ful death; or, (2.) some one else must give such a satisfaction for him as the nature of the case required; or, (3.) the divine government must be lowered down, in the eyes of all intelligent and holy beings, into insignificancy and contempt. The first of those consequences, we know, did not take place; for mercy was extended to offending man. Nor have we the least evidence in support of the third; but, on the contrary, from every idea which we are able to form of the self-existent, independent, and absolutely holy and righteous God, we are assured that he could not allow his administration of the affairs of the universe to lose one particle of its original perfection and lustre. The absolute perfection

Should it

of his nature raises him far above the influence of external motives to depart from the principles of eternal righteousness and truth. His government of rational creatures can, therefore, never degenerate. become necessary at any time, for him to alter the form of his moral government, such alteration, we may assur edly conclude, will not diminish, but more clearly illustrate, and more fully display, the purity and perfection of those principles upon which it is founded. Adam was placed under the best possible administration, with which the moral government of mankind could begin, That altered one under which he was placed after his transgression, and under which we all now live, affords a still brighter display of the perfections of its divine author,

If, then, the first sinner was not punished as his

breach of the law of God deserved; but suffered to live many hundreds of years after the crime was committed; and if his descendants are permitted to survive their first transgression, and are treated in a way of mercy; and, moreover, if the Almighty could not be influenced to depart from the immutable principles, on which his righteous administration rests, it follows, with irresistible evidence, that an atonement or propitiation, must have been made for the sins of mankind. This is a conclusion, which no artifice, or sceptical ingenuity can possibly evade.

SECTION VI.

Had no atonement been made for sin, Adam must have been cut off for his FIRST transgression.

WHOLE Systems of, what some call divinity, have been built upon the supposition that, had no atonement been made for sin, Adam would have survived his breach of the divine law-would have propagated his species, and all things have gone on, just as we now behold them! Those who view the subject in this light, believe, of course, that all the world, in that case, would have been damned. For, they tell us, that the Almighty might very justly have passed by the entire race, leaving them to perish without redeeming any. In this view of things,

they represent Christ and the Father, as entering into & covenant engagement to save some of the guilty descendants of Adam, and as agreeing to leave the rest to the consequences of their transgressions!! And, according to this scheme, the mercy of God is magnified in the salvation of those who were the objects of his choice, and his justice, in the damnation of all beside!!!* If the proposition which stands at the head of this section, be founded on rational and scriptural evidence, then will this doctrine of grace, modestly so called, be shown to rest on a sandy foundation; and its deluded votaries be compelled to reconsider this article of their belief.

The principal argument by which the proposition before us, is to be established, is founded on the nature of the moral constitution under which the first of the human race received their existence. That constitution,

Take the following as a specimen of this choice divinity, which so plentifully crowds the pages of that class of divines to which we refer. "If grace be effectual in the final deliverance of a part only of all nations, we may safely conclude that our Lord did not intend his atonement to extend to every branch of the human family.... There could be no necessity that Jesus Christ should die for all mankind in order to leave such as perish without excuse. For where the gospel is preached men deserve everlasting death, whether Christ died for them or not. . . . . It is obvious from scripture that men would have been most righteously condemned for their sins to everlasting ruin, if redemption had never been procured-if Jesus had never been revealed as a saviour. Had mercy never been published after the fall of Adam, every mouth would have been stopped, and justice would have reigned in the ruin of men without the slightest impeachment." on the atonement, page 140 and 152.

....

Mann

it is evident, was only to be upheld and continued, by an uninterrupted and unceasing obedience to the law. And if so, it is quite clear, that the very first act of disobedience, if committed by the first probationer, would subject the offender to immediate death, and so terminate that dispensation for ever; For the law could show no mercy, nor receive any satisfaction from the sinner except in the instant infliction of its terrible penalty. Nor could the great law-giver himself extend mercy to the transgressor, without some adequate consideration, as we have already shown.

To secure most effectually that uninterrupted obedience which the law required, and to leave the offender no ground of excuse, it is reasonable to suppose, that the consequences of disobedience would be fully and distinctly made known; and in terms so unequivocal, as to admit of no interpretation, save that literal, clear, and definite one, which they were intended to convey. Less than this we could not expect from the creator and benefactor of men. And, by a reference to the pages of revelation, we are assured that such is the fact. Such is the simplicity which characterises the wording of the law, that it would seem impossible to put a wrong construction upon it. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” And the subsequent conduct of the delinquents is a proof that they clearly understood the awful import of the sentence; for, having violated the sacred command, it is said, "They were ashamed

and hid themselves behind the trees of the garden.” This shews that they expected nothing less than the immediate infliction of the threatened penalty. And there is every reason to believe that, had no atonement been made for sin, by which the violated law was vindicated, as satisfactorily, at least, as it would have been by the punishment of the offenders, this must have been the The truth of God required their instant death. His word had gone forth; "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

case.

The transgressors of the laws of paradise could only be spared after their rebellion, through an act of mercy; but, under a perfect and impartial administration, mercy can never be exercised in opposition to the claims of justice; because that which opposes the claims of justice, is an act of wickedness, and cannot be, at the same time, an act of mercy. It follows, therefore, that as mercy was exercised towards our first parents after they had sinned, some atonement for their transgression, must have been offered, in order to make it accord with the principles of justice to spare their forfeited lives.

It is important, in this argument, that the reader's attention be kept close to the point which we are now considering; for as soon as the first sin had been committed by our first parents, they either deserved to die, or they did not. If they did not deserve to die the first moment after they had sinned, it will be impossible to