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of a boundless scene of improvement in knowledge , holiness and felicity , with which it inspires the believing and obedient , must exalt it very highly in our estimation , and recommend it to our most grateful and affectionate regard . ^ It is not , therefore , without reason ; it is with a singular propriety , and with a gradation of sentiment and language that ^ is calculated to produce the most beneficial effect , that the Apostle closes his recital of the blessings of Christianity with
redemption , or that deliverance from death and a succeeding immortality , which are assured to us by the doctrine and interposition of its Divine Author . Without this blessing , wisdom , pardon and holiness , however excellent and valuable in themselves , could not give full satisfaction to the mind of man , liable to
dissolution , agitated by doubt and fear in the prospect of it , and desirous of ascertaining whether he has any interest in the unseen state that lies beyond the boundaries of death and the grave . It is from the knowledge and hope which Christianity imparts to us , on this most interesting subject , a subject in which all are
equally concerned , and in which they are more concerned than in any other , that wisdom , and righteousness , and sanctification , acquire their highest importance , and derive their chief influence ia promoting our happiness . When we are able to extend our views beyond the limits of sense and time , and to anticipate a
future immortality ; when we know that the consequences of our present conduct are of boundless duration-, and are assured that eternal life is the gift of God by Jesus Christy to aJl who are qualified for enjoying it , we feel an interest in the practical wisdom which Christianity imparts , in the forgiveness which it promises , and in
the holiness which it enables us to acquire , superior to that which results from any other consideration . In a word , it is the doctrine of redemption that enhances the value of every other spiritual benefit which the gospel communicates to mankind . It is this doctrine which supplies the most powerful motives to a blameless and
exemplary conduct ; it is this which excites solicitude for pardon , which connects personal holiness and virtue with an eternal reward , and which administers the choicest consolation to the reflecting mind , both in life and in " death . It
occupies , accordingly , that , distinguished rank and place in the gradation of the text which properly belongs to it- The Apostle , with all the eloquence of inspiration , could not raise our views to any object more excellent and valuable than this ; and he , therefore , closes his summary of
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evangelical blessings with that of redemn Hon . "—IV . 92—96 . *~ The topics discussed in these Sermons lead the preacher to state his views of the person and mediation of Christ , which , it is well known , are of the description commonly termed
moderate < Arianism . He says ( FV . 50 ) € the Son of God veiled his celestial glories in a robe of our corporeal frame ; " and he speaks ( IV . 109 ) of Christ ' s " native claims to out veneration . " This language appears to us scarcely conformable to " the law and the testimony , " but our object is not
so much to answer the preacher as to enable him to explain himself to our readers ; which we conceive to be the proper end of an article of Review . With this understanding , we quote , without comment , the following statement of the doctrine of the Atonement , as distinguished from the Calvinistic doctrine of Satisfaction :
" The mediation of Christ certifies and confirms the grant of pardon , with the invaluable blessings that attend it , to the penitent and upright . Forgiveness is an act of mercy ; repentance establishes do claim on the part of transgressors ; it is only a change in their future disposition and conduct , without annulling their past
offences . The dishonour which they have thus done to the law and government of God , for which repentance is no compensation , may require a display of holiness and justice , even in the exercise of mercy ; it may be necessary to accompany an act of pardon with a solemn declaration of the evil of sin , and with an awful
admonition to mankind , that shall vindicate the honour of the law of God , and manifest the rectitude of his government , whilst he forgives or justifies the penitent . These necessary and important ends are answered , I apprehend , by annexing the grant of pardon to the interposition of a Mediator . Thus I conceive the death of
Christ to be a virtual acknowledgment of guilt and demerit on the part of sinful man , and to afford a solemn sanction to the law of God , whilst his mercy extends indemnity to the transgressors of it . If this representation ot" the necessity and use of the mediatorial office of Christ , and
of the efficacy of his sacrifice on behalf of sinners , be just , it illustrates and confirms the sentiment expressed in the text , and in many other passages of the New Testament , that we obtain righteousness or pajUbn by Jesus Christ . It serves , likewise ,- to exalt ottr ideas of his character
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612 Review . ' —Dr . Reess Practical Sermons .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1821, page 612, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2505/page/44/
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