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4, 6, "Lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Col. i. 15, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Philipp. ii. 6, "In the form of God. Heb. i. 2, "Whom he hath appointed heir." ver. 3, "The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person." The terms here used, being all relative, and applied numerically to two persons, prove, first, that there is no unity of essence; and, secondly, that the one is inferior to the other. So ver. 4, Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they." 1 Cor. iii. 23, "Ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." Here, if anywhere, it might have been expected that Christ would have been designated by the title of God; yet it is only said that he is "God's." The same appears even more clearly in what follows; xi 3, "I would have you know that the head of Christ is God." Eph. i. 17, "The God of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. xv. 27, " When he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted which did put all things under him; and when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." Here the usual subterfuge of the opponents of this doctrine, that of alleging the mediatorial office of Christ, can be of no avail; since it is expressly declared, that when the Son shall have completed his functions as mediator, and nothing shall remain to prevent him from resuming his original glory as only begotten Son, he shall nevertheless be subject unto the Father.

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Such was the faith of the saints respecting the Son of God; such is the tenor of the celebrated confession of that faith; such is the doctrine which alone is taught in Scripture, which is acceptable to God, and has the promise of eternal salvation. Matt. xvi. 15–19, “Whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God; and Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Upon this rock I will build my Church." Luke ix. 20, "The Christ of God." John i. 49, 50, "Nathaniel answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou, art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." vi. 69, "We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." ix. 35-38, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God? he answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? and Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee; and he said, Lord, I believe; and he worshipped him." xi. 22, 26, 27, "I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee; whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die; believest thou this? she saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the come into the world." xvi. 27, 30, 31, "The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things; by this we believe that thou camest forth from God." xvii. 3, 7, 8, 21, "This is

Son of God, which should

life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,

and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent; now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee; for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. xx. 31, "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his name." lievest, thou mayest.

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Acts viii. 37, "If thou be

I believe that Jesus Christ

is the Son of God." Rom. x. 9, " If thou shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Col. ii. 2, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ." Philipp. iv. 6, 7, "Let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." 1 Pet. i. 21, "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." 1 John iv. 15, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." v. 1," Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." ver. 5, "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" Finally, this is the faith proposed to us in the Apostles' Creed, the most ancient and universally received compendium of belief in the possession of the Church.

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OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

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Having concluded what relates to the Father and the Son, the next subject to be discussed is that of the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as this latter is called the Spirit of the Father and the Son. With regard to the nature of the Spirit, in what manner it exists, or whence it arose, Scripture is silent; which is a caution to us not to be too hasty in our conclusions on the subject. For though it be a Spirit, in the same sense in which the Father and Son are properly called Spirits; though we read that Christ by breathing on his disciples gave to them the Holy Ghost, or rather perhaps some symbol or pledge of the Holy Ghost, John xx. 22, yet in treating of the nature of the Holy Spirit, we are not authorized to infer from such expressions, that the Spirit was breathed from the Father and the Son. The terms emanation and procession, employed by theologians on the authority of John xv. 26, do not relate to the nature of the Holy Spirit; "The Spirit of truth, ὃ παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἐκπορεύεται, who proceedeth" or "goeth forth from the Father "; which single expression is too slender a foundation for the full establishment of so great a mystery, especially as these words relate rather to the mission than to the nature of the Spirit; in which sense the Son also is often said ¿§ɛɛiv, which in my opinion may be translated either to go forth or to proceed from the Father, without making any difference in the meaning. Nay, we are even said "to live by every word (exлogsvoμero) that proceedeth" or "go

eth forth from the mouth of God," Matt. iv. 4. Since, therefore, the Spirit is neither said to be generated nor created, nor is any other mode of existence specifically attributed to it in Scripture, we must be content to leave undetermined a point on which the sacred writers have preserved so uniform a silence.

The name of Spirit is also frequently applied to God and angels, and to the human mind. When the phrase, the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit, occurs in the Old Testament, it is to be variously interpreted; sometimes it signifies God the Father himself, as Gen. vi. 3, "My Spirit shall not alway strive with man "; sometimes the power and virtue of the Father, and particularly that divine breath or influence by which every thing is created and nourished.

"The

Sometimes it means an angel. Isai. xlviii. 16, Lord Jehovah and his Spirit hath sent me." Ezek. iii. 12, "Then the Spirit took me up." See also ver. 14, 24, &c.

Sometimes it means that impulse or voice of God by which the prophets were inspired. Nehem. ix. 30, "Thou testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets."

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Sometimes it means that light of truth, whether ordinary or extraordinary, wherewith God enlightens and leads his people. Numb. xiv. 24, "My servant Caleb, because he had another Spirit within him Nehem. ix. 20, "Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them." Psal. li. 11, 12, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me; renew a right Spirit within me." exliii. 10,

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"Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of upright

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