VI. For the establishment of our confidence, there is also another confirmation of election, which, we have said, is connected with our calling. For those whom Christ illuminates with the knowledge of his name, and introduces into the bosom of his Church, he is said to receive into his charge and protection. And all whom he receives are said to be committed and intrusted to him by the Father, to be kept to eternal life. What do we wish for ourselves? Christ loudly proclaims that all whose salvation was designed by the Father, had been delivered by him into his protection.[536] If, therefore, we want to ascertain whether God is concerned for our salvation, let us inquire whether he has committed us to Christ, whom he constituted the only Saviour of all his people. Now, if we doubt whether Christ has received us into his charge and custody, he obviates this doubt, by freely offering himself as our Shepherd, and declaring that if we hear his voice, we shall be numbered among his sheep. We therefore embrace Christ, thus kindly offered to us and advancing to meet us; and he will number us with his sheep, and preserve us enclosed in his fold. But yet we feel anxiety for our future state; for as Paul declares that “whom he predestinated, them he also called,”[537] so Christ informs us that “many are called, but few chosen.”[538] Besides, Paul himself also, in another place, cautions against carelessness, saying, “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.”[539] Again: “Art thou grafted among the people of God? Be not high-minded, but fear. God is able to cut thee off again, and graft in others.”[540] Lastly, experience itself teaches us that vocation and faith are of little value, unless accompanied by perseverance, which is not the lot of all. But Christ has delivered us from this anxiety, for these promises undoubtedly belong to the future: “All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”[541] Again: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and none is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”[542] Besides, when he declares, “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up,”[543] he fully implies on the contrary, that those who are rooted in God, can never by any violence be deprived of salvation. With this corresponds that passage of John, “If they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.”[544] Hence also that magnificent exultation of Paul, in defiance of life and death, of things present and future; which must necessarily have been founded in the gift of perseverance.[545] Nor can it be doubted that he applies this sentiment to all the elect. The same apostle in another place says, “He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”[546] This also supported David when his faith was failing: “Thou wilt not forsake the work of thine own hands.”[547] Nor is it to be doubted, that when Christ intercedes for all the elect, he prays for them the same as for Peter, that their faith may never fail. Hence we conclude, that they are beyond all danger of falling away, because the intercessions of the Son of God for their perseverance in piety have not been rejected. What did Christ intend we should learn from this, but confidence in our perpetual security, since we have once been introduced into the number of his people?
VII. But it daily happens, that they who appeared to belong to Christ, fall away from him again, and sink into ruin. Even in that very place, where he asserts that none perish of those who were given to him by the Father, he excepts the son of perdition. This is true; but it is equally certain, that such persons never adhered to Christ with that confidence of heart which, we say, gives us an assurance of our election. “They went out from us,” says John, “but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.”[548] I dispute not their having similar signs of calling with the elect; but I am far from admitting them to possess that certain assurance of election which I enjoin believers to seek from the word of the gospel. Wherefore, let not such examples move us from a tranquil reliance on our Lord’s promise, where he declares, that all who receive him by faith were given him by the Father, and that since he is their Guardian and Shepherd, not one of them shall perish. Of Judas we shall speak afterwards. Paul is dissuading Christians, not from all security, but from supine, unguarded, carnal security, which is attended with pride, arrogance, and contempt of others, extinguishes humility and reverence of God, and produces forgetfulness of favours received. For he is addressing Gentiles, teaching them that the Jews should not be proudly and inhumanly insulted because they had been rejected, and the Gentiles substituted in their place. He also inculcates fear; not such a fear as produces terror and uncertainty, but such as teaches humble admiration of the grace of God, without any diminution of confidence in it; as has been elsewhere observed. Besides, he is not addressing individuals, but distinct parties generally. For as the Church was divided into two parties, and emulation gave birth to dissension, Paul admonishes the Gentiles, that their substitution in the place of the holy and peculiar people ought to be a motive to fear and modesty. There were, however, many clamorous people among them, whose empty boasting it was necessary to restrain. But we have already seen that our hope extends into futurity, even beyond the grave, and that nothing is more contrary to its nature than doubts respecting our final destiny.
VIII. The declaration of Christ, that “many are called, and few chosen,” is very improperly understood. For there will be no ambiguity in it, if we remember what must be clear from the foregoing observations, that there are two kinds of calling. For there is a universal call, by which God, in the external preaching of the word, invites all, indiscriminately, to come to him, even those to whom he intends it as a savour of death, and an occasion of heavier condemnation. There is also a special call, with which he, for the most part, favours only believers, when, by the inward illumination of his Spirit, he causes the word preached to sink into their hearts. Yet sometimes he also communicates it to those whom he only enlightens for a season, and afterwards forsakes on account of their ingratitude, and strikes with greater blindness. Now, the Lord, seeing the gospel published far and wide, held in contempt by the generality of men, and justly appreciated by few, gives us a description of God, under the character of a king, who prepares a solemn feast, and sends out his messengers in every direction, to invite a great company, but can only prevail on very few, every one alleging impediments to excuse himself; so that at length he is constrained by their refusal to bring in all who can be found in the streets. Thus far, every one sees, the parable is to be understood of the external call. He proceeds to inform us, that God acts like a good master of a feast, walking round the tables, courteously receiving his guests; but that if he finds any one not adorned with a nuptial garment, he suffers not the meanness of such a person to disgrace the festivity of the banquet. I confess, this part is to be understood of those who enter into the Church by a profession of faith, but are not invested with the sanctification of Christ. Such blemishes, and, as it were, cankers of his Church, God will not always suffer, but will cast them out of it, as their turpitude deserves. Few, therefore, are chosen out of a multitude that are called, but not with that calling by which we say believers ought to judge of their election. For the former is common also to the wicked; but the latter is attended with the Spirit of regeneration, the earnest and seal of the future inheritance, which seals our hearts to the day of the Lord.[549] In short, though hypocrites boast of piety as if they were true worshippers of God, Christ declares that he will finally cast them out of the place which they unjustly occupy. Thus the Psalmist says, “Who shall abide in thy tabernacle? He that worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.”[550] Again: “This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.”[551] And thus the Spirit exhorts believers to patience, that they may not be disturbed by Ishmaelites being united with them in the Church, since the mask will at length be torn off, and they will be cast out with disgrace.
IX. The same reasoning applies to the exception lately cited, where Christ says, that “none of them is lost, but the son of perdition.”[552] Here is, indeed, some inaccuracy of expression, but the meaning is clear. For he was never reckoned among the sheep of Christ, as being really such, but only as he occupied the place of one. When the Lord declares he was chosen by himself with the other apostles, it only refers to the ministerial office. “Have not I chosen you twelve,” says he, “and one of you is a devil?”[553] That is, he had chosen him to the office of an apostle. But when he speaks of election to salvation, he excludes him from the number of the elect: “I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen.”[554] If any one confound the term election in these passages, he will miserably embarrass himself; if he make a proper distinction, nothing is plainer. It is therefore a very erroneous and pernicious assertion of Gregory, that we are only conscious of our calling, but uncertain of our election; from which he exhorts all to fear and trembling, using also this argument, that though we know what we are to-day, yet we know not what we may be in future. But the context plainly shows the cause of his error on this point. For as he suspended election on the merit of works, this furnished abundant reason for discouragement to the minds of men: he could never establish them, for want of leading them from themselves to a confidence in the Divine goodness. Hence believers have some perception of what we stated at the beginning, that predestination, rightly considered, neither destroys nor weakens faith, but rather furnishes its best confirmation. Yet I will not deny, that the Spirit sometimes accommodates his language to the limited extent of our capacity, as when he says, “They shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel.”[555] As though God were beginning to write in the book of life those whom he numbers among his people, whereas we know from the testimony of Christ, that the names of God’s children have been written in the book of life from the beginning.[556] But these expressions only signify the rejection of those who seemed to be the chief among the elect; as the Psalmist says, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”[557]
X. Now, the elect are not gathered into the fold of Christ by calling, immediately from their birth, nor all at the same time, but according as God is pleased to dispense his grace to them. Before they are gathered to that chief Shepherd, they go astray, scattered in the common wilderness, and differing in no respect from others, except in being protected by the special mercy of God from rushing down the precipice of eternal death. If you observe them, therefore, you will see the posterity of Adam partaking of the common corruption of the whole species. That they go not to the most desperate extremes of impiety, is not owing to any innate goodness of theirs, but because the eye of God watches over them, and his hand is extended for their preservation. For those who dream of I know not what seed of election sown in their hearts from their very birth, always inclining them to piety and the fear of God, are unsupported by the authority of Scripture, and refuted by experience itself. They produce, indeed, a few examples to prove that certain elect persons were not entire strangers to religion, even before they were truly enlightened; that Paul lived blameless in his Pharisaism;[558] that Cornelius, with his alms and prayers, was accepted of God,[559] and if there are any other similar ones. What they say of Paul, we admit; but respecting Cornelius, we maintain that they are deceived; for it is evident, he was then enlightened and regenerated, and wanted nothing but a clear revelation of the gospel. But what will they extort from these very few examples? that the elect have always been endued with the spirit of piety? This is just as if any one, having proved the integrity of Aristides, Socrates, Xenocrates, Scipio, Curius, Camillus, and other heathens, should conclude from this, that all who were left in the darkness of idolatry, were followers of holiness and virtue. But this is contradicted in many passages of Scripture. Paul’s description of the state of the Ephesians prior to regeneration, exhibits not a grain of this seed. “Ye were dead,” he says, “in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”[560] Again: “Remember that at that time ye were without hope, and without God in the world.”[561] Again: “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord; walk as children of light.”[562] But perhaps they will plead, that these passages refer to that ignorance of the true God, in which they acknowledge the elect to be involved previously to their calling. Though this would be an impudent cavil, since the apostle’s inferences from them are such as these: “Put away lying; and let him that stole, steal no more.”[563] But what will they reply to other passages? such as that where, after declaring to the Corinthians, that “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God;” he immediately adds, “And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”[564] And another passage, addressed to the Romans: “As ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?”[565]
XI. What kind of seed of election was springing up in them, who were all their lives contaminated with various pollutions, and with desperate wickedness wallowed in the most nefarious and execrable of all crimes? If he had intended to speak according to these teachers, he ought to have shown how much they were obliged to the goodness of God, which had preserved them from falling into such great pollutions. So likewise the persons whom Peter addressed, he ought to have exhorted to gratitude on account of the perpetual seed of election. But, on the contrary, he admonishes them, “that the time past may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles.”[566] What if we come to particular examples? What principle of righteousness was there in Rahab the harlot before faith?[567] in Manasseh, when Jerusalem was dyed, and almost drowned, with the blood of the prophets?[568] in the thief, who repented in his dying moments?[569] Away, then, with these arguments, which men of presumptuous curiosity raise to themselves without regarding the Scripture. Let us rather abide by the declaration of the Scripture, that “all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,”[570] that is, destruction. Those whom the Lord has determined to rescue from this gulf of perdition, he defers till his appointed season; before which he only preserves them from falling into unpardonable blasphemy.
XII. As the Lord, by his effectual calling of the elect, completes the salvation to which he predestinated them in his eternal counsel, so he has his judgments against the reprobate, by which he executes his counsel respecting them. Those, therefore, whom he has created to a life of shame and a death of destruction, that they might be instruments of his wrath, and examples of his severity, he causes to reach their appointed end, sometimes depriving them of the opportunity of hearing the word, sometimes, by the preaching of it, increasing their blindness and stupidity. Of the former there are innumerable examples: let us only select one that is more evident and remarkable than the rest. Before the advent of Christ, there passed about four thousand years, in which the Lord concealed the light of the doctrine of salvation from all the Gentiles. If it be replied, that he withheld from them the participation of so great a blessing because he esteemed them unworthy, their posterity will be found equally unworthy of it. The truth of this, to say nothing of experience, is sufficiently attested by Malachi, who follows his reproofs of unbelief and gross blasphemies by an immediate prediction of the coming of the Messiah. Why, then, is he given to the posterity rather than to their ancestors? He will torment himself in vain, who seeks for any cause of this beyond the secret and inscrutable counsel of God. Nor need we be afraid lest any disciple of Porphyry should be imboldened to calumniate the justice of God by our silence in its defence. For while we assert that all deserve to perish, and it is of God’s free goodness that any are saved, enough is said for the illustration of his glory, so that every subterfuge of ours is altogether unnecessary. The supreme Lord, therefore, by depriving of the communication of his light, and leaving in darkness, those whom he has reprobated, makes way for the accomplishment of his predestination. Of the second class, the Scriptures contain many examples, and others present themselves every day. The same sermon is addressed to a hundred persons; twenty receive it with the obedience of faith; the others despise, or ridicule, or reject, or condemn it. If it be replied, that the difference proceeds from their wickedness and perverseness, this will afford no satisfaction; because the minds of others would have been influenced by the same wickedness, but for the correction of Divine goodness. And thus we shall always be perplexed, unless we recur to Paul’s question—“Who maketh thee to differ?”[571] In which he signifies, that the excellence of some men beyond others, is not from their own virtue, but solely from Divine grace.
XIII. Why, then, in bestowing grace upon some, does he pass over others? Luke assigns a reason for the former, that they “were ordained to eternal life.” What conclusion, then, shall we draw respecting the latter, but that they are vessels of wrath to dishonour? Wherefore let us not hesitate to say with Augustine, “God could convert to good the will of the wicked, because he is omnipotent. It is evident that he could. Why, then, does he not? Because he would not. Why he would not, remains with himself.” For we ought not to aim at more wisdom than becomes us. That will be much better than adopting the evasion of Chrysostom, “that he draws those who are willing, and who stretch out their hands for his aid;” that the difference may not appear to consist in the decree of God, but wholly in the will of man. But an approach to him is so far from being a mere effort of man, that even pious persons, and such as fear God, still stand in need of the peculiar impulse of the Spirit. Lydia, the seller of purple, feared God, and yet it was necessary that her heart should be opened, to attend to, and profit by, the doctrine of Paul. This declaration is not made respecting a single female, but in order to teach us that every one’s advancement in piety is the secret work of the Spirit. It is a fact not to be doubted, that God sends his word to many whose blindness he determines shall be increased. For with what design does he direct so many commands to be delivered to Pharaoh? Was it from an expectation that his heart would be softened by repeated and frequent messages? Before he began, he knew and foretold the result. He commanded Moses to go and declare his will to Pharaoh, adding at the same time, “But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.”[572] So, when he calls forth Ezekiel, he apprizes him that he is sending him to a rebellious and obstinate people, that he may not be alarmed if they refuse to hear him.[573] So Jeremiah foretells that his word will be like fire, to scatter and destroy the people like stubble.[574] But the prophecy of Isaiah furnishes a still stronger confirmation; for this is his mission from the Lord: “Go and tell this people, Hear ye, indeed, but understand not, and see ye, indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”[575] Observe, he directs his voice to them, but it is that they may become more deaf; he kindles a light, but it is that they may be made more blind; he publishes his doctrine, but it is that they may be more besotted; he applies a remedy, but it is that they may not be healed. John, citing this prophecy, declares that the Jews could not believe, because this curse of God was upon them.[576] Nor can it be disputed, that to such persons as God determines not to enlighten, he delivers his doctrine involved in enigmatical obscurity, that its only effect may be to increase their stupidity. For Christ testifies that he confined to his apostles the explanations of the parables in which he had addressed the multitude; “because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.”[577] What does the Lord mean, you will say, by teaching those by whom he takes care not to be understood? Consider whence the fault arises, and you will cease the inquiry; for whatever obscurity there is in the word, yet there is always light enough to convince the consciences of the wicked.
XIV. It remains now to be seen why the Lord does that which it is evident he does. If it be replied, that this is done because men have deserved it by their impiety, wickedness, and ingratitude, it will be a just and true observation; but as we have not yet discovered the reason of this diversity, why some persist in obduracy while others are inclined to obedience, the discussion of it will necessarily lead us to the same remark that Paul has quoted from Moses concerning Pharaoh: “Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”[578] That the reprobate obey not the word of God, when made known to them, is justly imputed to the wickedness and depravity of their hearts, provided it be at the same time stated, that they are abandoned to this depravity, because they have been raised up, by a just but inscrutable judgment of God, to display his glory in their condemnation. So, when it is related of the sons of Eli, that they listened not to his salutary admonitions, “because the Lord would slay them,”[579] it is not denied that their obstinacy proceeded from their own wickedness, but it is plainly implied that though the Lord was able to soften their hearts, yet they were left in their obstinacy, because his immutable decree had predestinated them to destruction. To the same purpose is that passage of John, “Though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, ‘Lord, who hath believed our report?’”[580] For though he does not acquit the obstinate from the charge of guilt, yet he satisfies himself with this reason, that the grace of God has no charms for men till the Holy Spirit gives them a taste for it. And Christ cites the prophecy of Isaiah, “They shall be all taught of God,”[581] with no other design than to show, that the Jews are reprobate and strangers to the Church, because they are destitute of docility; and he adduces no other reason for it than that the promise of God does not belong to them; which is confirmed by that passage of Paul, where “Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness,” is said to be “unto them which are called, the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”[582] For, after remarking what generally happens whenever the gospel is preached, that it exasperates some, and is despised by others, he represents it as duly appreciated only by “those who are called.” A little before he had mentioned “them that believe;” not that he had an intention to deny its proper place to the grace of God, which precedes faith, but he seems to add this second description by way of correction, in order that those who had received the gospel might ascribe the praise of their faith to the Divine call. And so, likewise, in a subsequent sentence, he represents them as the objects of Divine election. When the impious hear these things, they loudly complain that God, by a wanton exercise of power, abuses his wretched creatures for the sport of his cruelty. But we, who know that all men are liable to so many charges at the Divine tribunal, that of a thousand questions they would be unable to give a satisfactory answer to one, confess that the reprobate suffer nothing but what is consistent with the most righteous judgment of God. Though we cannot comprehend the reason of this, let us be content with some degree of ignorance where the wisdom of God soars into its own sublimity.
XV. But as objections are frequently raised from some passages of Scripture, in which God seems to deny that the destruction of the wicked is caused by his decree, but that, in opposition to his remonstrances, they voluntarily bring ruin upon themselves,—let us show by a brief explication that they are not at all inconsistent with the foregoing doctrine. A passage is produced from Ezekiel, where God says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”[583] If this is to be extended to all mankind, why does he not urge many to repentance, whose minds are more flexible to obedience than those of others, who grow more and more callous to his daily invitations? Among the inhabitants of Nineveh and Sodom, Christ himself declares that his evangelical preaching and miracles would have brought forth more fruit than in Judea. How is it, then, if God will have all men to be saved, that he opens not the gate of repentance to those miserable men who would be more ready to receive the favour? Hence we perceive it to be a violent perversion of the passage, if the will of God, mentioned by the prophet, be set in opposition to his eternal counsel, by which he has distinguished the elect from the reprobate. Now, if we inquire the genuine sense of the prophet, his only meaning is to inspire the penitent with hopes of pardon. And this is the sum, that it is beyond a doubt that God is ready to pardon sinners immediately on their conversion. Therefore he wills not their death, inasmuch as he wills their repentance. But experience teaches, that he does not will the repentance of those whom he externally calls, in such a manner as to affect all their hearts. Nor should he on this account be charged with acting deceitfully; for, though his external call only renders those who hear without obeying it inexcusable, yet it is justly esteemed the testimony of God’s grace, by which he reconciles men to himself. Let us observe, therefore, the design of the prophet in saying that God has no pleasure in the death of a sinner; it is to assure the pious of God’s readiness to pardon them immediately on their repentance, and to show the impious the aggravation of their sin in rejecting such great compassion and kindness of God. Repentance, therefore, will always be met by Divine mercy; but on whom repentance is bestowed, we are clearly taught by Ezekiel himself, as well as by all the prophets and apostles.
XVI. Another passage adduced is from Paul, where he states that “God will have all men to be saved;”[584] which, though somewhat different from the passage just considered, yet is very similar to it. I reply, in the first place, that it is evident from the context, how God wills the salvation of all; for Paul connects these two things together, that he “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” If it was fixed in the eternal counsel of God, that they should receive the doctrine of salvation, what is the meaning of that question of Moses, “What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them as we have?”[585] How is it that God has deprived many nations of the light of the gospel, which others enjoyed? How is it that the pure knowledge of the doctrine of piety has never reached some, and that others have but just heard some obscure rudiments of it? Hence it will be easy to discover the design of Paul. He had enjoined Timothy to make solemn prayers in the Church for kings and princes; but as it might seem somewhat inconsistent to pray to God for a class of men almost past hope,—for they were not only strangers to the body of Christ, but striving with all their power to ruin his kingdom,—he subjoins, that “this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, who will have all men to be saved;” which only imports, that God has not closed the way of salvation against any order of men, but has diffused his mercy in such a manner that he would have no rank to be destitute of it. The other texts adduced are not declarative of the Lord’s determination respecting all men in his secret counsel: they only proclaim that pardon is ready for all sinners who sincerely seek it.[586] For if they obstinately insist on its being said that God is merciful to all, I will oppose to them, what is elsewhere asserted, that “our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”[587] This text, then, must be explained in a manner consistent with another, where God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”[588] He who makes a selection of objects for the exercise of his mercy, does not impart that mercy to all. But as it clearly appears that Paul is there speaking, not of individuals, but orders of men, I shall forbear any further argument. It must be remarked, however, that Paul is not declaring the actual conduct of God at all times, in all places, and to all persons, but merely representing him as at liberty to make kings and magistrates at length partakers of the heavenly doctrine, notwithstanding their present rage against it in consequence of their blindness. There is more apparent plausibility in their objection, from the declaration of Peter, that “the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”[589] But the second clause furnishes an immediate solution of this difficulty; for the willingness that they should come to repentance must be understood in consistence with the general tenor of Scripture. Conversion is certainly in the power of God; let him be asked, whether he wills the conversion of all, when he promises a few individuals to give them “a heart of flesh,” while he leaves others with “a heart of stone.”[590] If he were not ready to receive those who implore his mercy, there would indeed be no propriety in this address, “Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you;”[591] but I maintain that no mortal ever approaches God without being divinely drawn. But if repentance depended on the will of man, Paul would not have said, “If God peradventure will give them repentance.”[592] And if God, whose voice exhorts all men to repentance, did not draw the elect to it by the secret operation of his Spirit, Jeremiah would not have said, “Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented.”[593]
XVII. If this be correct, it will be said there can be but little faith in the promises of the gospel, which, in declaring the will of God, assert that he wills what is repugnant to his inviolable decree. But this is far from a just conclusion. For if we turn our attention to the effect of the promises of salvation, we shall find that their universality is not at all inconsistent with the predestination of the reprobate. We know the promises to be effectual to us only when we receive them by faith; on the contrary, the annihilation of faith is at once an abolition of the promises. If this is their nature, we may perceive that there is no discordance between these two things—God’s having appointed from eternity on whom he will bestow his favour and exercise his wrath, and his proclaiming salvation indiscriminately to all. Indeed, I maintain that there is the most perfect harmony between them. For his sole design in thus promising, is to offer his mercy to all who desire and seek it, which none do but those whom he has enlightened, and he enlightens all whom he has predestinated to salvation. These persons experience the certain and unshaken truth of the promises; so that it cannot be pretended that there is the least contrariety between God’s eternal election and the testimony of his grace offered to believers. But why does he mention all? It is in order that the consciences of the pious may enjoy the more secure satisfaction, seeing that there is no difference between sinners, provided they have faith; and, on the other hand, that the impious may not plead the want of an asylum to flee to from the bondage of sin, while they ungratefully reject that which is offered to them. When the mercy of God is offered to both by the gospel, it is faith, that is, the illumination of God, which distinguishes between the pious and impious; so that the former experience the efficacy of the gospel, but the latter derive no benefit from it. Now, this illumination is regulated by God’s eternal election. The complaint and lamentation of Christ, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, and ye would not,”[594] however they cite it, affords them no support. I confess, that Christ here speaks not merely in his human character, but that he is upbraiding the Jews for having in all ages rejected his grace. But we must define the will of God which is here intended. It is well known how sedulously God laboured to preserve that people to himself, and with what extreme obstinacy, from the first to the last, they refused to be gathered, being abandoned to their own wandering desires; but this does not authorize the conclusion, that the counsel of God was frustrated by the wickedness of men. They object, that nothing is more inconsistent with the nature of God than to have two wills. This I grant them, provided it be rightly explained. But why do they not consider the numerous passages, where, by the assumption of human affections, God condescends beneath his own majesty? He says, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people;”[595] early and late endeavouring to bring them to himself. If they are determined to accommodate all this to God, and disregard the figurative mode of expression, they will give rise to many needless contentions, which may be settled by this one solution, that what is peculiar to man is transferred to God. The solution, however, elsewhere stated by us, is fully sufficient—that though to our apprehension the will of God is manifold and various, yet he does not in himself will things at variance with each other, but astonishes our faculties with his various and “manifold wisdom,” according to the expression of Paul, till we shall be enabled to understand, that he mysteriously wills what now seems contrary to his will. They impertinently object, that God being the Father of all, it is unjust for him to disinherit any but such as have previously deserved this punishment by their own guilt. As if the goodness of God did not extend even to dogs and swine. But if the question relates to the human race, let them answer why God allied himself to one people as their Father; why he gathered even from them but a very small number, as the flower of them. But their rage for slander prevents these railers from considering that God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,”[596] but that the inheritance is reserved for the few, to whom it shall one day be said, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”[597] They further object, that God hates nothing he has made; which though I grant them, the doctrine I maintain still remains unshaken, that the reprobate are hated by God, and that most justly, because, being destitute of his Spirit, they can do nothing but what is deserving of his curse. They further allege, that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile, and therefore that the grace of God is offered indiscriminately to all: I grant it; only let them admit, according to the declaration of Paul, that God calls whom he pleases, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles,[598] so that he is under no obligation to any. In this way also we answer their arguments from another text, which says, that “God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all;”[599] which imports that he will have the salvation of all who are saved ascribed to his mercy, though this blessing is not common to all. Now, while many arguments are advanced on both sides, let our conclusion be to stand astonished with Paul at so great a mystery, and amidst the clamour of petulant tongues let us not be ashamed of exclaiming with him, “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” For, as Augustine justly contends, it is acting a most perverse part, to set up the measure of human justice as the standard by which to measure the justice of God.
Though Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, after having “abolished death,” is declared by Paul to have “brought life and immortality to light,” shining upon us “through the gospel,”[600] whence also in believing we are said to have “passed from death unto life,”[601] being “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,”[602] who “hath made us sit together in heavenly places” with his only begotten Son,[603] that nothing may be wanting to our complete felicity,—yet, lest we should find it grievous to be still exercised with a severe warfare, as though we derived no benefit from the victory gained by Christ, we must remember what is stated in another place concerning the nature of hope. For “since we hope for that we see not,”[604] and, according to another text, “faith is the evidence of things not seen;”[605] as long as we are confined in the prison of the flesh, “we are absent from the Lord.”[606] Wherefore the same apostle says, “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God;” and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”[607] This, then, is our condition, “that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”[608] Here we have need of more than common patience, lest, being wearied, we pursue a retrograde course, or desert the station assigned us. All that has hitherto been stated, therefore, concerning our salvation, requires minds elevated towards heaven, that, according to the suggestion of Peter, we may love Christ, whom we have not seen, and, believing in him, may “rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,” till we receive “the end of our faith.”[609] For which reason, Paul represents the faith and hope of believers as having respect to “the hope that is laid up in heaven.”[610] When we are thus looking towards heaven, with our eyes fixed upon Christ, and nothing detains them on earth from carrying us forward to the promised blessedness, we realize the fulfilment of that declaration, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”[611] Hence it is, that faith is so scarce in the world; because to our sluggishness nothing is more difficult than to ascend through innumerable obstacles, “pressing toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling.”[612] To the accumulation of miseries which generally oppress us, are added the mockeries of the profane, with which our simplicity is assailed; while voluntarily renouncing the allurements of present advantage or pleasure, we seem to pursue happiness, which is concealed from our view, like a shadow that continually eludes our grasp. In a word, above and below, before and behind, we are beset by violent temptations, which our minds would long ago have been incapable of sustaining, if they had not been detached from terrestrial things, and attached to the heavenly life, which is apparently at a remote distance. He alone, therefore, has made a solid proficiency in the gospel who has been accustomed to continual meditation on the blessed resurrection.
II. The supreme good was a subject of anxious dispute, and even contention, among the ancient philosophers; yet none of them, except Plato, acknowledged the chief good of man to consist in his union with God. But of the nature of this union he had not even the smallest idea; and no wonder, for he was totally uninformed respecting the sacred bond of it. We know what is the only and perfect happiness even in this earthly pilgrimage; but it daily inflames our hearts with increasing desires after it, till we shall be satisfied with its full fruition. Therefore I have observed that the advantage of Christ’s benefits is solely enjoyed by those who elevate their minds to the resurrection. Thus Paul also sets before believers this object, towards which he tells us he directs all his own efforts, forgetting every thing else, “if by any means he may attain unto it.”[613] And it behoves us to press forward to the same point with the greater alacrity, lest, if this world engross our attention, we should be grievously punished for our sloth. He therefore characterizes believers by this mark, “Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour.”[614] And that their minds may not flag in this course, he associates with them all creatures as their companions. For as ruin and deformity are visible on every side, he tells us that all things in heaven and earth are tending to renovation. For the fall of Adam having deranged the perfect order of nature, the bondage to which the creatures have been subjected by the sin of man is grievous and burdensome to them; not that they are endued with any intelligence, but because they naturally aspire to the state of perfection from which they have fallen. Paul therefore attributes to them groaning and travailing pains,[615] that we who have received the first-fruits of the Spirit may be ashamed of remaining in our corruption, and not imitating at least the inanimate elements which bear the punishment of the sin of others. But as a still stronger stimulus to us, he calls the second advent of Christ “our redemption.” It is true, indeed, that all the parts of our redemption are already completed; but because “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”[616] Whatever calamities oppress us, this redemption should support us even till its full consummation.
III. Let the importance of the object sharpen our pursuit. Paul justly argues, that “if there be no resurrection of the dead,” the whole gospel is vain and fallacious; for we should be “of all men the most miserable,” being exposed to the hatred and reproaches of mankind, “standing in jeopardy every hour,”[617] and being even like sheep destined to the slaughter; and therefore its authority would fall to the ground not in one point only, but in every thing it contains relating to adoption and the accomplishment of our salvation. To this subject, the most important of all, let us give an attention never to be wearied by length of time. With this view I have deferred what I shall briefly say of it to this place, that the reader, after receiving Christ as the Author of complete salvation, may learn to soar higher, and may know that he is invested with heavenly glory and immortality, in order that the whole body may be conformed to the Head; as in his person the Holy Spirit frequently gives an example of the resurrection. It is a thing difficult to be believed, that bodies, after having been consumed by corruption, shall at length, at the appointed time, be raised again. Therefore, while many of the philosophers asserted the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body was admitted by few. And though this furnishes no excuse, yet it admonishes us that this truth is too difficult to command the assent of the human mind. To enable faith to surmount so great an obstacle, the Scripture supplies us with two assistances: one consists in the similitude of Christ, the other in the omnipotence of God. Now, whenever the resurrection is mentioned, let us set before us the image of Christ, who, in our nature, which he assumed, finished his course in this mortal life in such a manner, that, having now obtained immortality, he is the pledge of future resurrection to us. For in the afflictions that befall us, “we bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”[618] And to separate him from us, is not lawful, nor indeed possible, without rending him asunder. Hence the reasoning of Paul: “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen;”[619] for he assumes this as an acknowledged principle, that Christ neither fell under the power of death, nor triumphed over it in his resurrection, for himself as a private individual; but that all this was a commencement in the Head of what must be fulfilled in all the members, according to every one’s order and degree. For it would not be right, indeed, for them to be in all respects equal to him. It is said in the Psalms, “Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”[620] Though a portion of this confidence belongs to us, according to the measure bestowed upon us, yet the perfect accomplishment has been seen in Christ alone, who had his body restored to him entire, free from all corruption. Now that we may have no doubt of our fellowship with Christ in his blessed resurrection, and may be satisfied with this pledge, Paul expressly affirms that the design of his session in heaven, and his advent in the character of Judge at the last day, is to “change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”[621] In another place also, he shows that God raised his Son from the dead, not in order to display a single specimen of his power, but to exert on believers the same energy of his Spirit, whom he therefore calls “our life” while he dwells in us, because he was given for this very purpose, “to quicken our mortal bodies.”[622] I am but briefly glancing at things which would admit of a fuller discussion, and are deserving of more elegance of style; but I trust the pious reader will find in a small compass sufficient matter for the edification of his faith. Christ, therefore, rose again, that we might be the companions of his future life. He was raised by the Father, inasmuch as he was the Head of the church, from which he does not suffer him to be separated. He was raised by the power of the Spirit, who is given to us also for the purpose of quickening us. In a word, he was raised that he might be “the resurrection and the life.” But as we have observed that this mirror exhibits to us a lively image of our resurrection, so it will furnish a firm foundation for our minds to rest upon, provided we are not wearied or disturbed by the long delay; because it is not ours to measure the moments of time by our own inclination, but to wait patiently for God’s establishment of his kingdom in his own appointed time. To this purpose is the expression of Paul, “Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”[623] But that no doubt might be entertained of the resurrection of Christ, on which the resurrection of us all is founded, we see in how many and various ways he has caused it to be attested to us. Scorners will ridicule the history narrated by the evangelists, as a childish mockery. For what weight, they ask, is there in the message brought by some women in a fright, and afterwards confirmed by the disciples half dead with fear? Why does not Christ rather set up the splendid trophies of his victory in the midst of the temple and the public places? Why does he not make a formidable entrance into the presence of Pilate? Why does he not prove himself to be again alive, to the priests and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem? Profane men will scarcely believe the persons selected by him to be competent witnesses. I reply, notwithstanding the contemptible weakness evident in these beginnings, yet all this was conducted by the admirable providence of God, that they who were lately dispirited with fear, were hurried away to the sepulchre, partly by love to Christ and pious zeal, partly by their own unbelief, not only to be eye-witnesses of the fact, but to hear from the angels the same as they saw with their eyes. How can we suspect the authority of those who considered what they heard from the women “as idle tales,” till they had the fact clearly before them?[624] As to the people at large, and the governor himself, it is no wonder that after the ample conviction they had, they were denied a sight of Christ, or any other proofs. The sepulchre is sealed, a watch is set, the body is not found on the third day. The soldiers, corrupted by bribes, circulate a rumour that he was stolen away by his disciples;[625] as if they had power to collect a strong force, or were furnished with arms, or were even accustomed to such a daring exploit. But if the soldiers had not courage enough to repulse them, why did they not pursue them, that with the assistance of the people they might seize some of them? The truth is, therefore, that Pilate by his zeal attested the resurrection of Christ; and the guards who were placed at the sepulchre, either by their silence or by their falsehood, were in reality so many heralds to publish the same fact. In the mean time, the voice of the angels loudly proclaimed, “He is not here, but is risen.”[626] Their celestial splendour evidently showed them to be angels, and not men. After this, if there was any doubt still remaining, it was removed by Christ himself. More than once, his disciples saw, and even felt and handled him; and their unbelief has eminently contributed to the confirmation of our faith. He discoursed among them concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and at length they saw him ascend to heaven.[627] Nor was this spectacle exhibited only to the eleven apostles, but “he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once.”[628] By the mission of the Holy Spirit he gave an undeniable proof, not only of his life, but also of his sovereign dominion; according to his prediction, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”[629] Paul, in his way to Damascus, was not prostrated to the ground by the influence of a dead man, but felt that the person whom he was opposing was armed with supreme power. He appeared to Stephen for another reason—to overcome the fear of death by an assurance of life.[630] To refuse credit to testimonies so numerous and authentic, is not diffidence, but perverse and unreasonable obstinacy.
IV. The remark we have made, that in proving the resurrection, our minds should be directed to the infinite power of God, is briefly suggested in these words of Paul: “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”[631] It would therefore be extremely unreasonable here, to consider what could possibly happen in the ordinary course of nature, when the object proposed to us is an inestimable miracle, the magnitude of which absorbs all our faculties. Yet Paul adduces an example from nature to reprove the folly of those who deny the resurrection. “Thou fool,” says he, “that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die.”[632] He tells us that seed sown displays an image of the resurrection, because the corn is reproduced from putrefaction. Nor would it be a thing so difficult to believe, if we paid proper attention to the miracles which present themselves to our view in all parts of the world. But let us remember, that no man will be truly persuaded of the future resurrection, but he who is filled with admiration, and ascribes to the power of God the glory that is due to it. Transported with this confidence, Isaiah exclaims, “Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise; awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust.”[633] Surrounded by desperate circumstances, he has recourse to God, the Author of life, unto whom, as the Psalmist says, “belong the issues from death.”[634] Even reduced to a state resembling a dead carcass more than a living man, yet relying on the power of God, just as if he were in perfect health, Job looks forward without any doubts to that day. “I know,” says he, “that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth,” there to display his power; “and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and not another.”[635] For though some persons employ great subtilty to pervert these texts, as if they ought not to be understood of the resurrection, they nevertheless confirm what they wish to destroy; since holy men, in the midst of calamities, seek consolation from no other quarter than from the similitude of the resurrection; which more fully appears from a passage in Ezekiel.[636] For when the Jews rejected the promise of their restoration, and objected, that there was no more probability of a way being opened for their return, than of the dead coming forth from their sepulchres, a vision is presented to the prophet, of a field full of dry bones, and God commands them to receive flesh and nerves. Though this figure is intended to inspire the people with a hope of restoration, he borrows the argument for it from the resurrection; as it is to us also the principal model of all the deliverances which believers experience in this world. So Christ, after having declared that the voice of the gospel communicates life, in consequence of its rejection by the Jews, immediately adds, “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.”[637] After the example of Paul, therefore, let us even now triumphantly exult in the midst of our conflicts, that he who has promised us a life to come “is able to keep that which we have committed to him;” and thus let us glory that “there is laid up for us a crown of righteousness, which the righteous Judge shall give us.”[638] The consequence of this will be, that all the troubles we suffer will point us to the life to come, “seeing it is a righteous thing with God,” and agreeable to his nature, “to recompense tribulation to them that trouble us, and to us who are” unjustly “troubled, rest, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed, with his mighty angels, in flaming fire.”[639] But we must remember what immediately follows, that “he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe,” because they believe the gospel.
V. Now, though the minds of men ought to be continually occupied with the study of this subject, yet as if they expressly intended to abolish all remembrance of the resurrection, they have called death the end of all things, and the destruction of man. For Solomon certainly speaks according to a common and received opinion, when he says, “A living dog is better than a dead lion.”[640] And again: “Who knows whether the spirit of man goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast goeth downward?”[641] This brutish stupidity has infected all ages of the world, and even forced its way into the Church; for the Sadducees had the audacity publicly to profess, that there is no resurrection, and that souls are mortal. But that none might be excused by this gross ignorance, the very instinct of nature has always set before the eyes of unbelievers an image of the resurrection. For what is the sacred and inviolable custom of interring the dead, but a pledge of another life? Nor can it be objected that this originated in error; for the rites of sepulture were always observed among the holy fathers; and it pleased God that the same custom should be retained among the Gentiles, that their torpor might be roused by the image of the resurrection thereby set before them. Though this ceremony produced no good effects upon them, yet it will be useful to us, if we wisely consider its tendency; for it is no slight refutation of unbelief, that all united in professing a thing that none of them believed. But Satan has not only stupefied men’s minds, to make them bury the memory of the resurrection together with the bodies of the dead, but has endeavoured to corrupt this point of doctrine by various fictions, with an ultimate view to its total subversion. Not to mention that he began to oppose it in the days of Paul, not long after arose the Millenarians, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years. Their fiction is too puerile to require or deserve refutation. Nor does the Revelation, which they quote in favour of their error, afford them any support; for the term of a thousand years, there mentioned,[642] refers not to the eternal blessedness of the Church, but to the various agitations which awaited the Church in its militant state upon earth. But the whole Scripture proclaims that there will be no end of the happiness of the elect, or the punishment of the reprobate. Now, all those things which are invisible to our eyes, or far above the comprehension of our minds, must either be believed on the authority of the oracles of God, or entirely rejected. Those who assign the children of God a thousand years to enjoy the inheritance of the future life, little think what dishonour they cast on Christ and his kingdom. For if they are not invested with immortality, neither is Christ himself, into the likeness of whose glory they will be transformed, received up into immortal glory. If their happiness will have any end, it follows that the kingdom of Christ, on the stability of which it rests, is temporary. Lastly, either these persons are extremely ignorant of all Divine things, or they are striving, with malignant perverseness, to overturn all the grace of God and power of Christ; and these can never be perfectly fulfilled till sin is abolished, and death swallowed up, and eternal life completely established. But the folly of being afraid that too much cruelty is attributed to God, if the reprobate are doomed to eternal punishment, is even evident to the blind. Will the Lord do any injury by refusing the enjoyment of his kingdom to persons whose ingratitude shall have rendered them unworthy of it? But their sins are temporary. This I grant; but the majesty of God, as well as his justice, which their sins have violated, is eternal. Their iniquity, therefore, is justly remembered. Then the punishment is alleged to be excessive, being disproportioned to the crime. But this is intolerable blasphemy, when the majesty of God is so little valued, when the contempt of it is considered of no more consequence than the destruction of one soul. But let us pass by these triflers; lest, contrary to what we have before said, we should appear to consider their reveries as worthy of refutation.
VI. Beside these wild notions, the perverse curiosity of man has introduced two others. Some have supposed that the whole man dies, and that souls are raised again together with bodies; others, admitting the immortality of souls, suppose they will be clothed with new bodies, and thereby deny the resurrection of the flesh. As I have touched on the former of these notions in the creation of man, it will be sufficient again to apprize my readers, that it is a brutish error, to represent the spirit, formed after the image of God, as a fleeting breath which animates the body only during this perishable life, and to annihilate the temple of the Holy Spirit; in short, to despoil that part of us in which Divinity is eminently displayed, and the characters of immortality are conspicuous, of this property; so that the condition of the body must be better and more excellent than that of the soul. Very different is the doctrine of Scripture, which compares the body to a habitation, from which we depart at death; because it estimates us by that part of our nature which constitutes the distinction between us and the brutes. Thus Peter, when near his death, says, “Shortly I must put off this my tabernacle.”[643] And Paul, speaking of believers, having said that “if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building in the heavens,” adds that “whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”[644] Unless our souls survive our bodies, what is it that is present with God when separated from the body? But the apostle removes all doubt when he says that we are “come to the spirits of just men made perfect.”[645] By which expression he means, that we are associated with the holy fathers, who, though dead, still maintain the same piety with us, so that we cannot be members of Christ without being united with them. If souls separated from bodies did not retain their existence so as to be capable of glory and felicity, Christ would not have said to the thief, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”[646] Supported by such undeniable testimonies, let us not hesitate, after the example of Christ, when we die, to commend our spirits to God; or, like Stephen, to resign them to the care of Christ, who is justly called the faithful “Shepherd and Bishop of souls.” Over-curious inquiry respecting their intermediate state is neither lawful nor useful. Many persons exceedingly perplex themselves by discussing what place they occupy, and whether they already enjoy the glory of heaven, or not. But it is folly and presumption to push our inquiries on unknown things beyond what God permits us to know. The Scripture declares that Christ is present with them, and receives them into paradise, where they enjoy consolation, and that the souls of the reprobate endure the torments which they have deserved; but it proceeds no further. Now, what teacher or doctor shall discover to us that which God has concealed? The question respecting place is equally senseless and futile; because we know that the soul has no dimensions like the body. The blessed assemblage of holy spirits being called the bosom of Abraham, teaches us that it is enough for us, at the close of this pilgrimage, to be received by the common Father of believers, and to participate with him in the fruit of his faith. In the mean while, as the Scripture uniformly commands us to look forward with eager expectation to the coming of Christ, and defers the crown of glory which awaits us till that period, let us be content within these limits which God prescribes to us—that the souls of pious men, after finishing their laborious warfare, depart into a state of blessed rest, where they wait with joy and pleasure for the fruition of the promised glory; and so, that all things remain in suspense till Christ appears as the Redeemer. And there is no doubt that the condition of the reprobate is the same as Jude assigns to the devils, who are confined and bound in chains till they are brought forth to the punishment to which they are doomed.