(Guest blog by Pastor Tucker Else of Denver Baptist Church in Denver, Iowa)
Question: Limited atonement implies, to some, that God does NOT love everyone and if we share that in our Gospel presentation to people it is a lie.....only being true if that person happens to be one of the elect. The simple statement, to our unbelieving friends, that "God loves you,” or "God loves your [sick child, dying parent, etc.] even more than you do" is also a lie, oftentimes, if we take the "L" of T.U.L.I.P. to its reasonable conclusion. Same with "Jesus died for YOUR sins; He took YOUR punishment..." I rejoice to share this with people—that Jesus did this for THEM—but limited atonement is perceived to make that a bold-faced lie in many cases. How am I to rightfully understand this?
Answer: The Bible seems quite clear that Christ's atonement actually saved me from my sin. The Arminian who believes in unlimited atonement must believe that Christ's death only made it possible for him to be saved—if he could conjure up saving faith (which our totally depraved nature would make impossible).
In regard to questions of "lying" about God's saving grace to all people, I think I understand the discomfort. But here is how we must look at this: John 3:16 (and elsewhere) says that God does love the world (Greek " kosmos"—which means the "sin-stained world in opposition to God). He truly does love sinners. People are made in His image and have inherent worth and dignity. 1 Peter tells us that He desires all men to be saved—which is to say it is a bona fide offer of the Gospel of salvation to all who believe. God truly does love people. But I think that "Limited Atonement" is addressing another question entirely—it is asking "For whom did Christ die?" But behind that question of the extent of the atonement lies the equally important question about the nature of the atonement. "What did Christ actually achieve on the cross for those for whom he died?" If Christ died for every human being in the same way, you would have to believe that Christ's death did not really save anybody; his death only made salvation possible for me to save myself. You would have to say that Christ's death did not really remove God's wrath from anyone but instead created a place where people could escape God's wrath if they could conjure up their own rebirth/regeneration (to be born again by their own power, which John 1:12 and Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus seemed to discount entirely).
If, as the Arminian would say, Christ died for all men in the same way then he did not purchase regenerating grace for those who are saved. They must regenerate themselves and bring themselves to faith. Then and only then do they become partakers of the benefits of the cross.
In other words, if you believe that Christ died for all men in the same way, then the benefits of the cross cannot include the mercy by which we are brought to faith, because then all men would be brought to faith, but they aren't. But if the mercy by which we are brought to faith (irresistible grace) is not part of what Christ purchased on the cross, then we are left to save ourselves from the bondage of sin, the hardness of heart, the blindness of corruption, and the wrath of God.
So, as one who believes in limited atonement, I can simply say that in the cross God had in view the actual redemption of his children. And we affirm that when Christ died for these, he did not just create the opportunity for them to save themselves, but really purchased for them all that was necessary to get them saved, including the grace of regeneration and the gift of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9, the grammatical construct of the Greek necessarily implies that it is both grace and faith which are the free gift of God).
Jim Lee at Grace in Waverly taught me this when asking and answering the question "For whom did Christ die?" Which of these statements is true?
1. Christ died for some of the sins of all men.
2. Christ died for all the sins of some men.
3. Christ died for all the sins of all men.
No one says that the first is true, for then all would be lost because of the sins that Christ did not die for. The only way to be saved from sin is for Christ to cover it with his blood.
The third statement is what the Arminian would say. Christ died for all the sins of all men. But then why are not all saved? The Arminian would answer, "Because some do not believe." But is this unbelief not one of the sins for which Christ died? If they say "yes, it is a sin for which Christ died," then why is it not covered by the blood of Jesus and all unbelievers saved? If they say "no, unbelief is not a sin that Christ has died for" then they must say that men can be saved without having all their sins atoned for by Jesus,” or they must join us in affirming statement number two: Christ died for all the sins of some men. That is, he died for the unbelief of the elect so that God's punitive wrath is appeased toward them and his grace is free to draw them irresistibly out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Romans 9 is fairly clear, however difficult, so I'm not sure that would be a good starting point. Below is a list of passages which may help. And again, with all of this I hope I'm not being too polemical. But if we are to proclaim the glory of Christ and His finished work at Calvary, I think we smudge His glory if we say that our salvation is synergistic (Him doing a bit of the saving; us doing a bit of the saving).
Also, here is a link to Spurgeon's "Defence of Calvinism."
http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm
Now, to the passages with short commentary:
There are many Scriptures which say that the death of Christ was designed for the salvation of God's people, not for every individual (even though He does love the whole world—He is love). For example:
John 10:15 , "I lay down my life for the sheep." The sheep of Christ are those whom the Father draws to the Son. "You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." Being a sheep enables you to become a believer, not vice versa. So the sheep for whom Christ dies are the ones chosen by the Father to give to the Son.
John 6.35, 44, "I am the bread of life…Whoever comes to me will not hunger and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out... No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day." We see in this God's monergism (salvation in coming to Christ as the sole work of God). This, along with John 6:63-65, shows that there are some whom God does not draw, but instead leaves them in their sin which was freely chosen by them.
In John 17:6,9,19 Jesus prays, "I have manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to me...I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom Thou hast given me, for they are thine...And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth." The consecration in view here is the death of Jesus which he is about to undergo. His death and his intercession are uniquely for his disciples, not for the world in general.
John 11:51-52, "[Caiaphas] being high priest that year prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." There are children of God scattered throughout the world. These are the sheep. These are the ones the Father will draw to the Son. Jesus died to gather these people into one. The point is the same as John 10:15-16, "I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice." Christ died for his sheep, that is, for the children of God.
Revelation 5:9, "Worthy art Thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for Thou wast slain and by Thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." In accordance with John 10:16 John does not say that the death of Christ ransomed all men but that it ransomed men from all the tribes of the world.
This is the way we understand texts like 1 John 2:2 which says, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." This does not mean that Christ died with the intention to appease the wrath of God for every person in the world, but that the "sheep," "the children of God" scattered throughout the whole world, "from every tongue and tribe and people and nation"—not just Israelites—are intended by the propitiation of Christ. In fact the grammatical parallel between John 11:51-52 and 1 John 2:2 is so close it is difficult to escape the conviction that the same thing is intended by John in both verses.
John 11:51-52, "He prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."
1 John 2:2 , "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."
The "whole world" refers to the children of God scattered throughout the whole world. If "the whole world" referred to every individual in the world, we would be forced to say that John is teaching that all people will be saved, which he does not believe (Revelation 14:9-11). The reason we would be forced to say this is that the term propitiation refers to a real removal of wrath from sinners. When God's wrath against a sinner is propitiated, it is removed from that sinner. And the result is that all God's power now flows in the service of his mercy, with the result that nothing can stop him from saving that sinner. That is super helpful for me to consider! Propitiated sins cannot be punished. Otherwise propitiation loses its meaning. Therefore, if Christ is the propitiation for all the sins of every individual in the world, they cannot be punished, and must be saved. But John does not believe in such universalism (John 5:29). Therefore, it is very unlikely that 1 John 2:2 teaches that Jesus is the propitiation of every person in the world.
Mark 10:45, in accord with Revelation 5:9, does not say that Jesus came to ransom all men. It says, "For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Similarly in Matthew 26:28 Jesus says, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
Hebrews 9:28, "So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." (See also 13:20; Isaiah 53:11-12.)
One of the clearest passages on the intention of the death of Christ is Ephesians 5:25-27. Here Paul not only says that the intended beneficiary of the death of Christ is the church, but also that the intended effect of the death of Christ is the sanctification and glorification of the church. This is the truth we want very much to preserve: that the cross was not intended to give all men the opportunity to save themselves, but was intended to actually save the church. Paul says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself in splendor."
One of the clearest texts on this issue is Romans 8:32. It is one of the most precious promises for God's people in all the Bible. Paul says, "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not also give us all things with him?"
The crucial thing to see here is how Paul bases the certainty of our inheritance on the death of Christ. He says, "God will most certainly give you all things because he did not spare his own Son but gave him up for you." If Christ is given for those who do not in fact receive all things but instead are lost, the argument vanishes. If God gave his own Son for unbelievers who in the end are lost, then he cannot say that the giving of the Son guarantees "all things" for those for whom he died. But this is what he does say. If God gave his Son for you, then he most certainly will give you all things. The structure of Paul's thought here is simply destroyed by introducing the idea that Christ died for all men in the same way.
The Calvinist is left with proclaiming to all men the Gospel of grace, assured that there are those to whom God will bring saving faith. The Bible also teaches that humanity is responsible for the decisions we make, and are held accountable for a denial of the gift of grace. The Bible doesn't seem to be uncomfortable with this seeming paradox—God's sovereignty and our accountability. I do believe in free will, but a free will which, apart from God's grace, will freely choose to be the master of one's fate and the captain of one's soul…
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