LXX. REDEMPTION BY CHRIST, Gal. iii. 13. Chrift hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us. THE law, which fubjects all mankind to a curfe, is the moral law That is principally intended in the paffage before usaIt remains unalterable in its demands of obedience or punishment But in the gospel a remedy is provided for tranfgreffors This remedy is proposed to us in the text- I. Clear up fome points relative to redemption The most important truths of Chriftianity are often denied But we must be established in them, if we would receive the bleffings of redemption We fhould know clearly, 1. What is that "curfe" from which we are redeemed [Many fuppofe it to be annihilation, or at moft a temporary punishment But the Scriptures reprefent it in a far different lightWe cannot precifely declare the exact quality of itIt confifts, however, partly in banishment from God And partly in inconceivable anguish both of foul and body Its duration certainly will be eternal— It will continue coeval with the happinefs of the righteous Neither the curfe fhall ceafe, nor finners ceafe to endure it -] 2. Who it is that redeems us from it [It is thought by many that we must deliver ourselves by repentance, &c. But It is that law, from the curfe of which Abraham and the Gentiles were redeemed, ver. 1o.; and confequently, though the ceremonial law be not entirely excluded, the text must be understood principally in reference to the moral law. b 2 Theff. i. 9. Luke xvi. 23, 24. d Matt. xxv. 46. aiánov is used respecting both. Our Lord repeats this no lefs than five times in fix verses, Mark ix. 43-48. But it is impoffible for fallen man to deliver his own foulHe cannot by doing, because he cannot perfectly obey the law in future; and if he could, his obedience would not atone for past fins He cannot by Suffering, because the penalty of one fin is eternal death Nor could the higheft archangel redeem the world If he could, God needed not to have fent his own Son-` None but "Chrift" was fufficient for fo great a workBut his obedience unto death has effected our redemptionHe "made an end of fin, and brought in everlafting righteoufnels"] 3. Who they are that shall enjoy the benefits of redemption [Many imagine that, because Chrift has died for all, all fhall be faved But redemption is by no means fo extenfive as the curfe With refpect to heathens we know little how God will deal with them But we know what will be his conduct towards the Chriftian world They who believe in Chrift, and they only, will be finally faved h Such alone were comprehended under the term "us"—] Thefe points being cleared up, we shall II. Shew by what means we are redeemed By the Mofaic law perfons hanged were deemed accurfed1 Hence Chrift, in his death, was "made a curfe" or held accuried *— In becoming a curfe, he was our fubfiitute [Chrift did not die merely for our good He endured the curfe in our fiead This was typically représented under the Mofaic law- The The ceafing to increase a debt will not cancel a debt already incurred: fee Luke xvii. 10. Dan. ix. 24. Mark xvi. 16. The faith here spoken of is not a mere affent to the truths of Chriftianity, but a living, operative, and purifying faith, Acts xv. 9. Jam. ii. 20, 26. Deut. xxi. 23. i See the words immediately following the text. 1 Lev. xvi. 7-10, 21, 22. It is impoffible not to fee in this paf fage that the fcape-goat had the iniquities of the Jewish nation tranfferred to him, while the goat that died made atonement for them. - Dan, ix. 26. "Not for himself," Ifai liii. 5.. The apostles confirm it in the plainest terms His curfe indeed was not the fame with ours, either in quality or duration Yet it was fully adequate to all the demands of law and justice And it was fuch as God appointed for him, and accepts on our behalf] This fubftitution of Chrift was the mean of effe&ting our redemption [God ordained it for this very end°~ He was pleafed with it-in this view P -- He was reconciled to man on account of it 9- Our redemption is exprefsly afcribed to it Our deliverance from the guilt and power of fin is effected by its It was the price paid for the falvation of the church —] INFER 1. How great was the love of Chrift towards our fallen race! [That he who was happy in the bofom of his Father fhould become a curfe ! That he should fubinit to fuch mifery in our place and ftead! Well might that anathema be denounced against the une grateful Let us then ftudy to "comprehend the heights and depths of his love"-] 2. What folly and impiety is it to feek juftification by the law ! [When the moral law was once broken, it was abfolutely impoffible that any man fhould be juftified by it— There remained no way of efcaping its curfe but by embracing the gofpel What folly then is it to reject falvation when it is freely of fered, and to feek it in a way in which it cannot be found!Nor is the impiety of fuch conduct lefs than the folly It declares that the facrifice of Chrift was unnecessary, of ineffectual This conduct proved deftructive to the bulk of the Jewish pation" May we never imitate them to our eternal ruin !-] 3. How Rom. iii. 25. Eph. i. 7. Cor. vi. 20. y Gal. iii. 22. 3. How ftrong are the Chriftian's obligations to holinefs! [Chrift did not die to deliver us from the curfe only, but from fin alfo a Shall we hope to attain one end of his death while we defeat the other? We fhould reject fuch a thought with the utmost abhorrence Let every one then ftrive to attain the difpofition of St. Paul-] • Tit. ii. 14, b Rom. vi. 1. C 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. LXXI. FAITH ESTABLISHES THE LAW. Rom. iii. 31. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we ejtablish the law. A GENERAL prejudice obtains against the way of falvation by faith But it prevailed equally even in the apoftolic agePaul himself faw that his ftatement of the golpel did not fcape cenfure— He perceived that it was deemed injurious to the interefts of morality— He therefore anticipated and obviated this objection I. Whence it is that people fuppose we make void the law through faith The truth, however clearly stated, is often misapprehended In explaining falvation by faith we affirm two things concerning the law 1.. That it has no power either to condemn or to juftify believers. [It cannot condemn them, because Chrift has redeemed them from its curfe It cannot justify them, because they have tranfgreffed it, and its demands of perfect obedience are unalterably the fame Gal. iii. 13. Faith Faith in Chrift delivers us from the penal fanctions of the law, but does not lower its demands-] 2. That our obedience to it makes no part of our juftifying righteoufneis-- [Faith and works, as grounds of juflification, are oppofite to each other ". If our works had any fhare in our juftification we should have a ground of boatting, which is utterly to be excluded The finalleft reliance on thefe makes void all hope by the gospel_ All dependence therefore on the works of the law muft be entirely renounced-] Thefe affirmations evidently exclude morality from the office of juftifying They are therefore fuppofed to discountenance all tical religion pracBut this mistake originates in the ignorance of the objectors themfelves II. That the believer, fo far from making void the law, eftablishes it The power of the law is twofold; to command obedience, and to condemn for disobedience The believer eftablishes the law in each of these refpects 1. In its commanding power [He owns its abfolute authority over him as God's creature All his hope is in the perfect obedience which Chrift paid to it for him He looks upon his obligations to obey it as increased, rather than diminished, by the death of Chrift He actually defires to obey it as much as if he were to be juftified by his obedience to it-] 2. In its condemning power [He acknowledges himfelf juftly condemned by itHe founds his hope in Chrift as having borne its curfe for him His own confcience cannot be pacified but by that atonement which fatisfied the demands of the law Bereft of an hope in the atonement, he would utterly defpair He Rom. xi. 6. ‹ Rom. iii. 27. a Gal. v. 2, 4. |