be among brethren of the same faith, and in the same church state; and were any so wicked as to desire the eternal destruction of another, yet it is not in his power to compass it; none can eternally destroy but God; fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul*; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Besides, is it reasonable to suppose, or conclude, that eternal damnation should follow upon eating and drinking things indifferent, as herbs, meat, and wine, or be caused by an offence given and taken through these things? Therefore, unless it can be proved, that eternal destruction did or might ensue upon the use of things indifferent; or that weak brethren might or were so ensnared, offended, and stumbled hereby, as to perish eternally, there is no force in the argument. 2. It will appear from the context, that the destruction of the weak brother dehorted from, is not the eternal destruction of his person; but the present destruction, interruption, or hindrance of his peace and comfort. To destroy the brother with meat, is, by eating it, to put a stumbling, or an occasion to fall in his way, ver. 13; not to fall from. the grace and favour of God; but so as that the peace of his mind may be broken, his affections to the brethren wax cold, and he be staggered in the doctrines of the gospel: hence says the apostle, It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended, or is made weak, ver. 21; to do which, is contrary to Christian charity; if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably; yea, it is destroying the work of God, ver. 20; not the Christian convert, who is God's workmanship; nor the good work of grace, which will be performed until the day of Christ ; nor the work of faith, which will never fail †; but the work of peace in churches, and particular persons, which God is the author of, and which, the things that make for it, saints should follow after, ver. 19. Now a weaker brother, for whom Christ has died, may be thus grieved, distressed, wounded, his peace destroyed, and yet not eternally perish; and so can be no instance of Christ's dying for such as may be or are eternally lost. The apostle's design in this dehortation, is manifestly this; partly from the interest Christ has in, and the love he has showed to such brethren in dying for them; and partly from the hurt that may be done to their weak minds and consciences, to deter stronger believers from giving them any offence by their free use of things indifferent; though he knew their eternal salvation could not be in any danger thereby. SECTION XXXVII. And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?-1 COR. viii. 11. THESE words are commonly joined with the former, and produced for the same purposes, both to prove that Christ died for such as perish, and that true believers may totally and finally fall away ‡. * Matt. x. 28. Vid. Whitby, p. 436, 442; ed. 2. 425, 431. What has been said under the preceding section, might be sufficient to lead us into the true sense of this text, which is parallel with the other, and so remove any argument or objection taken from hence. But not to let it pass without particular examination, let it be observed; 1. That as the text in Rom. xiv. 15, is a dehortation, or an injunction not to destroy him with meat, for whom Christ died; this is delivered out in the form of an interrogation; and neither the one nor the other prove matter of fact, supposing they could be understood of eternal destruction and ruin; as that any one brother, who was a true believer, was destroyed, or perished eternally this way; and at most, only imply the danger and possibility thereof, through their own corruptions, Satan's temptations, and the offences given by stronger brethren; were they not preserved by the grace and power of God, through Christ, who died for them, and so will not suffer them to perish. 2. The perishing of this weak brother, is to be understood of, and is explained by, a defiling of his conscience, ver. 7; a wounding of it, ver. 12; and making him to offend, ver. 13, by the imprudent abuse of Christian liberty in those who had stronger faith, and greater knowledge, and by a participation of things offered to idols, in an idol's temple, ver. 7, 10; and not of his eternal damnation in hell, which could never enter into the apostle's thoughts; since he says, ver. 8, Meat commendeth us not to God; for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. Hence we have no need to return for answer, to arguments formed on these texts; that these weak brethren, of whom it is supposed that they might perish, being under a profession of religion, men were obliged, from a judgment of charity, to believe that Christ died for them, though he might not, or that others may be said to destroy, or cause them to perish, though their destruction followed not; because they did all that in them lay towards it, and what in its own nature tended to it; and therefore we are not concerned with the replies made unto such answers, which we shall not undertake to defend. 3. This text proves, that Christ died for weak brethren, whose consciences may be defiled, wounded, and offended, through the liberty others might take, and in this sense perish; but does not prove that Christ died for any besides his sheep, his church; or those who are eventually true believers; for which the Remonstrants* cite it; for surely a brother who is truly one, though weak, is a sheep of Christ, a member of his church, and a believer; and therefore can be no instance of Christ's dying for any reprobates, and still less for all mankind. 4. Such for whom Christ died, can never finally, totally, and eternally perish; since he has, by his death, procured such blessings for them, as a justifying righteousness, pardon of sin, peace with God, reconciliation to him, and eternal salvation; which will for ever secure them from perishing. Besides, should any of them perish in * In Coll. Hag. art. ii. P. 173. this sense, his death would so far be in vain; nor could the death of Christ be thought to be a sufficient security from condemnation; whereas the apostle says, Who shall condemn? it is Christ that died: nor a full satisfaction to the justice of God; or God must be unjust to punish twice for the same faults. SECTION XXXVIII. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. 1 COR. X. 12. It is observed *, that "the apostle here speaks to the whole church at Corinth, and to such who truly thought they stood; and plainly supposes, that he who truly stood, might fall, and would do so, if he used not great diligence to keep his standing; for had not this taking heed been the condition of their standing; had they been of the number of those who, by God's decree, or promise, infallibly were assured of standing, this exhortation to take heed, must have been superfluous; since men can need no admonitions to do that which God's decree and promise secure them they cannot omit; much less to do it to prevent what cannot possibly befall them." To which I reply; 1. That the apostle does not speak these words to the whole church at Corinth; for though the epistle is in general directed to the church, yet there are several things which only respect some particular persons; as the incestuous person; such who went to law with their brethren before unbelievers; some that behaved disorderly at the Lord's table, and others that denied the resurrection of the dead, of and to whom some particular things are spoken, which did not belong to the whole church; and here the apostle exhorts, not such who truly thought they stood; for such do stand in the grace of God, in Christ, and by faith, and shall never finally and totally fall away; but such ó dokov, who seemeth to himself and others, to stand; and manifestly designs such who were swelled with a vain opinion of themselves, of their knowledge and strength, tempted God, and trusted to themselves, as the Ethiopic version reads it, and despised weak believers: now such as these may fall, as they often do, from that which they seemed to have, from the truths of the gospel, and a profession of it, and into scandalous sins, and at last, into condemnation. If it should be asked, why should the apostle concern himself about these persons, or exhort them to take heed to their standing? would it not have been as well, if they had thrown off the mask at once, and have appeared to be what they really were? I answer, that the apostacy of formal professors, is injurious both to the honour and interest of true religion; for the ways of God are evil spoken of, the name of Christ blasphemed, profane sinners hardened, and weak believers stumbled by the falls of formal professors, as of real Christians besides, it must be worse for themselves, their defection being the means of a more severe punishment: for it would have been better * Whitby, p. 428, 429; ed. 2. 417, 418. for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them*. 2. Supposing that such who truly thought they stood, true believers in Christ, are here spoken to; it will be allowed that these may fall into temptation, into snares, into sin, from a degree of steadfastness in the gospel, and from a lively and comfortable exercise of grace, but not finally, totally, and irrecoverably; since they are enclosed in the arms of everlasting love, secured in the hands of Christ, built on a foundation that will never give way, and kept by an almighty power, which can never be overcome: and though taking heed is not the condition of their standing, but that is secured unto them by the purpose and promise of God, which can never fail; yet such an exhortation is not superfluous; since though they cannot finally and totally fall, they may fall to the dishonour of God, the reproach of the gospel of Christ, the grieving of the Spirit, the wounding of their own souls, the stumbling of weak believers, and the strengthening of the hands of the wicked; all which are so many strong reasons and arguments why they should take heed lest they fall; though they can never so fall as to perish eternally: nor are the admonitions needless to that which God's decree and promise secure; since these are often the means in and by which God executes his decree, and makes good his promise; see Åcts xxvii. 22, 24, 31. To add no more, these words should never be made use of against the saints' final perseverance, since they are so closely connected with the following verse, which so fully expresses that doctrine there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. By this way we may judge of the nature, design, and use of cautions given to the saints not to fall away; which are represented† as evidences and suppositions that they may do so; such as The caution Christ gave all his disciples, in these words; Take heed unto yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, &c. Which only implies, that the apostles, like other men, were subject to infirmities, sins, snares, and temptations; and therefore caution, watchfulness, and prayer, were incumbent on them, that they might not be found in a supine, negligent, sleepy frame, when not the day of judgment, but of the destruction of Jerusalem, came on; and so they might escape the general calamity, and stand before the Son of man, and carry his gospel into the Gentile world and is no proof of the possibility or danger of their final falling away; who were chosen of Christ, given him by his Father, and so kept by him, as that none were lost, but the son of perdition. When the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews cautions the believers he writes unto, to take heed, lest there be in any of them an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God, and fall from the promised rest; and to look diligently lest any man fail of the grace Whitby, p. 429, 430; ed. 2. 418, 419. * 2 Pet. ii. 21. Luke xxi. 34, 36. of God; his design is to expose the sin of unbelief, as what bereaved the saints of much comfort, and God of much glory; every degree of it in that, being a partial, though not a total departure from God, and therefore should be watched against: and it should be observed, that he does not caution them to take heed lest they fell from the rest promised them, but lest they should seem to come short of it: which they might do and yet enjoy it: and when he exhorts them, to look diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; this is not to be understood of the grace and favour of God towards them, nor of the grace of God in them, but of the doctrines of grace which they had received; the duty enjoined them being a mutual one, in which they were éσкóñeш, to act the part of a bishop or overseer over each other. When the apostle Paul cautions the Colossians †, to beware, lest any man should beguile them with enticing words, spoil them through philosophy and vain deceit, and beguile them of their reward; he does not design a final and total seduction of them from Christ their head, in whom they were complete, ver. 10; not a destruction of grace in them, but a corruption of the doctrine of grace received by them; which might be unawares introduced by false teachers, under the specious pretences of humility and holiness. When the apostle Peter ‡ exhorts those he wrote to, to beware, lest being led away with the error of the wicked, they fall from their own steadfastness his meaning is, not as though there was danger or a possibility of falling from the like precious faith they had obtained: but that they might be in danger of falling from some degree of steadfastness in the doctrine of faith, through the ensnaring errors of wicked men ; and therefore should guard against it. Lastly. When the apostle John § saith to the children of the elect lady, Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things that we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward; it does not follow, that such who have the true grace of God, may lose those things which they have wrought; for it is not what ye, but what we, have wrought; much less lose what the Spirit of God has wrought; but the caution regards the doctrines and ministry of the apostles, lest that should be in any respect in vain ; or a veil be drawn over the glory of it, through these persons any way giving heed to the doctrines of deceivers, ver. 7, 9, 10. SECTION XXXIX. For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live, should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.-2 COR. v. 14, 15. THIS scripture || never fails to have a place in the controversy about the extent of the death of Christ. Universal redemption is concluded from hence, by the following arguments, now to be examined. * Heb. iii. 12, and iv. 1, and xii. 15. † Col. ii. 4, 8, 18. 2 Pet. iii. 17. § 2 John, ver. 8. Remonstr. in Coll. Hag. art. ii. p. 132; Curcellæus, 1. 6, c. 4, sect. 6, p. 360; Limborch, J. 4, c..3, scct. 3, 4, p. 319. |