Culverwell:

By Offer I mean only the outward Calling by the Gospel; which none can deny to belong to many that are not chosen. This I affirm to be the only ordinary seed to beget saving faith. My Adversary takes this Offer, for a Promise, to have Christ, (which I confess that none shall have but the Elect) and so he spends much labour in vain.

Whereas he challenges all the Scriptures by me alleged to prove the general offer, to be misapplied, for that he world have them to be understood of the Elect only, I must refer this also to the judgement of the Learned: with submission to their censure. I profess I cannot find any one clear place where the world must necessarily be taken for the elect only. For the wicked in the world it is oft used; and more generally, for all Mankind, as Mr Calvin, with sundry other great divines understand it, even in the place where he mis-alleges him to the contrary. In this Scripture (God so loved the World, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life) I desire may be considered, if World be not divided into believers, who shall saved, and unbelievers who shall not be saved: which cannot be understood of the Elect only.

Ezekiel Culverwell, A Briefe Answer to Certain Objections Against the Treatise of Faith Made by Ez. Culverwell. Clearing him from the Errors of Arminius, unjustly layd to his Charge, (London: Printed by Iohn Dawson, 1646), [no pagination; 11-14: numbering mine; some spelling modernized; emphasis original.]

Credit to Tony for the find and drawing my attention to Culverwell.

Boston:

1) 4. His executing of his commission in an unhampered manner, administering the covenant indifferently to any sinners of mankind; not this or that party of them, under this or the other denomination, but mankind in general, Prov. viii. 4. So the gospel in which the covenant is administered, is good tidings to all people, Luke ii. 10 ; and the gospel-feast is made unto all people, Isa. xxv. 6. Accordingly he gives his apostles commission in most ample terms, than which one cannot imagine more extensive, Mark xvi. 16. ‘ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’

5. Consider to whom Christ stands related as a Saviour by office. He is the Saviour of the body only, Eph. v. 23. being considered as actually saving from sin and wrath. But considered as an official Saviour, he is the Saviour of the world, as he is expressly called, 1 John iv. 14. John iv. 42. And his salvation is called the ‘ common salvation,’ Jude 3.

6. Lastly, If it were not so, then there would be some of mankind-sinners excepted, for whom there would be no manner of warrant to believe in Christ, or take hold of the covenant, more than there is for devils: which is contrary to the scriptures, John iii. 16. Mark xvi. 16. Thomas Boston, “An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion,” in Works, 1:533.

2) Query X.–Whether the revelation of the Divine will in the word, affording a warrant to offer Christ unto all, and a warrant to all to receive him, can be said to be the Father’ making a deed of gift and grant of Christ unto all mankind? Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace? And whether is it absolute or conditional?

Ans.–Here we are directed to that part of our representation where we complain that the following passage is condemned, viz. “The Father hath made a deed of gift or grant unto all mankind, that whosoever of them shall believe in him Son, shall not perish;” and where we my, “That their treatment of the said passage seems to encroach on the warrants aforesaid, and also upon sovereign grace, which hath made their grant, not to devils, but to men, in terms then which none can be imagined more extensive;” agreeable to what we have already said in our representation. We answer to the first part of the question, that by the “deed of gift or grant unto all mankind,” we understand no more that the revelation of the Divine will in the word, affording warrant to offer Christ to all, and a warrant to all to receive him; for although we believe the purchase and application of redemption to be peculiar to the elect, who were given by the Father to Christ in the counsel of peace, yet the warrant to receive him in common to all. Ministers, by virtue of the commission they have received from their great Lord and Master, are authorised and instructed to go preach the gospel to every creature, i.e., to make a full, free, and unhampered offer of him, him grace, righteousness, and salvation, to every rational soul to whom they may in have access to speak. And though we had a voice like a trumpet, that could reach all the corners of the earth, we think we would be bound, by virtue of our commission, to lift it up, and my, “To you, O men, do we call, and our voice in to the sons of men. God hath so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him. Should not perish, but hare everlasting life.”And though this “deed of gift and grant, that whosoever believes in Christ shall not perish,” &c. is, neither in our representation, nor in the passage of the book condemned on that head, called a “deed of gift, and grant of Christ,” yet, being required to give our judgment in this point, we think, that agreeable to the Holy Scripture, it may be so called, as particularly appears from the text last cited, John iii. 16. where, by the giving of Christ, we understood not only his eternal destination by the Father to be the Redeemer of an elect world, and him giving him unto the death for them, in the fullness of time, but more especially a giving of him in the word unto all, to be received and believed in. The giving here cannot be a giving in possession, which is peculiar only unto them who actually believe, but it must be much a giving, granting, or offering, as warrants a man to believe or receive the gift, and most therefore be anterior to actual believing. This is evident enough from the text itself: he gave him, “that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish,” &c. The context also, to us, puts it beyond controversy: the brazen serpent was given, and lifted up as a common good to the whole camp of Israel, that whosoever in all the camp, being stung by the fiery serpents, looked thereunto, might not die, but live. So here Christ is given to a lost world, in the word, “that whosoever believer in him should not perish,” &c. And in this respect, we think, Christ is a common Saviour, and his salvation is a common salvation; and it is “glad tidings of great joy unto all people,” that unto us (not to angels that fell,) this Son is given, and this Child is born, whose name is called Wonderful, &c. Isa. ix. 6.

We have a scripture also to this purpose, John vi. 32, where Christ speaking to a promiscuous multitude makes a comparison between himself and the manna that fell about the tents of Israel in the wilderness, says, “My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” As the simple raining of the manna about their camp is called a giving of it, (ver. 31,) before it was tasted, or fed upon; so the very revelation and offer of Christ is called (according to the judicious Calvin on the place) a giving of him, ere he be received and believed on.

Of this giving of Christ to mankind lost, we read also, 1 John v. 11, “And this is the record that God hath given unto un eternal life, and this life ir in his Son.” This giving in the text in not, we conceive, a giving in possession, in greater or lesser measure, but a giving by way of grant and offer, whereupon one may warrantably take possession, and the party to whom is not the election only, but lost mankind; for the record of God here must be a such a thing as warrants all to believe on the Son of God. But it can be no such warrant to tell, “that God hath given eternal life to the elect;” for the making of a gift to a certain elect company of persons, can never be a warrant for all men to receive or take possession of it. This will be further evident, if we consider that the great sin of unbelief lies in not believing this record of God,–” He that believer not hath made God a liar,” says the apostle, ver. 10, “because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son;” and then it followeth, ver. 11, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,” &c. Now, are we to think that the rejecting of the record of God is a bare disbelieving of this proposition, that God hath given eternal life unto the elect?” No, surely: for the most desperate unbelievers, such as Judas and others, believe this; and their belief of it adds to their anguish and torment. Or do they, by believing this; and net to their seal that God ir true? No; they still continue, notwithstanding of all this, to make him a liar, in “not believing this record of God,” that to lost mankind, and to themselves in particular, God hath given eternal life by way of grant, so as they as well as others, are warranted and welcome; and every one to whom it comes, on their peril, required by faith to receive or take possession of it. By not receiving this gifted and offered remedy, with application and appropriation, they fly in the face of God’s record and testimony; and therefore do justly and deservedly perish, seeing the righteousness, salvation, and kingdom of God, was brought so near to them, in the free offer of the gospel, and yet they would not take it. The great pinch and strait, we think, of an awakened conscience, doer not lie in believing that God hath given eternal life to the elect, but in believing or receiving Christ offered to us in the gospel, with particular application to the man himself, in Scripture called “an eating tho flesh, and drinking the blood of the Son of man.” And yet, till this difficulty be surmounted in greater or lesser measure, he can never be said to believe in Christ, or receive and rest upon him for salvation. The very taking or receiving must needs presuppose a giving of Christ; and this giving may be, and is, for the most part, where there is no receiving; but there an be no receiving of Christ for salvation where there in not revelation of Christ in the word of the gospel, affording warrant to receive him, and then, by the effectual operation of the Spirit, persuading and enabling the sinner to embrace him upon this warrant and offer. “A man,” says the Spirit of God, John iii. 27, “can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” Hence Mr. Rutherford. in his “Christ Dying and Drawing,” &c. page 442, says, that “reprobate bare as fair a warrant to believe as the elect bare.”

As to the second part of this question, i.e. “Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace? And, Whether is it absolute or conditional?” we answer that this grant, is made common to lost mankind, is from sovereign grace only; and it being ministers’ to offer Christ unto all, and peoples’ warrant to receive him, it cannot fail to be absolutely free; yet so as none can be possessed of Christ and his benefits, till by faith they receive him.  Thomas Boston, “The Marrow of Modern Divinity: Appendix,” in Works 7:485-487.

[Note: Bbecause of the length of this, this excerpt is not for the light-hearted]

Luther:

14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up.

Let us note and remember this text well; for the Lord Christ was truly the best of preachers, excelling even the other apostles. Therefore it behooves us to listen attentively to His words. These words are familiar. They are often treated in sermons. One finds them painted on many walls, and they have also been stamped on coins.⁴⁶ Would to God that these words were also stamped and inscribed on our hearts! They deserve to be sealed in our hearts. Thus the bride exclaims in the Song of Solomon: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm” (8:6).

These sublime words of our text are the greatest article of our Christian doctrine. All the world hears these words, but only a few accept them and engrave them on their hearts. The world grows hostile to this article and finds it intolerable. Of course, the Turk also thinks highly of Christ and concedes that He was a great prophet, that He was born of the Virgin Mary, and that His mother was not conceived in original sin.⁴⁷ However, he does not confess that Christ is his God and Lord but places his Mohammed above Christ or at least alongside Him. And the Turk is, at the same time, reputed to be very pious. He leads an abstemious life, and he devises his own way to heaven.

You also know that the pope thinks nothing of this text. In fact, this article of faith is practically forgotten in the papacy. To be sure, the pope retains the bare words of this text in the Gospel, but he denies their power altogether. Only Baptism is preserved in its purity in the papacy.⁴⁸ But basically the pope’s regard for Christ is little better than that of the Turk. The pope and the cardinals write that Christ rendered satisfaction only for original sin and that we ourselves must atone for the actual and daily sins.⁴⁹ All this is an attempt to rob us of Christ, who became our Bridegroom through faith. The devil attacks this article in thousands of ways in order to destroy it. But he will still have to let bride and Groom remain together; and this happens by faith alone. Faith is the engagement ring which betroths us to Christ. By faith we take hold of Christ, saying to Him: “You alone ascended above.” As He said earlier: “No one has ascended into heaven but He who descended from heaven.”

This article of faith, that Christ is our Lord, is what makes us Christians. It is the jewel, the gem, and the golden chain around the neck of the bride, who believes that Christ is true God from eternity, that He descended from heaven and became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and that He, and no other, ascended again into heaven. Thus He was declared the Son of God (Rom. 1:4), and He sits at the right hand of His heavenly Father. This is most certainly true, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. For if Christ were not seated at the right hand of His Father, this article of faith would never have come down to us; nor would it have been possible for this article to maintain itself against the constant opposition of so many kings and tyrants in the world.

Christ now construes His “ascending” to mean that we shall also ascend in Him, since Jesus Christ is the only one to ascend into heaven after first descending from there. Otherwise some might ask: “Well then, what about us?” Christ answers: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so, etc.” Therefore we shall also ascend in Him. You can throw this into the teeth of all Jews, Turks, and papists, who propose to be their own way to heaven with their orders, rules, and good works—they have invented so many roads to heaven—and say to them: “No one ascends into heaven but He who descended from heaven.” He, the Lord Christ, took with Him into heaven the body and the bride He had acquired and adorned on earth. No one has ever ascended into heaven apart from Him.

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There is one other series of texts in which, as we freely admit, the universal bearing on mankind at large, of the exhibition of the cross, and the proclamation of the gospel, is graciously and gloriously attested. These are such as John i. 29, iii. 16, iv. 42, xii. 32; 1 John iv. 14. Generally, these passages coincide, in substance, with those of the class first cited, which assert the indiscriminate applicability of Christ’s work, without respect of persons, or distinction of “Jew or Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free;” and they equally, with the former, fall under the remark of Professor Moses Stuart, in the extract which we have given from his book. But they seem to go a little farther; and having respect, not to the design and efficacy of the atonement, in its accomplishment and application, nor even, strictly speaking, to its sufficiency, but solely to the discovery which, as a historical transaction, it is fitted to make of the divine character—especially of the divine compassion and benevolence—they are to be regarded as giving intimation of the widest possible universality.

This is particularly the case in that most blessed statement: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” For we would be little disposed to qualify or explain away the term “world,” as here employed. We rather rejoice in this text, as asserting that the gospel has a gracious aspect to the world, or to mankind, as such. “God so-loved the world”—that is, of mankind in opposition to angels—mankind as such, without reference to elect or non-elect; the giving of his Son was a display of goodwill towards men. Let it be observed, however, that even here nothing is said about God’s giving his Son for all; on the contrary, the very terms in which the gift of his Son is described, imply a limitation of it to them that believe; on which limitation, indeed, depends the fulness of the blessing conveyed by it. The design of Christ’s death is very pointedly restricted, as to its extent, to them that believe; while, on that very account, this gift of God is amplified, and expanded, and stretched out, in regard to the amount of benefit intended to be communicated, so as to take in not only escape from perishing, but the possession of everlasting life. It is the gift of his Son, with this limited design, which is represented as being an index and measure of his love to the world at large, or to mankind as such; and it is so, through the manifestation which the cross gives to all alike and indiscriminately, of what it is in the mind and heart of God to do for a race of guilty sinners. As to any farther meaning in that text, it can only be this: that it is a testimony to the priority or precedency of God’s love to man, as going before, and not following from, the mediation and work of Christ. We speak, of course, of the order of nature and causation, not of the order of time. In the counsels of eternity there can be no comparing of dates: but it is important to adjust the connection of sequence or dependence between the love of God to man, and the work of Christ for man, as cause and effect, respectively. And one main object of this statement of our Lord undoubtedly is, to represent the Father’s good-will to men as the source and origin of the whole scheme of salvation, in opposition to the false and superstitious idea of God’s kindness being, as it were, purchased and reluctantly extorted by the interposition of one more favourable and friendly than himself, to our guilty and perishing world.

Robert Candlish, An Inquiry into the Completeness of the Atonement with Especial Reference to the Universal Offer of the Gospel, and the Universal Obligation to be believe, (Edinburgh: John Johnstone, 1845), preface, 25-27.