862 THE DEATH OF DEATH. [BOOK IV.
profession of the gospel, not manifesting the contrary ; yet of these, that many may perish none ever denied. Farther; this, so shall he perish, referreth to the sin of him that layeth the offence ; for aught that lieth in him, he ruins him irrecoverably. Hence see their argu- ment:— " The apostle telleth persons walking offensively, that by this abusing their liberty, others will follow them, to the wounding of their conscience and ruin, who are brethren, acknowledged so by you, and such as for whom Christ died: therefore, Christ died for all the reprobates in the world, 'Is it just and equal,' saith the apostle, 'that ye should do such things as will be stumbling-blocks in the way of the weak brother, at which he might stumble and fall?' therefore, Christ died for all." We do not deny l)ut that some may perish, and that eternally, concerning whom we ought to judge that Christ died for them, whilst they live and converse with us according to the rule of the gospel.
3, The next place is much insisted on, — namely, 2 Pet. ii. 1, "There shall be false teachers, denying the Lord that bought them, and bringing upon themselves swift destruction." All things here, as to any proof of the business in hand, are exceedingly dark, uncertam, and doubtful. Uncertain, that by the Lord is meant the Lord Ch7'ist, the word in the original being AectoVj!?, seldom or never ascribed to him ; uncertain, whether the purchase or buying of these false teachers refer to the eternal redemption by the blood of Christ, or a deliverance by God's goodness from the defilement of the world in idolatry, or the like, by the knowledge of the truth, — which last the text expressly affirms; uncertain, whether the ajoostle speaketh of this purchase according to the reality of the thing, or according to their apprehension and their profession.
On the other side, it is most certain, — First, That there are no spiritual distinguishing fruits of redemption ascribed to these false teachers, but only common gifts of light and knowledge, which Christ hath purchased for many for whom he did not make his soul a ransom. Secondly, That, according to our adversaries, the redemp- tion of any by the blood of Christ cannot be a peculiar aggravation of the sins of any, because they say he died for all; and yet tliis buying of the false teachers is held out as an aggravation of their sin in particular.
Of the former uncertainties, whereon our adversaries build their inference of universal redemption (which j'ct can by no means be wire-drawn thence, were they most certain in their sense), I shall give a brief account, and then speak something as to the proper intendment of the place.
For the first. It is most uncertain whether Christ, as mediator, be here intended by Lord or no. There is not any thing in the text to enforce us so to conceive, nay, the contrary seems apparent, —
OBJECTIONS AND TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE CONSIDERED. 363
First, Because in the following verses, God only, as God, with his dealings towards such as these, is mentioned; of Christ not a word. Secondly, The name AsCTorjij, properly "Herus," attended by dominion and sovereignty, is not usually, if at all, given to our Saviour in the New Testament; he is every^vhere called Kvpiog, no- where clearly Aeo-toVj;?, as is the Father, Luke ii. 29, Acts iv. 2-i, and in divers other places. Besides, if it should appear that this name were given our Saviour in any one place, doth it therefore follow that it must be so here? nay, is the name proper for our Saviour, in the work of redemption? AscroV^jj is such a Lord or Master as refers to servants and subjection; the end of Christ's purchasing any by his blood being in the Scripture always and con- stantly expressed in other terms, of more endearment. It is, then, most uncertain that Christ should be here understood by the word Lord.
[Secondly], But suppose he should, it is most uncertain that by buying of these false teachers is meant his purchasing of them with the ransom of his blood ; for, — First, The apostle insisteth on a com- parison with the times of the Old Testament, and the false prophets that were then amongst the people, backing his assertion with divers ex- amples out of the Old Testament in the whole chapter following. Now, the word dyopd^u, here used, signifieth primarily the buying of things; translatitiously, the redemption of persons; — and the word '"i^Q in the Old Testament, answering thereunto, signifieth any deliverance, as Deut. vii. 8, xv. 15, Jer. xv. 21, with innumerable other places: and, therefore, some such deliverance is here only intimated. Secondly, Because here is no mention of blood, death, price, or offering of Jesus Christ, as in other places, where proper redemption is treated on ; espe- cially, some such expression is added where the word ayopdZ^oj is used to express it, as 1 Cor. vi. 20, Rev. v. 9, which otherwise holds out of itself deliverance in common from any trouble. Thirdly, The apostle setting forth at large the deliverance they had had, and the means thereof, verse 20, affirms it to consist in the " escaping of the pollutions of the world," as idolatry, false worship, and the like, " through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ;" plainly declaring that their buying was only in respect of this separation from the world, in respect of the enjoyment of the knowledge of the truth ; but of wash- ing in the blood of the Lamb, he is wholly silent. Plainly, there is no purchase mentioned of these false teachers, but a deliverance, by God's disjDensations towards them, from the blindness of Judaism or Paganism, by the knowledge of the gospel ; whereby the Lord bought them to be servants to him, as their supreme head. So that our adversaries' argument from this place is this : — " God the Lord, by im- parting the knowledge of the gospel, and working them to a professed acknowledgment of it and subjection unto it, separated and delivered