the divine law be made void, or one tittle of it fail and not be fulfilled.

But the letter of a law may possibly be deviated from, and yet the spirit of it be supported, and the design of it fully obtained. We are told of a certain ancient king (Zaleuchus, king of the Locrians) who, that he might effectually suppress adultery, which exceedingly prevailed among his subjects, enacted a law that the adulterer should be punished with the loss of both his eyes. His own son was convicted of this crime. The royal father, whose bowels yearned for him, and who could not bear to have one so dear to him forever deprived of the light of day, devised an expedient to soften, in that one instance, the rigour of his own law, and yet not abate its force in future. The king in a most public manner, before all the people, had one of his own eyes plucked out, that so one of his son's eyes might be saved. By such a commutation as this, by redeeming one eye for his son, at so costly a price as the loss of one of his own, he conceived the law would appear as awful, and be as great a terror to evil doers, as if the letter of it had been executed. And it must, I think, be acknowledged that, by this means, the king's inflexible determination to maintain government and punish transgression, was even more strikingly evinced than if he had suffered the law to have its natural course, and neither of his son's eyes had been spared. For some fathers have been without natural affection, but no man ever yet hated his own flesh. The apple of one's own eye must certainly be dear to him.

In like manner, we are to conceive of the redemption of Christ, as an astonishing expedient of infinite wisdom and goodness, that we transgressors might be saved, and yet God be just, and his righteous law suf

fer no dishonour. This is the constant account we have of the death of Christ in the holy scriptures.~ Thus intmediately after my text, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins, &c.—To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." Thus Eph. i. 7. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins," &c.

But it was not enough that we should be redeemed from death. In order to our being heirs of God, and having an interest in the covenant of grace, it was necessary that the law as a covenant of works should be fulfilled; and so the forfeited inheritance of eternal life be redeemed. This our Saviour did by his active obedience. By his fulfilling all righteousness, a foundation was laid for God, to the eternal honour of his remunerating justice, to give grace and glory to all who believe in Christ and belong to him. Thus it is writ ten, "He is made unto us righteousness."

These two things are implied in the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. The merit of his obedience, and the manifestation of the inflexibility of divine vindictive justice, made by his sufferings and death. And these two things were necessary in order to our being justified, and yet the spirit of the law be maintained, and God be just.

III. I proceed to show, that notwithstanding this plenteous redemption, we are dependent on the mere mercy of God, and our justification is still freely by his grace.

By grace is meant undeserved favour. This is the common acceptation of the word. The bestowment of any good which might justly not be bestowed, or

not inflicting any evil which might justly be inflicted, is a matter of free grace. Indeed, in the New Testament grace may mean, doing good to those who de serve ill; this being actually the case with respect to all exercises of divine goodness towards fallen man. However, if it can be shown that no man has any claim to salvation upon the footing of justice, it will be sufficient to my present purpose. The thing therefore I now undertake to prove, and clear up, is this: That no man deserves eternal life, or even deliverance from eternal death, on account of any merit belonging to him, either personal or imputed.

The idea of personal merit is in general profe sedly exploded. All will allow that the best man on earth, had he no better righteousness than his own, could have no other plea than that of the publican, " God be merciful to me a sinner." But, on Christ's account, it has commonly been supposed, believers have a good plea even before the tribunal of divine justice. It hath been said by them of old time, and also by some modern writers of very eminent note, that through the atonement of our divine Redeemer, if we have an interest in him, we deserve freedom from all condemnation; and that, through his all-perfect righteousness, we may demand eternal glory as our just due. Very express to this purpose is the following passage, in a late learned and most excellent author.* "The justice of God that required man's damnation, and seemed inconsistent with his salvation, now does as much require the salvation of those that believe in Christ, as ever it required their damnation. Salvation is an absolute debt to the believer from God, so that he may in justice demand and challenge it, not upon the account of what * President Edwards. First set of Posthumous Sermons, page 207.

he himself has done; but upon the account of what his surety has done. For Christ has satisfied justice fully for his sin; so that it is but a thing that may be challenged that God should now release the believer from punishment; it is but a piece of justice that the creditor should release the debtor, when he has fully paid the debt. And again, the believer may demand eternal life, because it has been merited by Christ, by a merit of condignity."

Another extract I will here give you from the writings of a more ancient pious divine, containing the same sentiment, and expressed in still bolder terms. His words are as follow: "He [Christ] fully merited, by way of purchase and complete payment made unto divine justice, the removal of all that evil we had deserved, and the enjoyment of all that good we needed, and could desire; and that by a valuable consideration tendered into the hand of divine justice in that behalf. However it is out of free mercy and rich grace that redemption is given to us; (for its out of mercy that Christ is given, that he gave his life, that both are bestowed upon us and not upon the world :) yet in regard to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and the full payment he hath laid down, out of his own proper cost and charges. his own blood, it is justice it should be bestowed, and by justice it may be challenged, as that which he hath purchased in a righteous proceed. ing."

This he afterwards applies in a use of reproof to diffident believers, in the following words: “Why? have you laid down the purchase? Take possession then into your hand. Have you tendered the payment? Take the commodity It is your own; nay,

your due. He that knows at what the purchase will come, and hath the sum in sight, and under his hand,

can lay it down upon the nail; pay it, take it; here is one and there's the other. Here's the blood of Jesus which thou art well pleased with, hast accepted of, therefore, Lord, give me my due: that comfort, that peace, that wisdom, that assurance, which I stand in need of."*

This notion of the atonement and imputed righteousness, it must be acknowledged, is frequently to be met with in our most orthodox books, though it may not be often improved just in the manner last quoted. But we may call no man master, or father. We must search the scriptures, whether those things be so.— Where do we find our infallible teacher, instructing his disciples to make such challenges from the Father, even on his account, of deliverance from all evil, and the bestowment of all good, as their just due? Did he not direct them humbly to pray, for even a competency of outward comforts, as of God's free gift: and for the pardon of their many offences, of his mere mercy? "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." He encouraged them indeed to seek unto God for all needed good, in his name, with an assurance of obtaining their requests; but he ever taught them to seek in the way of petition, not of demand. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father, in my name, he will give it you." Did our Saviour, that we find, ever insinuate an idea that the salvation of his redeemed ones was of debt from the Father? Did he not, in the most explicit manner, acknowledge the contrary? "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and of earth,

Mr. Thomas Hooker, first Minister in Hartford.