for, amidst his exquisite sufferings, he exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou for"saken me?" At last, he said it is finished, and gave up the ghost.

The second part of Christ's atonement consists in that perfect obedience which he gave to the law in the room and for the sake of sinners. His sufferings and death are called his passive obedience, and his obedience to the law his active obedience. This was a necessary part of his atonement: because a perfect and sinless obedience being required by the law, and being a requisite condition for obtaining eternal life, the law could never have been satisfied, nor eternal life obtained, unless this obedience, which we were perfectly incapable of performing ourselves, had been given by another, and made ours by imputation. Thus the Apostle Paul expressly says, Rom. v. 19. "As by one man's disobedience, many were "made sinners, so by the obedience of one,

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many shall be made righteous." The meaning of which appears to be, that, as the disobedience of Adam, who was the federal head and representative of his posterity, by being imputed to them, made them all guilty, in like manner, the obedience of Christ, being

a part of his atonement, and being imputed to his followers, makes them righteous in the sight of God, and gives them a title to eternal life no less sure than if they had performed that obedience in their own person. But, it must be remembered, that, Christ obeyed the law in place of his people, only as it was to be considered as the condition of eternal happiness, and not as a rule for the direction of their conduct. In the former light, christians are exempted from all obedience; in the latter, they are laid under stronger obligations to it. Christ's sufferings and obedience, then, make that complete robe of righteousness which covers every defect in the person who is clothed with it, which redeems him from the curse of the law and the dominion of sin, which reconciles him to God, and which gives him a title to the heavenly inheritance.

Having thus stated the constituent parts of the atonement, let us shortly consider its value. The sufferings of Jesus Christ were equal in amount to that punishment which otherwise would have been endured by those who derive the benefit of them. He was made sin and a curse for them; he was wounded for their transgressions, and bruised for their iniquities;

he bore their griefs and carried their sorrows; he was compassed about with the pains of hell. While the scriptures authorize us to infer, that, the punishment was translated from the sinner to Christ; they give us not the smallest intimation of any change in the nature of the punishment. But it is plain that when we say so, we mean to include only the essential parts of punishment, and not those circumstances with which it has but an accidental connection. Jesus could never feel that despair which is the constant attendant of the damned, which is a great aggravation of their misery, but which is the necessary consequence of their situation, and which arises from this circumstance, that their sufferings shall have no end. In like manner, it was not necessary that the sufferings of Christ should be eternal, because the eternal duration of the pains of hell does not arise from the punishment itself, but from the inability of the sufferer to discharge his debt, which prevents him from being released until he has paid the utmost farthing.

Secondly, Christ's atonement was infinite in value. This is evident, if we consider the infinite guilt of sin for which the atonement was

made, and the infinite dignity of the person who atoned. Among men, the degree of guilt increases in proportion to the dignity of the person against whom the crime is committed. A crime committed against a private individual does not infer an equal degree of guilt with the same crime when committed against a public magistrate. By the same rule of judging, the guilt of sin which is committed against God, must be carried up to the height of his perfections. From this we conclude that it is infinite, that it's punishment is also infinite, and that nothing less than an infinite satisfaction could be accepted in its Farther, as every action of an infinite being must be infinite, so likewise must the atonement of Christ be in whom the divine was united to the human nature. It was the blood of God which was shed upon the cross; for the Apostle Paul says, Acts xx. 28, "that "God hath purchased the church with his "own blood." The reason of this manner of expression seems to be, that, as the union of the two natures was such as to constitute only one individual person, whatever is true or can be asserted concerning the human nature, is also true, and may be asserted concerning the

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divine. In the striking language of some divines, the divine nature was the altar which gave an infinite worth and dignity to the sacrifice of the human nature which was offered upon it.

Thirdly, Christ's atonement was perfect and sufficient for the salvation of all those for whom it was designed. He suffered and obeyed till justice could demand no more. This may be inferred from the infinite value of his atonement, and from it's being the same in substance with the punishment due to the sinner: for what satisfaction could be demanded greater than what was infinite, or what right could there be to demand, after all that was owing had been paid? This perfect sufficiency is also apparent from innumerable passages in scripture. In Heb. x. 14, we are told "that

by one offering of himself, Christ hath for "ever perfected those who are sanctified:" And the same Apostle declares, Rom. viii. 1, "that there is now no condemnation to those "who are in Christ Jesus. Why? because "God, sending his own Son in the likeness of " sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh."The perfection of Christ's atonement appears most evidently from his resurrection. By rais