First, He speakethhere only of those that were professors of the faith of the gospel, separated from the world, brought into a church state
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and fellowship, professing themselves to be sanctified by the blood of Christj receiving and owning Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and endued with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, as chap. vi. 4, 5. Now, it is most certain that these things are peculiar only to some, yea to a very few, in comparison of the universality of the sons of men ; so that what is affirmed of such only can by no means be so extended as to be applied unto all. Now, if any one may be exempted, universal redemption falleth to the ground ; from the condition of a very few, with such qualifications as the multitude have not, nothing can be concluded concerning all.
Secondly, The apostle doth neither declare what hath been nor assert what may be, but only adds a commination upon a supposition of a thing; his main aim being to deter from the thing rather than to signify that it may be, by showing the misery that must needs follow if it should so come to pass. When Paul told the soldiers. Acts xxvii. 31, that if the mariners fled away in the boat they could not he saved, he did not intend to signify to them that, in respect of the event, they should be drowned, for God had declared the contrary unto him the night before, and he to them ; but only to exhort them to prevent that which of itself was a likely way for their ruin and perishing. Neither shall the Remonstrants, with all their rhetoric, ever persuade us that it is in vain and altogether fruitless to fore- warn men of an evil, and to exhort them to take heed of those ■v^'ays whereby it is naturally, and according to the order among the things themselves, to be incurred ; although, in respect of the purpose of God, the thing itself have no futurition, nor shall ever come to pass. A commination of the judgment due to apostasy, being an ap- pointed means for the preserving of the saints from that sin, may be held out to them, though it be impossible the elect should be se- duced. Now, that Paul here deals only upon a supposition (not giving being to the thing, but only showing the connection between apostasy and condemnation, thereby to stir up all the saints to " take heed lest there should be in any of them an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God") is apparent from verse 26, where he makes an entrance upon this argument and motive to perseverance : " For if we sin wilfully." That believers may do so, he speaks not one word; but if they should do so, he shows what would be the event; — a.s, that the soldiers in the ship should perish, Paul told them not; but yet showed what must needs come to pass if the means of preven- tion wore not used. Now, if this be the intention of the apostle, as it is most likely, by his speaking in the first person, " litce sin wilfully," then not any thing in the world can be hence concluded either for the universality of redemption or the apostasy of saints, to both which ends this place is usually urged ; for " suppositio nil ponit in esse."
Thirdly, It is most certain that those of whom he speaks did
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make profession of all those things whereof here is mention, — namely, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that they were sanctified by the blood of the covenant, and enlightened by the Spirit of grace ; yea, as is apparent from the parallel place, Heb. vi. 4, 5, had many gifts of illumination; besides their initiation by baptism, wherein open profession and demonstration was made of these things. So that a renunciation of all these, with open detestation of them, as was the manner of apostates, accursing the name of Christ, was a sin of so deep an abomination, attended with so many aggravations, as might well have annexed to it this remarkable commination, though the apostates never had themselves any true effectual inte- rest in the blood of Jesus.
Fourthly, That it was the manner of the saints, and the apostles themselves, to esteem of all baptized, initiated persons, ingrafted into the church, as sanctified persons; so that, speaking of backsliders, he could not make mention of them any otherwise than as they were commonly esteemed to be, and at that time, in the judgment of charity, were to be considered. Whether they were true believers or no, but only temporary, to whom this argument against apostasy is proposed, according to the usual manner of speech used by the Holy Ghost, they could not be otherwise described.
Fifthly, If the text be interpreted positively, and according to the truth of the thing itself, in both parts thereof (namely, 1. That those of whom the apostle speaketh were truly sanctified ; 2. That such may totally perish), then these two things will inevitably follow, — first, That faith and sanctification are not the fruit of election; secondly, That believers may fall finally from Christ ; — neither of which I as yet find to be owned by our new Universalists, though both contended for by our old Arminians.