2. As the object of this divine gift was the salvation of such only as believe; or in other words, as the design of God in giving his Son was to save men only through faith, salvation is proved to be conditional; from which it appears that universal salvation does not necessarily follow from a universal atonement, as universalists assert. The expression, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," clearly supposes that to perish is the opposite of everlasting life, so that they cannot both take effect in the same subject. It also supposes that the sinner may believe or that he may not; or that some sinners may believe and have everlasting life, and that others may not believe and perish. It is clear, then, that God did not intend that the atonement should deliver men from all moral obligation, or save them from the penalty of the law, so far as adult sinners are concerned, only on condition of faith in Jesus Christ, by whom the atonement was made; therefore, to urge such consequences as necessarily following from the doctrine of atonement is no less than an attempt to wrest the atonement from the simple object for which God intended it, and apply it to other purposes never contemplated by its divine author, and foreign to the divine plan of human redemption; and we think that an objection founded in such arrogance and profanity, as this is proved to be, may be dismised without further consideration.

III. It has been objected to the doctrine of atonement, that it excludes the benevolence of God from the plan of salvation; for, say objectors, if God required a full atonement, and if such atonement was made by Jesus Christ, then, justice must be satisfied and there can be no room for the exercise of benevolence on the part of the Father. To this we reply,

1. That God did not require an atonement through any want of love to his fallen creatures, but because it was inconsistent with his perfections, and the principles of his moral government, to save offenders without an atonement.

2. It being inconsistent with the perfections of God to save sinners without an atonement, as we have shown in our remarks on the necessity of an atonement, God's benevolence or love to his fallen creatures led him to devise the plan of

salvation through the gift of his Son, our atoning sacrifice "for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We see then that the doctrine of atonement is so far from excluding the divine benevolence from the plan of human salvation, that the atonement itself is the brightest display of divine love that ever dazzled the the vision of angels or men.

We will now bring our remarks on the subject of atonement to a close. The vast importance of the subject, the deep personal interest growing out of the advantages already experienced, through faith in the atonement, by every experimental christian, in connection with our hopes for the future world, based alone on the merits of Christ's death, have led us on until we have extended our remarks beyond what we anticipated; and we hope the reader will find his patience supported from the same source, while he gives this chapter a thorough and candid perusal.

As christians we can never give up the atonement. What! renounce the atonement, which has already washed away the guilt of sin and given us peace with God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ-renounce the efficacy of the blood of the cross, the cleansing power of which we have already felt in our souls by blessed experience-renounce the atonement, trusting in which holy Martyrs shouted in the flames-renounce the atonement, which has dispelled the horrors of death and shed the light of eternity on the night of the graverenounce the atonement, while redeemed spirits which have already gained the blest shore, ascribe their salvation to the blood of the Lamb as they surround the throne with songs of deliverance, saying, "Unto him that loved us and hath washed us from our sins in his own blood, be glory and dominion forever and ever: thou art worthy for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood"-No, heaven forbid it! Holy Ghost inspire us, and the atonement shall be our rallying point forever.

CHAPTER IV.

Salvation from Punishment.

AFTER having established, as we believe, the doctrine of atonement, and shown that Christ's sufferings and death were a sacrifice for the sins of men, by which alone they can be saved; we propose in this chapter to enquire more particularly into the nature of salvation itself, by showing that gospel salvation implies a deliverance from the punishment we de

serve.

On reverting to the remarks with which we prefaced the preceding chapter, it can hardly be necessary to observe that universalists generally deny that the gospel proposes salvation from the punishment of sin after it is committed. Indeed, such a position appears to be essential to their theory, for as it is so easily proved that some men will be punished according to the demerit of their crimes, they have no way to evade the force of the argument drawn from thence, in favour of endless punishment, only to admit the premises and maintain that punishment, to the extent of the divine penalty,. is consistent with the final holiness and happiness of all men. This has a very important bearing on the subject; for if, as universalists assert, every sinner is punished to the extent of his desert, it must follow that sin does not deserve endless punishment, or else that all must be endlessly punished, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Now, as no one will contend that all men must be lost without the possibility of being saved, it must follow that the Gospel provides for the remission of just punishment, or else, that sin does not deserve endless punishment. If we can show that gospel salvation implies deliverance from the punishment due to sin, it will follow that such as are punished to the extent of the divine penalty, cannot enjoy gospel salvation and consequently must be forever lost. On the other hand, if our opponents can prove that the gospel offers no release from the punishment due to sin, which is actually committed, but on the contrary, that every sinner must suffer all he deserves, we shall be constrained to admit that the

divine law does not inflict endless punishment, or give up our own hope and retire, with the rest of our sinning race, to the shades of despair on which one ray of hope can never dawn. Having thus fairly stated the question at issue we will proceed to prove our own views, in the use of such arguments as to us appear best suited to the object.

I. What has been said, in the preceding chapter in support of the doctrine of atonement, goes equally to prove that the gospel provides for the remission of the righteous penalty of God's holy law. The doctrine of atonement and salvation from the punishment of sin, must stand or fall together. Deny the doctrine of forgiveness and the necessity of atonement vanishes at once; and the declaration that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life," that "he laid on him the iniquities of us all," that "by his stripes we are healed," that "Christ suffered for us the just for the unjust," that "he was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification," that he "is the propitiation for our sins," that he "has entered into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us," that "he ever liveth to make intercession for us," that he "is the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him"-we say, deny the doctrine of forgiveness and these declarations can have no meaning; the cross is made of none effect; the sufferings and death of Christ answer no important end in the economy of salvation, and his blood becomes as the blood of another man! All, then, that has been said in the preceding chapter, in proof of the doctrine of atonement comes with equal strength to the support of the doctrine of forgiveness. But as some may yet question the doctrine of atonement, as there stated and defended, we will attempt to prove that the gospel proposes salvation from punishment, by arguments independent of those by which we trust we have fully established the doctrine of

atonement.

II. Those scriptures which speak of pardon, forgiveness, remission, &c. clearly prove the point in question. Neh. ix. 17. "Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness." That pardon, in this text implies deliverance from punishment is clear from

the other expressions with which it is connected. It is not only declared that God is ready to pardon, but that he is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. To be gracious, is to be favorable to those who have no claim on our beneficence; and to be merciful is to be lenient to those who are guilty; hence, these terms connected, as they are, with pardon, clearly show that remission of penalty is intended. But what farther confirms this sense of the text is, that God's being ready to pardon stands connected with his being slow to anger. By the anger of God, we understand his displeasure towards sinners. Judg. ii. 12. "And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, and followed other gods, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger." 2 Kings xxii. 16, 17. "Thus saith the Lord, behold I will bring evil upon this place, because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with the works of their hands." This anger or displeasure at sin shows itself in punishment. Ps. xc. 7. "We are consumed by thine anger." Jer. xxv. 37. "The peaceable habitations are cut down, because of the fierce anger of the Lord." Lam. ii. 22. "In the day of the Lord's anger none escaped, none remained." If, then, God's anger is his displeasure at sin, and if this anger shows itself in the punishment of the sinner, how clear is it that when God is said to be slow to anger, in connection with his be ing ready to pardon, remission of punishment is intended by a pardon.

Ps. xxv. 11. "For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity for it is great." Here the Psalmist prays God to pardon his iniquity and assigns as a reason for his prayer that his iniquity is great. We ask, in the name of reason, what particular good is here sought if it be not salvation from guilt and punishment? It is not preservation from the commission of sin in future, for the suppliant asks pardon for his great iniquity, which must have been already committed. Now we can form no idea of a blessing under the name of a pardon for past sin which does not imply salvation from the punishment which sin deserves. Isa. Iv. 7. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him,