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.This is perfectly sound reasoning. Limited atonement exalts God; it gives Him all the credit and strips man of his pride. That is why in essence people hate the idea of limited atonement. We should love the doctrine of limited atonement because it allows God to do everything which we can't. If universal atonement were true and people still ended up in hell, then nobody would be saved, everyone would go to hell. We just can't pull ourselves up by our own boot laces.
The third statement is what the Arminians would say. Christ died for all the sins of all men. But then why are not all saved? They answer, Because some do not believe. But is this unbelief not one of the sins for which Christ died? If they say yes, 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.
I hope this has helped to recap if you were there or enlighten if you weren't, the great biblical doctrine of limited atonement. Learn to see it in the pages of scripture. The Old Testament is littered with it in picture form. Remember the Jewish people as a whole are an unbelieving picture of the people of God. The true people of God are those that God elected in eternity past to receive the atoning sacrifice of the Son. You can't get better than that.
Thanks for reading. any questions, comments, thoughts or arguments - post them. I'm sure you'd benefit from reading each other rather than me; plus I want to learn too!
Posts
think i might already have posted this, but i couldn't see it..
ReplyDeletei just wanted to say that i think John Piper destroys the Arminian argument when he talks about unbelief being a sin which Christ died for, so he couldn't have died for every sin of everyone, otherwise every one would be saved.
Also found a verse pertaining to limited atonement, not sure where its from though;
"i will have mercy on whom i have mercy, compassion on who i have compassion"
Danny R
Hey Tim, i like the bloggage.
ReplyDeletewas wondering if we could skim over homosexuality again, because I'm living with a lesbian and I'm scared of mentioning Christ to her because of homosexuality being a sin. i think she can't help it and she says its just the way she is, so in a way i"m tempted to feel that the scripture is unfair with this.
Then i think that its natural, due to sin for us to lie, so why should our sexual behavior not naturally be sinful? Just because it's natural doesn't justify it, like a straight person having promiscuous relationships.
However, i don't think that a person can choose or help what they find attractive....
...Is a gay Christian simply expected to suppress all their sexual desires if the want to please the Lord?
Dan R
Dan, thanks for commenting. It's a great verse you've hit upon. Romans 9:14-16:
ReplyDeleteWhat then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.
These really shows that salvation is of the Lord!
Thanks also for your second post. Give me a little while and I'll some thoughts together with some verses which I hope will shed some light. Great use of the Blog though! Speak soon. If anyone else has any thoughts on Dan's comments, feel free to comment. Oh and by the way everyone, when you first post a comment it won't immediately come up, so you just need to give it a few hours usually. Thanks again.