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taking some expressions in the Epistles concerning justification by Christ without the works of the law, maintained that Christians were under no obligation to obey the moral precepts of the Mosaic dispensation.

It has been noticed in a former part of this work, that the promise of the Redemption of mankind from the fatal effects of sin, is recorded in the beginning of the book of Genesis; and we have also seen this promise confirmed by so many persons, and in so many ways, throughout the writings of the Old Testament, that we cannot but feel the force of our Lord's

appeal, "Search the Scriptures, for they testify of me (a)." But in order to prove the former part of this article, I shall repeat and explain some of those prophecies and types, which refer to the offer or promise of everlasting life to mankind by Christ.

Immediately after the fall of our first parents from their state of innocence and happiness, God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (b);" in which words is intimated the future Saviour of the world, who was

(a) John, c. 5. v. 39.
(b) Gen. c. 3. v. 15.

to

to be born of a woman, and through whom mankind would bruise the head of the serpent, that is, gain the victory over sin and death, which the serpent was the means of introducing into the world. God next declares to Abraham his gracious design of redeeming the world in these words: "I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (c)." This promise signifies that the Redeemer was to be a descendant of Abraham; and it is to be observed, that the blessing here promised was to extend to all the nations of the earth, that is, to all mankind. We have St. Paul's authority for this interpretation; "And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed (d)." And it is farther to be observed, that this promise was made to Abraham immediately after he had shewn himself ready to sacrifice his only son at the command of God, which whole transaction is to be considered as typical of the sacrifice of Christ. The same promise was repeated to Isaac

(c) Gen. c. 17. v. 7. e. 22. v. 18.
(d) Gal. c. 3. v. 8.

Isaac (e) and to Jacob (f). In Jeremiah, God "This shall be the covenant that I will says, make with the house of Israel; after those days I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more (g)." In the above passage the nature of the Gospel covenant is explained, as designed to produce inward purity, and to procure pardon for sin; and in Isaiah the benefits of this covenant are declared to extend to the Gentiles also: "It is a light thing, saith the Lord, that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth (h)." The atonement also is clearly asserted in Isaiah, "He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own ways, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all; for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for

the

(e) Gen. c. 26. v. 3. (f) Gen. c. 28. v. 13. (g) Jerem. c. 31. v. 33 & 34. (h) Is. c. 49. v. 6.

the transgressions of my people he was stricken. Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin; for he shall bear their iniquities (i)." And the following passage in Hosea plainly states God's gracious intention of bestowing upon mankind everlasting life: "I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction (k)."

To these positive declarations, relative to the redemption by Christ, we may add that the call of the Jews out of Egypt, where they suffered a severe bondage, into Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, was a type of the call of mankind from the oppression and misery of sin to "the glorious liberty with which Christ hath made us free;" that the law was preparatory to the Gospel; that Moses, as a deliverer and lawgiver, was a type of Christ; that the temporal blessings of the law were typical of the eternal blessings of the Gospel; that the paschal lamb was typical of the sacrifice of Christ; the scape-goat of the atonement; and the lifting up of the brazen serpent in the wilderness, of the crucifixion of our Saviour. Many other promises, predictions, and types, might be produced out of the Old Testament concerning redemption

(i) Is. c. 53. v. 5, &c. (k) Hosea, c. 13. v. 14.

redemption through Christ, but these are amply sufficient to convince us that THE OLD TES

TAMENT IS NOT CONTRARY TO THE NEW; FOR BOTH IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAEVERLASTING LIFE IS OFFERED TO

MENT,

MANKIND BY CHRIST. Indeed there is not only the most perfect harmony and consistency, but the closest connexion and mutual dependence between the Old and New Testament; they are parts of the same system; they explain and confirm each other. The great plan of universal redemption, announced and typified in the one, is perfected and completed in the other; it was declared to Adam; it was promised to the patriarchs; it was typified by the Law; it was predicted by the prophets; it was fulfilled in Christ. It was the eternal decree of God; it was gradually carried on through a long succession of ages, according to the dictates of his unerring wisdom, and was finally executed in his own good time: "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning (1). "With him a thousand years are as one day (m)." "In him there is no variableness or shadow of turning (n)." -"What," says Justin Martyr, "is the Law? the Gospel predicted. What is the

(1) Acts, c. 15. v. 18. (n) James, c. 1. v. 17.

(m) 2 Pet. c. 3. v. 8.

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