no man that sinneth not and it is impossible to form a correct idea of the true God, without a persuasion of his justice and his holiness. With a full conviction of the depravity of our own hearts, and of the purity of the divine mind, how shall we appear before him? It is not imbecility of mind or a superstitious fear which dictates this inquiry: but rather it is blindness or folly which prevents its becoming universal. It is a question of great interest to every one who feels his obligation to reverence the supreme Being-" Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God" Nature's light throws not even a solitary ray upon the path of fallen man in this awful inquiry. Its answer is found only in the gospel of Christ.

Every system of religion, indeed, proposes for its object the establishment or maintenance of friendship or fellowship with the deity; but the Christian doctrine alone exhibits such friendship and fellowship founded upon an atonement, which maintains unsullied, the beauty of the Lord, in the perfect hatred and condemnation of sin. It alone secures the salvation of the sinner, consistently with the glory of Jehovah.

We have defined in the preceding numbert, atonement to be,

That which effectually removes the offence of sin, and procures for the sinner reconciliation with God.

We will now proceed to show that our Lord Jesus Christ hath made such atonement for our sins. We assert this not as an opinion, but as a fact; and we appeal to the infallible oracles of God as containing ample testimony. If, from a review of + Page 37.

* Mic. 6. 6.

this testimony, it shall appear that the Redeemer hath indeed made ample satisfaction for the offence, and in consequence of that satisfaction we have reconciliation with God, the proof will be complete. With atonement, in any other sense of the word, we desire to have nothing to do, An atonement offered where no offence existed, is an absurdity not to be charged upon the Bible. An atonement which does not satisfy in the most ample manner for the offence, is not worthy of an inquiry; and one, which, making satisfaction, does not procure reconciliation, although it may afford scope for the ingenious sophistry of a smatterer in theology, can never be recommended in the Christian's Magazine, as the foundation of the sinner's hope.

Christ Jesus has made atonement.

It is assumed in this Essay, that mankind have sinned. But this is no unscriptural assumption. Rom. 5. 17. Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. It is also assumed that sin is an offence against the great and holy God. So say the Scriptures *. Conscience, also, that tribunal which man places over his own actions and motives-that faculty with which the Creator has endowed the subjects of his moral government, proclaims the offensive nature of sin. When awakened from its slumbers, it raises its voice in condemnation of our crimes; and if our own hearts coNDEMN us, God is greater than our hearts. God's law, emanating from his perfections as the indispensable prerogative of his government, prescribes our duty and condemns its violations. "Thou art of

purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity-these things doth the Lord hate; yea, they are an abomination to him."

Hos. 4. 15. Jam, 3. 2. Rom. 4. 25. and 5. 15, 16, 17, 18, 20.

In such a state of things, Jehovah, in mercy to his offending creatures, devised a plan for our restoration to his friendship and favour in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom. 4. 25. who was delivered for our offences. That he made adequate atonement, is a truth worthy of all acceptation. The difficulty lies not in discovering, but in selecting and arranging, testimony in its support. He bore our sinshe suffered punishment in our stead-he offered sacrifice in our behalf-the satisfaction which he made for our offences is declared to be complete -reconciliation is now procured upon the footing of that satisfaction. Is there any thing else necessary in order to support the doctrine of the atonement? This is proof, clear, copious, and conclusive.

1. Christ Jesus bare our sins, 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our sins in, his own body on the tree. He bare our sins on the cross. How did he bear them? They are not substances capable of being collected, and constituting a mass of matter that shall gravitate in a scale, or shall be bound with tangible cords to his body. They are qualities of the state, disposition, and actions, of an intelligent creature. They are 'Au*, a want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God. How did he bear them? This quality did not belong to his disposition or his actions. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners †. How then did he bear them? This question must be answered. The assertion is not without meaning. He did not bear them as a mass of matter bound upon his body. He did not bear them as immoral qualities tinging his soul with pollution. They became his by a legal transfer. He bare them by imputation. He became a public representative, and thus our guilt-our liability to punishment, was

* 1 John 3. 4.

† Hcb. 7. 26.

laid upon him. No other answer can possibly bear examination in the light of truth. Every other reply is an evasion of the question. It is a trifling, a soul-destroying evasion. Christ could not have otherwise borne our sins. God hath made him to

be sin for us who knew no sin*. God hath made his holy Son to be sin for us, gv, in our stead. How is the Holy One made to be sin? By having sinful propensities actually infused into his soul? Impossible! By being made to violate the rule of righteousness Equally impossible! He knew no sin, either in his inclination or behaviour. He made him to be sin by bearing our sins. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all t. He charged to his account all our offences. This criminal debt the Redeemer undertook to pay. By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better Testament †, in order to make atonement for our offences, and to procure for us reconciliation with God.

Behold him elevated upon the cross, ye holy disciples! behold him, ye mourning sinners! He bears our sins on his own body on the tree-Calvary groans the earth trembles--the rocks are rentthe sun is darkened-heaven frowns-the tempest bursts upon our Surety, and

2. He suffers punishment in our stead. 1 Pet. 3. 18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

Punishment is the penalty annexed to disobedi ence; and the pain inflicted upon the offender is in proportion to the offence committed. This pain is the remedy provided in the constitution of the moral world, for the evil of deviating from the laws of rectitude. The hand of discipline inflicts pain for the benefit of the subject, and the public good may

* 2 Cor. 5.21.

† Isa. 53. 6.

Heb. 7. 22.

call for voluntary suffering, or the exhibition of sufferings under authority. Pains, however, endured for the good of others, or the personal advantage of the sufferer, are not always penal. It is essential to punishment that suffering has been merited: and punishment is due to the criminal, entirely on account of the crime, independently of all considerations of personal improvement, or the utility of the example to others. This principle is as necessary to the order of the moral world, as attraction is to the material system.

Our sins deserved punishment; for the wages of sin is death*. Christ bare our sins and suffered their punishment. He suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust. These sufferings made atonement. They were penal, because they were on account of sins. The punishment was endured by the Redeemer, as a substitute-the just for the unjust -and the end is the re-establishment of the offending sinner in the friendship of God-in order to bring us to God

A view of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, as making an adequate atonement for the offence of sin is essential to the sinner's hope. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows-he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. It pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief t." And wherefore did it please the Lord? Because Jesus Christ merited the cursed death of the cross, on account of sins by himself committed? No. Far from it. The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Did Jesus suffer merely as a witness for the truth of his doc