ON THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT. AMONGST other evils to be deprecated as the result of that controversial warfare, which has been but too often carried on between the real followers of their common Lord, upon those comparatively minor points of doctrine on which, in the present state of imperfection, real Christians do differ, is doubtless to be ranked what may not inaptly be denominated, a systematic narrowing of the grand doc trines of the Gospel; an attempt by each opposed party, to bend the language of Scripture to the trammels of a human system, rather than humbly to receive the testimony of the divine word, in all the amplitude of its bearings; its plain and literal signification, undismayed by finding in the book of God some things beyond the boundary of our limited conceptions; and contented to wait for the more complete developement of that which we now know but imperfectly till the glorious era when" that which is in part shall be done away." The error is one which I would hope is rather on the decline; but we are still not unfrequently met by precise theologians with such a question as this-Is it not inconsistent with the explicit statements of the Bible, relative to the secret purposes of God, to represent the atonement of Christ as universal in extent, and as a sacrifice for the whole world? And we are sometimes told by persons strictly attached to a particular system on either side of the question, that to maintain the one of these doctrines is to deny the other of them. If, however, this be inconsistent, it is an inconsistency confessedly chargeable upon the Church of England, in all the statements she makes upon the subject in her Liturgy, Articles, and Homilies; and most usually so, likewise, upon those whose general sentiments are in unison with her SEPT. 1824. doctrines. The subject has doubt- rea Let me here premise, before I directly advert to the objection itself, that with regard to this, as well as every other topic of religious inquiry, our first and our ultimate appeal, must be exclusively and alone to the direct and unsophisticated statements of the word of God. For, granting that there were an apparent inconsistency in the two doctrines just mentioned, it were easy to show, that such a circumstance can be no argument against our reception of them both, unless it can first be proved that we are competent to decide upon their discrepancy or agreement. If, indeed, we were, not one or two other doctrines alone, but the whole compass of divine truth, must be taken into account, before we could arrive at any conclusion upon the subject; but the plain fact is, we are utterly incompetent to such a task. "The lofty looks of man must be humbled, and the haughtiness of men must be bowed down." Contrite simplicity, childlike teachableness, implicit faith, fervent prayer-these are the dis-' positions which become him who would be wise in those things which man's wisdom teacheth not; who would sit at the feet of Jesus, and hear his words. In matters of merely human science, and in the common affairs of this present world, how often do two points appear to us to stand in opposition to one another, till we become acquainted with their relation to some third point, upon the developement of which all the seeming contradiction speedily disappears? 2 x 66 as And how much more may we conceive this to be the case, with regard to matters as vast as those respecting the purposes of Him, all whose counsels and whose ways are as far above ours the heaven is above the earth;" and more especially, as in this case, the imagined third point may be one which we are utterly incapable of knowing in the present world. What, then, let us first inquire, laying aside all preconceived opinions, is the statement of Holy Writ upon this subject? I do not say, what do isolated texts appear to prove? but, what is to be deduced as fair and legitimate inference, from those passages which bear upon the question, when taken in their literal meaning in the connexion in which they stand, and compared with others of a similar import? To mention a few only. "All we like sheep" (says the prophet) "have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Is not the great remedy, 1 would ask, represented in this passage, as every way equivalent to the disease for which it was intended? If it be replied, the prophet is here speaking in the name of the Church of God, I answer, the context forbids such an interpretation; and appears, as I conceive, to imply clearly that he is addressing the Jewish nation at large. "He shall grow up before him," says he, 66 as a root out of a dry ground; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." "He was despised, and we esteemed him not," (sentiments surely very opposite from those of the real church of God). "All we like sheep have gone astray." St. Paul, again, in the New Testament, when writing to Timothy, expressly asserts, that there is one God, and one Medi en ator between God and man, who gave himself a ransom for all*." It is answered, the Apostle, by "all men," "intends all sorts of men, men of every description and of every character. But neither will the context in this place bear such a latitude of interpretation; for, upon an attentive examination of it, it will appear, that the Apostle makes no allusion whatever to men of different classes. He exhorts, that prayer be made for "all men," without exception; and then, having specified in a parenthesis, that we should especially pray for “ kings and all in authority," he proceeds to force his admonition by these two arguments; the first, that God will have all men to be saved,” exactly in accordance with many other passages of Scripture, as where it is said that God" willeth not the death of a sinner”—that he is "not willing that any should perish," &c.); and the second that just quoted, that Christ gave himself a ransom for all." St. John, likewise, expressly states the atonement of our Lord to have been “ a propitiation for the whole world +," in a passage, the meaning of which, even were it addressed to Jews only, of which there is no decisive evidence, it appears difficult without a manifestly forced interpretation to evade. It were easy also to enlarge upon the assertions of our Lord himself, and of his Apostles in other passages; as, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," &c. "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."-" This bread is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world §."—" I come not to judge the world, but to save the world ."-" Behold the Lamb of * 1 Tim. ii. 6. John, iii. 16, 17. § John, vi. 33, 51. 66 † 1 John, ii. 2. John, xii. 47. God, which taketh away the sins of the world *,' &c. Nor let us forget how strongly the same view of the subject is implied, and how fairly it may be deduced from the universality of the invitations and offers of the Gospel, enforced too as they are by admonition, and expostulation, and entreaty, from the command given "to all men every where to repent," and from the denunciation of the divine anger, against all those who have rejected the proffered mercy, and "have not obeyed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." On so awful a subject, we ought ever to speak with the deepest reverence; but it really appears difficult to conceive how, upon the ground of what is called particular redemption, the objection can be obviated; that it will appear at last that multitudes have not only been invited to partake, but will stand condemned for their rejection of that which, in fact, as it regards them, had no existence. For the condition of all those for whom, according to that doctrine, no Saviour and no atonement has been provided, must be exactly that of fallen spirits; a condition vastly different from that in which the Scriptures uniformly address the lost race of Adam, as 66 prisoners," indeed, (to adopt the emphatic imagery of the prophet) and that in a pit wherein is no water," but as "prisoners of hope," invited to partake of mercy, through the grace of one both able and willing to save them to the uttermost t. *John, i. 29. It may perhaps be said, that if this be any argument against particular redemption, it is an equal argument against the doc trine of election alsó. This is not, however, by any means the true state of the case, as might be shown at large if it were not foreign to the subject of the present paper. Suffice it only to remind such an objector, as I pass on, that the doctrine of election, as held by the generality of those who are called Calvinists (called so, be it observed, whilst they are probably 66 To all this it may perhaps be replied, that there are other passages which speak of the death of Christ as a ransom for many," for "his sheep" and for "his Church." This I admit; and am ready to admit also, that there is undoubtedly a sense in which it may be said, that the death of Christ was only for his people; for those who believe, &c. because none but such will ever reap its benefits; all others being shut out, not from any deficiency in the great remedy, not from any act of exclusion by the God of Love who has provided it, but from their own voluntary refusal or neglect; but this is not the point in dispute. Although, if there were no such sense, I do not see that we should be authorized to rest a doctrine such as this, upon a few detached passages, in opposition to all the plain statements already alluded to ‡. It will, farthest of all from coinciding with the Genevan reformer, in any doctrinal point formers, and indeed least of all anxious to call any man master upon earth), is neither on the one hand in the least inconsistent with the clearest conceptions of the accountability, responsibility, and free agentrine of an over-ruling Providence; neither cy of man, any more so than is the docdoes it, on the other, express, include, or imply any sentence whatever of exclusion, or reprobation, as some have been pleased wherein he differed from the other re to term it, from the favour of God here or his presence hereafter. Those there are who endeavour to draw such conclusions from the doctrine in question; nay, who do not hesitate fearlessly to charge the great Source of all good with being himself the author of moral evil; but the mind of every humble and sincere Christian will naturally recoil with horror at the very mention of such an idea. It is worthy of notice, that the word "many," may, without any impropriety of language, under some circumstances, be understood as signifying "all," especially when used as an antithesis to the one offering once offered. But it is very difficult to conceive how the word "all" can ever be intended to imply less than all. It would appear that Calvin himself felt the force of this circumstance, as he observes on Matt. xxvi. 28, "this is my blood," &c. "which is shed for many,"- "Sub multorum no however, generally be found where such passages occur, that the context in connexion with which they stand, treats exclusively of the character or privileges of the peculiar people of God; as when our Lord says, "I lay down my life for my sheep," he has just been speaking of his sheep; and the Apostle, when he observes "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it," is speaking of the church; and we cannot therefore infer from such statements as these, that Christ did not in any sense die for others, any more than we could prove, were it possible for us to wish to do so, that St. Paul was the alone object of redeeming love; because he says in one place, "I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." This, then, I conceive is the testimony of Scripture, however consistent or otherwise it may be with our preconceived opinions or systematic reasonings. But even with regard to the objections themselves which are urged against it, I conceive it will be no difficult task to show that they are without foundation, and may all in fact be traced to one or other of these two causes -a want of discrimination between the atonement itself and the application of that atonement, or an inattention to the infinite value of the great ransom price. If it were true, it is said by the advocates for particular redemp mine non partem mundi tantum designet sed totum genus humanum." By the term 66 many," he does not mean a part of the world only, but the whole human race.' And again, on Heh. ix. 28; "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many." "Multos dixit," says he, " pro omnibus sicut ad Rom. v. 15. Certum quidem est non omnes ex Christi morte fructum percipere; sed hoc ideo fit quia eos impedit sua incredulitas.". "He saith many for all. It is certain, indeed, that all will not reap the fruit of the death of Christ; but it is because they are hindered by their own unbelief." See Calvin on Matt. xx. 28; xxvi. 28; and Heb. ix. 18. tion, that Christ has redeemed the whole world, then it would follow as a necessary consequence that the whole world must be saved eventually. How can divine Justice exact a second punishment for the same offence? How can we conceive, that the Saviour would undergo the penalty due to those sins, which he foresaw would never be remitted. But surely the atonement is one thing, and the арplication of that atonement quite another. If, indeed, by asserting that the death of Christ was a propitiation for the whole world, we intended to imply that he actually took away, when hanging upon the cross, the sins of all men, and thus in the strictest sense of the word redeemed all, there would be room for the alleged consequence. But we are authorized from Scripture to conclude, that the sins of no individual can be taken away— that no one can be pardoned, justified, made a partaker of Christ, or rank among the redeemed from the earth by his blood, unless or until he repent and believe, and flee for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before him, and thus "receive the atonement." We e are not exhorted to repent and believe, that we may have evidence that our sins have already been pardoned and blotted out; such is not the phraseology of the Word of God, but " repent, that your sins may be blotted out."-"Let the wicked forsake his way," &c. and turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, and he will abundantly pardon This is quite uniformly the tenour of the language of Holy Scripture upon the subject. Thus God is "in Christ reconciling the world unto himself; but us,' "saith the Apostle, speaking of himself and his fellow-labourers in the Gospel, "he hath reconciled." And then' again, let us recollect, that as sin * Isaiah, Iv, 6, 7. is an infinite evil, being committed against a God of infinite holiness, if an atonement be provided for human guilt, that atonement must be likewise in its very nature infinite. Now such was that offered up once for all by the eternal Son of God. This, I am aware, is for the most part admitted by the advocates for particular redemption; but let us mark its necessary consequences; for as this consideration forbids all nice computation, with regard to the weight of suffering which he underwent being exactly equivalent to the sins of every individual of those who shall be saved, and no more, so it is surely alone sufficient to obviate every objection of the character just specified. For if God had designed to pardon one sinner only, I think we need not hesitate to affirm, and that from the authority of Scripture, that he could not have done it in any other way, in consistency with the harmony of his divine attributes, than through the sacrifice of his Son; a sacrifice at the same time adequately sufficient for the salvation of countless worlds, did they stand in need of such a Saviour. The late Mr. Newton illustrates this idea in a beautiful manner, in one of his Sermons on the Messiah. "If God," says he, after having stated his objection to particular redemption, " had formed this earth for the residence of one man only; had it been his pleasure to afford him the same kind and degree of light which we enjoy; the same glorious sun, which is now sufficient to enlighten and comfort the millions of mankind, would have been necessary for the accommodation of that one person. So, perhaps, had it been his pleasure to save but one sinner, in a way that should give the highest possible discovery of his justice and of his mercy, this could have been done by no other method than that which he has chosen for the salvation of the innumerable multi tudes who will, in the great day, unite in the song of praise to the Lamb who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. As the sun has a sufficiency of light for eyes (if there were so many capable of beholding it) equal in number to the leaves upon the trees, and the blades of grass that grow upon the earth, so in Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, there is plenteous redemption. He is rich in mercy to all that call upon him; and he invites sinners, without exception, to whom the word of his salvation is sent, even to the ends of the earth, to look unto him that they may be saved*.' And to those who are members of the Church of England, it can be a consideration of no small interest, that the language of our venerable Reformer is exactly in accordance, as already hinted, with that view of the subject which I am attempting to defend; whilst, at the same time, they admit as explicitly the scriptural doctrine of the divine purpose with regard to predestination and election in Christ. For their sentiments on the latter position, I need only refer to the seventeenth Article; and with regard to the former they thus express themselves in the Communion Service: "Who" (Christ) "made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." In the Catechism, "I believe in God the Son, who hath redeemed me and all mankind." And in the thirty-second Article; "The oblation of Christ once made, is that perfect redemption, oblation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual." And there are likewise many other passages of a similar import. It is also worthy of note, *Newton's Mess. vol. i. p. 304. + See Communion Service in many places; Liturgy, General Thanksgiving, &c. |