Would not this be to attribute to God a species of mockery and injustice, which would be severely reprobated in the conduct of one man towards another? In the following quotations, all men, without distinguishing Jew and Gentile, are commanded and encouraged to believe the Gospel, by the promise of eternal Salvation, and condemnation is denounced against all who shall refuse to believe. John the Baptist "came to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe (k):" "The Son of man must be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life (1):" "To Christ give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins (m):" "If ye believe not that your sins (n):" "He I am He, ye shall die in that believeth on him, is not condemned; but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the onlybegotten Son of God (o)." Christ's last declaration to his Apostles was, "He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned (p)." The doctrine (1) John, c. 3. v. 14 & 15, (n) John, c. 8. v. 24. (p) Mark, c. 16. v. 16x (k) John, c. I. v. 7. Be trine which Paul and Silas preached was, lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (q);" and the Evangelists wrote their Gospels for the instruction of future ages, that they might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing they might have life through his name (r)." Thus men, without any discrimination or exception, were required to believe; and the reason assigned was, that they might be saved; but if all men were required to believe, that they might be saved, we again infer that Salvation was attainable by all. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (s)." In this and many other passages of the New Testament, relating to the motive and design of Christ's Advent, God's love for the world is declared in general terms; and surely these texts are irreconcileable with the idea, of God's selecting out of mankind a certain number whom he ordained to save, and of his leaving the rest of mankind to perish everlastingly. How can God be said to love those to whom he denies the means of Salvation; whom he destines, by an irrevocable decree, to eternal misery? It might (g) Acts, c. 16. v. 31. (r) John, c. 20. v. 31, (s) John, c. 3. v. 16, might be said, that God loved the individuals whom he delivered from the sentence of punishment; but it seems impossible to say, that hè loved those, to whom he would afford no assistance, and who he knew, from want of that assistance, must inevitably suffer all the horrors of guilt and the pain of eternal punishment. "Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him (t)? Can we then suppose that God sees his rational creatures not only in need, but obnoxious to death and misery, and yet refuses his aid to rescue them from impending ruin? The Gospel, instead of being a proof of God's "good-will towards men," would rather shew his determination, that they should add to their guilt, and increase their condemnation. Instead of raising us from a death in sin to a life of righteousness, it would be the inevitable cause of more heinous wickedness, and of sorer punishment, to the greater part of mankind. It was considered as an act of the greatest injustice to require the Israelites to make bricks, when no straw was given to them; and how then can we imagine that God calls upon men to believe and obey the Gospel, under the penalty of eternal misery, (t) 1 John, c. 3. v. 17. . misery, when he denies them the possibility of belief and obedience? Does an earthly master punish his servant for not doing that which it was impossible for him to do? And shall we ascribe to God a conduct, which would be esteenied the height of cruelty in man! "Go ye, says Christ to his Apostles, into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature (u): " here the precept is universal, without any limitation, any exception: but is it to be supposed, that the blessings of that Gospel which was to be preached "to every creature in all the world," were necessarily confined to a few? that the Apostles should be commanded to promise to all, what God had irreversibly decreed should be enjoyed only by a small number? Christ is represented as having died not only for those who are saved, but also for those who perish; and therefore we may conclude that he died for all: "Through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died (a);" "If thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died (y):" "He who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and fu) Mark, c. 16. v. 15, (*) 1 Cor. c. 8. v. II. (y) Rom. c. 14. v. 15. and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace," that is, he who has rejected the offered terms of Salvation, is said to be "sanctified by the blood of the Covenant (z)," that is, to have been capable of sharing in the benefits of Christ's death and those "false teachers, who bring in damnable heresies," are said to "deny the Lord that bought them," and to "bring upon themselves swift destruction (a):" the Lord therefore bought, that is, died for those who bring upon themselves swift destruction, and consequently are not saved. It is no where said, that Christ died only for a part of mankind, or for one part more than for another. "To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile (b)," is the only preference we meet with in Scripture. Nor is there the slightest intimation of the impossibility of any one's being saved through the merits of Christ, except the impenitently wicked; and their wickedness is always ascribed to themselves. When St. Paul threatens those who sin wilfully after they have received the truth, with "a fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation," and tells them, that "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins (c)," it is surely implied, that a sufficient sacrifice had already been (z) Heb. c. 10. v. 29. (b) Rom. c. 2. v. 10. (a) 2 Pet. c. 2. v. I. |