Let us, therefore, consider, what circumstances met in this case, and must be supposed to concur on any occasion of this kind, to render fit and proper the substitution of an innocent person in the place of the guilty; and what is peculiar in the character of our Saviour, which renders it worthy of God to set him apart as a propitiation for the sins of the world, and annex the blessings of eternal life to such as believe in the doctrine of the cross and repent and turn to God.

[We now return to the original copy.]

First. It is obvious that such a procedure as we are now contemplating, in order to give it validity and effect, must be sanctioned by the supreme authority. It is a high exertion of the dispensing power, which can issue from no inferior source to that from which the laws themselves emanate.

For a private person, whatever might be his station in society, to pretend to introduce such a commutation of punishment as is implied in such a transaction, would be a presumptuous invasion of legislative rights, which no well-regulated society would tolerate. To attach the penalty to the person of the offender, is as much the provision of the law as to denounce it-they are equally component parts of one and the same regulation; and the power of dispensing with the laws is equivalent to the power of legislation.

Besides, so many circumstances, rarely, if ever combined, must concur to render such a procedure conducive to the ends of justice, that it would be the height of temerity to commit the determination of them to the exercise of private discretion instead of legislative wisdom.

This condition was most unequivocally satisfied in the mystery of Christ's substitution. When he undertook to bear our sins in his own body on the tree, he contracted no private engagement without the consent and approbation of his Heavenly Father. If he gave himself for our sins, to redeem us from the present evil world, it was according to the will of God, even our Father. On every occasion he reminds us, that he did nothing from himself, but that only which the Father had commissioned him to do. I have power, said he, to lay down my life, and power to take it up again; this commandment received I of my Father. Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me; but that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do; Arise, let us go hence. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.*

*See John x. 18, to John xiv. 31. 1 John iv. 9, 10-14.

These inspired statements place it beyond all doubt, that christianity originated with the Supreme Governor of the universe, that its gracious provisions are the accomplishment of his counsel, and that its principles, however much they surpass the discoveries of reason, are in perfect harmony with the genuine dictates of natural religion. The substitution of the Redeemer in the room of sinners, was the contrivance of the same wisdom.

*

[A second chasm in Mr. Hall's manuscript, supplied in substance from the notes of others.]

Secondly. Another indispensable circumstance in such a proceeding, is, that it should be perfectly voluntary on the part of the sufferer. Otherwise, it would be an act of the highest injustice; it would be the addition of one offence to another, and give a greater shock to all rightly-disposed minds, than the acquittal of the guilty without any atonement. Whenever such an offering has been spoken of as taking place, it is represented as originating with the innocent person himself.

Here there appears, at first sight, an insuperable difficulty in the way of human salvation. How could that be rendered which was, at once, due to sin and mankind at large? Where could one be found that would endure the penalty freely, which was incurred by a sinful world? This our Saviour did. He not only came by authority,

but such was his infinite love, that he came voluntarily. He expressed the deepest interest in his undertaking. He announced the particulars of his suffering, how he must be delivered, spit upon, and put to death; and in his hour of suffering, nothing is plainer than that he gave himself up to it voluntarily, according to the settled purpose of his own mind.

No sacrifice should go unwillingly to the altar. It was, indeed, reckoned a bad omen when any one did so. None ever went so willingly as he. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and evinced a readiness to be offered up. He endured the cross, despising the shame, all for the joy that was set before him; that glorious reward, the eternal happiness of an innumerable multitude of intelligent creatures, who must have perished if he had not been stricken to death for them.

Thirdly. It is farther necessary that the substitute not only undertake voluntarily, but that he be perfectly free from the offence which renders punishment necessary. If he were tainted with that for which the punishment was assigned; nay, if he were only in part implicated in any other crime, he had already incurred some penalty; and there must be a proportionate deduction for what was due on his part.

Accordingly, in the case of man, divine justice cannot be willing to acquiesce in a substitute who is a sharer in guilt; for the law has a previous hold upon him; there is a debt due on his own account.

But Jesus Christ, though a man, was, by reason of his miraculous conception, free from the taint of original sin. That holy thing which was born of the virgin grew up in a course of perfect purity and rectitude. He could say to his enemies, Which of you convinceth me of sin? He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He, and he alone, of all who are of our nature, appeared in this character. By this means he became an immaculate sacrifice. He was shadowed forth by a pure lamb. He was as a lamb without spot. It was not this that rendered the sacrifice sufficient, but in this respect it accomplished all that could be expected of a human sacrifice. His Father rested in him, not only because he was his beloved Son, a partaker of his divine nature, but because he was holy and such an one as became us; not that we had a claim to such a priest, but no other could answer for us. The Levitical high-priests could never, with those sacrifices which they offered continually, year by year, make the comers thereunto perfect; for each ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins; and therefore he could only be an imperfect figure of the true high-priest, who offered not for himself, but offered himself for us.

Fourthly. There would be a great propriety in this also, that the innocent person substituted for the guilty, should stand in some relation to him.

Now, our Lord Jesus Christ was related to mankind; one like them whom he came to redeem. It was indispensable that he should stand in close