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Father giving to us his Son, we can difcern but little propriety, or truth, in what they fay.

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They, indeed, tell us, That God, in giving his only Son to be a facrifice for our fins, engages himfelf to us, by a pledge of ineftimable value; and promifes, not only to forgive our tranfgreffions, but alfo to give us eternal life. And by the manifeftation of this great love to us, when we were his enemies, he effectually draws and reconciles us to himself. And, as he will not forgive our fins but by means of his Son, who gives himself for them; he thereby engages and fubjects us to his Son: and at the fame time declares how much he abhors thofe fins, which must be expiated by his Son's blood; and what an averfion we alfo ought to have for them.'-Such reafoning is only calculated to conceal the weakness of the caufe it is intended to defend. For, not being able to prove the greatnefs of God's love to mankind, in that way which the apoftles take to exalt it; that is, "by the gift of HIS OWN SON;" our adverfaries prudently collect fuch confiderations as are, exclufive of its grand evidence, beft fitted to difcover the Father's affection for us. Thefe confiderations are, the remission of fins and eternal life; our being enemies to God, when he formed the defign of faving us; and those inducements to holiness, which are drawn from the method in which our fins are forgiven. But thefe confiderations, however great and noble in their proper places, leave the difficulty before us in its full force. For our inquiry is, Whether God prefents us with a great, a wonderful, an incomparable gift, when he gives the life of a mere man for our falvation? This is the question before us; nor will the followers of Socinus ever be able to fatisfy either themselves, or others, upon it.

God, fay they, in giving his Son, engages himself, by a pledge of inestimable value, to give us eternal life.But can it be faid of a mere man, how holy feever he be, that he is a pledge of ineftimable value?

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Or, can the gift of his temporal life, which he parts with only for three days, be confidered as a perfect fecurity, that believers fhall enjoy eternal happiness?— Nay, fuppofing Jefus to be, by nature, the moft exalted of all mere creatures; would it be logical, would it be rational, thus to argue? If God, in his great love, delivered up one mere creature to death, we may fafely conclude he will deliver millions from it. If he delivered up one to temporal fufferings, he will certainly deliver vaft multitudes from eternal torments. If he gave a perfon infinitely inferior to Himfelf, to endure the pains. of crucifixion for us: he will undoubtedly grant us the enjoyment of Himself, to make us completely and everlaftingly happy. How different the apoftle's manner of arguing, in a paffage before cited! "He that fpared "not HIS OWN SON, but delivered him up for us all; "how fhall he not with him alfo freely give us all things?" Whoever duly confiders how Paul fpeaks of God's own Son, of us all, and of all things; cannot but obferve he supposes it quite evident, that there is na proportion between Jefus Chrift and all the redeemed, though taken collectively; nor between the gift of Him, and the grant of all other bleffings. But fuch a way of fpeaking is abfolutely unaccountable, is highly abfurd, on the hypothefes oppofed. God engages • himself, by a pledge of ineftimable value, to give us 'eternal life.' What, was it the capital defign of the death of Chrift, that it should be a pledge of our future felicity! As if God had caufed Mofes to die, many years before he did, that his diffolution might be a pledge to the Ifraelites, of their departure out of Egypt and fettlement in the land of Canaan !- By his great love to us, when we were his enemies.' But where is this great love? Is the life of a mere man fo precious? efpecially of one who, by dying, exchanges a state of fufferings and forrows, for a state of honour and joy, which he obtains for himself and all his difciples.

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And as he will not forgive us our fins, but by means

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of his Son, who gives himself for them; he thereby engages and fubjects us to his Son.' This very nearly discovers, what our opponents are ashamed to own, and yet would be obliged to confefs, were they to reafon confequentially from their own principles. The confequence I mean, is, That the death of Chrift is more beneficial to himself, than it is to us; and, that God has done more for him, on that account, than he does for us. We ought, therefore, no longer to fay; "God fo "loved the world, that he gave his Son;" but, God fo loved his Son, that he gave him the world.' For they will by no means allow, that the death of Christ redeems us to God. They peremptorily affirm, and infift upon it, that God is not reconciled to finners by Jefus Chrift. Hear their words: It is not true, that 'God, being provoked against mankind, was reconciled by Jefus Chrift; for quite the contrary may be afferted. That is, God being appeafed towards mankind, reconciles to himself, by Jefus Chrift, men who were provoked against him. If, then, Jefus does not reconcile us to God, does not make our peace with him; we might, for aught that appears to the contrary, have done tolerably well without him. For as to our natural averfion to God, he could eafily have removed it, by the operation of his grace on our hearts, without the mediation of Chrift. But as for Jefus, being a mere man, he could not have expected, nor would have enjoyed, a fupernatural glory and power, if he had not figualized his obedience by his death. The fruit, therefore, which we reap from his fufferings, is very fmall; but the benefits which he receives from them, are very great; because it is in virtue of his obedience to death, that he becomes the head of men and angels. -'He, at the fame time declares, how much he abhors

thofe fins which must be expiated by his Son's blood; • and what an averfion we also ought to have for them.' But if Chrift be a mere man, or a mere creature, his death can have but little force to convince us, how much

fin is the object of God's abhorrence. The inference, in this cafe, will rather be; There is no reason that we fhould make any great fcruple of committing fia; feeing it may, with fo much eafe and at fo fmall an expence, be expiated for the blood of one man is fufficient to atone for the fins of millions.

CHAPTER II.

The doctrine of our adverfaries destroys the idea which the Scriptures give us, of the Greatness of Gospel mysteries, and the Nature of true Faith.

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As the principles which we oppofe, exceedingly depreciate the love of God and the compaffion of Jefus to finful men; fo they are equally unfavourable and irreconcileable to what the Scripture fays, about the greatness of gofpel-myfteries, and the nature of true faith. For, if Jefus Chrift be a mere man, who can understand the apoftle when he fays; "Without controversy, GREAT IS THE MYSTERY of godlinefs: GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE FLESH, juftified in the Spirit, feen of "angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in "the world, received up into glory?"

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The mystery of the incarnation, as we profefs to believe it, is great and fublime. Such it is, whether we confider the ineffable union of the human nature with the Divine; or the marvellous condefcenfion and love which are manifefted by it; or the important confequences of such an union. But we do not, we

cannot fee, how the birth of a mere man, who is born in flesh, because he could not be born otherwife, can be reckoned a great mystery.-To fpeak accurately and to reafon justly, on the hypothefis of our oppofers, we

fhould rather look for myfteries in the terms of Scripture, than in the objects of religion. So that we fhould not fay, "Great is the mystery of godlinefs;" but, Great is the mystery of the language which is ufed by the apoftles. For the chief difficulties found in our divinity, lie in the objects of it; whereas thofe which principally affect their scheme, lie in the terms of Scripture. But, as the Holy Scriptures were intended by a gracious God, to be the rule of faith and practice to the moit illiterate; its language ought not to be the chief fource of difficulties. Yet, as the objects of the gospel are fublime and incomprehenfible, it is no wonder if they occafion the principal part of that obfcurity which we find in the Sacred Volume.

Let us now confider this paffage a little more attentively. By the mystery of godliness, we muft here under. fand, the doctrine of the gofpel. This is evident from the following enumeration of particulars, which conftitute the great fubject of the gofpel-miniftry. "God "was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, feen "of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in "the world, received up into glory."-Now I demand of those who believe that Jefus Chrift is a mere man by nature, what is the meaning of thefe words; "God was manifeft in the flesh ?" If it be this, 'The man Jefus converfed among men ;' the mystery, certainly, is not great. It is, indeed, furprising, that Enoch and Elijah were translated into heaven, and that Chrift was received up into glory; because heaven is not, naturally, a place for bodies: but that a mere man was feen upon carth, and converfed among other men, was never wondered at by any.-Befides, who does not perceive that these words, "God was manifeft in the flesh;" imply a distinction, point out an oppofition, between God, whom we cannot fee; and a body, which we can fee-between God, who is Spiritual; and fiefh, which is fenfible? But what will become of this oppofition,

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