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was' i «» Christ reconciling the world unto hieiselfy not iinputin ^ theit trespasses unto them /* ( 2 C 6 r . tjlkOfy ]> y * wi * ich testimony it is manife&t , that the reconciliation in question w ^ s not the recottciliation of God to the world , but of the world to God ; thus it did not imply any change of . the disposition of God towards man . but of man
towards God ; whereas , according to the above idea , a change is implied in the disposition of GocT towards man , whilst the effected reconciliation is supposed to consist in the reconcilia tion of God to the world , and not ( as the apostle describes it ) of the . world unto God .
7 . That the above idea is equally at variance with the true end and design of the sufferings and death of the great Saviour , since it supposes that those sufferings and that death were merely vicarious ; in other words , that they were endured not only : for < man , but
ia man ' s stead , and that thus their high merit consisted in paying a debt for man , which man was unable to pay for himself ; whereas it is moat evident from the divine testimony of the Sacred Scriptures throughout , that the sufferings and death of the great Saviour , though endured for the
sake of man , were not endured in the stead of man , inasmuch as they were the necessary results of that astonish ing process , by which , with ia view to promote man ' s salvation , that great Saviour , in the first place , combated , subdued , and thus removed from man
the overwhelming * influence of : the powers of darkness , and by which , in the ^ ecaaid place , he glorified a or mad& divine his human essence , byi uniting it fully with divinity in himself , and thus rendering it the mfedium of man's
continual approach and access to that divinity . The great Saviour accordingly testifies , on this occasion , " Now is the judgment of this would ; now shall ths prince of this Wotfld be cast out / ' and tine 11 triumphantly adds ,
And I if I be lifted up from the earth , will draw all ujjta me , " ( John xii . 31 , 32 0 ) plainly intimatiug that hy his sufferings , mid death , he uot only effected , a rwo , dct > f ( divine judgu ] GBt ,.- » but also glorified jite human nature * tiros making jit the / centre of ail divine attra ^ fcioji ^ and » the coiiseq uent oitjy ; flpitrca of > diyixte ability on the partfof ^ mao to regain compaction
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of fife , of , what amounts to the same things ^ conciliatioii vdth iii « heavenly Fatheri It is accoruMigly Written , : * && raanjras- received Mm , to them gave he power tp become the sons of God . " John i . 12 . ; see abo Luke "xL 19 > John x . 10 / xv . £
8 . That from the combined light of the above considerations , it is most evident to this meeting , ' that the Atonement or Reconciliation , ( foi * both mean the sAme thing , and ; ave expressed by the same term in the original Greek , ) which was effected by the great Saviour , was the result , not
of any vicarious sacrifice , ( because no such sacrifice was tiecessary tamove the Divine mercy , ) but of that grandest of all events , the manifestation of God in the flesh , by virtue of which manifestation , the ardour of the Divine love to save mankind was most powerfully and . unequivocally expressed , as At is written , * 5 God so loved the
WOrW , that he gave his only-begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life" ( John iii . 16 ); and again , " In his love and in ? his pity he redeemed them" ( Isa . lxiii . 9 ) . Theniost cogent motives * to excite man to repentance were thus brought into
ex-# f * 1 * . . a 4 % ^ w * -mm erciee ; the return , too * of offending sinners tp their heavenly Father , and consequently their reconciliation was facilitated , through the opening of a new door of approach and accession ia the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ ( John x . 7 , 9 ); at the same timfc the d <* or was closed of that
overwhelming infernal influence which had before been open ( Rev . i . 18 ); God was thus brought near * o man in a visible and . approachable humanity ( John xiv . 6 , 9 ); whilst man , ' , by faitJi in this incarnate medium of salvation '
was led to th $ acknowledgment o £ his Saviour Jesus Christ as the only ; God , and by repentance of life was brought near to him ( Matt . iv . 7 ) . I" Sm seijrse , therefore , the great work of Atonetnent or Reconciliation was
eminently aewropUabed , »«« the divine testimony fulfilled * wfaere it is written concerning tUe incatj » atte > G « Kly ff Stdrely he has bon ^ tt ^ ur griufe , and carried our sorrows ; yfet vve : did e » teeta him stricken , smitten of , G ^ d , and afflicted , feut he waa wounded : for , mir tuanagressions ; he was bruised for our ini-< j uitieM ^ ih $ qha ^ tisjement of our peace
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SivVdenbofrgian ' IMctrine of Atmefnent . 6 fff
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1822, page 607, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2517/page/23/
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