December 5, 2009

Stephen Denison (d.1649) on the Son's Sufficient Redemption

Secondly, destruction must needs be of a mans self, and not of God, because God hath sent a sufficient redemption by the means of his own Son; and hath commanded it to be preached to every creature: yea he hath commanded us to believe in Christ, whom he hath sent, 1 John. 3:23. And therefore if when a pardon is offered, we willfully refuse it, then our destruction is of ourselves.
Stephen Denison, The New Creature (London: Printed by Richard Field, dwelling in the great Woodstreete, 1619), 78.

[Note: I am not posting this as conclusive proof that Denison believed that Christ redeemed all men, but only to show that he grounds the gospel command and offer upon Christ's "sufficient redemption." Notice also that he says the gospel is a command *and* an offer, and that we are to preach "it" to every creature; that is, a sufficient redemption. According to Denison, men do not perish for want of a sufficient redemption, but for refusing it.]

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