neither for these only do I pray, but for
them also that believe on me through then- word ;
that they may all be one . . . that the world
may believe that thou didst send me (John xvii.
20, 21).

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 209
There is one verse in this prayer which seems
to make out that Jesus Christ did not pray for the
world at all. " I pray for them : I pray not for
the world, but for those whom thou hast given me ;
for they are thine " (John xvii. 9).
But after glancing through the whole prayer,
there is no real difficulty in reconciling these verses
with one another. The line of thought along which
the mind of the Great Intercessor ran with reference
to those for whom He prayed was that of their
faith. His line of thought is divisible into three
parts. He prays (1) for those who had " believed "
(ver. 8), (2) for "them . . . that believe" (ver.
20), and (3) for " the world " which " may believe,"
but which had not done so as yet (ver. 21). The
first part of the prayer, up to verse twenty, seems
to contain requests on behalf of the apostles ; but
not for them on account of their office, but on
account of their faith— as those who had " believed
that thou didst send me." Jesus Christ does not
pray the Father to give the unbelieving world the
blessings which He requests Him to give believers.
In the eleventh verse, He said, " Keep them in
thy name " ; in verse seventeen, " Sanctify them
in the truth." He does not pray for these blessings
for unbelievers. Does He pray for unbelievers
at all ? Yes, " that the world may believe " : and,
when they have believed, henceforth as believers.
14

THE ATONEMENT

Not only are spiritual blessings to believers the
fruit of the intercession, but, what is more, the fact
that there is a believer at all on the earth is a visible
result of the intercession ; of the Son of God. He
prayed for those who believed, not for their own
sakes only, but that those who had not believed
might believe. He prayed for the unity and the
holiness of the Church, " that the world may believe."
Quite consistently with this, He prayed the Father
to give the Spirit as a convicting Spirit, and especially
to convict the world of unbelief—" because they
believe not on me." When the Spirit convinces
the heart of the sin of unbelief, He does so with the
same object in view as the great Intercessor had
when He prayed, " that the world may believe."
The whole intercession of the Saviour for the world
is directed and limited to the one object of bringing
the world to believe. It may be further gathered
that every means ever used, and blessed to the
bringing of anyone to believe, has been a subject
of meditation to the Lord Jesus in heaven, and has
formed part of the requests of His intercession,
in inseparable union with the believing itself, which
is one of the objects of His intercession. Just as
the works of God in time reveal His eternal pur
poses, previously hidden in His own mind, so is
every gracious work of God's Spirit on the minds
and hearts of sinners an unfailing indication to

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 211
us of the things asked in heaven, out of sight, by
the Son of God. As far as our knowledge and
vision of Him go, when Christ ascended into heaven,
He entered His chamber and closed the door and
there prayed His " Father which is in secret." But
by looking at the evident work of grace on the
hearts of men, we get to know for what things
He does pray, and that with so much certainty
as if we heard Him, with our own ears, praying
His father in heaven in our native tongue.
It is sometimes asserted that the Son of God
makes intercession for none but His own people ; but
the verses already referred to clearly prove, we should
think, that that is incorrect, and that He prays
for those who are not His people, that they might
be people unto God ; for those who have not be
lieved, that they might believe ; and for those who
have not been convinced, that they might be con
vinced of their unbelief. There is another conviction
of which Enoch speaks in his prophecy— that com
plete conviction which is connected with the punish
ment dealt by God to the ungodly.1
Since the intercession which Christ makes is
for men, His intercession has nothing to do with
that conviction, inasmuch as that is connected
with the "judgment upon all." Although the
soul's conviction of sin is not its conversion, any
1 See Jude, 14-16.— D. E. J.

THE ATONEMENT

more than the capacity of the conscience to judge
is the same thing as the will's choice of the Lord
Jesus Christ ; yet, since conviction is part of the
divine plan to reveal to the sinner his need of Chi'ist,
and is in itself the gracious work, though not, when
isolated, a saving work, as far as it is the work of the
Holy Spirit, it also is the fruit of the intercession
of the Lord Jesus. On the basis of Christ's testimony
regarding the connection of His intercession with
the work of the Spirit on the hearts and minds of
men, it seems that we ought to consider that how
ever general we may believe the Spirit's strivings
with all men to be, or however particular and
effectual we may believe His work on some to be,
so general and so particular is the intercession which
the Lord Jesus makes in heaven.
The Scriptures clearly teach that the Holy Spirit
brings His gracious work to bear on the minds of
men who are not saved. For example, we are
told that some men " were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good work of God,
and the powers of the age to come," x of whom
it is hinted that they did not possess the " things
that accompany salvation." 2 The Bible itself
is the work of the Holy Spirit : it is in itself a divine
and gracious work, but it is not in and of itself
salvation to anyone. After God Himself had led
1 Heb. vi. 4, 5. 2 Ibid. 9.

THE ATONEMENT AND THE INTERCESSION 213

the children of Israel out of Egypt and through
the Red Sea, thousands of them fell before reaching
the Land of Canaan, because of their unbelief.
The Spirit has graciously striven with souls who
have quenched His strivings to their own destruc
tion. The Son's relation to the Spirit is such
that we believe those gracious strivings are to be
attributed to the intercession of the Son, even
when they are not effectual and unto salvation.
If universality and particularity are character
istics which belong to the propitiation, and if they
are characteristics which also belong to the work
of the Holy Spirit, the natural conclusion is that
they belong in the same degree to the intercession
which connects the propitiation and the work
of the Spirit. To the degree, therefore, that anyone
does " despite unto the Spirit of grace," he also
treads " under foot the Son of God " and counts
" the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was
sanctified, an unholy thing." x
1 Heb. x. 29.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

QUESTIONS ON THE FIRST CHAPTER OF
THE CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTOR
Since the following questions are referred to in
Chapter VI., we cannot do better than print them
here. They are supplementary questions based
on the answers given to the questions in the first
chapter of The Christian Instructor— a, Catechism
on " the Principles of the Christian Religion " by
the Rev. Thomas Charles, B.A., Bala. Inasmuch
as many readers of this work may not be in posses
sion of a copy of the Instructor, we also give its
questions and answers fully enough to enable the
reader to understand the reference of the Author's
supplementary questions. (D. E. J.)
Q. 2. What is God ? A. God is a Spirit.
1. In what way were the Jews taught that
God is a Spirit ?
2. In what does the means whereby the
217

2i 8 THE ATONEMENT
same truth is taught under this dis
pensation differ from it ?
Q. 3. Is there more than one God ? A. There
is but one' God.
3. Whom does the Bible call gods, besides
the Most High ? Give references to
the verses where that is done.
4. With reference to the verses where others
are called gods, explain the precaution
taken to prevent the reader from suppos
ing that they are gods in the highest
sense of the word.
Q. 4. How many persons are there in the Godhead ?
A. There are three, etc.
5. Since the Father alone is called a " Person "
in the Bible (Heb. i. 3),1 on what grounds
do we call the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Persons ?
Q. 5. Is each of the Persons true God? A. Yes;
co-equal and co-eternal.
6. Prove, by references, the correctness of
this reply.
Q. 6. 7s not this a great mystery? A. Yes;
a great mystery to be believed and not to be com
prehended. 7. What difference is there between the
meaning of the word '" mystery " in
1 See the footnote on p. 132.— D. E. J.

APPENDIX 219
the Bible and its meaning in this ques
tion?
Q. 7. What are the operations which are more
especially attributed to them ? A. Creation and
Election to the Father ; Redemption and Inter
cession to the Son ; and Sanctification to
the Holy Ghost. (Also quotation, 1 Pet. i.
2, R.V.) 8. Why is it said, "Elect ... in sancti
fication of the Spirit, unto . . . sprink
ling of the blood of Jesus Christ," and
not " Elect ... in the sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ, unto the
sanctification of the Spirit," since blood
is the means of cleansing ?
Q. 8. Is God almighty ? A. He is.
9. What propriety is there in saying that
God is a-M-mighty in view of verses
like Heb. vi. 18, " it is impossible for
God to lie," and 2 Tim. ii. 13, " He cannot
deny himself " ?
Q. 10. 7s God all -present? A. He is. (Ps.
cxxxix. 7-10).
10. Is God all- present in every sense given
to the word presence in connection
with God ? What are the various mean
ings thus given to the word ?
Q. 12. 7s God unchangeable ? A. He is (Jas. i. 17).

THE ATONEMENT

11. Since God changes in His- dealings
towards men, how is that fact consistent
with the testimony of " with whom
can be no variation, neither shadow
that is cast by turning " ?
Q. 14. 7s God wise ? A. " He is God only wise."
12. Distinguish between wisdom and know
ledge.
13. On what grounds can it be said that
man is wise, and at the same time that
God alone is wise ?
Q. 18.' 7s God just? A. Yes; He is infinitely-
just and will punish sin (Ps. cxlv. 17).
14. Has righteousness nothing to do but
punish sin ? If so, how is it said of God
that He is "righteous to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all un
righteousness " (1 John i. 9) ?
15. Distinguish between being infinitely-
righteous and '" righteous over much "
(Eccles. vii. 16). If God is infinitely
righteous, how is it that He is not
" righteous over much " ?
16. The common word to denote the char
acteristics of God, mentioned in this
chapter, is " attributes." Is this word
used in the Bible in the sense that we
use it ? What are the biblical words

APPENDIX

nearest as regards meaning to what we
mean by " attributes "l1
The above questions are drawn up in order to
stimulate to thought and inquiry the many who
have learnt the Instructor off by heart, and think,
therefore, that they understand it. In order to
answer all the above questions, one need be able
to understand nothing more than the Bible of his
native tongue ; but he needs to be familiar with
that, and must make it the Book of his mediation
and study, as well as a Book to read.
1 This question loses its point in English. The Welsh ' ' priodol-
edd" (attribute) is rendered "jewels" in the English Authorised
Version— D. E. J.

INDEXES

INDEX

Aaron, 14, 78, 87, 92, 98, 112.
Abraham, 169.
Absoluteness of God, 135. ,
Accusers of man, 13-18.
Acts, Mediatorial, 60, 61.
Adam, The seed of, 69.
Advocate, The (passim ; see
Intercession).
and Comforter, 17, 18, 129,
140, 205, 207.
Christ called to be, 14.
is righteous, 15.
pleads for forgiveness, 14.
The God-man as, 138.
The Holy Spirit as, 17, 128-
138.
The Spirit as, within, 17, 18,
140.
The word, 13, 17, 129, 205.
with the Father, 16.
Agent, The person of the, 108.
"All," The word, 54-56, 134.
All-mighty, 219.
AM--pxesent, 219.
Altar, The Holy Spirit as the,
137.
Anabasis, Xenoohon's, 40.
Angels, 63, 88, 137, 147, 176.
Anointed One, The, 28.
airoypa<pi), 33.
Apostle and HighPriest,The,78.
Apostles, The, 40, 41, 95, 117,
141, 147, 194-196, 203.
Appendix, 53, 217.
15

Aquila, 42, 97.
Archangel, The, 33.
Archbishop of Dublin, The late,
121, 122.
Arimathea, Joseph of, 123, 124.
Arminian, An, 5, 8.
Arminianism, 5.
Arminians, The, 5-9, 46.
"Ask," the word, 121.
Astronomy, Christ came not to
lecture on, 179.
Atonement. The (passim; see
Propitiation).
and the Unitarians, 21.
and sinners outside ' ' the
whole world," 37.
based on the greatness of
Christ's Person, 37.
denied, 46.
- for the elect only, 7, 9.
(1) for sinners, (2) for sins,
34-36.
from two standpoints, 63-73.
in sermon and theological
literature, 21, 22.
Merit the essence of, 36, 38.
secures eternal life, 6-8, 49.
secures eternal life in heaven,
8, 46.
secures eternal life now, 8,
45, 46.
Sufficiency of, for all, 6-8, 49.
The achievement of the pur
pose of, guaranteed, 24, 46.

226

INDEX

Atonement, The, The Arminian

Charles,' Thomas, 7, 217.

view of, 3.

"Cherubim of Glory, The," 25.

The Calvinistic view of, 3.

Children, Salvation of, 6.

The doctrine of, 33, 34, 68.

Christ as Man, God, and

The extent of, 3, 37, 38.

Messiah, 27.

The fruit of theSon's mercy, 24.

Christ Jesus, and Jesus Christ,

The nature of, 25.

27.

The word, 21, 22.

"Christ died for all," 3-9.

Unbelief alone hinders man

Christian Instructor, The, 7, 48,

from enjoying, 70.

53, 94, 217, 221.

Authority, Crown, 107.

Christian, The,as a sacrifice, 136.

Legitimate, 208.

served by angels, 137.

of the Supreme Court, 107.

The Holy Spirit and, 130-137.

Roman, 124.

Christians, Hebrew, 172.

to die, 28.

Primitive, 147.

to forgive sins, 62.

Church, The, 34, 71, 148.

Circumstances, Providential, 64.

Babe, The, 137.

Colenso, Dr., 39, 46, 149.

Battlefields of books, 31.

Comforter, The (see Advocate).

Beast beneath office, A, 81.

Commandment, A carnal, 150.

Beautiful, The door, 121.

necessary to obedience, 108.

"Beauty," The word, 145.

Common sense and interpreta

Beggars, The habits of, 123.

tion, 49.

Bethlehem, 31, 137.

Confidence of Calvinists, The, 8.

Bible, The (passim).

Conscience, The, 13, 15, 17, 27,

a Book for everybody, 32,

212.

197, 198.

and love, 27.

cannot deny itself, 66.

Copies of heavenly things, 150,

Inspiration of, 4, 50, 149,

153.

196, 197.

Court above, The, 15, 107.

Persecution of, 168, 169.

Court of law, A, 13.

the fruit of the Intercession,

Creation, 33, 162, 174, 17S.

196-199.

Creator, The, 49, 135.

The truths of, (1) historical,

Creditor, The Great, 116.

(2) pure revelation, 50-57.

Criticism becomes worship, 54.

The words of, have (1)

Critics, 32.

primary, (2) secondary

Cross, The, 4, 27, 45, 85, 109,

meanings, 49-57.

147, 149, 162, 173, 198.

Bishop against bishop, 31.

Crown, The, 101, 128.

Cymmod, 21.

Calvary, 128.

Calvin, 132.

David, 112.

Calvinism, 4, 5.

The Son of, 23.

Calvinist, A, 4-6, 9.

Daysman, 105.

Calvinists, 5-8, 46.

Death an act of obedience, 108.

The confidence of, S.

an official act, 92.

Canaan, 112, 213.

instead of an essential part of

"Chance," The word, 177.

Christ's work, 44.

INDEX

227

Death of Christ secured
salvation for some, 45.
of Christ unique in His own
history, 160.
Debtor and creditor, 113, 114,
171.
Demon, 49.
Dependence a humiliation in
Christ, 135, 136.
a necessity in man, 135.
Depravity of human nature,
The, 53.
Devil, The, 17.
Dignity, Official, 78.
Dispensation and salvation, The
old, 116, 117.
Divinity of Christ, The, 4, 5,
32, 46, 51, 91, 133, 136,
138, 173, 188.
and His humanity closely
connected, 46.
denied, 4.
disputed, 51, 52.
The name "God" no proof
of, 52.
Doctor against doctor, 31.
Doctrine of the Atonement, 66,
67.
Dogma of modern theology, 40.
Dying in efforts on behalf of
friends, 43.
instead of one another for
bidden, 41.
Jesus, instead of the un
godly, 41, 43, 45.
Jesus, (1) on behalf of, (2)
instead of, 34, 41, 43.
Edwards, Dr. Lewis, 66.
Egypt, 31, 187, 213.
Elect, The, 7-9, 219.
Election, 7, 181.
Enoch, 211.
Epistle of John, The First, 91.
Epistle to the Hebrews, The, 88,
90, 91, 193, 201.
Epistle to the Romans, The, 39,
102, 158, 168, 201.

Essence, The Eternal, 90, 131,
185.
"Eternal," The word, 7.
Eternity and time in one view,
61-65.
Evil-desert of sin, The, 35-38,
174.
Exaltation, Christ's, 126, 1-12-
144, 154.
an answer to the prayers of
His humiliation, 127.
imparted a glory to His
intercession, 127.
The Advocate in His, 138.
The necessity of, 147.
Father, The (passim).
"For," the word, 33, 34, 39,
40, 59.
contrast with against, 39.
equal to instead of, 40, 59.
equal to on behalf of, 39, 59.
Forgiveness follows confession
of sins, 201, 202.
needed daily, 200.
Freedom of will is man's glory,
176.
Garments, Priestly, 92, 98.
Genesis, The Book of, 130.
Gentiles, The, 41, 44, 97, 112,
137.
God (passim).
above office, not above work,
80.
and the Law, 100, 101, 106-
112.
and the sinner, 100-105.
Christ called, 27, 52, 53.
The word, 59, 131.
The wrath of, 102.
God-man, The, 4, 126, 135, 136,
138
"God "and "gods," 52, 53,
131.
Godhead, 58, 59, 96, 128, 135,
144, 162, 182, 188.
Golgotha, 65.

228

INDEX

Good and evil, 170.

Iawx, 22.

Goold, 146.

Idols, 100.

Gospel doctrines, 31, 32.

" If," 71-73.

invitations, 5.

"In," The word, 62.

Gospel of St. John, The, 205.

Incarnate, Why the Son be

Government, Civil, 77, 101.

came, 60, 61, 90, 91.

Divine, 24, 47, 62, 67, 93,

Incarnation, The, 32, 33, 53,

103, 106, 107, 206.

91, 95, 96, 177.

Grace is God's prerogative, 104.

an eternal fact, 96.

Greeks, 53.

impossible to Father and

Greek preposition, A, 40.

Spirit, 91.

word, A, 22.

of the Spirit (supposed), 61.

the fruit of graciousness, 177.

Head, The Great, 51.

to reveal God's moral char

Heathen, The, 141.

acter, 61.

Heaven (passim).

Inhabitants of heaven, The, 35,

Hebrews, The Epistle to the, 88,

46.

90, 193, 194, 201.

"Instead of," a characteristic

Herod, 31.

of the Son, 60, 61, 91, 139-

High Priest (see Priest).

145.

Apostle and, 78.

Instinct, 188.

Holiness and sin, 170.

Intercession, The (passim; see

deserves praise, 170-173.

Advocate).

in man has no merit,172,173.

a link between the propitia

Hosts, The celestial, 132.

tion and its application,

House of God, The, 23.

184.

of Sacrifice, The, 23.

a prayer for faith, 209-113.

Human nature, Depravity of,

a perpetuation of the virtue

53, 54.

of the propitiation, 61, 62.

Humanity of Christ, The, 82,

an expression of gracious

130, 133, 135, 136.

ness, 175, 204.

necessary to office, 82.

Christ's exaltation adds glory

The Spirit and, 130.

to, 127.

in the Son, Independence of,

connected with the Person of

135.

Christ, 168.

Humiliation, A meritorious, 109.

Dr. Owen thinks, unnecessary,

and the dignity of humanitv,

146-148.

82.

effectual, 127.

in Christ's highest exaltation,

Forgiveness comes in answer

82.

to, 200-203.

of Christ, 135, 136, 142-144.

immortalises Christ's death,

mentioned by Himself, 126.

161.

Humiliation, Jesus infinite in

(1) in heaven, (2) on earth,

His state of, 125.

distinguished, 120-12S.

Obedience an act of, 108-111.

is the word of the propitia

Hymns (quoted), 4, 15, 72, 73,

tion, 186.

128, 156, 174, 180, 186,

made necessary by God's

189.

righteousness, 14.

INDEX

229

Intercession, The, "Maketh,"
Paul's expression, 205.
Nature and purpose of, 193-
213.
Nature of the necessity for,
157-190.
necessary according- to the
Bible, 149.
of Christ and the Spirit to he
distinguished, 129.
of Christ in heaven, 59.
part of the Priestly office,
193.
The doctrine of, 193,
The fact of, and reason for,
157-213.
Thefact of, not denied, 147.
The gift of the Holy Ghost a
blessingof,195,203,212,213.
The O.T. and N.T. the fruit
of, 196-199.
the secret in perseverance in
grace, 202.
the voice of the propitiation,
144.
The classes of the blessings
of, 194-213.
Why, is made, according to
Dr. Owen, 147, 148.
Interpretation, 49-51, 55.
Isaac, 169.
Isaiah, The Book of, 100.
Israel, 100, 178, 187, 213.
Jesus (passim).
The child, 28.
and sin contrasted, 37.
Jerusalem, 151, 152.
Jewish nation, The, 124.
Jews, The, 53, 124, 189, 217.
John, 64, 78, 123, 124, 140,
200, 202, 204, 205.
Jones, Edward, 72.
Peter (Pedr Fardd), 189.
Joseph, 186.
of Arimathea, 123, 124.
Judaism, Yoke of, 42.
Jndaistic teachers, 44.

Judge, The Civil, 101.
Jurymen, 101, 169.
Justification, 32, 50, 158, 159,
200-202.
King, Christ as, 62, 82, 83, 90,
91, 95, 116.

Lamb, The, 64, 81, 96, 140,
145, 166, 186.
Law, The, 13, 15, 17, 18, 100,
106, 107, 114, 150, 169,
202, 208.
British, 41, 202, 203.
Moral, 108.
(1) of necessity, (2) of com
mandment, 150-153.
Law-administrator, 106.
Law-giver, 106, 140.
Laws of nature, 141, 178, 179,
188.
Lewis, The Rev. H. Elvet, 186.
"Life," The word, 7.
Eternal, 6-9, 16, 32, 49, 93.
"Liquid," 33.
Love, Earth's highest show of,
43.
going out, 104.
The active part of its nature,
104.
"Machine," 178-180.
Man and office, 78, 81.
an object of God's condemna
tion, 36.
an object of God's love, 36.
A rich, 123.
as God's enemy, 102.
between God and the beast,
81.
Christ as, 15, 27 (see God-
man).
The enmity of, against God,
102.
The lame, 121, 123.
The misery of, 24, 36.
Two parts of, 130.

230

INDEX

"Many," The word, 55.

Official dignity (1) depreciated,

Mark, 124.

78, 79.

Mary, 136.

(2) worshipped, 78, 79.

Matthew, 140.

Omnipotence, 139, 178.
Mediator, The (passim).
Omnipresence, 33, 63.
receiving authority, 106
Omniscience, 134, 177, 178.
under the law, 106.
Omniscient Spirit, The, 134.
Mediatorship of Christ,
The,
Onliness, 100.
50, 90, 91, 102-107,
110,
Owen, Dr. John, 53, 146-149.
117, 185.
The late Rev. Robert, 57, 105,
Melchizedek, 78, 116.
145, 180.
Mercy-seat, 23, 25.
"Mercy," The word, 22.
Parable of the Pharisee and
Merit and surety, 36.
the Publican, 22, 23.
of sin, Evil, 35-38, 109.
of the Sun, 68-70, 179-181,
Sufficiency of, 4, 5.
189.
Merits of men, 1 66-174.
Patriarchs, The, 195.
Messiah, The, 27.
Paul, 41-45, 56, 73, 78, 95-98,
Miracle, Revelation a, 141.
112, 160, 200-206.
Miracles, 141-143, 188.
Peace, 145.
Misery, Man's, 24, 36.
Pentecost, 107.
Moses, 13, 15, 52, 53, 116,
162,
Perseverance in grace, 202.
176, 187, 188.
Person of Christ, The, 4, 5, 15,
Most High, The, 52, 53,
126,
16, 26, 37, 38, 46, 50, 92,
162, 170, 218.
93, 96, 97, 127, 130, 132,
Mother of Jesus, The, 136,
137,
145, 168, 185.
Mount Hor, 92, 98.
and sin, 37.
Horeb, 162.
Person of Christ, The, and His
Sermon on the, 28, 62.
merits, 37.
"Person" and office, 77-83, 93.
Natal, The Bishop of, 39
The Bible nowhere calls
Nazareth, Jesus of, 27, 62, 88,
Christ a, 132,
134, 136.
The word, 58, 130, 133, 218.
Necessity, The nature of, 150.
Person of Christ, The, 147.
of the intercession, 146-
213.
Personal excellence, 78, 79.
New Testament (see Testament).
Persons, The divine, and their
work, 58-60.
Office (see King, Priest,
Peter, 42, 64, 107, 123.
Prophet).
Pharaoh, 53.
and work, 94, 110.
Pilate, 123, 124.
Christ capable of, 81.
TrurTiKTJs, 33.
God above, 80.
Plan of salvation, The, 5, 33,
Man capable of, 81.
45, 58, 59, 64, 71, 90, 96,
The apostolic, 95.
98, 106, 155, 160, 184.
Offices, Mediatorial, 90,
95,
"Pleader," 13.
146, 158, 164.
Potentate, 65, 100.
The whole Person of Christ
"Pray," The word, 122, 204,
in His, 82.
205.
INDEX

Prayers on earth, Christ's, 120-
128.
Predestination, 182, 189, 198.
Priest, Christ as, 62, 63, 78 82,
83, 87, 89, 90, 91, 95, 116,
139, 154, 195.
Priesthood, 101.
Priestly Offices, The, Christ
called of God to His, 89,
90.
a humiliation and an obedi
ence, 111.
an honour and a glory, 88,
111.
Sinners cannot appoint Christ
to His, 89.
Priests, The Jewish, 23, 25, 92.
Principle and person, 35.
Prisca, 42, 97.
Prison, 107.
Prophet, Christ as, 83, 95, 116,
139, 140.
Prophets, The, 117, 195.
Propitiation, The (passim ; see
Atonement).
a manifestation of God's love,
26, 27.
an official act, 87, 92, 93, 98.
as reconciliation, 21, 25, 111.
Christ appointed, 26.
(1) for sinners, (2) for sin, 36,
185.
God's satisfaction with the,
115, 116, 199.
in its relation to righteous
ness, 26.
Justifying and sanctifying due
to, 190.
Made a higher type of self-
sacrifice, 100.
made up of (1) Person,
(2) sufferings, (3) perfect
obedience, 109.
makes Christ's three offices
one whole, 139.
makes (1) salvation certain,
(2) loss certain, 119.
Multitudes wonder at, 28.

Propitiation, The, (1) Nature,
(2) purpose of, 110, 111.
Necessity of sending to be,
96-115.
Nothing outside itself can give
value to, 97-99, 112.
not meant to engender love
in God, 102.
Salvation impossible without,
151.
the continuance of its merits,
162, 163.
the essential work of Christ's
priestly office, 88.
The Person of Christ in, 60,
82, 112.
The Person as sacrifice is, 26,
28, 115, 163.
The voice of, 144-145.
Universality and particularity
belong to, 213.
"Propitiation," The word, 21,
22, 24, 34, 36, 108.
Punishment for Sin, 24, 35, 36,
114.
for sinners, 5, 211.
God alone can inflict, 89, 107
131.
Puritan, A, 149.
Quality and substance, Differ
ence between, 35.
"Raxsom," The word, 46, 56.
Reason and revelation, 141,
142.
Reconciliation, 21, 22, 25, 111,
155, 159, 163.
u. removal from a state of
guilt, 159.
a saving from the wrath of
God, 155-159.
in a moment, 159.
of God and sinners, 102.
of mutual enemies, 101, 102.
Redemption, 219.
Red Sea, The, 213.
Rees, Morgan, 15.

232

INDEX

Responsibility, A created nature
essential to, 95.
Personal, 65.
Resurrection, 117, 118, 155.
Revelation, 50, 54, 58, 141,
142.
in what God has accom
plished, 72.
Revelation of St. John, The,
130, 166.
Righteousness, Meaning of,
170-172.
Roberts, The late Rev. Michael,
72.
Roman authority, 124.
Romans, The E/Astle to the, 39,
102, 158, 168.
Rome, 41, 97.
Ruler, The Supreme, 101, 106,
107, 170.

Sabbath, The, 124.
Sabbath-school teacher, A, 5.
class, A, 204.
Sacrifice, The Great, 100.
Propitiatory, 26.
Voluntary, 92.
Saints, The, 59.
Salvation of deceased infants,
6, 7.
Samaria, The woman of, 151.
153.
Sanctification, 32, 219.
Sanhedrim, 124.
Sardis, The Church of, 166.
Satan, 13, 15, 17, 18, 204.
Saving truth, The safety of, 32.
Saw ye my Saviour, 72, 73.
Scriptures, 33, 50, 53, 147, 157,
166, 193, 212.
Senate, The Jewish, 123, 124.
Sending and satisfaction, 113,
116-118.
essential to propitiation, 91-
105.
implies (1) authority, (2) com
mandment, 110.

Sending of the Spirit does not
imply office, 94, 96.
The relation of, to (1) the
nature, (2) the purpose of
the propitiation, 110-119.
the fruit of love, 103.
Septuagint, 22.
Seraphim, 189.
Sermon on the Mount, The, 28,
62.
Shepherd dying for the sheep,
42-45, 98.
Sin, The nature of, 35-37.
The origin of, outside of God,
103.
Person essential to, 35.
Sinner and Sin, 35, 36.
God not hostile to, 102.
Sinners, The Eternal Three
active on behalf of, 59.
Sins, Christ forgiving, instead
of the Father, 62.
Smith, Dr. George Adam, 100.
Solar system, The, 178, 179.
Solomon, 82, 162.
Son, The (passim).
Sonship of the Second Person,
50.
South Sea Islands, 44.
Sovereign, Absolute, 69, 100,
107.
Spirit, The (passim).
sent by Christ, 18S, 203,
207.
The intercession of, 130, 133,
138, 139.
Three expressions for the
sending of, 207.
Two expressions for the Son's
share in the sending of,
208.
Stewardship, 95.
Sun, The parable of the, 68-70,
179-181, 189.
Suretiship, 36, 4S, 55, 63, 64,
115.
Calvinistic view of, 39.
Objects of, 55.

INDEX

23 3

Sweet Singers of Wales, The,
186.
Synonyms of the New Testament,
The, 121.
Temple, The, 23, 121, 123.
Solomon's, 162.
Testament (see Version).
The New, 16, 22, 25, 27, 34,
39-41, 48, 60, 109, 121,
122 196.
The Old, 22, 23, 147, 196,
197.
Christ familiar with the Old,
23.
The Welsh, 21, 22, 33, 132.
Throne, The, 37, 107, 128, 188.
Three, The Eternal, 15, 60, 90.
Trangressors, Setting free, 107,
112.
Trench, Dr., 121-123.
Trinity, The, 32, 50, 58-60,
91.
Trust, Diety essential to the
discharge of, 82.
Father and Spirit above ac
cepting, 80.
Incarnation essential to, 81,
82, 95.
The essence of apostolic, 95.
The reception of, 80.
Truth, Historical, 50.
of pure revelation, 50.
Types and shadows, 78.

Unitarian, A, 4.
Unitarians, 5, 21, 52.
Version (see Testament).
The Authorised, 21, 132, 177,
221.
The Revised, 21, 22, 122,
123, 132, 154, 177.
The Welsh, 21, 22, 33, 100,
131, 132, 152, 154, 164,
176, 221.
Welsh Englyn (trans.), 57,
105, 145.
Welshmen, 22.
Westcott, Dr., 205.
Williams, John, 44.
Pant y Celyn, 186, 189.
Will of God applies salvation,
The, 181, 184.
Woman, 136.
Words with (1) primary, (2)
secondary meaning, 49-58.
Worker, The great, 107.
"World," The word, 53.
Worship, A sense of unworthi
ness essential to, 125, 126.
Angels, the Son, 137.
Christ nowhere said to, God,
126.
Wrath of God, The, 102, 155,
158, 159.
Xenophon's Anabasis, 40.

INDEX OF TEXTS

Genesis i. 14-18
Exodus iii. 2
iii. 14 . .
vii. 1 . .
xxxiii. 19 .
Leviticus iv. 35
Numbers xx. 22-
Psalms ii. 6-8
xxiii. 5 . .
Ixviii. 18 .
lxxxii. 1, 6
cxi. 2 . .
cxxi. 4 . .
cxxxvi. 5, 7
cxxxix. 7-10
cxlv. 17 .
Ecclesiastes vii.
Isaiah viii. 20
xl. 25 .
xlii. i. .
liii. 4 .
liii. 12 .
lxi. 1-3
Ixv. 17.
Ixv. 24.
Ezekiel xviii. 4
Daniel ix. 24
Malachi iv. 2
Matthew iii. 17
v. 18 .
vi. 6, 7 .
vi. 14, 15
vii. 7 .
vii. 11. .

16

29

PAGE
. 179
. 162
161, 187
52, 53
177 22 9290
176
183 52
149 178178
219
220 220142100 117
143 45
107 162
197114 22 68
118 169
132 62
121
195

PAGE
Matthew viii. 2, 3 . . . 189
viii. 17  143
ix. 6  62, 143
xvi. 22  22
xvii. 2, 6  132
xx. 28 . . . 40, 48, 56, 60,
66, 109, 139, 140
xxi. 22  121
xxiii. 19  137
xxvi. 28  56
xxvii. 51 ... . 161
xxvii. 58  123
Mark ix. 23  71
x. 45  48, 60
xv. 33, 34  44
xv. 43  123
Lukeii  32
ii. 2  33
xi. 13  195
xvii. 9, 10  168
xviii. 13  22
xxiii. 34  62
xxiii. 52  123
John i. 1  16, 186
i. 1. 2, 14  186
i. 18  179
ii. 21  162
iii. 3, 7, 14 . . . 150, 153
iii. 33  140
iv. 20  153
iv. 20, 21  151
iv. 24  152
v. 21  189
v. 22, 23  140

236

INDEX OF TEXTS

PAGE
John v. 37  108
v. 45  13
x. 11  42
x. 18  97
xii. 3  33
xii. 28  127
xiii. 37  42
xiv. 13, 14 ... . 121
xiv. 16 . . . 17, 58, 122,
130, 204, 207
xiv. 17 ... . 140, 195
xiv. 26 . . . 17, 94, 130,
195, 207
xiv. 28  126
xiv-xvi  203, 205
xiv.-xvii  194
xv. 10  108
xv. 13  42
xv. 26 . . 94, 130, 195, 207
xvi. 7 . .17, 94, 130, 207
xvi. 8  207
xvi. 13, 14 .... 195
xvi. 26, 27 .... 181
xvi. 32  16
xvii  120, 203
xvii. 1, 5  126
xvii. 3, 8, 18, 21, 23, 25 93
xvii. 4  108, 174
xvii. 4, 5  118
xvii. 8  205
xvii. 9 . . . . 204, 209
xvii. 9, 15, 20 . . 122
xvii. 15, 20 . . . . 205
xvii. 20, 21 . . . 208, 209
xvii. 24 ... . 182, 204
xix. 30  160, 161
xix. 38  123
xx. 21, 22  94
Acts iii. 2, 3. . . .121
iii. 21  151
x. 43  57
xii. 5  204
xx. 28  34
Romans ii. 15 .... 13
iii. 25 . 21, 25, 28, 34, 109
v. 6  40
v. 6, 7  43

PAGE
Romans v. 8, 9, 10 . . . 108
v. 9  155, 158
v. 10 ... . 155, 157
v. 11  21
v. 15  55
vi. 18, 19  43
viii. 26  133, 140
viii. 26, 27, 34 . . 59, 130
viii. 31 .... 39, 59
viii. 34  200, 205
xi. 22  73
xii. 1  136
xv. 16  137
xvi. 3, 4  97
xvi. 4  42
1 Corinthians i. 18 . . . 198
ii. 10  133
ii. 10-12  134
ix. 17  95
xv. 25  151
xv. 31  160
2 Corinthians ii. 10, viii.
24  132
x. 8  95
xiii. 8  39
Galations iv. 4 . . . 162
iv. 6  132
Ephesians i. 4 . . . 64
ii. 8  108
iii. 1  42
iv. 8  183
iv. 9  160
v. 32  70
Philippians ii. 7, 8 . . 110
ii. 8  45
ii. 13  204
Colossians ii. 9 . 162, 181, 188
1 Thessalonians ii. 4 . . 95
2 Thessalonians ii. 12 . . 71
1 Timothy ii. 5 . . . . 131
ii. 6  56
vi. 16  144
2 Timothy ii. 13 . . 154, 219
ii. 19  158
Hebrews i. 3 . 132, 202, 218
i. 6  137
i. 8  27

INDEX OF TEXTS

237

Hebrews ii. 9

66

ii. 17 . . .

. . 22, 24

v. 45 . .

14, 87, 111

vi. 4, 5, 9 . .

... 212

vi. 18 . .

. 154, 219

vii. 16 . .

... 150

vii. 24, 25 .

... 193

vii. 25 . . .

153, 201, 205

viii. 12 . .

... 22

ix. 5 . .

... 25

ix. 23 . .

150, 152, 153

ix. 24 . 185

, 194, 201, 205

x. 1

... 150

x. 29 . .

213

xii. 2 . .

. . 48
xii. 24 . .
186
James i. 5, 6
121
i. 17 . .
219
1 Peter i. 2 .
219
i. 20 . .
64
ii. 24 . .
34
1 John i. 2 .
16
TAGS
1 John i. 9 . 14, 15, 26, 201,
202, 220
ii. 1 . . 16, 26, 202, 205
ii. 1,2. 2, 3, 27, 120, 130,
139, 146, 157, 175,
185, 193, 201, 207.
ii. 2 . . 21, 25, 26, 34,
36, 87, 109
ii. 19  164
iii. 16  43
iii. 22  121
iv. 9  87
iv. 10 . 21, 25-28, 36, 87,
99, 106, 109, 113
iv. 14  87
v. 16  122
Jude 14-16  121
Revelation v. 6 . . . . 140
v. 9  132
xii. 10  13
xiii. 8  64
xxii. 8  137
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THE ANGLICAN REFORMATION.
By Professor W. R. Clark, LL.D., D.C.L., Trinity College,
Toronto. (Editor and Translator of Bishop Hefele's Councils of the
Church. )
THE AGE OF CHARLEMAGNE.
By Professor Charles L. Wells.
THE POST-APOSTOLIC AGE.
By Lucius Waterman, D.D., with Introduction by the Right
Rev. H. C. Potter, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Sew York.
THE APOSTOLIC AGE.
By J. Vernon Bartlet, M.A., Oxford.
THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION.
By Professor W. Walker, Ph.D., D.D., Hartford.
'These "Eras" are histories that will be enjoyably read and easily
remembered. . . . Professor Vincent had a great subject allotted to him,
and "The Age of Hildebrand" is an altogether worthy treatment of it. . . .
In " The Age of the Crusades " we have the prose version of a story familiar
to most of us in the trappings of romance. Dr. Ludlow holds the attention
of his readers. . . . "The Great Western Schism" is a bright and popular
re'sume?— Literary World.

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