do this and despised his service, his indignation still burned against them. The same is true of Christ. He was set forth as a propitiation, to exhibit the righteousness of God, in order that God might be just while justifying the believer in Jesus. And even if the word "Advocate" has reference to believers only, the word "propitiation may well have a wider reference; for the apostle's thought may be thus expressed: "My Hittle children, I write these things to you, that ye may not sin. But I do not forget what I have just said, that no one of us has avoided every sin. Yet the Christian, who has fallen into sin, need not despair of pardon; for though, as transgressors, we cannot come ourselves before a holy God, we have an advocate with him, even Jesus Christ who is righteous, and who evermore intercedes for us. And this he can do with far greater effect than the Jewish high priest, who entered the holy of holies with another's blood, for he comes with his own blood, an ample basis for his plea in our behalf, since it was offered by him as a suitable expiation for our sins, and indeed not for ours only, but for the sins of all mankind, our own included." This view of the apostle's thought is favored by the word "whole," prefixed to "world,”—the "whole world," meaning all mankind, without exception. Moreover, the doctrine of Paul agrees with that of Peter and John. For he speaks of the Saviour as One "who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time;" and we infer, from the context, that he means all men, and not all the elect. For in the verse which begins the paragraph containing the words quoted by us, the apostle exhorts that prayer be made for all men; an expression which we dare not restrict to all classes of men, that is, to the elect from all nations and orders of men, but must take in its largest sense, as signifying all mankind, without exception. Nor do we find any objection to this view in the reason which is given for such prayer, namely, that it is acceptable to God, "who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth;" for, by the order of the Greek words, we know that the stress falls, not upon "desires," nor upon "be saved," but upon "all men." Paul asserts that we should pray for all men, not because God greatly desires their salvation, but because God desires that all men should be saved. Of course there is a difference between desire and purpose. And if any one is in doubt whether God can be truly said to desire, in any sense, the salvation of all mankind, let him ponder his words by Ezekiel: "I have no 1 1 Tim. ii. 6. Christ: ୧୯ pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; but turn ye and live ;" and the no less weighty exclamation of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Without appealing to other passages in the Sacred Record, we feel ourselves authorized to say, that the vicarious suffering of Christ was intended to be an ample basis or reason for the pardon of all mankind, should they believe in Jesus. It is such a basis, not simply because it must be so, on account of the infinite dignity and worth of the Sufferer, but also because it was the eternal desire and purpose of God to remove from every sinner's path the only obstacle to his salvation, except his own impenitence and unbelief. In so far the Atonement was designed for all men, and may be preached with absolute sincerity to them, as a full and perfect ground of acceptance, if they will believe. |