349 ?,sN?,? ?---Bi?v,lc'rJox. [Boo; II. which they could not be justified by the law of Moses," Acts xiii, 39. "And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, in the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy, and unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight," Col. i, 21, 2{. Such is the high privilege*of thoae who are reconciled to God through Christ, that nothing stands marked against them. "There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus," Rom. viii, 1. No _m_?n_ who understands the nature and design of Christ's suffer- ings can believe that Ood still required something in the way of suffer- ing by sinners themselves, in order to satisfy his justice. The doctrine is ,one belonging to heathenism, and belongs not to the Christian sys- tem. It has its origin iu false notions of the character of' God, such as prevail among all heathen, and such as have corrupted the true reli- ?on. This notion, however, is interwoven with the very essence of popery. Without her confession and satisfaction to divine justice, by stripes or by money, the Church of Rome would be as destitute as the poor idolater Micah, who exclaimed, "You have taken away my gods, and what have I more ?" 6. Satisfaction for sin by human beings presents various inconsist- encies and absurdities, some of which we may now present to our readers. � (l.) Satisfaction to the justice of God by the mer/t of good worlds, or penal sufferings, is absurd in the highest degree. Nothing which has reached us in any author, or which we could furnish from our own stock of argument, will be as convincing as what Dr. Adam Clarke says on human merit and suffering in his admirable sermon on salva- tion by faith. After stating that the law of man, as he was created, was the law of love, which he was to observe as the rule of li?; that it admitted of no deviation, but required a full, perfect, and universal obedience, performed with all the powers of soul and body, our author proceeds as follows "Let it be observed, also, that no being is capable of fulfilling such ? law, unless its nature be entirely pure and holy: the slightest degree of moral imperfection, the smallest irregularity of passions or appetites, would taint the required sacrifice, and mar and ruin the service. As man came pure and perfect out of the hands of his Creator, he was capable of observing this law; to him, in this state, there was nothing di?cult, nothing grievous. He was made under this law; and he was made equa/to it in all its requisitions and demands. Obedience to this was his duty; and we may add, it must have been his delight; and that in which his happiness consisted; for no superior state of blessed- ness can be conceived; for he who loves God with all his powers, and serves Aim with all lds energies, must be unutterably happy. "But does it follow that man, in this pure and perfect state, fulfilling at all times the sublime duty required by this law, could merit an eter- nal glory by his obedience ? No. For he is the creature of God, his powers belong to his Maker: he owes him all the services he can per- ibrm; and, when he has acted up to the utmost limits of his exalted nature, in obedience to this most pure and holy law, it will appear that he can make no demand on divine justice for remuneration; he is, as it respects God, a? u**pro. fitab/? serm?; he has only do?/K, duty, and 1
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