Lord’s Day 7
Q20. Are all men, then, saved by Christ just as they perished through Adam?
No. Only those who by true faith are grafted into Christ and accept all his benefits are saved.
Scripture Proofs — King James Version
Matthew 7:14
“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
John 1:12
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
John 3:16, 18, 36
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. … He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. … He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Romans 11:16–21
“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches.”
Commentary — Zacharias Ursinus (1616)
Having explained the mode of our deliverance through Christ, we must now inquire carefully who are made partakers of this deliverance, and in what manner it is effected; whether all, or only some are made partakers thereof. If none are made partakers of it, it has been accomplished in vain. This twentieth question is, therefore, preparatory to the doctrine of faith, without which neither the Mediator, nor the preaching of the gospel, would be of any advantage. At the same time it provides a remedy against carnal security, and furnishes an answer to that base calumny which makes Christ the minister of sin.
The answer to this question consists of two parts: — Salvation through Christ is not bestowed upon all who perished in Adam; but only upon those who, by a true faith, are ingrafted into Christ, and receive all his benefits.
The first part of this answer is clearly proven by experience, and the word of God. "He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:36; 3:3. Matt. 7:21.) The reason why all are not saved through Christ, is not because of any insufficiency of merit and grace in him — for the atonement of Christ is for the sins of the whole world, as it respects the dignity and sufficiency of the satisfaction which he made — but it arises from unbelief; because men reject the benefits of Christ offered in the gospel, and so perish by their own fault, and not because of any insufficiency in the merits of Christ.