: longer need to die; for the one has taken death upon himself and in this verse we see such a convincing proof of the doctrine that Christ performed in our stead all that was necessary for our justification, as may well throw every objection to the ground. "One," says Paul," died instead of all," and this one is Christ. The expression "to die," as used in the holy Scriptures, signifies, not merely to be removed from this earth, but in another sense, to be removed from the presence of God, on account of our sins; in other words to suffer that curse with which the Eternal has threatened transgressors. It means to be delivered up to the power of sin and Satan, and sent to the abode of the damned. This is the death, which was the consequence of eating the forbidden fruit; for God had said, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die !" This is the fearful death to which all of us were justly condemned; but which another underwent in place of us;—a holy, a blame. less, and a righteous one. Christ gave himself up for us, or, as is expressed in the verses following our text, was made sin for us. He was judged in our stead, condemned, laden with our curse, delivered up to the power of Satan, forsaken by God, and in agony and trembling subjected to the most ignominious death. All this he did in his people's stead, and in his children's name. How expressive and full of meaning the sentence now appears. If one died for all, then were all dead!" (literally, then all died.) They have all received the wages and the reward which was due to their misdeeds, in the person of their deputy; the cup 66 475109 of bitterness has been drained to the dregs by their crucified Lord; the punishment which they deserved has been borne by him in its fullest extent; and thus they have no longer to fear the righteous anger of their eternal judge. He did not permit only some of their sins to be reckoned to him, but he bore them all; and his righteousness, his obedience, and the whole sum of his virtues, were ascribed to his redeemed ones, in most wonderful exchange, and became as their own. The apostle refers still more explicitly to our death along with Christ, when he continues in the text, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." Paul means to say here, that our great Surety has won us; that he has not merely conquered the powers of darkness and of sin, of death and of the world, but that he has conquered, or in other words, saved us from ourselves. Henceforward, in all that you do or think, in all that you care for, or strive to attain, you must have him as your object, and not yourself; and you must no longer regard any thing as your own, but as his. You must be holy, but not holy for yourself; you must be sanctified, but in order to glorify by your walk and conversation, Him who has sanctified you. To enable you to comprehend what I mean, I shall give you an example: there was once a rich man who having saved a child from misery and ruin, thus addressed him. "You know, my son, how I have raised you out of poverty and wretchedness, have provided you with clothes, and by my care have restored you to health and happiness. Now go; work and be diligent. See that you earn your bread in an honourable manner; å sphere of usefulness is now opening before you; you must only take care that you do not sink once more into the miserable condition in which I found you!" In other words, the rich man says, "My son, henceforward you may live for yourself!" The condition of those who have been purchased with the blood of Christ, would be much more accurately represented, were that rich man to say to the boy, "My son, I have not merely saved thee, but I have adopted thee as my child. All that I have is thine thy condition is secure; for I will provide for thee all that is necessary to thy happiness; and thou wilt no longer need to care for any thing. Henceforward enjoy thy life; for thy joy is my reward. And if thy affectionate heart prompt thee to hang upon my looks and anticipate my wishes, then let that be the tie which binds us together!" : This, my brethren, is the language of your divine Redeemer unto you; this is your relation to your Saviour. You must live henceforward in him, and no longer in yourselves. You must watch, pray, struggle, wrestle, strive; but above all things discard the unscriptural thought that you thereby become the authors of your own salvation. Christ cared, and still cares for your salvation; in him you are justified, for in the sight of God you are hid in Christ. He washed away your iniquities, he rolled the curse from off your head, he furnished you with a marriage garment for that day, when the King shall come to see his guests! He crucified your old man upon his cross; he slew your ene watched and proYou must no lon mies, led you away, guarded you, tected you as the apple of his eye. ger care for yourselves; but all that you do henceforward must have reference to Him, and must be done for his honour and praise, for the furtherance of His kingdom, and the glory of His name. Therefore has He died instead of all, "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again." II. We now know the point of view in which the apostle contemplates the Christian; he sees him through the merits of his Redeemer; and judges the citizen of Zion according to what he is in Christ, what Christ does for him, and what he makes him to be. Thus, in the person of a believer, an appearance strikes his gaze, the glory of which enraptures him, and excites in him a transport of joy What are the words in our text? "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Let us now consider what the apostle has here in view. It is generally supposed that he speaks of the divine nature, of which the Christian becomes partaker through the wonderful process of regeneration; -of the heavenly mind in the new creature ;—of the divine life in those regenerated;—of a new heart, and of holy desires. Nevertheless, I find myself obliged to give the words of the apostle a different interpretation. It is self-evident, that whoever is in Christ must also be spiritually changed and renewed: with the utmost earnestness therefore I would impress on the minds of all, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord. It is indeed matter of astonishment, in what frail skiffs many people venture to encounter the raging waves which encompass them in their last hours: when death is approaching, some console themselves with a verse from a hymn, which they fancy the Lord himself has prompted; others behold in a dream the appearance of Christ Jesus, or perhaps some friendly angels beckoning; and these most ambiguous circumstances form the only ground on which those poor creatures, in spite of their dead and unchanged hearts, reckon themselves children of God, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. No, my brethren, this is not the true way; regeneration and renewal by the Spirit of Christ are the signs of the Christian. The Red Sea of doubt, timidity, and little faith, in whose shallows so many have been delayed before they could arrive at the promised land, may be passed over; but the Jordan of repentance never can; all must go through it before they can enter Canaan. In our text, Paul, as we have already said, does not speak of the spiritual life of the true Christian; nor yet of that which the Christian becomes through the transforming grace of Christ: he alludes neither to his regeneration nor sanctification, but to his justification. I have no need to prove this to you: you only require to read our text, in order to be convinced of it. If the apostle had meant to speak of the Christian's spiritual life, or of what we term sanctification, would he have laid', "Old things are passed away," or, in other words, are gone? For do we not always carry the old man about with us? And do we not daily with sorrow ex |