the case with the temptations to sin to which they are exposed from others: the tendency of these temptations is to bring about their destruction, to cause them to perish. Because such a consummation shall not be permitted to take place, it is not less true that it is the tendency of the conduct in question to lead to it. And, in speaking of a line of evil conduct, and setting forth its enormity with a view to deter from pursuing it, what more natural or fitting than to describe it by its evil and pernicious tendency! It is thus that he who believeth not God is said to make God a liar. The tendency of the conduct is to such an end ; but the end itself can never be in reality. So in the case before us ; the tendency of the conduct described is to cause the brother to perish for whom Christ died, although such is the grace of God that this consummation shall never be permitted to take place.

“Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace."* The apostle is showing the aggravated criminality of apostasy from the Gospel. One aggravating circumstance is, that the apostate treats with contempt the blood of the covenant; which blood is said to be, as magnifying still more the crime, that " wherewith he was sanctified.” The question here is, who is it that is referred to by the pronoun “ he ?" Who is it that was sancti. fied? Is it the apostate himself? or is it the Son of God? The former is, of course, understood by those who adduce the passage as an objection to the doctrine of a definite atonement. But this we are disposed to question; the immediate antecedent is the Son of God; thus understood, the passage is rendered more strongly expressive of the writer's object; and this is the view which is taken of it by some of our best writers. That the blood, which apostates from the Gospel profane, is that by which the Son of God was himself consecrated or set apart to his mediatorial offices, is surely a con

sideration fitted to deepen their crime. But admitting that the apostate himself is meant, the passage presents no opposition to our doctrine. In the first place, the word “sanctified,” often means nothing more than consecration to the service of God, which may apply to hypocrites as well as true saints in respect of their profession of the Gospel ; making that profession, they avowedly set themselves apart to the service of the Most High. And in the second place, supposing the word sanctified to be used in its more frequent acceptation to mean inward purification of the soul, may we not understand the apostle here to reason regarding the guilt of apostasy, on supposition of the truth of what the apostate professes? The hypocrite professes to be sanctified by the blood of the covenant, claims the character of one who has felt the cleansing virtue of the blood of the Son of God, and, supposing it for a moment to be true, how does it aggravate his guilt, that he by his apostasy counts this very blood, wherewith he professses to be sanctified, a common thing? Nothing can be more natural than such a train of reasoning; and, in this light, the passage presents no opposition to the view of Christ's death for which we contend.

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."* Some are of opinion that “the Lord” here does not refer to Christ; and certainly the original' term (88onómv) is not that by which the Saviour is commonly designated. Others, again, think that the buying here does not refer to the meritorious purchase which Christ made of the church with his blood, but to the redemption from Egypt or some other thing of inferior importance. But we are willing to admit that Christ is the Lord” spoken of, and that the purchase of redemption by his blood is what is meant by the word “ bought:" and yet we see nothing in the text that opposes our doctrine. It is not

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necessary to suppose that the false teachers who were to bring on themselves swift destruction were actually bought with the blood of Christ. It is enough for the apostle's purpose that they were professedly so. He argues against them on their own principles, and shows thus that their conduct was heinous and dangerous in the extreme. And in doing so, he only follows the example of the Saviour himself, who confuted the Pharisees who professed to be righteous and were not, on their own acknowledged principles :

that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance.”* Are we to conclude, from this, that there were any such just persons who needed no repentance ? Surely not; but there were persons who made pretensions to this character; and against these was the reproof contained in the passage directed. Neither are we, from the expression under consideration, to conclude that the persons spoken of were actually “bought" with the price of Christ's blood; but there were persons who pretended to be so, and yet acted inconsistently with the supposition ; and such pretension certainly tended to enhance the enormity of their guilt.

Thus have we brought to a conclusion the argument respecting the extent of Christ's atonement. We have endeavored clearly to exhibit the state of the question ; have stated, it is hoped, with fairness, the difficulties with which the subject is beset; and have brought forward what has seemed to us sufficient to refute what we conceive to be error, and to support what we conceive to be the truth on this important point. It is to be feared that, in the case of many, the opposition shown to a definite atonement, springs from the objections to the doctrine of divine sovereignty, and we have reason to be on our guard against this fruitful source of error. Let us beware, too, of being carried away with the mere sound of scripture language, to the overthrow of the analogy of faith. Let saints rejoice that not one of those for whom Christ died shall come short of eternal life, for whom God did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, them he shall certainly glorify. But let it not be thought, from anything we have said, that we have a wish to limit unduly the saving virtue of the Redeemer's blood. We repeat, that, in intrinsic worth, we regard it as infinite; nor would we be understood to mean that its actual efficacy is not greatly extensive. We deny that it is universal, but we rejoice to think, notwithstanding, that it extends to a multitude which no man can number—that “number without number" of redeemed men, who, gathered from every nation, and people, and kindred, and tongue, shall, with harmonious voices and grateful hearts, sing praises to the Lamb that sitteth on the throne forever and ever.

SECTION XII.

RESULTS OF CHRIST'S ATONEMENT.

The results of the great doctrine we have thus endeavored to explain, establish, and defend, are so numerous and diversified that an attempt fully to discuss, or even to enumerate them all cannot be presumed. But the present work might be deemed to be essentially defective were these altogether passed over without notice. We beg the reader's attention to the following

1. The atonement serves to illustrate, in the most interesting manner, the CHARACTER OF God.

Even the natural perfections of Deity are thus illustriously manifested. What wisdom is shown in devising a way by which the grand object of redeeming mercy might be gained, in consistency with legislative rectitude, and the seemingly inharmonious conjunction of characters might be effected—“ a just God and a Saviour.” No mortal mind, no angelic intellect could

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ever have conceived this plan, could ever have solved this problem. Well may it be characterized as a display of “ the manifold wisdom of God;" nor can we express ourselves regarding it in more appropriate terms than by saying, “ He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom."

In it we see the power, not less than the wisdom, of God. Powerful love, love stronger than death, must it have been, which moved the appointment of such a plan of salvation. Such a load of guilt as pressed on him who " bare our iniquities," such a weight of wrath as was endured by him whom "it pleased the Father to bruise," could have been borne by no power less than almighty. The curse which he sustained was sufficient to sink the whole guilty world of sinful men to the depths of perdition. What even when inflicted on angels who “excel in strength," requires to be broken up into portions and dealt out through the successive ages of eternity, was poured forth on the head of Emmanuel at once and in one unbroken torrent of accumulated vengeance. Nor do the effects resulting from the atonement of Christ, in his taking the prey from the mighty, calling into being a new creation, and performing all those acts of almighty grace which evince the Gospel to be “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” give a less striking display of omnipotence.

Here also the moral attributes of God shine forth. Nowhere else do we meet with such a display of divine holiness. He is manifested, indeed, to be the Holy One, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, who cannot look upon sin ; for such is the immaculate purity of his nature that moral guilt must not be cancelled by a sovereign act of will

, nor moral pollution wiped away by a mere effort of power, but sin signally stamped with the brand of Jehovah's deepest abhorrence by the substitutionary sufferings of his own Son. By God's sparing not his own Son, but delivering him up for us all, we are more impressively taught the inviolability of divine justice than we could be by laying open the caverns of endless despair, and disclosing