The Governmental Theory, however its principles The Gov- may be disguised by vague and general statements, Eas abe essentially involves the assumption, (1.) That justice is 95 parhal only a mode of benevolence; (2.) That the penalty was sistent. not executed on Christ; that his sufferings were not necessary to satisfy the rigour of divine justice; that, on the contrary, he suffered a substitute for the penalty, as an example of punishment to counteract in the moral universe, by exhibiting God’s determination to punish sin, the evil effects that would otherwise ensue upon its _ pardon. It is even more evident than in the case of the Socinian Theory that this view is not only partial and inverted, putting the claims of the moral universe before those of God, but absurd, also, when detached from the central idea of expiation, which it was invented to super- sede. For how can his sufferings be an example of
28 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
cnarrer punishment unless Christ really suffered the penalty of TI. ° .
— thelaw? How can they demonstrate God’s determina- tion to punish sin unless sin was in very deed punished therein ?
Elements The orthodox doctrine as to Redemption involves the
of ortho following points :—
dox doc- rs) poin S:
tineasto 1. As to its Motwe. This was the amazing love of
ote God to his own people, determining him, in perfect con-
cee sistency with his truth and justice, to assume himself, in the person of his Son, the responsibility of bearing the penalty and satisfying justice. The same identical essence and attributes are common to the Father and the Son. The justice demanding satisfaction, and the love prompting to the self-assumption of the penalty, are co-existent states of divine feeling and purpose.
Its _ 2. As to its Nature. (1.) Christ assumed the law-
mre place of his people. He owed no personal obedience, and he had sovereign right over his own life to dispose ‘of it as he willed. Prompted by the infinite love com- mon to the Father and himself, he voluntarily assumed all of our legal responsibilities. (2.) He obeyed and suffered as our Substitute. His sufferings were vicari- ous. By his obedience and sufferings he discharged all our obligations to the divine law, both in its federal and penal relations. His sufferings cancelled the claims of penal justice, and his obedience merited the rewards of - the original Covenant of Life. (3.) While there was, of course, no transfer of moral character, he assumed the ouilt (just obligation to punishment) of our sins. All their shame and pollution remain ours, while all their guilt (penal obligation) was willingly assumed by, and imputed to him—-i.e., charged to his account. (4.) He did not render a pecuniary satisfaction, and therefore did not suffer the same degree nor duration, nor in all respects the same kind, of ne which the law would
STATEMENT OF DOCTRINE. 29
‘have inflicted on the sinner in person. But he did suffer the very penalty of the law—that is, sin was punished in him in strict rigour of justice. His sufferings were no substitute for a penalty, but those very penal evils which rigorous justice demanded of his exalted person, when he stood in our place, as a full equivalent for all that was demanded of us. The substitution of a divine for a human victim necessarily involved a change in the quality, though none whatever in the legal relations, of the suffering. (5.) He did not, of course, suffer in his divine nature. But because of the infinite dignity of his person, his finite sufferings constitute an absolutely perfect satisfaction, sufficient to expiate the sins of all men.
3. As to its Hffects. (1.) It produced no change in God, any more than do acts of creation and providence. The efficient purpose existed in the divine mind from eternity. He acted upon it, as if accomplished from the fall of Adam. The infinite justice and the infinite love exercised in the sacrifice of Christ were in the divine mind from the beginning. The effect of the satisfaction was to render possible the concurrent exercise of the justice and the love in the treatment of the same sinful persons. (2.) It expiated the guilt of sin. It fulfilled the demands of law. It propitiated justice. It recon- ciled us to God. (3.) It actually secures our salvation, and does not simply put us in a salvable state. Accord- ing to the terms of the Covenant of Grace, the impetra- tion of redemption by Christ is infallibly connected with _its application by the Holy Ghost. (4.) Not being the payment of a pecuniary debt, which ipso facto liberates, but a vicarious penal satisfaction, it remains, so far as we are concerned, as a matter of right, in the hands of God to grant its benefits to whom he pleases, when and on whatsoever terms he pleases, His granting it in any
CHAPTER ik
Its effects.
CHAPTER 18%
30 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.