ens were as punctilious as Hebrews in their scrutiny of the
victims, to ascertain what animals were fit for sacrifice by the absence
of all blemish. They used forms of deprecation as exactly expressing the
doctrines of substitution and of atonement by vicarious punishment. In
one significant, though repulsive, particular some of the heathen went
farther than the Hebrews: occasionally, the sinner who sought cleansing
from defilement was actually washed in the blood of the victim slain for
him. By an elaborate contrivance the sinner sat under a stage of open
woodwork on which the animal was sacrificed, and through which its blood
poured upon him.

The idea expressed by all sacrifices of expiation was, that the victim
took the place of the sinner, and received the punishment due to him.
The sacrifice was an acknowledgment on the sinner's part that by his sin
he had incurred penalty; and it was a prayer on the sinner's part that
he might be washed from the guilt he had contracted, and might return to
life with the blessing and favour of God upon him. Of course, it was
seen, and said by the heathen themselves, as well as by the Jews, that
the blood of bulls and goats had in itself no relation to moral
defilement. It was used in sacrifice merely as a telling way of saying
that sin was acknowledged and pardon desired, but always with the idea
of substitution more or less explicitly in the mind. And the ideas which
were inevitably associated with sacrifice were transferred to Jesus by
His immediate disciples. And this transference of the ideas connected
with sacrifice to Himself and His death was sanctioned--and indeed
suggested--by Jesus, when, at the Last Supper, He said, "This cup is the
New Testament in My Blood, which is shed for many, for the remission of
sins."

But here the question at once arises: In what sense was the Blood of
Christ shed for the remission of sins? In what sense was He a substitute
and victim for us? Before we try to find an answer to this question, two
preliminary remarks may be made--first, that our salvation depends not
on our understanding how the death of Christ takes away sin, but upon
our believing that it does so. It is very possible to accept the pardon
of our sin, though we do not know how that pardon has been obtained. We
do not understand the methods of cure prescribed by the physician, nor
could we give a rational account of the efficacy of his medicines, but
this does not retard our cur