Cap. 3 Obj. 17 (ultima) and Cap. 3 close: Places naming the elect do not cancel the race-wide covenant

Obj. 17. The last objection is drawn from those places in which Christ’s death is expressly referred to certain particular persons: from which they infer that it does not look to others. The places on which they rely are these: (Matthew 1:21): You shall call his name Jesus: for he himself will save his people from their sins. (John 10:15): I lay down my life for my sheep. (John 11:51–52): Jesus dies, that he might gather into one the children of God who were scattered, and the like.

Sol. From the aforesaid testimonies and others like them it is well concluded that Christ’s death, by the will of God sending the Son and of the Son offering himself, pertains in a certain special manner to that peculiar people known to God alone, that is, to the elect. But that special manner is of this kind: not that he is said to have died for these alone, but that he died for these alone with a certain, eternal, gratuitous purpose of saving them infallibly, through the grace of special mercy flowing from a certain special providence which we call Predestination. But from testimonies of that kind which refer Christ’s death to certain persons, not considered simply, but complicated with the decree of secret predestination, it is wrongly inferred that this death in a certain general manner by no means pertains to all human beings. But this general manner is of such a kind that we acknowledge Christ to have died for the whole human race with the Evangelical covenant, and that most firm one, concerning the expiating of sins and the conferring of eternal life on all and each human beings provided they embrace this Redeemer of the world with true faith. And hence it is that although in the sacred Scriptures some places occur in which Christ is said to have died for the elect or for his peculiar people, yet none occur in which he is denied to have died for any human beings, and very many in which he is affirmed to have died for all. For the Spirit of God willed to intimate to the faithful themselves the special privilege of the elect in Christ’s death, yet he did not will to overwhelm in silence the common right of the human race in that same death of Christ. It is ours therefore to leave to God the decree of his hidden predestination, according to which he has established how far and to whom he wills to apply this death of Christ efficaciously through the gift of special grace; and meanwhile with grateful minds to acknowledge the sum of the revealed Gospel, which proclaims One dead for all, that whoever believes in him should have eternal life. In this sense Ambrose: Although Christ suffered for all, yet he suffered specially for us, because he suffered for the Church (On Luke, book 6, chapter 7). And thus far we have given you our first thesis explained, confirmed, and vindicated from contrary objections. We have lingered longer in treating it, because (as was said) it contains the Caput of the matter, and opens the way to unraveling the rest, in discussing which we shall be much briefer. Let us therefore come to the second thesis.