All I need as a creature, as a sinner, as guilty, as polluted, as miserable and helpless ; all I need for time or for eternity. So of Toplady's precious hymn, —
" Rock of ages, cleft for me ; "
for me personally and individually ; as Paul said he lived " by faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for we."
" Let the water and the blood, From Thy wounded side that flowed; Be of sin the double cure; Cleanse me from its guilt and power."
How can such language be used by those who deny the necessity of expiation ; who hold that guilt need not be washed away, that all that is necessary is that we should be made morally good ? No one can say, —
" STothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling,"
who does not believe that Christ " bore our sins in his own body on the tree."
It is a historical fact that where false theories of the atonement prevail, Christ and his woi'k are put in the background. We hear from the pulpits much about God as a moral governor; much about the law and obligation, and of the duty of submission ; but little about Christ, of the duty of fleeing to Him, of receiving Him, of trusting in Him, of I'enouncing our own righteousness that we may put on the righteousness of God ; and little of our union with Him, of his living in us, and of our duty to live by faith in Him. Thus new theories introduce a new religion.
§ 7. Objections.
The only legitimate method of controverting a doctrine which purports to be founded on the Scriptures is the exegetical. If its advocates undertake to show that it is taught in the Bible, its opponents are bound to prove that the Bible, understood agreeably to the recognized laws of interpretation, does not teach it. Tin? method, comparatively speaking, is little relied upon, or resorted to by the adversaries of the Church doctrine concerning the satisfac- tion of Christ. Their main reliance is on objections of two classes: the one drawn from speculative or philosophical principles ; the other from the sentiments or feelings. It is not uncommon for modern M'riters, especially among the German theologians, to begin the discussion of this subject by a review of the Scriptural state- ments in relation to it. This is often eminently satisfactory. It is
528 PART m. Ch. VII. — satisfaction of CHRIST.
admitted that Christ saves us as a priest by offering Hiinself a sac- rifice for sin ; that He is a priest and sin offering in the Old Testa- ment sense of those terms ; and that a priest is a mediator, a repre- sentative of the people, and an offerer of sacrifices. It is admitted that the sin offerings of the old dispensation were expiatory sacri- fices, designed to satisfy the justice of God and to secure the resto- ration of his favour to the sinner. It is admitted that expiation was made by substitution and vicarious punishment, tliat the victim bore the sins of the offerer and died not only for his benefit, but in his place. It is further admitted that all this was designed to be ty[)ical of the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, and that the New Testament teaches that these types were fulfilled in Him ; that He was the only true priest, and his offering of Himself was the only available sacrifice for sin ; that He bore the sins of men ; made expiation for their guilt by taking their place, and sustaining the penalty of the law and the wrath of God in their stead ; and that the effect of his satisfaction of justice is that God is in such a sense reconciled to man, that He can consistently pardon their sins, and bestow upon them all saving blessings. Having given this exhibi- tion of what the Scriptures teach on the subject, they go on to state what the Fathers taught ; how the doctrine was presented during the Middle Ages, and afterwards by the Reformers ; how the Rationalists and Supernatui'alists of the last generation dealt with it ; and how the modern speculative theologians have philos- ophized about it ; and end, generally, by giving in their adhesion to some one of these modern theories more or less modified. All the while there stand the Scriptural statements untouched and unrefuted. They are allowed to go for what they are worth ; but they are not permitted to control the writers' own convictions. This course is adopted by different men on different principles. Sometimes it is upon the distinct denial of the inspiration of the sacred writers. They are admitted to be honest and faithful. They may or may not have been the recipients of a supernatural revela- tion, but tiiey were fallible men, subject to all the influences which determine the modes of thought and the expressions of the men of any given age or nation. The sacred writers were Jews, and accustomed to a religion which had priests and sacrifices. It was, therefore, natural that they should set forth under figures and in the use of terms, borrowed from their own institutions, the truths that Christ saved sinners, and that in the prosecution of that work He suffered and died. These truths may be retained, but the form in which they are presented in the Bible may be safely dis* carded.