imputed righteousness of Christ only makes him more sensible of his personal uncleanness, and of the necessity of the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.' How humbling the doctrine! But, How precious the privilege! What more precious, during life, than peace to the troubled conscience, and freedom of access to God in meditation and in prayer? What more precious than confidence in God, and a well-founded hope of a blessed immortality when we come to die? What more precious than an all-prevailing plea of acquittal, and an irresistible claim of right to the heavenly inheritance on the day of final reckoning? But all this is the preciousness of the privilege of being made the righteousness of God. Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. And, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth: who is he that condemneth.' 6 TWENTY SEVENTH DAY.-EVENING. 'For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, Rom. iv. 3. WHAT is faith? It is a simple belief of, and reliance on, the divine testimony, whatever the subject of that testimony may be; whether testimony respecting a temporal or a spiritual deliverance. The blessing bestowed upon simple belief of, and reliance on, the divine testimony, is a personal experience of the deliverance of which the testimony speaks. Christ, when on earth, testified his power to heal; and when he wished to show the connection between faith in that power, and its exercise in behalf of any individual, He required an explicit avowal of faith in Himself before exerting his power to heal. Believe ye that I am able to do this?' was the question. ‘Lord, I believe,' was the requisite answer; and it never failed to obtain the blessing. Such was the faith through which the patriarchs received their recorded temporal deliverances: is largely illustrated in the eleventh chapter to the Hebrews, 'Who through faith subdued kingdoms,' &c. as strange country; for he looked for a better country, that is, a heavenly,'-' for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' And of Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah, and perhaps of Abel, Enoch, and Noah, as well as of Abraham, it is said, 'These all died in faith, not having received the promises,' &c. Read Heb. 11th chapter, 13-15, 16, 35 verses. Also, for David's sentiments respecting a future state, read Ps. xvii. 15; xlix. 14, 15; and for Asaph's, Ps. lxxiii. 24; and for Job's, Job xix. 25—27. 6 Again, Abraham's faith had respect to Christ: for said Jesus to the Jews, Your Father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.' And says Paul, Gal. iii. 8, The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.' Nor was this gift of faith in spiritual blessings through a coming Messiah, peculiar to believing Abraham. 'By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect Jesus, many prophets and kings have desired to unto the recompense of the reward.' And says see those things which ye see, and to hear those things which ye hear.' 'Of which salvation,' says Peter, the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who have prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Prophets and kings are here spoken of, not, however, as though the knowledge and belief of a coming Messiah were confined to them. All who knew and believed their writings had a like faith and hope. Hence we read of the 'just and devout Simeon waiting for the consolation of Israel;' of 'Joseph, the honourable counsellor, who waited for the kingdom of God; and of all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.' Hence also the current expression before and at the time of Messiah's advent, That prophet that should come into the world.' The faith of Abraham, having thus respect to But there is faith in the divine testimony re- Christ, was a justifying faith-it was counted specting spiritual, as well as temporal blessings to him for righteousness. Having respect to and this is the faith which is here ascribed Christ, it was identical in character and effect to Abraham. It was a faith which looked with that which is required under the Christian beyond the present, to another and happier state dispensation; that is, it was faith in a coming of being. For while 'by faith he sojourned in Saviour, and a faith which justified without the land of promise.' he sojourned there as in a works. Such too must have been the faith or Abraham's believing predecessors. Such we are expressly told was the faith of Abel, Enoch, and Noah-a justifying faith. Such also must have been the faith of his fellow-patriarchs, and of his believing fellow-countrymen of after ages; for it is in general terms declared, that 'by it (faith) the elders (ancients) obtained a good report.' 'And these all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.' Such was their faith; such is our faith-a faith counted for righteousness. tification by grace. But how? Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And how does redemption in Christ Jesus manifest the righteousness of God in the justification of the sinner? By Christ's being set forth to be a propitiation. Let this term 'propitiation' be clearly understood, and the 'how' will become apparent. There are other terms in our language which will express a part, but not the whole of its meaning. Thus, when Christ is said to be our propitiation, we might explain the expression by saying, that He is our peace-maker. This explains what he does as our propitiation-makes peace. It explains the what,' but not the 'how,' in the question. It does not explain the Mark then the oneness of the economy of grace in this particular. Justification by faith is one of the unbroken, bright threads, running the whole length of the otherwise variegated web of the divine dispensations--from Abel to the new-chief idea implied in propitiation. The chief idea born sinner of the present moment; from the new-born sinner of the present moment to the sounding of the last trump. is, that in making peace, He, as an atoning sacrifice, makes satisfaction to God's justice in behalf of, and in the room of the sinner. A man may make peace between two hostile parties, especially if both have been at fault, by simple reasoning and remonstrance. He may do this without any sacrifice on his part, and therefore without becoming in any sense a propitiation. But if the one party has an undoubted claim upon the other; if, for example, the cause of the enmity be a large and most just debt, and if the creditor will not, and cannot, from claims otherwise made upon him, forego the debt; in this case, the peace-maker must satisfy the just demands of Mark too the presumption of our seeking to be justified by works. If Enoch, that walked with God, and was translated that he should not see death, because he had this testimony that he pleased God; if Abraham, who is called the friend of God,' and is so highly promoted at the marriage supper of the Lamb, that to lie with the head upon his bosom, as is said of Lazarus, is to enjoy the highest honour and felicity; if David, 'the man after God's own heart,' the most gifted, the most devout of scripture writers, and the most experienced of scripture-saints;-if the creditor, before he can expect to reconcile these most eminent of holy men had nothing of which to boast in the sight of God, spoke of 'the blessedness of the man whose iniquities are pardoned, and whose sin is covered,' and were justified by faith, which was counted to them for righteousness; how shall we, who have no pretensions to their godliness, and devotion, and heavenly-mindedness, presume to arrogate to ourselves a righteousness of which they were destitute? God resisteth the proud, but He giveth grace to the humble.' him to the debtor. If he do so at his own expense, he makes a sacrifice, and becomes, in a sense, a propitiation: - but only in a sense; for the full and proper meaning of the term propitiation can be found only in the work of our redemption. And it is found as follows. God and the sinner are at enmity. The cause of the enmity is, that the sinner owes, but has failed to give to God what He, as an infinitely righteous Governor requires- a perfect obedience to his just and unchanging law. The sinner is neither able nor willing to give this perfect obedience. God is unwilling to inflict the penalty. He desires, determines on his forgiveness. But, in forgiving, He cannot recede from the demands which his law makes upon the sinner, without such a satisfaction to its claims as shall vindicate its authority and rectitude. God accordingly sends his Son to make this satisfaction. The Son, for this end, voluntarily takes upon himself the nature and the obligations of the sinner-his obligations as subject to the law, and as liable to its penalty. Subject to the law, He gives perfect obedience to its requirements, that, as perfectly innocent, He might meritoriously bear its penalty. Its penalty He bears. He dies the just for the unjust. -Whatever coming short of the demands of unbending justice there may seem to be in Christ's being a substitute only, and not the actual transgressor, is more than made up by Christ's dignity as divine, and by his near relationship to God as his eternal Son. For what more honouring to the law; what vindication of its authority more appaling, than that the Son of the Lawgiver, than that the Lawgiver Himself, should, in the room of the sinner, and with the sinner's iniquities laid upon Him, suffer the penalty? This did He, 'who, being the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.' Eternal Justice has been satisfied, and, in testimony of the fact, Christ is set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare God's righteousness for the remission of sins. The scripture proof of this view of Christ's atoning work is most abundant. It is to be found in the very term 'propitiation;' which implies these four ideas, enmity, reconciliation, a reconciler, and a propitiatory sacrifice as the ground of the reconciliation. The chief of these ideas is the last, which is often set forth in scripture, especially in the sacrifices under the ceremonial law, as these are explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The text itself exhibits this last idea as the chief; for it is through faith in His blood, that He becomes a propitiation to the sinner. Again, we have the term redemption in the text, which, with other ideas, has that of the payment of a price as its distinctive meaning. Hence the expressions, to give his life a ransom;' 'bought with a price;' redeemed not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ;' Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.' Let not the above view be supposed to detract from the mercy of God. His righteousness required that His law should be vindicated before the sinner could be saved. Not, however, that He was unwilling to pardon, but that, as righteous Governor, He was morally unable to pardon, without a vindication of His law. Not that He was unwilling, but most willing; yea, resolved to pardon: and, therefore, both the pardon and requisite vindication originate in, and proceed from Himself. As a God of justice He exacts the vindication; as a God of mercy he provides for its accomplishment. Mercy as well as justice is thus more illustriously displayed. Hence we are said to be 'justified freely by his grace.' Had the exacted vindication been made of the sinner, this could not have been said. The exaction was made not of the sinner, but of a substituteof a substitute provided by the Exactor-provided by the Exactor in behalf of those who were in a state of enmity, and of such an enmity as refuses even to admit the necessity of such a substitute. How true then, how emphatic the statement-justified freely by his grace!' Grace is the origin, freeness is the character of the blessing. Grace gave it birth; freeness sends it forth in universal offer, and for gratuitous acceptance. Grace is the fountain-head; freeness is the channel bearing down within its flooded banks to the parched wilderness, the waters of salvation, without money and without price.' Ho, every one that thirsteth! come ye to the waters. TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY.-EVENING. 'Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law,' Rom. iii. 31. IT is of the nature of transgressors and criminals,' ays an acute divine, 'to bear a grudge and prejudice against the law, because the law is against them.' How then does the transgressor and criminal, in the person of the objector, whom the apostles addresses in the text, come to stand up for the law? Because he has not seen it to be against him. He has not been personally condemned by it; or if he has, he thinks that after condemning, it may yet, in the end, acquit and justify him-a nation not tending much to the honour and establishment of the law. But this answer, besides accounting for their self-contradictory zeal for the law, on the part of the legalist, and the unimpressed by a sense of sin, serves to establish the converse of the above quotation, namely, that it is of the nature of righteous and justified persons to have a favour and love for the law, because the law is for them. The legalist and personally uncondemned by sin, presumptuously think that the law is, or at least may, in the end be for them. Hence they can have a zeal for the law. The justified by faith know that the law is already for them, and cannot be against them; and therefore they cannot but be in love with, and be zealous for the law. But while both are zealous for the law, the zeal of the one proceeds upon a virtual making void the law; the zeal of the other has its origin in a complete and glorious establishment of the law. Why is it that the legalist and impenitent bear penalties. Such then is the provision made by the gospel for securing the obedience of its subjects— love, gratitude, sense of obligation, delight in acting conformably to these sentiments, discomfort in acting contrary to them. The more a man is persuaded that has been justified freely by the grace of God, the more deeply are these sentiments felt, and the more actuating and sanctifying is their influence upon his heart and conduct. Besides, consider the nature and consequences of that spiritual change with which justifying faith is uniformly accompanied a new birth, a new creation, all old things done away and all things become new, renewal in the spirit of the mind. Consider too the believer's privileges, hopes, and enjoyments; how quickening, strengthening, elevating, animating, and how utterly incompatible with the love and practice of sin! Nor is this all. The objection to gratuitous justification proceeds upon the supposition that the believer is freed from all fear of penalty. This is not true. He is indeed freed from fear of the final penalty, everlasting condemnation. But when he falls into sin, he falls into a pit, and mire, and under the power of a hated and much dreaded oppressor; his most satisfying joys are turned into bitterness of soul, and he subjects himself to the rod of an angry Providence. In these there is a restraining and actuating power, not to be found by the legalist in the distant and sometimes doubted penalty, however great. no grudge nor prejudice against the law? Be- by the most exact requirements and the severest cause they think that it is not so high in its demands, nor so inflexible in the infliction of the penalty, as to be already conclusively against them; which is a virtual making void the law. For what greater dishonour can be done to a law, than first to break it, then to withhold its just vindication, and then to deny that ever it required the vindication sought? Faith, on the other hand, establishes the law in all its authority, meets all its demands, and manifests its unchangeableness. That faith does this for the law in the character of judge, none who know the object of that faith can deny. That object is Christ, dying the 'just for the unjust,' magnifying the law, and making it honourable.' By his death he has shown that the moral Governor of the universe has not relaxed, but has rather, if we take into account the dignity of the Substitute, and the sufferings he endured, enhanced the demands of the law. He has shown what the legalist and impenitent have to expect, when they are summoned to answer personally, and on their own footing, at the law's magnified tribunal.—But it is not so much the authority of the law as judge, as its practical influence as the governor of human conduct, that is alleged to be made void by the doctrines of gratuitous justification; and it is not so much of its practical influence on the conduct of the impenitent-with respect to them its practical influence must be seen to be mightily augmented—as of its practical influence on the conduct of the believer of the doctrine, that the allegation is made. The believer is delivered from the law as a judge, and therefore, it is concluded, he is removed from its restraints as a governor of conduct. The conclusion is plausible. But if it be just, what is to be said of angels and glorified saints. They are delivered from the law as a judge; but are they delivered from it as a governor of conduct? And if it be possible for them to honour and obey the governor without fearing the judge, it follows, that fear of punishment is not the only motive fitted to secure obedience. Nay, if we contrast the obedience of heaven with obedience on earth, we will be disposed to conclude, that there must be some other means more effective in securing obedience, than that of the fear of punishment. Let a sovereign be loved; let his law be loved, because seen to be holy, just, and good; let the sovereign be viewed by the subject, not only as a just and affectionate governor, but as a personal friend, as a personal benefactor, as a father, and a more effective provision will be made for sincerity, uniformity, and ardour of obedience, than could be made TWENTY-NINTH DAY.-MORNING. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus,' Rom. iii. 26. GOD set forth his Son to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, for two ends: First, 'To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,'-that is, under the former dispensations— through the forbearance of God.' The sins committed under the former dispensations God forbore to punish, in the prospect of Christ's propitiatory sacrifice for sin; and now that 'Christ, in the end of the world hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,' it is seen from Christ set forth as a propitiation for those sins, that God's forbearance was not exercised at the expense of his justice; but that during the long exercise of the mercy of forbearance, respect was prospectively had to justice, in the appointed death of Jesus. How long and how sorely tried was His forbearance! Yet He waited to be in justifying and eternally rewarding the ungracious. godly.' to mercy on the honour done to justice by the death of Jesus. How great the encouragement thus held out to come and be reconciled to God! Every obstacle has been removed. All things are ready. God is waiting to be gracious. Fear not. Fury is not in me:-Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me: and he shall make peace with me.' There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' But if Christ, set forth as a propitiatory sacri- We have said just in justifying the ungodly. fice for sin, declares that justice was not de- But that term must be restricted by the phrase, throned during the long reign of forbearance, him which believeth in Jesus; that is, him that under the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, believeth in the necessity, reality, and sufficiency that exhibition no less emphatically declares, of Christ as a sin-atoning Saviour. But why so Secondly, That justice is still enthroned with restricted? Because no satisfaction has been mercy in forgiving sin 'at this time,' that is, made; no satisfaction can be made to justice in under the present dispensation. To declare at behalf of him, who, after rebelling and after for'this time his righteousness,' &c. Had God forgiveness has been offered, still perseveres in his given the ungodly, and treated them as just per- rebellion. There must be first submission to its sons, without any vindication of His law, He claims before justice can permit the forgiveness would have acted solely as a God of mercy, and of the sinner. And no submission can be fuller from any thing we can see, would have done and more honouring to justice, than is implied in violence to His character as a God of justice. faith in Jesus. It is the submission of the peniBut he cannot at any instant, or in any matter, tent, justice-adoring suppliant of the suppliant act from the impulse of one attribute so as to confessing personal desert of punishment, humbly, derogate from another. All his attributes must gratefully, and eagerly, laying hold of the justiceharmonize at every instant, and in every act. It honouring-substitute, and founding all his claim is one of the distinguishing peculiarities of the gospel, one of those peculiarities which are far beyond the reach of human discovery, and therefore demonstrative of the gospel's heavenly origin, that in it mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other, in the salvation of the sinner; that in it God is just and the justifier-a just God and a Saviour. Christ has vindicated the law-magnified it and made it honourable. This he has done more fully and strikingly than could have been done by the death of the actual transgressor. Hereby God is declared just in pardoning.-But He is declared to be just, not only in pardoning, but in justifying and eternally rewarding the transgressor. Christ died not merely as a solemn warning that sin shall not escape unpunished, nor merely that the sinner might be delivered from the merited reward of his misdeeds. He died as our substitute: and not merely as a suffering substitute; nor merely as a vindicatory substitute, like one rebel chosen out of ten to suffer the last penalty of the law, in order to vindicate its authority while forgiving the other nine. He died as our meritorious substitute, that the pardoned might not only have their guilt removed and the penalty remitted, but that they might be invested with His perfect righteousness, and on the ground of its meritoriousness, have a claim, so to speak, on the justice of God for the reward which that meritoriousness has purchased-eternal life. God hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; not merely that we might not die the death of sinners, but that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And made the righteousness of God in Him, how just is God But how wretched, how hopeless is a state of unbelief! Unmitigated, fearfully aggravated justice, claiming the impenitent and unbelieving as its own! No more sacrifice for sin! Fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary! What so fitted to alarm! Turn ye, turn ye, why will be die? TWENTY-NINTH DAY.-EVENING. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies,' Psal. ciii. 2-4. THE same words have sometimes a very different meaning in the lips of different men. These words may be used not without an important meaning, and not without feeling, even by the unbeliever: but how far short do both the meaning and the feeling come of those of the consciously reconciled and devout believer! The |