* Apol. Thes., iii., 21, 6. t Ibid., 21, 8. { Institutio Rel. Christ., vol. y., chap. xix., 2 5.
CHAPTER XVII.
226 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
by the sufferings of Christ to the law and justice of God is, in its own intrinsic value, a full equivalent in the strict rigour of justice for the penal sufferings of all men for ever; and that God accepts and acts upon this satis- faction in the justification of believers in his capacity of Judge, not in the exercise of sovereign prerogative, — acknowledging its intrinsic value and full adequacy to the end designed, as a matter of fact, and not by any gratuitous acceptilation or gracious estimation arbitrarily © raising the sacrifice up to the level of the law, nor by any sovereign: relaxation letting down the law to. the level of the substituted penal sufferings. We do not here appeal to the perfection of the Atonement to prove the truth of our view of its nature. On the contrary, we rather prove that our view as to its inherent perfec- tion is correct from what has been already sufficiently proved as to its nature and necessity. If the Atone- ment was absolutely necessary in order to satisfy the immutable justice of God, and if it consisted in Christ’s bearing in our stead the literal penalty of the law in full rigour, then it is plain that, in its intrinsic value, it was fully equal to all that the law demanded of those for whom he acted, Since he was a divine person, Christ was of course above all the possible claims of law. In virtue of his human nature, a divine person was made vicariously under the law for us. Hence his obedience, both active and passive, was evidently, as far as he him- self was concerned, a work of supererogation ; demanded not of himself, needed not by himself, and wholly accru- ing to the credit of those for whom he acted. And since he was the eternal Son of God, who condescended to suffer and obey—to suffer terribly and shamefully, to fulfil all his obedience, the details of “all righteousness,” although it were but for a time—-it is evident enough that the intrinsic value of his work is more than equal
PERFECTION OF THE ATONEMENT. 227
to all that his people could have suffered and obeyed, carrer under any possible conditions for any possible time. The ee difficulty which a Christian experiences is surely not to believe this, but rather to understand why infinite wisdom
saw it to be necessary to exact so much of SUCH a Sufferer.
II. The second point debated concerning the perfec- the at- tion of Christ’s satisfaction relates to its application Ol) ena effect. Thomas Aquinas taught that the passion of the the sense Redeemer was not only a patent but a superabundant iibly se- satisfaction for the sins of men. The Romish Church pasta adopted this idea, and adjusted it to their hierarchical Plctio. . system. Christ's merit is superabundant. It belongs to the Church, its depositary and authorized dispenser.
This merit avails directly, through the instrumentality of baptism, to the removal of the guilt of original sin and of all those actual transgressions which preceded baptism. The penalty accruing for the guilt of post- baptismal sins has, in virtue of Christ's merit, been transmuted from eternal death to temporal pains; and all such temporal pains are accepted as sufficient only for Christ’s sake. Nevertheless, a person guilty of post- baptismal sins must, in order to their forgiveness, expiate them either by penances and works of charity, or in the next world by the pains of purgatory; all of which are necessary, and possess, for Christ’s sake, a real expiatory virtue. And hence also the efficacy of sacra- mental grace, priestly absolution, plenary indulgences, &c., results from the fund of merit lodged in the Church, accruing from the superabundance of Christ’s satisfaction. The advocates of the Governmental Theory of the Atonement—and, indeed, all the advocates of an indefi- nite Atonement generally—necessarily hold, with respect to the designed application or effect of Christ’s satistac- tion, that it actually avails to save no one, but only, by removing legal obstacles, to make the salvation of all
CHAPTER XVII:
Reply to Romish advocates of merit of good works and efficacy of penance.
Reply to Protes- tant advo- cates of an indefi- nite At- onement.
228 THE NATURE OF THE ATONEMENT.
men possible. In this view, his satisfaction is only one of the conditions upon which the salvation of all men depends; but it is not its great efficient cause, carrying with it, as subordinate to it, all other causes and condi- tions. The work of Christ is thus, in itself considered, so far imperfect that it may totally fail of any saving effect in a single case; and it needs to be rendered per- fect, as an efficient cause of salvation, by some co-operat- ing cause ab extra, derived either (a) from the sovereign decree of God, or (6) from the free wills of men.
In answer to the Romanists we affirm—