themselves exceptions from his mercy, cannot love him on that account. The third admit the same "general love of God to man," and it is the foundation of their hope; but does this produce love? The view of his mercy in the gift of his Son, and in the general promise, may produce a degree of this emotion, or perhaps more properly of gratitude; but do they love his justice, under the condemnation of which they feel themselves, and his holiness, the awful purity of which makes them afraid? If not, they do not love God as God; that is, as a whole, in all his perfections, the awful as well as the attractive, the alarming as well as the encouraging; which is, doubtless, the character of the love of those who are justified by faith. But leaving this nicer distinction, the main question is, do they love him as a Father, as their GOD in covenant, with the love which leads up the affections of "peace and joy," as well as "gentleness, goodness, and fidelity?" for in this company, so to speak, the apostle places this grace, where it is a fruit of the Spirit,"-" The Spirit which they that believed on him should receive." This is impossible; for these seeking, though hoping penitents, do not regard God as their Father, in that special sense in which the word is correlative "to children and heirs ;" they do not regard him as their God in that covenant, which says, "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities I will remember no more; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." This is what they seek, but have not found; and they cannot love God under relations in which they know, and painfully feel, that he does not yet stand to them. They know his "general love to man," but not his pardoning love to them; and therefore cannot love him as reconciled to them by the death of his Son. It follows, therefore, that the last class only, the "justified by faith," bear that love to God, which is marked by the characters impressed upon it by the apostles. He is their Father, and they love him as his children: he is their God in covenant; and as they can in this appropriating sense call him their God, that love him correspondently, though not adequately. Their love, therefore, rests upon their persuasion of their personal and individual interest in his pardoning, adopting, and covenant-fulfilling mercy to them; and where these benefits are not personally enjoyed, this kind of love to God cannot exist. This, then, we think sufficiently establishes the fact, that the Scriptures of the New Testament, when speaking of the love of believers to God, always suppose that it arises from a persuasion of God's special love to them as individuals, and not merely from a knowledge of his "general love" to mankind. Others there are, who, in adverting to these fruits of the Spirit, overlook "love, joy, and peace," and fix their attention only on "gentleness, goodness, meekness, fidelity, and temperance," as those graces which make up our practical holiness, and thus argue justification from regeneration, which is an unquestionable concomitant of it. The reply to this is, that the fruit of the Spirit is undivided; that all attempts at separating it is, therefore, criminal and delusive; and that where there is not "love, joy, and peace," we have no Scriptural reason to conclude that there is that gentleness, that goodness, that meekness, &c., of which the apostle speaks, or, in other words, that there is that state of regeneration which the Scriptures describe; at least not ordinarily, for we leave seasons of deep spiritual exercise and cases of physical depression to be treated according to their merits. Thus this argument falls to the ground. But the, same conclusion is reached in another way. Persons of this opinion would infer forgiveness from holiness; but holiness consists in habits and acts of which love to God is the principle; for we first "love God," and then "keep his commandments." Holiness, then, is preceded by love as its root, and that, as we have seen, by manifested pardon. For this love is the love of a pardoned sinner to God as a Father, as a God in actual covenant, offered on one part, and accepted on the other; and it exists before holiness, as the principle exists before the act and the habit. In the process, then, of inferring our justified state from moral changes, if we find what we think holiness without love, it is the holiness of a Pharisee without principle. If we join to it the love which is supposed to be capable of springing from God's general love to man, this is a principle of which Scripture takes no cognizance, and which at best, if it exist at all, must be a very mixed and defective sentiment, and cannot originate a holiness

like that which distinguishes the "new creature." It is not, therefore, a warrantable evidence of either regeneration or justification. But if we find love to God as a God reconciled; as a Father; as a God who "loves us;" it is plain, that as this love is the root of holiness, it precedes it; and we must consider God under these lovely relations on some other evidence than "the testimony of our own spirits," which evidence can be no other than that of the Spirit of God.

Thus it is established, that the witness of the Spirit is direct, and not mediate; and the following extracts will show that this is no new or unsanctioned doctrine. Luther" was strengthened by the discourse of an old Augustine monk concerning the certainty we may have that our sins are forgiven. God likewise gave him much comfort in his temptations, by that saying of St. Bernard, 'It is necessary to believe, first of all, that you cannot have forgiveness but by the mercy of God; and next, that through his mercy thy sins are forgiven thee.' This is the witness which the Holy Spirit bears in thy heart, Thy sins are forgiven thee.' And thus it is, that, according to the apostle, a man is justified freely through faith."(2)

"In the 88th Psalm is contained the prayer of one, who, although he felt in himself that he had not only man, but also God angry towards him; yet he by prayer humbly resorted unto God, as the only port of consolation; and in the midst of his desperate state of trouble, put the hope of his salvation in him whom he felt his enemy. Howbeit, no man of himself can do this; but the Spirit of God, that striketh man's heart with fear, prayeth for the man stricken and feared with unspeakable groanings. And when you feel yourself, and know any other oppressed after such sort, be glad; for after that God hath made you know what you be of yourself, he will doubtless show you comfort, and declare unto you what you be in Christ his only Son; and use prayer often, for that is the means whereby God will be sought unto for his gifts."(3)

"It is the proper effect of the blood of Christ to cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God; which, if we find it doth, Christ is come to us as he is to come; and the Spirit is come, and puts his teste (witness). And if we have his teste, we may go our way in peace; we have kept a right feast to him, and to the memory of his coming. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, and come, oh blessed Spirit, and bear witness to our Spirit that Christ's water and his blood, we have our part in both; both in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and in the blood of the New Tes tament, the legacy whereof is everlasting life in thy kingdom of glory."(4)

"The Spirit which God hath given us, to assure us that we are the sons of God, to enable us to call upon him as our Father."(5)

"Unto you, because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, to the end ye might know that Christ hath built you upon a rock immovable, that he hath registered your names in the Book of Life."(6)

"From adoption flows all Christians' joy, for the Spirit of adoption is, first, a witness, Rom. viii. 16; second, a seal, Eph. iv. 30; third, the pledge and earnest of our inheritance, Eph. i. 14; setting a holy security on the soul, whereby it rejoiceth even in affliction, in hope of glory."(7)

'In

"This is one great office of the Holy Ghost, to ratify and seal up to us the forgiveness of our sins. whom, after ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,' &c.(8)

"It is the office of the Holy Ghost to assure us of the adoption of sons, to create in us a sense of the paternal love of God towards us, to give us an earnest of our everlasting inheritance. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are (2) Life of Martin Luther, by JOHN DANIEL HERSMCHMID (3) Bishop HoOPER. See Fox's Acts and Monuments. (4) Bishop ANDREW. Holy Ghost. Sermon of the Sending of the

(5) HOOKER. Sermon of Certainty of Faith. (6) HOOKER. Sermon on Jude. Christian Religion. (7) Archbishop USHER. Sum and Substance of the

(8) Bishop BROWNRIGG's Sermon on Whitsunday.

the sons of God. And because we are sons, God hath | sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father. For we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but we have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. As, therefore, we are born again by the Spirit, and receive from him our regeneration, so we are also assured by the same Spirit of our adoption; and because, being sons, we are also heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, by the same Spirit we have the pledge, or rather the earnest of our inheritance. For he which establisheth us in Christ, and hath anointed us in God, who hath also sealed us, and hath given us the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts; so that we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession."(9)

"This is that TVενμa violεolas, that Spirit of adoption, which constituteth us the sons of God, qualifying us so to be by dispositions resembling God, and filial affections towards him; certifying us that we are so, and causing us by a free instinct to cry Abba, Father; running into his bosom of love, and flying under the wings of his mercy in all our needs and distresses; whence, as many as are led by the Spirit, they (saith Paul) are the sons of God, and the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God."(1)

Of the four opinions on this subject entertained by divines, the first alone is fully conformable to the Scriptures, and ought, therefore, to be believed and taught. The second opinion is refuted in our examination of the third; for what is called "the reflex act of faith" is only a consciousness of believing, which we have shown must be exercised in order to pardon, but cannot be an evidence of it. The third opinion has been examined in all its parts, except the reference to "voices and impulses," in the quotation from Scott's Commentary, which appears to have been thrown in ad captandum. To this we may reply, that however the fact of his adoption is revealed to man by the Holy Spirit, it is done by his influence and inexplicable operation, producing clear satisfaction and conviction that God is reconciled; that "our iniquities are forgiven, and our sins covered." The fourth opinion was refuted when first stated.

CHAPTER XXV.

EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT. WE have already spoken of some of the leading blessings derived to man from the death of Christ, and the conditions on which they are made attainable. Before the remainder are adduced, it may be here a proper place to inquire into the extent of that atonement for sin made by the death of our Saviour, and whether the blessings of justification, regeneration, and adoption are rendered attainable by all to whom the Gospel is proclaimed.

The second testimony is that of our own spirits, "and is a consciousness of our having received in and by the Spirit of adoption, the tempers mentioned in the word of God as belonging to his adopted children; that we are inwardly conformed by the Spirit of God to the image of his Son, and that we walk before him in jus- This inquiry leads us into what is called the Calvintice, mercy, and truth, doing the things which are pleas-istic controversy; a controversy which has always ing in his sight."(2) But this testimony, let it be ob- been conducted with great ardour, and sometimes with served, is not the fact of our adoption directly, but to intemperance. I shall endeavour to consider such parts the fact that we have in truth received the Spirit of of it as are comprehended in the question before us, with adoption, and that we are under no delusive impres- perfect calmness and fairness; recollecting, on the one sions. This will enable us to answer a common objec- hand, how many excellent and learned men have been tion to the doctrine of the Spirit's direct witness. This arranged on each side; and, on the other, that, while is, that when the evidence of a first witness must be all honour is due to great names, the plain and unsosupported by that of a second, before it can be fully phisticated sense of the Word of inspired Truth must relied on, it appears to be by no means of a "decisive alone decide on a subject with respect to which it is not and satisfactory character; and that it might be as well silent. to have recourse at once to the evidence, which, after In the system usually called by the name of Calvinall, seems to sustain the main weight of the cause." ism, and which shall subsequently be exhibited in its The answer to this is not difficult; if it were, it would different modifications, there are, I think, many great weigh nothing against an express text of Scripture, errors; but they have seldom been held except in conwhich speaks of the witness of the Holy Spirit and the nexion with a class of vital truths. By many writers witness of our own spirits. Both must, therefore, be who have attacked this system, the truth which it conconcluded necessary, though we should not see their tains, as well as the error, has often been invaded; and concomitancy and mutual relation. The case is not, the assault itself has been not unfrequently conducted however, involved in entire obscurity. Our own spirits on principles exceedingly anti-scriptural, and fatally can take no cognizance of the mind of God as to our delusive. These considerations are sufficient to inspire actual pardon, and can bear no witness to that fact. caution. The controversy is a very voluminous one; The Holy Spirit only, who knows the mind of God, and yet no great dexterity is required to exhibit it with can be this witness; and if the fact that God is recon- clearness in a comparatively small compass. Its esciled to us can only be known to him, by him only can sence lies in very limited bounds; and, according to it be attested to us. It cannot, therefore, be "as well the plan of this work, the whole question will be tested, for us to have recourse at once to the evidence of our first and chiefly, by scriptural authority. High Calown spirits;" because, as to this fact, our own spirits vinism, indeed, affects the mode of reasoning a priori, have no evidence to give. They cannot give direct evi- and delights in metaphysics. To some also it gives dence of it; for we know not what passes in the mind most delight to see it opposed on the same ground; and of the invisible God: they cannot give indirect evidence to such disputants it will be much less imposing to of the fact; for no moral changes, of which our spirits resort primarily, and with all simplicity, to the testican be conscious, have been stated in Scripture as the mony of the Sacred Writings. "It is sometimes comproofs of our pardon; they prove that there is a work plained," says one, "that the mind is unduly biassed of God in our hearts, but they are not proofs of our in its judgment, by a continual reference to the authoactual forgiveness. Our own spirits are competent rity of the Scriptures. The complaint is just, if the witnesses that such moral effects have been produced Scriptures are not the Word of God; but if they are, in our hearts and character, as it is the office of the there is an opposite and corresponding danger to be Holy Spirit to produce; they prove, therefore, the real-guarded against, that of suffering the mind to be unduly ity of the presence of the Holy Spirit with us, and in That competent and intallible witness has borne his testimony that God is become our Father; he has shed abroad his holy comfort, the comfort which arises from the sense of pardon; and his moral operation within us, accompanying, or immediately following upon this, making us new creatures in Christ Jesus, is the proof that we are in no delusion as to the witness who gives this testimony being in truth the Spirit of God.

15.

(9) Bishop PEARSON on the Creed.

(1) Dr. ISAAC BARROW's Serinon on the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

(2) WESLEY'S Sermons.

biassed in the study and interpretation of the revealed will of God, by the deductions of unaided reason."(1)

With respect to the controversy, we may also observe, that it forms a clear case of appeal to the Scriptures: for to whom the benefits of Christ's death are extended, whether to the whole of our race, or to a part, can be matter of revelaton only; and the sole province of reason is that of interpreting with fairness and consistently with the acknowledged principles of that revelation, those parts of it in which the subject is directly or incidentally introduced.

The question before us, put into its most simple form,

(1) DR. WHITELEY'S Essays

is, whether our Lord Jesus Christ did so die for all men, as to make salvation attainable by all men; and the affirmative of this question is, we think, the doctrine of Scripture.

We assume that this is plainly expressed,

1. In all those passages which declare that Christ died "for all men," and speak of his death as an ment for the sins" of the whole world."

bring upon themselves swift destruction." So also in the case of the apostates mentioned in the Epistle to the Hebrews, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy atone-thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace?" If any dispute should here arise as to the phrase, "wherewith he was sanctified," reference may be made to chap. vi. of the same epistle, where the same class of persons, whose doom is pronounced to be inevitable, are said to have been "once enlightened;" to have "tasted of the heavenly gift ;" to have been "made partakers of the Holy Ghost;" to have "tasted the good word of God," and "the powers of the world to come;" all which expressions show that they were placed on the same ground with other Christians as to their interest in the new covenant,-a point to which we shall again recur.

We have already seen, in treating of our Lord's atonement, in what sense the phrase, to die "for us," must be understood; that it signifies to die in the place and stead of man, as a sacrificial oblation, by which satisfaction is made for the sins of the individual, so that they become remissible upon the terms of the evangelical covenant. When, therefore, it is said, that Christ by the grace of GoD tasted death for every man ;" and that "he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world;" it can only, we think, be fairly concluded from such declarations, and from many other familiar texts, in which the same phraseology is employed, that by the death of Christ, the sins of every man are rendered remissible, and that salvation is consequently attainable by every man. Again, our Lord calls himself "the Saviour of the world ;" and is, by St. Paul, called "the Saviour of all men." John the Baptist points him out as "the Lamb of GoD which taketh away the sin of the world ;" and our Lord himself declares, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life: for GOD sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." So, also, the apostle Paul, "GoD was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."

2. In those passages which attribute an equal extent to the effects of the death of Christ as to the effects of the fall of our first parents. "For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." "Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."(2)

2. In all those passages which make it the duty of men to believe the Gospel; and place them under guilt, and the penalty of death, for rejecting it. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through His name." "He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned." "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." The plain argument from all such passages is, that the Gospel is commanded to be preached to all men; that it is preached to them that they may believe in Christ, its Author; that this faith is required of them, in order to their salvation,--" that believing ye may have life through His name;" that they have power thus to believe to their salvation, (from whatever source, or by whatever means this power is derived to them, need not now be examined:

As the unlimited extent of Christ's atonement to all mankind is plainly expressed in the above cited pas-it is plainly supposed; for not to believe, is reckoned to sages, so is it, we also assume, necessarily implied, 1. In those which declare that Christ died not only for those that are saved, but for those who do, or may perish: so that it cannot be argued, from the actual condemnation of men, that they were excepted from many actual, and from all the offered, benefits of his death. "And through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother perish, for whom Christ died." "Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died." "False teachers, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and

could not command them to trust in Christ; and if they are not commanded thus to trust in Christ, they do not violate any command by not believing; and, in this respect, are innocent.

them as a capital crime, for which they are condemned already, and reserved to final condemnation); and that having power to believe, they have the power to obtain salvation, which, as it can be bestowed only through the merits of Christ's sacrifice, proves that it extends to them. The same conclusion, also, follows from the nature of that faith, which is required by the Gospel, in order to salvation. This, we have already seen, is not mere assent to the doctrine of Christ's sacrificial death, but personal trust in it as our atonement; which those, surely, could not be required by a God of truth to exercise, if that atonement did not embrace them. Nor (2) To these might be added, all those passages could they be guilty for refusing to trust in that which which ascribe the abolition of bodily death, to Christ, was never intended to be the object of their trust; for who, in this respect, repairs the effect of the transgress-if God so designed to exclude them from Christ, he ion of Adam, which he could only do in consequence of having redeemed that body from the power of the grave. This argument may be thus stated. It is taught in Scripture, that all shall rise from the dead. It is equally clear from the same authority, that all shall rise in consequence of the interposition of Christ, the second Adam, the representative and Redeemer of man-"as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." It follows, therefore, that if the wicked are raised from the dead, it is in consequence of the power which Christ, as Redeemer, acquired over them, and of his right in them. That this resurrection is to them a curse, was not in the purpose of God, but arises from their wilful rejection of the gospel. To be restored to life is in itself a good; that it is turned to an evil is their own fault; and if they are not raised from the dead in consequence of Christ's right in them, acquired by purchase, it behooves those of a different opinion to show under what other constitution than that of the gospel, a resurrection of the body is provided for. The original law contains no intimation of this, nor of a general judgment, which latter supposes a suspension of the sentence inconsistent with the strictly legal penalty, "in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

3. In all those passages in which men's failure to obtain salvation is placed to the account of their own opposing wills, and made wholly their own fault. "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" "And ye will not come to me that ye may have life." "Bringing upon themselves swift destruction." "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." It is useless here to multiply quotations, since the New Testament so constantly exhorts men to come to Christ, reproves thein for neglect, and threatens them with the penal consequences of their own folly thus uniformly placing the bar to their salvation, just where Christ places it, in his parable of the supper, in the perverseness of those, who having been bidden to the feast, would not come. From these premises, then, it follows, that since the Scriptures always attribute the ruin of men's souls to their own will, and not to the will of God; we ought to seek for no other cause of their condemnation. We can know nothing on this subject but what God les

revealed. He has declared that it is not his will that
men should perish on the contrary, "He willeth all
men to be saved;" and therefore, commands us to pray
for "all men;" he has declared, that the reason they
are not saved, is not that Christ did not die for them,
but that they will not come to him for the "life" which
he died to procure for "the world ;" and it must there-
fore be concluded, that the sole bar to the salvation of
all who are lost is in themselves, and not in any such
limitation of Christ's redemption, as supposes that
they were not comprehended in its efficacy and in-

tention.

It will now be necessary for us to consider what those who have adopted a different opinion have to urge against these plain and literal declarations of Scripture. It is their burden, that they are compelled to explain these passages in a more limited and qualified sense, than the letter of them and its obvious meaning teaches; and that they must do this by inference merely; for it is not even pretended that there is any text whatever to be adduced, which declares as literally that Christ did not die for the salvation of all, as those which declare that he did so die. We have no passages, therefore, to examine, which, in their clear literal meaning, stand opposed to those which we have quoted, so as to present apparent contradictions, which require to be reconciled by concession on one side or the other. This is at least, prima facie, strongly in favour of those who hold that, in the same sense, and with the same design, "Jesus Christ tasted death for every man."

To our first class of texts it is objected, that the terms "all men," and "the world," are sometimes used in Scripture in a limited sense.

This may be granted without injury to the argument drawn from the texts in question. But though in Scripture, as in common language, all, and every, and such universals, are occasionally used with limitation when the connexion prevents any misunderstand ing; yet they are, nevertheless, strictly universal terms, and are most frequently used as such. The true question is, whether, in the places above cited, they can be understood except in the largest sense; whether "all men" and "the world" can be interpreted of the elect only, that is of some men of all countries.

We may very confidently deny this,

observe that, "many" or "the many," must mean all
men in the first clause; nor is it to be restricted in the
second, as though, by being "made righteous," actual
personal justification were to be understood; for the
apostle is not speaking of believers individually, but of
mankind collectively, and the opposite conditions in
which the race itself is placed by the offence of Adam
and the obedience of Christ in all its generations.
It is equally impracticable to restrict the phrases,
"the world," "the whole world ;" and to paraphrase
them the "world of the elect:" and yet there is no
other alternative; for either "the whole world" means
those elected out of it; or else Christ died in an equal
sense for every man. "God so loved the world, that he
gave his only-begotten Son," &c. Here, if the world.
mean not the elect only, but every man, then every man
was "so loved" by God, that he gave his own Son for
his redemption. To say that the world, in a few places,
means the Roman empire, and in others Judea, is
nothing to the purpose, unless it were meant to
affirm, that the elect were the people of Judea, or those
of the Roman empire only. It proves, it is true, a hy
perbolical use of the term in both instances; but this
cannot be urged in the case before us: for,

1. The elect are never called "the world" in Scripture; but are distinguished from it. "I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hateth you."

2. The common division of mankind, in the New Testament, is only into two parts; the disciples of Christ, and "the world." "If ye were of the world, the world would love its own." "Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness."

3. When the redemption of Christ is spoken of, it often includes both those who had been chosen out of the world, and those who remained still of the world. "And you hath he reconciled," say the apostles to those that had already believed; and as to the rest, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation," plainly that they might beseech this "world" to be reconciled to God: so that both believers and unbelievers were interested in the "reconciling ministry, and the work of Christ. "And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only; but also for the sins of the whole world:" words cannot make the case plainer than these, since this same writer, in the same epistle, makes it evident how he uses the term "world," when he affirms that "the world lieth in wickedness," in contradistinction to those who knew that they were "of God."

1. Because the universal sense of the terms, "all," and "all men," and "every man," is confirmed, either by the context of the passages in which they occur, or by other Scriptures. When Isaiah says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all;" he affirms that the iniquity of all those who have gone astray was laid on Christ. When St. Paul says, "We thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead;" he argues the universality of spiritual death, from the universality of the means adopted for raising men to spiritual life: a plain proof that it was received as an undisputed principle in the primitive church, that Christ's dying for all men was to be taken in its utmost latitude, or it could not have been made the basis of the argument. When the same apostle calls Christ the "Saviour of all men, and especially of those that believe," he manifestly includes both believers and unbelievers, that is, all mankind, in the term "all men ;" and declares, that Christ is their Saviour, though the full benefits of his salvation are received through faith only by them that believe. When again he declares that, "As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation'; EVEN so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men, (es), in order to justification of life;" the force of the comparison is lost if the term "all men" is not taken in its full extent; for the apostle is thus made to say, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon ALL MEN; EVEN So by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon A FEW MEN. Nor can it be objected, that the apostle uses the terms," many," and "all men," indiscriminately in this chapter; for there is in this no contradiction, and the objection is in our favour. All men are many, though many are not in every case all. But the term "many," is taken by him in the sense of all, as appears from the following parallels: "death passed upon all men;" "many be dead;" "the gift by grace hath abounded unto many;" "the free gift came upon all men." "By one man's disobedience many were made (constituted) sinners," made liable to death; "so by the obedience of one shall many be made (con*tituted) righteous." On the last passage we may

4. In the general commission before quoted, the expression "world" is connected with universal terms which carry it forth into its utmost latitude of meaning. "Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the Gospel (the good news) to every creature ;" and this too in order to his believing it, that he may be saved; "he that believeth shall be saved; and he that believeth not (this good news preached to him that he might be saved) shall be damned."

5. All this is confirmed from the gross absurdity of this restricted interpretation when applied to several of the foregoing passages. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish." Now, if the world here means the elect world, or the elect not yet called out of it, then it is affirmed, that "whosoever" of this elect body believeth, shall not perish; which plainly implies, that some of the elect might not believe, and therefore perish, contrary to their doctrine. This absurd consequence is still clearer from the verses which immediately follow. John iii. 17, 18, " For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already." Now here we must take the term "world" either extensively for all mankind, or limitedly for the elect. If the former, then all men "through him may be saved," but only through faith: he, therefore, of this world that believeth may be saved; but he of this world that believeth not is condemned already." The sense is here plain and consistent; but if, on the other hand, we take "the world" to mean the elect only, then he of this elect world that believeth may be saved, and he of the elect world that "believeth