to save them; at another time his mind is to damn them. But let not this be said of him, with whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. * 6. The universal scheme, disappoints God of his chief end, and robs him of his glory. The ultimate end of God, in the redemption of men; as has been observed; is his own glory, the glory of his rich grace and mercy; and of his righteousness, truth and faithfulness: but if men, any of them who are redeemed, are not saved, so far God loses his end, and is deprived of his glory; for should this be the case, where would be the glory of God the Father, in forming a scheme which does not succeed, at least with respect to multitudes? and where would be the glory of the Son of God, the Redeemer, in working out the redemption of men, and yet they not saved by him? And where would be the glory of the Spirit of God, if the redemption wrought out, is not effectually applied by him? But, on the contrary, the glory of God, Father, Son, and Spirit, is great in the salvation of all the redeemed ones. Another set of arguments against universal redemption, might be taken from its reflecting on the grace and work of Christ: whatever obscures, or lessens, of Christ in redemption, or depreciates his work as a Redeemer, can never be true. the grace 1. The universal scheme, reflects on the love and grace of Christ. The scripture speake highly of the love of Christ, as displayed in redemption; and Christ himself intimates, that he was about to give the greatest instance of his love to his people, by dying for them, that could be given; even though and while they were enemies to him, John xv. 13. But what sort of love is that, to love men to such a degree as to die for them, and yet withold the means of grace from multitudes of them, bestow no grace upon them, and at last say to them, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire. 2. The universal scheme, reflects upon the work of Christ; particularly his work of satisfaction, which was to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, by satisfying divine justice for it; by putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Now, either he has made satisfaction for every man, or he has not: if he has, then they ought to be set free, and fully discharged, and not punishment inflicted on them, or their debts exacted of them: if he has not made satisfaction by redeeming them, this lessens the value of Christ's work, and makes it of no use, and ineffectual; and indeed, generally, if not always, the advocates for general redemption deny the proper satisfaction, and real atonement by Christ; plainly discerning, that if he has made full satisfaction for the sins of all men, they must all be saved; and so the work of reconciliation, which is closely connected with, and involved in satisfaction, is not perfect according to the scrip. tures: Christ, by redeeming men with the price of his blood, has made satisfaction to justice for them, and thereby has procured their reconciliation: for they are said to be reconciled unto God by the death of his Son; and peace is said to be made by the blood of his cross which is the redemption-price for them; and he is pacified towards them for all that they have done; which is meant by Christ being a propitiation for sin, whereby justice is appeased. But, according to the universal scheme, God is only made reconcileable, not reconched, nor men reconciled to him: notwithstanding what Christ has done, there may be no peace to them, not any being actually made for them; and, indeed, the work of redemption must be very incomplete; though Christ is a Rock, as a Saviour and Redeemer, and his work is perfect, his work of redemption; and hence called a plenteous one; and Christ is said to have obtained, eternal redem, tion for us; and yet if all are not saved through it, it must be imperfect; it cannot be a full redemption, nor of eternal efficacy; the benefit of it, can at most, be only for a time to some, if any at all, and not to be for ever; which is greatly to depreciate the efficacy of this work of Christ. 3. According to the universal scheme, the death of Christ, with respect to mul. titudes, for whom he is said to die, must be in vain; for if Christ died to redeem all men, and all men are not saved by his death, so far his death must be in vain, if he paid a ransom for all, and all are not ransomed; or if he has paid the debts of all, and they are not discharged, the price is given, and the payment made, in vain. According to this scheme, the death of Christ is no security against condemnation; though the apostle says, Who shall condemn? It is Christ that died! so that there is no condemnation to them whose sins are condemned in Christ: and he has condemned them in the flesh, and yet there is a world of men that will be condemned, 1 Cor. xi. 32. and therefore it may be concluded, that Christ did not die for them, or otherwise they would not come into condemnation; or else Christ's death has no efficacy against condemnation. I 4. The universal scheme, separates she works of Christ, the work of redemp◄ tion, and the work of intercession; and makes them to belong to different persons; whereas they are of equal extent, and belong to the same; for whom Christ died, for them he rose again from the dead; and that was for their justification; which is not true of all men: for those he ascended to heaven, to God, as their God and Father, for the same he entered into heaven, as their forerunner, and appears in the presence of God for them, and ever lives to make intercession for them; and for the same for whom he is an advocate, he is the propitiation; for his advocacy is founded upon his propitiatory sacrifice: now those for whom he prays and intercedes, are not all men, himself being witness; I pray for them; I pray not for the world, John xvii. 9. Yet, according to the universal scheme, he died for them for whom he would not pray; which is absurd and incredible. 5. If Christ died for all men, and all men are not saved, Christ will not see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; as was promised him, Isai. liti. for what satisfaction can we have to see his labour, with respect to multitudes, all jost labour, or labour in vain? it was the joy that was set before him, of having those for whom he suffered and died, with him in heaven: but what joy can he have, and what a disappointment must it be to him, to see thousands and millions whom he so loved as to, give himself for,, howling in hell, under the everlasting displeasure and wrath of God? Other arguments against universal redemption, may be taken from the uselessness of it to great numbers of men. 1. To those whose sins are irremissible; whose sins will never be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come: that there are such sinners, and such sins committed by them, is certain, from what Christ himself says, Matt. xii. 31, 32. and the apostle speaks of a sin which is unto death, unto eternal death; which he does not advise to pray for, 1 John v. 16. and surely Christ cannot be thought to die for such sins, for which there is no forgiveness with God, and no prayer to be made by men for the remission of them; to say that Christ died for those, is to say that he died in yain: besides, there were multitudes in hell at the time when Christ died; and it cannot be thought that he died for those, as he must, if he died for all the individuals of mankind; as the men of Sodom, who were then, as Jude says, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire; and the inhabitants of the old world, the world of the ungodly, destroyed by the flood; those that were disobedient in the times of Noah; whose spirits, as the apostle Peter says, were, in his time, in the prison of hell. Jude. 7. 1 Pet. iii. 20. if he died for these, his death must be fruitless and useless; unless it can be thought, that a jail-delivery was made at his death, and the dominions and regions of hell were cleared of their subjects. 2. Redemption, if for all, must be useless to those who never were favoured with the means of grace; as all the nations of the world, excepting Israel, for many hundreds of years were; whose times of ignorance God winked at and overlooked, and sent no messengers, nor messages of grace unto them; and since the coming of Christ, though the gospel has, in some ages, had a greater spread, yet not preached to all; nor is it now, to many nations, who have ne ver heard of Christ, and of redemption by him, Rom, x. 14. 3. The universal scheme, affords no encouragement to faith and hope in Christ: redemption, as it ascertains salvation to some, it encourages sensible sinners to hope in Christ for it; Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with him is plenteous redemption, Psal. cxxx. 7. a redemption full of salvation; and which secures that blessing to all that believe. But, according to the universal scheine, men may be redeemed by Christ, and yet not saved, but eternally perish: what hope of salvation can á man have upon such a scheme? it requires no great discernment, nor judgment of things, to determine, which is most eligible of the two schemes, that which makes the salvation of some certain; or that which leaves the salvation of all precarious and uncertain; which though it asserts a redemption of all; yet it is possible none may be saved. 4. Hence, even to those who are redeemed and saved, it lays no foundation for, nor does it furnish with any argument to engage to love Christ, to be thankful to him, and to praise him for the redemption of them; since the difference between them and others, is not owing to the efficacy of Christ's death, but to their own wills and works; they are not beholden to Christ, who has done no more for them than for those that perish; they are not from any such consideration, obliged to walk in love, as Christ has loved them, and given himself for them; since he has loved them no more, and given himself for them no otherwise, than for them that are lost; nor are they under obligation to be thankful to him, and bless his name, that he has redeemed their lives from destruction, since, notwithstanding his redemption of them, they might have been destroyed with an everlasting destruction; it is not owing to what Christ has done, but to what they have done themselves, performing the conditions of salvation required, that they are saved from destruction, if ever they are, according to this scheme: nor can they indeed sing the song of praise to the Lamb, for their redemption; saying, Thou art worthy for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us, &c. since, according to this scheme, Christ has redeemed every kindred, every tongue, every people, and every nation. OF THOSE PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE WHICH SEEM TO FAVOUR UNIVERSAL REDEMPTION. THERE HERE are several passages of scripture, which, at first sight, may seem to countenance the universal scheme; and which are usually brought in support of it; and which it will be necessary to take under consideration: and these may be divided into three classes. Such in which the words all and every one, are used, when the death of Christ, and the benefits of it are spoken of.-Those in which the words world, and the whole world, occur, where the same subjects are treated of. And, Those that seem to intimate, as if Christ died for some - that may be destroyed and perish. I. Such in which the words all, and every one, are used; when the death of Christ, and the benefits of it, particularly redemption and salvation by him, are spoken of. Behold, I bring good tidLet it be observed, that but to be born for the sake 1. The declaration of the angel in Luke ii. 10, 11. ings of great joy, which shall be to all people, &c. Christ is not here said to be the Saviour of all men; of some, that he might be the Saviour of them; unto you is born a Saviour; to you the shepherds, who appeared to be good men, waiting for the salvation of God, and the coming of their Saviour, and therefore praised and glorified God for what they heard and saw; the words fully agree with the prophetic lan guage, in which the birth of Christ is signified, To us a child is born: indeed, it i said, that the news of the birth of a Saviour, would be great joy to all people or to all the people; not to all the people of the world, many of whom neve heard of it; nor to all the people of the Jews, who did hear of it; not to Hero the King, and to the Scribes and Pharisees, and to many, at least, of the inhabi tants of Jerusalem; for when he and they heard the report the wise-men from the east made, of the birth of the king of the Jews, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, Matt. ii. 3. but to all the people of God and Christ; to the people Christ came to save, and does save; on whose account his name was called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins; the people given him in covenant, and for whose transgressions he was stricken, and for whose sins he made reconciliation, at most, the birth of Christ, as a Saviour, can only be matter of great joy to whom the tidings of it come; whereas, there are multitudes that come into the world, and go out of it, who never hear of the birth of Christ, and of salvation by him; and where the gospel, the good tidings of salvation by Christ, does come, it is only matter of great joy to them to whom it comes in power, and who are, by it, made sensible of their lost, perishing estate, of their want of a Saviour, and of the suitableness of salvation; such as the three thousand convinced and converted under Peter's sermon; and the jailor and his houshold, who cried out, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? To such, and to such only, the news of Christ as a Saviour, is matter of great joy. 11. The account given of Jolin's ministry, and the end of it; That all men, through him, might believe, John i. 7. from whence it is concluded, that all men are bound to believe that Christ came to save them, and that he died for them; and if he did not die for them, then they are bound to believe a lie; and if condemned for not believing, they are condemned for not believing an untruth. But John's ministry only reached to the Jews, among whom he came preaching; and the report he made of Christ they were bound to believe, was, not that he died for them; as yet he had not died; but that he was the Messiah: and their disbelief of this was their sin and condemnation; as it is the sin of the deists, and of all unbelievers, to whom the gospel-revelation comes; and they give not credit to it; for such are bound to believe the report it makes, and give an assent to the truth of it; and which is no other than an historical faith, and which men may have and not be saved; and which the devils themselves have: so that men may be bound to believe, and yet not to the saving of their souls; or that Christ died for them. And is the revelation that is made to men, so they are under obligation to believe: if no revelation is made, no faith is required; How shall they believe in him, of whom they have not heard? The Indians who have never heard of Christ, are not bound to believe in him; nor will they be condemned for their unbelief; but for their sins against the light of nature, they have been guilty of; see Rom. x. 14. and ii. 12. Where a revelation is made, and that is only external, and lies in the outward ministry of the word, declaring in general such and such things, concerning the person and office of Christ, men are obliged to give credit to them, upon the evidence they bring with them, and for their unbelief, will be condemned; not because they did not believe that Christ died for them, to which they were not obliged; but because they did not believe |