5. Christ redeems us not only from the curse of the law, from the law itself as a covenant of works, from the power of sin, and from the dominion of Satan, but also from all evil. This evil is the consequence of the curse of the law, and being redeemed from that we are delivered from all evil. Hence the word redemp- tion is often used for the sum of all the benefits of Christ's work, or for the consummation of tl^fl great scheme of salvation. Thus Oqr Lord says, Luke xxi. 28, that when the Son of Man shall ap- peal in his glory, then his disciples may be sure that their " redemp- tion diaweth nigh." They are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Eph. i. 14.) Christ has " obtained eternal redemption." (Heb. ix. 12.) Believers are represented as waiting for their redemp- tion. (Rom. viii. 23.)
It is therefore the plain doctrine of Scripture that, as before said, Christ saves us neither by the mere exercise of power, nor by his doctrine, nor by his example, nor by the moral influence which He exerted, nor by any subjective influence on his people, whether iTatural or mystical, but as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an ixpiation for sin and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God, by making it consistent with his perfections to exercise mercy toward sinners, and then renew- ing them after his own image, and finally exalting them to all the dignity, excellence, and blessedness of the sons of God.
Argument from Related Doctrines.
All the doctrines of grace are intimately connected. They stand in such relation to each other, that one of necessity supposes the truth of the others. The common Church doctrine of the satisfac- tion of Christ, therefore, is not an isolated doctrine. It is assumed in all that the Scriptures teach of tlie relation between Christ and his people ; of the condition on which our interest in his redemption is suspended ; and of the nature of the benefits of that redemption.
1. No doctrine of the Bible, relating to the plan of salvation, is more plainly taught or more wide reaching than that which concerns the union between Christ and his people. That union, in one aspect, was from eternity, we were in Him before the