(2) In the Scriptures the doctrine is largelj' ex- pressed in figures, and symbols, and current con- ceptions which make its interpretation difficult, and have led to much misunderstanding. Many theories have been built up on what close analysis shows to be only a metaphor, or Jewish sacrificial term. We must not strain popular language to give exact scientific statement.
(3) While Biblical writers assert their individu- ality in stating the fact of vicarious sacrifice, setting- it forth in different ways, they all agree in what it is and what it does — that it is a method of God to save men from sin and bring them into fellowship with Himself.
(4) The Scriptures discuss the doctrine of vicari- ous sacrifice from different standpoints and in different relations, and do not give us Avhat may be called a theory of the subject. It is proper for us to attempt to construct one from what is revealed, but we must have in mind the significance of the Scripture presentation.
(5) St. Paul differs from other writers in having a theology, and in having worked over tiie facts of Christ's vicarious life and death in the crucible of his own thinking. In doing this he has had in mind a special class of hearers, the Jewish law under which they and he have lived, and the rela- tion of Christ's work to it; and he has expres.sed his thought in terms of the Pharisaic theology in which he has been trained, and has used certain conceptions from Palestinian and Alexandrian .sources which we must take into account in inter- preting him. While he has developed his concep- tions in legal forms, he has saved himself from legalism by exhibiting the ethical content of Christ's work and vitally relating it to life.
(6) The doctrine of vicarious sacrifice is grounded not in a judici.al or rectoral relation of God, but in a deeply personal fact and exiiression. {a) It is founded by God in His personal interest in and love for men. It is the unfolding of God's heart to sinners, and God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, {b) It seeks a personal end, namely, the .salvation of sinners and their restoration to the perscmal relation of fellowship with God. (r) All theories, therefore, whidi make it effect a change in God are un-Scriptural. The fact tliat Christ is the Logos efi'ectually routs such concei)tions.
(7) Clirist's vicnrious atonement, because grounded in personal relations, is to be explained not as a judicial, but as a deeply ethical and si)iritu,al fact. It embodies and represents not God's rectoral or judicial relations, l)ut His moral nature. It is a transaction in the realm of s]iiiit, expressing in an en)pirical event a spiritual principle. We can in- terpret it only by rising above the abstract fictions of logic into the realm of the realities of tlie moral life, seeing in it not forensic transactions, but the living action of s])iritual laws. Therefore, it is not (a) a compensation to law, as if law had an
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objective reality, and rights ajjart from the Being whose expression it is ; or {b) a compensation to justice, as if justice and grace were in antagonism in the Divine nature, and His attributes were more than diverse reflexions of the action of His har- monious being, or as if a mechanical device, of which God is Himself the author, can compensate His justice. ' Divine justice seeks the triumph of good over evil, and hence identifies itself with love.' (c) It is, therefore, in no sense penal. It really impeaches the moral government of God to intro- duce an expedient, in order to render it possible for a moral Being who has created men, and taken upon Himself responsibilities in so doing, to be able to forgive His erring creatures. All these and other theories are developed out of the old idea of God's transcendence, considering Him as a Being above, ruling from without, a King on His throne, a Judge on His judicial bench, at least a Being separate, outward, remote, when the true conception is that of His immanence, as One who acts in the world, tabernacles with men, entangles Himself with our life. This is the Scriptural idea : ' In him we live and move and have our being.'
(8) Vicarious sacrifice is an expression and revela- tion of God. This the Scriptures abundantly teach. It manifests God's feelings about sin, the intense opposition with which He regards it ; and it reveals God's love for the sinner, the depth and power and sacrificial character of it, leading even to suffering and death.
(9) The work of Jesus in salvation is closely related to the Kingdom of God. The teachings of Jesus centre about this Kingdom. He dwells on it, and puts it forth as the thing He is come to establish on the earth. But men can enter this King- dom only by availing themselves of the benefits of the vicarious sacrifice of Christ. They must thus come to know God, and live in that spiritual fellowship with Him which constitutes the social bond of His Kingdom.
(10) The mediation of Christ's sacrifice is rendered available through faith. Not all receive its benefits as they Avould if it were a penal satisfaction ren- dered to law or Divine majesty. It must be changed from an outer to an inner fact, to an experience of life, and this is possible only through a living faith which unites men to God in obedience and fellow- ship. By the personal participation in Christ's vicarious work for us, we become ' partakers of the divine nature ' (2 P 1*), and Christ comes to ' live within us,' ' our hope of glory ' (Gal 2^'^, Col l^^). God's method of salvation, therefore, is by faith, bringing the soul into constant and living contact with One who embodies the higher spiritual life. We are not saved by example, but by touch.