A thorough consideration of this point is highly important; because thousands, by not attending to it, are perpetually confounding the present, with the original state of things; whereas, the two dispensations are essentially different from each other, in several important particulars, which, not being properly considered, has occasioned blunders the most egregious, to be committed; and absurdities the most revolting, to be entertained.* Man is viewed as being, somehow or other, under the

race into a new state of probation, one exceedingly different in several respects from that in which he himself first was.' Commentary on Romans, p. 595.

This is a mistake which is common to most of our writers on theology. They attribute to the fall of Adam what belongs to the atonement of Christ. The simple fact is, that the fall of Adam forfeited his own probation, and that of all mankind besides; and that it was Christ, not Adam, who brought him and all his posterity into that new one, so "Exceedingly different in several respects from that in which he himself first was.'

Every state of probation must have its trials, or it could not be a state of probation. The fact that our first parents were subjected to the temptations of the devil, and of the flesh, is a proof that, even in paradise, man had his trials. It is evident, however, that the terms, or conditions of man's probation are greatly different under the present dispensation, from what they were under the first. A few instances may be noticed, 1. Uninterrupted obedience was an essential condition of the law of Paradise, but is not of the present.

2. Under the first dispensation, the tree of life, or the lifegiving tree, was provided as an antidote against man's native tendency to dissolution; the eating of which, was intended to render his body immortal. Under the second dispensation, that antidote that tree of life-has been removed.

3. The first was a rigorous law dispensation, from which no mercy or forgiveness could be expected. The present is a gracious one, under which, iniquity, transgression, and sin, may be forgiven.

original constitution—as having lost, in Adam, all power to obey its laws. But, notwithstanding this, God has not lost his right to demand obedience, nor his right to punish him for his disobedience! The plain English of which is, that men have lost a power which they never possessed that God has a right to demand obedience to a law which the offspring of Adam were never under— and a right to punish them everlastingly for failing to accomplish impossibilities!!

Now, if the proposition, which we here undertake to defend, be true, then must all such confused, irrational, and degrading representations be false, and utterly unworthy of the subject with which, unhappily, they have been too long connected; and which they have too long darkened and disgraced.

The reader must bear in mind, that when Adam had sinned, his probation, under the first covenant, was over. Under that covenant, he could not possibly remain as a probationer, because the only test of his obedience was broken; and, without redemption, he could exist after that in a state of retribution only. A second trial under such a law as that of Paradise, could not be; for a law, requiring uninterrupted obedience, when once broken, could never be rendered unbroken, by any act, or by any power. An obedience, which had once been interrupted, could never, by any act, or any power, become uuinterrupted. It is on this account that the law, being

once transgressed, could never after become a means of salvation to man. And, if so, the irresistible conclusion is, that Adam, being spared and admitted to a second trial, must have had such trial under a new dispensation.

SECTION VIII.

Under the new dispensation, all the posterity of Adam owe their existence to REDEMPTION, as truly as Adam owed his existence to CREATION.

THE bible assures us that Christ, "by the grace of God, tasted death for every man." In what sense this is to be understood, divines are far from being agreed. Some contend, that, by every man, we are to understand some men a part only, of the human family-the elect; whilst others contend for the literal and unlimited sense. This disagreement, we think, may have arisen in a great measure, for want of attention to the fact which is imbodied in the above proposition; for if the ground, which is here taken, be solid, then the doctrine of a limited atonement, and the whole train of absurdities founded upon it, will vanish into empty air; and we shall, at last, find ourselves under the guidance of reason and common sense, when we speak and write on religious topics.

It will be readily granted that, when our first parents

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sinned in paradise, they formed the whole of the human family—the every man who needed redemption. say that their children then needed an atonement for their sins, would be to say what is neither intelligible, nor true. Their children, (if such language may be allowed) being unborn, had done nothing, suffered nothing, lost nothing, and, therefore, needed nothing. And yet they are all interested—infinitely interested in the atonement made for the sin of Adam. Not because they were, in any sense sinful, and needed it; but because the atonement which Adam and Eve really needed, made way for their existence, and all the bles`sings to which that existence entitles them.

It is demonstrable that Adam would not have existed but for creation; and, equally demonstrable, that his children would not have existed but for redemption. Yet, the fact, that all Adam's posterity owe their existence to redemption, does not prove that they were previously polluted, and had need of an atonement, no more than the fact that Adam owed his existence to creation, proves him to have been previously polluted, and in need of creation! In both cases, existence is a blessing gratuitously bestowed on those who could have no wants, no rights, no claims.

Thus, the reader will perceive in how very important a sense, Christ tasted death for every man. 1. He suffered, virtually, the death which was due to Adam,

OWE THEIR EXISTENCE TO REDEMPTION.

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and thereby, placed him in circumstances, under which he might be forgiven, and once more admitted to the favour of his offended maker. 2. The mercy extended to Adam, through the redeeming act of the son of God, allowed him to propagate his kind, and so all his posterity, through that same act, receive their existence, under a new and better covenant.

The subject is generally treated, however, in such a way, as to produce an impression, that we are all brought into a state of miserable existence through Adam's sin; and execrations, long and loud, are vociferated from the four winds of heaven, against the first transgressor, for having brought us into such a state! Murmurings, dissatisfaction, and infidelity are the natural consequences of such mistaken representations. Our existence, as we have already seen, whether a miserable, or happy one, is not an affect of the fall, but of redemption. It was not a sinful act, therefore of the first offender, which placed us here and determined the nature of our probationary existence. Our being and every thing connected with the state of trial, through which we have to pass, are of divine appointment-have been contrived and arranged by the God of infinite wisdom, and redeeming love; a consideration sufficient to silence all our murmurings, to reconcile us to our present condition, and to inspire the most unlimited confidence in him, for whatever we may need at his gracious hands. So reasoned the apostle, "He who spared not his own son, but delivered him up