As the law was magnified, justice satisfied, the divine government honoured, and all God’s attributes were glorified, in the life and death of Christ, so also the Church1 was wholly redeemed from the earth, from among men, from under the curse, from all iniquity - redeemed to God with a price, by payment of a ransom, even the precious blood of Christ. The original cause of this redemption is the infinite love and grace of the Trinity.2 In an eternal decree and counsel between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for the redemption of sinners,3 the Son was chosen to be the Redeemer,4 and it was ordained that he should assume human nature, in order to become our kinsman, with the right to redeem his brethren.5 It was ordained that his Person should stand in the stead of those persons (and those only) who had been given him to redeem.6 In the fulness of time he was made of a woman,7 made under the law, that, by the imputation of their sins to him, he might redeem those who were given him: ‘The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all - and he bare the sins of many.’8 ‘He hath made (by imputation) him to be sin for us, who knew no sin (by corruption of nature, thought, or deed).’9 ‘I lay down,’ said Christ, ‘my life for the sheep.’10 He suffered in his own Person the penalty due for the sins which were imputed to him. ‘Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us (for whom he suffered) to God.’ He thus redeemed a countless multitude, by making a full atonement for all their sins.11 Men were redeemed, but all things - that is, grace and glory - are obtained for them through the Redeemer, and through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Thus the redemption ensures their calling, justification, sanctification, perseverance, adoption, and glorification.12 Though it is improper to say that the Holy Spirit was purchased for his people, yet it is in virtue of the redemption purchased and the atonement made by Christ for their sins, that the Holy Spirit and every good gift pertaining to their salvation are bestowed upon them; the redemption removed all obstacles out of the way, and established communion between heaven and earth. Thus, through that ransom, that is to say, the blood of Christ, they are saved from sin and all its consequences, and brought into everlasting glory.13
1 Gal. 3:13; 4:5; Rom. 5:9; Rev. 5:9; Titus 2:14; Matt. 20:28; Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19. 2 John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Rom 5:6-10; Eph. 1:7. 3 Psa. 40:6-8; Heb. 10:5-10; Eph. 3:10-11: Zech. 6:13; Isa. 49:3-7; Acts 4:28. 4 Psa. 89:19; Isa. 42:1. 5 Heb. 2:14-17; 10:5; Lev. 25:25. 6 Eph. 5:2, 25-26; John 17:2, 9; 18:8-9. 7 Gal. 4:4; Luke 2:7. 8 Isa. 53: 5-6,12. 9 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24. 10 John 10:15. 11 Isa. 53:5-6, 12; 1 Peter 3:18; Heb. 2:10; 9:28; 10:10-14. 12 Gal. 4:5; John 1:16, 6:39-40; 10:28, 17:24; Col. 1:14; 19 Rom. 8:29- 30; Eph. 2:6; Titus 2:14. 13 John 6:39-40; 7:39; 14:6; 16:7: Acts 2:33; Gal. 3:13-14; 4:4-6: Heb. 10:19-20; Matt. 1:21; Eph. 1:7; 1 John 5:11.
*While we do not wish to make any alteration in what is stated in this Article concerning the substitution of the Person of the Mediator in the stead of those who were given him by the Father, we think it necessary to call attention to the opposite truth concerning the infinite sufficiency of the atonement, as it is set forth in the hymns of Williams, of Pantycelyn, and in the writings of Charles, of Bala, and Jones, of Denbigh. In the report of the observations made on the subject of redemption at the Association held at Bala, June, 1809 (Trysorfa Ysbrydol, Vol. II. [p. 74], edited by Mr. Charles, who also wrote that report - and it appears that this article on ‘Redemption’ is only an epitome of that report), the statement of the particular substitution of Christ is followed by this remark: ‘None will perish because of insufficiency in the atonement, but all because they will not come unto Christ to be saved; and these men will have no excuse to make for their neglect of Christ.’
