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 THE ATONEMENT IN ITS RELATION TO THE
ETERNAL STATE OF THE UNIVERSE. THE entire universe of God is under the government of
Jesus Christ. In the present administration of it, there is
a mixture of good and evil, but he intends to remove out of
his moral government every offence and "everything that
defileth." This administration of it is to come to a close;
and then, the state of probation will end, accountable
beings will be reckoned with, sentence will be passed on
each class of agents, and their respective states will be
fixed. By these measures, a separation will be made between
the good and the wicked. Rewards and punishments will be
awarded to each respectively. Both will be awarded for
eternity, and both will be awarded by a mediatorial
authority founded on the atonement. The glorification of the
saints, the rewarding of angels, the condemnation of the
wicked, and the eternal condition of all beings, are
connected with the mediation and the atonement of Christ THE INFLUENCE OF THE ATONEMENT ON THE
HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN. All the blessedness, and all the glory, of all heavenly
Beings are connected with the atonement of Jesus Christ. The
spirits of just men made perfect owe everything to it. The whole of their happiness is represented as consisting
in being with Christ where he is--in having a clear and full
sight of all his glory--in being as to their souls and
bodies perfectly like him--in having without interruption
the most intimate intercourse with him,--and in having an
ample and an eternal share in his glory, dominion, and
blessedness, being glorified together as joint-heirs. The happiness of angels will take a character, or a
modification, from their long inquiries and services in
connection with the great atonement of their Lord. Their
interests were embraced in the mediatorial system, by which
measure their present happiness was increased, and their
eternal happiness secured. Their eternal adorations are
connected with the atonement. In heaven they will be always
praising him, singing, "Worthy is the LAMB that was SLAIN."
They cheerfully join the ransomed of the Lord in celebrating
his praises; and though one of the sweetest lines of our
song is not in theirs, yet they will always desire to look
into these glorious themes, and never will they forget the
scenes of the manger and the cross. The Scriptures teach us to regard the eternal glory and
blessedness of God as connected with the mediatorial
atonement. The FATHER will rejoice in the redounding of all
things to the praise of the glory of his GRACE, according to
the eternal purpose which he had purposed in Christ Jesus.
The SON will be pleased and satisfied in seeing of the
TRAVAIL of his soul. The joy of the HOLY SPIRIT will be
connected with GLORIFYING Christ, by introducing to heaven
millions of souls, sanctified, and formed after his
likeness. For this, all the works of God were made, and all
the word of God spoken. Through this all the divine
perfections were displayed and honored, and all the divine
purposes accomplished and glorified. The mediatorial
administration of the divine government shall come to a
close, but the influence of the atonement on the interests
of the divine empire shall never end. There are two elements in the state of the blessed that
are inconsistent with a restricted atonement on the
principles of commercial redemption, viz.: its freeness, and
its gradations, Commercial redemption supposes that Christ
suffered so much punishment for so many sins of the elect,
and consequently by so much suffering, purchased so much
blessedness for them, and for them only. The blessedness of
heaven is, first, free--all of pure, unmerited, and
unpurchased grace. It was not due to the elect; nor did the
atonement constrain the Father to confer it from justice to
Christ. It is meant that public justice was honored in
awarding blessedness to the saints for the sake of Christ
but justice was not the ground and cause of the award--it
was sovereign, free grace exercised through the medium of
the atonement. If, however, Christ paid so much suffering
for so much blessedness, that blessedness is due in justice,
either to Christ, or, according to his will, to the persons
for whom he paid the amount, whose song ought to be to the
praise of the glory of his justice, and not of his
grace. The blessedness of heaven, secondly, has gradations, as
one star differeth from another star in glory. Now on the
principles of commercial redemption, how will you account
for the gradations of saints in glory? This commercial
hypothesis supposes that Christ sustained, or paid, greater
sufferings for a great sinner, and less for a sinner of a
lower grade. Here, then, we have two difficulties:--First,
the more Christ suffered for any one, the more he deserved
for him, and consequently that sinner must have a greater
share in the blessedness. Secondly, The reason why any one
may be least in the kingdom of God is, that Christ suffered
least for him; and Christ suffered least for him, because he
had the least sins to suffer for! How mercenary, pitiful,
and absurd ! On the contrary, the Scriptures represent the
atonement as the medium, and not as the measure of the
rewards. Though the reward is not for our works, it is
according to them. As the atonement contemplates God as a
free agent, so it contemplates man as a free agent.
Consequently, though all rewards come from free grace
through the atonement, yet the measurement is, "he that
soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he that soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully." Such an
arrangement accounts for the gradations in glory, on
principles honorable to the government, for it supposes
every saint perfectly and fully happy in his gradation
according to his several ability. Glorified saints will
never have the apprehension that their glory is of such a
grade, and of no other, simply because Christ has deserved
and purchased no more for them. The eternity of a happy universe will be perpetually and
progressively unfolding the glories of the GREAT ATONEMENT,
for amid all the splendor, blessedness, and joy, of the
heavenly worlds, "the LAMB will be the light thereof." THE ASPECT OF THE ATONEMENT ON THE
PERDITION OF THE LOST. On the day that shall terminate the probation of all
accountable beings, they will all be judged by the Mediator,
and the eternal separation between the good and the bad
shall be effected by mediatorial authority. It is not in his
authority as God, the Maker of all things, that Christ will
judge, but in his authority as Mediator; and he has no
authority as Mediator, but what is founded on his
atonement. I. The eternal condemnation of fallen angels will be
connected with this mediatorial authority founded on the
atonement. The Scriptures clearly assert, and constantly suppose,
that a race of fallen spirits and wicked intelligences do
exist, that they exert an agency and influence in this
world, and that their agency is exerted entirely for evil.
These fallen and wicked spirits have attempted to ruin the
whole human race. They have tried to convert this world into
a theatre of the most malignant evils. When the Son of God
came as a second Adam to oppose the progress of evil, they
grievously afflicted him, and made every effort to conquer
him. They have been, since, employing all their agents and
instruments for crushing and destroying the church of
Christ. With inveterate and undiminished malignity, they
have constantly aimed at clouding the honors of the divine
perfections, and at frustrating all the divine purposes, and
especially, purposes of mercy and favors. As the eternal happiness of angels will take a character
and modification from their services in the cause of the
atonement, so will the eternal punishment of fallen spirits
take a character from their machinations and opposition
against the atonement. Though they have not rejected the
atonement, they have opposed it from enmity against the
redeeming measures of the Seed of the woman; and the
bruising, and crushing, of their agency and influence, will
be by mediatorial power and authority. II. The condemnation of the heathen, who have perished
without hearing of the atonement, will be an act of Christ
as the Mediator. It is through the provisions of the atonement that the
heathen have had their being. Had it not been for the prompt
interposition of Christ in Eden as Mediator to "save the
world," neither the heathen, nor any other nations, would
ever have come into existence, They have, therefore, become
members of moral government, and mental endowments and means
of accountableness have been conferred upon them, on account
of the introduction of a compensative dispensation.
Consequently, all the favors of providence, and fruitful
seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness, come
to them, though they do not know it, through the mediation
of Christ. They will, therefore, be dealt with according to
what they have through the atonement, and not according to
what they have not. As they have not received the ministry
of the atonement, they will not be condemned for rejecting
that, but for abusing or neglecting what they had actually
received. It is sometimes objected that it were unreasonable to
judge the heathen on the principles of the mediation of
Christ, since these principles were never known to them.
This objection would suppose it unreasonable to judge them
on any other principles. On what principles can they be
judged? If they be judged on the principles of God's
providential government over them, it will be objected that
they never know that the government, under which they were,
was the providence of God. If they be judged on the
principles of God's right to them as their Maker and Owner,
it will be objected that they did not know that God was
their Maker. "He will judge them," say some, "as the God of
nature;" but they do not know that he is the God of Nature.
The objection then, must suppose that they are excusable,
that they will not be judged, and that they are not
accountable to God. Against all this, examine the word of
God. There you will find that the heathen are ALREADY
condemned, upon principles which are not known to them. The
word of God now condemns their manners and actions, and we
cannot doubt that this "judgment is according to the truth"
of the case. Though the word of God judges them on these
principles, it judges them according to what they have, and
not according to what they have not. What the word of God
condemns now, it will condemn in the day of judgment, and
its condemnation will be pronounced by the Mediator. The
judge of the whole earth will do right, and to him they
stand or fall. III. There cannot be a doubt that the condemnation of the
rejecters of the gospel will be connected with the
atonement. That sinners will perish notwithstanding an atonement for
them, is one of the most flagitious and tremendous facts in
the history of evil. This fact is so awfully melancholy, and
on some theological principles, so unaccountable, that many
have disputed the reality of it, and have indeed denied that
those who perish had any relation to the atonement, as their
perdition would be a great dishonor to it. This strange and
awful fact, then, deserves an examination. 1. It is an indisputable fact that sinners perish
notwithstanding an atonement made for their sin. a. The Scriptures declare plainly that Christ died for
all and yet they announce as plainly that all will not be
saved. No one will dispute the melancholy fact that all will
not be saved, but they dispute whether Christ has died for
all. Paul, in 2 Cor. v. 14, 15, assumes the death of Christ
for all as a conceded, or, indeed, as an undisputed point.
It is therefore beyond a doubt, that though Christ died for
all, yet all will not be saved. b. It was foreseen and contemplated that the atonement of
Christ would not have the same effects on all. It was known
that Christ should be for the rising and falling of many in
Israel, that he should be a stone of stumbling and a rock of
offence to the world; but to the saved, the power and wisdom
of God; and that the atonement would be to some the savor of
life unto life, and to others the savor of death unto death.
By saying that such effects were foreseen and contemplated,
it is not meant that such consequences were intended and
contrived, but that they were known and recognized as
possible and probable. We do wrong when we deny such
consequences, merely because they run athwart our
theological views. These results did not thwart the theology
of the inspired writers, and they ought not to thwart
ours. c. The holy Scriptures avowedly suppose that there are
some cases in which the death of Christ will be of no
effect. In Gal. v. 2, 3, 4, Paul distinctly mentions two
cases which would make the atonement of Christ unavailable
and unprofitable. To any man who trusted for salvation
either in outward ceremonies, or in works of law, the
atonement of Christ would be of no effect; it would be to
him as if Christ had never died. Here is no intimation that
Christ had not died for such a man, but a distinct avowal
that Christ had died for him in vain. Final impenitence is
another case, which the atonement of Christ does not reach,
and, speaking with reverence, could not reach. No purposes
of moral government could be secured by an atonement for
final impenitence, and such an atonement would be as
unreasonable and unjust as an act of pardon to persevering
and persisting rebels. d. The death of Christ for souls that perish is used as
an argument against our being the occasions of their
perdition. "Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ
died." "And through thy knowledge shall thy weak brother
perish, for whom Christ died?" Rom. xiv. 15. 1 Cor. viii.
11, 12. If there be meaning in "words which the Holy Ghost
teacheth," these passages teach us, that souls for whom
Christ died might, by our wrong conduct, be destroyed and
perish, and that their perdition, by such means, is a
grievous wrong, and a public injury against Christ. If it
was ever the doctrine of Paul that souls for whom Christ
died could never perish, these very solemn warnings and
injunctions are worse than serious trifling. He speaks of
"destruction," and "perishing," as results that would take
place, in given cases, notwithstanding the death of Christ,
and as consequences which the atonement did not, and would
not prevent. e. It is solemnly announced that all the rejecters of the
atonement shall perish, notwithstanding its worth and
sufficiency, Heb. ii. 3. "How shall we escape (neglecting
or) if we neglect so great salvation?" Heb. x. 26, 27, "If
we sin wilfully after that we receive the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin," or the
sacrifice for sin is no more available for us. Fallen angels
cannot be charged with neglecting a salvation that was never
intended for them. This great salvation, then, has some
relation towards the men who perish which it never had
towards fallen angels. Men perish, not by being left without
a salvation, but by neglecting the salvation provided for
them in the atonement. The apostle supposes that these
persons, for whom an atonement was made, may reach a case in
which this atonement will be no longer available to
them--they are gone beyond its reach. But were they ever
within its reach? Did the atonement continue for any time
available for those who have ere now perished? The apostle
takes this as a granted truth, and founded upon it, as on a
sure foundation, a powerful and awful argument for
cultivating a state of mind corresponding with the designs
of the death of Christ. It is here clearly assumed that
there is nothing in the provision of the great atonement to
prevent the perdition of those who neglect it. f. The fact that an atonement has been made for those who
perish, is employed as an argument for the infliction of
sorer punishment upon those who reject it, than upon those
who have not lived under its ministry, Heb. x. 29. The blood
wherewith these sinners have been sanctified, that is,
atoned or expiated, is the blood of Christ. Yet,
notwithstanding this expiation they receive a sorer
punishment for despising and rejecting it. If this blood
never had expiated such sinners, to them it was an
unexpiating and an unappropriated blood. If they were not
atoned for by it, it is impossible to say how they can
justly deserve a sorer punishment for regarding it as a
blood which had done nothing for them. On these Scriptural premises it is impossible to doubt
that many whom the Lord has bought will reject his
redemption, and bring swift destruction upon themselves. 2. Though the perdition of the rejecters of the gospel be
a grievous and a distressing fact, it reflects no dishonor
on the atonement itself. a. Such results are constantly taking place in all the
other provisions of God's moral government, without any
dishonor on his arrangement. In providence, there are many
things which appear to be "in vain" and "of none effect," as
to a great number of mankind;--yet such failures are never
regarded as a dishonor to providence. E.g. providence
designs health, liberty, knowledge, to all mankind, yet they
are "of none effect" to many. After all, the diseases, the
ignorance, and the barbarousness of nations, which exist,
are not to be laid to the blame and dishonor of providence,
for providence has made every moral arrangement to prevent
them. We have already seen, in some of the previous pages,
that in various constitutions and dispensations of God,
there have, been similar failures, as in those of Eden and
Sinai. Even the economy of heaven itself failed as to some
of the angels, who failed to keep their first estate. It is
not, therefore, unexampled or unaccountable, that the
dispensation of the gospel should be liable to failure; and
in such failure there is no dishonor, which would not, in
that case, belong to the whole of the divine government. b. The word of God never ascribes the perdition of
sinners to any deficiency in the provisions of the
atonement. None of the hearers of the gospel perish because
the atonement was not sufficient for them,--or not intended
for them. Freely, and sincerely, and pressingly, they have
been besought to "receive the atonement." The grand
provisions of the atonement have been clearly and distinctly
exhibited to them as "the things which BELONGED to THEIR
peace,"--but they would not receive them. c. The perdition of those who reject the atonement is
their own personal, voluntary, and chosen act. They sin
"wilfully." They voluntarily and perseveringly "reject the
counsel of God against themselves." They are not influenced,
constrained, or tempted, by any divine attribute, by any
secret decree, or by any doubtful and uncertain gospel. It
is no disgrace to a Remedy that it does not cure those who
persist in rejecting it. It is no dishonor to a Refuge that
it does not defend those who refuse to enter it. And it is
no dishonor to the atonement to be "of none effect," to
those who reject its pardon, and seek to be justified by the
works of the law. d. The atonement will appear honorable, and glorious,
even in the destruction of those who reject it. The
apostles' ministry was to God a sweet savor of Christ, even
in them that perish; and so is the atonement itself. Its
great and distinguished ends will have been answered, in the
glory and the harmony of the divine perfections, in the
eternal condemnation of sin, in the honor and safety of the
divine government, in the "many crowns" of the Mediator, and
in the salvation of countless millions of the human race.
All holy and blessed intelligences will own, and approve,
the justice of the condemnation of all the despisers of the
way of salvation; and their punishment will be forever, to
the universe, an awful monument, and example, of the evil of
sinning. against God. In the fixing of the eternal state of
the universe, all holy intelligences are represented as
singing, "AMEN, ALLELUIA, WORTHY IS THE LAMB."