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fied the Divine law, and made it honourable.—By voluntarily suffering unto death—shedding his blood on the accursed tree—and bearing the curse in his soul, under the hidings of his Father's countenance, Matth. xxvii. 46 he made a complete atonement for sin, glorified the holy justice of God, in connection with his infinite mercy—and rendered the salvation of those for whom he suffered, honourable to the righteous government of God, and to all the perfections of his nature; so that the very pardon of sin, for the sake of Jesus, is the strongest expression of the Divine abhorrence of it.
When Jesus bowed his head on the cross, and gave up the ghost, he said, with special reference to the work given him to do, 'It is finished.'—Compare John xvii. 4. with xix. 30. God confirmed this as a true saying, by raising him from the dead. For the resurrection of Jesus testified the same thing, with the voice from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' Matth xvii. 5 2 Pet. i. 16, 17.—The work of salvation, then, is done. The righteousness and atonement of Immanuel, form the ground, the only ground, the all-sufficient ground, of a guilty sinner's hope towards God. You cannot add to this work—you must not take from it. To attempt either the one or the other is to destroy its efficacy for your salvation. To seek any other way of being saved, is to give God the lie, 1 John v. 10. and wilfully to damn your own soul. 'This is the stone which was set at nought, by the Jewish builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,'
