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CHAPTER 1
THINGS
PREVIOUSLY TO BE CONSIDERED, TO THE SOLUTION OF OBJECTIONS.
THERE
being sundry places in holy Scripture wherein the ransom and
propitiation made by the blood of Christ is set forth in general
and indefinite expressions; as also a fruitlessness or want of
success in respect of some, through their own default, for whom
he died, seemingly intimated; with general proffers, promises,
and exhortations, made for the embracing of the fruits of the
death of Christ, even to them who do never actually perform it,
— whence some have taken occasion to maintain a
universality of redemption, equally respecting all and
everyone, and that with great confidence, affirming that the
contrary opinion cannot possibly be reconciled with those places
of Scripture wherein the former things are proposed; — these
three heads being the only fountains from whence are drawn (but
with violence) all the arguments that are opposed to the peculiar
effectual redemption of the elect only, I shall, before I come to
the answering of objections arising from a wrested interpretation
of particular places, lay down some such fundamental principles
as are agreeable to the word, and largely held forth in it, and
no way disagreeable to our judgment in this particular, which do
and have given occasion to those general and indefinite
affirmations as they are laid down in the word, and upon which
they are founded, having their truth in them, and not in a
universal ransom for all and everyone; with some distinctions
conducing to the farther clearing of the thing in question, and
waiving of many false imputations of things and consequences,
erroneously or maliciously imposed on us.
1.
The first thing that we shall lay down is concerning the
dignity, worth, preciousness, and infinite value of the blood and
death of Jesus Christ. The maintaining and declaring of this is
doubtless especially to be considered; and every opinion that
doth but seemingly clash against it is exceedingly prejudiced, at
least deservedly suspected, yea, presently to be rejected by
Christians, if upon search it be found to do so really and
indeed, as that which is injurious and derogatory to the merit
and honor of Jesus Christ. The Scripture, also, to this purpose
is exceeding full and frequent in setting forth the excellency
and dignity of his death and sacrifice, calling his blood, by
reason of the unity of his person, “God’s own
blood,” Acts 20:28; exalting it infinitely above all other
sacrifices, as having for its principle “the eternal
Spirit,” and being itself “without spot,” Hebrews
9:14; transcendently more precious than silver, or gold, or
corruptible things, 1 Peter 1:18; able to give justification from
all things, from which by the law men could not be justified,
Acts 13:28.
Now,
such as was the sacrifice and offering of Christ in itself, such
was it intended by his Father it should be. It was, then, the
purpose and intention of God that his Son should offer a
sacrifice of infinite worth, value, and dignity, sufficient in
itself for the redeeming of all and every man, if it had pleased
the Lord to employ it to that purpose; yea, and of other worlds
also, if the Lord should freely make them, and would redeem them.
Sufficient we say, then, was the sacrifice of Christ for the
redemption of the whole world, and for the expiation of all the
sins of all and every man in the world. This sufficiency of his
sacrifice hath a twofold rise: — First, The dignity of the
person that did offer and was offered. Secondly, The greatness of
the pain he endured, by which he was able to bear, and did
undergo, the whole curse of the law and wrath of God due to sin. And
this sets out the innate, real, true worth and value of the
blood-shedding of Jesus Christ. This is its own true internal
perfection and sufficiency. That it should be applied unto any,
made a price for them, and become beneficial to them, according
to the worth that is in it, is external to it, doth not arise
from it, but merely depends upon the intention and will of God.
It was in itself of infinite value and sufficiency to have
been made a price to have bought and purchased all and every
man in the world. That it did formally become a price for any is
solely to be ascribed to the purpose of God, intending their
purchase and redemption by it. The intention of the offerer and
accepter that it should be for such, some, or any, is
that which gives the formality of a price unto it; this is
external. But the value and fitness of it to be made a price
ariseth from its own internal sufficiency. Hence may appear what
is to be thought of that old distinction of the schoolmen,
embraced and used by divers protestant divines, though by others
again rejected, — namely, “That Christ died for all in
respect of the sufficiency of the ransom he paid, but not in
respect of the efficacy of its application;” or, “The
blood of Christ was a sufficient price for the sins of all the
world;” — which last expression is corrected by some,
and thus asserted, “That the blood of Christ was sufficient
to have been made a price for all;” which is most true, as
was before declared: for its being a price for all or some doth
not arise from its own sufficiency, worth, or dignity, but from
the intention of God and Christ using it to that purpose, as was
declared; and, therefore, it is denied that the blood of Christ
was a sufficient price and ransom for all and everyone, not
because it was not sufficient, but because it was not a ransom.
And so it easily appears what is to be owned in the distinction
itself before expressed. If it intend no more but that the blood
of our Savior was of sufficient value for the redemption of all
and everyone, and that Christ intended to lay down a price which
should be sufficient for their redemption, it is acknowledged as
most true. But the truth is, that expression, “To die for
them,” holds out the intention of our Savior, in the laying
down of the price, to have been their redemption; which we deny,
and affirm that then it could not be but that they must be made
actual partakers of the eternal redemption purchased for them,
unless God failed in his design, through the defect of the ransom
paid by Christ, his justice refusing to give a dismission upon
the delivery of the ransom.
Now,
the infinite value and worth which we assert to be in the death
of Christ we conceive to be exceedingly undervalued by the
assertors of universal redemption; for that it should be extended
to this or that object, fewer or more, we showed before to be
extrinsical to it. But its true worth consists in the immediate
effects, products, and issues of it, with what in its own nature
it is fit and able to do; which they openly and apparently
undervalue, yea, almost annihilate. Hence those expressions
concerning it : — First, That by it a door of grace was
opened for sinners: where, I suppose, they know not; but that
any were [ever] effectually carried in at the door by it, that
they deny. Secondly, That God might, if he would, and upon
what condition he pleased, save those for whom Christ died. That
a right of salvation was by him purchased for any, they deny.
Hence they grant, that after the death of Christ, — first, God
might have dealt with man upon a legal condition again; secondly,
That all and every man might have been damned, and yet the
death of Christ have had its full effect; as also, moreover, That
faith and sanctification are not purchased by his death, yea,
no more.for any (as before) than what he may go to hell
withal. And divers other ways do they express their low
thoughts and slight imaginations concerning the innate value and
sufficiency of the death and blood-shedding of Jesus Christ. To
the honor, then, of Jesus Christ our Mediator, God and man, our
all-sufficient Redeemer, we affirm, such and so great was the
dignity and worth of his death and blood-shedding, of so precious
a value, of such an infinite fullness and sufficiency was this
oblation of himself, that it was every way able and perfectly
sufficient to redeem, justify, and reconcile and save all the
sinners in the world, and to satisfy the justice of God for all
the sins of all mankind, and to bring them everyone to
everlasting glory. Now, this fullness and sufficiency of the
merit of the death of Christ is a foundation unto two things:
—
First, The general publishing of the gospel unto “all nations,” with the right that it hath to be preached to “every creature,” Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15; because the way of salvation which it declares is wide enough for all to walk in. There is enough in the remedy it brings to light to heal all their diseases, to deliver them from all their evils. If there were a thousand worlds, the gospel of Christ might, upon this ground, be preached to them all, there being enough in Christ for the salvation of them all, if so be they will derive virtue from him by touching him in faith; the only way to draw refreshment from this fountain of salvation. It is, then, altogether in vain which some object, that the preaching of the gospel to all is altogether needless and useless, if Christ died not for all; yea, that it is to make God call upon men to believe that which is not true, — namely, that Christ died for them: for, first, besides that amongst those nations whither the gospel is sent there are some to be saved (“I have much people,”) which they cannot be, in the way that God hath appointed to do it, unless the gospel be preached to others as well as themselves; and besides, secondly, that in the economy and dispensation of the new covenant, by which all external differences and privileges of people, tongues, and nations being abolished and taken away, the word of grace was to be preached without distinction, and all men called everywhere to repent; and, thirdly, that when God calleth upon men to believe, he doth not, in the first place, call upon them to believe that Christ died for them, but that there is no name under heaven given unto men whereby they might be saved, but only of Jesus Christ, through whom salvation is preached; — I say, besides these certain truths, fully taking off that objection, this one thing of which we speak is a sufficient basis and ground for all those general precepts of preaching the gospel unto all men, even that sufficiency which we have described.
Secondly,
That the preachers of the gospel, in their particular
congregations, being utterly unacquainted with the purpose and
secret counsel of God, being also forbidden to pry or search into
it, Deuteronomy 29:29, may from hence justifiably call upon every
man to believe, with assurance of salvation to everyone in
particular upon his so doing, knowing, and being fully persuaded
of this, that there is enough in the death of Christ to save
everyone that shall so do; leaving the purpose and counsel of
God, on whom he will bestow faith, and for whom in particular
Christ died (even as they are commanded), to himself. And this is
one principal thing, which, being well observed, will crush many
of the vain flourishes of our adversaries; as will in particular
hereafter appear.
2.
A second thing to be considered is, the economy or
administration of the new covenant in the times of the
gospel, with the amplitude and enlargement of the kingdom and
dominion of Christ after his appearance in the flesh; whereby,
all external differences being taken away, the name of Gentiles
removed, the partition-wall broken down, the promise to Abraham
that he should be heir of the world, as he was father of the
faithful, was now fully to be accomplished. Now, this
administration is so opposite to that dispensation which was
restrained to one people and family, who were God’s
peculiar, and all the rest of the world excluded, that it gives
occasion to many general expressions in the Scripture; which are
far enough from comprehending a universality of all individuals,
but denote only a removal of all such restraining exceptions as
were before in force. So that a consideration of the end
whereunto these general expressions are used, and of what is
aimed at by them, will clearly manifest their nature, and how
they are to be understood, with whom they are that are intended
by them and comprehended in them. For it being only this
enlargement of the visible kingdom of Christ to all nations in
respect of right, and to many in respect of fact (God having
elect in all those nations to be brought forth, in the several
generations wherein the means of grace are in those places
employed), that is intended, it is evident that they import only
a distribution of men through all differences whatsoever,
and not a universal collection of all and everyone; the
thing intended by them requiring the one and not the other.
Hence, those objections which are made against the particularity
of the ransom of Christ, and the restraining of it only to the
elect, from the terms of all, all men, all nations, the world,
the whole world, and the like, are all of them exceeding weak
and invalid, as wresting the general expressions of the Scripture
beyond their aim and intent, they being used by the Holy Ghost
only to evidence the removal of all personal and national
distinctions, — the breaking up of all the narrow bounds of
the Old Testament, the enlarging the kingdom of Christ beyond the
bounds of Jewry and Salem, abolishing all old restrictions, and
opening a way for the elect amongst all people (called “The
fullness of the Gentiles,”) to come in; there being now
“neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian,
Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all, and in all,”
Colossians 3:11.
Hence the Lord promiseth to “pour out his Spirit upon all flesh,” Joel 2:28; which Peter interpreteth to be accomplished by the filling of the apostles with the gifts of the Spirit, that they might be enabled to preach to several nations, Acts 2:17, “having received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations” Romans 1:5; — not the Jews only, but some among all nations, “the gospel being the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek,” Romans 1:16; intending only, as to salvation, the peculiar bought by Christ, which he “redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation,” Revelation 5:9, where ye have an evident distribution of that which in other places is generally set down; the gospel being commanded to be preached to all these nations, Matthew 28:19, that those bought and redeemed ones amongst them all might be brought home to God, John 11:52. And this is that which the apostle so largely sets forth, Ephesians 2:14-17. Now, in this sense, which we have explained, and no other, are those many places to be taken which are usually urged for universal grace and redemption, as shall afterward be declared in particular.
3.
We must exactly distinguish between man’s duty and
God’s purpose, there being no connection between them. The
purpose and decree of God is not the rule of our duty; neither is
the performance of our duty in doing what we are commanded any
declaration of what is God’s purpose to do, or his decree
that it should be done. Especially is this to be seen and
considered in the duty of the ministers of the gospel, in the
dispensing of the word, in exhortations, invitations, precepts,
and threatenings, committed unto them; all which are
pZAXcXerpetual declaratives of our duty, and do manifest the
approbation of the thing exhorted and invited to, with the truth
of the connection between one thing and another, but not of the
counsel and purpose of God, in respect of individual persons, in
the ministry of the word. A minister is not to make inquiry
after, nor to trouble himself about, those secrets of the eternal
mind of God, namely, — whom he purposeth to save, and whom
he hath sent Christ to die for in particular. It is enough for
them to search his revealed will, and thence take their directions,
from whence they have their commissions. Wherefore,
there is no sequel between the universal precepts from the word
concerning the things, unto God’s purpose in himself
concerning persons. They command and invite all to repent
and believe; but they know not in particular on whom God will
bestow repentance unto salvation, nor in whom he will effect the
work of faith with power. And when they make proffers and tenders
in the name of God to all, they do not say to all, “It is
the purpose and intention of God that ye should believe,”
(who gave them any such power?) but, that it is his command,
which makes it their duty to do what is required of them; and
they do not declare his mind, what himself in particular will do.
The external offer is such as from which every man may conclude
his own duty; none, God’s purpose, which yet may be known
upon performance of his duty. Their objection, then, is vain, who
affirm that God hath given Christ for all to whom he offers
Christ in the preaching of the gospel; for his offer in the
preaching of the gospel is not declarative to any in particular,
neither of what God hath done nor of what he will do in reference
to him, but of what he ought to do, if he would be approved of
God and obtain the good things promised. Whence it will follow,
—
First,
That God always intends to save some among them to whom he sends
the gospel in its power. And the ministers of it being, first,
unacquainted with his particular purpose; secondly, bound
to seek the good of all and everyone, as much as in them lies; thirdly,
to hope and judge well of all, even as it is meet for them,
— they may make a proffer of Jesus Christ, with life and
salvation in him, notwithstanding that the Lord hath given his
Son only to his elect.
Secondly,
That this offer is neither vain nor fruitless, being declarative
of their duty, and of what is acceptable to God if it be
performed as it ought to be, even as it is required. And if any
ask, What it is of the mind and will of God that is declared and
made known when men are commanded to believe for whom Christ did
not die? I answer, first, What they ought to do, if they
will do that which is acceptable to God; secondly, The
sufficiency of salvation that is in Jesus Christ to all that
believe on him; thirdly, The certain, infallible,
inviolable connection that is between faith and salvation, so
that whosoever performs the one shall surely enjoy the other, for
whoever comes to Christ he will in no wise cast out. Of which
more afterward.
4.
The ingrafted erroneous persuasion of the Jews, which for
awhile had a strong influence upon the apostles themselves,
restraining salvation and deliverance by the Messiah, or promised
seed, to themselves alone, who were the offspring of Abraham
according to the flesh, must be considered as the ground of many
general expressions and enlargements of the objects of
redemption; which yet, being so occasioned, give no color of any
unlimited universality. That the Jews were generally infected
with this proud opinion, that all the promises belonged only to
them and theirs, towards whom they had a universality, exclusive
of all others, whom they called “dogs, uncircumcised,”
and poured out curses on them, is most apparent. Hence, when they
saw the multitudes of the Gentiles coming to the preaching of
Paul, they were
“filled
with envy, contradicting, blaspheming, and raising up persecution
against them,” Acts 13:45-50;
which
the apostle again relates of them, 1 Thessalonians 2:15, 16.
“They
please not God,” saith he, “and are contrary to all
men; forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be
saved;” being not with anything more enraged in the
preaching of our Savior than his prediction of letting out his
vineyard to others.
That the apostles themselves, also, had deeply drunk in this opinion, learned by tradition from their fathers, appeareth, not only in their questioning about the restoration of the kingdom unto Israel, Acts 1:6, but also most evidently in this, that after they had received commission to teach and baptize all nations, Matthew 28:19, or every creature, Mark 16:15, and were endued with power from above so to do, according to promise, Acts 1:8; yet they seem to have understood their commission to have extended only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, for they went about and preached only to the Jews, Acts 11:19: and when the contrary was evidenced and demonstrated to them, they glorified God, saying, “Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life,” verse Acts 11:18; admiring at it, as a thing which before they were not acquainted with. And no wonder that men were not easily nor soon persuaded to this, it being the great mystery that was not made known in former ages, as it was then revealed to God’s holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit — namely, “That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel,” Ephesians 3:5, 6.
But
now, this being so made known unto them by the Spirit, and that
the time was come wherein the little sister was to be considered,
the prodigal brought home, and Japheth persuaded to dwell in the
tents of Shem, they labored by all means to root it out of the
minds of their brethren according to the flesh, of whom they had
a special care; — as also, to leave no scruple in the mind
of the eunuch, that he was a dry tree; or of the Gentile, that he
was cut off from the people of God. To which end they use divers
general expressions, carrying a direct opposition to that former
error, which was absolutely destructive to the kingdom of Jesus
Christ. Hence are those terms of the world, all men, all
nations, every creature, and the like, used in the business
of redemption and preaching of the gospel; these things being not
restrained, according as they supposed, to one certain nation and
family, but extended to the universality of God’s people
scattered abroad in every region under heaven. Especially are
these expressions used by John, who, living to see the first
coming of the Lord, in that fearful judgment and vengeance which
he executed upon the Jewish nation some forty years after his
death, is very frequent in the asserting of the benefit of the
world by Christ, in opposition, as I said before, to the Jewish
nation, — giving us a rule how to understand such phrases
and locutions: John 11:51, 52,
“He
signified that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that
nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the
children of God that were scattered abroad;”
conformably
whereunto he tells the believing Jews that Christ is not a
propitiation for them only, “but for the sins of the whole
world,” 1 John 2:2, or the people of God scattered
throughout the whole world, not tied to any one nation, as they
sometime vainly imagined. And this may and doth give much light
into the sense and meaning of those places where the words world
and all are used in the business of redemption. They
do not hold out a collective universality, but a general
distribution into men of all sorts, in opposition to the
before-recounted erroneous persuasion.
5.
The extent, nature, and signification of those general terms
which we have frequently used indefinitely in the Scripture, to
set out the object of the redemption by Christ, must seriously be
weighed. Upon these expressions hangs the whole weight of the
opposite cause, the chief if not the only argument for the
universality of redemption being taken from words which seem to
be of a latitude in their signification equal to such an
assertion, as the world, the whole world, all, and
the like; which terms, when they have once fastened upon, they
run with, “Io triumphe,” as though the victory were
surely theirs. The world, the whole world, all, all men!
— who can oppose it? Call them to the context in the
several places where the words are; appeal to rules of
interpretation; mind them of the circumstances and scope of the
place, the sense of the same words in other places; with other
fore-named helps and assistances which the Lord hath acquainted
us with for the discovery of his mind and will in his word,
— they presently cry out, the bare word, the letter
is theirs: “Away with the gloss and interpretation; give us
leave to believe what the word expressly saith;” —
little (as I hope) imagining, being deluded with the love of
their own darling, that if this assertion be general, and they
will not allow us the gift of interpretation agreeable to the
proportion of faith, that, at one clap, they confirm the cursed
madness of the Anthropomorphites, — assigning a human body,
form and shape, unto God, who hath none; and the alike cursed
figment of transubstantiation, overthrowing the body of Christ,
who hath one; with divers other most pernicious errors. Let them,
then, as long as they please, continue such empty clamors, fit to
terrify and shake weak and unstable men; for the truth’s
sake we will not be silent: and I hope we shall very easily make
it appear that the general terms that are used in this business
will indeed give no color to any argument for universal
redemption, whether absolute or conditionate.
Two
words there are that are mightily stuck upon or stumbled at;
— first, The world; secondly, All. The
particular places wherein they are, and from which the arguments
of our adversaries are urged, we shall afterward consider, and
for the present only show that the words themselves, according to
the Scripture use, do not necessarily hold out any collective
universality of those concerning whom they are affirmed, but,
being words of various significations, must be interpreted
according to the scope of the place where they are used and the
subject-matter of which, the Scripture treateth in those places.
First,
then, for the word world, which in the New Testament is
called ko>smov (for there is another word sometimes translated
world, namely, aijw>n, that belongs not to this matter, noting
rather the duration of time than the thing in that space
continuing): he that doth not acknowledge it to be polu>shmon,
need say no more to manifest his unacquaintedness in the book of
God. I shall briefly give you so many various significations of
it as shall make it apparent that from the bare usage of a word
so exceedingly equivocal, no argument can be taken, until it be
distinguished, and the meaning thereof in that particular place
evinced from whence the argument is taken.
All
these distinctions of the use of the word are made out in the
following observations: —
The
word world in the Scripture is in general taken five ways:
—
First,
Pro mundo continente; and that, — First, generally,
o[lwv, for the whole fabric of heaven and earth, with all things
in them contained, which in the beginning were created of God: so
Job 34:13; Acts 17:24; Ephesians 1:4, and in very many other
places. Secondly, Distinctively, first, for the heavens,
and all things belonging to them, distinguished from the earth,
Psalm 90:2; secondly, The habitable earth, and this very
frequently, as Psalm 24:1, 98:7; Matthew 13:38; John 1:9, 3:17,
19, 6:14, 17:11; 1 Timothy 1:15, 6:7.
Secondly,
For the world contained, especially men in the world; and
that either, — First, universally for all and
everyone, Romans 3:6, 19, 5:12. Secondly, Indefinitely for
men, without restriction or enlargement, John 7:4; Isaiah 13:11. Thirdly,
Exegetically, for many, which is the most usual acceptation
of the word, Matthew 18:7; John 4:42, 12:19, 16:8, 17:21; 1
Corinthians 4:9; Revelation 13:3. Fourthly, Comparatively,
for a great part of the world, Romans 1:8; Matthew 24:14, 26:13;
Romans 10:18. Fifthly, Restrictively, for the inhabitants
of the Roman empire, Luke 2:1. Sixthly, For men
distinguished in their several qualifications, as, —
1st,
For the good, God’s people, either in designation or
possession, Psalm 22:27; John 3:16, 6:33, 51; Romans 4:13, 11:12,
15; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:6; 1 John 2:2.
2dly,
For the evil, wicked, rejected men of the world, Isaiah
13:11; John 7:7, 14:17, 22, 15:19, 17:25; 1 Corinthians 6:2,
11:32; Hebrews 11:38; 2 Peter 2:5; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 13:3.
Thirdly,
For the world corrupted, or that universal corruption
which is in all things in it, as Galatians 1:4, 6:14; Ephesians
2:2; James 1:27, 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Corinthians 7:31, 33;
Colossians 2:8; 2 Timothy 4:10; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:20,
21, 3:18, 19.
Fourthly,
For a terrene worldly estate or condition of men or
things, Psalm 73:12; Luke 16:8; John 18:36; 1 John 4:5, and very
many other places.
Fifthly,
For the world accursed, as under the power of Satan, John
7:7, 14:30, 16:11, 33; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4;
Ephesians 6:12. And divers other significations hath this word in
holy writ, which are needless to recount.
These
I have rehearsed to show the vanity of that clamor wherewith some
men fill their mouths, and frighten unstable souls with the
Scripture mentioning world so often in the business of
redemption, as though some strength might be taken thence for the
upholding of the general ransom. “Parvas habet spes Troja,
si tales habet.” If their greatest strength be but
sophistical craft, takes from the ambiguity of an equivocal word,
their whole endeavor is like to prove fruitless. Now, as I
have declared that it hath divers other acceptations in the
Scripture, so when I come to a consideration of their objections
that use the word for this purpose, I hope, by God’s
assistance, to show that in no one place wherein it is used in
this business of redemption, it is or can be taken for all and
every man in the world, as, indeed, it is in very few places
besides. So that, forasmuch as concerning this word our way will
be clear, if to what hath been said ye add these observations,
—
First,
That as in other words, so in these, this is in the Scripture
usually an ajntana>klasiv, whereby the same word is
ingeminated in a different sense and acceptation. So Matthew
8:22, “Let the dead bury their dead;” — dead in
the first place denoting them that are spiritually dead in sin;
in the next, those that are naturally dead by a dissolution of
soul and body. So people, “received him not.” So,
again, John 3:6, “That which is born of the Spirit is
spirit.” Spirit in the first place is the almighty Spirit of
God; in the latter, a spiritual life of grace received from him.
Now, in such places as these, to argue that as such is the
signification of the word in one place, therefore in the other,
were violently to pervert the mind of the Holy Ghost. Thus also
is the word world usually changed in the meaning thereof.
So John 1:10, “He was in the world, and the world was made
by him, and the world knew him not.” He that should force
the same signification upon the world in that triple
mention of it would be an egregious glosser: for in the first, it
plainly signifieth some part of the habitable earth, and is taken
subjective merikw~v in the second, the whole frame of
heaven and earth, and is taken subjective oJlikw~v and, in
the third, for some men living in the earth, — namely,
unbelievers, who may be said to be the world adjunctivč. So,
again, John 3:17, “God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but that the world through him might be
saved;” where, by the world in the first, is
necessarily to be understood that part of the habitable world
wherein our Savior conversed; in the second, all men in the
world, as some suppose (so also there is a truth in it, for our
Savior came not to condemn all men in the world: for, first, condenmation
of any was not the prime aim of his coming; secondly, he
came to save his own people, and so not to condemn all); in the
third, God’s elect, or believers living in the world, in
their several generations, who were they whom he intended to
save, and none else, or he faileth of his purpose, and the
endeavor of Christ is insufficient for the accomplishment of that
whereunto it is designed.
Secondly,
That no argument can be taken from a phrase of speech in the
Scripture, in any particular place, if in other places thereof
where it is used the signification pressed from that place is
evidently denied, unless the scope of the place or subject-matter
do enforce it. For instance: God is said to love the world, and
send his Son; to be in Christ reconciling the world to
himself; and Christ to be a propitiation for the sins of the whole
world. If the scope of the places where these assertions are,
or the subject- matter of which they treat, will enforce a
universality of all persons to be meant by the word world, so
let it be, without control. But if not, if there be no
enforcement of any such interpretation from the places
themselves, why should the world there signify all and
everyone, more than in John 1:10, “The world knew him
not,” which, if it be meant of all without exception, then
no one did believe in Christ, which is contrary to John 1:12; or
in Luke 2:1, “That all the world should be taxed,”
where none but the chief inhabitants of the Roman empire can be
understood; or in John 8:26, “I speak to the world those
things which I have heard of him,” understanding the Jews to
whom he spake, who then lived in the world, and not everyone, to
whom he was not sent; or in John 12:19, “Behold, the world
is gone after him!” which world was nothing but a great
multitude of one small nation; or in 1 John 5:19, “The whole
world lieth in wickedness,” from which, notwithstanding, all
believers are to be understood as exempted; or in Revelation
13:3, “All the world wondered after the beast,” which,
whether it be affirmed of the whole universality of individuals
in the world, let all judge? That all nations, an
expression of equal extent with that of the world, is in
like manner to be understood, is apparent, Romans 1:5; Revelation
18:3, 23; Psalm 118:10; 1 Chronicles 14:17; Jeremiah 27:7. It
being evident that the words world, all the world, the whole
world, do, where taken adjunctively for men in the world,
usually and almost always denote only some or many men in the
world, distinguished into good or bad, believers or unbelievers,
elect or reprobate, by what is immediately in the several places
affirmed of them, I see no reason in the world why they should be
wrested to any other meaning or sense in the places that are in
controversy between us and our opponents. The particular places
we shall afterward consider.
Now,
as we have said of the word world, so we may of the word all,
wherein much strength is placed, and many causeless boastings
are raised from it. That it is nowhere affirmed in the Scripture
that Christ died for all men, or gave himself a ransom for
all men, much less for all and every man, we have before
declared. That he “gave himself a ransom for all” is
expressly affirmed, 1 Timothy 2:6. But now, who this all should
be, whether all believers, or all the elect, or some of all
sorts, or all of every sort, is in debate. Our adversaries affirm
the last; and the main reason they bring to assert their
interpretation is from the importance of the word itself: for,
that the circumstances of the place, the analogy of faith, and
other helps for exposition, do not at all favor their gloss, we
shall show when we come to the particular places urged. For the
present, let us look upon the word in its usual acceptation in
the Scripture, and search whether it always necessarily requires
such an interpretation.
That
the word all, being spoken of among all sorts of men,
speaking, writing, any way expressing themselves, but especially
in holy writ, is to be taken either collectively for all
in general, without exception, or distributively for some
of all sorts, excluding none, is more apparent than that it can
require any illustration. That it is sometimes taken in the first
sense, for all collectively, is granted, and I need not prove it,
they whom we oppose affirming that this is the only sense of the
word, — though I dare boldly say it is not once in ten times
so to be understood in the usage of it through the whole book of
God; but that it is commonly, and indeed properly, used in the
latter sense, for some of all sorts, concerning whatsoever it is
affirmed, a few instances, for many that might be urged, will
make it clear. Thus, then, ye have it, John 12:32, “And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto me.”
That we translate it “all men,” as in other places (for
though I know the sense may be the same, yet the word men being
not in the original, but only pa>ntav), I cannot approve. But
who, I pray, are these all? Are they all and everyone?
Then are all and everyone drawn to Christ, made believers, and
truly converted, and shall be certainly saved; for those that
come unto him by his and his Father’s drawing, “he will
in no wise cast out,” John 6:37. All, then, can here
be no other than many, some of all sorts, no sort excluded,
according as the word is interpreted in Revelation 5:9,
“Thou hast redeemed us out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation.” These are the all he draws to
him: which exposition of this phrase is with me of more value and
esteem than a thousand glosses of the sons of men. So also, Luke
11:42, where our translators have made the word to signify
immediately and properly (for translators are to keep close to
the propriety and native signification of every word) what we
assert to be the right interpretation of it; for they render pa~n
la>canon (which rJhtw~v is “every herb”), “all
manner of herbs,” taking the word (as it must be) distributively,
for herbs of all sorts, and not for any individual herb,
which the Pharisees did not, could not tithe. And in the very
same sense is the word used again, Luke 18:12, “I give
tithes of all that I possess;” where it cannot signify every
individual thing, as is apparent. Most evident, also, is this
restrained signification of the word, Acts 2:17, “I will
pour out of or no, let every man judge, and not rather men of
several and sundry sorts.
The
same course of interpretation as formerly is followed by our
translators, beasts or four-footed creatures,”) “all
manner of beasts,” or beasts of sundry several sorts. In the
same sense also must it be understood, Romans 14:2, “One
believeth that he may eat all things;” that is, what he
pleaseth of things to be eaten of. See, moreover, 1 Corinthians
1:5. Yea, in that very chapter where men so eagerly contend that
the word all is to be taken for all and everyone (though
fruitlessly and falsely, as shall be demonstrated), —
namely, 1 Timothy 2:4, where it is said that “God will have
all men to be saved,” — in that very chapter
confessedly the word is to be expounded according to the sense we
give, namely, 1 that it cannot signify every individual place in
heaven, earth, and hell, is of all confessed, and needeth no
proof; no more than when our Savior is said to cure pa~san
no>son, as Matthew 9:35, there is need to prove that he did
not cure every disease of every man, but only all sorts of
diseases. Sundry other instances might be given to manifest that
this is the most usual and frequent signification of the word all
in the holy Scripture; and, therefore, from the bare word
nothing can be inferred to enforce an absolute unlimited
universality of all individuals to be intimated thereby. The
particular places insisted on we shall afterward consider. I
shall conclude all concerning these general expressions that are
used in the Scripture about this business in these observations:
—
First,
The word all is certainly and unquestionably sometimes
restrained, and to be restrained, to all of some sorts, although
the qualification be not expressed which is the bond of the
limitation: so for all believers, 1 Corinthians 15:22; Ephesians
4:6; Romans 5:18, “The free gift came upon all men to
justification of life:” which “all men,” that are
so actually justified, are no more nor less than those that are
Christ’s, — that is, believers; for certainly
justification is not without faith. Secondly, The word all is
sometimes used for some of all sorts, Jeremiah 31:34. The
word µL;Wk is by Paul rendered pa>ntev, Hebrews 8:11; so John
12:32; 1 Timothy 2:1-3; which is made apparent by the mention of
“kings,” as one sort of people there intended.
And
I make no doubt but it will appear to all that the word must be
taken in one of these senses in every place where it is used in
the business of redemption; as shall be proved. Thirdly, Let a
diligent comparison be made between the general expressions of
the New with the predictions of the Old Testament, and they will
be found to be answerable to, and expository of, one another; the
Lord affirming in the New that that was done which in the Old he
foretold should be done. Now, in the predictions and prophecies
of the Old Testament, that all nations, all flesh, all people,
all the ends, families, or kindreds of the earth, the
world, the whole earth, the isles, shall be converted,
look up to Christ, come to the mountain of the Lord, and the
like, none doubts but that the elect of God in all nations are
only signified, knowing that in them alone those predictions have
the truth of their accomplishment. And why should the same
expressions used in the Gospel, and many of them aiming directly
to declare the fulfilling of the other, be wire-drawn to a large
extent, so contrary to the mind of the Holy Ghost? In fine, as
when the Lord is said to wipe tears from all faces, it hinders
not but that the reprobates shall be cast out to eternity where
there is weeping and wailing, etc.; so when Christ is said to die
for all, it hinders not but that those reprobates may perish to
eternity for their sins, without any effectual remedy intended
for them, though occasionally proposed to some of them.
6.
Observe that the Scripture often speaketh of things and
persons according to the appearance they have, and the account
that is of them amongst men, or that esteem that they have of
them to whom it speaketh, — frequently speaking of men and
unto men as in the condition wherein they are according to
outward appearance, upon which human judgment must proceed, and
not what they are indeed. Thus, many are called and said to be wise,
just, and righteous, according as they are so
esteemed, though the Lord knows them to be foolish sinners. So
Jerusalem is called “The holy city,” Matthew 27:53,
because it was so in esteem and appearance, when indeed it was a
very “den of thieves.” And 2 Chronicles 28:23, it is
said of Ahaz, that wicked king of Judah, that “he sacrificed
to the gods of Damascus that smote him.” It was the Lord
alone that smote him, and those idols to which he sacrificed were
but stocks and stones, the work of men’s hands, which could
no way help themselves, much less smite their enemies; yet the
Holy Ghost useth an expression answering his idolatrous
persuasion, and saith, “They smote him.” Nay, is it not
said of Christ, John 5:18, that he had broken the Sabbath, which
yet he only did in the corrupt opinion of the blinded Pharisees?
Add, moreover, to what hath been said, that which is of no less an undeniable truth, — namely, that many things which are proper and peculiar to the children of God are oft and frequently assigned to them who live in the same outward communion with them, and are partakers of the same external privileges, though indeed aliens in respect of the participation of the grace of the promise. Put, I say, these two things, which are most evident, together, and it will easily appear that those places which seem to express a possibility of perishing and eternal destruction to them who are said to be redeemed by the blood of Christ, are no ways advantageous to the adversaries of the effectual redemption of God’s elect by the blood of Christ; because such may be said to be as is the use of the Scripture in divers other things.
7.
That which is spoken according to the judgment of charity on
our parts must not always be exactly squared and made answerable
to verity in respect of them of whom anything is affirmed.
For the rectitude of our judgment, it sufficeth that we proceed
according to the rules of judging that are given us; for what is
out of our cognizance, whether that answer to our judgments or
no, belongs not to us. Thus, oftentimes the apostles in the
Scriptures write unto men, and term them “holy,”
“saints,” yea, “elected;” but from thence
positively to conclude that they were all so indeed, we have no
warrant. So Peter, 1 Peter 1:1, 2, calls all the strangers to
whom he wrote, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, “elect according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father,” etc.; and yet that I have any warrant to
conclude, de fide, that all were such, none dare affirm.
So Paul tells the Thessalonians, the whole church to whom he
wrote, that he “knew their election of God,” 1
Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, he blesseth God
“who had chosen them to salvation.” Now, did not Paul
make this judgment of them by the rule of charity? according as
he affirms in another place, “It is meet for me to think so
of you all,” Philippians 1:7; and can it, ought it, hence to
be infallibly concluded that they were all elected? If some of
these should be found to fall away from the gospel and to have
perished, would an argument from thence be valid that the elect
might perish? would we not presently answer, that they were said
to be elected according to the judgment of charity, not that they
were so indeed? And why is not this answer as sufficient and
satisfying when it is given to the objection taken from the
perishing of some who were said to be redeemed merely in the
judgment of charity, as when they were said to be elected?
8.
The infallible connection, according to God’s
purpose and will, of faith and salvation, which is frequently the
thing intended in gospel proposals, must be considered. The Lord
hath in his counsel established it, and revealed in his word,
that there is an indissoluble bond between these two things, so
that “he that believeth shall be saved,” Mark 16:l6;
which, indeed, is the substance of the gospel, in the outward
promulgation thereof. This is the testimony of God, that eternal
life is in his Son; which whoso believeth, he sets to his seal
that God is true; he who believes not doing what in him lieth to
make God a liar, 1 John 5:9-11. Now, this connection of the means
and the end, faith and life, is the only thing which is signified
and held out to innumerable to whom the gospel is preached, all
the commands, proffers, and promises that are made unto them
intimating no more than this will of God, that believers shall
certainly be saved; which is an unquestionable divine verity and
a sufficient object for supernatural faith to rest upon, and
which being not closed with is a sufficient cause of damnation:
John 8:24, “If ye believe not that I am he” (that is,
“the way, the truth, and the life”), “ye shall die
in your sins.” It is a vain imagination of some, that when
the command and promise of believing are made out to any man,
though he be of the number of them that shall certainly perish,
yet the Lord hath a conditional will of his salvation, and
intends that he shall be saved, on condition that he will
believe; when the condition lieth not at all in the will of God,
which is always absolute, but is only between the things to them
proposed, as was before declared. And those poor deluded things,
who will be standing upon their own legs before they are well
able to crawl, and might justly be persuaded to hold by men of
more strength, do exceedingly betray their own conceited
ignorance, when, with great pomp, they hold out the broken pieces
of an old Arminian sophism with acclamations of grace to this new
discovery (for so they think of all that is new to them), —
namely, “As is God’s proffer, so is his intention; but
he calls to all to believe and be saved: therefore he intends it
to all.” For, —
First,
God doth not proffer life to all upon the condition of
faith, passing by a great part of mankind without any such
proffer made to them at all.
Secondly,
If by God’s proffer they understand his command and
promise, who told them that these things were declarative of his
will and purpose or intention? He commands Pharaoh to let his
people go; but did he intend he should so do according to his
command? had he not foretold that he would so order things that
he should not let them go? I thought always that God’s
commands and promises had revealed our duty, and not his purpose;
what God would have us to do, and not what he will do. His
promises, indeed, as particularly applied, hold out his
mind to the persons to whom they are applied; but as indefinitely
proposed, they reveal no other intention of God but what we
before discovered, which concerns things, not persons, even
his determinate purpose infallibly to connect faith and
salvation.
Thirdly,
If the proffer be (as they say) universal, and the intention of
God be answerable thereunto, — that is, he intends the
salvation of them to whom the tender of it upon faith is made, or
may be so; then, — First, What becomes of election
and reprobation? Neither of them, certainly, can consist with
this universal purpose of saving us all. Secondly, If he
intend it, why is it, then, not accomplished? doth he fail of his
purpose? “Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria
currunt.” Is not this certain Scylla worse than the
other feared Charybdis? But they say, “He intendeth
it only upon condition; and the condition being not fulfilled, he
fails not in his purpose, though the thing be not
conferred.” But did the Lord foreknow whether the condition
would be fulfilled by them to whom the proposal was made, or not?
If not, where is his prescience, his omniscience? If he did, how
can he be said to intend salvation to them of whom he certainly
knew that they would never fulfill the condition on which it was
to be attained; and, moreover, knew it with this circumstance,
that the condition was not to be attained without his bestowing,
and that he had determined not to bestow it? Would they ascribe
such a will and purpose to a wise man as they do ignorantly and
presumptuously to the only wise God, — namely, that he
should intend to have a thing done upon the performance of such a
condition as he knew full well without him could never be
performed, and he had fully resolved not to effect it: for
instance, to give his daughter in marriage to such a one, upon
condition he would give unto him such a jewel as he hath not, nor
can have, unless he bestow it upon him, which he is resolved
never to do? Oh, whither will blindness and ignorance, esteemed
light and knowledge, carry poor deluded souls? This, then, is the
main thing demonstrated and held out in the promulgation of the
gospel, especially for what concerns unbelievers, even the strict
connection between the duty of faith assigned and the benefit of
life promised; which hath a truth of universal extent, grounded
upon the plenary sufficiency of the death of Christ, towards all
that shall believe. And I see no reason why this should be termed
part of the mystery of the Universalists; though the
lowest part (as it is by M —S— , page 202), that the
gospel could not be preached to all unless Christ died for all; which,
with what is mentioned before concerning another and higher part
of it, is an old, rotten, carnal, and long-since-confuted
sophism, arising out of the ignorance of the word and right
reason, which are no way contrary.
9.
The mixed distribution of the elect and reprobates, believers
and unbelievers, according to the purpose and mind of God,
throughout the whole world, and in the several places thereof, in
all or most of the single congregations, is another ground of
holding out a tender of the blood of Jesus Christ to them for
whom it was never shed, as is apparent in the event by the
ineffectualness of its proposals. The ministers of the gospel,
who are stewards of the mysteries of Christ, and to whom the word
of reconciliation is committed, being acquainted only with
revealed things (the Lord lodging his purposes and intentions
towards particular persons in the secret ark of his own bosom,
not to be pryed into), are bound to admonish all, and warn all
men, to whom they are sent; giving the same commands, proposing
the same promises, making tenders of Jesus Christ in the same
manner, to all, that the elect, whom they know not but by the
event, may obtain, whilst the rest are hardened. Now, these
things being thus ordered by Him who hath the supreme disposal of
all, — namely, First, That there should be such a mixture of
elect and reprobate, of tares and wheat, to the end of the world;
and, secondly, That Christ, and reconciliation through him,
should be preached by men ignorant of his eternal discriminating
purposes; there is an absolute necessity of two other things:
First, That the promises must have a kind of unrestrained
generality, to be suitable to this dispensation before recounted.
Secondly, That they must be proposed to them towards whom the
Lord never intended the good things of the promises, they having
a share in this proposal by their mixture in this world with the
elect of God. So that, from the general proposition of Christ in
the promises, nothing can be concluded concerning his death for
all to whom it is proposed, as having another rise and occasion.
The sum is: — The word of reconciliation being committed to
men unacquainted with God’s distinguishing counsels, to be
preached to men of a various, mixed condition in respect of his
purpose, and the way whereby he hath determined to bring his own
home to himself being by exhortations, entreaties, promises, and
the like means, accommodated to the reasonable nature whereof all
are partakers to whom the word is sent, which are suited also to
the accomplishment of other ends towards the rest, as conviction,
restraint, hardening, inexcusableness, it cannot be but the
proposal and offer must necessarily be made to some upon
condition, who intentionally, and in respect of the purpose of
God, have no right unto it in the just aim and intendment
thereof. Only, for a close, observe these two things: —
First, That the proffer itself neither is nor ever was absolutely
universal to all, but only indefinite, without respect to outward
differences. Secondly, That Christ being not to be received
without faith, and God giving faith to whom he pleaseth, it is
manifest that he never intendeth Christ to them on whom he will
not bestow faith.
10.
The faith which is enjoined and commanded in the gospel hath
divers several acts and different degrees, in the exercise
whereof it proceedeth orderly, according to the natural method of
the proposal of the objects to be believed: the consideration
whereof is of much use in the business in hand, our adversaries
pretending that if Christ died not for all, then in vain are they
exhorted to believe, there being, indeed, no proper object for
the faith of innumerable, because Christ did not die for them; as
though the gospel did hold out this doctrine in the very entrance
of all, that Christ died for everyone, elect and reprobate; or as
though the first thing which anyone living under the means of
grace is exhorted to believe were, that Christ died for him in
particular; — both which are notoriously false, as I hope,
in the close of our undertaking, will be made manifest to all.
For the present I shall only intimate something of what I said
before, concerning the order of exercising the several acts of
faith; whereby it will appear that no one in the world is
commanded or invited to believe, but that he hath a sufficient
object to fix the act of faith on, of truth enough for its
foundation, and latitude enough for its utmost exercise, which is
enjoined him.
First,
then, The first thing which the gospel enjoineth sinners, and
which it persuades and commands them to believe, is, that
salvation is not to be had in themselves, inasmuch as all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God; nor by the works of
the law, by which no flesh living can be justified. Here is a
saving gospel truth for sinners to believe, which the apostle
dwells upon wholly, Romans 1, 2, 3, to prepare a way for
justification by Christ. Now, what numberless numbers are they to
whom the gospel is preached who never come so far as to believe
so much as this! amongst whom you may reckon almost the whole
nation of the Jews, as is apparent, Romans 9, 10:3, 4. Now, not
to go one step farther with any proposal, a contempt of this
object of faith is the sin of infidelity.
Secondly,
The gospel requires faith to this, that there is salvation to be
had in the promised seed, — in Him who was before ordained
to be a captain of salvation to them that do believe. And here
also at this trial some millions of the great army of men,
outwardly called, drop off, and do never believe, with true
divine faith, that God hath provided a way for the saving of
sinners.
Thirdly,
That Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified by the Jews, was this
Savior, promised before; and that there is no name under heaven
given whereby they may be saved besides his. And this was the
main point upon which the Jews broke off, refusing to accept of
Christ as the Savior of men, but rather prosecuted him as an
enemy of God; and are thereupon so oft charged with infidelity
and damnable unbelief. The question was not, between Christ and
them, whether he died for them all or no? but, whether he was
that Messiah promised? which they denied, and perished in their
unbelief. Now, before these three acts of faith be performed, in
vain is the soul exhorted farther to climb the uppermost steps,
and miss all the bottom foundation ones.
Fourthly,
The gospel requires a resting upon this Christ, so discovered and
believed on to be the promised Redeemer, as an all-sufficient
Savior, with whom is plenteous redemption, and who is able to
save to the utmost them that come to God by him, and to bear the
burden of all weary laboring souls that come by faith to him; in
which proposal there is a certain infallible truth, grounded upon
the superabundant sufficiency of the oblation of Christ in
itself, for whomsoever (fewer or more) it be intended. Now, much
self-knowledge, much conviction, much sense of sin, God’s
justice, and free grace, is required to the exercise of this act
of faith. Good Lord! how many thousand poor souls within the pale
of the church can never be brought unto it! The truth is, without
the help of God’s Spirit none of those three before, much
less this last, can be performed; which worketh freely, when,
how, and in whom he pleaseth.
Fifthly,
These things being firmly seated in the soul (and not before), we
are everyone called in particular to believe the efficacy of the
redemption that is in the blood of Jesus towards our own souls in
particular: which everyone may assuredly do in whom the free
grace of God hath wrought the former acts of faith, and doth work
this also, without either doubt or fear of want of a right object
to believe if they should so do; for certainly Christ died for
everyone in whose heart the Lord, by his almighty power, works
effectually faith to lay hold on him and assent unto him,
according to that orderly proposal that is held forth in the
gospel. Now, according to this order (as by some it is observed)
are the articles of our faith disposed in the apostles’
creed (that ancient summary of Christian religion commonly so
called), the remission of our sins and life eternal being in the
last place proposed to be believed; for before we attain so far
the rest must be firmly rooted. So that it is a senseless vanity
to cry out of the nullity of the object to be believed, if Christ
died not for all, there being an absolute truth in everything
which any is called to assent unto, according to the order of the
gospel.
And
so I have proposed the general foundations of those answers which
we shall give to the ensuing objections; whereunto to make
particular application of them will be an easy task, as I hope
will be made apparent unto all.