His atonement, there is no loss or injury to God's attributes of justice and holiness. On the contrary, both these are manifested to a very high degree by the atonement made by the Lord Jesus Christ. Since Christ of His infinite love and goodness freely and of His own will suffered the pains of death for sinners, and since His glory and majesty were by no means affected or lessened by pain and death, but His bodily suffering and crucifixion became the means of salvation and eternal happiness to all who believe on Him, therefore it is clear that there was no compulsion upon Him and that God's acceptance of His atonement was not in any sense an injury to Him. And since men were unable in any way by their own efforts to free themselves from the love of sin, from its power, and from the eternal destruction which was their due because of their sins, and since divine justice demanded an atonement and a propitiation for sin before sin could be forgiven, and since God of His limitless love and mercy did not wish to leave man to sink into the sea of everlasting perdition, therefore He gave ¹ His only Son, the Word of God, who in nature and glory and dignity is one with Himself, that He might become the ransom for sinners, might make atonement for them, and might become the means of their salvation. Is it not in this way evident that God's love and mercy towards sinners are perfect and infinite? Surely God's love and mercy

were far more clearly evidenced in Christ's death and atonement for sinners than in the creation and preservation of the world and in all His other favours and kindnesses bestowed upon mankind. In the same way God's justice and holiness were clearly manifested; for His hatred of sin was far more powerfully shown forth in Christ's voluntary death for sinners than by the terrible punishments which. have at times befallen the guilty, as for example Noah's flood ¹ and the overthrow of the cities ² of the plain. In fact God's holiness, justice, love and mercy, do not become recognized except as they were all revealed in the atonement made by Christ and in the salvation which He has thereby brought us. Therefore it is that only true Christians realize these attributes of God at all worthily, since only those who truly believe in Christ as their Saviour and who put their whole trust in His atonement can love God, knowing that He first loved ³ them, and are thus drawn towards Him and away from sin. Such men's resolve is by God's grace to serve and obey Him here and hereafter. Their obedience and self-restraint are in this manner secured in the most perfect way possible, for, since God's forgiveness of sin has been granted and obtained in no other manner but through Christ's atonement and the death of Him who is not only