Arg. IV. If all mankind be, in and by the eternal purpose of God, distinguished into two sorts and conditions, severally and distinctly described and set forth in the Scripture, and Christ be peculiarly affirmed to die for one of these sorts, and nowhere for them of the other, then did he not die for all; for of the one sort he dies for all and every one, and of the other for no one at all. But, —
First, There is such a discriminating distinguishment among men, by the eternal purpose of God, as those whom he " loves" and those whom he "hates," Rom. ix. 13; whom he " knoweth/' and whom
244< THE DEATH OF DEATH. [BOOK III.
he "knoweth not:" John x. 14, "I know my sheep;" 2 Tim. ii. 19, " The Lord knoweth them that are his;" Rom. viii. 29, "Whom he did foreknow;" chap. xi. 2, " His peo2)le which he foreknew;" "I know you not," Matt. xxv. 12: so John xiii. 18, "I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen." Those that are appointed to life and glory, and those that are appointed to and fitted for destruction, — " elect"and "reprobate;" those that were "ordained to eternal life," and those who "before were of old ordained to condemnation:" as Eph. i. 4, "He hath chosen us in him;" Acts xiii. 48, "Ordained to eternal life;" Rom. viii. 80, " Whom he did predestinate, them he also called : and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." So, on the other side, 1 Thess. v. 9, "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation;" Rom. ix. 18-21, " He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it. Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?" Jude 4, "Ordained to this condemnation ;" 2 Pet. ii. 12, " Made to be taken and destroyed;" " Sheep and goats," Matt, xxv. 32 ; John x. passim. Those on whom he hath " mercy," and those whom he "hardeneth," Rom. ix. 18. Those that are his "peculiar people" and "the children of promise," that are "not of the world," his "church;" and those that, in opposition to them, are "the world," " not prayed for," "not his people:" as Tit. ii. 14; Gal. iv. 28; John xv. 19, xvii. 9; Col. i. 24; John xi. 52; Heb. ii. 10, 12, 13. Which distinction of men is everywhere ascribed to the purpose, will, and good pleasure of God : Prov. xvi. 4, " The LoRD hath made all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil." Matt. xi. 25, 26, "I thank thee, O Father, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father ; for so it seemed good in thy sight." Rom. ix. 11,12, " The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calletli ; it was said unto her. The elder shall serve the younger." Verses 16, 17, " So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth." chap. viii. 28-80, "Who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to ot -^w-nage of his Son, tliat he might be the first-born among many that an^ Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called :
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and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified them he also glorified." So that the first part of the proposition is clear from the Scripture.
Now, Christ is said expressly and punctually to die for them on the one side : for his "people,"' Matt. i. 21 ; his "sheep," John x. 11, 14 ; his " church," Acts xx. 28, Eph. v. 25, as distinguished from the world, Rom. V. 8, 9, John xi. 5] , 52 ; his "elect," Rom. viii. 32-34 ; his "child- ren," Heb. ii. 12, 13; — as before more at large. Whence we may surely conclude that Christ died not for all and every one, — to wit, not for those he "never knew," whom he "hateth," whom he "hardeneth," on whom he "will not show mercy," who "were before of old ordained to condemnation ;" in a word, for a reprobate, for the world, for which he would not pray. That which some except, that though Christ be said to die for his "sheep," for his "elect," his "chosen," yet he is not said to die for them only, — that term is nowhere expressed, is of no value ; for is it not, without any forced interpretation, in common sense, and according to the usual course of speaking, to distinguish men into two such opposite conditions as elect and reprobate, sheep and goats, and then affirm that he died for his elect, [is it not] equivalent to this, he died for his elect only? Is not the sense as clearly restrained as if that restrictive term had been added? Or is that term always added in the Scripture in every indefinite assertion, which yet must of necessity be limited and restrained as if it were exj)ressly added? as where our Saviour saith, " I am the way, the truth, and the life," John xiv. 6; — he doth not say that he only is so, and yet of necessity it must be so understood. As also in that, Col. i. 19, "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;" — he doth not express the limitation " only," and yet it were no less than blas- phemy to suppose a possibility of extending the affirmation to any other. So that this exception, notwithstanding this argument, is, as far as I can see, unanswerable ; which also might be farther urged by a more large explication of God's purpose of election and reproba- tion, showing how the death of Christ was a means set apart and appointed for the saving of his elect, and not at all undergone and suffered for those which, in his eternal counsel, he did determine should perish for their sins, and so never be made partakers of the benefits thereof. But of this more must be spoken, if the Lord pre- serve us, and give assistance for the other part of this controversy, concerning the cause of sending Christ.