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pensated by the dignity of his person. Though his sufferings were only in his human nature, they were in the person of the God-man, whose dignity extended to all that was endured in it. No one, therefore, has felt called upon to decide how large a portion of Christ's sufferings were expiatory, since all that he passed through on earth might be properly so called, but as the shedding of his blood was the crowning part, and had a special significance in relation to sacrifices, it is frequently used as an expression for the whole.*

With regard to the effect of Christ's death, all who believe in its expiatory nature concede that nothing can limit its efficiency but the divine will. As his sufferings possessed an infinite value and yet were to be applied to finite objects, the limitation must be determined by the divine purpose. The questions on which divines have differed, relate to the number of those for whom Christ died, and what it accomplished for them.

It

That the merit of Christ's passion was amply sufficient for all men, is denied by none who believe that he is divine.† But it must be conceded that the ransom offered, purchased only what he who paid it, and he who accepted it, understood it to purchase. Was then the Atonement not only sufficient, but actually paid for all? To ascertain for whom Christ died, many think it not enough to discover whom he has died to save. is easy to find many passages of Scripture which assert that he died to save only his sheep, and those whom he foreknew as the future subjects of renewing grace; and it may be granted that if he had not been assured of the salvation of these, he would never have died for any. There is, therefore, a peculiar sense in which he died for believers. But this does not settle the question, whether he did not die to purchase or atone for all men. Even if all are purchased by the blood of Christ, it by no means follows that they will certainly be saved. Where he has purchased, he has power over all flesh, but it is to give eternal life only to as many as had been given him. He may

* Ebrard, Chr. Dogm. Vol. ii. 8 417.

† Princeton Theol. Essays, Vol. ii. p. 341.

Richards, p. 20. Woods, Vol. ii. p. 493. Bellamy, Works, Vol. i. p. 380 ss.

have purchased all, that they may have a new opportunity of salvation, the influences of the Holy Spirit, a resurrection from the dead and a judgment at his bar.* All power in heaven and on earth is thus secured, and he has a right to the pardon of all for whom he pleases to ask it, but he pleases to intercede for none but those who believe on him. He has purchased the right to save all, but sinners have, by the mere fact of his death for them, no right to salvation. They may still be sent to hell, for though Christ has the right to bestow life, they have no claim on it. We do not, like some Lutheran divines, suppose that the guilt of all men under the law, is actually pardoned by the mere efficacy of Christ's death, and that they can afterwards be condemned only for unbelief under the gospel.t There is a distinction between the payment of a debt for another, and the endurance of a punishment for another. A remission of punishment does not necessarily follow when a substitute has borne it. This depends on the choice or will of the substitute himself. Christ may not claim it for the sinner, and He is the only being that can claim it for him. may"deny the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." They "for whom Christ died" may be "destroyed" by the abuse of Christian liberty. In this sense Christ died for the world, and the "all" for whom he died is commensurate with the "all" that were dead in sin. He designed to make propitiation for the sins of the whole world.

Men

The Atonement is often spoken of as necessarily securing salvation to all for whom it was designed, and it is, indeed, sometimes so defined as to include reconciliation. But in the New Testament, expiation [inarμós], and reconciliation [xavannayń], are generally, if not always, distinguished.§ The first secures only a removal of the curse of abandonment, and the opportunity of

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Symington, Nature of the Atonement, p. 20. Turretin, Doc. xiv. Quest. x. ¿ 8.

Nitzsch, Syst. of Chr. Doct. 136. 430. Olshausen on Rom. iii. 24, 25. p. 347.

Ebrard, Chr. Dog. 403, 406, 429,
Princeton Theol. Essays, Vol. ii.

salvation, the latter is secured only by the eternal purpose of the Father. It is election, as held by Calvinistic divines, and not Atonement, that secures reconciliation or salvation to any. Atonement makes salvation possible, the Covenant of Redemption, as some have called the counsel of grace established between the Father and the Son, makes it sure. The atoning or expiatory influence of Christ's death was complete when he died and rose from the dead, but its moral influence in the reconciliation of men will never close, till all the elect shall be gathered in and saved. The Atonement is the work of the Second Person of the sacred Trinity, while reconciliation is the work of the Third, and is only a remote and indirect result of the passion on the cross. But all such effects should be carefully distinguished from the Atonement itself. We believe they have been thus distinguished in the Roman, Lutheran, Anglican, Arminian and most of the Calvinistic Churches.

None deny that, in consequence of the death of Christ, God has once more entered into communication with our race, all men enjoy innumerable blessings, and salvation may be offered to every human being. But many of those who maintain that he atoned only for the elect, hesitate to say that salvation is possible for others, since they can never be effectually called by divine grace.* It is, however, difficult to see why they need embarrass themselves by such scruples, since even they confess that the Atonement is sufficient for all, and that nothing but a refusal to accept of life, renders it inefficacious for their salvation. Indeed, if they would like others, limit the Atonement to the work of expiation, and regard the purpose of God which applies its moral influence in the salvation of men, as referring to an entirely different transaction, they might harmonize with their opponents, and save themselves from a most awkward and unscriptural phraseology. All limitation should be referred to election, and not to the design of the Atonement. Such a use of the word would render it improper to speak of the future application of the Atonement, as a propitiatory though not as a moral power. To the believer all sin is forgiven, whether committed before or after baptism. In his

* Turretin, Doc. xiv. Quest. xiv. 29. Janeway on Atonement, p. 16.

imperfect state on earth, he may not be delivered from all the natural consequences of sin, and he may be the subject of frequent chastisement for his faults. But these are needful for discipline, and do not imply that any sin is unforgiven. On his first act of faith he is adopted into the spiritual family, and is henceforth only to be trained for heaven. Dr. Emmons thought that the Atonement of Christ secured only pardon to the believer, and that personal obedience is the ground on which he is to be rewarded,* and many divines think that the passive obedience, or sufferings of Christ, makes it proper for us to be forgiven, but that his active obedience, or holiness, is the ground of our title to life. Others think that all such distinctions are by no means clear, and that they have no warrant in the Scriptures, which seem to ascribe the whole work of justification to the blood of Jesus.‡

Such is the "Creed of Christendom" relating to this fundamental doctrine of the Bible. There are certainly no indications from what we have seen, that the doctrine of forgiveness through the blood of propitiation, violates the true theology of natural conscience, or that its professed advocates only half believe it. On the other hand, never was there a larger number of humble and enlightened persons, who glory in it, as their only and sufficient ground of hope. The best, the truest, and the most earnest hearers of the Gospel fasten upon this, as affording them the most perfect satisfaction. The countries where it is received and most esteemed, are those in which the Christian virtues most abound. Even Speculative Philosophy, after long wandering in regions where Revelation is denied, has returned, and is endeavoring to effect a reconciliation with the language and the spirit of the Bible. Its most destructive school has shown the actual dangers of its earlier path, and made others appreciate better the value of revealed truth. It has always been thus. True science, in its bold advances into some new path, sometimes appears to come into collision with received views of religion, but though it has often modified our

* Sermon, On Holy Obedience, the only Title to eternal Life.

† Griffin, On Atonement. Appendix. Ebrard, Chr. Dogm. 427. Symington, Substance of the Atonement, p. 5.

Knapp's Theol. 115.

philosophy, it has never been found ultimately inconsistent with the great doctrine of Christ crucified. The present earnest age will not give up the great principle of satisfaction for sin. But it needs a more living faith. Our essential doctrines need not modification but life. We want no "absolute Deity," or "ideal Christ," or "new creeds." Our present Christianity has shown by actual fact, that it can adapt itself freely to all the exigencies and wants of humanity. It has been proved to be true to the intellect, the conscience, and the heart of man, and that it can stir up all classes of mind by a resistless and living power.

ARTICLE III.

RECOLLECTIONS OF ERSKINE MASON, D. D.

It is beneficially ordered of Heaven, that the sharpness of grief consequent upon sore personal bereavement, should be mitigated by the lapse of time. Did every sorrow retain all its peculiar poignancy, how soon would the stricken spirit be overwhelmed by an aggregate of woe, and, either reason be dethroned, or its earthly career be terminated. This merciful provision, however, seems necessarily to involve a partial loss of that vivid and perfect remembrance of both the countenance and character of the departed, which so saddens our hearts while we are depositing their remains in the inevitable tomb. Observed through the lengthening perspective of multiplying years, the receding outline becomes less and less definite, as the mountains at the horizon are slightly veiled by the intervening atmosphere. Relatives and other endeared friends, may be scarcely conscious of any such advancing process of obscuration, but beyond that limited group it is quite palpable. Indeed, no one can doubt that the memory of even the most valuable of men, or at least a proper sense of that privation which all suffer at their death, is but too quickly obliterated

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