د, *"Our Lord Jesus Christ died for us. "We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son." "You hath He reconciled in the body of His Flesh through Death." S" He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin." "He hath appeared to put away sin by the Sacrifice of Himself." " Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." **" He is the propitiator for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." ++" Christ hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God." Now, these passages, and we might adduce many more, answer in every particular to the character we required them to possess. They are no oriental or metaphorical effusions, they are not poetical descriptions of the blessings derived from Christ's death; but they are the earnest, solemn, and unqualified statement of an essential truth; they are more, they are the absolute fiat of the Almighty, from which there is no appeal. Since, therefore, these passages were written on purpose to declare how the penalty of sin is paid, we may be sure that they not only tell us the true means, but the whole means; and hence we may argue, 1st, That Christ paid the penalty, for " Jesus Christ died for us. 2dly, That He paid the whole penalty; for were it not so, then would the rest of what is necessary to make up the full penalty have been told us; whereas nothing else is added, for Scripture saith not, We are reconciled to God by our death, or any sacrifice of our own, AND the death of His Son; but it saith, §§" We were reconciled," (in the past tense, as of an action already finished and completed, not in a state of progression, or needing addition,) " we were reconciled by the death of His Son," and, therefore, by the death of His Son alone, since nothing else is mentioned as necessary to reconciliation; but, on the contrary, it is spoken of as having been finished and perfectly completed in past time, and therefore as admitting no improvement or addition-nay, further, we are distinctly told, that we are released from the payment of the penalty, and that it is paid by Christ instead of by us, for Christ hath redeemed us FROM the curse, being made a curse for us. We conclude, therefore, that Christ's death by itself has paid the full penalty of sin, and thereby has perfectly satisfied the justice of God. 2dly, The righteousness of Christ, imputed to man, does by itself render man righteous in the eye of God; for we are distinctly told in Scripture that it does. ¶¶"Being justified freely by His Grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be * 1 Thess. v. 9, 10. ** 1 John ii. 2. 1 Thess. v. 9, 10. Romans v. 10. § 2 Cor. v. 21. ¶ Heb. ix. 28. †† Ephes. v. 2. στατ ¶¶ Rom. iii. 24, 26. a propitiation* through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness, for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." Now, there is no mention here of any other righteousness but that of Christ. Justification is said to be bestowed freely by Grace, and the Apostle saith not, that Christ was set forth to declare our righteousness, that we might be just, and thereby the justifiers of ourselves; but he saith, "to declare His righteousness, that He might be just, and the Justifier of him that believeth." And again: Be it known unto you, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him, all that believe are Justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses." And again: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us;"" that being justified by His Grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Such words as these require no comment, for no words can speak more distinctly or more absolutely; and as we read them, we can only wonder at those who would still attempt to set up the claim of their own impure righteousness. These are they who, " being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God;" unto whom I would say, Beware, " Christ is become of no effect unto you; whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.' "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth," and **" Ye are COMPLETE in HIM." Nor are the prophets silent on this subject: by Jeremiah, Christ is emphatically called, ++" The Lord our righteousness." Isaiah saith (speaking for God), " By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;" and again he saith, §§" In the Lord have I righteousness and strength, and even to Him shall men come. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified." On the authority of these distinct and unqualified statements of Holy Writ, we think we may safely assert what we desired to prove-viz., *That faith is the condition on which we receive Justification, and not part of Justification itself, we shall see hereinafter. † Acts xiii. 38, 39. § Rom. x. 3. ¶ Rom. x. 4. ++ Jer. xxiii. 6. §§ Isa. xlv. 24, 25. Titus iii. 5, 7. Many more texts might be adduced-nay, we might with satety be bold enough to say, that the grand doctrine of Justification by the merits of Christ alone, shines through the whole of Scripture. In the first pages, pale and wavering, half seen, half shrouded, like the star of Balaam, but gradually brightening and expanding till at last it bursts upon us in the full daylight of the Gospel. It would be a beautiful, a useful, and an interesting study to trace its gradual developement; but it is unnecessary to our present purpose. that the righteousness of Christ imputed to man does by itself render man righteous in the eye of God. Having, therefore, seen that the work of Christ, as a sole, unaided Justifier, both in paying the penalty and in rendering righteous, is perfect and sufficient in itself, what is the lesson which we at once draw from our deduction? This: that it is an unnecessary and a dangerous act of presumption to attempt to add to it. That it is unnecessary is evident; for why add to that which is already perfect? But it is also dangerous, and, if persisted in, fatal: it is dangerous, because our only safety is under the covering of Christ's righteousness: as seen under and through it, we are righteous before God; but directly we put forth any of our own righteousness, its impurity spreads over, and destroys the perfection of, the garment which was our salvation; for the moment when God sees any portion of man obtruding itself from under the covering of Christ, that moment the pure eye of the Allholy One detects sin, and that man is in deadly peril, for God will see Christ, and Christ alone, and Him only will He accept: therefore, if any will still persist in putting forth the wretched claim of his own righteousness, his error is fatal, and he will continue in it from worse to worse, nor shall he find out the awfulness of his condition, till for the last time he shall make that same claim in the day of doom, saying, *"Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and in Thy name done many wonderful works?" And the answer will be, *"I profess unto you, I never knew you." Our conclusion, then, founded on the evidence of those portions of Scripture above quoted, is, that the work of Christ, as a sole, unaided Justifier, is perfect and sufficient in itself, neither requiring nor admitting any improvement or addition; and that, therefore, it is both unnecessary and a dangerous act of presumption to attempt to improve or to add to it. II. We now come to that class of proofs which goes to show that man, from the very nature of the means requisite to his justification, is totally unable to contribute any part of them; and that, therefore, it is worse than folly to attempt it. We shall here again consider the means separately, and shall proceed, 1st, To examine whether it is possible for man to do anything towards paying the penalty of sin. Now, that he cannot, is evident from the nature of the penalty, which is the eternal death of the soul: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and "The wicked shall be turned into Hell;" for §" He shall say unto them on His left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." If, then, this eternal death be the penalty, it is evident that we cannot begin *Matt. vii. 22, 23. Ps. ix. 17. † Ezek. xviii. 4, 20. § Matt. xxv. 41, 46. See also Mark ix. 43, 48. to pay it till after this life shall be ended, for it will not commence till that day when" the Son of God shall come in His glory" to judge the world; and when it has once commenced, there is no hope, for it will never end, for *" These shall go away into everlasting punishment." So that if the penalty of sin, as paid by man, is solely that final death of body and soul, the Essence of which is its Eternity, for it is called "Everlasting," then it is absurd to suppose the possibility of man's paying part of it, without incurring the whole; for that which is essentially eternal cannot stop at any particular stage.† But it may be said, there are other minor and temporal penalties, which, when added to that paid by Christ, will be received at the hand of God instead of eternal death. Now, we will consider what these may be supposed to be, and what value is supposed to be attached to them, as forming part of the whole penalty of sin. 1st, then, May not there be some intermediate state between the temporal death of the body and the last judgement, in which man shall, by undergoing certain sufferings, pay part of the penalty of sin? Now, were this the case, it would not much affect our present object, which is practical, and aims rather at seeing if we may not in some manner, by our own exertions, in this life, be able to pay part of the penalty of sin. But, in fact, we do not believe that is the case, but look on so monstrous a doctrine, as "A fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God." We have not, however, space here thoroughly to combat such a theory as that of Purgatory: we shall only, therefore, adduce two or three arguments, which we think of themselves should be sufficient to dispel so groundless a tenet. Ist, Were a state of intermediate suffering necessary to make up the penalty of sin, we cannot believe that the Scriptures would have been so wholly silent on the subject as they are: the fact would have been constantly mentioned, so often as the requisites to this part of Justification are stated; whereas, so far is this from being the case, that we find in Scripture a totally opposite statement. So far from being taught that any part of sin remains unatoned, § we are expressly told that "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." And again: *Matt. xxv. 41, 46. See also Mark ix. 43, 48. We shall see this by considering the fact, that, if that which is essentially eternal be deprived of its eternity, the consequence is, not that it remains the same thing, only of shorter duration; but that it is no longer the same thing at all: e. g., The essence of Hell is eternity, for that which makes it Hell is despair. Now, if Hell be shorn of its eternity, then despair is taken away, hope infused, and Hell is no longer Hell, for it has lost that which was its very essence. Article xxii. § We annex a few passages of Scripture, which should at once refute this baseless doctrine. Rev. xiv. 13; Eccl. ix. 10; Isaiah xliii. 25; Luke xxiii. 43; John i. 29; 1 Cor. vi. 11; 1 John i. 9; Mark ii. 7, 10; Rom. viii. 1; Heb. vii. 25; 2 Cor. v. 8. || 1 John i. 7. *By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." 2dly, An enquiry into how far a man has paid the penalty of sin, forms no part of the subject-matter of that investigation which will take place at the judgement-day, as described by Jesus Christ.+ The examination enters into no period beyond that which is contained within the limits of this life: it was for their conduct in this life alone, that the unprofitable servant was cast into outer darkness, "that those on the left hand were sent into "everlasting punishment." There is no allusion to their not having expiated their crimes by sufficient after penalty; nor is the possibility of their having done so hinted at; but, on the contrary, they are told that, because they did not do certain things during their earthly life, and for this reason alone, they are punished. Their condemnation was not grounded on any calculation of the amount of sin, and the amount of penalty, and a declaration that sin overbalanced the penalty; but their sin is brought against them as totally uncancelled and unpaid for. Nor, 3dly, In the claim for admission into life, put in by the condemned,‡ on hearing their sentence, is there any mention made of their having paid any penalty for sin : surely, had they been suffering atoning pains, they would have pleaded loudly that they had cancelled their sin by paying the penalty; whereas this, instead of being their strongest plea, (as it would have been had they possessed the slightest grounds for making it,) is totally omitted.§ 4thly, If an intermediate state is necessary to pay the penalty, then "how shall they pay it, who shall be alive when the Son of man cometh in His glory?" for || we shall not all sleep." From these and many more arguments that might be adduced, we conclude that man does not contribute towards paying the penalty of sin by any state of intermediate suffering. But, 2dly, Since death is the penalty of sin, does not man pay it in part by the temporal death of the body? Now, to refute this supposition, ¶ some of the arguments we have used above will equally apply. But further the temporal dissolution of the body is nowhere called the penalty of sin. We are told that "the wages of sin is death"-death is the merited reward or pay of sin; which is a very different thing from being an atonement made for sin; for the payment of a penalty must proceed from the offender to the offended; God must receive it and man pay it; whereas, on the contrary, in this case, God pays, and man *Heb. x. 14. + Matt. xxv. Matt. xxv. 44; Luke xiii. 26; Matt. vii. 22, 23. § It may be said, that this is equally an objection against justification by the merits of Christ, for it would have been just as natural for them to have pleaded this; but this is not the case, for they wanted that quality by which alone they could have pleaded this; viz., faith; whereas they were ready enough to plead what they had done for themselves, as we see in the words they are described as using. 1 Cor. xv. 51. ¶ The ii., iii., and iv. of those used against Purgatory. |