ediate_ conditions of pardon or justification,
then the sinner would be dependent for pardon on the sacraments, and on
the clergyman who administers them, and not immediately on the Spirit
of God. But this would virtually be one of the most dangerous features
of Puseyism and Romanism, by which the minister is thrust in between
the penitent, sinner and his God, and the priest is elevated to the
position of the dispenser of pardon, holding in his hand the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. Now it is indeed flattering to the frail heart of the
minister (for we are all mere men) to find himself elevated to such an
exalted post, to stand (as the Papists say of their priest) in the place
of God, and have his whole congregation _look to him_ for the pardon of
sin, in private confession and the sacraments; and this may possibly be
one of the reasons why this Puseyite, semi-Romish system is more popular
with the clergy than with the laity. But Protestant ministers should
never forget, that the Saviour himself asserted it as his peculiar
characteristic, "that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive
sin." Mark ii. 7.

6. That the sacraments are not the necessary or certain conditions of
pardon, is evident, also, from the fact, that some, as the thief upon
the cross, were saved without them after their institution, whilst
others who had partaken of them were lost, of which Judas and Simon
Magus are examples.

7. That the sacraments are not immediate conditions of pardon is
finally evident from the declaration of the apostle Peter, "The like
figure whereunto baptism doth now save us; _not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh_, that is, _not the mere outward rite_ of applying
the water, but the answer of a good conscience toward God." [Note 21]
that is, the faithful performance of the duties to which our Christian
profession, made in baptism, obligated us, by keeping a conscience void
of offence before God and man.

From all this, it is very clear, that whilst the sacraments are divinely
appointed as means and seals of grace, they operate like divine truth,
either oral or written, by promoting that great change of heart, without
which no man can see God: that where they are received with a living
faith, there is indeed pardon of sin or justification; but this pardon
is the result of that living faith, the appointed condition of
justification, and not of the sacraments, which can only tend to secure
pardon by promoting f