1545 – 1602
Junius was a major reformed theologian, studied theology in Geneva (Switzerland) under Calvin and Beza, co-translated the Bible into Latin (1579), and was one of the first theology professors at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). His notes on Revelation were often appended to the widely circulated Geneva Bible Notes after 1599.
The New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ: translated out of Greek by Theodore Beza; with Brief Summaries and Expositions Upon the Hard Places by the said Authour, with annotations of Francis Junius upon Revelation, translated by Laurence Tomson, (London : Deputies of Christopher Barker, 1599), the book is online here.
Rev. 3:15
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.”
The proposition of reproof is in this verse, whereunto is adjoined a threatening, verse 16, with a confirmation declaring the same, verse 17, and of exhortation unto faith and repentance, verse 18,19, whereunto is added a conditional promise, verse 20.
Rev. 3:17-18
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
The spiritual misery of men is metaphorically expressed in three points unto which are matched as correspondent those remedies which are offered, verse 18.
Rev. 14:6-7
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
That is Babylon is destroyed by the sentence and judgment of God: the execution whereof saint John describes [in] chapter 18. And this voice of the ministers of Christ has continued since the time that Babylon (which is Rome) has by deliberate counsel and manifest malice oppugned [opposed, contradicted] the light of the Gospel offered from God.
A Friendly Discussion Between James Arminius & Francis Junius, Concerning
Predestination, Conducted By Means Of Letters, in the Works of Arminius, vol. 3
Answer of Junius to the 23rd Proposition of Arminius, p. 166
As in the predestination of the saints, the decree is two-fold, first, that of election and the preparation of grace, secondly, that of glory; and the transition of the former to the latter, is by death which is contingent, as the wages of sin, so also in the predestination of the reprobate is contained a two-fold decree, first, that of non-election, or preterition, or reprobation and alienation from grace, secondly, that of damnation; and the transition from the former to the latter, is by sin and death, the consectary [that which follows by consequence] of sin, between which God graciously leaves a space that there may be even in sinners and the reprobate themselves, a proof of the divine forbearance, calling them to repentance. In this case, then, the copula should have been stated to be not necessary, but contingent. For everywhere in the Scriptures God disavows sin, and the saints commit it, “for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright.” (Psalm 11:7)
Related Pages
The Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel
Historic Reformed Quotes on the Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel
1600’s Quotes on the Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel
The Genevan Bible Notes on the Sincere Free Offer of the Gospel