they were the means of convincing unbelievers, and so producing repentance and reformation, and a removal of guilt; a liberation of the sinner from the bondage and slavery of sin and death, and a restoration to liberty and everlasting life. Paul has said, that God gave, and committed to the Apostles, the ministry and word of reconciliation, which must mean all that Christ taught and revealed. God did not give and commit to them the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. These were the evidences or seals of the ministry of reconciliation, the supporters thereof. I do not know that my views upon this subject are in accordance with those of any one else, but I think they are scriptural and agreeable If they are not, let them be rejected, and let the true doctrine, as it is in Jesus Christ, be established; and may all nations run into it and be saved.

to reason.

CHAPTER X.

SALVATION BY CHRIST.

We have briefly considered the great and glorious work of Christ, the Son of God, in his mediatorial character. We have attempted to show that Christ was the only Mediator between God and men, that he must be a being between them, that he could not be truly either or both of them; because, in that case, he could not be a being or mediator between them. No person can be a mediator between himself and another person a nation cannot be a mediator between itself and any other nation. Whenever there is a mediation, there must be two parties, and the mediator between them cannot be one of them, and certainly not both of them. This is in accordance with nature, reason, and the word of God. We have also endeavored to make it appear, that the great object and business of Christ's mediation was the reconciliation of men to God, and not of God to men.

We will now for a moment consider what were the purpose and benefits intended by this work of reconciliation, which Christ performed, and which he said in prayer to his Father, a few days before his death, that he had finished. "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." What was the design of this great work? "Cui bono?" Was it

for the benefit of the Almighty? Was it (as some have foolishly, if not impiously, imagined) to support the honor of God; and to save his justice from reproach? No. It was solely to procure the salvation of men, to save sinners. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. i. 15. But what are we to understand by salvation? There are two kinds of salvation, a temporal, material one, such as the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, for which purpose Moses was their temporal saviour. We have accounts of a great many instances of temporal salvation, and temporal saviours; but they are all as nothing, as a mere drop to the Ocean, when compared with the other kind of salvation, the spiritual, the glorious Salvation, which Christ came from heaven to procure for men, for sinners! This salvation is spiritual and eternal. And, in its effects, it is nothing less than a deliverance from sin, misery, and death, and the attainment of forgiveness, happiness, and eternal life, to all who repent and believe. And Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was the only Mediator and Saviour, appointed and sent by God to execute this great and glorious work of the Salvation of men. And how did he perform the work? He performed it by his instructions, by his doctrines, by all his teachings, by his miraculous works, by his perfect character, and by all the wonderful events of his whole life; and not peculiarly, specially, and directly, by his death, as will appear upon Scripture examina

tion. "The Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. The holy Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Jesus Christ." And Christ himself said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life" they are spiritual salvation. "He that heareth my words, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life" has received salvation. "Now ye are clean, through the word that I have spoken unto you ; " that is, you are freed from your sins, and saved by my instruction. The New Testament is full of such language, showing that the teaching, the instructions, the Gospel, and all acts of Christ, were the means used to convince and convert sinners, to persuade them to repent, reform, and become reconciled to God, and thereby to be made meet subjects for, and to receive salvation, as it is freely offered in the Gospel. Christ never said that his death would give sinners life and salvation. But from what he said to his Father, in his prayer, it is certain that his death was no part of the work of salvation — "I have finished the work thou gavest me to do" therefore his death, as he was then living, could not be a part of the work, he had finished. But it was the seal, the evidence, the conclusive, undeniable evidence, of the work; as a seal to a deed for the conveyance or sale of land is not the conveyance or sale, but only the necessary and conclusive evidence of such sale, as it could not be proved in any other way. The seal, therefore, in its effects, must be

considered of the highest importance; though, by itself alone, without any sale or contract made, it would have no meaning, it would be of no consequence. The omnicient God knew, that such was the obdurate unbelief of sinners, that they would not, generally, receive the teaching, doctrines, and instructions of Christ, though well proved by their intrinsic perfection, purity, and holiness, and by astonishing miracles,-that they would not believe that he was the Son of God, or a teacher sent from God; that nothing short of his death in support of his doctrines, and his resurrection, in proof of the resurrection of the dead, would remove their unbelief. Hence, in the closing scene of the work of salvation, the death of the Son of God, and his resurrection, were necessary to make the work sure and effectual; to make mankind believe, repent, reform, and be willing to be saved. For spiritual salvation has something to do with the mind, and the will. God never will save any person, so long as he is unwilling to be saved such person cannot be considered to be in a salvable state. You cannot save a man from the sin of intoxication, so long as it is his determined will to continue in a state of constant intemperance. You may perhaps remove his means of intoxication, for a time, but you cannot change his inclination and disposition; you cannot make him at heart a temperate man, against his will. I do not believe in forced salvation, or in forced repentance, or in any absolutely forced good thing. Christ, though he had all pow