any thing of a Redemption and a Redeemer was utterly impossible I answer first That it s not material If Christ interposing himself between them and the blow of justice preserved and rescued them from that and then gave them no other hints of light and knowledg of God but in his works then he required the less of them again for where less is given less is looked for again he looked but that they should feel after him so discovered and glorifie him with thankfulness as they came to know him as in Act. 17.27 Rom. 1.19 21. come to him as believing that he is and is a rewarder of them that seek him And it s for not answering that little that he faults condemns them he not judging them according to that they had not nor according to the sin of Adam that I can finde but according to their imprisoning abusing and not liking to retain and yield to what they had as is plain Rom. 1.18 19 20 21 28. And it s all one to give less and look for less as to give a great deal more and look for more in point of Retributive justice and then 2. It was not impossible for them to come know a Redemption and a Redeemer because that God that was evidenced to them in the works of Creation and Providence being glorified according to those hints given was able and sufficient to have revealed the Mediator as he did reveal him to Job and Abraham and to many others All the Scriptures cannot bring a soul to Sonship in Christ or cause it to apprehend the glory of Gods Grace so as to transform it into his Image by all a mans reading and searching into them without God add his Spirit is that a good excuse for a man to slight the Scriptures No let men attend to God in his means afforded and do what he wills them and inables them to and leave the success to God if he cannot shew men by his Spirit that that the means cannot without it then the case is altered but being he can do what he will they are guilty of depriving themselves of greater mercies that bury their talent in the earth and improve not what they have given them in mercy He that is unfaithful in a little would be so in greater things and he cannot plead against God for the insufficiency of those means to reveal Christ who yielded not to obey God in the means who had all sufficiency in himself beyond the means to do him good and bring him to Christ CHAP. II. An Answer to three other Arguments in his second Chapter HIs third Argument is thus Argu. 3 If Christ died for All that is purchased and procured eternal redemption for All then he either did it absolutely or conditionally but he did it neither absolutely nor conditionally To which I Answer That he again jumbles together the purchase of Christ with his intention of bestowing and puts all this into the act of his dying for men which is fallacious We say That Christ died as a ransom for All from what was upon them as binding them over to destruction previous to his coming and obtained eternal Redemption in himself of the Humane Nature from all those miseries that it was plunged into with power of dispensing thereof to All or Any and this purchase of it into himself was absolutely but the dispensing it is conditional viz upon their coming to him for it There is no condition in his purchasing any thing on our part but there is condition in the propounding the things purchased Now Mr. Owen confounds these together and therein is fallacious as in the former Chapter we have noted As for Christs purchasing faith that is ingaging God to give it to this or that particular as we have said something to it in cap. 4. lib. 2. So the fuller speaking to it we reserve to its proper place in lib. 3. cap 4. The necessity of making known the condition upon which he is to dispense life we spake to in the former Chapter as also of mens power in themselves to perform it we have formerly spoken to I shall onely add this here That if God gives men means of faith and evidences to them that there they ought to seek him and they put away those means they justly deprive themselves of that divine supernatural power for working faith on God and Christ which had they yieleed to the means and to the light in them he might probably have wrought If Naaman refuse to wash in Jordan which God gave him power to do God may justly deny to heal him nay he deprives himself of that Almighty power that God was ready to give forth in those waters to heal him And so If the Israelites refused to look to the Brasen Serpent c. Such is the case here Faith comes by hearing and that is of the Word of God Now if God give men his VVord and opportunities of hearing it and they either refuse to hear or when God gives them to discern something in hearing shut their eyes and refuse to look upon it they are justly deprived of that faith conversion and healing which would have followed And that by such doings men do often deprive themselves of such further favors that God would have bestowed on them is evident in Psal 81.11 12 13 14 15. Isai 48.17 18. If they had hearkened to his voice then he would have subdued their enemies and their peace should been as the rivers and their righteousness as the waves of the sea c. If men refuse to do that that God gives them power to do its just with God to withhold that that is the proper work of his power to do So that the case here is not with men as in such comparisons as Mr. Owen makes of conditions impossible in themselves and in which they with whom they are possible will not help For in this matter God both prevents with grace and makes things possible and requires obedience to that possibility and is also ready to help and promises to help in the day of that his grace and therefore exhorts not to receive his grace in vain onely he deals not with all in a compulsise or like powerful way But as with Israel in the VVilderness He was with them and went before them and would have led them safely to Rest and they followed Him but refusing to follow Him as they might have done He gave them over So God in his preventing Operations doth give men power and liberty to means propounded and is at hand to make those impossibilities possible and attainable but men as the Israelites of old say the walls are high and we cannot enter and will not walk out in what God gives them nor go in that way where they might experiment him making rough ways plain and hard things easie and so they miss of the experiments of his Divine Power that are needful for them and then they fault Him for it
old distinction which the Gospel came to take away Again How usuall was it with Christ speaking to believing disciples of the Jews onely to oppose them to the world and by the world to mean unbelieving Jews also as in Joh. 15.19 and 7.7 and 17.14 So Paul to the Gentiles as to the Corinths 1 Cor. 11.30 opposes the world to believers of the Gentiles and by the world means all final unbelievers Jew and Gentile Nay if this had any force then in 1 Joh. 5.19 he should strengthen the Jew in their obstanacy which he says they had against the Churches of the Gentiles for there he opposes himself and those he wrote to to the whole world besides in like manner as here We know that we are of God and the whole world lies in wickedness Now if he writ as a Jew reckoning with the Jews and set himself with them in opposition to All other believers in the world then he says there That he and the believing Jews were of God but all the Churches of the Gentiles lay in the wicked one And who would not abominate such an Exposition Nay Mr. Owen should do well to finde any one place in all the Scripture where the word world specially spoken of with distinction from believers or any sort or Nation fignifies another sort or kinde of believers So that that 's vain too His last is His mentioning and given cautions of Deceivers Seducers Antichrists c. As if any man that mindes the Scriptures could be ignorant that these kinde of people did pester also the Gentile Churches as the Galathians Corinthians Churches of Asia c. And that the Apostle Paul was as circumspect of the Gentile Churches and as careful to preserve them from these Seducers as possibly could be and so that John living after the rest of the Apostles needed as much to war and watch over them as an other Churches Nay he that shall equally weigh things will say there was more need for them then others because they receiving the Gospel from the Jews the Deceivers of the Jews had more influence upon them then upon their own Churches for they were apt to question Pauls Doctrine upon this ground that others of the Jews that pretended Authority from the Apostles taught otherwise Besides that the great stumble of the false Apostles was in the Gentile Churches that they wanted Circumcision which the Jewish Churches wanted not to say nothing that we finde them troubling the Gentiles often but never that they troubled with such Doctrines the Jewish Churches Acts 15.3 4 5.23 24. So that I shall need to say no more to that first Consideration having undermined it and made it unable to afford that patronage to his Gloss that he puts upon it 2. For the scope and aim of the Apostle It is saith he to give consolation to believers against their sins and failings If any man sin we have an advocate c. But herein also he comes short For though 1. I grant that he writ to comfort believers all or any believers and not believing Jews onely and that that was his main aim yet it was not all for 2. He affords them also a Direction in case of other men to improve their interest in their Advocate by Prayers Intercessions c. for them according to Pauls direction to Timothy 1 Tim. 2.1 c. Thence it s to be noted That he says not If any of you sin but indefinitely If any sin But suppose he aim onely at the comfort of believers what then He adds Then he can speak of none but them onely and that the extending it to All can possibly make nothing to the end proposed namely the Consolation of believers But sure he is out here For the consideration that Christ renders God propitious to strangers such his power and prevalency with him is an argument much conducing to perswade them that he will render him much more propitious to his children that are wounded for their follies and fly to him And I conceive the Apostle may be understood so to speak in Rom. 8.32 He that spared not his own Son but gave him up for us All That is for us All men one and other how shall he not with him having given him to us also as Beza notes on the place give Vs that is his chosen ones All things He that doth good to good and bad to them that are unkinde and ill-requiting will not he do good to us that love him and are born of him Surely if this afford no comfort I know not what will Nay I see nothing in the Text aggravate the consolation more then this It s like that in Matth. 6.26 28. He feeds the Fowls of the Air and clothes the Lillies how much more you his children So here Christ is free for All to come to God by how much more you that have believed and are his peculiarly He procures that gratiousness and kindness or mercy be extended to the whole world how much more to you his choice Inheritance That 's the very voice of unbelief that counts this light Manna and retorts the Argument as Mr. Owen doth They perish most of them through unbelief so may I too So might the Disciples have retorted Ah Lord but many of the fowls of heaven are taken and kill'd and perish for want of food and so may we do too The Argument is strengthned from that If God care for Birds made to be taken and killed and for Lillies that fade and are cast into the Oven much more for you that are his children ordained to an eternal inheritance So If the world many of whom yet perish finde Christ ready to do them good till they have made themselves void of all excuse and hardned their hearts against him much more will he be ready to accept us and pass by our offences who believe on him Yea if their perishing is for their unbelief and they might be brought into special favor did they believe what cause have we to believe on him and not let go our belief And yet in this the Apostle doth no more throw the consolation of believers to Dogs then Christ did throw the consolation of his Disciples to the fowls or then James doth the believers consolation to Dogs in James 1.5 Nor is Christs dying for men the childrens proper portion that 's yet to prove but the Kingdom and Priviledges of Christ in the injoyment of God which we do not throw to any Dogs which yet men are not accounted as meerly natural but as Rebels against the grace of God proud scorners Prov. 9.8 except it be by some conceited Jew◠like spirits that count themselves the onely Elect and Priviledged people and all others as refuse and reprobate beside themselves and men of their opinion c. 3. For the words Propitiation and the whole world 1. The word Propitiation in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 coming of that Verb the Publican uses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
and refused to go where they went for the alms So that that 's impertinent That in Acts 13.48 seems to have the greatest force for proof that Faith is in some the fruit of Election The words are And they believed so many as were ordained to life eternal The word that we Translate Ordained is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is properly to rank and order and often in the Writings of the Apostles is used to signifie an actual appointing or ordering to a thing as Rom. 13.1 The Powers or Authorities that are are ordained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordered or ranked of or under God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Some expound it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from Acts 22.10.14 as if it were foreappoined or ordained But the word is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 foreappointed as if it spake of an act of Gods purpose and counsel in himself only But 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Besides that word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies too an actual setting apart or separating in time unto a thing a transient act of God upon a creature as is plain Acts 26.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I have appeared to thee to ordain or foreappoint thee a Minister and Witness of those things that thou hast seen Where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to foreordain is a thing not precedent but consequent to Gods appearing to him for he appeared to him he saith not because I had fore-appointed thee but to fore-appoint thee which was an actual ordering him into such a place or office before he should or could act in it and so * Châ—â—s in locaâ— Chrysostom interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 separated to God and the Syriack interpreter by Positi put into such an order The sense then is So many as in the call of God and by the coming of his Word unto them were separated from the world unto and disposed ordered or set for eternal life believed And then it s further to be considered That the word Believed signifies here as sometimes else a continuing or abiding in believing as in Joh. 2.11 His Disciples believed on him They were Disciples and had faith before but now they believed that is went on believing in him they were furthered in their faith confirmed in it and so in verse 22. They believed the Scripture after the Resurrection They did so in part before but They believed there is all one with they were fastened or confirmed in believing them they believed them stronglier So Joh. 17.8 They have known and believed in opposition to those that believed for a time and then fell away these continued believing And so in Acts 17.34 Some clave to Paul and believed that is abid constant in the Doctrine and went on in it Such I conceive may be the meaning of it here too The Gentiles glorified God they were generally affected and taken with it Many were called And they believed so many as was ordered or ordained to life eternal that is they abode constant in the Doctrine they were not for a flash onely as the others were others thought the Word true and rejoyced in it and glorified it but none abid in it but them that God more especially pull'd in to himself These things we have noted on the Minor though the faultiness of the Major is sufficient to overthrow the Argument in the thing that should have been concluded viz. That Faith is the immediate fruit and effect of Christs death which God is obliged by it to give to All that Christ died for All the fruits of the New Covenant are procured and purchased by him Argu. 3 but Faith is one of them But neither doth this conclude And we have shewed before cap. 1. lib. 3. that he neither hath proved Faith to be a fruit of the New Covenant but a thing presupposed Nor that that Covenant is made with all them that Christ died for That without which its impossible that we should be saved Argu. 4 must be procured by him by whom we are fully and effectually saved This may be granted in the sense we have taken the word Procuring And yet it concludes not neither except he could infer But all that Christ died for are fully and effectually saved which he doth not nor can any where prove Besides his proofs prove neither the Major nor the Minor Matth. 1.21 His people Heb. 7.25 All that come to God by him And intimately Heb. 5.9 He is the Author of eternal salvation But to whom saith the Apostle To all that obey him None of which Scriptures takes in Faith as one of those things which he is the Author Procurer or Confirmer of For the very Suppositum in them all is Believers his people men called and of no people made a people of God as 1 Pet. 2.10 They have faith Them that come to him and obey him they have faith So that Christ may be affirmed to be the Author of their eternal and perfect salvation there mentioned and yet not the procurer of their faith As David was a protector of all that fled to him and stood by them to the utmost and yet it follows not that he purchased it of any to make them come to him So that this also is impertinent The last Argument is that of Phil. 1.29 Argu. 5 Its given to you to believe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He leaves out the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may be read thus It s given to you as pertaining to Christ not onely to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake This is given of grace As if he should say I speak not now of all sufferings and faith but of what pertains to Christ and what is in his Cause As pertaining to Christ its given by Grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely to believe c. Or thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. To you that which pertains to Christ was given freely not onely to believe on him but also to suffer for him But let the words be read as they are though I conceive not so rightly because of the Article 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omitted yet it follows not either that it was given them as his purchase I may give a man a thing for my childs sake because I love him and would have him esteemed and loved which yet is not by him bought of me for that man Or if so yet it follows not that Christ did so for all that he died for Christ might procure that God should absolutely make some believe in him and yet leave him to glorifie his Mercy or Justice on others as he pleases leave them to such grace as whereby they might have been brought to believe in walking out in the means according to power given yea leave it wholly to the meer VVill of God whom to cause to believe both as to persons and their number So that no wayes doth this Argument conclude Nor doth Ephes 1.3 another
of Faith as rightly as the Apostles No no Our charge yet stands faster against them then that the strongest hand of them All can move it They cannot preach or represent God Doctrinally in that their way as an object that the people they speak to hath good ground to rest in for safety and satisfaction for they know not confessedly whether he hath appointed Christ as a medium of access for them and as a Sacrifice and Ransom for their souls They can tell men he is able to save them that believe provided they be the Elect otherwise not but cannot assure that he is a meet object for them to believe through because they cannot assure them he hath done any thing for them And thus we have viewed his previous Considerations Come we now to view his following Answers to our Arguments CHAP. II. An Answer to his evasions from those Scriptures that declare Christ sent for the world and the whole world BEfore he comes to the Arguments that he would Answer he dips his Pen in Gall and slings durt upon the faces of them that will not forsake the sure Word of God to take heed to his contradictory Conclusions made against it Pretending his Opinion to be undeniably confirmed by the Word of God by many Demonstrations and innumerable Testimonies of Scripture though not one place hath been brought to the purpose for it Yea I will make Mr. Owen this offer That if he can produce any one Testimony of Scripture that denied Christ to have died for any one man of the world or that limits his Ransom and Propitiation to fewer then All I say That limits it and I will yield him the Cause and say that I have been egregiously deceived But to let that pass Our first general Argument he frames weakly and then makes us by reasoning as weakly to defend it that so he might have the more advantage against it I would make this and the second from general expressions of Scripture into one thus That Matter or Article of Faith Argum. that is frequently delivered in the largest and most general expressions of Scripture without other Scripture in any place excluding any or limiting as but to some is to be received according to the latitude of those large expressions But such is this business of the Death of Christ as the Ransom it s delivered in the largest and most general expressions and no other Scripture any where limits it but to some or excludes any particular Therefore according to the latitude of those expressions its to be received The Major of this is founded upon this Rule Every Word of God is pure nothing to be added to it nothing to be taken from it But to limit where it no where limits or to exclude where it excludes not is to take from it of our own heads and therefore is not to be attempted Besides it may be seen by induction No other Truth that is so frequently laid down in such general terms is taken limitedly to fewer if no other Scripture limit or restrain it or the very Circumstances of the places where it is as might be instanced in Creation Sinfulness Preservation Resurrection Judgment The Minor hath been cleared throughout this Discourse that though there be places that speak not of all its object as also there are many about Creation Sin Resurrection Judgment yet there is no limitation of it in any of those places as a Ransom or Propitiation to a less object then the general places will reach to And that the largest expressions are used about it is clear as All men Rom. 5.18 1 Tim. 2 6. Every one Heb 2.9 The whole world 1 Joh. 2.2 That those phrases are in themselves extendible to All and Every man in the world is plain and confest by Mr. Owen That sometimes in the Scriptures they are so used and that very usually too and most properly as is easie to shew And therefore may so signifie there His Argumentations from the word World I disclaim nor doth he finde any so to use them as he propounds them We argue not the extent simply from the word World but from the words All and Every and whole World and we understand the word World extendible as far as them not from the word World simply but from these other places reaching it to the whole World and All men As when it s said God created man upon the earth the force of the word Man proves it not that he created every Man in the world but yet we believe it extendible so far because other Scriptures say it of All Nations of men and that he made them of one blood The Argument from the word World we use against their conceit of For the Elect onely In that we never finde any Scripture calling the world Elect or the Elect the World but distinguishing them from the world they being in election separated from the world They that would have us restrain general words but to some particulars must shew us some ground for it that the Scripture somewhere in the same business so restraineth them for the restraining of a word usually and Properly of a large extent in other things is no sufficient ground for our straitning it in this or another thing where the Scripture doth not plainly declare that it ought to be so straitned And this is our defence against them in straitning this Word to the Elect. But Mr. Owen endeavors to shew that the general words in such places ought to be straitned from the consideration of the places themselves Beginning with that in Joh 3 16. In which the great Saviour of the world assisting us we will follow him He thereupon first gives us our construction of the place and that with as much weakness as he can I shall give my Paraphrase my self thus God beholding man faln even the men of the world pitied him in that condition and out of pity to him sent him for a Saviour his own onely Son to this end and with this intention that he dying for him and rising again and being perfected for saving man all those of mankinde whosoever that upon declaration of him do believe on him should not perish but have eternal life In which observe 1. That the motive of Gods sending his Son was that love or good will that he bore to lost man and readiness to shew forth his mercy to them in providing a fit medium and way to salvation 2. The object of this love was Mankinde faln as here expressed indefinitely but as other Scriptures explain this indefinite All men the whole world 3. His act of giving was both to death for men and in the Gospel preaching Him to men as an object to be believed on 4. The end That whosoever believes should not perish In which we have 1. The Way to the participation of the choise benefits of him viz. believing on him 2. The Extent of that choise benefit whosoever believes In which is also