LECTURES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES-ADDRESSED TO YOUTH.

LECTURE XX.

We now proceed to consider the 21st and 22d answers of our catechism.

"The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person forever-Christ the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived, by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, born of her, and yet without sin."

In discussing these answers it will, I think, afford as proper a method as any other, and the easiest to be remembered, if we take certain separate portions of the answers severally, and connect, where necessary, those of the first with those of the second. In pursuance of this method, let us

I. Consider that the only Redeem er of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ.

You ought to know that the words Jesus Christ, although now used as a common appellation, were not given arbitrarily. They are, and were intended to be, descriptive of the character of our blessed ReVOL. IV. Ch. Adv.

deemer. Jesus, or Joshua, (for they are the same name in the original of the scriptures,) denotes a Saviour, in the most peculiar and extensive sense of the term. Thus it was said-" thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." The term Christ in Greek, is exactly of the same import with Messiah in Hebrew. Each word, in its proper language, signifies anointed, or the anointed one. When therefore Peter said-"Thou art the Christ of God," it was the same as if he had said, thou art the anointed of God. Among the ancient Jews, kings, prophets and priests, were set apart to their office by anointing them with oil. Now Christ as mediator, united all these characters in himself, and is represented as set apart to them by the designation of God-So that the words Jesus Christ mean the Saviour, anointed, or set apart to that office, by God.

Jesus Christ is "the only Redeemer of God's elect." The Jews are yet looking for a Messiah to come. They will not allow that Jesus Christ was the true Messiah. But this is only a proof of their judicial blindness and hardness of heart; and is indeed the strongest proof that could possibly be given: For the character, actions and sufferings of our Saviour, are so exactly delineated and described by their own inspired prophets, that they are driven to the most unworthy shifts and evasions, to avoid admitting and allowing it. The prophecy

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in the 53d chapter of Isaiah, is more like a history than a prediction: So much so indeed, that some of the early enemies of Christianity, insisted that it must have been forged, after the events to which it manifestly refers had taken place. But its reception all along by the Jews themselves, shows that the infidel objection is false; and thus one class of unbelievers is seen to answer and confound another.

The prophecy of Daniel points so exactly to the time in which Jesus Christ did appear, that there could be no mistaking it as the epoch of the Messiah's advent: And it is a fact, as well ascertained as any in ancient history, that the whole Jewish nation, and even some among the neighbouring nations, were in full and earnest expectation of the Messiah, at that very time-At that very time accordingly, the true and only Messiah, Jesus Christ, the anointed Saviour, did actually appear; and the expectation of another by the unhappy Jews, must forever be vain. But it is comfortable to think that their delusion will come to an end; and that when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in, they, too, shall yet acknowledge and obtain salvation, by that Jesus whom their fathers crucified, and whom they have so long and so wickedly rejected and blasphemed." There is salvation in no other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved."

In the answers we consider, Jesus Christ is called "Our Lord." He is so called to denote his true and unquestionable Deity. It cannot be denied that our Lord is, in the Old Testament, called Jehovah, one of the peculiar names of the Deity, for which the Jews had the highest veneration. In a prophecy of Isaiah, which all Christians do and must apply to Christ, because it is expressly quoted and applied to him by John his forerunner, it is said, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."-In the original it is, "Prepare ye the way of Jehovah." This naturally introduces another

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portion of the answers before us, namely, That the Lord Jesus Christ "the eternal Son of God." When I discoursed to you on the doctrine of the Trinity, I gave what I consider as demonstrative scripture evidence, of the proper Deity of each person in the Godhead: And I have just now mentioned incidentally, what is, by itself, a clear scripture proof of the proper Deity of Christ, the second person in the adorable Trinity. We shall not, therefore, resume this subject, with a view to consider it extensively.-I shall only make a few remarks on the eternal Sonship of Christ. All the most ancient creeds, or symbols of the Christian church, notice this point. The Apostles' creed, the Nicene creed, the Athanasian creed, the creed of the Synod of Calcedon, all either allude to it, or distinctly affirm and inculcate it. They distinguish carefully the Sonship of Christ, from all ideas of creation.They represent him as the Son of God by a peculiar and mysterious relation; and affirm that he is of the same essence and eternity with the Father. This seems to be the scripture doctrine, although some modern divines, not in the least disposed to deny the divinity of Christ, have maintained that the appellation Son of God, is given to him only with respect to his mediatorial office. But as we are baptized in the name of the Son, as well as of the Father, and Holy Ghost, it seems to follow that his Sonship is equally natural and necessary with the paternity of the Father, and the personality of the Holy Ghost. In a word, the Sonship and personality of Christ are the same, eternal in existence, and constituting the second hypostasis in the undivided essence of the glorious Trinity.

This adorable Being, the Son of God, the catechism affirms "became man;" that is, the second person in the Trinity assumed human nature into a perfect union with his own. This is technically called the hypostaticunion. And after all the profane and foolish cavils which have been raised

in regard to this subject, what is there in it which, however mysterious, is not easy of belief? To explain the mode or manner of it, we are indeed to make no attempt; and as little can they who cavil at it, and say they will believe nothing which they cannot comprehend,-as little can they explain how their own souls are connected with their bodies, and are operated upon by them. And surely, if we cannot explain a union which exists in our own nature, it is not wonderful that we cannot explain one which exists in the nature of our infinite Saviour. What a monstrous arrogance is it to affirm that the Son of God could not draw our nature into such a union with his own as to be one with it-one person, and yet both natures distinctly preserved? There is certainly nothing here that is self-contradictory, nothing that is not plainly competent to infinite wisdom and power. Yes, and this union must be regarded as a glorious and unquestionable fact, on which our salvation rests.

The necessity which existed for the union of the divine with the human nature, in the economy of our redemption, shall be considered, after we have attended briefly to the manner in which the human nature of our Lord was, so to speak, prepared for his assumption.

The catechism says "The Son of God became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, born of her, and yet without sin." It was absolutely necessary that the human nature of Christ should be conceived and born without sin; not only because it was to subsist in union with the person of the Son of God, but also because it was to be made a sacrifice for the sins of his redeemed ones; and must therefore be without blemish-having no sin or stain of its own, either na tural or contracted, for which an atonement needed to be made. Such, therefore, was the human nature of Christ, the second Adam, as sinless

and perfect as the first before the fall-Not descended from the first Adam by natural generation, but miraculously and immaculately conceived in the womb of one of his descendants. The grave and guarded words of Holy Scripture on this awful subject are "The angel said unto her (Mary) the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."

As it is only in this answer of the catechism that the virgin mother of our Lord is mentioned, let me remark, that we are neither to worship her, nor degrade her. She was, doubtless, by nature a sinner, like the rest of the human family; and was redeemed and saved by him to whose human nature she gave birth. On one occasion our blessed Lord even repressed her too great forwardness, in hinting to him that there was a call for the exercise of his miraculous powers. But that she was eminently a Saint; that her faith, and resignation, and absolute devotion to God, on the message of the angel, were most extraordinary and exemplary; that her relation to our common Saviour should render her name dear and venerable to us all; and that we should fulfil our part of her own prediction, that "henceforth all generations shall call me blessed,"-all this is not only to be admitted, but remembered and regarded. Alas! how do extremes produce each other, and how, by their doing so, are truth and duty every way injured? The religious worship which has been paid to the Virgin Mary is palpable idolatry. She was but a human being, and worship is due only to God. There is not one word in the holy scriptures to warrant, to encourage, or to colour the offering of religious worship to her; and if she herself can be conscious of it, she must perfectly disapprove it. Yet, in counteracting this error, the veneration and affection due to her true character, has, I think, been sometimes refused, or

To illustrate the entire harmony between the grace of God in our salvation, and the righteousness of Christ as its procuring cause, the subject may be viewed in a different light from that in which it has already been presented.

Speaking of the great Redeemer, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey him." Heb. v. 8, 9. Salvation, then, is the work of Christ; and consequently the whole of it from beginning to the end must be attributed to his grace. All its blessings are deposited in his hands; and HE distributes them as he pleases. Hence it is recorded, "Of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace:" John i. 16; and he himself says, "As thou, Father, has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him." John xvii. 2. He is the inexhaustible fountain from which all blessings flow to believing sinners. "Our life is hid with Christ in God." Col. iii. 3. He is the vine that bears all the branches, and imparts to them life

and fruitfulness. John xv. 5, 6. He is the Head, from which all vital influence is derived to every member of his mystical body. Col. ii. 19. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:" Gal. ii. 20. "I give unto" my sheep "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." John x. 28.

It is plain, then, that Christ both procured salvation for us, and distributes all its blessings according to his sovereign pleasure. But shall we imagine his grace to be less free and glorious, because he became obedient unto death, in order that he might become the author of eternal salvation unto all who obey him? Do we owe him less, because he fulfilled the law in our place, and satisfied all the demands of justice against us, by enduring the penalty due to sin? Would his grace have been more free, more conspicuous, more illustrious, if he had humbled himself less, and suffered less, in accomplishing our salvation? Let an inspired writer answer these questions: "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye, through his poverty, might be rich." 2 Cor. viii. 9. "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me." Gal. ii. 20. It is in the depth of that humiliation to which the great Redeemer submitted, and in the greatness of those sufferings which he endured for our sins, that the riches of his grace, and the fervency of his love are to be seen to the best advantage; and it is from the purchase he made of salvation. for us, while hanging on the accursed tree, that the strongest_motive to obedience is drawn. "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. vi. 20. "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all

dead: and that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.

Now, if the sufferings of Christ for our salvation do not detract from his grace in saving us; and if the payment of his life as the price of our redemption is not at all inconsistent with his love in redeeming us, nor with his sovereign pleasure in bestowing redemption on sinners; then it will follow that his sufferings do not detract from his Father's grace, and that the payment of the inestimable price he made is not inconsistent with his Father's love in our salvation, and does not at all infringe upon his adorable sovereignty in its application; because the Father and the Son, being one in nature and perfections, are most perfectly harmonious in all their counsels, designs, and operations. But this idea will receive a fuller illustration, when the objection referred to is taken up.

Previously to that let us see how the difficulty is removed by the new doctrine, and how its advocates harmonize the justice and the grace of God displayed in the salvation of sinful men. While they admit that, by the death of Christ, publick justice was satisfied, they maintain that distributive justice is not satisfied. They further say that "publick justice demands that the greatest good of the universe should be promoted, that the greatest possible sum of happiness among intelligent beings should be brought into existence;"* consequently publick justice demands the salvation of all who believe in Christ. Now, here is the very difficulty to which they object in the doctrine of the old school: for if justice demands the salvation of believers, where, to use their language, is the grace displayed in the salvation of sinners? How can they be saved by grace, if they are saved by justice? But, it has been shown,

• Dial. on Atonement, p. 21.

according to our views of the scheme of redemption, that grace and justice perfectly harmonize. Our brethren, however, by trying to get rid of what seemed to them an insuperable objection, have created a real difficulty. They represent the justice of God as at once demanding the salvation and the damnation of believers: for it will scarcely be denied, that both publick and distributive justice are the justice of one and the same divine Being. Distributive justice they say, "demands that every person should be treated according to his moral character," and "that the guilty should be punished."* It follows, therefore, that as believers will for ever remain, as they teach, guilty even in heaven, that distributive justice will eternally demand their punishment. But the demands of publick justice, it seems, will prevail over the demands of distributive justice; and consequently the publick justice of God will for ever preserve all believers in the enjoyment of heavenly happiness, in opposition to the unceasing demands of his distributive justice. So much for this scheme of removing the difficulty.

In a recent publication, I have met with the following remarks: "And if Christ has suffered that very penalty involved in the eternal condemnation of the elect, as some contend, then they ought to be liberated on the principles of the law. Their debt is paid. There is but one being in the universe to whom these persons would be indebted for their release; and that is the friend who paid their debt, or suffered the penalty of the law in their stead."t Bold assertions indeed! The writer is led to the conclusion he has here formed, merely by pushing a metaphor far beyond the limits intended by those who use it. It is well known that the disciples of the old school illustrate the doctrine of the atonement by referring to transac

* Dial. on Atonement, p. 29. Beman, p. 41.