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Christ, we inquire what is his nature-is it terrestrial or celestial? If he is a man, then his blood is human; if he is superhuman, then his blood is su perhuman; if he is the Son of God, his blood is the Spirit of the living God. However strange this language and reasoning may appear, it is abundantly authorized by the language and reasoning of Jesus himself. In John 6: 51, he says, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread which I will give is my flesh,' &c. It is manifest then that his flesh came down from heaven, and was not that human body which was born of the virgin Mary. Although thrice, in immediate connection with this passage, he virtually declared that his flesh and blood came down from heaven, the Jews supposed that he referred to his human flesh and blood, when he said Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood, of the Son of man, ye have no life in you;' and were greatly offended. He therefore explained himself more fully, ver. 61-63. Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? [As if he had said, you must bear in mind my preexistence, if you would understand my language.] It is the spirit [my superhuman nature] that quickeneth; [and this is what I mean when I say, Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life;] the flesh, [my human nature,] profiteth nothing.' Here then, we have Christ's own definition of the expression, the blood of Christ.' It is the life of that superhuman nature which he had before his incarnation; and in connection with this definition, he declares what that life was;-I live by the Father. The Spirit, then, of the Father, or in other words, the Holy Ghost, was the life, and therefore the blood of Jesus Christ. (For cases of parallel and illustrative phraseology, we refer to John 7: 37-39, where the Holy Ghost is called living water,' i. e. blood; and 1 Cor. 12: 13, where believers are represented as 'drinking into one spirit.') It is manifest that they who regard the human blood that followed the spear on Calvary, as 'the blood of Christ,' deny his superhuman nature, and degrade the Spirit of the living God into an animal fluid. Who, more than they, tread under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant .. an unholy thing'? Heb.

10: 20.

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Having then corrected our conceptions of the nature of the blood of Jesus Christ,' we proceed to inquire how it is applied. Christ says, 'Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, ye have no life in you.' Whatever we eat and drink becomes a part of our nature. God forbade Noah and the Jews to drink the blood of animals, which is their life,' doubtless because, in so doing, they would receive the nature of the animals, and degrade their own. The blood of the bulls and goats which were sacrificed by the law, was not drank, but sprinkled upon the people, that it might at least imperfectly shadow forth the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, i. e. the effusion of the Holy Ghost. But that which was forbidden in relation to the inferior animals which were used as types, was required in relation to the superhuman Son of God, the typified victim. The virtue of his sacrifice must be received by drinking his blood, and thus partaking of his nature. 'He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As

the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.' It is plain that the act of faith, the operation of God, by which we receive Jesus Christ, is described by the expressions 'eating flesh' and 'drinking blood,' in order to convey the idea that we thereby come into a living union with him, and partake of his nature. His blood becomes our blood-his life our life. Christ endeavored to make this idea permanent and prominent by the institution of the sacramental supper, the initiatory symbol of the new covenant. Paul thus describes the institution of that ordinance: The Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, THIS IS THE NEW COVENANT IN MY BLOOD: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.' As Christ had before explained to his disciples what he meant by eating his flesh and drinking his blood,' in John 6: 63, as we have seen above, he designed, without controversy, to make the sacramental supper a symbol of the transaction by which believers become one with him. The wine of the eucharist is a type of the life-blood of the superhuman Son of God, by which the new covenant is fulfilled. Believers 'have been baptized into one body, and have all been made to drink into that one Spirit.' Thus they have eaten the flesh and drunk the blood of the Son of man. Thus they receive the substance, of which the sacramental supper was a shadow. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?' 1 Cor. 10: 16. 'Do we not profess to drink the blood of the Son of God, and thus have communion with him?'

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It will be seen that these views are opposed to the notions of those who regard the expiatory offering of the human body of Christ as the substance shadowed forth by the sacrifices of the law and by the Lord's supper. Such persons, regarding themselves as justified, but not sanctified by the sacrifice of Christ, make the blood of the everlasting covenant the seal of their license to sin. By looking to Calvary,' their faith receives forgiveness, while they continue in sin. This is not 'eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of man.' It will be seen, also, that these views, and these only, furnish a satisfactory explanation of those passages touching the efficacy of the blood of Christ, with which the New Testament abounds; some of which were quoted at the commencement of this discussion of that subject. Moreover they greatly help us to understand the meaning of those passages which represent the church as the body of Christ: e. g., 1 Cor. 6: 15, 12: 12, Eph. 1: 23, 4: 4-16, 5: 23-32, Col. 2: 2-19, &c. The body of Christ is filled with his own blood. By becoming a member of the true church, then, we receive the life-blood of Christ; and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.' Thus is fulfilled the promise of God concerning the latter days. Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.' Joel 3: 20: 21.

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Thus we conclude, as the sum of all that has been said, that the new covenant commenced its operation upon the human race at the coming of

Christ; that its fulfilment gives perfect holiness, perfect security of holiness, perfect liberty, and perfect independence of human instruction; that it is fulfilled in believers by the energy of the blood of Christ, the spirit of the living God.

We by no means say, that none but those who have received all the blessings of this covenant, are in any sense Christians. The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch, (Acts 11: 26,) long before the gospel of the new covenant was fully developed. (See the concluding remark under our first head-'THE TIME,' &c.) Men are called Christians in our day, because they call upon the name of the Lord Jesus;' because they have experienced 'conviction and conversion,' and make an outward profession of religion; nay, even because they live within the bounds of Christendom. We grant also, if any have received any one of the blessings of the new covenant, so far they are Christians, in the sense that looks at character and not profession. Many profess to have received that blood which 'cleanseth from all sin,' without the promise of security. If their hearts are pure, so far they are not under the old covenant; for that could not purge the conscience. Many others profess to be free from the law, and not free from sin. So far as their profession is intelligent and sincere, they are not under the old covenant; for that gave no liberty. In short we have reason to believe that there are, and have been, many, in all ages since the coming of Christ, who in one respect or another have had the testimony of Jesus,' the mediator of the new covenant; yet we do say none are, or have been, Christians, in the sense in which Paul was, (if his state corresponded to his preaching,) who have not received PERFECT HOLINESS, PERFECT SECURITY, PERFECT LIBERTY, AND PERFECT INDEPENDENCE, BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.

$22. SALVATION FROM SIN.

I. HOLINESS THE PRINCIPAL OBJECT OF THE ATONEMENT.

'IT is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.' From WHAT does he propose to save them? We will answer this question by a few plain texts of scripture.

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On the first page of the New Testament it is written, She [i. e. Mary] shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS, [i. e. Sayior] for he shall save his people from their SINS.' Matt. 1: 21. What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us.' Rom. 8: 3, 4. "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it.' Eph. 5: 25, 26. You, that were some time alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the

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body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable, in his sight.' Col. 1: 21, 22. Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity.' Titus 2: 14.

These texts explicitly declare the object of the mission and sacrifice of Christ to be the salvation of his people-not merely or primarily from the consequences of their sins-but from their sins themselves.

Dividing salvation into two great parts, viz., forgiveness of past sin, and purification from present sin, it is plainly implied in nearly all the declarations of the Bible touching the subject, that the latter part is the primary, and the former the secondary object of the work of Christ. This appears in the above quotations. Purification was so much more prominent than forgiveness in the minds of the New Testament writers, that their language in those passages, and many others, would almost lead to the conclusion that it was the only object of the atonement. The promise of the new covenant, as quoted by Paul in Heb. 10: 16, 17, exhibits both parts of salvation, in their proper order of importance. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; [this is purification;] and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more: [this is forgiveness.] It is true that forgiveness, in the order of time, necessarily precedes purification.The past must be forgiven, before men can be saved from the present and future power of sin. Hence we find salvation set forth in the following manner: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' 1John 1: 9. Here the order of the actual process of salvation is exhibited-1, confession; 2, forgiveness; 3, purification. But it is obvious that forgiveness, instead of taking precedence of purification in importance, only bears the relation to it of means to an end. God pardons us that he may cleanse us. Forgiveness is the foundation of purification; but purification is that, without which for giveness would be worthless, as a foundation would be worthless without a superstructure.

When therefore Christ is called the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world,' we understand the language as meaning more than that by the atonement he has provided for the forgiveness of mankind, and so has taken away the legal consequences of sin. The 'taking away of sins' is spoken of in Heb. 10: 4, as equivalent to a cleansing, by which the conscience is purged from sin, and by which the comer thereto is made perfeet. The apostle says that the sacrifices of the law could not effect this cleansing; but he holds up the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, as able thus to take away sins.' His language is By the which will [i. e. the will of God executed by Christ on the cross, which will is given to believers by the Holy Spirit,] we are sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.' Ver. 10. And again, By one offering he hath forever perfected them that are sanctified.' Ver. 14. This language cer tainly ascribes a purifying power to the atonement, and indeed in such a way as wholly to eclipse its purchase of forgiveness. It is said in 1 John 3: 5, that Christ was manifested to take away our sins; and the meaning

of the expression is clearly determined by what immediately follows:- Whosoever abideth in him SINNETH NOT; whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.' He takes away sin' in such a way, that they who avail themselves of his sacrifice do not commit sin.

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This view of the object for which Jesus Christ came into the world and laid down his life, and this view alone, justifies us in calling the message which came by him, the glorious GOSPEL of the blessed God.' Agospel' is good news, glad tidings of great joy.' Luke 2: 10. But Jesus Christ brought no news to the world, if his message was merely or chiefly a proclamation of pardon. Forgiveness had been promised to the penitent from the beginning of the world. God had proclaimed himself to Moses and the children of Israel, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin.' Ex. 34: 6, 7. The 'glad tidings of great joy' which the angels represented as coming with the birth of Christ, were in fact tidings of things well known to the prophets and patriarchs, if they related only to the pardoning mercy of God. But if Jesus Christ came proclaiming not only the mercy of God in pardoning sin, but also his power to cleanse and preserve from sin; if in addition to the forgiveness which was given to the patriarchs and prophets, he proposed to clothe believers with the robe of righteousness; in a word, if it was, as we have shown, his peculiar office to 'save his people from their sins,' then truly he brought 'good news' to the world-his message is worthy to be called the glorious gospel.'

II. THE SINS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS IRRELEVANT.

It is obvious that the doctrine of salvation from sin, thus exhibited, is not liable to any objections drawn from the experience of saints who lived before the manifestation of Christ. We do not rely at all upon the use of the word perfect in reference to Noah, Job, &c.; and we have no occasion to prove that any of the Old Testament saints' were free from sin. On the contrary we admit, nay we insist, that salvation from sin was unknown to the ages and generations' of the Jewish dispensation, and was revealed only after the coming of Christ. We draw a very broad line of distinction between the dispensation before, and the dispensation after the manifestation of Christ. To adduce the sins of Moses and David, as proof that the gospel does not give entire salvation from sin, is to overlook altogether this distinction of dispensations, and in fact to assume that Jesus Christ brought no new blessings to the world. This is as absurd as it would be to undertake to disprove the realities of the wonders effected at the present time by steam power and the art of printing, by referring to facts that occurred a thousand years ago. For we affirm, and have shown, and shall show more abundantly, that the coming of Jesus Christ effected a revolution in the condition of mankind with reference to spiritual privilege, as great as was effected in mechanics and letters, by the discovery of steam power, and the invention of the press.

The Old Testament saints did indeed foresee the coming of Christ, and rejoice in view of the blessings he was to bring. The prophets foretold that away of holiness' should be cast up; that a new covenant,' securing