ever important in itself, or in the extended chain of God's providence; but must proceed to explain the chief defign of it, which was, that he should be a facrifice for fin. As all men bad finned, they had come fhort of the glory of God; and whilst the guilt of fin was uncancelled, and the dominion of fin unfubdued, there could be nothing less than an irreconcileable feparation between God and finners, between a Being of unspotted purity and perfect holiness, and fuch as had eftranged themselves from holiness, and had been entangled in the fnares and fascinations of fin. Now it was the primary defign of the Saviour of the world to cancel the guilt of fin, by making an atonement for the finner, to remove his obligation to punishment by suffering in his stead, to bear the weight of our fins in his own person, or to put away fin by the facrifice of himself. This is the explanation, which is fuggefted by the faith of every true and orthodox Chriftian. b Rom. iii. 23. But But the Socinian heresy recoils at this meafure, and labours to interpret the Scriptures in a quite different manner, rejecting the myfterious nature of the doctrine, or rather ftriving to conform it to the narrow comprehenfion of the human mind. It is allowed, indeed, that the Son of God fuffered and died, to put away fin, yet not in the proper acceptation of a facrifice; but only that we might enjoy the benefit of his fufferings, by a due improvement of his example. That Chrift died for our benefit is then acknowledged on both fides; but that the Socinian notion doth not exprefs the full defign of his death will be evident, if we only state the plain sense of that defign according to the Scriptures. So that we may advance in the difcuffion of our general fubject, whilst we combat an antient error, revived in fomewhat different fhapes in modern times, but which in every form tends to diminish the value of the Chriftian atonement, and even ultimately to reduce the Author of our salva tion tion to a rank far below the real dignity of his highly exalted nature. Now that the death of Chrift was a facri fice or atonement for our fins, is, I fay, by plain intimation, or direct affertion, confirmed in the Scriptures. It was thus foretold of the Meffiah by the Evangelical prophet: "Surely He hath borne our griefs, and car"ried our forrows; and by his ftripes we "are healed:" and again, "If his foul fhall "make, or fhall be made, a propitiatory fa"crifice, he fhall fee a feed, which fhall prolong their days, and the gracious pur"pofe of JEHOVAH fhall profper in his "hands"." And it is recorded of Christ in the New Teftament, that He was manifefted to take away our fins, and therefore gave his life a ransom for many, for all: that he bore our fins in his own body on the tree; and that He was made fin, or a facrifice for fin, for us, who knew no fin: and this in confequence of c Ifa. liii. 10. d1 John iii. 5. I ATAUTO. Compare Mark x. 45. with 1 Tim. ii. 6. с f I Pet. ii. 24. 2 Cor. v. 21. a voluntary a voluntary acceptance of his Father's propofal, intimated in those remarkable words, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God! The Father provided the facrifice, and the Son freely accepted the undertaking, and laid down his life for his friends: For he had power to lay it down, and power to take it again *. And, as he loved us, fo he gave himself for us, an offering and a facrifice to God for a sweet smelling favour: who therefore faved us, not for works of righteousness that we have done, but of his own love and free mercies in Christ Jefus. m St. Paul, in his Epiftle to the Romans, hath placed this mercy in a still more valuable light. For God, faith he, commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet · finners, Chrift died for us ; that is, He died in the ftead of finners, in the fame sense, as is intimated in the preceding verfe, that one man dies for another. And St. Peter also tells us, that Christ suffered for fins, the just h Heb. x. 9. Ephef. v. 2. i John xv. 13. * John x. 18. m Ch. v. 8. for for the unjust, that he might bring us to God". So that, when we were enemies, we were reconciled unto God by the death of his Son: who, as St. John obferves, is the propitiation for our fins, and not for ours only, but also for thofe of the whole world. As the sentence of death had paffed upon all men, for that all had finned, fo hath he reconciled us all in the body of his flesh through death"; having thereby abolished death, and destroyed him that had the power of it, that is, the Devil. It may greatly help to illuftrate the nature of the Chriftian facrifice, to compare it in various particulars with the facrifices of the Old Teftament. In facrifice amongst every the Jews, the offering was always to be without spot or blemish, the very best and most perfect in its kind. Thus a lamb was to be of the first year, and without any fort of defect; a male without blemish was to be the offering of the herd and of the flocks'; the meat-offering was alfo to be of fine flour un n 1 Pet. iii. 18. a Lev. ix. 3. I John ii. 2. P Col. i. 22. leavened, |