Chapter V

WE have now discussed our two first propositions, in which we have explained in what sense the death of Christ is to be acknowledged as an universal cause of salvation to mankind; and it has also been shewn, that they do not rightly understand the commonly received axiom of Divines, That Christ died for all sufficiently, but for the elect effectually, who, while they admit the mere sufficiency of the thing considered in itself, yet at the same time exclude its ordained sufficiency, which pertains through the will of God to all men individually, according to the tenor of the Evangelical covenant, under the possible condition of faith. But since, on the other hand, some are found who improperly extend this universal virtue and ordination of the death of Christ, which is to be considered on this account alone, viz. because Christ offered himself upon the cross for all mankind ; a third proposition is to be added, which may define the limits to which it extends itself, and beyond which this universal virtue of the death of Christ, which embraces the whole human race, and which arises from the passion of Christ alone, considered without respect to any other medium, does not extend itself.

The third proposition is as follows ;

The death or passion of Christ, as the universal cause of the salvation of mankind, hath, by the act of its oblation, so far rendered God the Father pacified and reconciled to the human race, that he can be truly said to be ready to receive into favour any man whatever, as soon as he shall believe in Christ ; yet (he aforesaid death of Christ does not place any one, at least of adults, in a state of grace, of actual reconciliation, or of salvation, before he believes.

Of this proposition there are two members, which we shall handle separately and confirm by arguments, when we have premised a few remarks concerning the word reconciliation for the clearer understanding of the whole business. It is to be observed then, that God being offended at the sin of man, not only deprived him of his paternal favour and adjudged him to eternal death ; but, moreover, irrevocably decreed that he would on no account ever be reconciled to us, whatsoever we might at any time either do or suffer of ourselves. As the displeasure of God was contained in these two steps as it were, so our reconciliation is accomplished by two others, answering to these, as it were, on the opposite side. “The first step of reconci-. liation is then understood to be made, as soon as that is done, although not by us, yet in our name, by which the Divine will is inclined, so that he is now willing to return into favour with us, on the performance of some certain condition, and to bestow remission of sins and eternal life. We affirm that this step to reconciliation is procured for all men by the virtue and merit of the sufferings of Christ, without any other medium. And hence it is (as we have noticed above) that the death of Christ exhibits the redemption or reconciliation of the whole world: God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, (2 Cor. v. 19.) On which opinion Prosper says (Ad Capit. Gallor. obj. 9), The Redeemer of the world gave his blood for the world, &c. See also Augustine’s Epistles, 151, 171, 173. — This reconciliation of the world is, therefore, as it were the first step to the actual reconciliation of individuals, to none of whom would an access to this Divine favour have been opened under the condition of faith, unless it had come to pass that God had been in some way reconciled to the human race by the death of Christ, The latter step to reconciliation consists in this, and is judged to be acquired by any individual person when, the condition of faith in Christ being performed, he is received into the paternal favour of God, he is justified, and is presented with an hereditary right to eternal life. To this latter step no one comes by the work of Christ alone, by his having offered up himself on the cross to God the Father; but it is necessary, before he obtains this actual reconciliation, to add the act or work of the man himself believing in Christ the Redeemer, and applying the merit of his death to himself individually by faith. To this may be referred John viii. 24, If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. Therefore the death of Christ does not deliver from death, nor ac- : tually reconcile to God any individual person, except he believe.

Having made this distinction or explanation of the word reconciliation, let us return to our proposed thesis, the first member of which, to be confirmed by us in the first place, is thus expressed: By the act of the death of Christ, God is so far reconciled to every man, that he is ready to admit any one into favour, and moreover, to eternal life, if he should only believe. We shall discuss this matter in the fewer words, because all that we have said respecting the universal covenant confirmed by the death of Christ, on condition of faith, has regard to this subject. We shall, nevertheless, add some remarks.

First, then, the very tenor of our preaching of the Gospel demonstrates this. For what else do we preach to wicked men, and those who are as yet unbelieving, but that it has been brought about by the death of Christ, that the will of God is far different towards the human race, than it would have been without this death? In other words, that just God who, without the blood of the Mediator, breathed nothing else than wrath and death against us all individually, being now pacified by the blood of the Redeemer, is ready to grant pardon and life to all individually who humble themselves before him and believe in the Mediator. God would never have commanded his ministers to preach this to mankind promiscuously, unless he had been really so disposed in mind; since the Gospel is the word of truth, (Col. i. 5) because it announces nothing false or vain to sinners. But it pronounces and promises that God is so far pacified by the efficacy of the blood of Christ shed upon the cross, that he is ready to embrace any sinner whenever he shall repent and believe. Therefore, the unreasonable speculation of election and reprobation being set aside, the aforesaid efficacy of the death of Christ as to all men individually ought to be acknowledged, and to be preached to all promiscuously.

Secondly. The actual reconciliation of every individual person, which is promised and exhibited to every one that believeth, on account of the merit of Christ crucified, presupposes the first degree of reconciliation; by which God is understood to be so pacified by the death of Christ, that he is now willing, ou the performance of the condition of faith, to restore any sinner to his favour. Those therefore who confess that any person, however loaded with sins, as soon as he believes is received into favour on account of . the death and merit of Christ, ought not to deny that this is effected by the death of Christ as to all men individually, that they may account God to be ready, yea, obliged to grant this benefit to any one on the aforesaid condition. The antecedent is confirmed, because we cannot conceive that the act of reconciliation proceeds, or is terminated as it were, by a perpetual law, in any person who believes at the very moment in which he apprehends the Mediator by a true faith, unless at the same time we suppose and acknowledge the Divine will to be so prepared and predisposed, by the death of Christ, that he is inclined to grant this favour to any person, provided he should believe. I perceive that this propensity or readiness of the Divine will to grant pardon and grace to any man, as soon as he should perform the condition of faith, is expressed by some persons by the word placability or reconciliability. Why some Divines so superciliously reject this placability or reconciliability, obtained by the passion of Christ, considered in itself alone, I do not understand. For God would not be actually pacified and reconciled to any man, as soon as he should believe, that is, on the performance of the condition of faith, unless he were placable and reconcileable to any man before he should believe, that is, when the condition of faith should be performed. 444 A DISSERTATION ON THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

Objection. Here some Divines object to us, Then, according to our opinion, God will not be reconciled and pacified to any sinner through and on account of the death of Christ, but only reconcileable and placable: man also by the death of Christ is not reconciled to God, but is reconcileable under some certain condition, namely, of faith.

I answer; that the consequence is faulty. God is reconcileable by the death of Christ to any man who is about to believe: Therefore he is not reconciled through Christ to every one that believeth, but only is reconcileable. Truly, we profess that God is reconcileable to every man that believeth, through and on account of Christ; and also that he has given this condition of faith, by means of which actual reconciliation is acquired through and on account of Christ. In vain then, and falsely do they argue from the position of an universal benefit, namely, of reconciliability, on performing the condition of faith, to the removal or denying of particular benefits, as of reconciliation and salvation, since both are derived from the death and merit of Christ; although those general benefits are performed without any act of ours intervening ; those particular ones, not without any act of ours, although not on account of any act of ours.

It is objected, secondly, which seems to be of greater importance, If we say that God is, by the death of Christ, made so placable and reconcileable to every man, that he is ready to receive any one into favour, if he should believe, but is not actually reconciled to any one before he believes, then we seem to make the virtue of the death of Christ, as to itself, of little importance to offer itself to all; and God himself also to be indifferent towards all, and as it were to wait for the determination of an inferior cause, that the death of his Son may be beneficial or otherwise; which is nothing else than with the Semipelagians to suspend the salvation or perdition of individuals on the free-will of each, according as they, by faith, apprehend or reject Christ.

I answer, that in order to its being assumed that God by the death of Christ is so far pacified or placable to mankind, that he will receive into favour any one who should believe, without respect of persons, (which are the very words of the Gospel) yet it does not from thence follow, that this difference of believers and unbelievers, of reconciled and unreconciled, of saved and lost, is to be referred to the uncertain determination of the human will. For he who promulgated this universal decree of the Gospel, he that believeth shall be saved, nevertheless hath reserved to himself the special privilege of giving faith to some of his special mercy, and of his not giving it to others of his non-pleasure and on account of their manifest unworthiness. By virtue of the death of Christ, God had bound himself to be reconciled to every man who shall believe; but he hath not bound himself to bestow effectual grace on every man, by which it should be infallibly effected : that he should believe. We therefore defend both these things, namely, that God is so far pacified by the death of Christ, that he is now ready to receive into favour any persons whatsoever, if they repent and believe in Christ, and that the same God, who is ready on condition of faith to grant the grace of remission equally to all men, yet has not so provided, that he should conduct himself equally towards all men, as to produce in them this condition of faith. A merchant is said to be ready to sell his wares, if any one is willing to buy them; but that one should be willing and another unwilling to buy them, is not caused by the merchant, but depends on the will of each. The matter is not so between God and us. For although, by virtue of the death of Christ, he is now ready to give remission, and to be reconciled to any man who will believe in Christ, yet it is God’s own peculiar prerogative to inspire into all who believe the will of believing. We do not, therefore, join with the Semipelagians, but we say with the Arausican fathers,¹ (Can. 6) Jf any one says that the mercy of God is bestowed upon those that believe, will desire and knock without the grace of God, and does not confess that it is through the Divine power that we believe and will, by the infusion and inspiration of the Holy Spirit in us, he opposes the saying of the Apostle, Bv THE GRACE oF God I am wHAT I am. So much for the first part of our proposition; I come now to the other, which is framed in this manner :

The death of Christ, considered as the general cause of the salvation of mankind, delivers no one among adults from the guilt and punishment of their sins ; makes no one actually reconciled to God ; in one word, places no one in a state of grace and salvation before they believe the Gospel. For the explanation of this proposition, I will premise these few things :

The first is, That by the death of Christ, generally constdered as the cause of the salvation of mankind, we mean nothing more than the consideration of our Lord’s passion in its immediate effect, which it produces of itself, without any concurrence of human actions. We affirm that the immediate effect which is produced, without any thing requisite on our part, is reconciliability, which is brought into action as soon as we believe; but not actual reconciliation, or being placed in a state of adoption and salvation, before we believe. Another thing which we think should be premised, refers to some difference to be observed in this matter between adults and infants. For it was said, that none among adults is reconciled to God, or delivered from the guilt of his sins without the act of faith; (which will be proved hereafter). From whence it is evident, that we admit that some among infants are, by virtue of the death of Christ, absolved from their sins, and placed in a state of salvation without any act of their own will. For as they cannot by faith apply the blood of Christ to cleanse their souls, the God of mercy, by the secret operation of his own Spirit, as it were, sprinkles and quickens their souls by the blood of Christ. This is well observed by Aquinas (Quest. disp. de Justific. art. 3,) Because children, says he, have no means whereby they can turn themselves to the justifying cause, the justifying cause itself, namely, the passion of Christ, is applied to them in baptism, and by this they are justified.

The last thing is, By the state of grace and salvation. When we deny, that it is attained by any adult before he apprehends the Mediator by the act of faith, we mean that state which the Psalmist has described (Ps. xxxii.) when he says, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered; the same as the Apostle describes (Coloss. i. 13, 14) where he says, that they were delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of Gotl’s dear Son, and had redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

It is necessary to prove this proposition thus explained, both against those who assert, that by the merit of the passion of Christ all men are received into a state of grace and salvation, and against those who think that the elect at least were from eternity reconciled, justified, and had their sins pardoned. Some attribute the first opinion to the Remonstrants ; but, as it appears to me, although they speak ambiguously and obscurely, they are free from this error. Some persons say (Colloq. Hagiens. p. 9) That Christ by his death upon the cross merited for all men reconciliation and remission of sins. But they add, yet so, that none are really partakers of this remission, except those who believe. Thus they say elsewhere (p. 131,) That Christ by the death of the cross obtained for all men reconciliation and remission of sins. But they immediately add this gloss, That the real participation of this obtained reconciliation and remission is peculiar to those that believe. And in pp. 162, 163, they expressly reject that opinion which is attributed to them by some persons, namely, That all men are by the death of Christ restored from the fall, and replaced in a state of grace. Nor by remission obtained for all, do they mean any more than that by the death of Christ the means and way is now procured and established, which being made use of and applied by faith, all men individually may obtain remission of sins (p.186). Thus they soften down and explain the words which seemed more suspicious in the conference at the Hague.² Yet it is to be confessed that some of them have proceeded a little further in this affair: Dorreus, with Arminius, contends, That God hath taken the whole human race into the grace of reconciliation (Resp. ad artic. 13, 14). Arnold against Tilenust also seems to be of the same opinion (pp. 232 and 261). Huberus and Puccius (whose writings, I confess, I have not yet seen) profess every where that they taught, that by the death of Christ all men individually were justified and restored to the friendship and Javour of God (Act. Synod. Dordr. p. 1, 8). Now as to the latter opinion, I do not remember to have read of any one of our people who expressly defends it. But our Thomson} in his Diatribe (cap. 24, p. 92 and 99) mentions some persons who endeavour to prove that through the dignity and efficacy of the merits of Christ, the sins of the elect were pardoned from eternity. If this were granted, it would follow that these persons were justified, reconciled to God, and restored to a state of grace and salvation before they believed in Christ, which is most false. The proof of our proposition will be a refutation of both these errors. Therefore we shall confirm it in the first place by testimonies of the Scriptures.³⁴

First. That remission of sins does not immediately flow from the passion of Christ to all men universally, without some act of ours intervening, is proved by all those testimonies of the Scriptures which expressly require beforehand the act of repentance. Such as Ezek. xviii. 21, Jf the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, &c. he shall surely live, he shall not die. Luke xxiv. 46, 47, It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, 1 John 1. 9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. From which it : appears, that although Christ died for all, yet all do not immediately live through this death of Christ, but that all live as soon as they repent: although remission of sins is offered in the name of Christ, yet all men promiscuously are not made partakers of this benefit, but the penitent alone ; and by the same law, that repentance precedes remission. And, although by virtue of the death of Christ, God is bound to remit sins, yet it is in such a way, that neither the faithfulness nor the justice of God requires that this remission should be granted to any one, except on this condition, If he should confess his sins.

Secondly, The same is evinced by those passages which, before we can be justified or reconciled to God, previously require faith from us, as the instrument by which we apprehend the grace of justification, and as the condition of obtaining reconciliation, commanded to us in the Evangelical covenant. Of this kind are Acts xvi. 31, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. John vi. 40, This is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. John xx. 31, These are written that ye might believe, &c. and that believing, ye might have life through his name. Rom. il. 22, The righteousness of God is, by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe: and ver. 25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, &c. Gal. ii. 16, Knowing that a man is not justified but by the faith of Christ, we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. I omit other passages innumerable. From these it appears abundantly, That remission of sins, and justification, or our reconciliation with God, is not a benefit which redounds to any man from the passion of Christ himself, without any other means ; but that those for whom Christ died, whether sufficiently or effectually, cannot have the saving benefit of his death applied to them, unless by faith preceding.

Thirdly. This may also be collected from those sayings of the Scriptures in which, the death of Christ being presupposed, it is nevertheless affirmed, that some men lie under the penalty of death, and the wrath of God, even so long as until they apprehend the Mediator with a true faith. To this these passages relate. Mark xvi. 16, Preach the Gospel to every creature; he that believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. John iii. 36, He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wraih of God abideth on him. John viii. 24, If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins. Lastly, notwithstanding Christ died for us, the Apostle hath said, Eph. ii. 3, We all were by nature the children of wrath. ln vain, therefore, do any dream, that by the death of Christ all men are restored to the Divine favour and a state of salvation, without the intervention of any act on our part.

Fourthly. Lest any one should say that the aforesaid testimonies relate only to the non-elect, but that all the elect stand justified and reconciled to God by the merit of the death of Christ, before they believe, let them hear these plain testimonies of the Scriptures to the contrary. Ephes. ii. 11, 12, 18, Remember that ye in time past were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world; but now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. He addresses those whom (chap. i. 4) he assumes to have been chosen before the foundation of the world; yet he teaches that until that time they had remained strangers from the covenants of promise, and were alienated from God, until by faith, as a spiritual hand, they appropriated to themselves the riches of Divine grace treasured up in Christ ; as it may readily be collected from ver. 7 and 8 of this Chap. ii. Of the same meaning are those words of the same Apostle, (Rom. v. 1) Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore the death of Christ, considered in itself, until faith is added on our part, does not place any individual in a state of grace. Finally, the Apostle Paul was, without doubt, one of the elect, yet he was not on that account either justified, or brought into a state of grace and salvation, whilst he remained a blasphemer against Christ and a persecutor of the Church, but after he had known Christ and cast himself altogether upon Christ. (1 Tim. 1. 16,) For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Therefore remission of sins through the blood of Christ does not precede faith and repentance, not even in the elect.

Hitherto we have contended with express testimonies of the Scriptures, now let us add some arguments founded on the same Scriptures.

ARGUMENT 1. Although we grant that the death of Christ, as a meritorious cause, is most sufficient to expiate the sins of all men, and place them in a state of grace with God, yet, it cannot actually constitute any man justified and reconciled, unless it be in some way joined, fitted, and united to him who is supposed to be justified and reconciled by it. For what philosophers are accustomed to say, Every action is performed by some contact, avails also in this supernatural action, which is not performed without some supernatural contact. Now we touch Christ by faith and we are joined and as it were united to him by the Spirit of faith. For Christ dwelleth in us by faith. Without faith, then, or before faith, we have no actual union with Christ, and therefore no remission of sins through the merit of his death, no justification, no reconciliation with God the Father. The learned Calvin has observed this on Rom. viii. 4, Christ communicates his righteousness to none but those whom his Spirit unites by a bond to himself. Whatever, therefore, is concealed in the eternal decree of God concerning justifying and reconciling to himself, and at length saving all the elect, whatever of sufficiency or efficacy there may be in the precious blood of Christ to redeem men and reconcile them to God, yet it is not wont to proceed into the effect of actual reconciliation, unless he is first joined to men by faith, because both the meritorious and the natural cause ought to be joined to that into which it flows and transfuses its saving virtue. ARGUMENT 2. [tis proved, secondly, from a comparison between Adam, the author of death and condemnation, and Christ, the Author of life and justification. For as Adam does not bind any under the penalty of death, nor subject any to Divine wrath and condemnation, but those who become his members, as it were, by generation; so Christ does not deliver any from death, nor restore any to Divine favour, or justify and reconcile them to God, but those who become his members by supernatural regeneration. But this does not take place before faith is inspired into our hearts. John i. 12, 13, As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, &c. but of God. Therefore no one, either of those who are passed by or of the elect, stands reconciled and justified before God by the death of Christ itself; but at the time when he is incorporated with Christ, and by regeneration is made, as it were, a member of this mystical head, he obtains the righteousness of Christ and peace with God.

ARGUMENT 3. If by the merit of the death of Christ alone all the sins of men were pardoned before they believe in Christ, and so all were actually restored to a state of grace and reconciliation, it would follow that no one is born a child of wrath ; which is diametrically opposite to the words of the Apostle just now quoted from Ephes. ii. 3. Moreover, since the merit of Christ in the acceptation of God has infinite and eternal efficacy, this inconvenience also would follow, That the sins of men were pardoned before they were committed, were expiated before they were perpetrated, if the remission of sins and actual reconciliation of men arose solely from the merit of Christ, without any intermediate act of ours [by which the benefit is conveyed to us]. But this is plainly impossible. For as a medicine, which as to its own efficacy and virtue may cure the leprosy, yet does not actually heal any man, but a leper who takes it; so the blood of Christ, which can heal any man, yet does not actually heal, or cleanse, or reconcile any man to God, but him who is contaminated with sin and believes. Therefore, they are by no means to be attended to who pretend that all men promiscuously are reconciled and placed in a state of grace by the passion of - Christ itself, or who contend that all the elect, by the virtue alone of the same passion, have all their sins pardoned from eternity, since there is no pardon of sins but of those which are committed, nor any pardon of sins committed to be hoped for by any but by those who believe. Excellently and most truly says the Rev? Bishop of Salisbury,⁵ of pious memory, (in Thoms. Diatr. cap. 2. p. 212,) It ought not to be believed that remission of future sins is now made. For although indeed in the sight of God those things which he hath from all eternity ordered to be done, arc as though they were now done, yet they are not. otherwise to be received by us than according to that mode of dispensation by which his decrees from eternity are both accomplished to us in time and are actually brought to pass. Thus far this author. Remission of sins is not then to be dreamt of, nor reconciliation to be pretended except according to the maimer of the dispensation decreed by God ; that is, unless we first truly repent and believe in the Mediator.

ARGUMENT 4. The whole virtue and efficacy of that merit which Christ by his death procured for the benefit of the human race, as to its efflux and derivation to other persons, depends on the will of the Father in ordaining and accepting it. For who dare take to himself the merit of Christ in another way or on another condition than God himself hath ordained that it should be communicated to men and be accepted in their name? Truly, if any one should endeavour to do this, he would do it in vain. For the merit of Christ is a benefit to us only as far as tt was accepted by God, as Scotus hath taught, not disagreeing with this our opinion (lib. 3, Dist. 19, Qu. vine. p. 74.) But it was not accepted by God, that he should procure actual remission of sins and reconciliation for any mortal man before repentance, faith, and ingrafting into Christ. Therefore, he does not actually justify or reconcile to God any but those who repent and believe. But that it was not so accepted that he should reconcile any one before faith, appears from an argument derived from the Scriptures negatively in this manner: No word occurs in the holy Scriptures from which it can be collected that merely by the . virtue and efficacy of the death of Christ all men are promiscuously restored-to a state of grace, or that any man, whether elect or non-elect, before repentance and faith, obtains, by virtue of the blood of Christ shed on the cross, remission of sins, or actual reconciliation with God. Therefore it is rash to assert it. Neither is there any reason why a man should reject an argument of this kind derived from the authority of the Scriptures negatively. For although in lesser matters, which do not relate to the chief cause of our salvation, the reasoning would be weak—This is not laid down in the Scriptures, therefore it is false or unlawful; yet, in things necessary to be done or known in order to salvation, such as the manner of obtaining remission of sins and reconciliation with God, it justly follows, This is not taught w the Scriptures, there- Sore ii is not to be believed by us. Since, therefore, the Scrip-. tures no where teach that remission of sins or actual reconciliation were procured by the death of Christ for any individual before he repents and believes in Christ, it is not to be admitted under the pretext of amplifying the dignity of the death of Christ, or for any other reason. Now, having established this by a weight of arguments, we will also produce the sentiments of the Fathers, yet very few of them. Ambrose, on faith, (ad Gratian. lib. 4, cap. 1) says, Jf thou dost not believe, he descended not for thee, he suffered not for thee. Which words have this meaning, That no benefit of redemption comes from the incarnation and passion of Christ to any individual, until he lelieves in Christ. For Ambrose would not deny that Christ descended and suffered for men, whether they believe or not; but he wishes to teach, that the benefit or saving virtue of this passion, quickens and reconciles men when they believe. Therefore in this form of speaking he follows the known rules of lawyers, who say, That not to be, and to be uselessly, are to be reckoned as equal. Those things which are found to be without effect, may be said /o stand for nothing. Christ, therefore, is denied to have been incarnate and to have died for those who do not believe, because through their fault he is understood to have been incarnate and to have suffered uselessly and without effect. This plainly proves that, according to the opinion of Ambrose, for this reason alone, that Christ died for them that believe, no one is placed in a state of reconciliation and salvation before he possesses faith in the Gospel.

Augustine follows Ambrose and writes thus, (in Resp. ad artic. sibi falso impos. resp. 1) Those who pass through this life without faith in Christ, and without the sacrament of regeneration, are strangers to redemption. A little after, The property of redemption belongs to those from whose hearts the prince of this world is driven away. Further on he adds, The passion or death of Christ has in itself what may be beneficial to all mankind, but if it is not internally received, it does not profit. All which remarks express in other words the opinion of Ambrose, If thou dost not believe, he descended not for thee, he suffered not for thee. For the phrase, they are strangers to redemption, means nothing more than that those who have not yet believed, are not partakers of remission of sins and reconciliation with God. So also the property of redemption denotes the benefit of redemption acquired and as it were possessed, and declares that it belongs only to those who believe and are regenerate. And lastly, those words of Augustine, if zt is not internally received, wt does not profit, plainly evince that the benefit which redounds from the death of Christ is not derived to individuals, except by internally receiving, that is, by believing. These things altogether and separately overturn the opinion of those who say, either that all men promiscuously, or the predestinated, as it were by a special privilege, are restored to a state of grace and actual reconciliation with God, for this reason alone, that Christ suffered on the cross for them.

Thirdly, Theodoret, writing on those words of the Apostle, Rom. iii. 25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, &c. says, The Lord Christ is the propitiation, and by his blood procured our salvation, requiring only faith from us. From which words we collect, that Christ, with his death and all his merits, is so constituted the universal cause of our redemption, reconciliation, and salvation, that before the benefit of this redemption and salvation procured by Christ is partaken of by any one, it is necessary that this universal cause should be specially applied to each individual. Now that this beneficial application may be made, as Theodoret has well said, God requires faith from us. “Therefore, while faith is absent, the death of Christ, considered in itself, brings no one into a state of actual reconciliation, of grace, and salvation. Cyril is found to be of the same opinion, when (lib. 2, cap. 74) explaining the words of our Saviour, John iii. 36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, he says thus, Christ therefore quickeus those who believe in him, because as there is a life according to nature, so he dwells in all the faithful by faith. Therefore, although Christ is life itself, yet he does not quicken any but those who believe, which Cyril confirms by an excellent and forcible argument, namely, because he does not dwell in any but believers. As if he had said, The fountain of life does not actually quicken any but those who are united to him, and none but believers are considered to be united to him. Those therefore argue badly, who collect, whether from the death or from the life of Christ, either that all, or any, are placed in a state of life, grace, and salvation, before they are united to Christ by the bond of faith.

Lastly, The testimony of the venerable Bede is most express, in his Commentaries on 2 Cor. v. 19, The world is reconciled to God by faith, when it believes in Christ, who was sent by God. The Apostle had said, God was tn Christ reconciling the world unto himself, that is, that Christ by the ordination of God paid that ransom to the Father, by which it was effected that God should not demand satisfaction from us for our sins, before he returned into favour with us; but being content with this alone, is ready to receive any one into favour. If you enquire further, whether on the payment of this price all men are immediately reconciled by the act of payment ? Bede answers, By no means ; but every one is THEN reconciled to God, when he believes in Christ, who was sent by God. ‘To the same effect are the words of the same author on Luke xv. TÀen Christ is slain for every one of us, when we believe that he was slain. He was slain from the origin of the world in the Divine acceptalion ; he was slain also when the fulness of time came upon the cross. But he was slain for you and for me, that is, for every individual, when we believe in him that was slain. Which is the same as if he had said, The benefit of the death of Christ belongs to us when we begin to believe in him. They have therefore departed from orthodox antiquity, who assert that all men are placed in a state of grace by the passion of Christ; nor less so they who teach that the predestinated, by this death of Christ, have obtained remission of their sins, or justification and reconciliation with God from eternity ; since this justification or actual reconciliation (as Bernard truly and learnedly remarks) cannot be without the consent of the receiver, any more than without the grace of the Giver. And thus you have our. opinion confirmed and strengthened. We shall now bring forward the objections of adversaries, and remove them in a few words.

In favour of the opinion of Huber,⁶ who states that all men are restored to a state of grace and salvation, because Christ died for mankind, arguments of this kind are produced :

1. The death of Christ was either a sufficient ransom for blotting out the sins of the human race, and placing in his Bibliotheca Theologica Selecta, Vol. II. pp. 645—648, has given an account of Huber’s publications, and also of those by his antagonists ; and from this accurate Ecclesiastical Biographer we learn that Huber held the following tenets:—

Deum omnes homines in Christo ad felicitatem sempiternam eligisse, nulla ratione habita fidei, sive ea prsediti sint ; sive minus; eo tamen modo, ut decreti hujus veluti mutatio fieret apud illos qui gratiam Divinam adsper. narentur. Cum errore hoc alia prava dogmata conjunxit, praesertim de regeneratione ac justificatione, utramque esse universalem.: omnesque mortales, pios atque;impios, Turcas ac Christianos, propter universum Christi meritum ac per squitatem, veniam peccatorum consequi posse. Walch. Bibl. Theol. Sel. Vol. 1I. p. 645.

On two former occasions (vide p. 366 and p. 448) Bishop Davenant has cited Puccius in conjunction with Huber. Puccivs (Francesco Pucci or Franciscus Puccius) was descended from an antient Florentine family, and was early distinguished for his love of study. From Lyons, whither he had gone with the design of entering into commerce, and where he cultivated the Society of Literary men, he came into England, and went to Oxford, where he studied Theology, and took the degree of M.A. in 1574. His opposition to the Calvinist party (which at that time was dominant in the University), in his Treatise De Fide in Deum, qua ct qualis sit, procured him many enemies, and finally lost him a Professor’s Chair. He then withdrew to Básle, where he became acquainted with Faustus Socinus, to whose opinions he was favourable. The Divines of Basle forced him to quit that city on account of his opinions respecting universal grace, which he proposed in his Thesis entitled-— Universum genus humanum in ipso utero efficaciter particeps esse beneficiorum Christi et vite immortalis et beate, &c. Pucci expected to find more toleration at London ; but scarcely had he arrived there when his extravagant opinions caused him to be thrown into prison. On being liberated he fled into Holland, and corresponded with Faustus Socinus, whom however he opposed, on certain points, in his treatise De Immortalitate naturali primi hominis ante peccatum. After wandering about to various places, in 1595 he held some conferences with the Papal Nuncio then at Prague, and returned to the Romish Church. Some years before, he had dedicated to Pope Clement V III. a Treatise entitled De Christi Salvatoris E fficacitate omnibus et singulis hominibus, quatenus homines sunt, Assertio Catholica, &c. Pucci was subsequently ordained a Priest in the Romish Church, and became Secretary to Cardinal Pompey,jd’Aragon, in whose house he died in 1600. {Biographic Universelle, Tom. XXXVI. pp. 281, 282.) all men in a state of grace and reconciliation; or was insufficient. If it is stated to be insufficient, we extenuate Divine grace, and unworthily trample upon the merit of Christ. If it is acknowledged to be sufficient, then the cause being placed in a sufficient act, nothing else is required to produce the effect. Therefore, from the act of Christ offering up himself to God, immediately follows the universal deliverance of all men from the guilt of their sins, and the universal reconciliation or reception of all men into the Divine favour.

Regrriv. We acknowledge the most full sufficiency of the ransom; yea, its infinite superabundance. But we answer, That this merit of Christ, considered in itself, operates indeed sufficiently as an universal cause of the salvation of mankind ; but an universal cause does not produce effects in individuals before there is an individual application. Therefore as Aquinas says (Part. 3, qu. 49, art. 10, & qu. disp. de grat. Chr. art. 7,) By the death of Christ was made a most sufficient universal cause, by means of which all the sins of any person whatever may be expiated ; but before this cause manifests its expiat. ry virtue for the deliverance and reconciliation of individuals, 1l is needful that it should be applied to individuals by faith. Which the Apostle himself hath perspicuously taught, Rom. iii. 25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, &c. Therefore, although this death of Christ is a sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the human race, yet, since it cleanses us from our sins after the manner of a medicine, it must be applied to each person before it can produce the effect of reconciliation and health. But the application is made only by faith.

2. If God should not receive all men into favour after having accepted a sufficient ransom, it would be an act of injustice to Christ, because he does not bestow upon men what Christ by dying merited for them: He would also act unjustly towards men, because he still holds them bound by their sins, as by debts, when Christ hath blotted out all their debts with his blood.

Reply. Injustice is not done to either. Not to Christ, because he would not that the satisfaction made by him for the sins of the human race, should avail to the actual reconciliation of individuals, without the intervention of their faith, as it was proved before. It would therefore be reproachful to Christ, if any one should be admitted into the fellowship and actual participation of this grace, who does not believe in Jesus Christ the Author of salvation, and our Redeemer. Nor is injustice done to men, that they are not immediately received into the favour of God on account of the act of Christ in dying, because this was neither due nor promised to mankind. For we cannot claim for ourselves any benefit from the death of Christ contrary to and in addition to the order and covenant made by God and Christ, and laid open to us in the Gospel. Now this is the established order, this condition is expressly stated in the Gospel; that the grace of reconciliation and the benefit of eternal life should redound to sinners from the death of Christ, if they should believe: But if not, they should remain under the guilt of their sins, and should perish in their unbelief. 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. (John ui. 36.)

OBJECTION 3. There was not greater force in the sin of Adam to bind all men under the penalty of eternal death, than in the death and merit of Christ to absolve all men, to reconcile them to God, and to restore them to a state of grace and salvation. Thus the act of Adam binds all men under the guilt of sin, and subjects them to Divine wrath: Therefore, the act of Christ dying ought to deliver all men from death, to reconcile them to God, and to place them in a state of grace and salvation.

REPLY. In this argument is involved a false supposition. In the major proposition it is as it were taken for granted, that the efficacy or virtue of any cause is always to be estimated greater or less according as it extends itself to more or fewer subjects ; which is very false. For the efficacy or excellence of a cause is to be estimated from the nature and excellency of its effects rather than from their multitude. For instance; It is a proof of greater virtue and excellence to restore sight to one blind man than to put out the eyes of a thousand men; to heal one maimed and diseased man, than to mutilate or poison a thousand whole and healthy men; in a word, to recal one man to life, than to put a thousand to death. For a like reason, the power of Christ by his death is greater and more efficacious in the salvation of only one man, than that of Adam in destroying by his sin the whole human race. To the minor proposition it may also be answered, That the act of the sin of Adam does not bind any man under the penalty of death, or render him obnoxious to the wrath of God, unless from hence, that he was propagated from sinful Adam by natural generation. And in the same manner evidently the act of the death of Christ does not deliver any man from a state of death or from Divine wrath, any further than he is derived from Christ by a supernatural regeneration. Therefore the condition is equal on both sides, if a just comparison be made. All who are naturally descended from Adam have lost the grace of God and eternal life. All who are supernaturally regenerated by Christ recover the grace of God and eternal life. No man is subjected to death or Divine wrath by the fault of the sin of Adam, unless he has derived a natural origin from him. No man is delivered from death or Divine wrath through the merit of the death of Christ, unless he has derived from him a heavenly birth. This is wisely and learnedly explained by Aquinas (Contra Gentil. lib. 4, cap. 55,) where he has these words, The effect of the sin of our first parent cleaves to every one by his fleshly origin ; so the effect of the death of Christ pertains to every one by spiritual regeneration. He who desires that the merit of Christ may be beneficial to him, seeks to be regenerated by the Spirit of Christ. If any one should still urge, That to be propagated from Adam, whence wrath and the penalty of death follows, is common to all men; why is it not in the same manner stated, that to be regenerated by Christ, on which depends our reconciliation and salvation, is common to all men? To this I shall merely answer, That God himself was unwilling that those things which flow to men in the way of grace, should be as common to all as those things which are derived to men in the way of nature. He willed that his grace should make men differ from each other, and therefore he would not make it equally common to all men. Augustine has noticed this (De Preedest. Sanct. cap. 5), which consult at your leisure. Let no one then murmur against God, because by the operation of his special grace he regenerates some, and unites them to Christ by faith; let no one enquire why he delivers one man rather than another: since this answer of God himself is sufficient to stop the mouth of any, (Matt. xx. 15) Is i£ not lawful for me to do what 1 will with mine own? &c. And that of the Apostle, (Rom. ix. 18) He hath mercy on whom he will, See also Augustine (De bono persev. cap. 8.) Therefore, although as to its sufficiency, the death of Christ has regard equally to all men; yet as to its efficacy, it depends on the Divine election, that the effects of the merits of Christ are mercifully applied to any, while, through the impediment of their own unbelief, they are not applied to others.

Hitherto we have answered those who contend for the universal and actual reconciliation of all men individually: Now let us hear what may be brought forward by those who assert that the elect are, by the efficacy of the death of Christ, justified and reconciled to God from eternity.

OBJECTION 1, Those who assert that God is only placable and reconcileable to the elect, and not actually reconciled and pacified before their faith and repentance, seenr to place acts and powers in God, and to admit that God can be what he is not: But God is a pure act and altogether immutable: Therefore it is impossible that he should now be what he was not before: If then he is reconciled to Peter or Paul, after they are known to repent and believe, he was also reconciled to them from eternity. For it may seem to be granted of itself, that any change in God, who is a most pure act, and in every way most simple, is a variation. But that this is most foreign from the Divine nature, which is free from all kinds of mutability, no one in his senses will deny: especially since it seems not only consonant to the dictates of right reason, and agreeable to the decrees of the sounder philosophy, which teaches that the same by the same always does the same, that is, that the same thing being done in the same way always produces the same effect; but also may be confirmed and established by not a few, and those most beautiful passages of the holy Scriptures, as from that testimony of the prophet Malachi (iii. 6,) For I am the Lord, I change not; according to Junius, I, Jehovah, change not. Also of Numbers xxiii. 19, God ?s not a man, that he should lie; nor the son of man, that he should change. A passage plainly like to this is brought from the epistle of the Apostle St. James (i. 17), Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. There is so far from being any change in God, that in him there is not even the least shadow of turning. But if it could be affirmed of God, that at one time he is placable, at another time pacified ; at one time only reconcileable, at another reconciled, it might truly be doubted, and not improperly, whether God is always like himself, and always is disposed evidently in the same manner. For placability seems to intimate only some previous disposition and inclination to future pacification and reconcileability, a facility and propensity in God to reconciliation, which is brought into action towards believing men from his power.

Reply. That God is reconcileable to any elect person before his faith and repentance, and is actually reconciled to him after his faith and repentance, does not more argue a change in God from act to power, than this man’s not being justified until he believes and his being actually justified after he believes, argues a changeableness in God ; or than his sins being remissible, and after his repentance being actually forgiven, proves a temporary change of the Divine essence or will from power to act. For no man could truly say, because Paul was justified when he believed in Christ, but was not justified while he was a blasphemer against Christ, that therefore a change took place in God ; therefore, neither because at one time he was reconcileable to God, at another time actually reconciled: since to be justified and to be reconciled to God are altogether the same, or at least are inseparably connected. But that we may remove this scruple more clearly, we must observe, that although nothing absolute can anew be added to God without his changing, yet infinite relative denominations may anew, and according to difference of time, at one time be predicated of God, and at another time not be predicated of him ; the Divine essence and will all the while remaining without any shadow of turning. For those things of a mutable and temporary kind which are affirmed of God, are not so affirmed on account of any change. taking place in God, but according to the change which happens to the creature. For instance, It may be truly said, That Adam was creatable by God, when it could not be truly said, That Adam was created by God. In like manner, Adam is justifiable before God, or Adam is reconcileable to God, might be said before his actual repentance, when it could not be said, Adam is actually justified and reconciled to God. Notwithstanding we do not apply to God acts and powers, or any kind of mutability ; because these things are spoken of God in a different way, not of any change which takes place in himself, but of the change of a creature, which is from him. For as Albertus learnedly remarks, (Tract. 4. qu. 21, de Immutab. Dei.) In those things which are done essentially, he acts in one way, and it ts not said, that he acts now and not before, except so far as he has acted now and not before. Nor do we think that there is any new or temporary act in the will of God, when we state that he is actually reconciled to any man on believing, to whom before believing he was only reconcileable ; because God does not then begin to will that this believer should be actually reconciled to him, who before he had faith was reconcileable, but from all eternity willed that at that moment he should both believe and be actually reconciled. In the Willer, then, there are not successive changes, but in the thing willed, and those changes are according to One eternal and most unchangeable will of God.

OBJECTION 2. God is actually reconciled to him whom he actually loves, But he loves all the elect from eternity; Therefore he is actually reconciled to them from eternity : Therefore they are also actually reconciled and justified from eternity.

Reply. A distinction is to be made with Aquinas, that God is said to love in a twofold manner; according to his purpose of communicating his goodness, and according to the act of communication. (In 3, Sent. dist. 19.) The love according to his eternal purpose, which Divines call The love of eternal benevolence, does not make him who is loved in this manner to be esteemed by God as actually justified or actually reconciled; but that he should be reckoned among those who are infallibly to be justified and reconciled. There is, therefore, a different kind of words which denote acts inherent in God and acts which flow from God to us. The former, such as love, election, predestination, are eternal and internal acts of God himself, and from them men are called beloved, elect, predestinated, on account of the secret good pleasure of the Divine will conceived and . hidden in himself. The latter, such as calling, justification, reconciliation, glorification, are external acts, which terminate in the creature in whom they exist, and are as it were received by him; and from these no one is properly said to be called, justified, reconciled, glorified, solely from the secret and eternal purpose of the Divine will, but from the covenanted performance of the same purpose, and from the effect being produced in men. We confess, therefore, the eternal will in God of justifying and reconciling to himself all the elect; but we deny that they ought to be said to have been justified or reconciled from eternity: In the same manner as we acknowledge that there was in God an eternal will of creating the world, and yet we deny that the world was created from eternity. What Zanchius says of the actual remission of sins, we say of the actual reconciliation of the elect, (Thomson. Diatr. p. 96) I¢ is indeed most certain dn. the Divine predestination from eternity ; but it is not actually given on the part of God, nor actually received on the part of man, until he repents and believes.

OBJECTION 3. The efficacy itself of the means in some men rather than in others, arises not from the difference of free-will, but from hence, that God was reconciled to all the elect in Christ before the foundation of the world, but to others he was not reconciled: Therefore, we ought not to deny that all the elect are actually reconciled to God before their conversion and faith, since that dispensation derives its origin and the efficacy of the means to produce in them faith and repentance, from their eternal and antecedent reconciliation.

Reply. We willingly grant that the infallible efficacy. of the means ordained to salvation does not depend upon the human will, but upon the eternal and special love of God towards his own elect. But we assert that this love does not regard those who are as yet unbelieving and unconverted, otherwise than as a gratuitous purpose of providing for them, that hereafter they should be converted, and justified, and reconciled to God, and infallibly brought to eternal life. It is, therefore, equally false to infer eternal justification, and the eternal reconciliation of the elect, and their eternal glorification from this eternal love ; since from thence ought to be collected only their certain and infallible justification, reconciliation, and glorification ; which certainty or infallible efficacy of means tending to salvation, arises from the aforesaid love of God, and not by virtue of free-will. If any one pleases to call this love, on which depends the certainty of conversion and reconciliation to be produced in time, actual reconciliation, since God himself calleth those things which be not as though they were, (Rom. iv. 17) I find no fault, provided he allows at the same time that he calls the purpose of the thing to be done by the name of the thing done; because, as Augustine says, It was fixed in the predestination of God that it should take place in his own time. (De Civit, Dei, lib. 12, cap. 16.)

OBJECTION 4. Some passages may be produced from the Scriptures which seem to assert, as to the elect, actual and eternal reconciliation with God before their faith and repentance. Ephes.i.4, God is said to have chosen them before the foundation of the world, and ver. 6, to have made them accepted in his beloved Son. ‘They were therefore elected, and actually justified and reconciled, from eternity; for although their reconciliation was made on the part of God when they believed the Gospel, yet that rather then began to be manifested and revealed which had been done from the foundation of the world.

Rerpty. It is one thing to choose a person to life before the formation of the world, another thing actually to justify and reconcile him to himself before the formation of the world. Election bespeaks in God an eternal will of justifying, reconciling, and saving the person elected ; but of justifying, reconciling, and saving him in his own time by faith. Therefore, the actual justification, reconciliation, and sanctification of the person elected, flows from eternal election, but is not co-eternal with it. It is easy to collect this from the whole discourse of St. Paul in the first chapter to the Ephesians. He affirms (ver. 4) that we were chosen before the foundation of the world, but he does not therefore say, that we were sanctified before the foundation of the world, but, that we were chosen that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Nor does he teach us, that by virtue of eternal election we were justified or reconciled from eternity, but a the dispensation of the fulness of times, (ver. 9, 10, &e.) after having first trusted in Christ, and believed the Gospel which was made known to us. Nor are the words, He hath made us accepted in his beloved Son, opposed to this idea; for the Greek word exapitwcev seems to refer rather to the present state of the elect now regenerate, than to the eternal purpose of God. From whence Beza translates it, Freely he made them acceptable to himself, namely, he freely justified them and admitted them on believing into a state of actual reconciliation. But if any one interprets that acceptance as relating to the eternal love of God, by which he embraces the elect before they were born, that acceptance will denote the purpose of communicating his goodness, not the act of communica tion itself, as was mentioned before from Aquinas. Beza . also, in, his Commentaries on the 5th verse, has rightly observed, That the elect iu due time receive wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption freely by faith; therefore they are not from eternity justified, sanctified, or reconciled, although elected and predestinated from eternity. But no one hath taught this more plainly than the Apostle himself, who demonstrates that the same persons whom he said were chosen before the foundation of the world, yet were by nature the children of wrath (Ephes. ii. 3), and long remained without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who formerly were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ, when, through the blood of Christ received: bv faith, they were reconciled to God (ver. 12, 12, &c.) If, therefore, we believe St. Paul, although the election and predestination of mankind proceeds from the eternal love of God, yet it is not to be said, that their eternal justification and reconciliation are manifested and revealed when they believe in Christ, but that they then first take place.

Again; The Apostle says (2 Tim. i. 9, 10), That grace was given to the elect in Christ Jesus, before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Chiist. But God evidently appears to be reconciled to them, before the world began, to whom he then gave grace in Christ.

REPLy. On account of the unchangeableness and immoveableness of the Divine purpose, that grace is said to be given to the elect before the world began, which was then destined for them. In this passage, therefore, eternal giving is eternal preparation of grace infallibly to be given to the elect in due time. Thus Augustine observes, The Apostle says that grace was given when there were not as yet persons to whom it should be given, because in the disposition and predestination of God, that was now done which was to be done in his own time. (De doctr. Christ. lib. 3, cap. 34.) Thus Junius remarks on these words, He says that the grace was given from eternity, to which we were predestinated from eternity. Nor has Calvin otherwise expounded them ; This gift of grace, says he, of which the Apostle makes mention, is nothing else than predestination, by which we are adopted among the sons of God. A little after, He gave that which, without being induced by merit, he assigned to those who were not yet born, and he had it laid up in his treasures, until he should really manifest that he had appointed nothing in vain. Therefore we rightly deduce from hence, that the grace of justification, reconciliation, and salvation were actually assigned from eternity to all the elect, and, as it were, laid up and reserved for them in the treasury of the Divine love ; but it is not rightly deduced that they were actually conferred upon them before faith and conversion. “The justification and reconciliation of the elect is not said to be opened and manifested when they believe in Christ, but then given and conferred. But what is said to be then revealed and manifested, is the eternal good pleasure or purpose of God concerning the salvation of the elect; which he makes known to us when, the Spirit and faith having been given, we obtain justification and reconciliation with God.

There are some other passages brought forward to prove that our reconciliation with God is not effected at the time when we embrace the Mediator by faith, but that all the elect were reconciled to God from eternity. Of this kind are Rom. v. 10, When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Ephes. ui. 4, 5, For his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. And Coloss. i. 21, 22, And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, &c. From these passages it appears that reconciliation does not follow the act of faith, but that God is reconciled to his own, even when they are unbelievers and enemies to God. For it is not a proof of God being placable and reconcileable, but of his being pacified and actually reconciled, when such benefits are conferred upon men.

Reply. If by reconciliation nothing else is meant than the inclination and propensity of the Divine will to grant remission, and make peace with all who shall embrace the Redeemer by faith, we grant that God is reconciled to the whole human race, by virtue of the death of Christ, even while we continue enemies to him. But herein (as was stated before) a step is taken towards our actual and personal reconciliation, rather than the actual reconciliation of individuals is effected. Moreover, if by reconciliation we understand the eternal election of God, according to which he hath determined to call, justify, reconcile to himself, and save certain individuals in time, you cannot by this means make it out that God can in this sense be said to be benevolent to all the elect, even when they are living in impiety and unbelief. But this benevolence which pre- cedes faith inspired into the hearts of the elect, contains only a purpose of making peace with them, and does not place them in a state of peace obtained and of actual reconciliation. These things being premised, I reply, that all these passages speak either of the step towards personal reconciliation, or of the elect believing and being placed in a state of actual reconciliation; which cannot take place without the intervention of faith. They therefore confirm our opinion, rather than the opposite. For that which is said Rom. v. 10, When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, &c. has no other sense than that men, from a state of enmity, are transferred into a state of actual reconciliation with God, through the death of Christ, as soon as they believe in Christ. This is plain, because the Apostle, verse 1 of this chapter, restrains this peace or reconciliation to those only who are justified by faith ; and verse 11 he speaks of the same actual reconciliation as being just made, By whom we have now received the atonement, (margin) or reconciliation, that is, now, after we have believed in Christ. With respect to the second passage, Ephes. ii. 4, 5, it is most true, that God, when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, but as he hath not actually quickened any unless by faith previously inspired, so neither hath he reconciled them; for to be reconciled to God is to be delivered from the guilt of death, to be placed in a state of spiritual life, and to be presented with an hereditary right to eternal life; which things do not belong to the elect merely because they are elected, but when they have been effectually called and converted to God. The Apostle himself has taught this in verse 8, By grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God. The last passage taken from Coloss. i. 21, 22, plainly confirms our opinion, namely, that mankind are not at once justified and reconciled to God, either by God’s eternal act of predestination, or by the merit of the death of Christ for his own elect. For what else do these words mean at first sight, You, that were formerly alienated, &c. yet now hath he reconciled, than that we then at length obtain, through the blood of Christ, remission of sins and actual reconciliation with God, when, being united to Christ by faith, we are admitted into an actual participation and possession of his merits and righteousness. It is unnecessary to add more for the explanation of this proposition. From what has been said, it may sufficiently appear, that those persons extend the universal efficacy of the death of Christ beyond its just limits, who think that by the mere act of the death of Christ all mankind promiscuously are restored to a state of grace; nor do they do less, who contend that all the predestinated, on account of the merit of Christ, are justified from eternity, and actually reconciled to God, even before they have believed the Gospel.

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