pressions as this, and John iii. 16, 17, can possibly be reconciled with an extreme view of particular redemption. To say, on the one hand, that Christ's death is efficacious to none but the elect and believers, is strictly true. Not all men are finally saved by Christ. There is a hell, and unbelievers and impenitent people will be found there.— But to say, on the other hand, that in no sense did Christ do anything at all for the whole world, but that He did everything for the elect alone, seems to me utterly irreconcilable with this text. Surely Christ came to provide a salvation sufficient for the whole " world."
I am aware that the advocates of an extreme view of particu- lar redemption say that " the world " here does not mean "the world," but the elect of all nations, as compared to the Jews. But this view is not satisfactory, and looks very like an evasion of the plain meaning of words.
Why the same Greek word is rendered by our English trans- lators, "judge" in this verse, and " condemn " in the parallel place in John iii. 17, it is not easy to see.
48.— [He that rejecteth me...receiveth not my words... judgeth him.'] In this verse our Lord declares positively the future judgment and condemnation of those who reject Him, and refuse to believe His teaching.
The word we render " rejecteth " is only used here in St. John's Gospel. The idea is that of " despising, setting at naught." (See Luke x. 16.) The person described is one who despises, and sets at naught Christ Himself, after seeing Him, and deliberately refuses to acknowledge Him as the Messiah, in spite of all the evidence of His miracles. He is also one who will not receive and take into his heart the doctrines preached by Christ. In short, he despises His person, and refuses to believe His teaching. — " Such a man will find at last, though I punish him not now, that there is a judgment and condemnation of him. He will not find that rejection of Me, and his unbelief, will go unpunished. He has a Judge prepared already. There is one already, though he knows it not, who will witness against him and condemn him."
[The word... I have spoken... .judge him... last day.] Our Lord here declares that the thiugs He publicly preached to the Jews while He was upon earth would witness finally against those who did not believe, at the last day, and be their condemnation. They will not then be able to deny that they were words of wisdom, words of mercy, words subversive of their false views, words fully explaining Christ's kingdom, words entirely in ac- cordance with the Scriptures. And'the result will be that they will be speechless. The witness of Christ's words will be un- answerable, and in consequence of that witness they will be condemned.
We see here that the words of those who speak for God are not thrown away, because they seem not believed at the time.