Arg. VII. For whom Christ died, for them he is a mediator: which is apparent; for the oblation or offering of Christ, which he made of himself unto God, in the shedding of his blood, was one of the chiefest acts of his mediation. But he is not a mediator for all and every one ; which also is no less evident, because as mediator he is the priest for them for whom he is a mediator. Now, to a priest it belongs, as was declared before, to sacrifice and intercede, to pro- cure good things, and to apply them to those for whom they are procured; as is evident, Heb. ix, and was proved before at large: which, confessedly, Christ doth not for all. Yea, that Christ is not a mediator for every one needs no proof Experience sufficiently evinceth it, besides innumerable places of Scripture. It is, I confess, replied by some, that Christ is a mediator for some in respect of some acts, and not in respect of others ; but truly, this, if I am able to judge, is a dishonest subterfuge, that hath no ground in Scripture, and would make our Saviour a half mediator in respect of some, which is an unsavoury expression. But this argument was vindi- cated before.
CHAPTER IV.
Of sanctification, and of the cause of faith, and the procurement thereof by the
death of Christ.
Arg. VIII. Another argument may be taken from the effect and/rwii of the death of Christ unto sanctification, which Ave thus
250 THE DEATH OF DEATH. [BOOK III.
propose: — If the blood of Jesus Christ doth wash, purge, cleanse, and sanctify them for whom it was shed, or for whom he was a sac- rifice, then certainly he died, shed his blood, or was a sacrifice, only for them that in the event are washed, purged, cleansed, and sancti- fied;— which that all or every one is not is most apparent, faith being the first principle of the heart's purification, Acts xv. 9, and "all men have not faith," 2 Thess. iii. 2 ; it is " of the elect of God," Tit. i. 1. The consequence, I conceive, is undeniable, and not to be avoided with any distinctions. But now we shall make it evident that the blood of Christ is effectual for all those ends of washing, purging, and sanctifying, which we before recounted. And this we shall do; — first, from the ty2'>es of it; and, secondly, by plain expressions concerning the thing itself: —
First, For the type, that which we shall now consider is the sac- rifice of expiation, which the apostle so expressly compareth with the sacrifice and oblation of Christ. Of this he affirmeth, Heb. ix. 13, that it legally sanctified them for whom it Avas a sacrifice. "For," saith he, " the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh." Now, that which was done carnally and legally in the tyj^e must be spiritually effected in the antitype, — the sacrifice of Christ, typified by that bloody sacrifice of beasts. This the apostle asserteth in the verse following. " How much more," saith he, " shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" If I know any thing, that answer of Arminius and some others to this, — namely, that the sacrifice did sanctify, not as offered but as sprinkled, and the blood of Christ, not in respect of the obla- tion, but of its application, answereth it, — is weak and unsatisfactory; for it only asserts a division between the oblation and apjjlication of the blood of Christ, which, though we allow to be distinguished, yet such a division Ave are now disproving. And to weaken our argu- ment, the same division which we disprove is proposed; which, if any, is an easy, facile Avay of answering. We gi'ant that the blood of Christ sanctifieth in respect of the application of the good things procured by it, but withal prove that it is so applied to all for whom it was an oblation ; and that because it is said to sanctify and purge, and must answer the tj^pe, which did sanctify to the purifying of the flesh.
Secondly, It is expi-esaly, in divers places, ajjirmed of the blood-shedding and death of our Saviour, that it doth effect these things, and that it was intended for that purpose. Many places for the clearing of this Avcre before recounted. I shall now repeat so many of them as shall be sufficient to give strength to the argument in hand, omitting those which before were produced, only desiring
ARGUMENTS AGAINST UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION. 251
that all those places whicli point out the end of the death of Christ may be considered as of force to establish the truth of this argument.
Rom. vi. 5, 6, " For if we have been planted together in the like- ness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." The words of the latter verse yield a reason of the former assertion in verse 5, — namely, that a participation in the death of Christ shall certainly be accompanied with conformity to him in his resur- rection ; that is, botli to life spiritual, as also to eternal : " Because our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be de- stroyed." That is, our sinful corruption and depravation of nature are, by his death and crucifying, effectually and meritoriously slain, and disabled from such a rule and dominion over us as that we should be servants any longer unto them ; which is apparently the sense of the place, seeing it is laid as a foundation to press forward unto all degrees of sanctification and freedom from the power of sin.