Excerpt from The Presbyterian and Reformed Review: October, 1891 But this alleged presumption will be totally nullified if it be shown from Scripture that there is any class of sinful beings for whose restoration God has made no provision. For, evidently, if this be revealed in the case of any, then it is certain, whether we can understand the mystery or not, that the eternal ruin of some creatures must be somehow reconcilable with the infinite moral perfection of God, and the force of the asserted presumption is broken, since it demands nothing less than a restoration which shall be absolutely universal. N ow, as a matter of fact, the Scriptures do teach, formally and explicitly, that for a whole class of sinful beings God has made no provision for salvation. Basal to the revelation of the Word on this point are two propositions. First, that there is no forgiveness of sin without the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God; of an atonement made by the sinful person himself, the Scriptures know nothing. Secondly, it is also clearly taught that such atonement must be made by One suffering in the nature of those for whose sin the atonement is made. As for the first of these propositions, it is formally taught in Heb. Ix. 22, that the principle of the Mosaic law, that apart from shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, applies in full force to the defilement by sin of those heavenly things of which the earthly were the patterns. So also Paul declares (gal. Iii. That if there had been a law given which could make alive, verily righteousness would have been of the law, and further (gal. Ii. That if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for naught. The sacrifice of the Son of God is, therefore, declared to be a necessary condition of the forgiveness of sin. As for the second of the above propositions, it is no less formally taught that for an atonement by the Son of God to be applicable to the case of a sinner, it was necessary that it should be made in the nature of those for whom the atonement was designed. It is written (heb. Ii. 17) that, in order that Christ might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, so as to make propitiation for the sins of the people and that, therefore (vs. 14, since the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might deliver all them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. And then follow (vs. 16) these de. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.