Christ then, by his death, did merit and purchase, for all those for whom he died, all those things which in the Scripture are assigned to be the fruits and effects of his death. These are the things pur- chased and merited by his blood-shedding and death ; which may be referred unto two heads: — First, Such as are privative; as, — 1. Deli- verance from the hand of our enemies, Luke i. 74 ; from the wrath to come, 1 Thess. i. 10. 2. The destruction and abolition of death in his power, Heb. ii. 1 4 ; 3. Of the works of the devil, 1 John iii. 8. 4. Deli- verance from the curse of the law. Gal. iii. 13; 5. From our vain con- versation, 1 Pet. i. 18; 6. From the present evil world, Gal. i. 4; 7. From the earth, and from among men, Rev. xiv. 3, 4. 8. Purging
288 THE DEATH OF DEATH. [bOOK III.
of our sins, Heb. i. 3, Secondly, Positive; as, — 1, Reconciliation with God, Rom. v. 10; Eph. ii. 16; Col, i. 20. 2. Appeasing or atoning of God by propitiation, Rom. iii. 25 ; 1 John ii. 2. 3. Peace- making, 'Eph. ii. 14. 4. Salvation, Matt. i. 21. All these hath our Saviour by his death merited and pmxhased for all them for whom he died ; that is, so procured them of his Father that they ought, in respect of that merit, according to the equity of justice, to be bestowed on them for whom they were so purchased and j^rocured. It was ab- solutely of free grace in God that he would send Jesus Christ to die for any ; it was of free grace for whom he would send him to die ; it is of free grace that the good things procured by his death be bestowed on any person, in respect of those persons on whom they are bestowed: but considering his own appointment and constitu- tion, that Jesus Christ by his death should merit and procure grace and glory for those for whom he died, it is of debt in respect of Christ that they be communicated to them. Now, that which is thus merited, which is of debt to be bestowed, we do not say that it may be bestowed, but it ought so to be, and it is injustice if it be not.
Having said this little of the nature of merit, and of the merit of Christ, the procurement of his death for them in whose stead he died, it will quickly be apparent how irreconcilable the general ransom is therewith ; for the demonstration whereof we need no more but the proposing of this one question, — namely, If Christ hath merited grace and glory for all those for whom he died, if he died for all, how comes it to pass that these things are not communicated to and bestowed upon all? Is the defect in the merit of Christ, or in the justice of God? How vain it is to except, that these things are not bestowed absolutely upon us, but upon condition, and therefore were so procured ; seeing that the very condition itself is also merited and procured, as Eph. i. 3, 4, Phil. i. 29, — hath been already declared.
Aug. XV. Fifthly, The very phrases of "dying for us," "bear- ing our sins," being our " surety," and the like, whereby the death of Christ for us is expressed, will not stand with the payment of a ransom for all. To die for another is, in Scripture, to die in that other's stead, that he might go free; as Judah besought his brother Joseph to accept of him for a bondman instead of Benjamin, that he might be set at liberty, Gen. xliv. 33, and that to make good the engagement wherein he stood bound to his father to be a surety for him. He that is surety for another (as Christ was for us, Heb. vii. 22), is to undergo the danger, that the other may be delivered. So David, wishing that he had died for his son Absalom, 2 Sam. xviii. 33, in- tended, doubtless, a commutation with him, and a substitution of his life for his, so that he might have lived. Fiml also, Rom. v. 7, inti- mates the same, supposing that such a thing might be found among men that one should die for another; no doubt alluding to the Decii,
ARGUMENTS AGAINST tTNIVERSAL REDEMPTION. 289
Menceceus, Euryalus, and such others, whom we find mentioned in the stories of the heathen, who vokmtarily cast themselves into death for the deUverance of their country or friends, continuing their hberty and freedom from death who were to undergo it, by taking it upon themselves, to whom it was not directly due. And this plainly is the meaning of that phrase, " Christ died for us;" that is, in the under- going of death there was a subrogation of his person in the room and stead of ours. Some, indeed, except that where the word v-rsp is used in this phrase, as Heb. ii. 9, " That he by the grace of God should taste death for every man," there only the good and profit of them for whom he died is intended, not enforcing the necessity of any commutation. But why this exception should prevail I see no reason, for the same preposition being used in the like kind in other cases doth confessedly intimate a cominutation ; as Rom. ix. 8, where Paul affirms that he " could wish himself accursed from Christ v'TTsp ruv adiX<puv" — " for his brethren," — that is, in their stead, that they might be united to him. So also, 2 Cor. v. 20, 'Tcrsp Xpiaroj 'ffpisZi-joiMiv, " We are ambassadors in Christ's stead." So the same apostle, 1 Cor. i. 13, asking, and strongly denying by way of in- terrogation, Mn naZXoc, sgravpudri b-Trsp v/j.ojv; "Was Paul crucified for you?" plainly showeth that the word v'lrsp, used about the crucifying of Christ for his church, doth argue a commutation or change, and not only designs the good of them for whom he died : for, plainly, he might himself have been crucified for the good of the church ; but in the stead thereof, he abhorreth the least thought of it. But con- cerning the word dvri, which also is used, there is no doubt, nor can any exception be made; it always signifieth a commutation and change, whether it be applied to things or persons: so Luke xi. 11, "0(pig dvrl ix^hog, "A serpent instead of a fish;" so Matt. v. 38, 'OfdaX/Mjg dvTi 6<pDa'K/ji.ov, "An eye for an eye;" so Heb. xii. 16; — and for pei'sons, Archelaus is said to reign dvri 'Hpudou rou rrarpog, "in- stead of his father," Matt. ii. 22. Now, this word is used of the death of our Saviour, Matt. xx. 28, "The Son of man came dovmi r^v ■^v^rjv avrou Xvrpov dvri 'ttoXXuv," — which words ai'o repeated again, Mark x. 45, — that is, to give his life a ransom in the stead of the lives of many. So that, plainly, Christ dying for us, as a surety, Heb. vii. 22, and thereby and therein "bearing our sins in his own body," 1 Pet. ii. 24, being made a curse for us, Avas an undergoing of death, punishment, curse, wrath, not only for our good, but directly in our stead; a commutation and subrogation of his person in the room and place of ours being allowed, and of God accepted. This being cleared, I demand, — First, Whether Christ died thus for all? that is, whether he died in the room and stead of all, so that Jiis person was substituted in the room of theirs? as, whether he died in the stead of Cain and Pharaoh, and the rest, who long before his VOL. X. 19