A N 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 To State the 
 
 Scripture -Account 
 
 o F 
 
 MAN'S REDEMPTION, 
 
 B Y T H E 
 
 DEATH of CHRIST, 
 
 WHEREIN 
 
 The Doctrine is fhewn to be as plain 
 and INTELLIGIBLE, as it is USEFUL and 
 
 IMPORTANT.^ 
 
 /r- I 
 
 'Fi, 
 
 Write the v'tfion^ and make it plain upon tables, that hi 
 
 may rim that readeth it. Hab. ii. 2. 
 ~ And the bread that I zuill give, is my jiejl), which I will 
 
 give for the lAfe of the world. John vi. 51. 
 •— God's grace — is now made manifeji by the appearing of 
 
 our Saviour Jefus Chriji, who hath aholiflud death, and 
 
 hath brought life and immortality to light, through the 
 
 Gofpel. 2 Tim. i. 10. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for M. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater-mjler Roiu. 
 M. DCC. XLV, 
 
short Inftru6tions to the Reader. 
 
 THJ^ niimberlefs volumes which hav& 
 been wrote on the fubjeSi of mtin's re-' 
 demption, will be a njindication^ or apology for 
 the publication of this fhort t'reatife. Efpecially^ 
 if tt fiould be found to have rendered thofe bulky 
 performances ufelefs. Many enquiring perjhns 
 have been dijTatisfied with whdt has been hereto- 
 fore written on the fubjeB : and if this fiould 
 contribute to give the rational and impartial Exa- 
 miner any fatisfaSfion^ a deferable end will be 
 obtained. . 
 
 All fiich who read the following Efay^ may 
 eaftly perceive^ that it isjormed upon no human ' 
 fcheme wh'atjbever ; ajid that the author of it has ■ 
 paid 710 regard to any one of the fallible fflems ; 
 no^ not to thofe which are under the venerable 
 name OyT orthodox. 
 
 He has kept as clofe a regard to, the revelation 
 as he was able : and hath had no manner of 
 temptation to depart ^ in the leaf tittle^ from what 
 has appeared to him to be the doSlrine of it. 'The 
 reajbn of his not colleSiing all the texts, on the /iib^ 
 jeB^ was J he thought that a ifw of the Jlrongefl 
 exprejjions clearly reconciled^ would be a fufficient 
 fpecimen ; and prevent too great an enlargement 
 of the Effay. Brevity muft become a p\'<x\n fubjeB. 
 The author has chofen to conceal his name, for 
 feveral reafons. --Never thelefs^ in his religious en-, 
 quiries, he courts no marLS favour^ nor is in fear 
 of any man s difpleafure. This^ he reckons more 
 
 A 2 than 
 
iv short Inrtructlons to the Reader; 
 
 than needful to anfwer thofe quejlions, who is he ? 
 and what is he ? Nor wilia mind form d by Truth ^ 
 think it of any 7noment^ whether he be a Confermifi^ 
 or a Non-conformiji ; a North, or a South Briton y 
 or of Hibernian extract. Truth is truth, tho' it 
 fiould drop from the Pen of a Turk ! and be who 
 gives truth the mofi generous reception, will make 
 her welcome^ tho' in the garb of a Barbarian- Stran- 
 ger. He could have made fome inhrcnces, which 
 would have ??tuch concerned the conduB ofChriflian 
 men towards one another : but he has chofen to 
 omit an application, which is the duty of every 
 771 an to make for him j'elf : being afjured, that if 
 7nen are honefi, and V?z ear7iefi Chrifliajis^ they will 
 not fail to rriake thofe reflexions upon themf elves that 
 a miftaken ajid enflamed zeal has made Jalutary 
 a?jd needfid. 
 
 Only out fuch inference he cannot forbear ; and 
 that is, the amazing infolence of thofe writers^ 
 who brand with heretical names, any fuch, who 
 think differently from them on the doctrine of re- 
 demption : ^'^j, even pre fume to unchriftia7iize thofe 
 who receive it not in the drefs of fuch an age, or 
 in the (liape of fuch a party ! when, at the fame 
 ti7ne, no 7nan can have any worthy ideas of the doe^ 
 trine, who has 7iot formed them by the light of re* 
 velation, fince it is a doctrine of pure revelation. 
 And if every 77ian is to judge for himfelf of the 
 doBrines of revelation, who fl^all be able to fit in 
 judgment upon him, but the final judge ^—Break 
 thro' this right of private judgment, and defend 
 Froteftantifm ij you are able. 
 
 THE 
 
THE 
 
 Dodrine of Redemption, plain and in- 
 telligible, as important, &'c. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 THE 'variety or diverfity of opinion, 
 which men have invented about the 
 Death of 'Jefm Chriji, mud have 
 been owing chiejiy to the not confining of the 
 attention to the New Tcftament dodtrine, and 
 to the want of comparing carefully the feverai 
 reprefentations which are therein given of its de- 
 iign or intention. 
 
 This truly muft be the ftate of the cafe, for- 
 afmuch as it is there defcribed as an event in 
 which all men are concerned : and therefore 
 muft be a plain and clear dodrine in proportion 
 to the importance of it. To fuppofe any dodrine 
 objcure that concerns mankind, in the lajl and 
 moji complete revelation of the mind and will of 
 God, is to refled: great difhonour upon it, ^nd 
 upon the wifdom and grace of the Revealer. 
 \^ former difpenfations it might be expeded, 
 that we fliould find prophecies relating to the 
 lafi^ which had feme obfcurity ; and only va- 
 niflied upon the accomplifhment of them. 
 Hence it is, that one oF the New Tellament 
 writers, upon taking a review of the virtuous 
 influence that prior revelations had had upon 
 good men, yet adds, that they had not received 
 
 I the 
 
6 The DoBrine of Redemption, 
 
 the promife^ or feen it in its mofl clear and ex- 
 tenfive point of view, God having provided^ 
 or forefeenfome better Thing for us ; that they 
 without jis fould not be piade perfeB^ _ Heb. xi. 
 39, 40. Hence Chriflians are faid, with open 
 J ace, to behold as in a glafs the glory of the Lord ! 
 the eye has the ucmoft afliftance given it, that 
 this ftate will admit of.— And of the perfpicuit^. 
 of. this revelation, mention is made in antient 
 prophecy ; the way-far ing-men^ thd Fools ^ that 
 is, perfons cither of very fmall natural capacity,' 
 or perfons who had been, joolifh^ di [obedient y 
 and deceived, under the corruptions of natural 
 oc revealed religion ; men, tho\fools, fjouldiwt 
 err. And that fuch {hould be the increafe of 
 light, .and the means of knowledge, that all 
 men fiotdd know the Lord from the leaf to the 
 greateft. 
 
 Accordingly, when the bleffed Jefus addrefles 
 the Jews, in a manner that intends to (hew the 
 benefit v^bich hisdodlrine was calculated to im- 
 part to men, he calls it, the light I Light is 
 come into the world. And that he was the wav, 
 and the truth, and the UJe, 
 . Thus evident is it, that if we allow the New 
 Teflament Writings to be the laft and finiOicd 
 revelation of the mind and will of God, con- 
 cerning man in this ftate, or that will be made 
 to him during this ilate, it will follow, that 
 there can be ?20 ohfcurity in any of its dodlrines, 
 in which the prefent inltrudion of man is con- 
 cerned. Bat the death of jejiis Chrijl is often 
 
 reprefented 
 
plain and intelligible as important , Sec. y 
 
 reprefented as an event in which man has an 
 important concern ; and not only fo, but as an 
 event that prophecy 2ind facrijice foretold and pre-* 
 figur'd. 
 
 § II. The Death of Chriji mufl: not only have 
 ^ plain and inteiligihle do<9:rine relative to man, 
 as far as he is concerned in it, but it muft be 
 perfedly confident with the moft exalted and 
 perfect Ideas that man can form of God. One 
 of which Ideas is this, namely, that he is abfo- 
 lutely unchangeable in his nature, or perfections. 
 See John iv. 24. viii. 44,. 46. Rom. iii. 4. 
 JIeb,\\. 18. Jam, i. 17. It cannot then be, 
 that any notions which men have formed con- 
 cerning the death of Chrift, repugnant to the 
 idea of his unchangeablenefs can be juil; or right 
 notions of this event. But all fuch reprcfenta- 
 tion of it, as appeafing, propitiating or recon- 
 ciling, an unappeafed, an unpropitious, an irre- 
 conciled God, does imply <:i;^«_g-(? in Deity ; and 
 of confcquence, deftroys the moft perfed: and 
 adoreable idea we can form of our Maker. But 
 nothing can be more abfard than the imagina- 
 tion, that the death of Chrift, can have any 
 fuch refpe(5t to Deity as to imply a change in 
 his nature, will, or perfedion. Neither does 
 the New Teftament ever .reprefent the Death of 
 Chrift as reconciling God to Men, but as re^* 
 conciling men to God, Ro?n. v. 8. i Cor. v, 
 18, 19. I John iv. 10. John iiu 16. and num- 
 bers of other Paftages, 
 
 § III. The 
 
8 7be DoBrine of Redemption, 
 
 § III. The Death of Chrijl muft have a doc- 
 trine arifmg from it, not only plain and intel- 
 ligible, fo far as it concerns man, and every way 
 confiftent with the abfolute unchangeablenefs 
 of God, but it muil alfo be perfedly confifleht 
 with God's moral government ; and therefore, 
 cannot be intended to relax or weaken the obli- 
 gation men are under to moral reBitude. See 
 the fermon on the mount j all the inftrud;ions 
 of Jefus, and of his Apoftles ; particularly, 
 Mattb.v. jy, 1 8, God's being unchangeable 
 m his being, nature, and will, muft lead us to 
 conclude, that no one of his appointments, can 
 in the leaft alter the moral obligations of any of 
 his creatures. Nay, fuch is the nature of truth, 
 or of moral obligation, that it muft be eternally 
 immutable, and cannot alter at the pleafure of 
 any being. For altho' it was at the goodpka- 
 Jure of God, that he brought man into being, 
 yet it was not in his power to make him rea- 
 fonable and intelligent^ and capable of moral 
 charader, without the obligations of reafon, 
 intelligence, and truth. Or, he could not make 
 a creature, the produce of his own perfed: wif- 
 dom, power and goodnefs, and at the fame 
 time fet him free from the iirft obligations of a 
 creature to its Creator. It could not then be in 
 the power of God, or in his pleafure, to make 
 any pofitive appointment, that fhall remove, 
 or abate, or leifen the force of moral obliga- 
 tion on man^ confidercd as an accountable be* 
 
plain and intelligible cs import ant, tzc. 9 
 
 iiig. The death of Chrift cannot then be an 
 e\ent, pre-orduined of God, that can, in the 
 ieaiT-, weaken man's cbLgation to moral recti- 
 tude. For, 
 
 § IV. If the three foregoing premifTes can be 
 fbppcrted, or be allov/ed as firll-principies, then 
 it will alio appear an evident truth, that the 
 obedience^ '■oiriue^ or piety exprefled in the death 
 cf Chrift, cannot, in the eye of truth, or in ihe 
 ellimate of the God of truth, be regarded as any 
 other s obedience, virtue or piety ; but only as 
 his whofe death exprelTcd fuch obedience, virtue 
 or piety.— All fuch notions therefore, which re- 
 prefent the imputation of that obedience, virtue 
 or piety, as the obedience, ^c. of another, or as 
 iraiisfij'able to another, are falfe, and incapable 
 of defence. For fo Ions as there is an eiTentiaL 
 eternal, unalterable difference between truth and 
 falfehood, fo long it will be impoHible that the 
 God of truth, can reckon that aSiion or fuffer-- 
 ifig mine, in which another perfon was alone 
 concerned, and of the virtue or piety of which, 
 that fingle perfon can alone be conicious.--Nor 
 is it poilible that the virtue, merit, or rewardi- 
 bility of the adlion or fntrering, of any one be- 
 ing, can become the virtiie, riierit, or rewardi- 
 biiity of, another, whofe adion or fuffering it 
 was not : for to fuppofe this, is to fiippole a 
 change in the nature and relation of things : for- 
 afmuch as the virtue and rewjrdibiiity of 
 an a(ftion, would not remain relative to the 
 sciion. or to him who performed it, but to 
 
 B -another , 
 
1 o The Do^irine of Redemption^ 
 
 another, who had no confcioufnefs at all of per- 
 forming the adtion, but who plainly perceived 
 it was not his adtion, but the aftion of another. 
 
 § V. The final reward of good men, with 
 that gift of God, eternal life^ cannot then be 
 confidered, as the reward of Chrifl's death and 
 obedience'; for as much as this would be to 
 confound and deftroy the relation of things : be- 
 caufe re'ward would be conferred as the refult 
 of arbitrary willy and not regulated by truth or 
 reafon, or the relation of things ; and the rea- 
 fon of the reward would then as well extend to 
 one man as to another. For if the death of 
 Chrift be confidered as the reafon of the reward, 
 the virtue of one man, and the vice of another 
 man makes no difference. But a Being who 
 confers reward on one man, on that reafon, may 
 as well confer it on another man, on the fame 
 reafon. So that it is but fiippofing God to be 
 as iveak as he is arbitrary, in receding from 
 the relation of things, and we may be alTured, 
 that his making the death of Chrift, the reafon 
 of his conferring eternal-life on any one man, it 
 may as well become the reafon of his conferring 
 eternal life upon another. But if it fhould be 
 faid, that the virtue and piety of one man 
 makes it more fit, that God fliould confer the 
 gift of eternal-life upon him, than it ever can 
 be, that he (hould confer the fame favour on 
 another who is virions and impious, then it will 
 * follow, that the reafon of conferring eternal-life, 
 
 does 
 
plain and intelligible as important y Sec. 1 1 
 does not lie in the death of Jefus, but in the 
 virtue and piety of men, which conftitute the 
 Jitnefs, For if God regards fitnefs in beftowing 
 his favours, then he is governed by trtith j but 
 if he does fo, then the r^^/o« of conferring eter- 
 nal-life, muft lie in the fubjed: on which it is 
 conferred, and not in another, who is not the 
 fubjedt. 
 
 But God is a God of truth as well as o^ mer^ 
 cy, and his holinefs will not fuffer him to vio- 
 late truth in the conferring of his favours ; there- 
 fore he muft regard perfonaljitnefs or unjitnefs : 
 and if fo, then eternal-life cannot be conferi-ed 
 by him on any man on account of Chrift's death, 
 or of his obedience, as the reafon of it. More- 
 over, eternal-life, conferr'd on man, cannot be 
 the purchafe of Chrift's death j becaufe it is the 
 gift of Gq^,— Death is the wages of fin, but 
 eternal-life is not called the wages of Chrift's 
 death, Rom. vi. 23. No j but it is the ^//? of 
 God, the effect of y'rf'^ favour.— But if the pur- 
 chafe, or wages of Chrift's death, there would 
 then have been a price paid to God for it : which 
 fingle confideration would deftroy the grace and 
 favour of it ; it could no longer be the gift of 
 God.- -Moreover, this gift is truly faid to be, 
 in Chrijl Jefus our Lord.—^wi then, this does 
 by no means infer, that it is lefs the gift of 
 God, becaufe conferred thro' the Mediation of 
 Chrift.--The gift reaches us, as it is the refult 
 of our being raifed from the dead, which is to 
 be effefled by our Lord Jefus Chrift ; and with 
 B 2 great 
 
e> 
 
 1 2 I'he Do^rine of Rademption^ 
 
 great propriety, eternal-life is laid to be the 
 
 gift of God, in or by Jefus Chrift. 
 
 This gives a grand opening into the next pro- 
 pofition, viz, 
 
 § VJ. The death of Ckrift^ as the dodrine of 
 it lies in the New Tcflament, muli: be an event 
 of great importance to mankind. 
 
 We are now to examine into the 7-ecfon of 
 the death of Chrift, and in what refpe(5ls man 
 may be faid to receive advantage by it. And 
 in doing this, we {hall endeavour to keep clear 
 of all prejudices from human fchemes ; pay no 
 manner of regard to any human authorities ; 
 bui pi;rfue the direcftions of Revelation, and fol- 
 low no other light b'Jt that, as far as reafon 
 will enable, to find out the fenfe and meaning 
 of the doctrine. 
 
 Re A' ON I. The reafon of the death of Ch rift, 
 appears, by revelation to be, the death of man. 
 In the hiftory of the firfi-human-pair, Gen, iii. 
 15—20. the fentence upon the firit offence, 
 is death , dufi thou art^ and unto diifl thou fhalt 
 ?v/z<!r«. --Death muft take place upon Adam and 
 all his defcendants, in order to regulate their 
 d'clires and aiicdtions towards fepjfitive enjoy- 
 ments, which was threatned to Adam even in 
 his paradifaical ftate, Gen.\\. 17. '^o \\\2X death 
 was not excluded from the idea of man in his 
 flate of innocency : for he was told, that in the 
 day that he eat of the fruity he fbould Jiirely die. 
 
 His 
 
plain and intelligible as import ant ^ &c. 1 3 
 
 His eating confirm'd the fentence, and man is 
 removed from the tree of life.- -yf</(777? becomes 
 the parent of a race of mortal creatures. So 
 that as the natural head, or common father of 
 men, ^7/ are faid to^^w, that is, in the common 
 language of the Jews, to die in him : for (ojin 
 is put for the confequence of fin, Gen. iv. y. 
 God fays to Cain, if thou dofl not well, /^« 
 lietb at the door, i. e. the demerit of fin : the 
 doing not iceil, was the fin ; what awaited the 
 not dcnng well, is the demerit^ or confequence 
 of it. So Gen. xix. \^. The Angds bid Lot 
 haften out of Scdcm, left he beconfumed in the 
 iniquity of the city, i. e. in the punifiment of 
 the city's fin or iniquity. Lev. xx. 20. And if 
 a man lie with his uncle's wife, he hath un- 
 covered his uncle's nakednefs ; they jloall bear 
 their Jin.--YlQ\v is this to be born ? Why, they 
 jl:all die childlefs. Here fin intends, in the very 
 letter of this law, piinifiment. Again, the chil- 
 dren of Ifrael are threatned upon their idolatries, 
 that they fiiall bear their iniquities forty years. 
 Numb. xiv. 34. 
 
 Thefe are pafiages very fuflicient to (liew the 
 13 fe of the term, fn, or iniquity ; and prove that 
 it did fignify very ufually in the Jewiih idiom, 
 the demerit or confequence of fin. And in this, 
 and no other fenfe can all men be faid to have 
 finned in Adam, fee Rom. v. 12. as by one man 
 fin entered into the world, and death by fin 3 
 and fo death hath pafTed upon all men, for that 
 all have finned, that is, died in Adam, or be- 
 2 come 
 
14 7/6^ DoBnne of Redemption, 
 
 come mortal in him. So that, the fin by which 
 death entred, or came upon all men, was the 
 fingle offence, of a iingle, individual man, A- 
 dam ; and cannot therefore, with truth, be af- 
 firm 'd of more than one.—MX the defcendants 
 of Adam, have, to a man, been incapable of 
 his peifonal guilt in the one offence, that con- 
 iiim'd the fentence of mortality, [or, if yoa 
 will, gave it place in fad:,] forafmuch as no 
 one of his family appear to have begun their 
 exigence, when Adam eat the forbidden fruit ; 
 and many of Adam's defcendants, who have 
 been fubjeded to death, have never been ca- 
 pable of any fin at all. For example, thofe in- 
 fants who have died before they could put on 
 moral charader. 
 
 All, finning in Adam, muff intend, all be- 
 coming fubjed to mortality in Adam. And 
 with this agrees, i Cor, xv. 22. As in Adam 
 all die. 
 
 That the death of all men, through the of- 
 fence of one, is the reafon of the death of Chrift, 
 feems evidently to be the true ftate of the cafe, 
 from all the revelations. 
 
 So, if the promife, made to our firfl: parents, 
 has any intelligible meaning, 'viz. that the feed 
 of the woman [hould bruife the head of the fer~ 
 pent. Gen. iii. 15. it mud intend this recovery 
 from death, as in this lies the weight of the 
 Sentence, ver. 1 9. For dujl thou art, and unto 
 diijl thou fialt return.— In confirmation of which 
 dodtrine of man's recovery from death, the 
 
 language 
 
plain and intelligible as important , Sec, 1 5 
 
 language of all the facrifoes of flain beafts, ap- 
 pears to have typified or fhadowed-out zfacri- 
 Jice that (hould deftroy the force and dominion 
 of death, and remove it from the human-fami- 
 ly. The ceafing of facrifice, bloody facrifice 
 among Jews and Gentiles, upon the univerfal 
 fpread of the Gofpel, feems to confirm this 
 opinion of facrifices. And the opinion has not, 
 that 1 have ever read or heard, been confuted, 
 or expofed to contempt. 
 
 Moft certainly this is the dodrine our blefled 
 Lord gives of his own death. He fays, he gives 
 hisjiejhfor the lije of the world. And that 
 he gives his life a ranjbmfor many^ comp. 'John. 
 vi. chap. Matth. xx. 28. And the phrafe St. 
 PWhas thus put, i T^im. ii. 6. ivho gave his 
 life a ranfomfor all. And farther, Jejus him- 
 felf teaches concerning his mediation, that he is 
 appointed of the Father to raife the dead^ and 
 to become the refurreBion and the life. As the 
 Father hath life in himfelf fo hath he given to 
 the Son to have Life in himfelf 5 and has given 
 him power to raife the dead-, ay ; all the dead. 
 See fohn v. from 21—30. comp. ch. xi. 25. 
 In a word, Jefus has taught no other dodtrine 
 concerning his own death, that gives us the 
 reafon of it, but that it is the appointed way to 
 his becoming the refurredion and life to the hu- 
 man family. 
 
 And the reajon will appear not only from the 
 analogy that St. Vaul has obferved between the 
 one offence of one man, and death reigning by 
 
 one ; 
 
1 6 The DoStrine of Redemption^ 
 
 one } and the one a(ft of obedience of one man, 
 and jaAification of life taking place in conle- 
 quence thereof, Rom.s. it;— 20. but it far- 
 ther appears from this confideration, viz. 
 
 Re AS. II. God made man, at firft, by his 
 m:Drd^ the Logos ^ and put him upon trial ; in 
 which ftate he fuffered death to take place : it 
 feems therefore perfedly confifcent with infi- 
 nite wifdom, that the. fame word, the Lo(ro< 
 fhould take fiem, in order to explain and open 
 the divine purpole .with regard to ihQ recovery 
 of men from the grave. By this, ^ perfmal 
 dominion over death is afcertained, in him who 
 is faid to be the Refurredion and the Life! 
 and this, in the charader of a rcfioring head. 
 •An carneft of // was given, in confequence of 
 his own i"efiirre6tion, in the many bodies of the 
 feints which arofe^ and appeared to many in Je- 
 riifalem^ Matth. xxvii. 52, 53. And by many 
 ^{intecedent 2.0i.i of power which he exerted, equal 
 Xo raifing the dead, during his perfonal mini- 
 ilry ; and by the communicating of equal 
 poivers to his apoftles and miniilers after his af- 
 cenfion j which proofs of his capacity, and of 
 the great defignof his million, are inconteftibly 
 Ih'ong and convincing. . 
 
 Re AS. II!.. Neither is there any thing in the 
 doctrine of. Chrift's death, as it lies in the re- 
 velation, but what is worrhy oi all ^acceptation! 
 It is perfect! V v/ell adapted :o the embrace and 
 
 app! obation 
 
 I 
 
plain and Intelligible as hnportant^ &c. 17 
 
 approbation of all men. And that it is not the 
 univerfal mean of light and knowledge, is 
 becaufe men have not been content with the 
 plaimiefs of the dod:rine ; but have made it a 
 myftical^ incredible thing, and fo quite un- 
 worthy the acceptation of any reafonable man. 
 But as it is in the New Teftament, it is a 
 dod:rine worthy the acceptation of ^// men, as 
 men of all nations and ages have had fome glim* 
 merings of hope, that this prefent^ is not the 
 beft and moft perfect condition and ftate of hu- 
 man exigence. But fince ages are run oft with- 
 out any recovery of the {lumbering generations 
 of men to life, it was worthy the wifdom of 
 God, to appoint this opening of life and of 
 immortality in the lafl ages of the world, that 
 men might have an affurance that God is not 
 ilack concerning his promife 5 nor will he ceafe 
 to be the God of Abraham^ of Jfaac^ and of 
 jfacob. 
 
 The reafon of the death of Chrlfi:, appears 
 then to be the dominion which death has alien- 
 ed over the whole human family. 
 
 Jfit {houid be afked, why could not the 
 death of holy tnen, p7'ophets^ and ii)ftru5lGri of 
 mankind, who bore teftimony to truth by their 
 bloody why could not thefe bear a fufficient 
 tefTiiiiony ^—Jefui fliall make the reply in pa- 
 rable, Mattb. xxi. 33 to the end, comp. Mar. 
 xii. 1--12. alfo Matth.yXx. 38--46. where he 
 defcribeth God as fending his fervants which 
 men treated ill, and dcftroyed, and at iafl /'/; 
 
 C fin. 
 
1 8 'The DoBri?ie of Redemption, 
 
 Jon. — And in order that the death of Chrift 
 might become a propitiation or an atonement to 
 the minds of men, it was needful that his fili" 
 ation fliould appear, that God fhould bear wit- 
 nefs to him, as his fon, in the moft peculiar 
 fenfe : forafmuch as fome inftrnment feems as 
 requifite to be employed to raife man from the 
 dead, as to form or make him at lirft, from 
 his original nothing, or of the duft ! And it 
 would not have given fo much fatisfad^ion to 
 the minds of men, if this high honour of aifert- 
 ing dominion over death and the grave, fhould 
 have been conferred on any one of the human 
 race, a mere man, born in the run of ordinary 
 generation.— Nor would it have been free from 
 perplexing enquiries, had it been an angel-, that 
 is, on the fuppolition that the revelation had in- 
 formed us of mimbers of thefe. We fhould 
 have been for afking, why this angel ? what 
 has he done ? why not another ? 
 
 Which, at once fliews, the reafonahlenejs of 
 Chrifl's being the appointed head of life, and 
 reftorer of it, as we difcern it was in confequence 
 of a fcene of the moft divine behaviour, which 
 exprefled obedience, and unfailing piety even 
 unto the death— and the whole undertaken from 
 a moft refined benevolence, or an iinpar allelic d 
 compaffion to a race of creatures, under the do- 
 minion of death ; and by the moft exalted cha- 
 rader ! the Jon of God I 
 
 Reas. IV. 
 
plain and intelligible as important, &c. 1 9 
 
 Re AS. IV. This will add a farther reaibn 
 for the death of Chrift, as it reprefents the 
 juftice of the divine Government, in fubjedting 
 the human family to death j lince he could 
 admit of the death, of not only the innocent^ 
 but even of a perfed:ly virtuous character : nay, 
 could fuffer him to undergo the moft painful 
 death, as it was conned:ed with the moft ex- 
 alted glory 1 fo that men may learn, in the 
 treatment of Jefus, that virtue is the way to 
 happinefs, and that death fhall not be able to 
 cut off, or feparate from the final polTeirion of 
 it. The difference between him and the hu- 
 man family, lay, in its being impoffible that the 
 pains of death ihould hold /6/;;;, any longer than 
 the nuchthemeron^ the part of three days and 
 nights, determin'd by prophecy. Whereas death 
 will hold all thofe men on whom it has feized, 
 excepting thofe who were the trophies of his 
 perfonal refurredlion, till the feafon appointed 
 for the cominp; of Chrift, and the 2;eneral re- 
 furredion, that redemption of the body. The 
 reafon why they, the many arofe, was in fulfil- 
 ment oi prophecy, John v. 25. the hour is coming 
 and now is^ that the dead P^ll hear the 'voice of 
 the Jon of God. Comp. ver. 28, as referring to 
 the general refurredion : For the hour is com- 
 in which ALL that are in their grave, fiall hear 
 his voice ; which feems to intimate, that he 
 fpoke before of the number of the dead that 
 ihould rife, as witnefTes at his own refurredlon, 
 
 C 2 And 
 
20 T/v DoBrine of Redemptkriy 
 
 And their rifing was a teftimony to men, of 
 Chrift's rifing in charaifler of the refurredi- 
 on and the lite, to the human-world. 
 
 Reas. V. Tie renfon of Chrift's death 
 becoming requifite to his putting on the 
 ch;?.rader of the refloring, recovering head of 
 the children of men, is, in that his refurredion 
 from the dead, hy the power of God, gives 
 the fulleil alTurance to men that can be given 
 of his drci?7e-miffiGn.—\i would not have proved 
 his divine character, that he was railed from the 
 dead, merely on account of his unfpotted holi- 
 nefs, or his mod: confummate virtue ; unlefs it 
 had been a truth that he was appointed of the 
 Father to raife the dead This dodrine he had 
 taught of himfelf, and that his death, and his 
 refurredion from the dead on the third day, 
 ihould take place, in confirmaticn of the truth 
 of this very dodrine. But it was impoffible 
 that he fliould have thus rifen from the dead, and 
 {]:;ould Iiave given fljch evidence of his exaltation, 
 that followed his refurredlion, if this had not 
 been a true dodrine which he taught concern- 
 ing himfelf. The teftimony of divine-power 
 would have been given to a LIE ! which is re- 
 pugnant to the known perfedions of Deity. 
 
 Reas. VI, Bejides^ by his r^^/ death, or his 
 adually rejigning his Jpirit i)2to the hands of 
 God, whilll on the crofs, his refurredtion could 
 only take place from the energy of God, to 
 
 whom 
 
plain and intelligible as important^ &c. 2 1 
 
 whom he had committed his fpirit : and there- 
 fore, there is fuch a degree of vigour and force 
 in the evidence, that muft eternally afford a 
 reajbn of the event ! which way foever ws 
 view the death of Chrift, confidered as an event 
 jn which man is concerned, we may perceive 
 the wijdom and goodneji of God in the Appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 Reas. VII. God's raifing Jefus from the 
 dead, and giving him glory, was, that our faith 
 and hope might be in God, \ Pet. i. 21. This 
 is -Bifinified reajbn of the death of Chrift ! for 
 as our refurredVion from the dead, depends on 
 the promife of God, and refers to a very future 
 feafon, (o, inafmuch as God has raifed up 
 Chrift from the dead, and given him glory, in 
 confequence of his affuring men that he will 
 himfeif raife all the dead ; fo it is a ground or 
 reafon of om faith in God, with regard to the 
 truth of the dodrine, and our hope of reaping 
 the benefit of ir, in God's own time. And this 
 has great emphajis laid upon it throughout the 
 New Tcflament writings. See again, yo//^?2vi. 33. 
 ** the bread of God, is he who cometh down 
 from heaven, and giveth life to the world, vcr. 
 40. And this is the Father's will that fent me, 
 that every one who feeth the fon, and believeth 
 on him, may have everlafting life ; and I will 
 raife him up at the laft day.— I will come again, 
 and receive you to royfelf, that where I am, 
 
 ye 
 
22 The DoSirine of Redemption^ 
 
 ye may be alfo, John xiv. 3 . Ye believe In 
 God, believe alfo in me, ver. i."— So that faith 
 in God, will exprefs itfelf, in the moft becom- 
 ing manner, among fuch who aie privileged 
 with the Gofpel, in believing on the melTage 
 of his fon. And thus, he that believeth on the 
 fon hath eternal life, i. e. he has the do6trine of 
 eternal life, in the ftrongeft point of light, in his 
 dodrine, yohn iii. 36. or, by believing that Je- 
 fus is the Chrift, the fon of God, men have life 
 thro' his name, /. e. through the power and au- 
 thority which God has given him to reflore men 
 to life, yohn xx. 31. But thejeare writ t en ^ that 
 ye might belie-ve that yefiis is *the Chrifl the fon of 
 God, and that believiiig^ ye might have life thro' 
 his name. This is the end for which the Gofpel 
 was written, or committed to writing. And an 
 end worthy of God, and worthy the regard of all 
 men, to whom the written Gojpel is vouchfafed. 
 
 Here I might remark upon the trifling ob- 
 jed:ion of fome, who have pretended, *' that 
 *' Jefus Chrift never ordered or appointed that 
 " his Gofpel fhould be committed to writing." 
 "Whereas the interefl: of all men, is manifeftly 
 concerned in it ; nothing lefs than men's having 
 hfe in his name ! which is an argument of the 
 fitnefsofits being committed to writing j a rea- 
 fon that no other hiftorv in the world can boafl. 
 
 The advantage then of the dodrine of Chrifl's 
 death, is to confirm ouv faith in God, as a Be- 
 ing that vjiWjufify and fave men, by recover- 
 ing them from death. For this is the complete 
 
 view 
 
pJaiii and intelligible as important, &c. 2 3 
 
 view of mccCsjuJiificatio?!, who have fo beheved 
 in the dodtrine of his fon, the refurrediion and 
 the life, as to conform to the dodrine of his 
 death. 
 
 § VII. This brings us to confider, upon what 
 foundation or reajbn Chrift is to confer Hfe. 
 That he will raife all men from the dead, is the 
 dodlrine of the Gofpel. But then, the confe- 
 quences of fuch refurredlion will not be imi'uer- 
 fally beneficial ; " thofe that have done good 
 " unto the refurreftion of life i and thofe that 
 " have done evil unto the refurredlion of dam- 
 " nation." Johnv, 29. comp, 2 Cor. v. 10. 
 
 It follows, that doing good, will be the qua- 
 lification for life, and for the avoidance of the 
 fecond death -, and doing evil will be attended with 
 damnation, or with the lofs of life. The death 
 of Chrift then confidered as a ranforn for all^ 
 reaches no farther than the recovering to life 
 ^2// the dead, in order to their final judgment : 
 but thofe only can receive the benefit of fuch 
 refurred:ion who have ^6•/6^^Wwf//, and worthy 
 the feveral difpenfations of God towards them. 
 This view of Chrift's death fecures the glory 
 of God's moral government ; jiijiifies him in 
 the admiffion of death to reign for a feafon over 
 all men ; and, at the fame time, recommends 
 the obligation to moral reditude in the mofl 
 forcible manner. 
 
 And to this purpofe, whenever the apoflles 
 2 men- 
 
24 The DoSirine of Redemption^ 
 
 mention the death of Chrift, they ufe it to en- 
 force obedience to God ; either by reprefen:ing 
 the good will of God towards men recommend- 
 ed by it, or the obligation this lays men under 
 to holinefs and virtue. Should I go about to 
 prove this, I muft recite the main docftrine of 
 all the Epiftles. I will only mention one 
 pafTage as a fample, i Pet. ii. 24. ivho his own 
 felf bore our jim in his own body on the tree, 
 that we being dead to Jin ^ fiouldlive to righteouf- 
 nefs. 
 
 If any regard is had to the Context, we fhall 
 perceive, that the apoftle had j aft been exhort- 
 ing Chrijlian fervants or "oajfals, who had infi- 
 del mailers, to exprefs reverence to xhtjroward^ 
 as well as to the good, under their bufFetings ; 
 and he urges the example of Jefus^ who had 
 been moft cruelly ufed by the Jewifi Nation, 
 of which Peter ^ and thofe to whom he wrote 
 made a part ; and therefore he fays, who his 
 own felf bare OURfms. 
 
 § VIII. But (liould it be faid, that many 
 ftrong paftages mention the death of Chrift as 
 tho' it was fomething vicarious^ or in the place 
 of man, or in his Read j that he perfonally bore 
 our fins, and had our iniquities charged upon 
 him : to this I would endeavour a plain and 
 full anfwer. 
 
 I.) We fliould, I am perfuaded, carefully 
 obferve, that no fuch fort of doctrine is to be 
 
 found 
 
plain and inteUigible as tjnportant^ Sec. 25 
 
 found in the Go/pels j wherein we might expect 
 to have found ir, had it been a dod:rine belong- 
 ing to the death of Chrift.— There is indeed 
 one paflage, where an allufion is had to prophe- 
 cy, If. Hii. 4. and what the prophet fays, of a 
 great perfon, the Mefliah's bearing cur griefs., 
 and carrying our Jbr rows, \hQ hiftorian Matthew,. 
 underilands of Jefus's removing the maladies and 
 grievances of men, fee Matth. .viii. 16, 17. 
 and he calls it ^ fulfilment of the prophecy. If 
 then, we may conclude any thing from the au- 
 thoiity of this Evangelift, we may fafely under- 
 ftand all fuch allufions to prophecy, or to facri- 
 fice, that intimate Chrift's bearing our fins in 
 his own body, to fignify his removing thofe 
 evils, that our prefent condition of being is ex- 
 pofed unto. For will any fay, that he became 
 fick himfelf, or received the infection of di- 
 ftemper, or was pofiefled of devils, Vv^hen the 
 hiflorian fays, that in accomplifhment of the 
 prophecy, himfelf took our infirmities and bore 
 our fckneffes f -— comp. i Pet. ii. 24.-— by his 
 Jiripe we are healed, as in confequence of cur 
 following his Jieps^ ver. 21. and thus are refto- 
 red from our wanderings, ver. 25. --- Gods lay- 
 ing upon him the iniquity of us all, can intend no 
 fuch thing, as imputing the crime or demerit of 
 our fin ; but his appointing him, to remove 
 death from all j and every fuch evil, at prefent 
 as may promote the good of mankind, and ad- 
 vance the caufe of moral truth. The prophe- 
 tic expreflion of laying upon him the iniquity of 
 
 D ' us 
 
26 Tbe Do5lrine of Redemption^ 
 
 vs all, if applied to Jefus, from If. liii. 6. muft 
 
 be underltood in fuch a fenfe as St. Matthew has 
 
 undcrftood his taking our infirmities and beari?Jg 
 
 ourficknejjes. 
 
 To fuppofe the death of Chrift as 'vicarious^ 
 or as in the place of man, is ubfurd, becaufe his 
 death was not under the appointment of man. 
 Nor could any man, or all men, have perform- 
 ed the office ^ For the death of Chrift was to 
 be the mean of reftoring life to all men. But' 
 any vicarious perfon, is in the place, to do the' 
 office, and to do it under the appointment of 
 that other whofe vicar ^ or fuhfiitiite he is. And 
 to fuppofe God to appoint his death as vicari- 
 ous^ is the fam.e abfurdity j becaufe this would 
 fuppofe God's placing that thing in the ftead of 
 another thing, between which there is no re- 
 femblance in capacity.— but by his death he is^ 
 to remove the death of all men j therefore it 
 cannot be vicarious. The death of Chrifi does 
 not appear to have been vicarious^ in this view, 
 fcr the death of man ^ as expreiTcd in the fen- 
 tence^ implies in it \\\$, feeing corruption, or re- 
 turning to his original diifi, which God's holy 
 one was not fuffered to do, A5ls ii. 27. Nei- 
 ther could Chrift's death be vicarious, as it has 
 not at all prevented the execution of the fen- 
 tence, but ^// die, and return to their duft, and 
 fee corruption ! even the moft fincere and faith- 
 ful difciples and followers of this Jefus do fo ! 
 ^ht death of Chri/i cannot then be vicarious, 
 or in the place of man ; as it does net prevent 
 
 the 
 
plain and intelligible as important i &c. 27 
 the death of men ; but muft be conlldered, 
 as only the qualification of Jefus, exhibiting to 
 men, and marking out his capacity to raife the 
 dead, or proving his defignation for the office: 
 for he was delivered through or by the offences of 
 men^ and raife d again for their jujlijic at ion r, or, 
 .to give an earneft of their riling from the de^d, 
 that final jaftification of all good men ; who, 
 till then, lie under ^Sx^wageSy or demerit o^ ^m, 
 fee Rom. iv, 25. 
 
 The death of Chrift does not appear to have 
 been vicarious, with refpeft to the j7ioral cha- 
 ra5fer that it exhibited : for tho' it evidenced 
 that he was perfedly free from fin, as it was a 
 free-ioill offering of himfelf, in perfect confi- 
 dence on rXiQ power and veracity of his father, 
 and in full alTurance that the pains and throws 
 of death could not hold him, but that it wotdd 
 make known to him the ways oj life, Ad:s ii. 28* 
 and in confequence of prophecy, was made ne- 
 cejjary to his entrance on his glory, Luke xxiv* 
 26. Yet, his death does not procure a freedom 
 from fin, in any of the children of men ; no, 
 not in the befi: Chrifiians, i John i. 8, 10. but 
 neverthelefs, his death condemns fin in the fleU-), 
 fhews the evil of tranfgreffion, as it was made 
 needful in the appointment of God, to recover 
 men from under the dominion of death, which 
 dominion took place by reafon of fin. And ehis, 
 the whole confiitution of facrifices under the 
 Law of Mofes could not do. So I underfland, 
 Rom, viii. 3. For what foe law could not do, in 
 
 D 2 that 
 
28 T'he Do5irine of Redemption, 
 
 'that it 'was weak thro' the Jlejh^ God fending his 
 own fon^ in the likenefs oj finful jiejlo ^ and Jorfm^ 
 condemned fin in the flejl\ His death does indeed 
 demand that men fhould die unto fin, and live un- 
 to God. In that he died, the juft for the unjuft, 
 that he might bring us to God, i T'et. iii. i8. 
 or, he died, rofe, and revived, that he might 
 be Lord both of the dead and of the living, Ro7n. 
 xiv. 9. And it would be a hafe and blafphe- 
 fnoiis thought, to imagine the death of Chrift 
 vicarious, as relative to God ^ or, that he was 
 God*sJuhfitute in dying for us ; forafmuch as it 
 is impolTible that the Deity can be expofed to 
 any paiTion or fufFering.--He is for ever inca- 
 pable of any paffion, as he is unchangeably 
 perfed. 
 
 To fuppofe God could look upon Chrift as a 
 linner, or as chargeable with any fin of others, 
 is a manifeft contradidlion of his truth, and of 
 the perfection of his nature : fo far is it from 
 beijig any fatisfaSiion to his juftice, or any vin^ 
 dication of the honour of his laws ! — For if 
 God could charge demerit of fin upon an inno- 
 cent and virtuous perfon, "Truth, or the reafon 
 of things would be violated ! and if we fuppofe 
 God fafjying truth, his creatures can be under 
 no moral obligation, from either his example, 
 or authority. Thisfeems to be the unavoidable 
 confequence of men's fuppoiing God, the God 
 of truth, imputing J puttings or charging the 
 demerit of men's fin to the account of Jefus. 
 
 The 
 
plain and intelligible as hnportant^ Sec. 29 
 
 The Go/pels J on the contrary, ever defer ibe 
 God's bearing teftimony to him, as his obedi- 
 ent, well-beloved fon, in whom he was al- 
 ways well pleafed ; which he could not be, if 
 he could ever regard him as a finner, or as 
 chargeable with the demerit of fin ; unlefs, we 
 can fuppofe him well-pleafed wiihjin ; and de- 
 lighting to inflid the demerit of it, upon the 
 moft obedient and holy of his Creation. 
 
 § IX. Or could we fuppofe that Chn^ per- 
 finally bore our fins, and was chargeable with 
 the fm of the whole world ; it would render 
 the great dodlrine of the Goipel a vain and ufe- 
 lefs thing, namely, repentance towards G'od.—- 
 Of what, and for what, fhould men exprefs 
 repentance y and remorfeofmind^ if the fin of the 
 world is imputed or reckoned, in the fight of 
 God, to the account of Jefus ?— It is enough 
 that they can, contrary to reafon and eternal 
 truth, look upon Chrift as chargeable with all 
 their tranfgreflions ! No law fhould henceforth 
 reflrain them ; no rules of moral condud: oblige 
 them j but they fliould take the comfort of lay- 
 ing all their guilt upon Jefus , or take the con- 
 folation that God has done it ! This I can fcarce 
 write down wiihout trembling, tho' it is no 
 jirange dodtrine, much lefs a J^ew one. But 
 could the doftrine of Chriil's death be more 
 horridly perverted by m::rn or devils ? 
 
 Repentmice has no le.ifjnable foundation, if 
 God has or can impute our fins to the charge 
 
 of 
 
3© ; 7he Doctrine of Redemption, 
 
 of Chrift, or inflicft upon him the demerit of 
 them. 
 
 § X. It is faid, Gal. iii. lo, 1 1 . that as many 
 as are of the works of the law are under the curfe : 
 for it is written, curfe d is e'very one that conti- 
 nueth not in all things which are written in the 
 book of the law to do them. But that no man 
 is ji fifed by the law in the fight of God, it is 
 evident ; for thejuft by faith fall live. comp. 
 Rom. i. 17. iv. 15. iii. 20, 21. And hence, 
 it has been fuppofed by fome, that by the fcheme 
 ofthegofpel, men, who pretend to juftificatiorr 
 as the refuit of perfonal obedience, are under a 
 curfe. 
 
 The fenfe of thefe, and other like paflages, 
 cannot intend, in the leaft, to relax man's re- 
 gard to the obedience of the moral law, which 
 is eternal. For this would be to contraditfl the 
 truth of things, as well as the exprefs declara- 
 tion of Jefus, fee § III. They can only intend, 
 that immoral men, who fought iov jujlif cation 
 of life, from the facrifices and offerings of the 
 Mofaic Law, as full atonement for fin, or as 
 the fecurity of future life, were under a cwfe, 
 as the very offerings were themfelves confeilions 
 of guilt. And the letter of the law pronounced 
 a curfe en all fuch who did ?iot cojitinue in all 
 thi?7gs, &CC. Dent, xxvii. 26. who did not con- 
 firm the words of that law, by doing them. But 
 the apoftle fays, ver. 9. in that third chap, of 
 his Epiftle to the GaL That they which are 
 I faith^ 
 
plain and intelligible as important ^ &c. 3 r 
 
 faithy are blejjed with faithful Abraham, If 
 then, the Jfraelites^ under the Mofaic Law, 
 departed frona Abraham's faith, and expected 
 tobejuflified in virtue of their facrifices, tho* 
 they continued not to do the works of the law, 
 they were curfed by the very letter of the law.— 
 For as Abraham's faith juftified him, only as it 
 led him to every ad: of obedience to the di- 
 vine will, fo it was impoffible, that his pofte- 
 rity could be juftified by neglecting moral obli- 
 gation, and trufting to their facrifices and atone- 
 ments. Thofe works of the law, would leave 
 them under a curfe : forafmuch as they could 
 not be inflituted of God, in order to his dif- 
 penfing with the letter of that law which he 
 had given them 3 the jufi by faith fiall live. 
 
 No man can look into the words of the law, 
 in the xxviith of Deut. from the 15 to 26 ver. 
 and then declare, that men could be juftified 
 by facrifice, or even By the mercy of God, 
 who did not confirm ^he words of that law to 
 do them, unlefs he can fuppofe that God 
 could juftify idolaters ; or difobedient and rebel- 
 lious children ; or fuch as removed their neigh- 
 bour's land-mark ; or who made the bUnd to wan- 
 der ; or fuch, who lay with their father s wives 5 
 or thofe who lay with beajis I &c. So that works 
 oppofed io faiths muft, in the language of the 
 apeftie, intend fuch as fuperfeded a regard to 
 moral obligation, which a faith in God, that is 
 a juftifying faith, will ever imply in it. But 
 the Jewifj Nation had nianifeftly gone into a 
 
 vile 
 
3 2 The DoSirine of Redemptkn^ 
 
 vile and hafe fubftitution of offering andy2zm* 
 fice, in the place oi judgment^ mercy zn^ faith, 
 fee Matth. xxiii. 23.— They had excluded that 
 faith in God, which juftifies only as it is attend- 
 ed with judgment y or jujlice^ and mercy. 
 
 This view of the Jewifi t^ation, will give 
 a key to the underftanding of St. PW, when 
 he oppofes wori('j io faith, in bar of nien's jufti- 
 fication. As many as are of the works of the 
 law, are under a curfe. 
 
 It muft then be a truth, that as faith in 
 Abraham, leading him to conftant obedience 
 to moral obligation, was imputed to him for 
 righteoufnefs : fo faith in him who raifed up 
 Jefus from the dead, in like manner influencing 
 our obedience, will be imputed to us for righte- 
 oufnefs. See the argument, Rom, iv. j6. to 
 the end. 
 
 Or, may we not underfland, as many as are 
 of the works of the law, to be under a curfe, to 
 be fuch only who do thofe works which the 
 law condemneth, 'viz. idolaters, rebellious chil- 
 dren, murderers, and adulterers -, in which fenfe 
 the apoftle muft be underftood,. i Tim. i. 9. 
 the law is 7iot made for [againft] a righteous man, 
 hut for the lawlejs and df obedient ; for , the un- 
 godly andforfinners. Sec. But the law cannot 
 put under a curfe, men who conform to it j or 
 upright and righteous men, and fuch there are, 
 or elfe the apoftle cannot be underftood, corop. 
 Rom. iv. 15. 
 
 The 
 
plain arid ihteUiglhk as important^ &c, 3^ 
 
 The Law curfed none but wicked men. Even 
 the Mofaic edition of it 5 for it bleffed ihcm. that 
 Were righteous, merciful and holy. It miiif then 
 intend, that thofe only were curfed who Were! 
 wicked, and who expeded that facrificeS and 
 offerings would atone for their guilt; And the 
 moral law muO: ever remain the rule of right 
 or oi juflification to men, whether they enjoy 
 the Gofpel or hot, comp. Rom, ii. 13. with 
 ^om. iii. 26. Tit. ii. 14. iii. 8. 
 
 But as the Mofaic Edition provided no mea- 
 fure of atoningi or removing the curfe of the 
 law from fuch who had incurred the curfe ; 
 the dodrine of the Gofpel promifeth pardon 
 and life, even to thefe if they become penitent. 
 See I Cor. vi. 9, 10, 11. Tit. iii. 3, 4, 5. — if 
 they return to their obedience and become per- 
 fonally righteous^ who before were unrighteous, 
 
 § XI. But Chriil: is faid to be made a curfe 
 for us, Gal. iii. 13. 
 
 How is this ? Truly no more than as in the 
 language of the law, every one was curfdd ih^it 
 hung on a tree. ^tcDeut. xx\. 22, 23.— For 
 he that is hanged, is accurfed of God^ or the 
 curfe of God. -'^Miihtn, it mufl be a man who 
 had committed fin worthy of fuch a death. 
 And thefe were the blafphemtrs and idolaters^ 
 whom, after they had Aoned, the Jews hung 
 up, not on a living tree, but on a piece of dead 
 timber, faflened in the earth. Inftances we 
 have. Numb. xxv. 4. and probably Achan, 
 
 E ■ >/>. 
 
34 ^^ DoSifine of 'Redemption , 
 
 yojh. vil 25. yop, viii. 29. and others.— But 
 does it hence follow, that Chriftj becaufe of 
 his death, was made of God a curj'e.^ \\\ any 
 fuch fenfe ? Could he abhor him as a blaf- 
 phemer or an idolater ? It is im.pious and blaf- 
 pLemous to fuppofe it ! How tlien was he 
 made a curfe for Us ? vstz^ vf^uv kccIccdo,. Me- 
 thinks iht prepojition may be vtudtvcd^- upon, or 
 over. So it feems to fignify when it governs 
 the fame cafe as it does here\ fee i Cor. xv. 29. 
 elfe why are they then baptized, Jor-, over-, or 
 upon the dead ? The reafoning of St. P^iil 
 would lead one to fuch a rendring in this place^ 
 ^ewg made a curfe over, ov upoji us :— that the 
 blejjing of Abraham m.ight come upon the Gen- 
 tiles, thro' Chriil Jefus,— Here, the 'bleffmg is 
 put as the produce of Chrifl's being made a 
 turfe. And how is this, but by the guilt of 
 his death being revenged on the Jewifh Nation ? 
 which this apoftle has largely infifted upon, in 
 the ixth, xth and xith chapters of his Epiitle to 
 Romans. 
 
 It is certain, he could not be aca'irfed of 
 God, --or made a curfe of God, any farther than 
 God permitted him to undergo the mod igno-^ 
 minious death, which tiie Law had appointed 
 for the greateil: malefadtors. And altho' wicked 
 men treated him as accur fed \—fmltten and for^ 
 fakcn of God, and ajfllcled ; notwithftanding 
 this was the fcnfe of the Jewidi Nation, in ful- 
 filment of the prophecy, fee If liii. 4. yet it 
 \vouid ill-become nien, who would judgt: ac- 
 cording 
 
plain and intelligible as important y 6cc. 3 ^ 
 
 cording to truth, to look upon him in any fuch 
 light : as eaiily could God ceafe to be God, as 
 he could treat his only begotten fon, or his well- 
 beloved-fon, as an cut-caji^ or an accurfed thing ! 
 It dilcovered the amazing patience, and adore- 
 able forbearance of God, that he fuffered a na- 
 tion thus to treat the moft amiable and divine 
 charader that ever appeared in it. And even- 
 tually the curfe of God came upon the Jewifh 
 nation, for their fin and infidelity ; and by its 
 deJiru5fio?7y the evidence of the truth of the 
 Gofpel, was made illuftrious to the Gentile na- 
 tions. 
 
 And yet, as under the Law, without Jhed- 
 ding of bhod there was no remijjion^ Heb. ix. 22. 
 fo Chrift was once offered to bear the fins of 
 many, ver. 28. And the blood of Jefus Chrifi 
 is faid to cleanfe us from all fin, i yohn i. 7. 
 and he is i\\q propitiation for our fins, ch. ii. 2, 
 
 § XII. Should we attend with accuracy to, 
 the Mofaic inftitution of facrifices, we fliall be 
 able to difcern, that they, as an external ho- 
 mage, were an open profeffion of refuge, which 
 the penitent took in the mercy, of God,— And at 
 the yearly expiation, the high-prieft flood in 
 the holy of holies, where the mercy-feat was 
 placed, with the blood of the facrifices of the 
 whole people, and without fliedding of blood, 
 they had no promife of remiflion. The death 
 of Chrifi therefore did ttiore than anfwer to, 
 thefe fhadowy reprefentations, fince by virtue 
 
 E 2 gf 
 
3^ The Doifrtne of Redemption ^ 
 
 of it, he entred the heavens, as the Reftorer of 
 life to the whole human family ; and by that 
 one facrifice for ever perfecfteth all who are 
 holy. 
 
 His blood then cleanfeth from Jin y as in con- 
 fequence of it, he deftroys ^«?<^/-6, makes its do- 
 minion void,r— His blood cleanfeth from all jin 5 
 as it enables him to remove the lafl marks of 
 Jiriy that remain on the human family : and fo 
 is he faid, }ieb, ix. to appear the fecond time, 
 without fin ^ i. e. any marks of mortality in him^- 
 felf, and by removing all mortal fymptoms from 
 every of the pious dead, 'without /in^ death, un- 
 to Jahation, Heb. ix. 28. 
 
 Thus he becomes the propitiatory, or mercy^ 
 fciit, thro' faith in his bloody as we difcern the 
 con:pafs of the divine-redtitudes, including the 
 moll certain profpeds of men's deliverance from 
 death. This is the rd-z^^^/o^, or loofening from 
 the bands of death, by which men are held, 
 Horn. iii. 15, 16. [-ara^go-zf] the term rendred 
 remifjion here, fignifies relaxing or loofening 
 from chains or bands. 
 
 § XIII. That the dodrlne of Chrill's death, 
 or of his blood, can extend no farther, than a 
 difplay of the good-will of God to Men, in 
 not imputing to them their trefpalTes -, but re^ 
 moving; death from all men who are penitent 
 and pious ; the above obfervations are intended 
 to fct foith^-'-Not that the auihor of thefe 
 
 remarks 
 
plain and intelligible as important^ &c, 37 
 
 remarks pretends to be infallibly right -, but 
 will ever be open to conviction, and thankful 
 for any farther light. He doubts not, but all 
 who have any intereft in myftery^ will load this 
 Ejay with reproaches ;— and that great Num- 
 bers of pious and good people, who have long 
 imagined, that there is fomething in the death 
 of Chrift, that is a fort of atonement^ price or 
 fatisf action paid to Deity, on account of which 
 man is admitted to the Hope of life ; that thefe 
 will have fome prejudices againft this EfTay. 
 But, 
 
 To thefe he freely fays, that he cannot per- 
 ceive an atonement made to God by the death 
 of Jefus : but he can conceive of it as an a- 
 toncment made to the confciences of men ; as 
 it gives them the vioji reconciling profpeds of 
 future being ! And he would farther obferve, 
 that tho' we are faid to be bought with a price ^ 
 I Cor, vi. 20. vii. 23. yet, we are not to con- 
 fider this figurative, alluiive manner of fpeech, 
 as literally true ; but to intend the obligation 
 that the death of Jefus lays Chriflian-men un- 
 der, even as much as can be conceived from 
 the moil beneficial contract that we could have 
 made. The/r/Vf, if confidered as paid to God, 
 has no fcnfe in it j becaufe we are faid at the 
 fame time to be purchafed FOR him. Te are 
 bought with a price ; therefore glorify God with 
 your body^ and yciir Jpirit, which are God's ; 
 his unalieiiable property. The price cannot be 
 
 paid 
 
3:8 I'he DoBrine of Redetnpt-ionu, 
 
 mid to the devil^ or to him that hath thp 
 power of death ! This fuppoiition would be 
 ^liOQking--— it follows, that as nothing that 
 "phriftj^ or any being could do, could poffibly 
 give the Deity any farther right than he ever 
 had to us ; fo the expreliion can only intend, 
 that the death of Chrift opens to us a farther 
 '^^iew of the eternal demands of divine love 
 and mercy 1 and was fo far from making God 
 iporc, propitious^ or giving to him any new and 
 l^efh claim.s upon us, that it only ?72a?iifelled\\iQ 
 grace and love of the Father, • which had ever 
 been invariably the fame ; and which now 
 9penly confirms and, eilablilhes the promifes of 
 ijiercy. 
 
 It will therefore be no difagreeable thing, to. 
 pious men, if they can perceive that the Author 
 .]^as been endeavouring to remove the rubbish, 
 ^ncj; difjjpate the clouds that have been thrown 
 911; the dodlrine of Chrift's death. And tho' 
 he fliou'd have millaken the fcheme, they 
 \^,hQ think he has been honefi, will allow that 
 he has a right to better information. And as 
 tp. thofe who think fo, and are. able tp- correal- 
 his. errors, or miilakes, he is, perfuaded, that 
 jjot only himlclf, but the interefls of religion, 
 make a demand of luch im^onpation, 
 
 Fi?tijlh\ if his reafoiiing (liould prove juft 
 and conclufive, then the doctrine oi redemption ^ 
 ^^ pf the atonmcnt^ is an important do6trine, 
 
plain and intelligible as important^ Set. 59 
 
 as he has (hewn it to be a plai?j, eafy^ ihtelli^ 
 gihle one. For this is a tirfl: principle with 
 him, that every dodrine m u ft be plain ^ inpro- 
 |)Ortion to its u'fe and importance. 
 
 May the God of truth protedl ana profper 
 this undertakings fifi^ ^^ ^^ i^ calculated 
 to promote the truths as it is in J ejus, -^d 
 prays the Author, 
 
 FINIS.