Chapter 1

The main thing upon which the whole controversy about the death of Christ turns, and upon which, section 1, the greatest weight of the business depends, comes next to our consideration, being that which we have prepared the way unto, by all that has been already said. It is about the proper end of the death of Christ, which whoever can rightly constitute and make manifest, may well be admitted for a mediator, and umpire in the whole contestation; for, if it be the end of Christ's death, which most of our Adversaries assign, we will not deny, but that Christ died for all and every one; and if that be the end of it, which we maintain so to be, they will not extend it beyond the elect, beyond believers. This then must be fully cleared, and solidly confirmed by them who hope for any success in their undertakings. The end of the death of Christ we asserted in the beginning of our Discourse to be our drawing near unto God, that being a general expression for the whole reduction and recovery of sinners from the state of alienation, misery and wrath, into grace, peace, and eternal communion with him. Now there being a two-fold end in things, one of the worker, the other of the work wrought, we have manifested, how, that unless it be, either for want of wisdom and certainty of mind in the Agent, in choosing and using unsuitable means for the attaining of the end proposed, or for want of skill and power to make use of, and rightly to improve, well-proportioned means to the best advantage, those things are always co-incident; the work effects, what the workman intends. In the business in hand, the Agent is the blessed Three in One, as was before declared; and the means whereby they aimed at the end proposed, was the Oblation and Intercession of Jesus Christ, which are united, intending the same object, as was also cleared. Now unless we will blasphemously ascribe want of wisdom, power, perfection, and sufficiency in working unto the Agent, or affirm that the death and intercession of Christ, was not suitable and proportioned for the attaining the end, proposed by it to be effected, we must grant that the end of these is one and the same, whatsoever the Blessed Trinity intended by them, that was effected; and whatsoever we find in the issue ascribed unto them, that by them the Blessed Trinity intended. So that we shall have no cause, to consider these apart, unless it be sometimes to argue from the one to the other; as where we find anything ascribed to the death of Christ, as the fruit thereof, we may conclude, that, that God intended to effect by it, and so also on the contrary.

Now the end of the death of Christ is either supreme and ultimate, section 2, or intermediate and subservient to that last end. The first, is the glory of God, or the manifestation of his glorious Attributes, especially of his justice, and mercy, tempered with justice unto us. The Lord does necessarily aim himself in the first place, as the highest good; yes indeed that alone which is good, that is absolutely and simply so, and not by virtue of communication from another. And therefore in all his works, especially in this which we have in hand the highest of all, he first intends the manifestation of his own glory, which also he fully accomplishes in the close, to every point and degree by him intended, he makes all things for himself (Proverbs 16:4), and everything in the end must redound to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:15), wherein Christ himself is said to be God's (1 Corinthians 3:23), serving to his glory in that whole Administration that was committed to him. So (Ephesians 1:6), the whole end of all this dispensation, both of choosing us from eternity, redeeming us by Christ, blessing us with all spiritual blessings in him, is affirmed to be the praise, the glory of his grace, and (verse 13) that we should be to the praise of his glory. This is the end of all the benefits we receive by the death of Christ; for, we are filled with the fruits of Righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:11), which also is fully asserted (chapter 2:11): that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This the Apostle fully clarifies in the ninth chapter to the Romans; where he so asserts the supreme Dominion and independence of God in all his actions, his absolute freedom from taking rise, cause or occasion, to his purposes, from anything among us sons of men, doing all things for his own sake, and aiming only at his own glory. And this is that which in the close of all, shall be accomplished, when every creature shall say, Blessing, Honor, Glory and Power, be unto him that sits upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever (Revelation 5:13). But this is beyond our present subject.

Second, there is an end of the death of Christ which is intermediate and subservient to that other, which is the last and most supreme, section 3, even the effects which it has in respect of us, and that is it of which we now treat; which as we before affirmed, is, the bringing of us unto God. Now this though in reference to the Oblation and Intercession of Christ, it be one entire end, yet in itself, and in respect of the relation which the several acts therein have one to another, it may be considered distinctly, in two parts, whereof one is the end, and the other the means for the attaining of that end, both, the complete end of the mediation of Christ in respect of us. The ground and cause of this is, the appointment of the Lord, that there should be such a connection and coherence, between the things purchased for us by Jesus Christ, that the one should be a means and way of attaining the other, the one the condition, and the other the thing promised upon that condition, but both equally and alike procured for us by Jesus Christ; for if either be omitted in his purchase, the other would be vain and fruitless, as we shall afterwards declare. Now both these consist in a communication of God and his goodness unto us, (and our participation of him by virtue thereof) and that either to grace or glory, holiness or blessedness, faith or salvation. In this last way, they are usually called, faith being the means of which we speak, and salvation the end; faith the condition, salvation the promised inheritance: under the name of Faith we comprise all saving grace, that accompanies it: and under the name of salvation, the whole glory to be revealed, the liberty of the glory of the Children of God (Romans 8), all that blessedness which consists, in an eternal fruition of the blessed God. With faith go all the effectual means thereof, both external and internal, the Word and Almighty sanctifying Spirit: all advancement of state and condition attending it, as Justification, Reconciliation, and Adoption into the family of God: all fruits flowing from it in sanctification, and universal holiness, with all other privileges and enjoyments of believers, here, which follow the redemption and reconciliation purchased for them by the oblation of Christ. A real, effectual and infallible bestowing, and applying of all these things, as well those that are the means, as those that are the end, the condition, as the thing conditioned about, faith and grace, as salvation and glory, unto all, and every one, for whom he died do we maintain to be the end proposed and effected, by the bloodshedding of Jesus Christ, with those other acts of his Mediatorship, which we before declared to be therewith inseparably conjoined, so that every one for whom he died, and offered up himself, has, by virtue of his death, or oblation, a right purchased for him, unto all these things, which in due time he shall certainly and infallibly enjoy, or, which is all one, the end of Christ's obtaining grace and glory with his Father was, that they might be certainly bestowed upon all those for whom he died, some of them, upon condition that they do believe, but faith itself absolutely upon no condition at all: all which we shall further illustrate and confirm after we have removed some false ends assigned.

We now come to the central issue on which the entire controversy about the death of Christ turns, and upon which the greatest weight of the debate depends. Everything said so far has been preparation for this. The question is: what is the proper end of the death of Christ? Whoever can rightly define and demonstrate this may well serve as the deciding voice in the whole dispute. For if the end of Christ's death is what most of our opponents claim it to be, we would not deny that Christ died for all and every person. And if the end is what we maintain it to be, they themselves will not extend it beyond the elect, beyond believers. This must therefore be fully clarified and firmly established by anyone hoping to make progress in the argument. We stated at the outset that the end of Christ's death is our drawing near to God — a general expression covering the entire recovery of sinners from the state of alienation, misery, and wrath into grace, peace, and eternal communion with Him. Now there are two ends in any action: the end of the worker and the end of the work produced. We have shown that unless there is either a failure of wisdom or certainty in the agent's choice of means, or a failure of skill and power to make use of appropriate means effectively, these two ends always coincide: the work accomplishes what the worker intends. In the matter at hand, the agent is the blessed Trinity, as established earlier. The means by which they aimed at the proposed end were the oblation and intercession of Jesus Christ — which are united in targeting the same object, as was also shown. Unless we are willing to blasphemously attribute to the agent a lack of wisdom, power, or sufficiency in working, or to claim that the death and intercession of Christ were not suitable and fitted for achieving the end proposed — we must accept that the end of both is one and the same. Whatever the blessed Trinity intended by them was accomplished. Whatever we find attributed to them in the outcome is what the blessed Trinity intended through them. Therefore we have no reason to consider them separately, except occasionally to argue from one to the other — where something is attributed to the death of Christ as its fruit, we may conclude that God intended to bring it about through Christ's death, and vice versa.

The end of Christ's death is either supreme and ultimate, or intermediate and subordinate to that final end. The first and supreme end is the glory of God — the manifestation of His glorious attributes, especially His justice and His mercy as tempered with justice toward us. God necessarily aims at Himself in the first place as the highest good — indeed, as the only thing that is good in an absolute and unconditional sense, not by receiving goodness from another. Therefore, in all His works — and especially in this greatest of all — He first intends the manifestation of His own glory. And He fully accomplishes this in the end, to every point and degree He intended. He has made all things for Himself (Proverbs 16:4), and everything must ultimately redound to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:15). Christ Himself is said to belong to God (1 Corinthians 3:23), serving His glory in the entire administration committed to Him. So in Ephesians 1:6, the ultimate end of the entire plan — choosing us from eternity, redeeming us through Christ, blessing us with every spiritual blessing in Him — is declared to be the praise and glory of His grace. And in verse 14, that we should be to the praise of His glory. This is the end of all the benefits we receive through Christ's death: we are filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:11). This is fully stated in chapter 2:11: that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The apostle makes this fully clear in Romans 9, where he establishes God's supreme sovereignty and independence in all His actions — His complete freedom from taking cause or occasion from anything among us — doing all things for His own sake and aiming only at His own glory. And this is what will be fully accomplished at the end of all things, when every creature declares: "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever" (Revelation 5:13). But this lies beyond our present subject.

Second, there is an end of Christ's death that is intermediate and subordinate to the supreme end — namely, its effects in relation to us. This is what we are now addressing. As we said earlier, it is the bringing of us to God. Though this is one entire end in relation to the oblation and intercession of Christ, it can be considered in two distinct parts in terms of how the various acts within it relate to one another. One part is the end itself, and the other is the means for attaining that end. Both together make up the complete end of Christ's mediation with respect to us. The basis for this is God's appointment of a connection and coherence between the things Christ purchased for us — so that the one serves as the means and way of attaining the other, one being the condition and the other the thing promised upon that condition. Yet both are equally and alike purchased for us by Jesus Christ. For if either is left out of His purchase, the other would be empty and useless, as we will explain later. Both consist in a communication of God and His goodness to us — and our participation in Him by virtue of that communication — whether in grace or glory, holiness or blessedness, faith or salvation. In this final pairing, faith is the means and salvation is the end; faith the condition, salvation the promised inheritance. Under the name of faith we include all saving grace that accompanies it. Under the name of salvation we include the entire glory to be revealed — the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans 8) — all the blessedness that consists in an eternal enjoyment of God. With faith come all the effectual means toward it, both external and internal — the word and the almighty sanctifying Spirit. With it also come all the changes in standing and condition that accompany it: justification, reconciliation, and adoption into the family of God. From it flow all the fruits of sanctification and universal holiness, along with all the other privileges and blessings believers enjoy in this life — which follow from the redemption and reconciliation purchased for them by Christ's oblation. What we maintain to be the end proposed and achieved by the bloodshedding of Jesus Christ — together with those other acts of His mediatorship declared to be inseparably joined to it — is the real, effective, and certain bestowal and application of all these things. This includes both the means and the end, the condition and the thing conditioned, faith and grace as well as salvation and glory — bestowed on all and every one for whom He died. Everyone for whom He died and offered Himself has, by virtue of His death and oblation, a right purchased for him to all these things. In due time each will certainly and without fail receive them. Or to say the same thing in other words: the goal of Christ's securing grace and glory with His Father was that they might be certainly bestowed on all those for whom He died — some things conditionally, upon their believing, but faith itself unconditionally. All of this we will further explain and confirm after we have cleared away certain false ends that others have proposed.