F. W. Grant on the atonement

"We now come to look at the efficacy of atonement - that is to say, its connection with redemption. For redemption is not, in Scripture, what it is for many, a thing accomplished for the whole world. No passage which hints at this even can be produced from the Word. Redemption was, for Israel, the breaking of Pharaoh’s yoke. The redemption of our body is accomplished in resurrection (Rom. viii. 23). "We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. i. 7). Such statements sufficiently show us that redemption is an accomplished deliverance, - that it involves, not a salvable state, but a salvation, which the world as a whole never knows." 

"A difficulty which has divided Christians comes in here. If redemption is by atonement, and atonement - the "propitiation" of 1 John ii. 2, - is for the whole world, how is it that in fact all are not redeemed? The answer to which is given by some that atonement is only conditionally efficacious, and this is plainly the only possible one if such texts as that just cited are accepted in their natural sense. The alternative is only to explain, as all strict Calvinists do, the "world," as simply the elect among Jews and Gentiles. But this is not what "the whole world" means. What would the very persons who urge this think, if when the same apostle in the same epistle says, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness," a similar limitation were maintained?"

"So the gospel which Paul preached to the Corinthians was that "Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. xv. 3), as the doctrine of his second epistle is that "He died for all" (v 14). Only on this ground, indeed, could the gospel be sent out, as it confessedly is, to "every creature," or could it be spoken of as "the grace of God which bringeth salvation to all" (Ti. ii. 11). Only a provision actually made for all could fulfill the fair meaning of such texts as these, and we may not bring into them any doctrine of election, to limit them. They are the testimony of the desire of God’s heart for all. They are the assurance that if men die unsaved, the responsibility of their ruin is with themselves alone."

"The same question might be asked, perhaps even more pointedly, with regard to i Pet. ii. 24: "Who Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree." For this "bearing" surely speaks of the removal of them from before God’s sight. Would it be possible, then, to say of the world that He bare their sins in His body on the tree? Surely not, or they would most certainly be saved. He could not have borne their sins and they yet have to bear them. A strict and proper substitution assuredly necessitates the removal of responsibility from the one for whom the substitute assumes it. It results, therefore, that a substitute for the world the Lord was not." 

"And the language of Scripture is everywhere in accord with this. It does speak of propitiation for the sins of the whole world: it does not speak of their sins being "laid on" or "borne" by Christ. These two things have been confounded on the one hand, and made into a doctrine of limited atonement, or of substitution for all. On the other, where the distinction has been noticed, it has been taken to imply that on the cross there was a work for all and a special work for the elect beside - a double atonement, as it were; that it was a propitiation for all, a substitution for the elect. In other words, the Arminian atonement and the Calvinistic atonement are both considered true, and to be found together in the work of Christ. But this leads to much confusion and misreading of Scripture, much manifest opposition to it."

"The Lord Jesus, then, was the Substitute for believers, and thus made propitiation for the sins of the world, its efficacy being conditioned upon faith. He stood as the Representative of a class, not a fixed number of individuals, - of a people to whom men are invited and besought to join themselves, the value of the atonement being more than sufficient and available for all who come. The responsibility of coming really rests, where Scripture always places it, upon men themselves."

"Men are born again to be children of God; and the new birth is not of man’s will: the moment we speak of it, we speak of that which assures us that man’s will is wholly adverse. For to be born again is never a thing put upon man as what he is responsible for: it is, in its very nature, outside of this. And "Ye must be born again" is the distinct affirmation that on the ground of responsibility all is over. "How often would I . . . ! and ye would not," is the Lord’s lament over Israel; and it is true of man in nature every where. Terrible it is to realize it, but it is true."

"Man is bidden to repent and believe the gospel. There is no lack of abundant evidence. It is the condemnation, that "light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." They refuse the evidence that convicts them, and refuse the grace that would save them. "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." That he needs to be born again shows that God must work sovereignly, or the whole world perish."

"It is here that election does come in; not to limit the provision, nor to restrict in any wise the grace that bids and welcomes all, but to secure the blessing of those who otherwise would refuse and forfeit it as the rest do."

"The salvation of men is from God; the damnation of men is from themselves."

Read more here.

W. E. Vine and substitution

"... the preacher of the Gospel is not justified in declaring to all and sundry that Christ died in their stead. Consider what such a statement involves. If Christ died in the stead of an unregenerate person indifferent to God's claims and hardened in sin, he may, if he accepts what is told him, reasonably take it to mean that, in spite of his condition as an unregenerate sinner, he is no longer subject to judgement, for Christ had died in his stead; he is no longer in the place previously occupied. If I tell men, regardless of their condition, that Christ has died in their "room and stead," I am in danger of conveying a wrong impression, and of ministering to that careless and deceived state of soul which thinks that salvation is already possessed and heaven secured, when all the time the person has not accepted the conditions of the Gospel, and is wandering down to perdition instead of to an imagined heaven. There is no Scripture whatever which gives support to that kind of phraseology which tells unregenerate persons that Christ died in their room and stead."

W. E. Vine, The Gospel of the Bible (London: Pickering & Inglis, [?1929]), pp. 49-50.

J. N. Darby on the perseverance of the saints

"The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is not of their perseverance, but of God's faithfulness. Their confidence is, not that they would not fail, but God; it is a trust in His promises, as the opposite is unbelief. "They have known and believed," as John expresses it, "the love that God hath to them": and they rest and hang upon this as a child upon a parent, yea, much more. Nor is this present enjoyment, or confidence in the favour and known love of the everlasting God (how better known than in the gift of His only and glorious Son?) merely stayed by the witness in their own hearts, but it hath also the stable foundation of testimony which they dare not disbelieve, yea, which it is sin not to believe, and a great dishonour to God. They believe that God did not shew them this love in the gift of Christ, and the earnest of the Spirit, to leave them as uncertain, as they were before of their estate. They read, "who also shall confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ." And they believe it; and bless God that to such poor and mere sinners He could have destined such things and shewn such love. They believe that, if any man sin, they have an advocate with the Father; and that He is the propitiation for their sins; and they do therefore believe that if they should fall, through mercy they will rise again."

"The doctrine of the Church of England at the time of the Reformation, of the Reformation itself, of Scripture, and of the Church of Rome, briefly compared with the remarks of the Regius Professor of Divinity" (1831), in The collected writings of J. N. Darby, ed. William Kelly, 3: 35.

J. N. Darby on election to salvation

"For my own part, I soberly think Article XVII to be as wise, perhaps I might say the wisest and best condensed human statement of the views it contains that I am acquainted with. I am fully content to take it in its literal and grammatical sense. I believe that predestination to life is the eternal purpose of God, by which, before the foundations of the world were laid, He firmly decreed, by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and destruction those whom He had chosen in Christ out of the human race, and to bring them, through Christ, as vessels made to honour, to eternal salvation. I believe therefore that those who are endued with so excellent a gift of God, are called according to His purpose working in due time; that they obey the calling through grace; that they are freely justified; that they are adopted to be children of God; that they are made conformed to the image of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ; that they do walk holily in good works; and that at length, through the mercy of God, they do attain to everlasting felicity."

"The doctrine of the Church of England at the time of the Reformation, of the Reformation itself, of Scripture, and of the Church of Rome, briefly compared with the remarks of the Regius Professor of Divinity" (1831), in The collected writings of J. N. Darby, ed. William Kelly, 3: 3.

This is the article 17 in the 39 Articles of the Church of England to which JND refers:

"PREDESTINATION to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God's purpose by his Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of his only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.

"As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous downfal, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.

"Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God."

Kelly no radical!

William Kelly, in Bible Treasury, vol 9, p. 352:

"It is well-known, that "Brethren" in general are utterly opposed to what is called radicalism; and that they were long ridiculed at first as a knot of high Tory gentlemen and ladies, unable to endure either the corruptions of Anglicanism or the vulgarity of dissent, and so establishing a sort of Madeira climate for their delicate lungs. Thus an infidel leader once wrote in one of the most respectable reviews of the Nonconformist party."

C. Stanley on "Election"

"The scriptures never speak of the death of Christ as the substitute, or for the sins of all men. Yet this was no hindrance to the apostles proclaiming the gospel of forgiveness of sins unto all, with the assurance of God that all who believe are justified from all things" (p. 7).

"If the scriptures did teach that He was the Substitute of all men, you would be far more uncertain; for it is evident many are not saved, and therefore, if He had been the Substitute of all, and yet many of these were for ever lost, then His dying for your sins would have been no security of your salvation, for after all you might be lost. Surely the scripture truth is better, that "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many" — "having obtained eternal redemption for us." And that "by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." God says, "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (Heb. 9, 10.) Thus the scripture doctrine of the one sacrifice of Christ for the sins of many has secured for them eternal redemption, whilst the human doctrine that Christ was the substitute (or sacrifice) for the sins of all, secures nothing! ... Much of this doctrinal confusion arises from not seeing the order and distinction of propitiation and substitution" (p. 8)

"Such is the value of the atoning death of the Lord Jesus, that the mercy-seat is open to all, without any difference; and God is just, and the Justifier of all that believe. The efficacy of that atonement, even the righteousness of God, is upon all who believe. God is righteous, is just, is glorified in meeting all, for there is no difference, at that propitiatory mercy-seat. There is no uncertainty about this as to the propitiation. "He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world." (1 John 2:2.)" (p. 9).

"Now it is clear that if the, Lord Jesus thus bore the sins of all men; or, if all the sins of all men were laid upon Him, and borne away, to be remembered no more, then all men would be saved. But the scripture never says so. As in the type the substitute bearing away sins was limited to the children of Israel, so the true substitution of Jesus is limited to those who believe and are saved" (p. 11).

"The scriptures speak of Jesus as the propitiation for the whole world, and also the bearer of the sins of many; the righteousness of God set forth in that propitiation in Romans 3:21-26; the substitution of Jesus for His people's sins in Romans 4:24, 25; and the effect of knowing and believing this in Romans 5:1-3. We have also seen that the mere human tradition that Jesus died for the sins of all men gives no comfort, for all men are not saved" (p. 12).

"Some of our readers may say, This is hardly what we expected, it seems to us like setting aside Election. Indeed it is not. If, instead of reasoning, we simply bow to scripture, we shall find these two things run on together — man's responsibility and God's sovereignty." (p. 14).

"Neither would it be possible to deny that God made him the father of the elect nation of Israel. Strange to say, no one seems to deny this, or that there are elect angels. What men do so hate is the election of the predestined children of God" (p. 16).

"But does not this imply that God has predestinated some to be lost? Certainly not. There is no such thought in scripture. The reason why some perish is their own deliberate rejection of the truth. Scripture is quite plain and clear on both these points." (p. 20).

"Thus all supposed merit is taken from man. If left to his own free choice, he deliberately rejects and despises the gospel of God; and the reason why any are saved, is the sovereign choice of God. Such is the distinct teaching of the word of God, whether we believe it or not." (p. 21).

"And let it not be surmised that this means that God predestined them after they believed the call, or because they believed it. No, that would be no predestination, as is further shewn in the next verse, that the predestination surely was before the call. "Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified."" (p. 33-4).

John Owen and JN Darby

I stumbled across the following extract from the extraordinary William Reid:

JN Darby "bids fair to become as voluminous an author as John Owen of Puritan celebrity ... Like Owen, you will find him involved, discursive, and rather hard to read; in Mr D.'s case with far more reason, as he is incomparably more profound, as well as more learned." [Literature and mission of the so-called Plymouth Brethren (London, 1875), p. 8]

Quite a commendation!