Friday, January 16, 2015

Justification only for the elect in Christ alone

"God, as we have before proved, wills not the salvation of every man, but He gave His Son to die for them whose salvation He willed; therefore His Son did not die for every man. All those for whom Christ died are saved, and Divine justice indispensably requires that to them the benefits of His death should be imparted; but only the elect are saved, they only partake of those benefits, consequently for them only He died and intercedes. The apostle (Rom. viii.) ask, 'who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? it is God that justifies,' i.e., His elect, exclusively of others; 'who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died' for them, exclusive of others. The plain meaning of the passage is that those whom God justifies, and for whom Christ died (justification and redemption being of exactly the same extent), cannot be condemned. These privileges are expressly restrained to the elect: therefore God justifies and Christ died for them alone." - Jerome Zanchius, Absolute Predestination

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