Thirdly, if Christ dyed in the stead of all men, and made satisfaction for their sinnes, then he did it for all their sinnes, or onely for some of their sinnes; if for some onely, who then can be saved? if for all, why then are not all saved? they say it is be∣cause of their unbeliefe, they will not beleeve, and therefore are not saved: that unbeliefe, is it a sinne, or is it not? if it bee not, how can it be a cause of damnation? if it be, Christ dyed for it, or he dyed not; if he did not, then he dyed not for all the sinnes of all men; if he did, why is this an obstacle to their salvati∣on? is there any new shift to bee invented for this? or must wee be contented with the old? viz. Because they do not believe: that is, Christ did not dye for their unbeliefe, or rather, did not by his death remove their unbeliefe, because they would not be∣lieve, or because they would not themselves remove their unbe∣liefe; or he dyed for their unbeliefe conditionally, that they were not unbelievers. These doe not seeme to mee to bee sober as∣sertions.
For whom Christ dyed, for them he is a Mediator, which is ap∣parent; [§ XI] for the Oblation or offering of Christ, which hee made of himselfe unto God, in the shedding of his bloud, was one of [Arg. 7] the chiefest acts of his mediation. But he is not a Mediator for all, and every one, which also is no lesse evident, because as Mediator he is the Priest for them, for whom he is a Mediator: now to a Priest it belongs as was declared before, to sacrifice and intercede, to procure good things and to apply them, to those for whom they are procured, as is evident Heb. 9. and was proved before at large; which confusedly Christ doth not for all. Yea, that Christ is not a Mediator for every one, needs no proofe: experience sufficient∣ly evinceth it, besides innumerable places of Scripture. It is I con∣fesse replyed by some, that Christ is a Mediator for some, in re∣spect of some acts, and not in respect of others; but truly this, if I am able to judge, is a dishonest subterfuge that hath no ground in Scripture, and would make our Saviour a halfe Mediator in re∣spect of some, which is an unsavory expression. But this Argument was vindicated before.