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at the last day."* To this covenant Jesus Christ refers when he said to his disciples, after his resurrection, "Behold I send the promise of my Father upon you :" but tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And being assembled together with them, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.† By the promise of the Father, he meant the gift of the Holy Ghost, to furnish them for their work as his apostles. this promise must be the promise made to him in the covenant of redemption, that upon his obedience unto death, the Holy Spirit should be sent, effectually to apply the redemption hereby obtained, to those who were given to him.

And

The blessed Trinity in the one God may be considered as a most exalted, happy and glorious society, or family, uniting in the plan of divine operations; especially in accomplishing the work of redemption, which really comprehends all things, and is the grand design and end of all. In this each one has his part to perform according to a most wise, mutual regulation and agreement, which may be called a covenant. In performing these several parts of this work, one acts as superior, and another as inferior; or one acts under another; and by his authority, as appointed and sent by him. This is by divines called the economy of the work of redemption; or the economical agreement or covenant between the persons of the adorable Trinity respecting the redemption of man. According to this economy, the Son, the Redeemer, acts under the Father, and by his will and appointment; and in this respect takes an inferior part; and in this sense he is supposed to speak, when he says, "The Father is greater than I."

Though in the passages of scripture which have been mentioned, and others of the same kind, the third person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is not expressly

* John vi. 37, 38, 39.

† Luke xxiv. 49. Acts i. 4.

Economy is derived from a compound Greek work, and signifies the regulations and rules of a household or family, by which each member is to act his proper part.

John xiv. 28.

mentioned as covenanting, or engaging to perform any part of this work; yet he is necessarily understood as concerned and included in this covenant, as he is in the holy scripture every where represented as acting an equal part in the redemption of man; and therefore must be considered as taking that particular part by consent and agreement. This covenant is called by most divines now, THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION, to distinguish it from what is called the covenant of grace, which takes place between God, or the Redeemer, and believers in him, which will be particularly considered hereafter.

'The work of the Redeemer, which has been in some measure described above, consists in his actually performing the part assigned to him, and undertaken by him, in the covenant of redemption; and in his sustaining the character and executing the offices which he inherits as a reward for his humiliation; in which he will continue forever, even when he has delivered up the delegated rule and kingdom which he now has, to the Father, and is, in the sense above explained, subject to the Father.

IMPROVEMENT.

I. WE learn from the view which has been now given from the scriptures, of the work of the Mediator and Redeemer, how important and essential the doctrine of his divinity is: As he must be God as well as man, in order to perform this work. A mere creature would be infinitely unequal to this.

It is necessary that this should be believed; that his infinitely high and glorious person and character, as the true God, should be kept in view, in order to trust in him as the Redeemer of man from the infinite evil which he deserves; from a state of total moral depravity, to the favour of God, to perfect holiness and eternal life, by his suffering and obedience, and by his power, wisdom and goodness.

It is necessary that he should be a person of infinite dignity, excellence and worthiness, in order to make atonement for sin by suffering the penalty of the law, as

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it has been explained above from the scriptures. sufferings of a mere creature could do nothing towards this; and had such an one offered to undertake this, it would have been so far from pleasing the governor of the world, that it must be considered as an affront offered to him, most dishonourable to his character, law, and And the obedience of a mere creature, government. or of all creatures, could not so honour the law, and the divine authority expressed by it, which sinners had re, proached and trampled under foot by their rebellion, as to obtain favour, recovery from a state of sin, and eternal life for them, out of respect to the merit and worthiness of such obedience. This could be done by none but a person of infinite greatness and worth; and one who was under no obligation to obey antecedent to his voluntarily taking upon him the form of a servant. And it requires infinite power, skill and wisdom to recover a rebel from total depravity and enmity against God and his law, to obedience and holiness; and infinite condescension and goodness. All this is ascribed to the Redeemer in the holy scripture, as has been shown. And surely none can believe all this, and rely with confidence on the Redeemer for such redemption, who does not believe him to be truly God, infinitely great, honourable, powerful, wise and good.

They who have such a low and dishonourable idea of the divine character, his law and moral government, as to believe sin to be infinitely less criminal than it really is, that it is not infinitely odious and criminal, and does not deserve infinite natural evil as the just punishment of it That it is not necessary that the threatening of the law should be in any sense executed, in order to the maintenance of public truth and righteousness: That man is not so depraved but that he may recover himself from sin to holiness when proper methods are taken with him, and motives set before him to induce him to repent, and renounce his rebellion, without any supernatural renovation by the Spirit of God; and that in this way he may obtain forgiveness, and recommend himself to the divine favour, so as to obtain eternal life: They who have such wrong notions of God, and his law, of sin and of themselves, do not, and cannot see the

need of a divine person, of one that is really the true God united to the human nature, to be the Redeemer of men: Therefore they cannot believe that Jesus Christ is such an one. Consequently they read the Bible under this prejudice, and find things there which appear to They them contrary to the real divinity of Christ. greedily catch at them, and make the best use of them they can, in their opposition to that doctrine; at the same time, exerting all their abilities to show the unreasonableness and absurdity of such a doctrine, and in the most plausible manner possible to explain away those passages of scripture, which are understood by those who believe in the divinity of the Redeemer of man, plainly to assert this doctrine; and to make them consistent with his being a mere creature. This appears to be the case with the Arians and Socinians, both in former ages, and in this, who join in the denial of the divinity of Christ, though they differ in other things respecting him; the former holding that he is the first and greatest creature that God has made, who after he had existed thousands of years a mere spirit, took a body in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was born of her, &c. The latter suppose he had no existence before he was conceived and brought forth by the virgin, his mother.

But others, who view the divine character, and the law of God, the nature and desert of sin, the depravity, and lost, undone state of man, in the scriptural light in which they have been set in the preceding part of this system, are prepared to see their need of such a Redeemer as the Bible reveals; they consult that, and find God, that he is there declared to be "God with us," who created, and upholds all things, manifest in the flesh; that he has given his life a ransom for sinners; has been made a curse to deliver men from the curse, dying for their sins; that he has obeyed the divine law in its requirements; that he is risen from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of the Father, able effectually to draw men unto him, and to save to the uttermost all them who come to God by him. They believe and are sure, and address him as Nathaniel did, "thou art the And as Son of God, thou art the King of Israel." Thomas, " My Lord, and my God." And say with

the beloved disciple, "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." And they rest satisfied in the natural and plain sense of the words of this same John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

II. From the view we have had, by attending to the Bible, of the atonement for sin made by Christ, we learn, that they have made a great mistake, who think that this consists wholly in the obedience of the Redeemer; and that his sufferings, as such, and as distinguished from his obedience, are no part of the atonement: And therefore that he did not in any sense suffer the penalty of the law, in whole or in part; nor had his sufferings any direct reference to this; and answered no end, except that hereby his love to God and man, was exercised in a higher degree, and his obedience was more tried and conspicuous by obeying unto death, than if he had not been obliged thus to suffer.

This notion of the atonement entirely excludes and denies the real atonement, clearly and abundantly stated and taught in the scriptures; and places it in that in which it does not consist. Therefore as this error wholly subverts the true scripture doctrine of the atonement of Christ, it is great, dangerous, and hurtful, in proportion to the importance and necessity of an atonement, and of believing and confiding in that atonement, which, according to divine revelation, is the only foundation of the hope of a christian.

If the threatening and penalty of the law may be disregarded, and set aside, so as to pass wholly unexecuted, in order to pardon and favour the transgressor, without any vicarious sufferings of another in his stead, it will be difficult, and doubtless impossible, to show or see why a vicarious obedience to the precepts of the law is necessary in order to the sinner's salvation. And why the obedience only of the Redeemer should be a sufficient ground, or any reason at all, why man should be deliv

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