579. III. Since all have been redeemed, everyone can be regenerated, in each case depending on the person's state.
To make this intelligible, something must first be said about redemption. The Lord had two chief ends in view in coming into the world, to distance hell from angels and men, and to glorify His Human. For before the Lord's coming, hell had grown so high as to molest the angels of heaven and, by standing between heaven and the world, to cut off communication by the Lord with people on earth. As a result no Divine truth and good could get through from the Lord to men. Consequently complete damnation threatened the whole human race, nor could the angels of heaven either have long survived unharmed.
[2] So the Lord came into the world to move hell further off and so remove that threat of damnation. He moved hell to a distance and brought it under control, thus opening the way to heaven, so that thereafter He could be present with people on earth and save those who lived in accordance with His commandments. Thus He came to regenerate and save them, for those who are regenerated are saved. This is what is meant by saying that since all have been redeemed, everyone can be regenerated, and because regeneration and salvation are one and the same, everyone can be saved. This teaching then of the church, that but for the Lord's coming no one could be saved, is to be understood as meaning that no one could be regenerated but for the Lord's coming.
[3] The other purpose for which the Lord came into the world, the glorification of His Human, was because He by this means became the Redeemer, Regenerator and Saviour for ever. For it must not be believed that by the single deed of redemption carried out in the world all thereafter were redeemed, but it should be believed that He unfailingly redeems those who believe in Him and do what He says. More on this subject can be found in the chapter on redemption.
