Nathaniel Appleton (1693–1784) on the Will of God and the Death of Christ

Appleton wrote:

But then, I would go on further to say, that God wills the Salvation of all Men, as he has done and is doing those Things which indicate such a Willingness, or are outward, open, and manifest Tokens of his Willingness that all Men should be saved. As particularly,

1. In the all sufficient Saviour he provided for sinful Man.

God did not provide a Saviour who was able only to save a few of the fallen Race; but One who was able to save every Son and Daughter of Adam. I am not now considering the Extent of Christ’s Redemption, as to the divine Intention and Design, or as to the real Event of it; for this is a secret Thing, and belongs not to us, but to God. But what I am now considering, is the Extent of his Merits, and of his Power; and considered in this Respect, it is universal. Of such infinite Virtue are the Merits of Christ’s Blood, that it is sufficient to take away the Sin of the whole World. If every Man in the whole World should be saved, there would not need any other Sacrifice than Christ has already made of himself; and therefore with Respect to the Sufficiency of Atonement, Christ may be said to have died for all; to have tasted Death for every Man; and to be the Propitiation for our Sins, and not for ours only, but for the Sins of the whole World. Moreover there is not only such a Sufficiency of Merit in Christ, but a Sufficiency of Power: For all Power is given to him in Heaven, and in Earth: That as his Blood was sufficient to wash away the Guilt of the whole World; so his Power is sufficient to subdue the strongest Habits of Sin, and bring us over to a willing Subjection to him, and to his Gospel. So that there is every Thing in him necessary to render him a complete All-sufficient Saviour to the whole World of Mankind: Surely He is able to save to the uttermost. And now this may be considered as a Token of God’s Willingness that all Men should be saved: For when God has provided a Saviour able to save the whole World; what are we led to argue from thence, but that God is willing that all should be saved? Who can think that God is unwilling to have the Malady healed, for which he has been at infinite Cost to provide a sovereign Remedy? And that when he has spread a Plaister large enough for the whole Sore, he should be unwilling to have it applied?

Nathaniel Appleton, How God wills the salvation of all men; and their coming to the knowledge of the truth, as the means thereof. Illustrated in a sermon from I. Tim. ii. 4. Preached in Boston, March 27. 1753. at the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Stephen Badger, as a missionary with a special reference to the Indians at Natick.: Published at the unanimous desire of the ecclesiastical council convened on that occasion; and of other hearers. (Boston: Printed and sold by S. Kneeland Queen-Street, 1753), 7–8. Henry Scudder (c.1585–1652) sounds similar when he said, “And it was so intended by Christ, that the plaster should be as large as the sore, and that there should be no defect in the remedy, that is, in the price, or sacrifice of himself offered upon the cross, by which man should be saved, but that all men, and each particular man, might in that respect become salvable by Christ.”

Bio:

Appleton, Nathaniel, 1693–1784.
Born, 1693; graduated at Harvard, 1712; ordained to the Ministry, 1717; Fellow of Harvard, 1717–1779; died, 1784.

Nathaniel Appleton, D.D., Fellow of Harvard, was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, December 9, 1693. He studied at Harvard, where he received his Master’s degree in 1712, and then studied theology. His ordination to the Ministry took place October 9, 1717, and he succeeded the Rev. William Brattle as Congregationalist minister in Cambridge. He was an able preacher and ranked among the foremost theologians of the day. For sixty-two years, 1717–1779, he was one of the Corporation of Harvard, and occupies an honorable place among the Fellows of that Institution. Some of Mr. Appleton’s sermons were published prior to his death. He died in Cambridge, February 9, 1784.

Universities and Their Sons: History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees, ed. Joshua L. Chamberlain (Boston: R. Herndon Company, 1899), 2:134.

Nathaniel Appleton (1693–1784), of Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of John Appleton and Elizabeth Rogers, was born in Ipswich and was an American Congregationalist minister. He was the nephew of President Leverett of Harvard and a graduate of Harvard. He was also chaplain of the 1st Provincial Congress of Massachusetts and minister of the First Church in Cambridge for sixty-six years. His meeting-house opened its doors and extended its kind offices to the soldiers mustered around it; There the 1st and 2nd Provincial Congress of Massachusetts convened, October 17, 1774, and February 1, 1775; there Washington and his officers worshiped; there the Constitution of Massachusetts was framed in 1779.