The Atonement 57 applied to many other Scriptures to keep them from proclaim- ing a substitutionary atonement. Christ is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1 :29). “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45). “Him that knew no sin He made to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:2). Such are a few examples of the count- less declarations of a substitutionary atonement which the Scriptures make, and with which those who reject the doctrine strive in vain. Any speculation which sets itself against this mighty current flowing through all the Bible is destined to be swept away. Yet further. A theological theory, like a person, should be judged somewhat by the company it keeps. If it shows an inveterate inclination to associate with other theories which lie wholly upon the surface, which sound no depths and solve no problems, and which the profoundest Christian experience rejects, it is evidently the same in kind. The theory which I am here opposing tends to consort with an inadequate view of inspiration, and some of its representa- tives question the inerrancy of the Scripture, even in the mat- ters pertaining to faith and conduct.^ I t tends to consort with an inadequate view of God, and some of its representatives in praising His love forget His holiness and His awful wrath against incorrigible wrongdoers. I t tends to consort with an inadequate view of sin, and some of its representatives make the alienation of man from God consist merely in acts, rather than in an underlying state from which they proceed. I t tends, finally, to consort with an inadequate view of responsibility and guilt, and some of its representatives teach that these cease when the sinner turns, so that there is no need of propitiation, but only for repentance. A distinguished representative of this theory has written the following sentences: “All righteous claims are satisfied if sin is done away.” “Divine law is direct-
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