Ver. 8. The Harmony of Christianity in its Personal Influence.
I. The wisdom and prudence of the Gospel are manifested by showing with equal distinctness the Divine justice and mercy.—Justice does not arrest the hand of mercy; mercy does not restrain the hand of justice. They speak with a united voice, they command with a united authority, they shine with a united glory. Neither excels. The one does not overbear the other. Their common splendour is like the neutral tint, the effulgent colourlessness of the undecomposed ray.
II. By exhibiting the incarnate Son as alike the object of love and adoration.
III. By insisting most uniformly on Divine grace and human responsibility.
IV. By the proposal of the freest terms of acceptance and the enforcement of the most universal practice of obedience.
V. By inspiring the most elevated joy in connection with the deepest self-abhorrence.
VI. By displaying the different conduct pursued by the Deity towards sin and the sinner.
VII. By combining the genuine humility of the Gospel with our dignity as creatures and our conscientiousness as saints.
VIII. By causing all supernatural influence to operate through our rational powers and by intelligent means.
IX. By resting our evidence of safety and spiritual welfare upon personal virtues.