no one is under any obligation to pay this grateful regard for him, until he comes to know that Jesus Christ died for him in particular. It is in the very nature of things impossible, nor can it in justice be required, that any one should acknowledge favours which he never received; or make returns of love and obedience in the consideration of a fact which he does not know to have ever existed. That “Jesus Christ died for our sins” is the leading fact recorded in the gospel, 1 Cor. 15:3, and without the belief of this truth we cannot be real Christians. But if Jesus Christ died for all men, and this be recorded in the gospel, (which our author clearly proves) it evidently follows that all men which hear the gospel, ought to believe it with that faith which worketh by love, both to God and man; and all who do not thus believe, experience, and act, fall under righteous condemnation.
3. The extent of the death of Jesus Christ, will appear still of greater importance, when we consider that it will affect our views of the day of judgment, and the manner in which we shall be dealt with at the great day. If no evidence can he produced from scripture that Christ died for us, we cannot rationally suppose that we are in danger of being condemned because we have not believed in him, and loved him, and served him as our Saviour. But if we believe that Jesus died for all, and that those which are condemned, are condemned “because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God;” it naturally follows that we may be accepted through him at the great day, unless we neglect the great salvation he hath procured for us, in which case we cannot be accepted. When St. Paul says, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha,” 1 Cor. 16:22, let him be accursed when the Lord cometh; he evidently teaches us that our love to Christ shall be brought into question. We are now called upon to love him, and are under the greatest obligation so to do, because of his great love to us. Thus it appears that the extent of our Saviour’s death will affect the proceedings of the judgment day, and ought to affect us in the prospect of those proceedings.
4. As a further proof of the importance of the extent of the death of Christ, our views of it essentially affect the character of Almighty God. Now, if the blessed God, who was under no obligation to give his Son to die for any, did, of his own free and sovereign pleasure, give him to die for all; this was undeniably a more glorious and striking instance of love, than if he had only given him to die for a part of mankind. As the subject before us so materially affects the character of the blessed God, especially his darling attribute of love, we cannot but consider it of very considerable importance, and most worthy of our serious consideration. Let it be our business to follow the example of our much esteemed author, endeavouring to investigate this important subject, with a due deference and entire submission to what the scripture says of it.
The extent of our blessed Saviour’s death, whether universal or limited, is a matter of pure revelation. We should never have known that God had pitied poor sinners, or that he had given his Son to die for any, had not the inspired volume informed us of it. It is the gospel of the blessed God, the good news sent from heaven to earth, by which we understand that the Lord Jesus did “his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree.” Neither could we have known the character nor number of those for whom the Redeemer laid down his life, but by the same precious gospel. We are therefore under the necessity of submitting, in the most implicit manner, to that testimony, as the only and the complete source of information on this subject. The gospel, on this much controverted subject, tells us that which could otherwise never have been known by mortals, at least in the present world. As this is the subject of pure revelation, concerning which we should otherwise be entirely ignorant, we may naturally expect the revelation of it is clear and express, calculated, if we attend with seriousness, to give us all the information which is necessary.
To suppose that such an important matter as the extent of our Saviour’s death were left doubtful, or not clearly revealed in the scripture, would be a reflection on the perfection of divine revelation and the goodness of God. If Jesus Christ died for a part of mankind only, we may certainly very reasonably expect, from the goodness of God, and the perfection of revelation, to find this related in clear and express terms, as all other peculiar doctrines of the gospel are. On the other hand, if he died for all mankind, this is undoubtedly expressed in clear language, especially when the importance of the doctrine is duly considered. In this case we cannot suppose that we should be left to mere inference; much less could we expect to find expressions, when the subject is professedly treated of, which naturally convey ideas quite contrary to what the Holy Ghost intended to convey; this would reflect on the plainness and perspicuity of the word of God, and confound common sense. It would indeed be very unreasonable and absurd to expect any thing of this kind; and I hope, through the blessing of God, that the work before us will make it sufficiently appear to every unprejudiced mind, that we have the clearest instructions in the word of God on this very interesting subject. It is a matter of real gratitude, that we are not left to grope in the dark, or wander in the wild mazes of uncertainty, or to follow the fancies and opinions of men; but we have a most sure word of prophecy, to which we shall do well always to take heed, as to a light shining in a dark place. Therefore, my dear readers, let us never arrogantly and proudly set up our own opinions unsupported by the word of the Lord, as an article of faith; but ever implicitly submit in all matters of religion to what divine revelation teacheth.
Lest I should weary my readers with a tedious introduction, I would conclude, by observing, that our reverend author tells us in his original dedicatory epistle to this work, that the prize that he ran for was to make the best of every opportunity, to excite, provoke, and engage those whom he judged best qualified among his brethren to bless the world, labouring and harassing itself under its own vanity and folly; by bringing forth the glorious Creator, and ever blessed Redeemer, out of their pavilions of darkness into a clear and perfect light, to be beheld, reverenced, and adored in all their glory: to be possessed, enjoyed, and delighted in, in all their beauty and desirableness, by the inhabitants of the earth.
In this same epistle, after apologizing for its uncommon length, and the uneasiness on that account which he supposes it might give those to whom the work was dedicated; he concludes it in the following words: “I shall discharge you from any sufferings from my pen at present, only with my soul poured out before the great God and Father of lights in prayer for you, that he would make his face to shine upon you; quickening your apprehensions, enlarging your understandings, ballasting your judgments, and strengthening your memories; giving you ability of body and willingness of mind to labour in those rich mines of truth (the scriptures) breaking up before you the fountains of these great depths of spiritual light, and heavenly understanding; assisting you mightily by his Spirit in the course of your studies; lifting you up in the spirit of your minds above the faces, fears, and respects of men; drawing out your hearts and souls to relieve the spiritual necessities and extremities of the world around you; making you so many burning and shining lights in his house and temple, the joy, glory, and delight of your nation; vouchsafing to you as much of all that is desirable in the things of this world as your spiritual interests will bear, and the reward of prophets respectively in the glory and great things of the world to come.” He subscribes himself their poor brother in Christ, always ready in love to serve the meanest of them. I am well aware, that though some will be pleased at the revival and spread of this work, others will be offended: yea, are already offended. One person I met with, expressed himself as being sorry for me, on having seen the advertisement, that I had not a better subject than to oppose the redemption of Christ. I appeal to the public; it is not the design of this work to oppose the redemption of Christ, but to establish it, and enlarge our views of its fulness, extent, and glory, in the ample provision that is made for all poor sinners. The spread of truth is the object I have in view; and may the great God of truth give his blessing to the feeble efforts of one of the weakest and most unworthy of his servants towards the accomplishing of this invaluable end, and to his name shall be all the glory for evermore, Amen.
The Rev. John Bates
Four several veins or correspondences of Scriptures propounded,
