LXX. REDEMPTION BY CHRIST. Gal. iii. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. THE law, which subjects all mankind to a curse, is the moral law That is principally intended in the passage before us— It remains unalterable in its demands of obedience or punishment But in the gospel a remedy is provided for transgressors This remedy is proposed to us in the text I. Clear up some points relative to redemption The most important truths of Christianity are often denied But we must be established in them, if we would receive the blessings of redemption We should know clearly, 1. What is that "curse" from which we are redeemed [Many suppose it to be annihilation, or at most a temporary punishment But the Scriptures represent it in a far different light We cannot precisely declare the exact quality of itIt consists, however, partly in banishment from Godb And partly in inconceivable anguish both of soul' and body Its duration certainly will be eternal 'It will continue coeval with the happiness of the righteous Neither the curse shall cease, nor sinners cease to endure it-] 2. Who it is that redeems us from it [It is thought by many that we must deliver ourselves by repentance, &c It is that law, from the curse of which Abraham and the Gentiles were redeemed, ver. 10.; and consequently, though the ceremonial law be not entirely excluded, the text must be understood principally in reference to the moral law. b 2 Thess. i. 9. Luke xvi. 23, 24. d Matt. xxv. 46. aláviov is used respecting both. Our Lord repeats this no less than five times in six verses, Mark ix. 43-48. But it is impossible for fallen man to deliver his own soul— He cannot by doing, because he cannot perfectly obey the law in future; and if he could, his obedience would not atone for past sins He cannot by suffering, because the penalty of one sin is eternal death Nor could the highest archangel redeem the worldIf he could, God needed not to have sent his own SonNone but "Christ" was sufficient for so great a workBut his obedience unto death has effected our redemption— He made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness"-] 3. Who they are that shall enjoy the benefits of redemption [Many imagine that, because Christ has died for all, all shall be saved But redemption is by no means so extensive as the curseWith respect to heathens we know little how God will deal with them But we know what will be his conduct towards the Christian world They who believe in Christ, and they only, will be finally saved Such alone were comprehended under the term "us”—] These points being cleared up, we shall II. Shew by what means we are redeemed By the Mosaic law persons hanged were deemed accursedi Hence Christ, in his death, was "made a curse" or held accursed_ In becoming a curse, he was our substitute [Christ did not die merely for our good He endured the curse in our stead This was typically represented under the Mosaic law!—— The prophets concur in establishing this truth" f The ceasing to increase a debt will not cancel a debt already incurred: see Luke xvii. 10. g Dan. ix. 24. h Mark xvi. 16. The faith here spoken of is not a mere assent to Ahe truths of Christianity, but a living, operative, and purifying faith, Acts xv. 9. Jam. ii. 20, 26. i Deut. xxi. 23. * See the words immediately following the text. 1 Lev. xvi. 7—10, 21, 22. It is impossible not to see in this passage that the scape-goat had the iniquities of the Jewish nation transferred to him, while the goat that died made atonement for them. Dan. ix. 26. "Not for himself," Isai. liii. 5. The apostles confirm it in the plainest terms"- His curse indeed was not the same with ours, either in quality or duration Yet it was fully adequate to all the demands of law and justice And it was such as God appointed for him, and accepts on our behalf-] This substitution of Christ was the mean of effecting our redemption [God ordained it for this very endo He was pleased with it in this viewP— He was reconciled to man on account of it— Our deliverance from the guilt and power of sin is effected by it It was the price paid for the salvation of the church'—] INFER 1. How great was the love of Christ towards our fallen. race! [That he who was happy in the bosom of his Father should become a curse!— That he should submit to such misery in our place and stead! Well might that anathema be denounced against the ungrateful" Let us then study to "comprehend the heights and depths of his love"-] 2. What folly and impiety is it to seek justification by the law! [When the moral law was once broken, it was absolutely impossible that any man should be justified by it There remained no way of escaping its curse but by embracing the gospel What folly then is it to reject salvation when it is freely offered, and to seek it in a way in which it cannot be found!Nor is the impiety of such conduct less than the folly— It declares that the sacrifice of Christ was unnecessary, or ineffectual This conduct proved destructive to the bulk of the Jewish nation* May we never imitate them to our eternal ruin!-] 3. How strong are the Christian's obligations to holiness! [Christ did not die to deliver us from the curse only, but from sin also Shall we hope to attain one end of his death while we defeat the other?- We should reject such a thought with the utmosť abhorrenceb Let every one then strive to attain the disposition of St. Paul-] a Tit. ii. 14. b Rom. vi. 1. 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. LXXI. FAITH ESTABLISHES THE LAW. Rom. iii. 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. A GENERAL prejudice obtains against the way salvation by faith of But it prevailed equally even in the apostolic agePaul himself saw that his statement of the gospel: did not escape censure— He perceived that it was deemed injurious to the interests of morality He therefore anticipated and obviated this objec tion I. Whence it is that people suppose we make void the law through faith The truth, however clearly stated, is often misappre. hended In explaining salvation by faith we affirm two things concerning the law 1. That it has no power either to condemn or to justify believers [It cannot condemn them, because Christ has redeemed them from its curse It cannot justify them, because they have transgressed it, and its demands of perfect obedience are unalterably the same a Gal. iii. 13. Faith in Christ delivers us from the penal sanctions of the law, but does not lower its demands-] 2. That our obedience to it makes no part of our justifving righteousness— [Faith and works, as grounds of justification, are opposite to each otherb If our works had any share in our justification we should have a ground of boasting, which is utterly to be excluded— The smallest reliance on these makes void all hope by the gospeld All dependence therefore on the works of the law must be entirely renounced-] These affirmations evidently exclude morality from the office of justifying They are therefore supposed to discountenance all practical religion ⚫ But this mistake originates in the ignorance of the objectors themselves II. That the believer, so far from making void the law, establishes it The power of the law is twofold; to command obedience, and to condemn for disobedience The believer establishes the law in each of these respects 1. In its commanding power [He owns its absolute authority over him as God's creature All his hope is in the perfect obedience which Christ paid to it for him He looks upon his obligations to obey it as increased, rather than diminished, by the death of Christ He actually desires to obey it as much as if he were to be justified by his obedience to it-] 2. In its condemning power [He acknowledges himself justly condemned by itHe founds his hope in Christ as having borne its curse for him His own conscience cannot be pacified but by that atonement which satisfied the demands of the law Bereft of an hope in the atonement, he would utterly despair Rom. xi. 6. • Rom. iii. 27. Gal. v. 2,4.. |