above, Christ is always heard and answered by the Father,* hence if Christ prays for all, all will be saved. The doctrine of universal intercession is not taught by the prophet Isaiah, where he says, " he made intercession for the transgressors," it is not said that he made intercession for all, but for some whose characters are delineated by the prophet in a preceding verse where he says that they are persons who shall be justified by Christ. It is not said Luke xxiii. 4, that he prayed for all those who crucified him, but for some of them only, and we are assured that some of his crucifiers obtained pardon, no doubt the fruit of the prayer which Christ offered up on the cross to the Father. Nor, if Christ through the impulse of humane affections of love, prayed for those who perished, is it to be considered that the intercessory prayers, which he offered as Mediator, and from his special office are to be extended to others, than the elect given him by the Father. To the elect Christ himself restricts his intercessory prayers.

This argument will not be weakened by objecting that it is the world of unbelievers only, who are excluded from the prayers of Christ, those who are guilty of rejecting the gos pel, and hate believers, v. 14, but not the world chosen by God, for the redemption of which he has sent his Son. The object of Christ's intercessory prayers is to obtain for believers perseverance in grace. The world, for which Christ says he does not pray, is opposed to those given him by his Father in the decree of election; the world then of which he speaks must embrace all the reprobate who were not given to Christ, and this antecedently to their rejection of the offered salvation. They were passed by as sinners, whether their sins were want of faith in the gospel, or merely violations of the law of nature. As the act of God by which he chose to pass by a certain number of men, and not appoint them to salvation, was done from eternity, there never existed a period, when they, the world for whom Christ does not pray, were viewed in any other light, than as excluded * John xi. 42. $ John iii. 16.

Isa. xxiii. 12.

Aets ii. 3.

from the benefits of his mediation and intercession. It forms no objection to this that God is said, "to have so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish," because, as will be made appear in the proper place, this does not extend to all men of all nations, but to the elect of every nation. Though he prays for the apostles who were then believers, and asks for them perseverence, yet it does not follow that he prays for them as believers only, and in consequence of their faith: for Christ, v. 20, prays for all who should afterwards believe, "That they should be sanctified through the truth and made perfect in one." Now, as this sanctification, and attainment to perfection, could not be effected without the instrumentality of faith, Christ must have prayed for faith to be given them. Hence even that faith by which the gospel is embraced, is given to believers in consequence of Christ's intercessory prayers. Farther, as Christ declares that he sanctifies himself for those who are the objects of that intercessory prayer, that they may be sanctified through the truth; and as these belong to none but the elect, the conclusion is irresistible, that Christ's intercessory prayers are extended to the elect only-to those who shall be saved, with an everlasting salvation.

The inseparable connection between the gift of Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, bears testimony the most conclusive, to the definite atonement. As these two gifts, the most excellent, which God has bestowed on us, are always in scripture, joined together as cause and effect,* so they must be of equal extent-they must go together; so that the Son might not be given to acquire salvation for any others, than those to whom the Spirit was given for the application of the salvation procured. No reason can be assigned, why the gift of the Son should be more extensive than the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is plain that the Holy Spirit is given to none but the elect. Hence, if there be any harmony between the works of the Son,

* John xvi. 7. Gal. iv. 4, 6. Rom. viii. 9. 1 John iii. 24.

and of the Holy Spirit, in the economy of salvation, Christ was given to die for the elect, and for them only. Pertinent to this purpose is the argument of the apostle Paul, in which, from the giving of Christ, he infers the communication of every blessing. "He that spared not his own Son, but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" The apostle reasons from the greater to the less. Surely he, who gave his Son, which, incontrovertibly was the greater gift, will not refuse to give us faith and all other saving blessings which are the less; and this the rather, because, as we shall presently prove, Christ by delivering himself up, has merited for us, together with salvation, all those gifts. Whence the conclusion is inevitable; either all those blessings shall be given to the reprobate, if Christ died for them; or if they are not given them, which is granted by all, then Christ did not die for them, i. e. he did not die for all. This is not answered by alleging that the apostle speaks of Christ's being given in a special manner to the believers. For, as was said above, the supposition, of a universal giving is gratuitous, and nowhere countenanced in scripture; and since faith is a fruit of Christ's death, it cannot be a condition antecedent to his death. Farther, when according to the order which is laid down by our learned opponents themselves, the decree concerning Christ's death was antecedent to the decree relative to bestowing faith; it is inconceivable how at one and the same time, and in the self same simple act, Christ could be delivered up for all, and for some only.

3. Another topic of argumentation, from which I confirm the same doctrine, is the superlative love of Christ towards those for whom he died. He loved them with the most ardent affection. Greater love has no one, than that one should lay down his life for his friend. In the same exalted strain does the apostle Paul extol the love

of Christ: he speaks of it as admirably intense, and unheard of among men.* "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet, peradventure for a good man some would dare even to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." But this cannot be said of all men, and every man; for, I presume that all are agreed, that Christ loved Peter more than Judas. It is inconceivable, how Christ could love with ineffable ardour of affection, those whom as an inexorable judge he had already consigned to mansions of endless woe, and despair, and those whom by an irrevocable decree he had resolved to consign to the same endless misery. It cannot with any colour of propriety be said that Christ and his apostle, are treating of external acts of love. For, besides, that external acts of love, presuppose those which are internal; if Christ exercises external acts of love so great that none can be greater, it follows that he has done, and that he does so much for those who perish, that it is impossible for him to do more for the elect who shall be saved; than which nothing can be more absurd. Nor, if he loves some of the elect more than others, with a love of complaisance on account of the internal gifts of his Spirit, a diversity of which is necessary to the perfection of his mystical body, does it result as a consequence from this, that the disposition of his soul towards each of them as to the promotion of their good, is supremely tender and affectionate.

4. I infer the truth of the same doctrine from the nature of Christ's suretyship. For it imports not merely the substitution of Christ in our room, so that he died not only for our good, but in our place, as is said above, and proved against the disciples of Socinus. Hence, from the nature of his suretyship, he must transfer upon himself, and take away from them all the debt of those whose persons he sustains; and liquidate the whole debt as perfectly as if they themselves had done it in their own persons. Can it be conceived

* Rom. v. 7, 8.

that those for whom he died and in this manner, may yet be subjected to eternal vengeance, and bound to suffer again deserved punishment? This question must be answered in the affirmative by all those who assert that Christ died for many who shall not be saved by his death: and yet to say so is to impeach the justice and veracity of God. For if in consequence of his suretyship, the debt has been transferred to Christ, and by him discharged, every one must see that it has been taken away from the primary debtors, so that payment cannot be demanded from them. They must forever afterwards remain free, absolved from all obligation to punishment. Pertinent to this purpose are all those passages of scripture which assert that our sins were laid upon Christ, that the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and that by his stripes we are healed,* and those which declare that he was made a curse for us that we might be made the righteousness and blessing of God in him.†

Christ died for those only for whom he procured and to whom he applies salvation. As he procured and applies salvation to the elect only, hence for them only he died. That Christ did not die for any but those for whom he procured salvation, and to whom he will apply it, appears,-1st, From the object of Christ's death. His death was destined by God to procure salvation for us. 2. The procurement cannot be separated from the application; what other end can there be in procuring a thing, but that it may be applied? A thing is procured in vain, which is never applied. Hence it follows, that if salvation is procured for, it will and must be applied to us. If it be not applied to all, but to the elect only, then it was not procured for all, but for the elect only. In vain it is objected, "that Christ's death was not intended so much to procure salvation, as to remove all the obstacles which justice threw in the way of our salvation, and which prevented God from thinking of our salvation." From this view of the subject, Christ rather procured for us the possibility of being saved than salvation itself-and placed it

* Isa. liii. 5, 6.

† 2 Cor. v. 25. Gal. iii, 13.