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redemption which the words of the second clause more particularly set forth; for, as I have already observed, the resurrection of Christ is, in this clause, connected with our justification, in the same manner as, in the first clause, his death is connected with our sins. St. Paul here tells us that he, who was delivered for our offences, was raised again for our justification; and if the second clause be interpreted according to the relation which it bears to the first, it will be evident that, as in the one clause, the sins of men are described as the cause of Christ's death, so, in the other clause, the justification of man is spoken of as the cause of Christ's resurrection. This interpretation would seem to derive support, moreover, from the exact force of the original terms; for it is manifest that they represent our Lord's resurrection as an event which took place in consequence1 of man's justification, even as his death took place in consequence of man's sins.

Dwell then, I beseech you, brethren, upon the view which St. Paul gives us of the death and resurrection of Christ, and say whether it is not here written, as with a sunbeam, that the death of Christ was literally an atonement for the sins of men? It is certain that Christ, in his original nature, as the uncreated Word, the ever-living image of the Father, was incapable of sin, as being far above all infirmity and imperfection. And it is 1 διὰ τὴν δικαίωσιν ἡμῶν.

equally certain that, in assuming our mortal nature, he contracted nothing of the general pollution. For the miraculous manner of his entrance into human life, excluded the possibility of his being touched with that contagion. He died not, therefore, for any share belonging to himself of the universal corruption. In other words, he died not for his own sins, but only as the proxy of guilty man. And, seeing that he died not for any sin of his own, there was nothing to detain his soul in Hades, when once the atonement for our sins was made, and the justice of an offended God was satisfied. As soon, therefore, as the expiation was complete, justice required that the Redeemer's sufferings should terminate; and his resurrection to life and glory was the immediate consequence.

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This doctrine of the atonement is distinctly implied, brethren, in every part of Scripture; but the substance of all that is written on this solemn and important subject, is comprised in the following words; viz. that he who "knew no sin, was made sin for us; or, as it is still more emphatically expressed in the epistle to the Galatians, that he was made a curse for us," that so he might "redeem us from the curse of the law.": when that mysterious redemption was accomplished; when Christ had thus "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," the payment of the mighty debt was proclaimed to all by the resurrection of

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4 Heb. ix. 26.

our Surety from the grave. It was then proclaimed that he, who had "borne our sins in his own body on the tree,"5 had" made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered,) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world."6 Yes, brethren, the acceptance of the price which had been paid for the redemption of a guilty world, was solemnly and gloriously declared by the release of our Surety from the prison of the grave. And in speaking, therefore, of Christ's resurrection, St. Paul affirms, that he was raised again FOR, or, BY REASON OF, our justification, because that event openly proclaimed the justification of the persons of all, in every age, who have been, or shall be, made partakers of the blessings of redemption, by believing the testimony, and embracing the promises, of God, as revealed to us in the gospel.

Ponder then, one and all, the solemn truths which are now before you, and view Jesus Christ as delivered for your offences, and as raised again for your justification.

View him first, as delivered for your offences, and pray that, with your hearts awakened to a full sense of the evil and desert of sin, you may look habitually to that Lamb of God, "without blemish, and without spot," which "taketh away the sin of the world."8 Yes, brethren, look to the

6 Communion office.

5 1 Pet. ii. 24.
7 1 Pet. i. 19.

8 John i. 29.

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cross of Christ, and may the conviction of the rate at which you have been redeemed from sin, enable you to say, as others have said before you, in answer to all the enticements of the world, Except you can offer my soul something beyond that price that was given for it on the cross, I cannot hearken to you. Far be it from me that ever I should prefer a base lust, or anything in this world, or the whole world itself, to him who gave himself to death for me, and who paid my ransom with his own blood! His matchless love hath freed me from the miserable captivity of sin, and hath for ever fastened me to the sweet yoke of his obedience. O let him come and dwell within me; and never let him go forth from my heart, who, for my sake, refused to come down from the

cross.'9

View him, secondly, as raised again for your justification. Contemplate the Lord Jesus Christ thus rising from the grave, and bringing back with him the pardon which he had sealed with his own blood. Contemplate him now, when, instead of executing wrath upon his relentless enemies, he sends again the offer of peace and reconciliation to all, and takes upon himself to be their mediator and intercessor, as he had already been their sacrifice; and say, how can you any longer doubt the efficacy of his most precious death? Or how can you ever mistrust the salvation which he offers to

9 Leighton on St. Peter, vol. i.

others, when, by saving himself from the power of death, he has given the fullest evidence of his ability to save others also? The most incredulous of his enemies desired him only "to come down from the cross, and they would believe him: " but how much better reason had they to "believe him," when he came, not from the cross, but from the prison of the grave! How unanswerable was the testimony of God's love to mankind, when his only begotten and well beloved Son thus came forth from the grave, to proclaim and to confirm to all ages the pardon which he had purchased for a guilty world!2*

SECTION XIV.

CHAP. V. ver. 1-5.

THEY WHO ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH HAVE PEACE WITH

GOD, AND REJOICE IN A HOPE WHICH MAKETH NOT

ASHAMED.

Our apostle, having established the grand vital doctrine of justification, by faith, upon this immovable foundation, viz. that Jesus Christ "was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification," expatiates, in the present chapter,

1 Matt. xxvii. 42.

2 See Sherlock's Sermons, vol. i. *See Note 15.

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