To pray for all either with his justice or mercy, to bid such mer. repent or believe, to whom it is impossible. §. VII. Moreover, if we regard the testimony of the scripture in this matter, where there is not one scripture, that I know of, which affirmeth, Christ not to die for all, there are divers that positively and expressly assert, He did; as, 1 Tim. ii. for all; for 1, 3, 4, 6. I exhort therefore, that first of all, supChrist died plications, prayers, inlercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men, &c. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. Except we will have the apostle here to assert quite another thing than he intended, there can be nothing more plain to confirm what we have asserted. And this scripture doth well answer to that manner of arguing which we have hitherto used: for, first, the apostle here recommends them to pray for all men; and to obviate such an objection, as if he had said with our adversaries, Christ prayed not for the world, neither willeth he us to pray for all; because he willeth not that all should be saved, but hath ordained many to be damned, that he might show forth his justice in them : he obviates, I say, such an objection, telling them, -And will that it is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be saved. I desire to know what can be more expressly affirmed? or can any two propositions be stated in terms more contradictory than these two? God willeth some not to be saved; and God willeth all men to be saved, or God will have no man perish. If we believe the last, as the apostle hath affirmed, the first must be destroyed; seeing of contradictory propositions, the one being placed, the other is destroyed. Whence, to conclude, he gives us a reason of his willingness that all men should be saved, in these words, Who gave himself a ransom for all; as if he would have have all men to be saved. said, Since Christ died for all, since he gave himself a ransom for all, therefore he will have all men to be saved. This Christ himself gives as a reason of God's love to the world, in these words: John iii. 16. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life; compared with 1 John iv. 9. This [whosoever] is an indefinite term, from which no man is excluded. From all which then I thus argue: For whomsoever it is lawful to pray, to them Arg. 1. salvation is possible: But it is lawful to pray for every individual man in the whole world: Therefore salvation is possible unto them. I prove the major proposition thus ; No man is bound to pray for that which is im- Arg. 2. possible to be attained: But every man is bound and commanded to pray for all men: Therefore it is not impossible to be attained. I prove also this proposition further, thus ; No man is bound to pray, but in faith: But he that prayeth for that, which he judges simply impossible to be obtained, cannot pray in faith: Therefore, &c. Again, That which God willeth is not impossible: But God willeth all men to be saved: Therefore it is not impossible. And lastly; Arg. 3. Arg. 4. Those for whom our Saviour gave himself a Arg. 5. ransom, to such salvation is possible: But our Saviour gave himself a ransom for all: §. VIII. This is very positively affirmed, Heb. ii. Proof 1. 9. in these words, But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that he by the grace of God might taste death for every man. He that will but open his eyes, may see this truth here asserted: if he tasted death for every man, then certainly there is no man for whom he did not taste death; then there is no man who may not be made a sharer of the benefit of it: for he came not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved, John iii. 17. He came not to judge the world, Our adver- but to save the world, John xii. 47. Whereas, acfalse doc- cording to the doctrine of our adversaries, he trine of a rather came to condemn the world, and judge it ; and not that it might be saved by him, or to save kind being it. For if he never came to bring salvation to the dained for greater part of mankind, but that his coming, tion, refu- though it could never do them good, yet shall saries' great part of man pre-or damna ted. Proof 2. augment their condemnation; from thence it necessarily follows, that he came not of intention to save, but to judge and condemn the greater part of the world, contrary to his own express testimony; and as the apostle Paul, in the words above-cited, doth assert affirmatively, That God willeth the salvation of all, so doth the apostle Peter assert negatively, That he willeth not the perishing of any, 2 Pet. iii. 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And this is correspondent to that of the prophet Ezekiel, xxxiii, 11. As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. If it be safe to believe God, and trust in him, we must not think that he intends to cheat us by all these expressions through his servants, but that he was in good earnest. And that this will and desire of his hath not taken effect, the blame is on our parts, as shall be after spoken of; which could not be, if we never were in any capacity of salvation, or that Christ had never died for us, but left us under an impossibility of salvation. What mean all those earnest invitations, all those serious expostulations, all those regretting contemplations, wherewith the holy scriptures are full? As, Why will you die, O house of Israel! Why will ye not come unto me, that ye might have life? I have waited to be gracious unto you: I have sought to gather you: I have knocked at the door of your hearts: Is not your destruction of yourselves? I have called all the day long. If men who are so invited be under no capacity of being saved, if salvation be impossible unto them, shall we suppose God in this to be no other but like the author of a romance, or master of a comedy, who amuses and raises the various affections and passions of his spectators by divers and strange accidents; sometimes leading them into hope, and sometimes into despair; all those actions, in effect, being but a mere illusion, while he hath appointed what the conclusion of all shall be? ment on the whole world. Thirdly, this doctrine is abundantly confirmed Proof 3. by that of the apostle, 1 John ii. 1, 2. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The way which our adversa Adversa. ries take to evite this testimony, is most foolish and ries comridiculous: the [world] here, say they, is the world of the words believers: for this commentary we have nothing but their own assertion, and so while it manifestly destroys the text, may be justly rejected. For, first, let them show me, if they can, in all the scripture, where the [whole world] is taken for believers only; I shall show them where it is many times taken for the quite contrary; as, The world knows me not: The world receives me not: I am not of this world: besides all these scriptures, Psalm xvii. 14. Isai. xiii. 11. Mat. xviii. 7. John vii. 7. and viii. 26. and xii. 19. and xiv. 17. and xv. 18, 19. and xvii. 14. and xviii. 20. 1 Cor. i. 21. and ii. 12. and vi. 2. Gal. vi. 14. James i. 27. 2 Pet. ii. 20. 1 John ii. 15. and iii. 1. and iv. 4, 5. and many more. Secondly, The apostle in this very place contra-distinguisheth the world from the saints thus; And not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world: What means the apostle by [ours] here? Is not that the sins of believers? Was not he one of those believers? And was not this an universal epistle, written to all the saints that then were? So that according to these men's comment, there should be a very unnecessary and foolish redundancy in the apostle's words; as if he had said, He is a propitiation not only for the sins of all believers, but for the sins of all believers: Is not this to make the apostle's words void of good sense? Let them show us wherever there is such a manner of speaking in all the scripture, where any of the penmen first name the believers in concreto with themselves, and then contra-distinguish them from some other whole world of believers. That [whole world] if it be of believers, must not be the world we live in. But we need no better interpreter for the apostle than himself, who uses the very same expression and phrase in the same epistle, ch. v. 19. saying, We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. There cannot be found in all the scripture, two places which run more parallel; seeing in both the same apostle, in the same epistle to the same persons, contra-distinguisheth himself, and the saints to whom he writes, from the whole world; which, according to these men's commentary, ought to be understood of believers as if John had said, We know particular believers are of God; but the whole world of believers lieth in wickedness. What absurd wresting of scripture were this? And yet it may be as well pleaded for as the other; for they differ not at all. Seeing then that the apostle John tells us plainly, That |