be con

ly, The causes, spring, and source of satisfaction. 1. So far as God the Father was concerned in it, he may be said to be an efficient cause of it, and his love the moving cause; All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. v. 18. II. In like manner Christ may sidered as an efficient cause, and his love as a moving cause in this affair; he came into the world to die for sinners, and redeem them to God by his blood; Hereby perceive we the love of God, that is, of God the Son, because he laid down his life for us, 1 John iii. 16.

III. The matter of satisfaction, is no other than Christ's fulfilling the whole law, in the room and stead of sinners; this was what he undertook, and has fulfilled it. 1. By obeying the precepts of it, and answering all that it requires. Does it require an holy nature? it has it in him, who is holy, harmless, and undefiled; does it require perfect and sinless obedience? it is found in him, who always did the things which pleased his Father. Nor is it any objection to this doctrine that Christ, as man, was obliged to yield obedience to the law for himself, which is true; but then it should be observed, that as he assumed human nature, or became man, for the sake of his people to us, or for us, a child is born, so it was for their sake he yielded obedience to the law. Besides, though he was obliged to it as man, yet he was not obliged to yield it in such a state and condition as he did; in a state of humiliation; obedience to the law in such a low estate was quite voluntary. II. Christ has fulfilled the law and satisfied it, by bearing the penalty of it in the room of his people, which is death of every kind, Rom. vi. 23. Thus, by doing and suffering all that the law and justice of God could require, he made a proper, full, and adequate satisfaction, so that nothing more in point of justice, could be required.

IV. The form, or manner in which satisfaction was made by Christ; these are the phrases by which it is expressed in scripture. 1. By bearing the sins of his people, which we first read of in Isai. liii. 11, 12, he bare the sin of many; he

lifted them up, he took them off of his people, and took them upon himself. He shall bear their iniquities, as a man bears and carries a burden upon his shoulders; hence the use of the phrase in the New Testament, Hebrews ix. 28. Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree 1 Pet. ii. 24. Now his bearing sin, supposes it was upon him; in him is no sin, 1 John ini. 5. but sin was put upon him, as the sins of Israel were put upon the scape goat, by Aaron. This phrase of laying sin on Christ, is expressive of the imputation of it to him; For he hath made him to be sin for us, that is, by imputation, in which way we are made the righteousness of God in him. What Christ bore, being laid on him, and imputed to him, were sILS, all sorts of sin, original and actual; sins of every kind, open and secret, of heart, lip, and life. Bearing sin, supposes it to be a burden; and, indeed, it is a burden too heavy to bear by a sensible sinner; when sin is charged home upon the con science, and a saint groans, being burdened with it, what must that burden be, and how heavy that Christ bore. He bore it, and bore it away; he removed the iniquity of his people in one day; and that as far as the East is from the West. 11. The form and manner in which Christ made satisfaction for sin.1. By dying for the sins of his people; this the apostle represents as the first and principal article of the christian faith, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, 1. Cor. xv. 3. He was wounded for our trunsgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and stricken for the transgressions of his people, Dan. ix. 26. Isai, liii. 5—8. 2. By dying for sinners, as their substitute, in their room; so the several Greek parti cles, anti, uper, peri, used in this phrase, and others equiva. lent to it, signify a surrogation, a substitute of one for another, as in divers passages in the New Testament; see Matt. ii. 21. and v. 38. Christ gave his life a ransom for many, in the stead of many, Matt. xx. 28. The prophecy of Caiaphas was, That one man should die for the people, in the stead of them, John xi. 50. While we were yet sinners Christ died for

us, in our room and stead, Rom. v. 6-8. Again, Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, in the room of the unjust, 1 Pet. iii. 18. This is the greatest instance of love among men, That a man lay down his life for, in the room and stead of his friend, John xv. 13. Such was the love of Christ to his church, that he gave, delivered himself to death for her, Eph v. 25.

V. The effects of satisfaction made by Christ, or the ends that were to be, and have been answered by it. 1. The finishing and making an entire end of sin, Dan. ix. 24. not that the being of sin was removed thereby; for that remains in all the justified and sanctified ones, in this life, put the damning power of it; it will be seen no more by the eye of avenging justice. 11. In virtue of Christ's satisfaction for sin, his people are brought into an open state of reconciliation with God; he declares himself pacified towards them, for all that they have done, Ezek. xvi. 63. 111. Sin being atoned for, and made an end of, an everlasting righteousness is brought in, which acquits them from sin, and entitles them to eternal life. 1v. Immunity from all evils; that is, from all penal evils, both in this life, and in that to come. The Judge will be their Friend and Saviour, and it will be well with them to all eternity. v. With respect to God, the effects of Christ's satisfaction is the glori fying of his justice. There are many objections made to this important doctrine, and article of faith; some of the principal of which are as follow: 1. It is suggested, as if the doctrtine of satisfaction is inconsistent with the mercy of God; but the attributes of mercy and justice accord together, in the same divine nature; Gracious is the Lord and righteous; yea, our God is merciful, Psal. cxvi. 5. 2. It is objected that pardon of sin, upon the foot of a full satisfaction for it, cannot be said to be free: but eclipses the glory of God's free grace in it; but both are expressed in one verse, as entirely agreeing together; In whom, Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgivness of sin, according to the riches of his grace, Eph. i. 7. Though it cost Christ much blood, his life, and

the sufferings of his death, to make satisfaction for sin, and to procure forgiveness by it; it cost us nothing, it is all free grace to us. Besides, grace in scripture is only opposed to the works of men, and satisfaction by them; and not to the work of Christ, and to his satisfaction. 3. It is pretended that this scheme of pardon, upon the foot of satisfaction, makes the love of Christ to men, to be greater than the love of the Father: whereas the love of both is most strongly expressed in this business of Christ's satisfaction; the Father in giving his Son, the Son in giving himself. 4. It is said, that if Christ is a divine Person, he must be a party offended by sin; and if he has made satisfaction for it, he must have made satisfaction to himself; which is represented as an absurdity. But in case of public satisfaction, for a public offence to a commuity, of which he is a part; he may be said, by making satisfaction to the whole body, to make satisfaction to kimself without any absurdity. A member of parliament, kaving violated the rules and laws of the house, when he makes satisfaction for the same to it, he may be said to make satisfaction to himself, being a member of it. 'It is pos sible to a lawgiver to make satisfaction to his own law broken, and so to himself, as the lawgiver: thus Zaleuous, a famous legislator, made a law which punished adultry with the loss of both eyes; his own son first broke this law, and in order that the law might have full satisfaction, and yet mercy shewn to his son, he ordered one of his son's eyes, and one of his own to be put out; and so he might satisfy his own law, and to make satisfaction to himself, the lawgiver. But in the case before us, the satisfaction made by Christ, is made to the justice of God, subsisting in the divine nature, common to all the three Persons. 5. Once more, it is said that this doctrine of Christ's satisfaction for sin, weakens men's obligation to duty, and opens a door to licentiousness. But this is so far from being true, that, on the contrary, it strengthens the obligation, and excites a greater regard to duty.

OF PROPITIATION, ATONEMENT, AND

RECONCILIATION.

THOUGH the word satisfaction is not syllabically used, there are words and terms equivalent to it, and synonymous with it; as propitiation, atonement, and reconciliation : it may be proper to explain these terms

I. PROPITIATION: the first time we meet with this word, as applied to Christ, is in Rom. iii. 25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation; either to be the author of propitiation; for whose sake, and on account of what he was to do and suffer, God would be propitious to men: or else to be the propitiatory sacrifice for sin. Expiatory sacrifices were under the law, typical of the expiatory and propitiatory sacrifice of Christ; and as God in them, smelled a sweet savour of rest, as types of Christ; so his sacrifice was an offering of a sweet smelling savour to him. The word used in the above text, hil asterion, is the same which the Greek version of Exod. xxv. 12. and which the apostle, in Heb. ix. 5: uses of the mercy seat; was an emblem of his mercy and justice shining in the atonement made by Christ; a glimpse of this the poor publican had when he said God be merciful, hilastheti, propitious to me a sinner! or be merciful to me, through the propitiation of the Messiah. Now Christ was set forth to be the propitiation in the purposes and decrees of God; he was fore-ordained to be the Lamb slain; he was set forth in the promises and prophecies spoken of by all the holy prophets that were from the beginning of the world; he was set forth in the types and shadows of the law; and he has been set forth in the fulness of time, in human nature, in which he was manifested to take

away sin.

There are two other places where Christ is spoken of as hilasmos the propitiation; and these are in the first epistle of the apostle John, in one of them, chap. iv. 10. it is said, God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins; and in the other it is said, chap. ii. 2. And he is the propitiation for our sins; the