necessarily imply the performance or the endurance by a substitute, of all that would otherwise have been performed or endured, but merely that sort of substitution which, to all practical purposes, shall be sufficient to exonerate another: and that the suffering of Christ was vicarious to this extent, I have already endeavoured to show. Still less does this view detract from the value of the atonement, since that was determined by other causes. The union of the Godhead with his humanity gave an infinite dignity to all he did, and rendered his sufferings, in the abstract, worthy of all reverence and consideration. Their absolute spontaneity gave them the highest conceivable legal value; while the glory which they reflected upon the person and government of God, with their practical results, rendered them, in a moral sense, infinitely meritorious and available. These considerations appear to render needless any further suffering than what is absolutely involved in them; and that, it is unnecessary to add, was deep and dreadful beyond mental conception.

I have gone into this somewhat extended

discussion, to show, as you will probably have anticipated, that, even according to our notions of justice, there is no obstacle to the affixing of certain conditions to a personal participation of the results of Christ's vicarious sacrifice. Of course, the converse is equally certain, that the calamities which await those who finally reject these conditions are in the highest degree justifiable. But it is necessary to add even more than this, for we are incapable of conceiving of the atonement as producing that amplitude of moral good of which it may be rendered the source, by an unconditional application of the pardon which it provides. If this were granted universally, it is plain, that the moral government of God would, to all practical purposes, be terminated among men ; while, if it were applied arbitrarily, it would be productive of consequences scarcely less deplorable. I presume, I need not pause to make out this position, as it will at once commend itself to your own mind. It follows, therefore, that the deliverance from condemnation, which is the most obvious of the blessings resulting from the atonement, does, by the divine appointment, depend upon

certain conditions which are unchangeable in their nature, and indissoluble in their obligation.

If the existence of these conditions be allowed, it will, I suppose, be conceded also, that they must, in their nature, be in perfect harmony with the general scheme of the atonement, and must be most perfectly suited to accomplish its objects. Now, though the first design of the vicarious suffering of Christ which attracts attention is a deliverance from the curse of the law, because it is primarily a judicial arrangement, yet it is never to be forgotten, that it has for its further and more exalted object, the restoration of man to the possession of that resemblance to his Creator by which he was originally distinguished; an object to which, in fact, the former and more obvious does but lead the way. When, therefore, I speak, as hereafter I shall have occasion to do, of the blessings of the atonement in general, or of salvation in an indefinite sense, I beg to be understood as including not merely the removal of guilt, but that great spiritual process also which, by the sacred. writers, is called "sanctification," &c.

With these preliminary remarks on this part of the subject I must, at present, content myself. In my next letter I propose to speak more at large of the conditions upon which the benefits of the vicarious sacrifice of Christ are made to depend.

LETTER XV.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

In my last letter I endeavoured to show, that it was not only righteous, but even necessary, for God to associate the benefits of Christ's atonement with certain conditions; and this leads us to the consideration of the fifth and last requisite for a just and available vicarious sacrifice, which is, that the offenders shall accept it upon the terms proposed by the other parties to such an arrangement. It is so evident that God and Christ are alone able to determine upon what conditions it will be proper to admit sinners to a participation of the blessings resulting from the Gospel scheme

of substitution, that every degree of latitudinarianism upon the subject may naturally awaken our surprise. For, although when God reveals to us his method of saving men through Christ, we may immediately perceive its reasonableness; yet, were this not the fact, the most perfect acquiescence upon our part would still be our duty and our wisdom. For he has the plan of mercy all in his own hands; and it is for him, therefore, to arrange all its details absolutely and without change. In its origination and its provisions we had no share, and, in the nature of things, could have none. God's grace is its fountain; and, apart from our approbation, therefore, he has the most perfect right to determine all its operations. His character gives us every assurance, that he will do that which is righteous and wise; and our weakness of understanding and obliquity of judgment, would be sufficient to account for any want of apprehension as to the propriety of his principles of government. Can any thing, therefore, be more arrogant than for a human mind to rise up in judgment upon the Divine testimony respecting the salvation of sinners