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    apprized that this important observation is Applicable to all the super-human attainments atid actions of Christ . Every wofk which Christ performed as the messenger of the Most High , tve should always ascribe to the power of God , operating through Christ as his instrument . Because this is

    freyktinth j asserted in direct terras , it must always be implied . If any thing different from this , or inconsistent with it , is meant by Mr . Vrend and those who think with him on this question , it can surely be stated and . explained ; and it is , T

    think , incumbent on him to explain , although I may have forfeited all right td interrogate him . " Jesus Christ / ' says Mr . F ., «* is the llecessa ** y ittedium through whvh we enter infcb eternity . '' Is not Jesus Christ

    the medium through which we receive every privilege peculiar to the new dispensation ? Who denies this ? A great difference surely can be stated with clearness ; and an important difference ought to be stated , arid the scriptural evidence for it adduced . But I will now proceed to state another result of my inquiries .

    Though the pardon of sin is an act absolutely of free grace and umevited favour ; yet in the scriptures we are represented as accepted with God on account of the goodness of our dispositions and conduct . We please him by virtuous actions or good works .

    1 Thess . xv . ' 1 , &c . The redemption which Christ has accomplished—the state into which he bought us with the pried of his blood—was the introduction of a new dispensation , under which spirituality of worship , and goodness of character , alone * would

    be acceptable to the Almighty , hi the new creation , i . e . under the gospel dispensation , to worship God in spirit and in truth , to fear God and work righteousness , are the only essential c 6 nditions of acceptance with our Maker .

    The undeniable import of innumerable plain and unfigurative passages in the New Testament is , that we must Iceep the commandments , abound in g * ood works * and that we shall be judged at last according to our works . " If thou wilt enter into life keep the comtti&iidments * " Some indeed set

    aside the authority of this important passage by understanding- it in the -ftflotrfttg scHtfe . * If thou tvilt keep

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    all the commandtneats , even that which Adam broke before thou wast born , thou wilt enter into life ; though I know very well that neither thou nor any other man , can comply with this condition /* A comment this worthy of a bad cause !

    Good works , or personal righteousness , are the only solid foundation of hope unto eternal life . Our Saviour * sermon on the mount wholly consists of moral precepts , ( now-a-days denominated legality ) and yet he says , "that the man who doeth these words

    of mine hath built his house upon a rock : " his foundation on good works is perfectly safe and secure . Our Saviour frequently speaks of reward in heaven— Great shall be your reward in heaven . " Who can wonder that this expression should sound discordant in the ears of those

    who wholly exclude good works from the scheme of redemption ? Improving our talents and being faithful , are , according to the evangelists , means of" eiitering into the joy of our Lord . ' of

    Peter , in the a ^ air Cornelius * seeing more clearly than ever he had before—the moral constitution of tht new dispensation—cried out with great emphasis , as is natural to one making

    a great discovery— " Now of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons , but in every nation he thatfeareth him and worheth righteousness is accepted with him . "

    In fine , for I must come to a conclusion , what man of a sane and unprejudiced mind will contend in the face of all this evidence , that those expressions on which the doctrine of the Atonement is solely built—as when we are said to have been bought with a price , to have been * redeemed with the blood of Christ , to have

    been washed clean in his blood— are to be understood in the literal meaning ? Can those who will say so be aware of the consequences ? According to them , our salvation is a

    downright bargain between the Father and the Son , as much so as merchandize in the market : our salvation is an equivalent consideration for value received , a quid pro quoy a debtor and creditor account between the

    Father and the Son- ( I do not say this in jest , but for the sake of clearness of ideas . ) Bat if o \ ir salvation wns not > of this'diaftttfter , it was seme-

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    74 £ On the Atonement

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1815, page 740, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1767/page/12/