Death of death in the death of Christ - Owen - XII - Chapters 10 & 11 of Book 3

Required reading
Death of death in the death of Christ by John Owen (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapters 10 and 11 of Book 3.

My summary
Owen now picks up again his list of arguments against universal redemption.

In Chapter 10 Owen gives us his fourteenth and fifteenth arguments for why Christ's death cannot be universal.  It cannot be universal because Christ's death was
(xiv) meritorious;
(xv) described as 'dying for us', 'bearing our sins', 'being our surety' etc.

Then in Chapter 11 Owen gives us his sixteenth and last argument, which is simply taken from particualar places of Scripture that clearly and distinctly in themselves hold out the truth of particular redemption.  The texts are:
(i) Gen. iii. 15;
(ii) Matt. vii. 23;
(iii) Matt. xi. 25, 26;
(iv) John x. 11, 15, 16, 27, 28;
(v) Rom. viii. 32–34;
(vi) Eph. i. 7;
(vii) 2 Cor. v. 21;
(viii) John xvii. 9;
(ix) Eph. v. 25.

What grabbed me
Similar arguments coming again and again, but still refreshing.

I liked this comment about the nature of Christ's merit: 'Having said this little of the nature of merit, and of the merit of Christ, the procurement of his death for them in whose stead he died, it will quickly be apparent how irreconcilable the general ransom is therewith; for the demonstration whereof we need no more but the proposing of this one question, — namely, If Christ hath merited grace and glory for all those for whom he died, if he died for all, how comes it to pass that these things are not communicated to and bestowed upon all? Is the defect in the merit of Christ, or in the justice of God? How vain it is to except, that these things are not bestowed absolutely upon us, but upon condition, and therefore were so procured; seeing, that the very condition itself is also merited and procured, as Eph. i. 3, 4, Phil. i. 29, — hath been already declared.'

If all do not receive Christ's merit, is the problem with Christ's merit or the doctrine of universal redemption?  Would anyone dare say Christ's merit?

Next week's reading
Commence Chapter 1 of Book 4 by reading up to the paragraph beginning '5. The extent, nature, and signification of those general terms which we have frequently used indefinitely in the Scripture to set out the object of the redemption by Christ, must seriously be weighed.'

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.