THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT
IN ITS
RELATION TO GOD AND THE UNIVERSE.
By the
REV. THOMAS W. JENKYN, D.
D. Including Sections 1 and 2 ON THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO
THE CHURCH. THE DESIGNS OF THE ATONEMENT TO BE
INFALLIBLY SECURED IN CERTAIN
INSTANCES. THE designs of the atonement in reference to mankind have
already been secured in numerous instances; and we are
informed by the Scriptures that there shall be such
instances of its success, in every age of the world. The
persons in whom the success of the atonement is instanced,
form what is called, the CHURCH Of Christ. These instances
are not matters of chance,--they are the result of definite
purpose, and of an adjusted plan settled in eternity. God
will direct that the workings of the great principles of the
atonement shall infallibly issue in the personal salvation
of multitude which no man can number, so that "the faith of
God shall not become of none effect." He is a theologian of no mean temerity who will meet this
statement with a negative. It would be, in fact, to say that
the designs of the atonement come to pass at random.
Hitherto the doctrine of this statement has been combated
only by a liberal use of the ample and furbished arguments
about the free agency of man; but in the heat of conflict,
and the din of battle, it has been forgotten that God is a
FREE agent, as well as man. Besides, in the smoke and dust
of polemics, these arguments have been brandished as if man
would always use his free agency well, if he were left to
it; and God could never use His free agency without
infringing on the rights of man. A theological system,
founded upon the hypothesis, that if God will ever exercise
his free agency he is sure to exercise it wrong; or, that if
he does what he wills with his own he is sure to injure some
persons, is one that should make its defenders to examine
more minutely its foundations, and to take heed to the
towers thereof. The "certain instances" in which the designs of the
atonement shall be secured, mean, special cases of definite
persons. It is meant that personal election in purpose shall
certainly issue in actual election to personal salvation. If
the reader would rather have the statement, that they who
were personally foreknown as Believers shall be personally
called and glorified. I can have no objection to it; for
"whom God did foreknow, them he also predestinated, and whom
he predestinated them be also called." To cut off the link
of predestination, will not make the links of foreknowledge
and calling fit better into each other, nor will it thus
make the chain look fairer or stronger. Suppose the chain
ran," whom he foreknew them he also called," how is it
improved? WHAT did God foreknow about the called? He
foreknew that they were enemies to him by wicked works, that
this state of enmity would by no means change itself into
love; that they would not make themselves to differ; that
they would never obey his call, unless his Spirit would take
away the heart of stone, and be foreknew that he would send
them that spirit. "Yes," it is rejoined, "but he foreknew it
conditionally." This is one of the jargons of systematic theology. A
definition of "conditional foreknowledge," is a great
desideratum in moral and theological science. Does it mean
that God foreknows the meeting between the agent and the
condition, but does not see any further,--does not foreknow
what the result of the meeting will be? If God does not see
the result, it cannot be called fore-KNOWLEDGE. The principles of mental philosophy, as well as the
revelations of theology, know no more of conditional
foreknowledge, than they know of conditional past knowledge.
A man who, in order to maintain a fond metaphysical conceit,
would assert that a certain event in the Roman empire was
but conditionally known to historians, must calculate
largely on the tender mercies of mankind, not to be treated
as a dreamer. If there be any prophecies which have come to
pass, and which God only foreknew conditionally, the
question is decided. God foreknew with perfect certainty the particular
instances in which the designs of the atonement should be
secured in the personal salvation of particular individuals.
I use the phrase, personal or particular salvation, rather
than that of particular redemption for this reason. The
phrase, particular redemption, as often used in theological
discussion, covers a fallacy, about the atonement, which is
seldom detected in the heat of argument. If by particular
redemption is meant that the ransom price was given only for
some particular persons;--if it means that only some
particular persons were atoned for, then it is wrong, and
directly opposed to the Scriptures. If the phrase particular
redemption means that only some particular persons will, in
the event, prove to be actually delivered from sin to
heaven, then it is true, just in the same way as particular
providence is true. A particular providence is the operation
of the provisions of a general providence, graciously
directed to bear upon the interest of special particular
persons; and particular salvation is the working of a
general atonement, made to bear upon the interests of
particular persons, with designed specialty. The advocates
of general atonement never mean, by such a phrase, a general
actual deliverance of all men from sin and misery in the
event; they simply mean by the word "redemption," the ransom
price, the atonement that was offered up for all, that
whosoever believeth, might be saved. The phrase "particular
salvation," then, seems to steer clear of the supposed
fallacy. I. The absolute or perfect certainty of the particular
salvation of special persons, is not at all inconsistent
with the provisions of a general atonement, intended as the
means of salvation to all. In the whole of this book it has been "the writer's end,"
to prove the universal extent of the atonement of Christ.
The atonement has been exhibited as capable of utter
failure. It is now intended to show that it shall not
utterly fail, but that it shall infallibly prosper in the
actual salvation of special and particular persons, that is
the salvation of believers only. We will therefore proceed
with calmness and candor, to examine the harmony between the
particular salvation of certain persons, and the unlimited
extent of an atonement for all. 1. There is the same relation between the atonement and
all men, as there is between providence and all men.
Providence is the means of supplying all men with physical
and moral furniture, necessary for the ends of their being
here. It furnishes all men with capacities, means, and
opportunities, for action and improvement. All men are
sufficiently supplied with abilities, means, and
opportunities, for advancement in wealth, learning, liberty,
and civilization. This is the general provision, but the
history of six thousand years tells us, that the advancement
of men has not been as general as the provision. The designs
of the general provision are fully secured only in special
cases, and in all such cases it comes to pass by "the
BLESSING Of God." In the provision there is nothing to
exclude any man from wealth, learning, etc. Nevertheless,
wealth and learning are only enjoyed in special instances.
Take learning as an example. The provision for improvement
is general and open to all. The sun, and the moon, and the
stars, have always presented the appearances which they did
to NEWTON and his scholars, yet the cases are special and
few in which men, like them, tabernacle among the heavens,
and take stars and systems for their books. NEWTON acted
freely in availing himself of the general provision, and
every man who is not a NEWTON acts freely in disregarding
it. It is assuredly, to the glory of God to suppose, that he
intended to produce a NEWTON, and that the endowments of his
mind were designed to be conferred on him. You cannot find
an adequate cause, in an intelligent universe, for such a
product, but, "the blessing of. God," according to his will
and purpose. Yet Newton was as free and laborious, in
attending to the objects presented to him, as if there were
no purpose of the kind. Why may it not be so with mankind and the provision of
the atonement? There is no decree to exclude any from the
benefits of the atonement. They who accept the atonement are
conscious that they act freely under the blessing of God,
which is only another name for divine influences. The
atonement is a remedy in moral government, like any other
remedy in providence. Medicinal virtues are given to plants,
and minerals, as a general provision for diseases among men,
but the application of them is special and particular. As to
providence, no one will argue that the provision was made
BECAUSE particular persons were to be healed. Unfettered
common sense teaches us that particular persons were healed,
BECAUSE Of the special application of the general provision
to individual persons. After the same manner, the atonement
was not made for all, because God intended to save some; but
some particular persons are saved because the Holy Spirit
"takes of" the general atonement, and graciously applies it
to particular cases. 2. The same relation exists between atonement and all, as
exists between the word of God and all. By the word of God,
I mean all that God has revealed to man as a system of
motives. These motives, in all their extent and influence,
belong to all accountable beings. Some have these motives
exhibited more abundantly and more clearly than others.
Some, under their influence, become better fathers or
children than others, or better masters and servants.
Wherever these motives are successful, it is by the blessing
of God, and wherever they fail, it is by the voluntary
negligence of man. The provision of motives is general, but
the instances of successful result are special and
particular. The general provision of motives was not made
because these particular instances of success were to, be
realized, but these particular instances come to pass
because God specially blessed the general provision. It were
highly incongruous to argue that the general provisions of
the British constitution were made, only for the particular
instances in which they were observed, but were never
intended for those who disregarded them. Again I would ask, Why may it not be thus with the
atonement? Providence is the medium of furnishing all
accountable beings with abilities and means; divine
revelation is the medium of influencing all by motives; and
the atonement is the medium of saving all by faith. Man is
free in using providence, he is free in yielding to motives,
he is free in pleading the atonement. There is a specialty
in the providential furniture, there is a specialty in the
operation of motives, and there is the same specialty in the
application of the atonement. It is therefore undeniable
that the special application of the benefits of a universal
atonement is in perfect agreement with the whole
constitution of the moral system that we occupy; and that if
our creeds clash with this, they must clash with the
universe. Let us try to illustrate this case of specialty. Suppose
we say,--and "0 let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak
yet but once"--suppose we say that, on the foresight of this
world's being peopled by sinful generations, there would
have been no atonement but for God's intention to save. He
foresaw that after all his provision, men would be so wicked
that they would not accept of this atonement, and that,
therefore, he determined to exercise his influence to secure
some, whom he had foreknown as persons, in whom the designs
of his death should be infallibly magnified and made
honorable. Jesus Christ foreknew these, definitely and
personally, and had a direct reference to them in his
sufferings and death. If a special reference to them, in the
divine government, does not involve a denial of a general
providence, I cannot see how a special reference to them, in
the death of Christ, can imply a denial of a general
atonement. Should some objector say--"since it was foreseen that
some would not accept of it, why was an atonement made for
them?" I might say, that the objector cannot claim an
answer. He replies against God. He must suppose another
system of the universe. He might as well ask, why God took
the Israelites out of Egypt, when only two of them entered
Canaan?--or ask, why God made free and accountable
creatures? Jesus Christ has taught his disciples to say,
"Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." Nevertheless, in discussing this subject, we might be
within the bounds of legitimate inquiry, if we were to
suppose that it is impossible, on the present principles of
moral government, to make an atonement for the sins of the
elect, without affecting the sins of the others. On the
present principle it is impossible to administer, even
providence itself, for the benefit of some without affecting
others. What would you think of a medicine that would only
cure the predestinated? What would you think of a land that
would yield a harvest only to those who were decreed to sow
it? What would you think of the sun shining only on the good
and the elect? Just such a thing would be an atonement that
would only benefit the select few who had been decreed for
it. But to illustrate this, I will take the favorite notion
of a limited atonement. I will suppose an army of a thousand
soldiers to rebel against their rightful sovereign. And I
will suppose that the king is determined to save five
hundred of them, and that to effect this honorably, the
king's son consents to suffer ignominy and death for the sin
of these five hundred. Now, I mean, that this cannot be done
without affecting the other five hundred. An atonement is an
equivalent for a threatened punishment; and the design of an
atonement is, as we have frequently shown, to suspend the
execution of the penalty, and yet secure the ends of that
execution. These ends could not be secured, in the five
hundred to be saved, without affecting the five hundred
left. Let us consider what are the ends of punishment that
are to be secured by an atonement? They are to show the evil
of rebellion, to express the king's determination to
maintain his law, and to show that even when he pardons, it
is on honorable grounds. The king cannot condemn the
rebellion of the five hundred to be saved, without, by the
same measure, condemning the rebellion of the rest. Yea, he
intends, even upon this showing, to express to the rest his
determination to maintain his law. This favorite comparison would be valid, if the five
hundred left were in the same state as fallen angels. The
atonement of Christ even affects devils, so far as to
express the wickedness of their rebellion, the determination
of Jehovah to honor his government, and to show that he will
exercise mercy only on grounds honorable to his law. The
devils feel this--they believe it and tremble. If the five
hundred left are intended to represent the "rest" of'
mankind, the analogy fails. Let us suppose that after the
king's son died for the five hundred to be saved, the
government issued a proclamation, declaring that the other
five hundred perished because they refused the benefits of
the son's death. "REFUSED the benefits of his death?" an
astonished empire would exclaim, "how can this be, when it
is known that he only died for the favored five hundred!
"What!--Perished solely for refusing the benefits?" might
the hardened rebels mutter, "when it was a previous fixed
arrangement that his death should not be available for
us?" This comparison, then, does not give a correct
representation of the circumstances of mankind in connection
with the atonement. The relation of the atonement to all
mankind, to the saved and to the lost, I conceive to be
somewhat of this kind. It was foreseen that this world would
be inhabited by a sinful race of accountable beings. They
were to be in a state of probation. The accepting of the
atonement of the Seed of the woman was to be the test of
their probation, as the tree of knowledge was that of
Adam's. They had every necessary power, and means, and
motives, to accept it; but they loved darkness rather than
light, and they voluntarily rejected it. God, therefore,
determined by means of his truth, to influence them
graciously to accept it for their salvation. Nevertheless
"they had power over their own wills." 1 Cor. vii. 37 and
God had arranged that "he that taketh warning shall save his
own soul." I am much inclined to think that the exercise of Divine
Influence in applying the benefits of the atonement to some
more than others, is a measure ABOVE the atonement, but
exercised THROUGH the atonement. Thus the atonement itself
is a measure above moral government, and yet is exercised
through moral government, So miracles are measures above
providence, yet exercised through providence. In like manner
divine influence is above the atonement, yet exercised
through it. In such language I only embody, in other words,
the doctrine of Paul concerning the sovereignty of God. When
it is said that all things are put under him (Christ), it is
manifest that HE IS EXCEPTED who did put all things under
him." In the atonement, God did not sink his supremacy, or
part with his sovereignty. The atonement laid him under no
obligation, under no constraint, to exercise his influence.
He had a sovereign right, without the atonement, and with
it, to have mercy on whom he will have mercy; but he has
been pleased to exercise this right through the atonement,
and according to laws and arrangements that have been
established and published. He is supposed to exercise his
gracious agency actually in saving, even when men have
exercised their agency in rejecting his claims, and when
they have become liable to what is justly due to them for
their sin, and to evils which they themselves have
voluntarily chosen. So that after all, the rejecters receive
nothing but what is just, nothing but what they choose
themselves; and even in the instances in which he exercises
his agency, it is exercised in arranged combination with the
agency of the believer himself. Will any say, "Cui bono, such a statement--what do you
gain by it?" GAIN! I gain everything; I gain the
accountableness and blamableness of men for not being saved;
I gain the unsullied honors of the divine perfections and
government in the condemnation of such perverse rejecters; I
gain the eternal and imperishable glory of free and
sovereign GRACE, that condescended to save any of such a
race of evil-doers; I gain everything that can make theology
valuable, and religion practical. II. The sacred Scriptures give us the most clear, ample,
and cogent evidence, that the designs of the atonement shall
be infallibly secured in instances without number. Scriptural testimonies of this class are so abundantly
and so constantly, exhibited in Calvinistic Bodies of
Theology, and in other works and treatises bearing on the
doctrine of predestination unto life, and so accessible to
the inquirer, that a formal induction of them here is deemed
unnecessary. The sacred Scriptures distinctly assert that
the designs of the atonement shall be infallibly
secured--that Christ SHALL see of the travail of his
soul--that the word of reconciliation shall NOT return to
him void--that as many as the Father gave him SHALL come
unto him, and that none SHALL be able to pluck them out of
his band. They lift up for us the veil of futurity and
assure us, that in the last day there shall be, and will be,
many on the right hand of the Judge; and they represent
heaven as infallibly to be peopled with a multitude which no
man can number, all of whom shall have. washed their robes
in the BLOOD of the Lamb. The revelations of the Scriptures
consider this as a sure case. Another class of Scriptures
designate and mark out the characters in whom all the
purposes of the death of Christ shall be fully accomplished.
They are called his "sheep," his "friends," his church, and,
"the people whom the Father gave unto him." The Scriptures
do not mark these as the only characters for whom the Son of
God died, but as the only characters in whom the great
designs of his death are fully answered. Another class of
passages represent the production and formation of these
characters as the result of a divine and eternal purpose and
plan. They are called out of the world from amid others,
according to God's purpose and place. Christ gives the honor
of sitting at his right hand in his kingdom, only to those
for whom it has been prepared by the Father. Hence, in the
last day he will say to these very persons,--"Come, inherit
the kingdom prepared for YOU before the foundation of the
world." They are predestinated to be conformed to the image
of Christ, and chosen in him that they should be holy. The
Scriptures hold up the sovereign RIGHT Of God to produce
such characters, according to such purpose, in all the
sunbeams of truth. He has a right to have mercy on whom he
will have mercy.--Even so, for so it seems good in his
sight. No theological writer has ever, manfully and openly,
attacked the sovereign right of God to confer any favors on
any sinners he pleases; that is, no one has fairly attacked
the doctrine of sovereign election. The crusade against this
doctrine has been perfectly QUIXOTIC. Some have mistaken the
proud towers Of FATE for it. Others have mistaken the
dungeons Of REPROBATION for it. In the mean time the
doctrine itself stands as a fair and glorious TEMPLE, whose
foundations are laid deep in the eternal purpose and grace
of God, whose pinnacles sparkle in the light of uncreated
glory, and over whose portals is the inscription of truth,
"Him that cometh, I will in no wise cast out." THE INFLUENCE OF THE ATONEMENT ON THE
INTERESTS OF THE CHURCH. The atonement of the Son of God for sin, is the ground
for calling a CHURCH out of the midst of mankind. This is
one reason why Jesus Christ, in his mediatorial character,
is called the "foundation" of the church. The first stones
of the church of God were built of the promise of the "Seed
of the woman," and on this every succeeding stone has been
placed. This is the ground of the general call of the
gospel; and what a sure foundation it is for a minister to
stand upon, to beseech all men to be reconciled to God! On
this the prophets and apostles, and all wise master-builders
have placed the living materials of the "church of the
Lord." The ministry of the atonement is the great instrument for
collecting the church. Unto Christ the gathering of the
people is to be. Something else may gather a sect of
philosophers, or bands of philanthropists; but it is this
alone that will gather a church. "And I, if I be lifted up,
will draw all (men) to myself." It is emphatically called
the word and ministry of reconciliation. This is the trumpet
of jubilee that announces the acceptable year of the Lord,
and calls back to their home and their inheritance, the
captives, and those that are ready to perish. This doctrine has always been in the church. When Adam,
and Eve, and Abel, formed the first members of the church,
the doctrine of the atonement was a cardinal article of its
creed. In the church, there never was known a way of
acceptance with God but through an atonement. Whatever the
church lost in seasons of afflictions and defeats, it has
never entirely lost the doctrine of the atonement. Its
outlines, from behind the dim transparency of ceremonial
shadows, never entirely faded away from the vision of the
Jewish church; and in the Christian church the ordinance of
the Lord's supper has been a plain and imperishable emblem
of the atonement, to show forth the Lord's death till he
come. Though the emblem has been criminally shrouded from
the people in the dark foldings of popish superstition, or,
at another time, shamefully exhibited to the populace, in a
mantle of State trappings--yet the doctrine itself has never
quitted the Christian temple. Ecclesiastical History proves
that, in the precise proportion that any church becomes
erroneous on the doctrine of the atonement, that church,
whether in Rome or in England, among Episcopalians or
Dissenters, becomes corrupt, It is also capable of proof, on
which no entrance can be made now, that a church that denies
the atonement of Christ is not a church of his. The Provisions of the atonement have a special reference
to the well-being, the purity, the perpetuity, and the glory
of the church. The general provisions of the atonement give
the Mediator power over all flesh, that, according to this
special reference, he might give eternal life to as many as
the Father hath given him; and constitute him "Head over ALL
THINGS," with specialty of application, "to the CHURCH." To
the church, all the provisions of the atonement, like all
the arrangements of nature and providence, work together for
good. All the services of the church have a direct reference to
the atonement. No service in the Christian temple is
acceptable to God, but that which is offered through the
hands of the "minister of the sanctuary." The prayers of the
church take Calvary in their way to heaven. In singing with
grace in the heart, the harp must be tuned for the "Song of
the Lamb" at the foot of the cross. It disowns all
preaching, but "the preaching of the cross." The church is
baptized into the death of Christ as an atonement for sin;
and in the Lord's supper it sits at the feast of the
atonement. The atonement will be the theme of the church forever and
ever. In heaven not a note will be sounded but in harmony
with "the BLOOD that speaketh better things." The burden of
the song will be "UNTO HIM that hath loved us, and WASHED Us
from our sins in his own blood." The harp of Saul of Tarsus
will send forth a sound which the harp of Gabriel does not
reach; and a throng of ransomed sinners will forever swell
the strain, "washed us from our sins," and the sounds of the
harpers harping will thrill eternity into melody and
praise.