inspect and deride as he likes. Meanwhile, the most valued interests of religion are misrepresented, and exposed to the amusement of gaping multitudes, and the gratification of infidelity. The only method by which evils like these may be met is, that every inquirer be resolved to see things as they really are, and to examine with his own eyes, rather than depend upon those of other people; not to take religion, or any thing connected with it, upon trust, nor pin his faith upon another's sleeve. Correct notions of Wesleyan Methodism can only be obtained by an examination of its standard writings and existing records. PETER KRUSE. Chelsea, April, 1831.

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ON JUSTIFICATION.

BY THE REV. LABAN CLARK.

Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God,' Rom. iii, 24, 25.

In the preceding chapters, the Apostle sets forth the deplorable state of man as fallen and guilty before God. That both Jews and Gentiles are under the condemning sentence of violated law : and that all men have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Having drawn the most gloomy picture of depraved human nature, as actually exhibited in the lives of the Gentiles, who were sunk in the grossest idolatry and corruption, he proves the Jew to be no better; for, while he enjoys the light of Divine revelation, he seeketh not after God; that together they have become unprofitable; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

From the fact that all men are found practical sinners, we are naturally led to inquire into the origin of this depravity; and the only satisfactory solution is to be found in these words of the Apostle: By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' The universal sinfulness of man is, therefore, to be traced to a principle of moral corruption and alienation from God, which our Church saith, 'is the corruption of the nature of every man that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.'

It is in connection with this view of man's fallen and guilty condition, that we are to contemplate God's method of justifying the ungodly; which, according to our text, is freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, through faith in his blood. First. The nature and grounds of our justification.

Though justification is strictly and properly a juridical term, and VOL. III.-January, 1832. 2

implies an act of decision and judgment rendered, yet it must be very different from the sentence of mere acquittal, which could only be done on the grounds of perfect innocence; whereas man has been found guilty, and stands condemned as a criminal before the Judge, exposed to the penalty and rigour of violated law, from which he can have no hope of escape but by an act of mercy on the part of the Judge himself.

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And being condemned already, he cannot expect to be justified by the deeds of the law: for, to say nothing of his inability to perform the obedience required, the law is immutable in its nature, and can never remit the claims to perfect and undeviating obedience. Every transgression therefore subjects the sinner to the condemning sentence of violated law. He that offends in one point, is guilty of all.' No subsequent obedience can alter, or do away the sentence already incurred: 'for by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.' The more a man becomes acquainted with the law of God; and the clearer his views are of its spirituality, purity, and glorious majesty; the more he will discover his own vileness, and the exceeding sinfulness of transgression; until oppressed and overwhelmed with the weight of his guilt, he cries out, in the bitterness of his soul, God be merciful to me a sinner.

The justification of a sinner can only be by an act of pardon. Indeed the terms justification, pardon, forgiveness, or remission of sins, are used in the Scriptures as phrases of the same import, and are only so many different ways of expressing the same thing. By this variety of expression, the idea is preserved which runs through the whole Scriptures, that in the remission or pardon of sin almighty God acts in his character of ruler and judge, showing mercy to the guilty upon terms satisfactory to his justice, when he might have passed the rigid sentence of law upon the transgressor to the full extent. And the judiciary character of pardon is farther confirmed by considering the relation of the parties to each other. God is the offended ruler, man the offending subject. He has offended not against private obligations only, but against public law; and the act by which he is pardoned must be magisterial and authoritative; not contrary to, or in violation of law, but by a gracious provision by which the majesty and purity of law is secured.

Such an act of pardon is free on the part of God, and without any claims of goodness or merit on the part of the creature, who stands guilty and condemned, and who can only receive from his merciful Judge the pardon so freely given: hence it is said in our text, Being justified freely by his grace, &c. Whatever the terms or condition may be on which the pardon is granted, still it is an act of God's pure benevolence and grace, in which the creature can claim no part of the performance. For God only can forgive sins.

Conditions prescribed on the part of God, or performed by the creature, cannot alter the case; the act of pardon is the act of

God alone, and is not to be attributed either in whole or part to the creature. Conditions may vary the qualities of the pardon, and render it less or more benevolent, according as they are accommodated to our weakness and wants. When therefore the condition

of our pardon is not only suited to our utmost wretchedness, but procured for us, and urged upon us with more than parental kindness, and with promises of all-sufficient help,-persuading us, aiding us, and working in us, with all long-suffering and forbearance,we say, that under such circumstances, it is not only free on the part of him who grants the pardon, but it is the highest act of grace, and displays the infinite goodness of him who is loving unto every man; not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Yet the most exalted views we are able to form of the goodness of God, in respect to the justification of a sinner by pardon, cannot free the subject from all difficulties; for God is holy and just, as well as good and merciful. How sin may be forgiven without leading to such misconceptions of the Divine character as would encourage disobedience, and weaken the influence of Divine government, is a problem that is not very easily to be solved. And it is certain, that none of the theories opposed to Christianity afford a satisfactory solution. They assume principles either destructive to moral government, or which cannot, in the present circumstances of man, be acted upon. That government which knows no pardon, sinks the guilty to despair; and a government which admits of no punishment for the guilty, is a contradiction, and does not exist. It is only in the doctrine of a vicarious sacrifice, as expressed in our text, that any satisfactory means are proposed by which an efficient moral government can be sustained, and yet pardon extended to guilty offenders. Being justified— through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

Secondly. The means, or procuring cause of our justification. Atonement by the vicarious death and sacrificial offering of Christ upon the cross for the redemption of the world, is the prominent doctrine of the New Testament, and is the leading object of all the revelations which God has made to man. And the various prophecies and miracles recorded in the Scriptures have either a direct bearing on this subject, or they are so many authentications of the truth and importance of the mystery of our redemption by Christ, who hath borne our sins in his own body, and suffered for us, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

Different opinions have been adopted with respect to the sufferings and death of Christ as a means of our justification and acceptance with God. But the plain, unsophisticated doctrine of the New Testament is, that the Son of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, came into the world; and, by the mysterious union of the Divine and human natures, was very God and very man; the one and only mediator between God and man. And by taking upon him our nature, he became the second Adam and representa

tive head; that, as by the offence of one many were made sinners; so by the obedience of one should many be made righteous.' 'And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.' He was made under the law, that he might redeem them that were under' the curse of the law.' By his perfect obedience he hath magnified the law; and by suffering its penalty, he hath made it honorable in that he was made a curse for us, tasted death for every man; and hath made, by the oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. That it is for his sake alone, and only through him that God can be just, and the justifier of him that believeth.

Redemption is the buying back with a price, or deliverance by a ransom paid; as redeeming a slave from captivity, includes the price paid, as well as the deliverance procured; and it clearly implies one thing being given as a substitute for another. So Christ 'gave himself a ransom for all.' 'He died for us,' that is, in our stead. He hath redeemed us with his own blood, and on him was laid the iniquity of us all.

The ransom price must be estimated according to the value of the redeemed, or the claims for injuries done. When viewed in relation to its immortality and eternal destiny, one human soul is of incalculable worth; but it is the whole world of intelligent beings whose eternal destinies were at stake, and for whom the ransom was to be provided. This of itself gives a most exalted view of the price of man's redemption.

But the most proper light in which the atonement of Christ is to be viewed, is in relation to the injury done, or the offence given; for he died for our offences, was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. The offence is against the righteous government of God, or transgression of his holy law. Justice therefore demands the satisfaction, and the penalty incurred is, suffering and death: hence it behoved Christ to suffer, and rise again from the dead.

Two important errors are however to be guarded against. Some have supposed that for Christ to suffer the penalty of law, argues implacability in God. To this we answer, 1. God, in his punitive acts, must not be considered as a party acting from private revenge; but as a governor or judge who is bound, by his own moral perfections, to maintain the purity and majesty of law for the common good of his moral dominions. 2. He is so far from being actuated by revenge, that it is expressly said, that he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.' And that God so loved the world that he gave his only beg otten Son, that whoso believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life.' Others have treated the subject merely as a business transaction. That as Christ became our security or substitute, and paid the debt which we owed to Divine justice, the law can have no more claim on those for whom he

paid the price of his blood. Whether they have extended the redemption price to a part only, or to all mankind; to some of the sins of all men, or all the sins of some men; their conclusions have been equally erroneous. The error chiefly lies in representing man as a party in the transaction, stipulating the price of his own redemption either personally or by proxy: whereas it is a manifestation of the righteousness of God, in which the sacrifice of Christ is a satisfaction to Divine justice, rendering it consistent with the rectoral government of God, to show mercy without surrendering its moral administration, and pardon the sinner that believeth in Jesus. It is true that such expressions are employed in the Scriptures, as, "Ye are bought with a price.' He hath bought our pardon,' &c. But it is clear that they are used metaphorically, and ought not to be pressed beyond their proper application; and they are so far from lessening our moral obligations, that they are used as motives to enforce our obedience, or as offering grounds for our pardon. But if our obligations to the law were cancelled, there would be no necessity for pardon; much less would it be required that we should 'glorify God in our bodies and our spirits which are his.'

Again, the notion of paying the debt, and cancelling the claims of law, would effectually overthrow the provision for our reformation and salvation. The redemption which is by Christ Jesus provides for the apostate race of Adam a second state of probation, by which the execution of the sentence of violated law is suspended, and the offer of pardon is made to the penitent believer. Man is thereby placed under a dispensation of GRACE; and the Holy Spirit is given, with all its restraining influence, to check the untowardness of our corrupt passions, and, by its gracious operations, to excite and persuade us to virtue and holy living. Also the accompanying privileges of a Divine revelation, with all the means of grace, pointing us to the mercy seat, or propitiatory sacrifice of the Son of God. Above all, such a discharge from the obligation of all law, would render the mediation and intercession of Christ unnecessary and nugatory; whereas the Scriptures declare him to be the only mediator between God and man; that the only means of access to the Father is through him; that he has entered into heaven itself, to appear in the presence of God for us;' and that 'he ever liveth to make intercession for us.' Under this view of our redemption by Jesus Christ, an efficient moral government is held forth, suited to the fallen condition of man, comporting with the purity of moral justice, and is a most perfect manifestation of the love of God the Father, who delivered up his Son for us all; and the benevolence of God our Saviour, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

The atonement is not represented in the Scriptures as being one of the means, among many others, by which God could sustain his