Chapter 3

The Agent in, and chief Author of this great work of our Redemption, section 1, is the whole blessed Trinity, for all the works which outwardly are of the Deity are undivided, and belong equally to each person; their distinct manner of subsistence and order being observed, it is true, there were other sundry instrumental causes in the oblation, or rather passion of Christ; but the work cannot in any sense be ascribed unto them: for in respect of God the Father, the issue of their endeavor was exceeding contrary to their own intentions; and in the close they did nothing, but what the hand and counsel of God had before determined should be done (Acts 4:28). And in respect of Christ, they were no way able to accomplish what they aimed at, for he himself laid down his life, and none was able to take it from him (John 10:17-18), so that they are to be excluded from this consideration. In several persons of the holy Trinity, the joint Author of the whole work, the Scripture proposes, section 2, distinct and sundry acts or operations peculiarly assigned unto them, which, according to our weak manner of apprehension, we are to consider severally and apart: which also we shall do, beginning with them that are ascribed to the Father.

Two peculiar acts there are in this work of our Redemption by the blood of Jesus, which may be and are properly assigned to the person of the Father. First the sending of his Son into the world, for this employment. Secondly a laying the punishment due to our sin upon him. The Father loves the world and sends his Son to die. He sent his Son into the world that the world through him might be saved (John 3:16-17). He sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:3). He set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood (Romans 3:25). For when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons (Galatians 4:4-5). So more than twenty times in the Gospel of John, there is mention of this sending; and our Savior describes himself by this description, him whom the Father has sent (John 6:39), and the Father, by this, he who sent me (John 8:16). So that this action of sending is appropriate to the Father, according to his promise, that he would send us a Savior, a great one to deliver us (Isaiah 19:20), and to the profession of our Savior. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, from the time that it was, there am I, and now the Lord God and his Spirit has sent me (Isaiah 48:16). Hence the Father himself is sometimes called our Savior (1 Timothy 1:1): according to the commandment of God our Savior. But directly this is the same with that parallel place (Titus 1:3): according to the commandment of God our Savior, where no interposition of that conjunctive particle can have place, the same title being also in other places ascribed to him, as Luke 1:47: my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. Also (1 Timothy 4:10): we have hoped in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of them that believe: though in this last place, it is not ascribed unto him, with reference to his redeeming us by Christ, but his saving and preserving all by his providence (Titus 2:11; 3:4; Deuteronomy 32:15; 1 Samuel 10:19; Psalm 24:5; 25:5; Isaiah 12:2; 11:10; 45:15; Jeremiah 16:8; Micah 7:7; Hebrews 3:17), most of which places, have reference to his sending of Christ, which is also distinguished, section 3, into three several acts which in order we must lay down.

First, an authoritative imposition of the office of Mediator, which Christ agreed to, by his voluntary acceptance of it, willingly undergoing the office, wherein by dispensation the Father had and exercised a kind of superiority, which the Son, though in the form of God, humbled himself unto (Philippians 2:6-7), and of this there may be conceived two parts.

First the purposed imposition of his Counsel; or his eternal Counsel for the setting apart of his Son, incarnate to this office: saying unto him, you are my Son, this day have I begotten you, Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession (Psalm 2:7-8). He said unto him, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool, for the Lord has sworn and will not repent, you are a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:1, 4). He appointed him to be heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), having ordained him to be Judge of the living and dead (Acts 10:42), for unto this he was ordained, before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), and determined to be the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4), that he might be the firstborn of many brothers (Romans 8:29). I know that this is an act eternally established in the mind and will of God, and so not to be ranged in order with the others which are all temporary, and had their beginning in the fullness of time, of all which this first, is the spring and fountain according to that of James (Acts 15:18): known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world; but yet, it being no unusual form of speaking, that the purpose should also be comprehended in that which holds out the accomplishment of it, aiming at truth and not exactness, we pass it thus.

Secondly the actual Inauguration, or solemn admission of Christ unto his office, committing all judgment unto the Son (John 5:22), section 4, making him to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), appointing him over his whole house (Hebrews 3:1-3), which is that anointing of the Most Holy (Daniel 9:24). God anointing him with the oil of gladness above his fellows (Psalm 45:7), for the actual setting apart of Christ to his office, is said to be by Unction, because all those holy things which were types of him, as the Ark, the Altar, etc., were set apart and consecrated by anointing (Exodus 30:25-27). To this also belongs that public declaration by innumerable Angels from heaven of his nativity, declared by one of them to the shepherds; behold said he, I bring you good tidings of joy, which shall be unto all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11), which message was attended by, and closed with that triumphant exultation of the host of heaven, Glory be to God on high, on earth peace, toward men goodwill (verse 14). With that redoubled noise which afterwards came from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17). If these things ought to be distinguished, and placed in their own order, they may be considered in these three several acts. First, the glorious proclamation which he made of his Nativity; when he prepared him a body (Hebrews 10:5), bringing his firstborn into the world, and saying, Let all the Angels of God worship him (Hebrews 1:6), sending them to proclaim the message which we before recounted. Secondly, sending the Spirit visibly in the form of a dove, to light upon him, at the time of his baptism (Matthew 3:16), when he was endued with a fullness thereof, for the accomplishment of the work, and discharge of the office whereunto he was designed; attended with that voice, whereby he owned him from heaven as his only beloved. Thirdly, the crowning of him with glory and honor, in his resurrection, ascension, and sitting down on the right hand of Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3), setting him as his King upon his holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:7-8), when all power was given unto him in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18), all things being put under his feet (Hebrews 2:7-8), himself highly exalted, and a name given him above every name, that at, etc. (Philippians 2:9), of which it pleased him to appoint witnesses of all sorts, Angels from heaven (Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10), the dead out of the graves (Matthew 27:52), the Apostles among and unto the living (Acts 2:32), with those more than five hundred brothers to whom he appeared at once (1 Corinthians 15:6). Thus gloriously was he inaugurated into his office, in the several acts and degrees thereof God saying unto him, it is a light thing that you should be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel, I will also give you for a light unto the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6).

Between these two acts I confess there intervenes a two-fold promise, section 5, of God; one of giving a Savior to his people, a Mediator according to his former purpose, as (Genesis 3:15): the seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head, and the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be (Genesis 49:10). Which he also foresignified by many sacrifices, and other types with prophetical predictions, for of this salvation the Prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed: that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that preached the Gospel unto you, with the Holy Spirit sent down from Heaven, which thing the Angels desire to look into (1 Peter 1:10-12). The other is a promise of applying the benefits purchased by this Savior so designed to them that should believe on him, to be given in fullness of time, according to the former promises; telling Abraham, that in his seed the nations of the earth should be blessed, and justifying himself by the same faith (Genesis 15:6). But these things belong rather to the application wholly, which was equal both before and after his actual mission.

The second act of the Father's sending the Son, is the furnishing of him in his sending, with a fullness of all gifts and graces, that might any way be requisite for the office he was to undertake, section 6, the work he was to undergo, and the charge he had over the house of God. There was indeed in Christ a two-fold fullness and perfection of all spiritual excellencies; first the natural all-sufficient perfection of his Deity, as one with his Father in respect of his Divine nature: for his glory was the glory of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14). He was in the form of God and counted it no robbery to be equal with God (Philippians 2:6), being the fellow of the Lord of Hosts (Zechariah 13:7), from which that glorious appearance (Isaiah 6:3), when the Cherubim cried one to another and said, holy, holy, holy, the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory, and the posts of the doors moved at the noise of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke, and the Prophet cried, my eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts (verse 4). Even concerning this vision, the Apostle says, Isaiah saw him and spoke of his glory (John 12:41), of which glory he as it were emptied himself for a season, when he was found in the form or condition of a servant humbling himself unto death (Philippians 2:7-8), laying aside that glory which attended his Deity, outwardly appearing to have neither form, nor beauty, nor comeliness that he, section 7, should be desired (Isaiah 53:2). But this fullness we do not treat of it being not communicated to him, but essentially belonging to his person, which is eternally begotten of the person of his Father.

The second fullness that was in Christ, was a communicated fullness, which was in him by dispensation from his Father bestowed upon him to fit him for his work and office, as he was and is the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5), not as he is the Lord of Hosts, but as he is Immanuel God with us, as he was a Son given to us, called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, upon whose shoulders the government was to be (Isaiah 9:6). It is a fullness of grace, not that essential which is of the nature of the Deity, but that which is habitual and infused into the humanity, as personally united to the other: which though it is not absolutely infinite as the other is, yet it extends itself to all perfections of grace, both in respect of parts and degrees, there is no grace that is not in Christ, and every grace is in him in the highest degree; so that whatsoever the perfection of grace, either for the several kinds, or respective advancements thereof, requires, is in him habitually by the gift of his Father, for this very purpose, and for the accomplishment of the work designed; which though (as before) it cannot properly be said to be infinite, yet it is boundless and endless: it is in him as the light in the beams of the Sun, and as water in a living fountain, which can never fail, he is the candlestick from which the golden pipes do empty the golden oil through themselves (Zechariah 4:12), into all that are his; for he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, in all things having the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell (Colossians 1:18-19). In him he caused to be hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), and in him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily or personally (verse 9), that of his fullness we might all receive grace for grace (John 1:16), in a continual supply. So that setting upon the work of redemption he looks upon this, in the first place the Spirit of the Lord God (said he) is upon me, because the Lord God has anointed me, to preach the glad tidings to the meek, he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn (Isaiah 61:1-2). And this was the anointing with the oil of gladness which he had above his fellows (Psalm 45); it was upon his head and ran down to his beard, yes, down to the skirts of his clothing (Psalm 133:2), that every one covered with the garment of his righteousness might be made partaker of it. The Spirit of the Lord did rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2), and that not in parcels and beginnings as in us, proportioned to our measure and degrees of sanctification, but in a fullness, for he received not the Spirit by measure (John 3:34), that is, it was not so with him when he came to the full measure of the stature of his age, as (Ephesians 4:13); for otherwise it was manifested in him, and bestowed on him by degrees, for he increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). To this was added all power in heaven and earth which was given unto him (Matthew 28:18), power over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as he would (John 17:2). Which we might branch into many particulars, but so much shall suffice to set forth the second act of God, in sending his Son.

The third act of this sending, is, his entering into Covenant, section 8, and compact with his Son concerning the work to be undertaken, and the issue or event thereof: of which there be two parts. First his promise, to protect and assist him, in the accomplishment and perfect fulfilling of the whole business and dispensation about which he was employed, or which he was to undertake. The Father engaged himself, that for his part, upon his Son's undertaking this great work of Redemption, he would not be wanting in any assistance in trials, strength against oppositions, encouragement against temptations, and strong consolation in the midst of terrors, which might be any way necessary or requisite to carry him on through all difficulties to the end of so great an employment. Upon which he undertakes this heavy burden, so full of misery and trouble: for the Father before this engagement, requires no less of him, than that he should become a Savior, and be afflicted in the afflictions of his people (Isaiah 63:8-9), yes, that although he were the fellow of the Lord of Hosts, yet he should endure the sword that was drawn against him, as the shepherd of the sheep (Zechariah 13:7), treading the winepress alone, until he became red in his apparel (Isaiah 61:2-3), yes, to be stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities: to be bruised and put to grief, to make his soul an offering for sin, and to bear the iniquity of many (Isaiah 53), to be destitute of comfort so far as to cry, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1). No wonder then if upon this undertaking, the Lord promised, to make his mouth sharp like a sword, to hide him in the shadow of his hand, to make him a polished shaft, and to hide him in his quiver, to make him his servant in whom he would be glorified (Isaiah 49:2-3), that though the kings of the earth should set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against him, yet he would laugh them to scorn, and set him as King upon his holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:2, 4-5). Though the builders did reject him, yet he should become the head of the corner; to the amazement, and astonishment of all the world (Psalm 118:22-23; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 12:17; John 4:11; 2 Peter 2:4), yes he would lay him for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16), that whosoever should fall upon him, should be broken, but upon whomsoever he should fall, he should grind them to powder. Hence, arose that confidence of our Savior in his greatest and utmost trials, being assured by virtue of his Father's engagement, in this covenant, upon a treaty with him about the redemption of man, that he would never leave him nor forsake him. I gave (said he) my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, I hid not my face from shame and spitting (Isaiah 50:6). But with what confidence, blessed Savior, did you undergo all this shame and sorrow? Why, the Lord God will help me, therefore I shall not be confounded, therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed, he is near that justifies me, who will contend with me? Let us stand together; who is my adversary? Let him come near to me; behold, the Lord God will help me, who is he that shall condemn me? Look, they shall all wax old as a garment, the moth shall consume them (verses 7-9). With this assurance he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is silent, so opened he not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7), for when he was reviled, he reviled not again, when he suffered he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges rightly (1 Peter 2:23). So that the ground of our Savior's confidence and assurance in this great undertaking, and a strong motive to exercise his graces received, in the utmost endurings, was this engagement of his Father, upon this compact of assistance and protection.

Secondly of success, or a good outcome out of all his sufferings, section 9, and a happy accomplishment and attainment of the end of his great undertaking: now of all the rest this chiefly is to be considered, as directly conducing to the business proposed, which yet would not have been so clear without the former considerations: for whatsoever it was that God promised his Son, should be fulfilled and attained by him, that certainly was it, at which the Son aimed in the whole undertaking, and designed it as the end of the work, that was committed to him, and which alone he could and did claim upon the accomplishment of his Father's will. What this was, and the promises whereby it is at large set forth, you have (Isaiah 49): you shall be my servant (said the Lord) to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel, I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth: Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship because of the Lord that is faithful. And he will certainly accomplish this engagement: I will preserve you and give you for a covenant of the people to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritage, that you may say to the Prisoners, go forth, to them that are in darkness, show yourselves, they shall feed in the ways, and their pasture shall be in all high places, they shall not be hungry neither shall they be thirsty, neither shall the heat smite them, nor the Sun, for he that has compassion on them, shall lead them, even to the springs of waters shall he drive them; and I will make all my mountains as a way, and my paths shall be exalted, behold these shall come from far, and look these from the North, and from the West, and these from the land of Sinim (verses 6-12). By all which expressions, the Lord evidently and clearly engages himself to his Son, that he should gather to himself a glorious Church of believers, from among Jews and Gentiles through all the world, that should be brought unto him, and certainly fed in full pasture, and refreshed by the springs of water, all the spiritual springs of living water, which flow from God in Christ for their everlasting salvation. This then our Savior certainly aimed at, as being the promise upon which he undertook the work, the gathering of the sons of God together, their bringing unto God, and passing to eternal salvation; which being well considered, it will utterly overthrow the general ransom, or universal redemption, as afterward will appear. In the 53rd chapter of the same prophecy, the Lord is more express and punctual in these promises to his Son, assuring him, that when he made his soul an offering for sin he should see his seed, and prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand, that he should see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied: by his knowledge he should justify many, that he should divide a portion with the great, and the spoil with the strong (verses 10-12). He was (you see) to see his seed by covenant, and to raise up a spiritual seed unto God, a faithful people to be prolonged and preserved throughout all generations: which how well it consists with their persuasion, who in terms have affirmed, that the death of Christ might have had its full and utmost effect, and yet none be saved; I cannot see, though some have boldly affirmed it and all the assertors of universal redemption, do tacitly grant, when they come to the assigning of the proper ends and effects of the death of Christ. The pleasure also of the Lord was to prosper in his hand: which what it was he declares (Hebrews 2:10), even bringing of many sons unto glory, for God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him (1 John 4:9), as we shall afterward more abundantly declare. But the promises of God made unto him in their agreement, and so consequently his own aim and intention may be seen in nothing more manifestly, than in the request that our Savior makes upon the accomplishment of the work about which he was sent, which certainly was neither for more, nor less, than God had engaged himself to him for. I have (said he) glorified you on earth, I have finished the work which you gave me to do (John 17:3), and now what does he require after the manifestation of his eternal glory, of which for a season he had emptied himself (verse 4). Clearly a full confluence of the love of God, and fruits of that love upon all his elect in faith, sanctification and glory; God gave them unto him, and he sanctified himself to be a sacrifice for their sake, praying for their sanctification (verse 17-18), their preservation in peace, or communion one with another, and union with God (verse 20-21). I pray not for them alone, (that is his Apostles,) but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, as you Father are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us: and lastly their glory (verse 24): Father, I will that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which you have given me. All which several requests, are no doubt grounded upon the forecited promises, which by his Father were made unto him: and in this not one word concerning all and every one, but expressly the contrary (John 17:9). Let this then be diligently observed, that the promise of God unto his Son, and the request of the Son unto his Father are directed to this peculiar end of bringing sons unto God. And this is the first act, consisting of these three particulars.

The second is of laying upon him the punishment of sins, every where ascribed unto the Father: Awake O sword against my Shepherd, against the man that is my fellow (said the Lord of Hosts) smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered (Zechariah 13:7). What here is set down imperatively by way of command, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad (Matthew 26:31). He was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, yes the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all, yes, it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief (Isaiah 53:4, 6, 10). He made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). The predicate in both places is put for the subject, as the opposition between his being made sin, and our being made righteousness declares: him who knew no sin, that is who deserved no punishment, him has he made to be sin, or laid the punishment due to sin upon him; or perhaps in the latter place, sin may be taken for an offering or sacrifice for the expiation of sin, answering in this place to the word in the Old Testament which signifies both sin and the sacrifice for it. And this the Lord did, for as for Herod, Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, when they were gathered together they did nothing but what his hand and counsel had determined before to be done (Acts 4:27-28). From which the great shaking of our Savior, were in his close conflict with his Father's wrath, and that burden which by himself he immediately imposed on him, when there was no hand or instrument outwardly appearing to put them to any suffering or excruciating torment; then began he to be sorrowful even unto death (Matthew 26:37-38), to wit when he was in the garden with his three chosen Apostles, before the traitor or any of his accomplices appeared; then was he greatly amazed and very heavy (Mark 14:34), that was the time in the days of his flesh when he offered up prayers and supplications with strong cries and tears unto him that was able to save him from death (Hebrews 5:7), which how he performed the Apostle describes (Luke 22:43-44): there appeared an Angel unto him from heaven strengthening him, but being in agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Surely it was a close and strong trial and that immediately from his Father he now underwent: for how meekly and cheerfully does he submit without any regret or trouble of spirit, to all the cruelty of men, and violence offered to his body, until this conflict being renewed again, he cries, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And this by the way will be worth our observation, that we may know with whom our Savior chiefly had to do, and what was that which he underwent for sinners, which also will give some light to the grand question, concerning the persons of them for whom he undertook all this: his sufferings were far from consisting in mere bodily persecutions and afflictions, with such impressions upon his soul and spirit, as were the effects and issues only of them: it was no more, nor less, than the curse of the Law of God, which he underwent for us, for he freed us from the curse by being made a curse (Galatians 3:13), which contained all the punishment that was due to sin, either in the severity of God's justice, or according to the demand of that law which required obedience. That the condemnation of the Law should be only temporal death, as the law was considered to be the instrument of the Jewish polity, and serving that economy or dispensation, is true; but that it should be no more as it is the universal rule of obedience and the bond of the covenant between God and man, is a foolish dream. Nay but in dying for us Christ did not only aim at our good, but also directly died in our stead: the punishment due to our sin and the chastisement of our peace was upon him: which that it was the pains of hell in their nature and being, in their weight and pressure, though not in duration and continuance, (it being impossible that he should be detained by death,) who can deny, and not be injurious to the justice of God, which will inevitably inflict those pains to eternity upon sinners? It is true indeed, there is a relaxation of the Law, in respect of the persons suffering, God admitting of commutation: as in the old Law when in their sacrifices, the life of the beast was accepted (in respect to the carnal part of the ordinances) for the life of the man; this is fully revealed, and we believe it: but for any change of the punishment, in respect of the nature of it, where is the least intimation of any alteration? We conclude then this second Act of God, in laying the punishment on him for us, with that of the Prophet: All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). And add thereunto this observation, that it seems strange to me, that Christ should undergo the pains of hell in their stead, who lay in the pains of hell before he underwent those pains, and shall continue in them to eternity, for their worm does not die, neither is their fire quenched. To which I may add this dilemma to our universalists: God imposed his wrath due unto, and Christ underwent the pains of hell for, either all the sins of all men, or all the sins of some men, or some sins of all men. If the last, some sins of all men, then have all men some sins to answer for, and so shall no man be saved, for if God enter into judgment with us, though it were with all mankind for one sin no flesh should be justified in his sight: if the Lord should mark iniquities who should stand? (Psalm 130:3). We might all go to cast all that we have, to the moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and the tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his Majesty (Isaiah 2:20-21). If the second; that is it which we affirm, that Christ in their stead, and place, suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the world. If the first, why then are not all freed from the punishment of all their sins? You will say, because of their unbelief, they will not believe, but this unbelief, is it a sin or not? If not, why should they be punished for it? If it be, then Christ underwent the punishment due to it, or not; if so, then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which he died, from partaking of the fruit of his death: if he did not, then did he not die for all their sins. Let them choose which part they will.

The agent in and chief author of the great work of our redemption is the entire blessed Trinity. All works that God performs outwardly are undivided, belonging equally to each person, though their distinct manner of existence and order is observed. There were, of course, various human instruments involved in the suffering and sacrifice of Christ. But the work cannot be attributed to them in any meaningful sense. As far as God the Father was concerned, the outcome of what those instruments did was completely contrary to their own intentions. In the end, they did nothing but what the hand and counsel of God had already determined should happen (Acts 4:28). As for Christ Himself, those instruments were never capable of accomplishing what they intended, since He laid down His life of His own accord and no one had the power to take it from Him (John 10:17-18). Therefore, they must be excluded from this consideration. In the several persons of the holy Trinity — the joint author of the whole work — Scripture describes distinct acts or operations that are specifically assigned to each. We must consider these individually and in sequence, according to our limited manner of understanding. We begin with what Scripture attributes to the Father.

In the work of our redemption through the blood of Jesus, two distinct acts can properly be attributed to the person of the Father. First, the sending of His Son into the world for this purpose. Second, the laying of the punishment due to our sin upon Him. The Father loved the world and sent His Son to die. He sent His Son into the world so that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:16-17). He sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:3). He presented Christ as a propitiation through faith in His blood (Romans 3:25). When the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5). More than twenty times in the Gospel of John there is mention of this sending. Our Savior describes Himself as the one whom the Father has sent (John 6:39), and He describes the Father as the one who sent Him (John 8:16). This act of sending belongs to the Father, in keeping with His promise to send a great savior to deliver us (Isaiah 19:20) and in keeping with the testimony of our Savior Himself. "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time it came to be, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent me, and His Spirit" (Isaiah 48:16). Because of this sending, the Father is sometimes called our Savior — as in 1 Timothy 1:1: "according to the commandment of God our Savior." This is essentially the same as the parallel passage in Titus 1:3: "according to the commandment of God our Savior." The same title appears in other places as well, such as Luke 1:47: "my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." Also in 1 Timothy 4:10: "we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers." In that last passage, however, the title refers not to His redeeming us through Christ but to His saving and preserving all things through His providence (Titus 2:11; 3:4; Deuteronomy 32:15; 1 Samuel 10:19; Psalm 24:5; 25:5; Isaiah 12:2; 11:10; 45:15; Jeremiah 16:8; Micah 7:7; Hebrews 3:17). Most of these passages relate to His sending of Christ. This act of sending can be distinguished into three separate acts, which we will now lay out in order.

The first is an authoritative appointment to the office of Mediator — an appointment Christ accepted voluntarily and willingly took upon Himself. In this arrangement, the Father held and exercised a kind of superiority in the ordering of the work, to which the Son — though in the form of God — humbled Himself (Philippians 2:6-7). This act has two parts.

The first part is the purposeful appointment in God's eternal counsel — His eternal plan to set apart His Son, in His incarnation, to this office. He said to Him, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession" (Psalm 2:7-8). He said to Him, "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet" — for the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (Psalm 110:1, 4). He appointed Him heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), ordained Him to be Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42) — for He was foreknown for this before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), and declared to be the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4), that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29). I recognize that this is an act eternally fixed in the mind and will of God, and so it does not belong in the same category as the others, which are all temporal and had their beginning in the fullness of time. This eternal purpose is the fountain and source of all the rest, as James states in Acts 15:18: "Known to God are all His works from the beginning of the world." However, since it is common usage for the purpose of a thing to be included in descriptions of its fulfillment, and since we are aiming at truth rather than strict precision, we set it down here in this way.

The second part is the actual inauguration — the solemn installation of Christ into His office. This involved committing all judgment to the Son (John 5:22), making Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), and appointing Him over the whole household of God (Hebrews 3:1-3). This is the anointing of the Most Holy spoken of in Daniel 9:24. God anointed Him with the oil of joy above His companions (Psalm 45:7). This formal setting apart of Christ for His office is described as an anointing because all the sacred objects that foreshadowed Him — the ark, the altar, and others — were set apart and consecrated by anointing (Exodus 30:25-27). Connected to this inaugurration is the public declaration made by a multitude of angels from heaven at His birth. One of them announced to the shepherds, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:10-11). This message was followed by the triumphant praise of the heavenly host: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased" (verse 14). This was confirmed by the voice from the Majestic Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased" (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17). If these events are to be arranged in their proper order, they may be seen in three distinct acts. First, the glorious announcement of His birth. The Father prepared a body for Him (Hebrews 10:5), and when He brought His firstborn into the world, He said, "Let all the angels of God worship Him" (Hebrews 1:6), sending them to proclaim the message we just described. Second, the visible descent of the Spirit in the form of a dove at His baptism (Matthew 3:16), when He was filled with the Spirit in fullness for the accomplishment of His work and the discharge of the office He was appointed to — accompanied by the voice from heaven that declared His Son the one He loved. Third, the crowning of Him with glory and honor in His resurrection, ascension, and being seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3). The Father set Him as King on His holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:7-8). All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Him (Matthew 28:18), all things were placed under His feet (Hebrews 2:7-8), He was highly exalted and given a name above every name (Philippians 2:9). The Father appointed witnesses of every kind: angels from heaven (Luke 24:4; Acts 1:10), the dead rising from their tombs (Matthew 27:52), the apostles testifying to the living (Acts 2:32), and the more than five hundred brothers to whom He appeared at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). So He was gloriously inaugurated into His office in its various stages and degrees, with God saying to Him, "It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6).

Between these two acts, I acknowledge that there are two promises from God. The first is a promise of a Savior for His people — a Mediator in keeping with His prior purpose — as in Genesis 3:15: "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head," and "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples" (Genesis 49:10). God also foreshadowed this through many sacrifices and other types, along with prophetic predictions. As Peter writes, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to come searched and inquired carefully, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but those who would afterward receive these things — the very things now proclaimed through those who preached the Gospel by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which the angels long to look (1 Peter 1:10-12). The second is a promise of applying the benefits purchased by this appointed Savior to those who would believe in Him — benefits to be given in the fullness of time according to the earlier promises. God told Abraham that in his offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and Abraham himself was justified by the same faith (Genesis 15:6). But these matters belong more properly to the application of redemption, which was administered equally both before and after the actual coming of Christ.

The second act of the Father's sending of the Son is the equipping of Him for His mission — supplying Him with the fullness of all gifts and graces needed for the office He was to hold, the work He was to accomplish, and the charge He bore over the household of God. In Christ there was a twofold fullness and perfection of all spiritual excellence. The first was the natural and all-sufficient perfection of His deity, as one with His Father by virtue of His divine nature. His glory was the glory of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14). He was in the form of God and did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped (Philippians 2:6). He was the companion of the Lord of Hosts (Zechariah 13:7) — as shown in that glorious vision of Isaiah 6:3, where the seraphim cried to one another, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." The doorposts shook at the sound of the one calling out, the house was filled with smoke, and the prophet cried, "My eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (verse 4). The apostle says that Isaiah saw Christ's glory and spoke of Him in that vision (John 12:41). Christ, as it were, set that glory aside for a time when He took the form of a servant and humbled Himself to death (Philippians 2:7-8), laying aside the outward splendor that accompanied His deity, appearing to have no stately form or majesty that people would be drawn to Him (Isaiah 53:2). But this fullness is not our subject here, since it was not communicated to Him but belongs essentially to His person — eternally begotten from the person of His Father.

The second fullness present in Christ was a communicated fullness — bestowed on Him by the Father's provision to equip Him for His work and office. This is His fullness as mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5) — not in His role as Lord of Hosts, but as Immanuel, God with us, the Son given to us who was called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, upon whose shoulders the government was to rest (Isaiah 9:6). This is a fullness of grace — not the essential, infinite grace that belongs to the nature of the Godhead, but the grace that was habitually instilled into His humanity as it was personally united to His divine nature. Though not absolutely infinite like the other, it extends to every perfection of grace both in kind and degree. There is no grace that is not found in Christ, and every grace is present in Him to the highest degree. Whatever the fullness of grace requires — in all its varieties and levels — is in Him habitually, given by His Father for this very purpose and for the accomplishment of the appointed work. Though this fullness cannot strictly be called infinite, it is boundless and inexhaustible. It is in Him as light in the rays of the sun, or as water in a living spring that never runs dry. He is the lampstand from which the golden pipes pour forth golden oil (Zechariah 4:12) into all who are His. For He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and in all things He has the preeminence — because it pleased the Father for all fullness to dwell in Him (Colossians 1:18-19). In Him the Father caused all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge to be hidden (Colossians 2:3), and in Him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily, personal form (verse 9) — so that from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace (John 1:16), in a continual supply. So when He set out on the work of redemption, He declared first of all, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn" (Isaiah 61:1-2). This was the anointing with the oil of joy that He had above His companions (Psalm 45). It was poured on His head and ran down His beard and to the edges of His garments (Psalm 133:2), so that everyone covered with the robe of His righteousness might share in it. The Spirit of the Lord rested on Him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2) — not in partial measures and beginnings as in us, proportioned to our degree of sanctification, but in fullness. He did not receive the Spirit by measure (John 3:34). That is, when He reached the full stature of maturity, it was not with Him as it is with us (Ephesians 4:13). Rather, the Spirit was manifested and given to Him progressively during His earthly life: He increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). To this was added all authority in heaven and on earth, which was given to Him (Matthew 28:18), and authority over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the Father had given Him (John 17:2). This could be developed into many more specifics, but this is enough to describe the second act of God in the sending of His Son.

The third act of this sending is the Father's entering into a covenant and agreement with His Son concerning the work to be undertaken and its outcome. This covenant has two parts. The first is the Father's promise to protect and assist Christ in the complete and perfect fulfillment of the entire mission he was taking on. The Father committed Himself that, upon His Son's undertaking this great work of redemption, He would not withhold any assistance — help in trials, strength against opposition, encouragement against temptation, and strong comfort in the midst of terror — that might in any way be necessary to carry Christ through every difficulty to the completion of so great a work. And it was upon this commitment that Christ took up this heavy burden, so full of suffering and anguish. For before receiving this pledge, the Father required nothing less of Him than this: that He become a Savior, sharing in the afflictions of His people (Isaiah 63:8-9); that although He was the companion of the Lord of Hosts, He would endure the sword drawn against Him as the shepherd of the sheep (Zechariah 13:7); that He would tread the winepress alone until His garments were red (Isaiah 61:2-3); that He would be stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities — crushed and caused grief, making His soul an offering for sin and bearing the iniquity of many (Isaiah 53); that He would be so utterly deprived of comfort as to cry, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1). No wonder, then, that upon Christ's undertaking, the Lord promised to make His mouth sharp as a sword, to hide Him in the shadow of His hand, to make Him a polished arrow hidden in His quiver, and to make Him His servant in whom He would be glorified (Isaiah 49:2-3). Though the kings of the earth would rise up and rulers would conspire against Him, the Lord would laugh them to scorn and establish Him as King on His holy hill of Zion (Psalm 2:2, 4-5). Though the builders would reject Him, He would become the cornerstone — to the amazement and astonishment of all the world (Psalm 118:22-23; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 12:17; John 4:11; 2 Peter 2:4). The Lord would lay Him as a foundation stone — a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation (Isaiah 28:16) — so that whoever fell on Him would be broken, and on whomever He fell, He would crush them to dust. From this pledge arose the confidence of our Savior in His greatest and most severe trials. He was assured, by the Father's commitment in this covenant, that in God's arrangement for the redemption of mankind the Father would never leave Him nor forsake Him. "I gave My back to those who strike Me," He said, "and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). But with what confidence, blessed Savior, did You endure all this shame and sorrow? "The Lord God helps Me, therefore I am not disgraced; therefore I have set My face like flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed. He who vindicates Me is near; who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me. Behold, the Lord God helps Me; who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them" (verses 7-9). With this assurance He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, He did not open His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). When they hurled insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats, but entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). The ground of our Savior's confidence and assurance in this great undertaking — and a powerful motivation for exercising the graces He had received in the midst of the most extreme suffering — was this commitment of His Father through this covenant of assistance and protection.

The second part of this covenant concerns the outcome — the promised reward for all His suffering, and the successful accomplishment of the goal He undertook. This is the most important element to examine, since it bears directly on the matter before us. It would not have been as clear without the prior considerations. For whatever God promised His Son would be fulfilled and attained, that was certainly what the Son aimed at in the whole undertaking — it was the designed end of the work committed to Him, the only thing He could rightfully claim upon completing His Father's will. What this was, and the promises that lay it out at length, can be seen in Isaiah 49: "You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will show My glory. I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful." And the Lord will certainly make good on this commitment: "I will preserve You and give You for a covenant of the people, to restore the land and to apportion the desolate inheritances; saying to those who are bound, 'Go forth,' to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' Along the roads they will feed, and their pasture will be on all bare heights. They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; for He who has compassion on them will lead them and will guide them to springs of water. I will make all My mountains a road, and My highways will be raised up. Behold, these will come from afar; and behold, these will come from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim" (Isaiah 49:6-12). Through all of this, the Lord clearly commits Himself to His Son: that He would gather to Himself a glorious Church of believers from among Jews and Gentiles throughout the whole world, who would be brought to Him, faithfully fed, and refreshed by the springs of living water that flow from God in Christ for their eternal salvation. This, then, is what our Savior certainly aimed at in undertaking the work: the gathering together of the sons of God, their being brought to God, and their passing into eternal salvation. When this is carefully considered, it completely undermines the idea of a general ransom or universal redemption, as will become clear later. In the 53rd chapter of the same prophecy, the Lord speaks even more explicitly and precisely in His promises to His Son, assuring Him that when He made His soul an offering for sin He would see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord would prosper in His hand. He would see the result of His anguish and be satisfied. By His knowledge He would justify many, and He would divide a portion with the great and share in the spoil with the strong (verses 10-12). You see — He was to see His offspring by covenant, and to raise up a spiritual people for God, a faithful people to be sustained and preserved through all generations. I cannot see how this is consistent with the view of those who have flatly stated that the death of Christ could have its full and complete effect and yet none be saved. Nevertheless, some have boldly affirmed exactly this, and all who hold to universal redemption tacitly concede the same when they get around to identifying the proper ends and effects of Christ's death. The will of the Lord was also to prosper in His hand. What that will was, He declares in Hebrews 2:10: the bringing of many sons to glory. For God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9), as we will explain more fully later. But the promises God made to His Son in their agreement — and therefore the Son's own aim and intention — can be seen nowhere more clearly than in the request our Savior makes after completing the work for which He was sent. That request was certainly neither more nor less than what God had pledged to Him. "I have glorified You on the earth," He said, "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4). And after declaring that eternal glory from which He had for a time emptied Himself (verse 4), what does He now request? He asks for a full outpouring of God's love and the fruits of that love upon all His elect — in faith, sanctification, and glory. The Father had given them to Him, and He had consecrated Himself as a sacrifice for their sake, praying for their sanctification (verses 17-18), their unity and peace with one another, and their union with God (verses 20-21). "I do not ask on behalf of these alone," — that is, His apostles — "but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us." And lastly, for their glory (verse 24): "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me." All of these specific requests are no doubt grounded in the promises the Father had made to Him. And in all of this, there is not one word about all people without exception — in fact, the prayer explicitly states the contrary (John 17:9). Let this then be carefully noted: the Father's promise to His Son and the Son's request to His Father are both directed toward this particular goal — bringing sons to God. This is the first act of the Father, consisting of these three specifics.

The second act of the Father is the laying of the punishment for sin upon His Son — an act attributed throughout Scripture to the Father. "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man, My Associate," declares the Lord of Hosts. "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered" (Zechariah 13:7). What is stated here as a command — "Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered" — is carried out in Matthew 26:31. He was stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and it pleased the Lord to crush Him, putting Him to grief (Isaiah 53:4, 6, 10). God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). In that verse, the predicate stands in for what is meant, as the contrast between His being made sin and our being made righteousness makes clear. He who knew no sin — that is, who deserved no punishment — God made to be sin, meaning He laid on Him the punishment due to sin. Or perhaps "sin" in that passage refers to a sin offering, an offering for the expiation of sin, corresponding to the Hebrew word that means both sin and the sacrifice offered for it. This was the Lord's doing. As for Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel — when they gathered together they did nothing but what the hand and counsel of God had already determined should happen (Acts 4:27-28). The profound anguish our Savior experienced came from His direct conflict with the Father's wrath — a burden the Father Himself immediately placed on Him, with no outward instrument or person visibly inflicting any suffering or pain. He began to be grieved and deeply distressed even to the point of death (Matthew 26:37-38) — this was while He was in the garden with His three chosen apostles, before the traitor or any of his companions had appeared. He was deeply distressed and troubled (Mark 14:34). This was the time when, in the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death (Hebrews 5:7). Luke describes how He bore it: an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. Yet in His agony He prayed even more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling down to the ground (Luke 22:43-44). It was surely an intense and concentrated trial, coming directly from His Father. Consider how calmly and willingly He bore all the cruelty of men and violence against His body — without resistance or inward disturbance — until this conflict was renewed and He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" This is worth noting carefully, so that we may understand who our Savior chiefly had to deal with and what He actually endured for sinners — which will also shed light on the central question of who those sinners are for whom He undertook all this. His sufferings were far from consisting merely in bodily persecution and the effects such things have on the soul. What He underwent for us was nothing more and nothing less than the curse of the law of God. He freed us from the curse by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) — a curse that contained all the punishment due to sin, whether measured by the severity of God's justice or by the demand of the law that required obedience. It is true that the condemnation of the law meant only temporal death when the law is considered as the instrument of the Jewish civil order serving that economy. But to say that is all the law demands — considered as the universal rule of obedience and the bond of the covenant between God and man — is a foolish mistake. In dying for us, Christ did not merely aim at our benefit — He actually died in our place. The punishment due to our sin, and the chastisement that secured our peace, was placed upon Him. Those were the pains of hell in their very nature and weight and pressure — though not in their duration, since it was impossible for Him to be held by death. Who can deny this without doing injury to the justice of God, which will inevitably inflict those pains on sinners forever? It is true that God permitted a substitution with respect to the person suffering — admitting a commutation, as in the old law where the life of the animal was accepted (in the ceremonial dimension of the ordinances) in place of the human life. This is fully revealed and we believe it. But as for any change in the nature of the punishment itself — where is the slightest indication of any such alteration? We close this second act of God — the laying of punishment on Christ for us — with the words of the prophet: "All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him" (Isaiah 53:6). To this we add one observation: it seems strange to me that Christ should undergo the pains of hell for the sake of those who were already lying in those pains before He underwent them, and who will continue in them forever — for their worm does not die and their fire is not quenched. To this I add a dilemma for those who hold to universal atonement. God imposed His wrath due to sin, and Christ underwent the pains of hell, for either: all sins of all people; or all sins of some people; or some sins of all people. If the last — some sins of all people — then all people still have some sins to answer for, and therefore no one will be saved. If God enters into judgment with us for even one sin, no one will be justified in His sight: "If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3). We might as well all throw everything we own to the moles and the bats and flee into the clefts of the rocks and the crevices of the cliffs out of terror before the Lord and the splendor of His majesty (Isaiah 2:20-21). If the second — that is what we affirm: that Christ, in the place and stead of His people, suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the world. If the first — why then are not all people freed from the punishment of all their sins? You will say: because of their unbelief; they refuse to believe. But is this unbelief a sin or not? If it is not a sin, why should they be punished for it? If it is a sin, then either Christ bore the punishment due to it or He did not. If He did, then why should unbelief prevent them from receiving the benefits of His death any more than the other sins He died for? If He did not, then He did not die for all their sins. Let them choose which option they prefer.