excellent words of Augustine: "Let us not satisfy "ourselves merely with the appellation of Christians; "but let us reflect that we are to be judged in reference to this, whether we presumptuously arrogate a name "to which we have no title."* 66 *De vita Christiana. See Gregory of Nyssa, De perfecta hominis Christiani forma. DISSERTATION XII. ON JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY-BEGOTTEN son of god. 1. It becomes every one who earnestly desires the eternal salvation of his own soul, to exert his best endeavours to attain "all riches of the full assurance of "understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery "of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in which* "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." These words intimate, that there is a GOD, by whom the world exists, of whom, and to whom we all are ; and who can prove to his rational creatures, and even to sinful man, what he is to himself, the Fountain of consummate blessedness." In the Godhead, we must know, there is a FATHER, who is able to restore life to that which was lost, to renew his own image in the sinner, to admit a person who had been alienated from him to the embraces of his fatherly love, and, in fine, to make him an heir of heavenly and eternal blessings. The Father, too, hath a SON, of the same na See NOTE XXXII. b 1 Cor. viii. 6. Rom. xi. 36. a Col. ii. 2, 3. 1 Tim. vi. 15. d Luke xii. 32. ture and of equal dignity with himself, whom, according to the counsel of peace which takes place between God and the Man whose name is the BRANCH,e he could send into the world, clothed with human flesh, and made under the law;-so that, the law having received full satisfaction from him to all its demands, he can exercise his goodness and mercy towards the sinner, in consistency with righteousness, holiness, and wisdom. To this work the Son was appointed from eternity; and being endowed with the richest gifts of the Spirit, he is called CHRIST, that is, the Anointed. This is a "mystery," which no man could know, unless it were revealed by God; and which, even when thus revealed, no mortal can fully comprehend.j In this mystery, is "wisdom and knowledge;” for without knowing it, we neither understand the manner of the Divine operations, nor can we conceive any thing that is worthy of God, in the plan of our salvation. Wisdom is an invaluable "treasure:"k but it is "hid" and laid up in this mystery; for when this is not revealed or not known, we cannot fail to remain ignorant of the wisdom of God; and whoever meditates with due attention on this incomprehensible topic, will continually discover new treasures which he had not formerly perceived. To consider this mystery for a little, therefore, and in the exercise of faith to contemplate Christ as the ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON of the Father, and OUR LORD, will be a pious, a becoming, and a profitable employment. Nothing, certainly, can be more repugnant to the mind of Paul, and to the genius of the e Zech. vi. 12, 13. i Mat. xi. 27. * Job xxviii. 15-19. f Gal. iv. 4, 5. j Prov. xxx. 4. Christian Religion, than this blasphemy uttered by Ostorodus: "In order to know the will of God to"wards us so far as is requisite to salvation, it is not "at all necessary to know the nature of Christ, but merely his office."* 66 II. We confess in the Creed, that Jesus Christ is, First, The Son of God. Secondly, BEGOTTEN of God. Thirdly, His ONLY-BEgotten. III. That he is the SON of God, Christ himself protested in an assembly of those who are termed, but in a far lower sense, "Children of the Most High;”m. the Father proclaimed by a voice from heaven ;"-and the Holy Spirit proved by descending upon him.o The sacred Scriptures, too, represent it as the sum of our confession and faith relative to Christ, to believe and profess that Jesus is the Son of God.P IV. This name, when attributed to Christ, is more excellent than any that is given to Angels; though they also are denominated "Sons of God." By the expression more excellent, the Apostle indicates a difference not merely in degree, but also in kind; that this name may be completely and directly distinguished, and as applied to Christ, have a signification totally different. For a difference in degrees is not sufficient to constitute a difference in name. The King of Assyria, for example, or of Persia, was, by many steps of dignity, superior to any King of Cappadocia, or Pontus, or Lacedemon; yet the name of King is not more * Instit. cap. vi. 1 Ps. lxxxii. 6. n Mat. xvii. 5. P John xx. 31. Acts viii. 37. ix. 20. Η Διαφορά. m Mat. xxvi. 64. • Mat. iii. 16. 1 John iv. 15. Mat. xvi. 16. John vi. 69. Διαφορωτερον, Heb. i. 4. * Job i. 6. xxxviii. 7. excellent when ascribed to the Persian or the Assyrian monarch, than when it is applied to the ruler of Cappadocia, Pontus, or Laconia. Nor is it unworthy of notice that the Apostle affirms, that Christ hath obtained by inheritance* this name. The expression intimates, that, like an inheritance, it is Christ's indisputable and unalienable property; nay more, that he possesses it not as a mere voluntary gift, nor as the recompence of his labour or the consequence of his merit, but as an inheritance to which he has an original right, arising from the intimate relation between the Father and him.68 In virtue of that relation he is evidently entitled to this name; nor could he, by any power or means, be precluded from obtaining it, or divested of his right to be acknowledged by God the Father and by men, as what he really is, the Son of God. deed are heirs of God, because we are sons; cause we have received Christ, and are, in the manner competent to us, born of God, " power is given to us "to become the sons of God;" or owing to the divine condescension and liberality, we may dare to consider ourselves as such. But nowhere are we said to have inherited the name of the sons of God. We in and be v. It serves to establish the same point, that the Apostle speaks of Christ as, ορισθεντα ύιον Θεου ἐν δυνάμει, "declared to be the Son of God with power." "ORI ZELV is to define, to determine, to fix a thing within its bounds and limits, so that one may perceive what it is in itself, and how it differs from other things; or to designate any thing precisely and particularly, to the |